A "Super" Wild weekend.

A weekend oh a weekend. Full of wild animals and then some.

Friday: Worked from home so that I could finally retrieve my car (six freaking days later) and eventually I did. And so far, so good (fingers crossed, knock on wood, throw some salt over my shoulder). After working all day I picked up my cousin Kenji and we went to my brother's frosh/soph basketball game which was an experience in itself. Once Matt got home we all went out to dinner, had some drinks and came home to hang out some more. Twas loverly.

Saturday: Went to breakfast with Kenji while Matt prepared for Sunday. Once Matt got back we picked up my brothers and we all made our way to the zoo!! I was probably the most excited out of everyone because I adore the zoo.

some of my favorite guys!

(my most favoritest is behind the lens)

aw the black bear in the snow, precious.

checking out the giraffes with my brothers.

look at the bebe giraffe!

what a cute and sleepy lion.

and the elephants are hugging! my favorites.

the boys taking a quick break.

the cuteness, oh the cuteness.

Basically tons of cute animals and all sorts of funness with family, my kind of Saturday afternoon. After the zoo we all went to lunch and hung out for a bit before coming home and relaxing and catching up on life for a bit. Our evening plans consisted of trying a new sushi place with my sister and then heading to the Irish bar we found last weekend and played more shuffleboard, woo. All in all, another lovely evening with good times all around.

Sunday: Slept in a bit before walking the Rose Bowl with my mom (gotta prep for that half marathon in May people!). Came home to do some cleaning and Michael Jackson dancing (seriously, The Experience, have you played it yet!?!) before eventually heading over to Matt's dad's house for some Super Bowl BBQing and partying and wine drinking and cheese eating and just yes. Although I could care less about the game and the outcome, I loved hanging with Matt and our friends and all of the ridiculous things that were said were just all sorts of entertaining. Basically a wonderous way to end the weekend.


Oh also, remember that review blog I have? I actually posted something to it. A fabulous book that you should all read, so check it out.


And how was your weekend? Any wild animals or Superbowl mania?




happy monday!

A very Married Christmas!

I mean yes that title is ridiculous and four months (how the heck is it four months already?!?!) later I'm still in awe that we're married and our first married Christmas together was just that, lots of marriedness and family and compromise and drinking and eating and present sharing and just loverly. And if you can believe it I went the whole holiday without taking a single freaking picture (what is wrong with me!?) so I'll keep this briefish since we all know a pictureless post is not nearly as fun to read.

Friday: Christmas Eve! Relaxed a bit in the morning and attempted to make some pancakes (sort of a fail) and Matt and I had our own little Christmas. And I gotta say, Matt did me good this year, he got me a sweater and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and a gorgeous necklace and the B I wanted!

it's a laurel leaf and it is just fabulous.

YAY! Mr. & Mrs. B.

In the afternoon I went to see the Nutcracker with my future sister-in-law. If you recall, I love the Nutcracker. I love it more than I love Wicked and that is saying something. Basically I've been going almost every year since I was about 10 and seeing it just makes me all sorts of happy and Christmassy inside. After the Nutcracker I stopped by my parent's house for a bit to say hi and goodbye and before I knew it it was time to head to Matt's mom's house for presents. It was so fun opening presents with Matt and his brothers and his mom and just yay. After presents we went to dinner at this schnazzy Scottish pub and restaraunt that had carolers and Christmasness all around and it was just loverly. After dinner I came home to a glass of wine and It's A Wonderful Life. My favorite way to end the night.

Saturday: Christmas Day!!! Such a nutty and hectic and fabulous day. It went something like this. Breakfast and presents with my parents. Brunch and presents with Matt's dad and aunt and brothers. Home to relax/nap (me) and play Epic Mickey (Matt). Dessert and Secret Santa gift exchange with my cousins at my aunt and uncle's house. Dinner and Christmasness at the future sister-in-law's family's house. Drinks with some family at our dive bar. Hang out Matt and Bryan. Sleep.

Sunday: Slept in. Relaxed. Had a mini movie marathon (thank you Netflix on demand) which included The Bounty Hunter (eh) and The Duchess (very fascinating). Eventually Matt came home and we went to dinner and then came back and watched The A-Team, then Matt went to bed and I watched Babies (seriously I am a movie fiend).

Monday: I'm working from home this week so my day consisted of watching New York, I Love You, doing some work, meeting Megan for lunch and spending my Barnes and Noble money wisely (weeee books) and continuing my movie marathon, lurve it.

the bottom two were presents and

the top three were my purchases, I can't

wait to read some classics!
*also an update, I've already read Water for Elephants
I asked for it so I can read it again and again, I LOVE it!

Anyhoo how was your holiday weekend? Getting anything fun? Relaxing a lot I hope? Let me know!

happy tuesday!

Merry Christmas!

this year's Christmas card designed by
the oh so fabulous Rachel.
ADORE IT.

It's our first Christmas as a married couple and it's not all that different from Christmases past except that we'll be together the whooole time (weeeee!) and doing the trek from one family to another and I couldn't be happier about it. Christmas is just so much fun and so special and I can't believe it's here already.

Anyhoozits, moving on from the mush (sort of)....I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas full of cider and family and friends and laughs and giggles (wait those are the same, oh well) and ridiculous sweaters and hugs and good food and some presents and lights and corny movies and silly traditions and all sorts of fabulous goodness!





happy weekend!

Happy Wholidays!

First of all, before I even get into my weekendness I have to welcome all my new readers! If you didn't see my tweet, I found out Friday afternoon that I was the Blog of Note on the official Blogger Blog, pretty freaking sweet way to start to my weekend.

Anyhoo moving on, my weekend was all full of holiday and craziness so let's recap shall we:

Friday: After work I headed over to my father-in-law (still so weird to say, haha)'s house for dinner which was loverly. We all hung out for a bit before Matt and I came home for a bit before heading to our local dive bar to meet up with some family. The whole night was just fun with some drinking and hanging out and catching up and laughing and oh how I heart my family.

Saturday: Woke up earlyish to go get our Christmas tree with Matt's dad which was way too much fun. I love getting our tree every year, it's just so official and holiday and yay! After we got our trees we all went out to brunch which was nice. I mean what better way to start off a day of holiday shopping madness than with some mimosas and an omlette (none that I can think of that's for sure!). Afterwards Matt and I were shopping maniacs going on and on and on.

After shopping we came home to decorate the tree! Ah! My favoritest part, listening to Christmas music and decorating, loverly. And I am quite the fan of the final product:

our tree!

all lit up!

Eventually we needed a break and that break came in the form of a dinner date to Cheesecake Factory (seriously I don't know that I've ever had a bad meal there, it's so damn delicious) and a movie date to see the newest Narnia flick (which I loved). Basically twas one ridiculous day followed by some loverliness.

Sunday: Slept in til about eleven (I mean really, can I do that every day) before getting up and at em for another frantic filled day of Christmas shopping. I freaking finished shopping for everyone on my list (including myself, I mean it was pretty much a necessity to own these shoes right?). After shopping Matt and I decided to head on over to Universal Studios to check out Grinchmas and get into the holiday spirit (despite the fact that it was freaking eighty degrees, so so wrong!).

happy wholidays everyone!

a very whoville looking tree.

even the Simpsons are in the holiday spirit.

some whos dancing around

another whotastic tree.

and the Grinch himself even showed up.

the tree in CityWalk was pretty

sweet looking as well.

After Universal we headed on over to the Americana for dinner and just some more Christmasness, seriously I am a sucker for lights and fake snow. The rest of the night was spent starting our Christmas/thank you cards (oh man what a process this is going to be) and watching some shows and just relaxing, loverlyness.

And that was my weekend, whew. And how was yours? Anything Christmassy going on?

happy monday!

A beachy beachy Thanksgiving.

Why hello there friends. Are you as stuffed and exhausted and as happy as I am? I spent the last five days relaxing, not relaxing, drinking, eating, laughing, playing and having all sorts of fun with my oh so large and ridiculously awesome family.

I would try and break down the week by the days but I gotta say it's just a blur of fun and craziness and yeah. So instead I'll give a snippet of what the week looked like: big hugs and laughs and hello family, first sunset (gorgeous!), potluck dinner, lots of wine, Smart Ass, reading, relaxing, puzzle playing, afternoon drinks, Thanksgiving!, more reading, margaritas on the beach, polenta night!, more wine, more fun, family photos, mini golf tournament, last night dinner, turkey contest, awards, drinks, trivial pursuit and lots and lots of love.

So shall we get to some of the pictures:

the first sunset, I could look at this every day.

oh a delicious Thanksgiving meal indeed.

the first generation.

nothing like an afternoon at the beach

with my cousins and margaritas.

Kurt showing off some moves.

Matt and I getting some air time.

Kourtney, Julie and Jason did it a

little bit better.

Matt and I at sunset.

look familiarish?

it's the same place my header pic was taken.

see, I told you my family was big!

Steve cooking up some risotto, yummm!

Matt grilling some sausages.

My dad, Matt, Kyle and Dave,

the winning golf team.

some of the turkey submissions

(mine was the bride and groom at the top,

ridiculous I know, haha, but I got a bonus prize!)

seriously we've got some cute kids in the fam.

adorable right?

Man looking back at these pics I feel drunk, full and happy all over again. I love my family and I love being able to spend so much time with them even if it was freezing (freezing as in like 50s, I'm from SoCal give me a break people, it was chillly!). All in all it was a great time and I can't wait to do it again.

And how was your Thanksgiving weekend??

happy monday!

Things that are loverly.

• Celebrating Thanksgiving with Matt as a married couple (No I am not over this fact yet).

• Going to the beach in November even if it is a high of 56 all week, being near the water is glorious.
• Everything in Oh Hello Friend's etsy store, seriously WANT.
• Spending the holiday with a ridiculous amount of family members and enjoying it all.
• Not working or being on a computer for the rest of this week.
• Wearing scarves (yes I am obsessed).
• Apple cider scented candles (also, obsessed).
• Bloggers that are friends and friends that are friends and just friends all around, you really are the absolute best.
• Celebrating my little brother's 15 birthday today and my sister's 23rd birthday tomorrow, YAY BIRTHDAYS!
• Turquoise rings that are fierce.
• The Pioneer Woman's creamy mashed potatoes. I have been salivating over these since the Throwdown and cannot wait for potatoes tomorrow.

What's loverly for you this week?

Hope you all have a most loverly and wonderous Thanksgiving wherever you are and whoever you spend it with, I am thankful for all of my freaders and friends and family alike, you all rock my socks off and I hope you know it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quite a "Heart"y weekend.

Oh a weekend that was productive, I almost forgot what that was like. I swear I've been sick forever and finally not being confined to the couch was definitely a good thing.

Friday: After work I headed to my father-in-law (god that is still weird to write)'s house to meet up with Matt and our friend Danny and his girlfriend Amanda. After a bit we headed on over to Gus's for dinner and ohmyfreakinggoodness it was delicious. I had a pulled pork tostada and I've decided I could eat that every day and with a sangria on the side, heaven! Pretty much it was a fun night hanging with friends and family and a perfect way to celebrate the end of the week.

Saturday: Despite the morning rain Matt and I had quite the "married day" as I called it and did all sorts of productive things. I bought birthday presents (my sister and brother both have birthdays this week), picked up a library book, printed pictures (yay!) and got some new pajama pants from Victoria's Secret that I pretty much want to live in (I am not even kidding these pants are heavenly!). After shopping I relaxed a bit at home, watched some TV, napped while Matt went to watch some college football. Eventually we were social together and went to Dave and Buster's to celebrate my sister's birthday. That place is pretty ridiculous, fun and tasty food and delicious drinks. All in all it was a fun night of playing games and birthdayness, woo.

Sunday: Relaxed at home for a bit before heading over to the W Hotel in Hollywood with my sister for a day about heart health awareness sponsored by my lovely friends at Nintendo. The afternoon was pretty fun, my fried Megan came as well and Jenn was there and we all played some Wii games and had some tasty snacks. Eventually we had lunch and listened to a panel that shared some facts with us and answered questions, it was actually pretty fascinating. After the panel we played some more Wii, had some delicious fruit and hung out a bit before heading on home.

The rest of the night was spent hanging out before heading to my parent's house for dinner. After dinner was a little birthday shindig for my brother and sister with the family. It's always a good time when my family gets together and Sunday was no different with cake and cider and laughs and ridiculous teenagers.

can't you see the family resemblance, haha?

It was nice to spend some time with the fam and relax and eat sugary foods and just yes.

And that my friends is what I call a productive and loverly kind of weekend, the perfect kind in my mind.

And how was your weekend? Anything fun and wonderful? Staying warm?

happy monday!

To my dad, to the Veterans.

Looking back in my archives I realized that I've never really paid much attention to veteran's day on the blog, which is ridiculous and surprising to say the least. Then again I don't always dive into the serious stuff here but today, today I feel like it, so here we go.

My dad is a veteran.

My dad went to the Gulf War.

If you're friends with me in real life chances are you already know this since anyone that knows me and has met my dad pretty much learns this fact within five minutes of meeting him. My dad has a Veteran sticker on his car, drives an old army jeep around town and most days can be seen wearing some form of fatigues (although I admit, his wardrobe has expanded to non-army wear lately as well, a big improvement, haha).

My dad is full of stories from his time in the army, in the Gulf and I've probably heard all of them, but I always block them out. I was in first grade when my dad left for war and you'd think being that young I wouldn't register anything? But no, I registered it all and remembered it all. My dad missed my birthday, my dad was in harm's way, a place where my dad had been stationed was bombed, I definitely got it and it was scary.

Luckily my dad was only gone a few months and luckily he came home. Not every family is so lucky, I know this and I cherish this. My family was one of the lucky ones. And I admit, sometimes I forget that and take it for granted when my dad shares war stories when really I should just be grateful that he's here to share them at all.

So to my dad, my cousins, my friends and everyone else that is serving or has served our country, today and every day is for you and I thank you.



happy thursday!

Suit up!

Oh hello Monday, I was so not ready for you today I really wasn't, but alas you are here. With that, my weekend was lovely and relaxing and just how I like it.

Friday: After work I came home and Matt informed me that we were dressing up and going out. So I put on one of my favorite dresses, he put on a new suit and we went to a little Italian place in Old Town and had a lovely date night that made me think of our honeymoon. After dinner we came home and hung out for a bit before Jeff came back in his matching suit and we were on our way to our favorite dive bar.

check out those classy dudes.

Clearly we were the classiest kids in the place and it was just funny all around. The rest of the night was spent drinking and laughing and dancing in our seats and just having a good time all around.

Saturday: Had a relaxing morning before getting ready and setting up to have some of my friends over for a little Wii Party Party. Brand About Town was awesome enough to send me the new game and a Dominos gift card along with a remote and a disco ball (so ridiculous but so awesome) to throw a little shin dig to try the game out. So I decided to invite my sister and some of my friends that I hadn't really got to hang out with since my wedding.

my sister kicked ass at this game.

Basically it was a great afternoon. The pizza was delicious, we snacked on popcorn and laughed our way through trying to figure out the games. The mini games were always the funniest as they always had us doing something different and ridiculous and clearly none of us were gamers.

everyone was so focused, clearly we're

a serious bunch when we Wii it out.

We all switched off with the remotes and got sufficient play time and got to talk smack to each other and laugh and it was just a great afternoon all around.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing at home since I was sans drivers license. I even tapped into my sentimental side and watched Phantom of the Opera and definitely found myself getting teary while singing along (sometimes I just don't understand myself, haha). Basically it was a lovely and fun day all around.

Sunday: Slept in a bit before relaxing some more and finishing up season 4 of Dexter (I mean, just no. What am I going to watch now?!?) and sleeping and playing the Sims (clearly I have an addiction, along with a new addiction to ramen and cup of noodle but that's another post for another day, haha). There was a small break from not being a recluse where I went walking with my mom (yeah we're doing the half marathon again in February so I should probably get back on the walking wagon) and then came home and relaxed some more watching football with Matt and reading and swooon to Sundays sometimes.

And how was your weekend? Did the time change totally eff up your sleep schedule too? Do you cry at musicals/operas too or is it just me?

happy monday!

*Brand About Town provided me with all the Wii Party goodies but didn't ask me to write about it or pay me, so FTC all of the thoughts and comments are my own because clearly it was a bad ass time*

The luck of the pumpkin.

Well hello November, how you doing? Got lots of fun things in store for me I hope? Because that would be fabulous.

Anyways October was pretty grand and I'd say we ended it the best way we could with lots of pumpkins and friends and drinks and just good times all around:

Thursday: After work me, Matt and Jeff made our way to a local pumpkin patch and got ourselves some beauties! And clearly the boys had a good time with it:

Matt and Jeff having quite a good time

at the pumpkin patch.

Afterwards we took our pumpkins to my parents' house and had some pizza, sort of watched some Hocus Pocus (remember, I LOVE this movie) and did some carving with the family and friends.

my sister and brother

doing some dirty work.

Andrew and Jess getting in

on the goo as well.

our finished products. quite the display.

Friday: I took the day off of work to play tour guide to my friend from Germany, Daniela and her friend Susie. Ten years ago I was an exchange student and stayed with Daniela and her family in Germany for two months and we've kept in contact through emails and letters since then and Friday was the first time we'd seen each other since. It was just so fun to catch up and reminisce and show the girls my city.

the Harry Potter kids at

Grauhman's Chinese theater, tre cute.

the view of the beach from the ferris wheel.

me and the husband, twas a bit windy, clearly.

Daniela enjoying the ride as well.

We did the Hollywood walk of fame and that whole area and the beach and then went out to dinner and grabbed drinks at their hotel and just had a grand ole Southern California touristy fabulous day.

Saturday: I took the girls to Universal Studios which was quite fun, I adore that place. The weather held out for us which was great and it was nice weather to be outside and go to shows and the rides and just walk around.

me and Daniela at Universal Studios.

Afterwards I took the girls to get cupcakes because I mean CUPCAKES people and oh were they delicious. Once we got back to our apartment I said farewell to Daniela and Susie with hopes that it wouldn't be ten years until we saw each other again.

Later that night we decided to have a few friends over to celebrate Halloween and hang out and it was just a loverly time all around if I do say so myself.

our lovely yard display.

I'm a rainbow and Matt's the leprechaun,

man we're ridiculous, haha.

Pat and Nick staring longingly into each other's

eyes, clearly Timithie was the odd woman out, haha.

Kourtney and Andrew looking fantastic.

It was a pretty low key night but it was never short on laughs and good conversation and a good time all around, I adore Halloween.

Sunday: Happy Halloweeeeen! My treat to myself? Sleeping in until noon, haha. No really, I did and it was glorious. Eventually Matt and I made our way over to Nick and Timithie's house for some pumpkin carving fun and Halloweenness. The rest of our day was spent relaxing and TV watching and blogging (or me of course) and drinking wine and just loverliness, my kind of Halloween.

And how was your Halloween? Any pumpkins or costumes or candy eating?

happy monday!