M.I.A.

I've been M.I.A. I've actually missed writing a bit, but I've been out and about doing SUPER fun things with my beau. One thing I've been struggling with is what to share and what not to share on here. Some things should obviously be kept private, but where do I mark the boundaries? I was originally going to give you a play by play of all of the fun things we did, but somewhere along the line I realized that a lot of it I didn't want to blurt out and spew all over the internet...we had fun on our many excursions around the Bay, but the moments within each trip were what I wanted to keep private, so here's a brief glimpse of what we did while he was here.

A week and a half ago last Thursday, my beau surprised me at work. He told me his flight was coming in around six that evening, but instead he arrived at my place of business with red suitcase in tow. I was so surprised I actually shed some tears of joy. It's hard to surprise me, as I usually find out somehow before, but he did it! From that point on we were virtually inseparable for the remainder of his trip here. I did have to work the following Wednesday, but luckily my boss let me go after a few hours (I was incredibly grateful and relieved since it was our last day together).

So what did we do while we he was here???

Friday ~ The Winchester Mystery House

I had been to the house once years ago, but this was his first glimpse at the "haunted" house. The hour-long tour was filled with cackling from our tour guide and endless twists and turns on shallow stairs with beautiful detailing within each room. Mrs. Winchester was a woman who was ahead of her time in terms of the technology in her home...she also had the money to be able to afford such luxuries. 

Such an interesting place to visit! 

Saturday ~ Kels' Wedding

Saturday we ventured out to Santa Cruz for my friend Kelsey's wedding. The ceremony was at Mt. Herman, a church retreat location that we used to go to when we were younger. The chapel was quaint and simply decorated and the ceremony was beautiful...even with the little mishaps that made it even more special. The reception couldn't have been better. I was so thankful that we were sitting across from Nathan and his girlfriend Janet because they were awesome and made the night even more fun! I even got to dance with my man...a highlight of my night. All in all, Kelsey was a beautiful bride in her Sweet Home Alabama veil and glittery blue Toms shoes that she changed into for the reception. 

The beautiful bride

Sunday ~ Santa Cruz & Dinner with the Family

 The night of the wedding we stayed at my boss' condo in Santa Cruz. It was so nice to not have to pay for a hotel or worry about driving back home. So, when we woke up Sunday morning, we decided to make the most of our time and walked around downtown SC for a bit. I was wearing a sweatshirt from my alma mater which prompted the only other person on the street to stop us and tell us that he was from that city! It was odd that we would run into someone who was originally from there when we're so far away! From there we had two mediocre cups of coffee and then he bought us a couple of Santa Cruz sweatshirts. Super cozy!

After we were done playing in SC, we cruised over to my parents' house for dinner. We sipped on margaritas and nibbled on chips and salsa and guacamole while my mom cooked up a fabulous fajita dinner with beans and rice from our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was glorious! My beau got to spend a little more time with my kooky family and they got to spend a little more time with him. He met my seester for the first time and also the infamous Pocket Nana. It was a great evening and everything went smoothly and perfectly. My seester even gave me her seal of approval and she's one tough cookie!

Monday ~ Muir Woods and Marin Headlands

Sometimes it amazes me how I live in this place, but never seem to know all about it. I suppose at some point in time I had heard of Muir Woods, but until my man brought it up, I may as well have never heard of it at all! Apparently Muir Woods attracts nearly one million visitors every single year, so we made sure to get there early enough to get a close parking spot. The place was gorgeous and we had a fantastic time sauntering through the redwoods. 

~ Sauntering ~
(taken with my film camera)

The photos we took don't even BEGIN to do these trees any justice

Before we left the area, we made a pit stop over to the Marin headlands to get a closer look at the Golden Gate Bridge and check out the scenery. It was a gorgeous day with just a hint of fog rolling in.

Another film photo

Tuesday ~ San Francisco Giants Game

Tuesday we went to San Francisco because my love had never been to AT&T Park. It was a spur of the moment trip and the perfect opportunity to snag some tickets on Stubhub at HALF price. Bonus! After enjoying a pre game pint at a local pub, we continued on our way to the stadium. 6 innings, two hotdogs a piece, peanuts, a shared Coke, and a new ball cap later, we headed back to the BART station and took the train home. It was truly a lovely day. 

AT&T Park 

Inside the stadium

Wednesday ~ A Whole Lotta Relaxin'
After being let off of work early, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing a whole lot of nothing. We ordered Chinese food for dinner and watched Hachi: A Dog's Tale which made me cry a whole bucket of tears. I get a little sentimental about animal movies and the fact that my beau was leaving the very next morning certainly didn't help cease the tears any. The movie was touching and it was a great story, but probably not the best when I was already emotional because he was leaving soon.

After a full week of fun, I ended our time by being terribly sick. Thursday and Friday at work were absolutely awful, but I made it through somehow! I spent this past weekend doing nothing more than lounging on the couch, watching TV, and sleeping in as much as I could. Unfortunately because of that I was unable to go to the Niles Flea Market! I've been looking forward to it ALL summer. C'est la vie! There's always next year.

Despite being sick and missing the flea market, I wouldn't change a single moment of the time I had with my beau. Our time together is few and far between and I cherish every moment we have when we're together.

xoxox
kk

StyleMint

I wrote about Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's new fashion venture, StyleMint, over at Kate and Emma's about a week ago. There I explained the whole process and what you can expect each month. I was really excited to receive my new T's, and I finally got them after a whole debacle with USPS and my INCOMPETENT mail carrier. My INCOMPETENT mail carrier delivered them to the wrong address, which ultimately resulted in the recipient writing "RETURN TO SENDER WRONG ADDRESS" and me not receiving my parcel. This isn't the first time it happened (he also failed to deliver my glasses the first time around...he is INCOMPETENT), so I went down to the post office and stopped my mail because I had another parcel on the way and I didn't want my INCOMPETENT mail carrier to mis-deliver the order AGAIN and I also I contacted StyleMint customer service.

***Side Note***

Stacie at StyleMint was super quick to remedy the situation (they gave me a credit and a new T). She was a DREAM to work with and I appreciated all of her hard work to help fix things. She was so sweet! Customer service reps around the world should take note and emulate her!  

******

Somewhere along the way, with the StyleMint parcel being taken back to the post office, but before it made it to Bell Gardens, it was somehow held with the other mail that I stopped. So then I had to contact StyleMint again to thank them for everything, but by some act of God, I received my items. Whew. 

All in all, I'm happy this is whole mess was taken care of. I know that the only reason I was even able to receive the package at all was because I went in and stopped my mail the day after my package didn't come. At least now I've learned my lesson...NEVER have parcels delivered to my home...they may never get there.

Now on to more important things...like my T's!

The proof that my mail carrier is INCOMPETENT

The sizable pale pink denim bag I received as a gift! 

How the shirts were wrapped inside...
simple brown craft paper with a colored leather cord and a StyleMint sticker

The Melrose in Navy Blue (July 2011)

The Abbot Kinney in Cabernet (August 2011)

The note inside

I've already worn the Abbot Kinney (LOVED it) and will be wearing the Melrose sometime this weekend most likely. The T's are so so soft and fit perfectly. Hopefully they wash up well, too! Can't wait to see what is in store next month!

xoxox

kk

Snail Mail

Is there anything better than snail mail? Okay, I can think of a few things that are better, but snail mail sure beats out an email any day! That said, have you heard of Snail Mail My Email? I hadn't until this morning when I received a letter from my San Diego bestie! There wasn't a return address on the envelope and the handwriting was so perfect I actually thought it was printed out from a printer, but it wasn't!

Sorry...I had to edit out the address

I opened the envelope and inside was a handwritten note with a drawing of a bee (that's our thing) and a little note from her. Even though it wasn't her handwriting personally, it was super cute and a very sweet gesture!

This definitely made me smile and made my Monday start off right

Unfortunately, today is the last day to use Snail Mail My Email, but you may still want to check it out! It has been a month-long community art project with volunteers from all around the world participating in it. 

I did take a photo with my snail mail and I posted it on facebook!

Even if you don't have them send out a letter, check out the gallery still because there are some really creative ones on there!

xoxox

kk

Simple Pleasures

Happy Friday!!!

These simple pleasures have gotten me through this week and I am so grateful for that!

DINNER WITH VINTAGE HAY

Hayley (from Vintage Hay) and I finally had dinner! Once again it's been TOO long since we last got together and we both had so much to catch up on! I enjoyed our relaxing evening of Mexican food (I'm pretty sure it's a tradition at this point) and TV watching. She even introduced me to a new show! Yay! 

SECRETS FROM A STYLIST

Building on the last simple pleasure is the show Hayley introduced me to...Secrets from a Stylist. I instantly loved this show. I can't stop talking about it! I have seen loads of HGTV shows, but because this one airs on Saturdays, I'm pretty sure that's why I've missed it. I definitely have some catching up to do with it, but I'm so glad I got to see it! Emily Henderson is great at what she does and it seems like she's always dressed so stylishly! It definitely inspires me to go do some thrifting and make a unique space for myself.

MANI-PEDI

On Tuesday I treated myself to an at home mani-pedi using the Raise A Glass shade by Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I fell in LOVE with this color. Unfortunately, because I'm rough on my nails, it hasn't lasted as long as I would have liked and they started chipping almost immediately (though my toes are sporting it well still). I'd show you the true photo of my nails, but no one really likes to see chipped nail polish...am I right?? I've been scouring the web for a liquid nail polish that is similar so I can wear this color more often! So far I've compiled a list of similar champagne shades by OPI, Essie, and also a couple that might work from Sally Hansen. I wish they had an exact liquid version of Raise a Glass because I'm dying to fix these nails of mine! In the meantime, I'm still enjoying this gorgeous color. It's neutral, a little metallic, and I cannot get enough of it! 

Well, I hope you all find something to appreciate over the next week! It isn't too hard to do when you focus on the simple pleasures in life!

xoxox

kk

Dog Days of Summer

Yesterday we had an unexpected visitor at work. A VERY cute, unexpected visitor. I called him "Buddy" because that's my go to nickname for male dogs, and wouldn't you know, his name was actually "Buddy"? I know, I'm psychic sometimes. Anyway, I obtained Buddy for the early part of the afternoon after a coworker of mine spotted him running in the street. He was calling him over and I was outside by the time the dog came over to him. I noticed he had a collar, so I gave my coworker the number and he called and left a voicemail for the owner.

We put him in the break room so he was out of the sun, but the little stinker somehow escaped and went prancing across the lawn! I ran after him once I found out and decided it was best to keep him inside with me since the owner called back and said he'd be there in twenty minutes. After a couple of hours, I called the owner because I was worried he was never going to pick up his dog! Buddy was a cutie pie and I certainly wanted to take him home with me since he was lying in my lap nearly the entire time, but he would've been missed at home (and he would've needed his meds for epilepsy)! Not ten minutes later, I see the owner open his front door and walk over to the office. Apparently he had been home for over an hour trying to fix the problem (Buddy dug under the fence), but what I didn't understand was why he couldn't have left Buddy in the house while he did it. Regardless, I was happy to have a friendly pup hanging around and once the owner came by he seemed grateful for us caring for Buddy for a while. 

This just solidifies the fact that I NEED A DOG! My beau offered to share his dog with me, but he's so far away right now that it doesn't really help at the moment...even though the timing just isn't right for me to have a dog right now, I know someday it will be! 

xoxox

kk

A Delayed Weekend Recaptured.

I know Monday has come and gone and that's usually the time to reflect on the weekend, but I was feeling extremely unmotivated to write so, I'm recapping the details of my weekend today!

Friday night was a WILD night. I spent the night at my Nana's house and let me tell you, Pocket Nana knows how to PARTY! Okay, so we didn't have a rager, but we did spent hours talking. The TV was never turned on and we got to catch up and talk about everything and nothing all at the same time. We talked for an hour when I got there, went out and had pizza for dinner, and then went back to her house where we continued talking for several more hours. We turned in fairly early (10PM) and then woke up and went out to breakfast. All in all, a perfect Friday evening and a great way to start off my Saturday morning. Not to mention that the guest room bed has the SOFTEST sheets. I sort of want to sleep over every night because the bed is so amazing! It's just a bonus though in comparison to spending time with Pocket Nana.

Not the photo from Friday night, but one of my favorites
because she was being so silly with the helmet on her head!

Saturday was the Fremont Arts and Wine Festival...or rather the Fremont Festival of the Arts. Stupid name change. I go pretty much every summer even though there's generally the same stuff year after year. My seester and I walked around for a couple of hours and sipped on some mediocre lemonade while we perused the booths. I found a really cute purse, but at $300 it wasn't really speaking to me that loudly, especially once I noticed that a lot of the latches were crooked. Tsk tsk! So besides the 2 for $5 lemonades, we didn't actually buy anything. Fast forward to our mall trip and that's where we spent some cash. She bought a couple of new things (like the dress I picked out for her!) and then we splurged on some accessories at Forever 21. You really cannot go wrong with their accessories. When some items are as little as $1.50, it's hard to say no to any of them! I bought several necklaces and also a new brown belt which didn't break the bank! All in all I'm pleased with my purchases...here are a few of the items:

Harmonica Pendant Necklace in Cream and Gold ~ $1.50

Police Whistle in Gold ~ $4.80

Layered Boho Necklace ~ $7.80

Heart Pendant Necklace ~ $1.50

Stitched Leatherette Stretch Belt in Brown ~ $6.80

This is one of the rings my seester bought while we were there. This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice though. It is far prettier in person and I'm tempted to go back and buy one for myself! 

Damask Knuckle Ring ~ $5.80

I ended my evening by making a HUGE mess out of my closet in an attempt to make it neat and tidy. I haven't gone back in to fix the damage yet, but I will over the course of this week. I should have bitten the bullet and finished on Sunday, but I was feeling lazy and spent the day watching TV, photographing my hummingbirds, and doing laundry before my seester stopped over. Armed with a couple of pints of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, she was able to dispel my grumpy mood and when she left I was back to myself again.

Now that it's Tuesday, I'm anxious for the weekend already...is that bad?? One thing I'm looking forward to today is my hair appointment with Bonne! Perfect timing since I'll be going to Kels' wedding in less than two weeks! Woohoo!

xoxox

kk

Simple Pleasures

Happy Friday everyone! 

Here are some things I've been enjoying recently and are thankful for. 

ART 

A friend of mine posted a link on facebook of a time-lapse video of LA by Colin Rich. Seems that most time-lapse videos tend to be of NYC, so this was refreshing to see. It was extremely well done and the music was perfect. Check it out. It makes LA look beautiful.

 NEW READERS

Earlier this week, a girl I didn't know commented on my blog! I love knowing that there are people out there that are potentially reading my blog without me really knowing about it! So thank you Erica for your comment! And now I know about her blog, too! Woohoo!

SILLY PHOTOS

Last week my mom and I were being silly and were utilizing Photo Booth on my computer. Needless to say we were in stitches and tears because the results were positively hysterical. It was a much needed laugh for the both of us and certainly not something I will forget anytime soon. There are a few in particular which still have not failed to make me laugh even when I'm sad, mad, or grumpy...a difficult feat! I won't post the ones of us, but I will post the one I e-mailed to my mom that kicked off the whole thing...a photo of me in the "Space Alien" effect. 

I am so grateful for the many positive things going on in my life right now. Life isn't perfect, but I'm trying to remember that I shouldn't sweat the small stuff and it's often the little things in life that bring the most happiness.

Have a safe weekend everyone!

xoxox
kk

warm-comfy-cozy

It doesn't always happen, but it when it does, I never want to get out of bed. Of course those are the days when I HAVE to get out of bed because of work or some other obligation. This morning was one of those mornings. I found it in my sleep and woke up in the warm-comfy-cozy spot in my bed. You know what I'm talking about, even if you have another name for it. It's that spot in your bed that is perfect. It's warm, comfy, and cozy. Your pillow is in the perfect position and your body and the bed may as well be one and the same. It's like heaven. It's the ideal way to wake up and the ideal way to fall back asleep for a few more hours. This is what caused me to stay in bed for an extra hour instead of getting up and starting my day early. I almost always allow for an extra hour, just in case, for occasions such as this, or if I'm too tired and need a few more rounds of hitting the snooze button. This morning, I was all nestled beneath the sheets and hugging my pillow. I wasn't too hot or too cold, it was purrrrfect. I was dreading my work day. I was even dreading getting my morning cup of joe, but I got it, and somehow I managed to make it to work on time.

If I'm lucky, I'll find the warm-comfy-cozy spot again tomorrow morning...one can only hope.

xoxox

kk

Weekend Recaptured.

My weekend was part work, part pleasure. I spent Saturday working at the Harley Dealership. They were having free demo rides of the 2012 bikes coming out and needed some extra help checking people in who were interested in riding, so I said I'd help out. It was actually pretty fun and the day practically flew by. By the end of the day my feet were a little tired, but overall it was a great day.

Sunday, my seester and I went hiking at Sunol. 

We really had a great time...it was nice to have some seester bonding time! We went down to Little Yosemite, took some pictures, and got our feet wet before more people showed up to where we were. I brought my manual focus SLR camera (*gasp* do people even USE film anymore??) and not my digital camera. I have temporarily misplaced my digital photo taker, so I thought it would be fun to put my old-fashioned camera to good use! I haven't used it in ages, and I've never even gotten the film developed from the times I've used it before (typical), so I don't even know if it takes decent photos, but I thought, "What the heck?" and brought it with me.

This is a photo my sis took of me taking a picture of a really cool slug.

Once more people started showing up we took off and went up another trail to a lookout point I had never been before. It was great. We could see Little Yosemite from where we were, the trail we hiked to get there, and the hills went on for days. It was a great place to have lunch and just enjoy the great outdoors. Our lunch was exactly what I wanted...PB&J's, Granny Smith apples, fruit snacks, and jalapeño Cheez-Its. All that was missing was the juice box! Once we were done with lunch we took a few more photos and then I decided I wanted to put in a new role of film. That's when I realized that the film didn't feed through and all of those great pictures I took never happened. Needless to say I was super bummed. SUPER BUMMED. My sis was really great though and even offered to go back so I could take some more. I declined. I was getting tired from the sun and my heart just wasn't really in it. Again, super bummed.

I did perk up towards the end, but I was disappointed that I'd never get to see that awesome slug or the photo of the shoes which probably would have looked something like this...

I'm glad my seester had a backup and brought her digital camera because then we wouldn't have gotten this photo of us that a stranger happily took for us.

I can't wait to go back again soon while the weather is still nice. Next time I'm definitely wearing shorts because I ended up with a pesky little shin tan line. Not a big deal because it wasn't that bad, but I won't be doing that again while it's still summer! I'm also regretting not spending any time in the sun so far this season because I got a bit of a burn on my shoulders. It's my own fault for not liking to wear sunscreen!

Anyway, I'm really grateful I had the opportunity to spend time with my seester this past weekend. I think we both needed to get out and spend time outdoors and I'm glad we did.

xoxox

kk

Fall Down, Get Back Up

Welcome August.

It's nice of your to join us, although I'm not quite sure I am ready for you to be here just yet. Since you are here though, you might as well stay a while. I thought we would start your month off on the right foot, but I guess there were other plans in store for me. Turns out I began your month (on a Monday no less) on the wrong foot. So much on the wrong foot that it caused me to come crashing down onto both knees. Luckily the cement sidewalk broke my fall. It's funny how everything seemed to occur in slow motion. The slip of a foot, the juggling of the drinks (one of which literally jumped out of the tray), the graceful plummeting to my knees, the warm caramel macchiato splashing onto the cement and racing towards my clean jeans, the lightning fast return to standing position, the shocked look on my face of "Did that really just happen?", only to snap back into real time as soon as a regular popped his head out of the door to see if I was okay.

My bruised knees complimented my embarrassed face as I somehow managed to hold it together. Even though I knew the tears were on the horizon, I was calm and poised on the exterior, while the interior was a whole mess of chaos and emotion. I let a few tears go when I was at work because the second I saw my mom she knew something was wrong. Even if the wet jeans were a dead give away. All in all, I'm okay, but August, this really wasn't the way I wanted to start my day, week, or month. Since I can't change the past, I'll just keep looking up and keep looking forward to the next thirty days. I fell down and I got back up. This month can only improve from here and I have plenty of things to look forward to.

xoxox

kk