weekend getaway...

last september we headed to the beach house for a weekend getaway - it was filled with Harry Potter, the Grey's Anatomy Game, The Mole (season 1 on dvd), a GREAT book entitled Sarah's Key, lots of coffee with even more creamer, amazing breakfast, some fondue, and one afternoon on the beach with magazines. we looked haagard most of the weekend and took VERY few pictures because they weren't important. enjoying the weekend was.well, this weekend we're headed back and ready for more of The Mole (season 1 on DVD) another round of the Grey's Anatomy Game, Harvest Day including pumpkin carving and caramel apple making, another delicious breakfast, maybe an afternoon at the movies, and of course (since HP 7 part 1 is coming out in only a few weeks) there will be LOTS of sleeping, reading and coffee with even more creamer! OH and this year there will be pictures - and a plethora of them I'm sure! see ya on the flipside (aka. Monday!)

{music of the week} Swell Season

In July, I took my biff Gan to see She & Him at the Hollywood Bowl. It was an absolutely INCREDIBLE concert and we had a BLAST! One of the other bands that played was Swell Season. I FELL IN LOVE. They are incredible musicians and the songs they performed were beautiful and heartfelt and moving. They became an immediate favorite.This week I have been listening to "lies" on repeat - the harmonies are just TOO good. My other favorite song is "falling slowly". I haven't actually ever seen their documentary Once but it is on my MUST SEE list for sure! Hope you catch the obsession - they are SO worth listening to!

my Oxford Best Friend...

last night my Oxford Best Friend came to visit. we realized after chatting it up for several minutes at my house that it has been almost an entire year since we last saw each other. tragic. our last rondeveaux was at cal baptist when our MBAs were finally printed and available for pick up in December of 2009. we are awful. amanda and i bonded over C.S. Lewis discussions, watching a live performance of Shakespear's Much Ado About Nothing outside in the pouring rain while wearing blankets and looking ABSOLUTELY HAAGARD,a trip to the mini-cooper factory to view first hand the financial benefits of utilizing robotics rather than employing individuals, comparing and contrasting the positives and negatives of socialized medicine versus individual health care plans, listening to the ENTIRE audio guide at Stonehenge, drinking RIDICULOUS amounts of tea,spending hours on buses traveling to Blenheim Palace, Winsor Castle, London, Bath, Straford Upon Avon, eating at a variety of questionable locations, LOVING the Mission Burrito , doing a TON of shopping with Ashley (our other Oxford friend), playing lots of games in the evenings in the dorms, and in general just LOVING our time together studying global business management.I think studying abroad may have been one of the richest and most meaningful experiences of my Masters career and gaining an amazing friend through it was DEFINITELY an additional plus! Amanda and I have very different lives - different strengths - dreams - hopes - etc, but it is always a BLAST coming together and reminiscing about our time in Oxford, and sharing our hearts - God did a great thing when He gave us each other! Loveyou Amanda {and i'll ALWAYS love Oxford!}

M is for Minnie!

ok...so these pictures are AWFUL because they are scanned into my computer - but i just had to give you a SNEAK peek of my sweet M as MINNIE...she is probably not going to be super into the whole trick-or-treating thing {she doesn't like ANYTHING SCARY} but she is going to LOVE the candy!!!

costumes on parade...

Today was the Mother's Day Out COSTUME Parade - one of the BEST days to work at Ev. Free. The kids are absolutely darling and the costumes are IMPRESSIVE. This year my favorite was the conductor - his Dad did a GREAT job on that train. So reminiscent of the Sparky Drive In from my childhood days - my Dad always did such a good job making our cardboard cars {and watching adventures in odyssey movies while eating ridiculous amounts of popcorn and hot tomales might have made the experience memorable for me!}My second favorite costume HAS to go to Hannah Montana...she showed up in a BIG way this year. I think there were 3 girls dressed as Hannah altogther {oops, I only got pictures of 2!} but one was DECKED out with a microphone and a plastic guitar! nice! Mom and Dad threw down the CRAZY CASH for that one! Aww tender - this girl's name is even Hannah. How appropriate! Halloween and kiddos...you gotta love it!

web designing, dinner, and ST

Last night my sweet friend Shalina came up from South Orange County so we could work on building her a website...eat a yummy dinner together...and catch up a bit. It was a bit of a whirldwind day for me - I was planning on having Shalina over on Thursday evening but her plans changed last minute {oh the life of an athletic trainer - if they need you @ a game, you must go!} so our dinner plans needed adjusting as well. I ran out at lunch and purchased the necessary items, then went home and threw Italian chicken in the crock pot {how old do I sound right now - I seriously sound like an adult - and I know I am one by age - but it isn't typically true in constitution} then went back to the office. I worked late - then Shalina met me at the office so we could use good ol' inDesign to create the structure and general concept of her page. We worked until about 8:00pm and then gave up. We are far from finished - but we definitely got some good work done. Here is a little sneak peek {this is just the opening page - and obviously NOT in completed form - but it's a taste.}

We went to my house where the Italian chicken was VERY done {it hung out in the crock pot for approximately 7 hours...LONG TIME!} and threw together pignoli couscous and green beans w/slivered almonds to go on the side. DELCIOUS! Truly it was a DELIGHTFUL DINNER! Ina's couscous recipe was a WINNER for sure! {i LOVE ina garten!} All too soon ST needed to get home to her husband and bed was CALLING me so we said goodnight and goodbye until next time. Is there anything better than good friends? I'm convinced they are God's greatest gifts to us while we endure life here on earth. Thanks for being such a great part of life Shalina. iloveyou {and yes, she does read this!}

{music of the week} Imogen Heap

I decided to add a new "segment" to my blog - {music of the week}. i am definitely THAT person - the person that gets HOOKED on a specific song and listens to it on repeat until it almost hurts to hear it. i know. annoying. don't get in my car - almost undoubtedly i will be listening to something on repeatand it will make you want to hurt me...and hurting me while i'm driving - not the BEST idea for your personal safety and life length! ha!

This week the artist is IMOGEN HEAP and i must admit that i'm completely in love. such good listening. my friend Tessa introduced me to them way back in the college days - but only recently did i aquire "ellipse". Little Bird is my favorite song on the cd - there is something eerily enticing about it. enjoy! then go buy the cd! you'll be SO glad you did!

the 77 day COUNTDOWN...

these are our faces of EXCITEMENT.in only 77 days I will be hopping on a plane at LAX with a DREAM to see my sweet Emy Sue

while wearing a cardigan. OH I CANNOT WAIT. Em decided to buy me a plane ticket for Christmas this year - a plane ticket to see The Valley {population 167} and visit her home {whose driveway is OFF the highway! whaaaat!?!?!??!!!}. I'm pretty sure we will be eating at Miguels Mexican Villa and shopping in Branson - the senior citizen entertainment capital of the WORLD! we'll probably eat entire tubs of ben & jerry's ice-cream and watch at least once season of Grey's Anatomy {we WILL NOT have to use the laptop OR a splitter though - that will be a NICE upgrade}. we're hoping that our DEAR teammate michael page will be able to join us too - we're hoping there will be some snow - and we're hoping that we can take our SECOND family christmas picture. we're hoping for SO MANY things - but mostly we're just thankful, and EXCITED, that this holiday season we'll get to see each other - THAT my friends, is the kind of holiday DREAMS are made of !

{and yes, i referenced both Miley Cyrus AND Lizzie McGuirre in this one blog post. i'm impressive. i know!}

house decor MAKEOVER

my roommate Lindsey recently moved out and a lot of the regular household items left with her. so it was time to put my graphic skills to good use and create some cute things to hang on the walls. i've spent plenty of time reading design blogs and wedding blogs and really any other kind of blog to have a feel for what is cute, hip, and trendy - so with my research complete it was time to JUMP to action. these pictures are absolutely horrible (it has been raining NON-STOP and i have officially given up on waiting for a sunny day with good lighting to capture the pictures for this post) but you'll get the general idea - and if we're friends in real life - you should come visit and see it in person!!!this little trio of "love" prints was my first project completed. i had some empty frames in my room that were collecting dust rather than being used, so i quickly measured and created prints to fit. (the yellow love print was spotted on "made by girl" and then i created my own for personal use - if you would like to purchase her version, visit her blog)with that project complete, i moved on to another BLANK wall. i spotted this frame idea on a blog somewhere (i cannot find it for the life of me - i'll keep searching!) and thought FOR SURE i could replicate something close enough for my house. and sure enough, i DID! the candle sconce on the left is a bit too big for the frame, but it's working for now! SO FUN having something a little different on my walls.and of COURSE i needed a little Ina area...so into the basket all her cookbooks went along with a DARLING yellow pitcher (thanks to erin my roommate) a little napkin square spiced that corner table right up - and we're looking cuter by the SECOND!the final area that received my personal attention (on friday night at least) was the dresser in the living room. i brought down a fall flower arrangement and tied a bow on it, then filled an apothecary with buttons and a miniature shopping basket with postcards from my penpal (thanks Gan!). the final touch was the ROYAL typewriter in an aqua that is TO DIE FOR! (thanks again erin for bringing it downstairs - it makes our living room SO happy).

there are still LOTS of projects to finish - we need to make a fouton cover for the UGLY beige but really dirty so it's almost brown fouton and some pillow cases...and we need to hang a few more things on walls...but we're getting there and i'm happy with our progress! YAY for having a cleaner and CUTER house!

a visit from the fam...

last weekend my sweet girl came to visit. my brother and sister-in-law went to see Michael W. Smith in CONCERT in Ontario and since i live nearby - it seemed like a PERFECT opportunity to spend some quality time catching up in my neck of the woods! Kevin, Jamie, and Madeline got to my house around 2:00pm on Saturday afternoon - and even though the weather was somewhat blustery, we headed for the PARK to play on the slide and then grabbed dinner together at Chick-Fil-A (not exactly Madeline's FAVORITE restaurant, but the adults all enjoyed it VERY much! AND it was double day so the meal was CHEAP! awesome!). After dinner it was time for Kevin and Jamie to leave for the concert - so Mgirl and I went inside and watched some tv...we watched Minnie and Dora (SO GLAD i have on demand with my DVR...there is ALWAYS something free in there for the Mgirl to watch!) and then went upstairs for bath time...Madeline is EXCELLENT at swimming like a frog! When she was all clean, we cuddled up and read a few books together and then I tucked her into her Tinkerbelle bed (which is PINK and PURPLE in case you were wondering). Sunday morning we had a BIG breakfast at the table together and then went to Ev. Free for church. It was really fun getting to show my big brother and sister around the campus - they were definitely impressed with the cafe - which felt really good. After church we grabbed lunch at El Cholo (a favorite mexican restaurant in this area) and then they were ON THE ROAD. Madeline wasn't exactly an angel - but it is ALWAYS fun to see her and time with Kevin and Jamie is always wonderful! So thankful for that branch of my family tree and can't wait for the day when our kids are all hanging out and we're double dating, etc. SOMEDAY (right God), someday!

bridesmaid UPDATE..."the dress"

several weeks ago my childhood BEST FRIEND Jennifer Leigh asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding...she decided to go "crafty cute" and made each girl a little dress in her wedding colors including "the question". DARLING. (and yes, i will be saving it FOREVER!) Saturday she and some of the other bridesmaids (there are 12 of us total) went shopping and picked out "the dress" I think it is pretty cute and hopefully it will fit well and be flattering too! I haven't received official confirmation that this IS THE DRESS yet...but as an effort to keep things honest (and divulge totally unimportant details of my everday life on my blog) I thought I'd keep you in the loop. i wonder what kind of shoes we'll be asked to wear...oh well...that is for another post to be entitled, "bridesmaid UPDATE...'the shoes'"

quote worthy...

one of my BEST FRIENDS (i can't help but think of Daniel Tosh when I say that! ha!) gan called me earlier this morning with the most TENDER quote to share. i got a little giddy and felt RIDICULOUSLY special. are you ready for it - this is the type of quote that MUST be recorded by date and time and remembered for all eternity. the backstory: gan went out with a "new friend" (she moved to Nipomo along with her parents a few weeks ago and is trying to settle into a new community, etc.) last night and when she got home her dad asked her what she thought. she said she liked her and they had a good time. nothing too descript but definitely no negatives. his response, "yeah, she's a friend...but she's not a shelly!" AHHHHHhhhhhhhhh! be still my beating heart. i KNEW i loved you marc with a c! and there you have it...the quote for this chapter of my life...i have the BEST friendship with gan and there is a QUOTE to prove it!

happy birthday momsie & popsicle

Last weekend we celebrated both my Mom and Dad (whose birthdays are only 3 days apart) with family dinner @ Carlsbad State Beach. I made a giant Mexican Caesar Salad and brought chips and dip while Kevin and Jamie brought Mexican food and molasses cookies (mom’s FAVORITE!). Julie brought ice-cream and I made dad biscotti so the sweets were in abundance! It was fun to be together as an entire family – it doesn’t happen very often now that “we kids” are all grown up and living our own lives. We almost NEVER take pictures, so I attempted. It was a virtual failure (maybe I could help it out a bit by using photoshop – but I still haven’t attended the webinar – OOPS!) but at least we encapsulated the event. Love you Mom and Dad! Happy Birthday!oh...and just because she is SO stinking cute...

SHE IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!

i just got an email informing me that Ina Garten (one of my very FAVORITE television icons) is GOING TO BE IN CALIFORNIA NEXT MONTH AND I CAN MEET HER!!!!!!!!!! Are you catching the excitement - am I expressing it fully - have i encapsulated it thoroughly?!?!?!???!!! {shalina says when you do the ?!?!?!! thing that means it's yelling text!} truly, i aspire to be like the barefoot contessa when i grow up - and i'm getting a pretty good start at it - my sweet friend gan gave me an AMAZING "ina tray" for Christmas and i have 3 of her cookbooks and although my kitchen is not comprised ENTIRELY of white dishes and silver serveware, my pops of red add just enough of MY PERSONALITY so people don't confuse us. apparently Ina's newest cookbook is going to be released here soon and SANTA MONICA is one of the stops on her book tour. of course, i was preparing myself for disappointment as i browsed the dates and times realizing that most of her availability is in the middle of the day and I WORK PEOPLE. however, IMAGINE my ELATION when I realized the Santa Monica Book Signing Day @ Williams Sonoma which is a VERY HAPPY PLACE in and of itself is Thursday, November 11 - A FURLOUGH DAY PEOPLE! I HAVE THE DAY OFF! it is a dream come true! Gan, pack your BEST ina outfit and GET ON THAT TRAIN - we have a celeb to meet!!!!!

the lifegroup plunge...

this fall i decided to take the proverbial PLUNGE and join a Rock Harbor LIFEGROUP. i am already in a women's bible study and LOVE IT but i thought i might really enjoy interacting in a mixed gender community and one that is comprised predominantly of people my age and or lifestage. so far it has been a great experience! my group {my launch group that is - i guess my actual group might look different...} is AWESOME - we get along well, laugh a LOT, and still walk away having had valuable conversations. it has been a blessing already and it's only been two weeks. last night megan brought these RIDICULOUSLY GOOD pumpkin cupcakes with chocolate chips in them and a chocolate glaze on top. OH MY GOSH. i would like to say that we were ladies while consuming them, but we have personality - so that would be FARSE!yes, I have a feeling i'm going to fit in JUST FINE in this group...and have an ABSOLUTE blast loving the Lord with these ladies! God is SO good!

UPDATING the bridesmaid frame...

i am SICK TO DEATH (not literally because quite obviously I'm still alive) of my bedroom decor. in college i got into the horrendous habit of changing my decor scheme entirely once a year - because i moved in and out of dorms and apartments so frequently. now that i'm an adult - we're reaching that 1 year mark and i'm getting ANTSY for a new view. i have some great ideas for how to revolutionize the entire space (without spending money - i'm out of college now - so i'm POOR! they don't teach you about THAT reality in school!) by use of pictures and prints. first stop: the bridesmaid frame.

years ago i purchased a frame with a LOT of spaces (9 to be exact - but let's be honest, there aren't enough) in hopes of framing pictures of the girls nearest and dearest to my heart. throughout the years the girls included in the frame have changed...and even for those who are STILL holding strong, it was time for a photo update. Anna and Jenny earned their places in the frame when we were LITTLE girls planning our triple wedding...THAT dream isn't going to come true {praise Him from whom all blessings flow} but we were in each other's weddings {or will be respectively} so I say that counts! Sara is my best friend...we met at World Changers in the summer of 2004 and we have been through EVERYTHING together since then. We don't get to spend a lot of time together in person - but she came to visit in June - and we had a BLAST just living life together for a week. Emily Trammell was my WC teammate - and one of the BEST teammates EVER! She came to Cali to visit in April {and there is a rumor of a trip to Missouri in the beginning of 2011} so we needed a photo to encapsulate our time together. she is OBSESSED with the beach - so this one seemed appropriate...until the next visit makes it OUTDATED! Susan is my other World Changers love. She and I met my very first summer on staff...i will never forget our first conversation - in the La Quinta in Alpharetta with Calvin Ho and Rachel Briggs and she was wearing a cowboy hat {she was notorious for that back in the day}. we got to spend a whopping 12 hours together at the beginning of April and I wouldn't have traded those hours for the world. I gave her a small taste of Southern California...and I'm pretty sure it was enough to entice her to come back! Megan has been in the frame since her freshmen year @ CBU when we became great friends. However, our ADULT FRIENDSHIP has made things even SWEETER. she moved to Nipomo in May - so I updated our photo to one from my most recent trip - this is us - at our place - the little creek in Arroyo Grande...that was a PERFECT hour of our lives! Shalina is probably the NEWEST addition to the frame - she and I were roommates for almost a year and then planned her wedding together. She recently became Mrs. Craig Trulgio - but since I have pictures from the wedding {rehearsal dinner to be accurate} already framed in my room, I went for the second best memory - OUR TRIP TO ELLEN! ahhhhh! so great! and we looked GOOD too {even on tv!}

now OBVIOUSLY these are not the ONLY girls who will be bridesmaids - they are just the ones who got updated pictures - the FULL list is LONG and I'm going to get mocked INCESSANTLY when the day comes - but I am SO thankful to have wonderful friends...so the bridesmaid list is {subject to change and pending approval}:

Julie Swope, Jamie Swope, Anna Garcia, Jenny Holden, Sara Linkous, Emily Trammell, Susan Whitley, Megan McAlpine, Shalina Truglio, Rachel Reinert, Rebecca MacKenzie, and Jenny Redmond! We are going to have a GOOD TIME LADIES {when the day comes - until then...it's all just pipe dreams!}

a whole lot of nothing...

I have been SO busy lately and yet still feel like I have done absolutely NOTHING. What is that about? Honestly, it is ridiculous. It’s quite the paradox. SO I decided I would explore – what EXACTLY have I been doing {other than watching tv, because we all know I made a decision LONG ago not to let life interrupt my regularly scheduled programming!}

Monday: worked, went to the store {trader joes is THE store in case you were wondering.}, went to Jenny’s house where I made dump cake {let’s stop there for just a second – dump cake = amazing and so simple it seems like you must have done something wrong in the “preparation” process. I literally bought a bag of frozen mixed berries, dumped (haha pun intended) them into the bottom of my circular corningware dish (I LOVE CORNINGWARE), dumped a box of white cake mix on top, then drizzled a half stick of melted butter on top of that and threw it in the oven for 30-40 minutes. DELISH! Truly, try it – people will be impressed with your MAD COOKING SKILLS even though you have none!} and watched Project Runway. FAVORITE!

Tuesday: worked, held an Ignight tech team planning meeting, then went to Ignight (my women’s Bible Study – and yes I know Ignight is spelled wrong – we think we’re clever). Ps my small group is absolutely HYSTERICAL. I could not love those ladies more!

Wednesday: worked, went to Rock Harbor Fullerton’s LIFEGROUP LAUNCH where I am hoping to plug into a group and become a part of the larger Rock Harbor community.

Thursday: worked, went home and watched tv with my housemate Erin. LOVEHER!

Friday: worked, went to Costco with Rhonda {where I bought these AWESOME half sheet pans – I’m becoming more like Ina Garten everyday!}, watched Date Night with Rhonda and Lindsey and then WENT TO BED {Fridays are always my most exhausted night of the week!}

Saturday: taught ESL in the morning, ran errands, tried to purchase a few birthday gifts, failed miserably, gave up and came home.

Sunday: cleaned my room a bit (it still needs more work but I did make progress!), took a shower, then went to Rock Harbor with Steven and Rebecca in the evening {where I ran into Lauren Bishop and my heart was GLAD}.

Now it is today – Monday – and we’re starting over – so I guess maybe I have been busy…even though I feel like I haven’t done anything. Maybe the key is I haven’t done anything SUPER FUN in a while. Maybe THAT is the problem. Time for some fun. GAN I’m GOING TO NEED YOU FOR THAT!! ps welcome home Gan! Thanks for commenting on all the blog posts I wrote while you were away! You’re just the best like that!

Happy Monday y'all…I’ll try to do something fun…and then blog about it…soonish!