My Stories

Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me

2010-05-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

A-Z

2010-05-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

I saw this fun little A-Z questionnaire on a few blogs and decided I would do it! I always wanted to fill these things out but always forget to go back and copy and paste them.

A. AREA CODE : Finally have admitted to myself that I am now fully a part of the 562.

B. BED SIZE: A queen size. The poor hubby probably wishes we had a King with how much I like to bed hog :)

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Putting away laundry!

D. DOG'S NAME: No dog here! Hopefully one day. But I'm sure this guy below would have something to say about that.

*Rawr*

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Cereal and checking my favorite websites

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Darker reds

G. GOLD OR SILVER: both

H. HEIGHT: 5'4"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I used to *try* to play the piano when I was younger, but nothing successful ever came from it. I knew how to play "Mr. Turtle" and "Hot Cross Buns"

J. Job: Love what I do, but currently am not happy at the place I am employed.

K. KIDS: Not yet :) One day.... one day

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Currently renting an apartment with the hubby in Seal Beach, Ca. It is pretty much a joke to find somewhere to buy out here.

N. NICKNAME: Tee, Nardoni (maiden name)

M.MOM'S NAME: Lisa

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: negative

P. PET PEEVE: The customers at work that don't answer me when I ask how they are doing and just order their drinks.

"Hi! How are you today?"

"Small coffee"

".... sigh....."

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE:
"I will have poetry in my life. And adventure. And love. Love above all. No... not the artful postures of love, not playful and poetical games of love for the amusement of an evening, but love that... over-throws life. Unbiddable, ungovernable - like a riot in the heart, and nothing to be done, come ruin or rapture. Love - like there has never been in a play." - Shakespeare in Love

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." - Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind

I love that you get cold when it is 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle in your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

- When Harry Met Sally

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: A younger brother

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: I'm all over the place. Either 3:30am to get to work, or 7am, or 10am if I have nothing to do that day.

U. UNDERWEAR: Oversharing! Haha

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: I'm not a tomato lover - the texture of them bugs me for some reason

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: I tend to get distracted and I forget to keep track of time

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: One of my back when I got in a car accident to make sure everything was okay .... I'm pretty sure that is it though

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: cupcakes :)

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: ? Meerkats! They are so friggin' cute how they just sit there and stare at everything ... I just want to poke their tummies, lol.

Just too cute

2010-04-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

"Some bunny loves me"

I have found a new blog that I absolutely love. I usually laugh at people that have blogs dedicated to their pets. It seems a little .... peculiar. But then I find cute little finds like this one and am obsessed. I know, I know.... such a woman as my hubby would say. (Actually he would just look at me and roll his eyes, but we'll just stay quiet on that one)

This is an adorable 2nd blog that a husband and wife duo have created for their dog Burger. She takes the cutest/funny pictures and gives them hilarious captions. Click here for stories about Burger's daily life at Hamburger House.

I actually found Burger's blog by going to his "parents" blog. I was looking for inspirational photos to help with the bedroom makeover that I am attempting, and I came across this blog. It is called Young House Love and is from a newly married couple who are enjoying life and loving their first home together.

They blogged about their "over their heads" project with re-doing their bedroom (most of the stuff from hacking Ikea pieces and making them into their own fun pieces of furniture). They were able to take their bedroom from this ......

to this ......

Pretty amazing huh? You can check out the full room makeover here.

To see the rest of their awesome blog, you can check it out here

Hope you guys enjoy their blogs as much as I do :) Especially that little guy Burger.... so freaking cute

Sunday Fun DAY!

2010-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well hello everyone :)

It is the end of another week. A Sunday night slowly approaching a Monday morning. I happened to stumble upon a really awesome clothing (and more!) website that I have fallen for. It is called Mod Cloth and is owned by a husband and wifey duo. They are adorable, plus they have an adorable pug too ;)

They put together this super awesome and cute web-scrapbook that talks about their story of putting Mod Cloth together and you can check it out here.

I put together a little photo list for you guys of all of my favorite items from their store. I really think that you should go check it out and enjoy all of their goodies, I'm really thinking about buying some of these dresses for myself. They are just sooo vintage-chic cute and adorable!

This little white dress with the red satin bow is one of my favorites :) I love how it looks so simple at first and then if you look closely all of the white fabric is actually flowers.

Oh, and these adorable flats are a must have. So simple, yet they have that adorable little added extra with the ruffles on the front

This next dress just calls out to me as a sexy date night dress. Pair it with a pair of pretty black heels and cute earrings, and you would be set to go.

Need a fun summer dress? How about this blue, yellow and white one? Totally cute

So I hope that you like these as much as I did. Every day Mod Cloth adds new clothes to their website, and they even have a feature where their followers/shoppers vote on articles of clothing that they would like to be on the Mod Cloth website, and Mod Cloth happily obliges. They seem to have a great chemistry and a great thing going for them, so please go buy something and treat yourself while helping them out! <3

Hope everyone had a great week .... now onwards to the next

(we can do it.... we can do it.......)

Monday Rant Madness!

2010-04-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

Diet
.
.
.
.
Eat Healthy
.
.
.
.
Exercise
.
.
.
.
Starvation
.
.
.
.
I don't care what you call it, but all i know is that I need to get rid of this crazy bump that has landed upon my stomach area and tell it to hide until next winter or something. If I would of known that age 26 would have brought along this stomach fat friend with it, I would have tried to at least prepare for it. Oh, and the whole arms deciding they wanted to be bigger too? That has got to go.

I have so many fun things coming up in the next month that I need to get dressed up for, and let's not lie, look good for. I have my brother's high school graduation one weekend, and the next weekend is my college graduation. Plus .... summer is right around the corner which means,

sun + beach + swimsuit = oh dear lord.

I found this adorable dress at Target today that I plan on wearing to one of these occasions, and I definitely would love to at least look decent in it.

Speaking of Target, I saw this bike there today and my jaw hit the floor. It is by Liberty of London and their beach cruisers range in price from $170-$200 at Target. ( That is actually mildly cheap for a beach cruiser since most of the basic ones can easily be found for $300 or more) This bike just cries out to be used along the beach!!

Hope everyone has a good week. Thanks for listening to my mini rant too ;)

Inspiration FUN!

2010-04-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

I found a new blog today that I just looove. You know when you find that one blog that just speaks to you? It has a gazillion DIY projects that just keep you jumping up and down in creatively flowing excitement? Well this is the blog that did it to me.

Introducing Centsational Girl. This blog is soo adorable. I am currently redoing our bedroom, and I have been re-inspired by her post of re-doing her little girl's room into a true blue surfer/shabby chic room.

I just loove this room, and she got those awesome frames on the wall from Aaron Brothers from their 1 cent after Christmas sale. How awesome is that?
_________________

I love the colors of light blues, silvers, and the mix of metallic grays that make up this room. I'm heading out to Ikea tonight, so hopefully I can get some cute finds to help me with my ideas.

Oh and btw, those awesome striped curtains are from Target. Perfect huh?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! And stop by Centsational Girl for some more cute DIY projects and to see all of the other cute things she has thought up for some inspiration of your own :)

My Heart Belongs To ...

2010-04-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Beasley's "Hollywood's Favorite Bakery"

Oh, and a bunch of candy too....

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2010-03-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have two homes in my life: the first is in Seal Beach where my husband and I live. My second home is in Arizona, where my mom and brother live. Even though it isn't the home I grew up in I can still go there and feel like it's a perfect fit. I automatically want to go play with the animals in the back yard, curl up on the couch, or go jump onto my brother's bed and annoy him.

The hubby and I have started a new tradition by going to Arizona for the Dodger Spring Training games. One, this is amazing because we get to see the Dodgers play up close. Two, this is amazing because it gives me an excuse to go see my family. Wooo!

So, this last weekend we took some days off from work and began the 6 hour drive out to the desert and began our adventure :)

First, some dinner at our favorite place. P.F. Changs!! (Their 5 spice appetizer ribs are to die for)

(our friend Nick, the hubby, me, and my brother Nolan)

The next morning, we hit up the Dodger game! Here is the picture took of my favorite guy, Casey Blake.

That evening the boys went to go watch the UFC game at a local bar, and I decided to go out with my mom and brother instead. We went to the Scottsdale mall (SO gorgeous) and went to our favorite stores, Anthropologie and Sephora

The next day we went on a fun family bike ride on the golf course. I'm such a sucker for fun activities like these, too bad I can't just get myself to do them more often.

The rest of the weekend was so wonderful. We went to our first WalMart super center. Holy cow. Nick, Kevin and I all squeezed into the guest room and slept on the floor and couch, and it was probably the most fun i've had in a long time. We were like little kids: we couldn't shut up and my mom even had to come in on Sunday night and tell us to shush so my brother could sleep in the next room. We were cracking up and my mom could barely tell us to shut up without laughing herself.

My mom and I gardened too! (Like I said, I love all of these little activities ) One of the things I look forward to in my future is to have my own garden. Sweet peas, snap dragons, daisies, tulips, morning glory, you name it I'll have it.

(This has to be my favorite photo of our family dog Dinky. He was so happy to be helping with the gardening and it looks like he is even smiling! Haha he is so cute)

Welcome Spring!!

2010-03-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

I've been terribly awful at keeping my blog up and going .... eek I'm sorry! But on the good side, the end of this week brings a fun trip to Arizona to visit my family and catch a Dodger baseball spring training game! And, after that, it is spring break next week for me and I plan on fixing up our apartment. I got the go ahead to paint our room and re-paint the bathroom (the previous occupant did a terrible job with the paint) so I hope to have fun and post some good pictures.

Off I go to get some sleep!

Every Woman

2010-03-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

Every Woman Should Have

Enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to.

Something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams, wants to see her in an hour.

A youth she's content to leave behind.

A past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age.

A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

One friend who always makes her laugh...

...and one who lets her cry.

A good piece of furniture, not previously owned by anyone else in her family.

Eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal that will make her guests feel honored.

A feeling of control over her destiny.

Every Woman Should Know

How to fall in love without losing herself.

How to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

When to try harder...and when to walk away.

That she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents.

That her childhood may not have been perfect...but it's over.

What she would and wouldn't do for love.

How to live alone...even if she doesn't like it.

Whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally.

Where to go when her soul needs soothing; be it to her best friend's kitchen table, or a charming Inn in the woods.

What she can and can't accomplish in a day...a month...a year.

Maya Angelou

Bare Minerals

2010-03-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

First of all, for all of you that know me, you know I love the Bare Minerals collection. I've successfully been able to convert a few friends into using it, and they are now all obsessed. Score!

A few days ago I made a trip to Sephora and found this new little gem:

Mineral Veil Mini Refillable Buffing Brush

I'm in LOVE. First of all, the mineral veil product is a wonder worker. It is a clear powder that is brushed on to your face after you apply your makeup. It gives you a finished, air-brushed look and it even feels good going on. This new little to-go packaging is awesome! It is refillable and can be kept in your purse when you need a little freshening up to do :) It is $26 at Sephora stores, and the fact that it can be refilled constantly makes this piece a must for everyone, it will last forever.

Welcome March

2010-03-03T00:15:00.000-08:00

Today I heard crickets chirping; I looked outside and the sky was blue with white puffy clouds. The air smelled fresh and floral. The clouds made sure they were known in the morning sky, but as soon as they disappeared the smell of the flowers returned and overwhelmed the senses.

welcome

I just love my nephews ...

2010-02-26T00:41:00.000-08:00

I hope that one day my nephews will look back at photos of their birthday parties and say, "Woah! Look how cool my birthday cakes were!!" I remember when I was growing up, my mom used to make me the best birthday cakes and that memory still makes me smile. So hopefully I can pass that feeling onto my two little nephews and they can always smile about it.

This February was Sean's 3rd birthday party and it had the fun theme of Toy Story :D I decided to finally venture out from making cupcakes and try a birthday cake.

Plus, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to make a bunch of Toy Story cupcakes... but that is besides the point.

I know that is my nephew, so obviously I am going to think he is adorable. But seriously, I have never seen a kid with such amazing and adorable expressions!! Ahhh I'm obsessed with this dude
How I made it:

It actually was not that hard to make, but it definitely took a long time.

I just made a funfetti cake (store bought! you need to at least make something easy for yourself) with a vanilla creme cheese frosting, about 2 store bought little tubs.

For the bed, I actually baked a cake inside of a bread loaf pan. I cut it down to a rectangular shape and placed it on top of the main cake.

Here are the fun parts: I went to Michaels Crafts store and bought fondant. They carry it in their cake section in a box, and it is under $5 for a whole bunch. Fondant is actually pretty easy, you just have to think of it as if it's play doh. Fondant comes in a plain white color to begin with, so i just cut away little sections, put them individually into little plastic bags, and put a drop of whatever color I decided into the bags. I closed them up, and just sat there and rolled the fondants around in their baggies until they became the desired color.

For the bed, I just rolled out a rectangular shape for the "mattress" and laid it on top of the bed. Fondant is really easy to mold, and I just played around and shaped it. I used mini cookie cutters for the stars on the mattress, and took a little piece of cake, cut it into a "pillow" and just wrapped white fondant around it. Note: I used some frosting to get the fondant to successfully stick to the cake.

To make the words, I cut the red piece of fondant into a triangle and then just used a frosting writing pen to apply the words.

The most expensive part were the characters. I bought them from K-Mart for about $20 total. I wasn't able to make those out of fondant .... I can only do so much before going crazy :)

The little balls surrounding the cake are malt balls from the store :) Also totally cheap (plus you can eat the rest ;) )

It was really fun experimenting with the fondant. I personally am not a huge fan of the taste of it, but everything else was SO good.

Hope this gives some of you guys some ideas for parties :) Just remember, the little things you do in life make a huge difference in the end. The desserts for the boys' parties are my way of showing them my love for them .... love you two!

P.S. If you ever need ideas for something, Google it. Everyone asks me where I get my ideas from, and I'm just honest and tell them I found it from Google images and tried my best to copy it.

P.S.S. Did you know "Google" is considered a real verb now?

Okay.... I need to go to bed before I keep thinking of things to add. This is what happens at 1am.... eek

Washing allergies away?

2010-02-24T22:31:00.000-08:00

The Mr. and I got maliciously invaded by allergies the last few days. We were doing great, both happy to be done with our colds, and then WHAM ..... can't breath anymore. So off I went to Kaiser to go pick up those lovely allergy medications for us when I quickly became visually surrounded by various types of these ..
The good ol' Neti Pot. If you haven't heard of this contraption, it became increasingly popular about a year or so ago when Oprah had Dr. Oz on her showing raving and ranting about it. He had some studio audience members come up on stage, tilt their heads to the side, and basically pour some water from the pot into one of your nostrils.

Basically, the poor guests looked like this:

scary, huh?

Everything I read about Neti Pots is positive. I seriously don't think I can recall seeing one bad thing about these. They are at health stores, at pharmacys, Targets, etc. and are the new "in" thing when it comes to cleaning out the bad stuff. The good ol' Oprah effect. I never would have guessed that she could get people to consciously pour water into their noses and have it come out the other nostril, only to get everyone to fall madly in love with the product.

Here is my dilemma: I am scared of these things! I just feel like it is so odd that I'm not sure it is worth buying?

I always come up with weird little ideas and fears, over-thinking little things and constantly debating. My first thought is, what happens if you start laughing when you pour it in your nose? Do you start spraying it everywhere like a kid shooting milk out of his nose because of uncontrollable laughter? This is what I always think of when I see these things! I know that probably won't happen, but come on ... haven't you thought the same thing? (Just smile and nod people)

I just don't know if I have the guts to try this out. Then again, I feel so miserable at this point that I will probably give in. Every year around Feb/March I get terrible allergies and they usually turn into infections if I am not careful.

Has anyone else tried these little suckers? How were they?? And if you have laughing stories... please share :) Haha

He is a Good Time Cowboy Casanova

2010-02-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Where have I been ? I don't think I can even put my last few weeks into words that make sense, so I'll just list what has been going on instead:

- sick
-hubby became sick
-hubby got me sick again (don't you love being married?)
-successfully fought off a sinus infection before it became unbearable

-worked usually at 4:30am or 6:30am
-came home from work, napped and "restarted" my day
-school Monday through Thursday from 2-7ish
-came home, relaxed my brain by playing some computer games or catching up on my tv shows
-slept

*constant repeat*

It has been so difficult to get used to this new schedule of mine. For the past eight or so years of my life, I have been a night-owl. Go to bed at 3am? Yep. I was always the closing shift lead at Starbucks, having my hours range from getting home around 11pm to 1:15am, which would then leave wonderful room for sleeping in the next day, and then school in the afternoon before the work shift began all over again.

Now, I am changing everything up. Because I am taking credential courses at school, they are all mostly offered after 2pm and go quite late into the evening; this consequently means I needed to suck it up and finally become an opener at work. I had to some how find a way to accept the fact that my old bedtime of 3am was going to quickly become the time that my alarm would annoyingly buzz next to my ear in hopes of waking me up. This was not a fun realization...

Unfortunately I've become dependent on my naps to get me through my days. I know it probably isn't the healthiest thing to nap constantly so hopefully this will change with time. Then again, gotta do what you gotta do .... right? I also am somewhat addicted to my naps because it gives me an excuse to cuddle with this little dude of mine.
(Please ignore how terrible the photo is ... I think Kevin took that when I was exhausted from a 4:30am until 12:30pm work shift and getting ready for the nap of the day)

************
Onto happier subjects!!!

So I finally began promoting my love for cupcakes. As you have probably seen in the past, I loove experimenting and just having fun baking those precious and tasty things. The fun thing? I actually had an old friend from high school/softball ask me to make her some Valentines cupcakes for her boyfriend. Totally stoked!!

And here are some others that I was experimenting with for Vday

I had so much fun doing those. I just figured ... why the heck not, you know? I think there are so many little things that we do everyday that we should all do more often. I also began to experiment with cakes and made my nephew Sean a Toy Story cake..... I'll post another update tomorrow with those photos :)

Hope everyone is doing great <3

A Summary of my Week

2010-02-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

A Look Back

2010-02-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

Today while watching The Cake Boss on TLC I began to have a massive craving for cupcakes. This craving then led to thinking about our wedding cupcakes .... which then led to:

Me: "Hubby? Can we get married again?"

Hubby: "...no..."

Darn it.

Needless to say, I am now thinking about our cupcake wedding cake and how much we loved it. For all of my new readers I thought that I would share it with you digitally, unfortunately not in reality..

First off, we went to this amazing cupcakery in Studio City, CA called Big Sugar Bakeshop to taste test our cupcakes. I think we tried about 8 different cupcakes, and besides feeling completely sick afterward, we were in sugar heaven.

The first cupcake that we chose to be in our cake ensemble was their Boston Cream Pie cupcake. Oh my HEAVEN. It is a vanilla cupcake with a vanilla bean pastry cream filling and chocolate ganache. Ammaazzzing

The next one we chose was just a plain chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing; we wanted something that was more simple for the picky eaters :)

And to top it all off? Big Sugar Bakeshop made us a mini cake to go on the top of our ensemble. We chose a vanilla cake with a lemon custard layer inside. Also, SO delicious.

The finished product was more amazing than we expected. Everyone loved being able to come and just grab their cupcake(s) and enjoy.

*Sigh* I miss that day :) It was truly wonderful

Here are the pictures of our wonderful cupcake wedding cake:

Cha - cha - cha - changesss!

2010-01-31T00:03:00.000-08:00

So I changed my layout and colors once again.... I can't resist myself! I am just one of those people that becomes bored really easily: I remember growing up, once I was of age to start decorating my own room and had permission to paint my room, the world changed.

Let's see... age 16. First, there was the light blue paint that quickly enveloped my walls that showcased all of my Abercrombie & Fitch surfing pictures that were taped up onto my wall (I have to admit, looking back this was the best of them all).

Next, I decided that all four walls being a light blue was getting boring. How to fix that? Paint a palm tree on your wall! Seriously? Oh yes.

I can't even remember if my parents knew what I was up to that day. I just remember grabbing the paint cans from the garage and beginning to paint a huge palm tree on the wall. And the best part? I actually drew two coconuts on this tree, a little fantastic finishing touch that pretty much looked hilariously phallic by accident. Oops..

So about a year later, if that, the blue walls became boring once again and I was growing tired of the coconut jokes. I needed a new color that fit my senior year and my new attitude. What color fit that? A royal purple of course. I painted three walls a nice white, and then the wall behind my bed was a nice royal purple that stood out dramatically. It was perfect and was that perfect amount of extra oomph that I was craving.

Unfortunately a few months after that we moved out of our wonderful home. I always wondered what the buyers had thought of that random purple and dramatically gorgeous room... (okay the gorgeous part is a lie, but at 18 years of age, who cares right?)

So anyways, this is all basically a warning of the upcoming color and layout changes this blog will fall victim to. But hey, it is better than being boring right? Oh yes

I now realize I need to go find photos of this palm tree and share it with everyone...

Free goodies for your blog!

2010-01-24T12:07:00.001-08:00

The lovely Shabby Blogs has their new Valentines Day layouts and goodies available, so hop on over and go grab your blog some cute decorations :)

Rainy Day Recipe

2010-01-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

While being stuck inside yesterday during the crazy rainstorm, I became restless and wanted to bake something fun. Why not? :) Rikki Tikki and I were snuggled up most of the day in our blankets and it was time to try and be productive, so here is a fun recipe for you guys to try out on a nice rainy day!

Three Berry Pie

1 cup fresh strawberries, halved
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2-3 tsp fresh lemon juice
cinnamon
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (I used a pre-made crust instead!)

** Note: I personally used frozen berries. Just make sure you let them defrost for about half an hour before using them.
(Only takes about 20 minutes prep time and then 60 minutes cooking time)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar,cornstarch and a splash of cinnamon. Add strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and lemon juice; gently toss until berries are coated.
Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the pastry. Stir berry mixture, and transfer to the crust lined pie plate. I personally made sure to sprinkle a little bit of the white sugar and cornstarch mixture on the crust before pouring the berries inside to help it from making the crust soggy.
Top with second crust, and seal and crimp the edge. The recipe didn't call for it, but I brushed on a egg and water mixture (1 egg + 1/4 cup water) over the top crust before placing it in the oven. It worked out perfectly :)
Place a foil trim over the crust to keep it from burning!
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes when using fresh fruit, 50 minutes for frozen fruit. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden. Cool on wire rack.

and TA-DA!!!
Enjoy your treat!!
And obviously, make sure to top it off with some wonderful vanilla bean ice cream ;)

A Happy Day

2010-01-12T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today is my 26th birthday.
I am wearing glitter eyeshadow and going to Disneyland.
My mom sent me cupcakes in the mail,
I received cards in the mail from other family members,
and I even have over 30 birthday comments on my Facebook.

I am smiling and today is a good day.

A Walk In The Park

2010-01-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Today I went for a glorious walk around my neighborhood and enjoyed the amazing January weather that California is currently having. Seventy degrees and clear blue skies to start off the new year? Um heck yes.

Currently the hubby and I live in the good ol' Orange County bubble. We are renting out a condo in an awesome neighborhood that is full of million dollar homes on one end, and fun shops on the other end: Starbucks, Kohls, Ann Taylor Loft, Target, Peets Coffee, Islands ... need I keep going? So basically whenever I want to go outdoors I have lots of stuff to keep me busy and I love it :)

In my attempt to lose some weight I started my daily walks again. Unfortunately, I didn't get much walking done today...
I ended up turning into a little kid at the park and had way too much fun taking photos and watching parents play catch with their kids.

Whenever I walk around the neighborhood I pick out which house I want, and I just have fun thinking about the future and the day the hubby and I will be actual homeowners. This house was my choice for today. A girl can dream, right?

I loved being able to catch the sun setting on the park and was able to capture it on my camera.

Sometimes I think when you get caught up in the world you just need to literally go for a walk in the park; it just helps settle you down. Parks were places to have fun and be free when we were children, so why can't they be the same now? Heck, I was even trying to get on the swings but the family with their kids wouldn't leave :( Haha

Next time I'm going to find a way to get onto those swings and kick and kick and kick until I get super high in the air and just feel like a kid again ... can you tell swings make me happy?

The end of 2009 in photos

2010-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

After Christmas I headed out to Arizona to visit my family and see my mom and step-dad's new home. We had a nice little Christmas celebration of our own and just had fun relaxing, which is pretty much what a trip to Arizona always consists of. (Oh, and shopping ... lots of shopping). The hubby got to stay home and enjoy the quiet (with the cat of course).

On the drive out, when I got to the Palm Springs area, the clouds were insane! I love it when clouds become huge and billowy, making them even more of a mystery just floating around in the sky.
This year I got some of the best gifts I have ever received. (Wow, don't I just sound superficial). There was just something about this year where everything seemed extra meaningful. I think I am going through that odd phase of trying to *admit* to myself that I'm a grown-up now and it's okay. Who would have thought that would be such a struggle? I'm excited about this upcoming year and being 26 though. Okay, back to those presents ..

My grandmother crocheted this gorgeous ivory blanket. I am a SUCKER for things like this. Family means so much to me, and I don't believe that there is anything much better than a handmade item from family. Thank you for my blanket Grandma !
Isn't is just gorgeous??

And then ... there is this beauty.
My mom bought me this gorgeous and dainty letter 'C' necklace. I don't wear much jewelry, but I am a sucker for little pieces like this. This little thing has not come off at all in the last two weeks ;)

And what did the husband get for me this year? A new iphone!! And not just a normal iphone... the new 3Gs iphone. I am in geek heaven.
Oh, and then there is this photo.

This is a pond near my mom's new home that we stopped at to feed the ducks. So here we are to the left feeding those three guys, and then I look to the right and see the swarm of ducks coming our way. It was the most funny thing.... cause they can't swim that fast but they were all SO determined to get their butts to us and get that food. Thankfully it started to rain right after we took this picture and we took off. That would have been an interesting fight for the bread crumbs...But now, I'm back at our wonderful home and enjoying the quiet before school begins again. And by the way .... 75 degrees and clear on January 5th in California?

I love this place.

2010-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

In this blog, I hope to keep track of my recipes, craft projects, plus all memories big & small.

I started blogging for my family, and along the way I've had so many wonderful people let their presence be known in my little corner of the internet.

I hope that in the future, this will grow into something I can look back on one day and be thankful I had.

So here's to the first diary I ever kept that I didn't freak out and throw away, or delete when life changed in a different direction.