Archives for May 2012

12 changes: May review

May 31, 2012 filed under: 12 in 2012, goals

As you might recall, for May, I decided to spend some time on decluttering my home. I have to admit, May was a little busy – especially the weekends – and therefore I didn’t get quite as much done as I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I made some progress.

Look at the difference I made on this table! I filed a whole bunch of bills, receipts, statements and other paperwork that you need to keep organized and also cleared up almost half of the table top. There is still some work to do (I am thinking I have to come up with some sort of organizational system, some extra boxes, shelves or something), but there is actually some space on the table that I can use for something else than just piling stuff.
I really want to turn this into my crafting table, where I can just sit – do stuff – walk away – come back – keep working. I wish I had a spare room for that (because obviously it’s not a very organized sight when your crafting table is in the dining room, but oh well, you gotta work with the space that you have).

I haven’t really gotten around to cleaning out my dresser/closet, so I guess that this will be a goal for another month (not June).

How did May go for you? Did you achieve your goal?

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Come join us over at 12 changes in 2012

Anniversary trip to Napa

May 29, 2012 filed under: love, marriage, photography

I don’t know how this topic came up, but a couple of weeks ago I asked J if he had been to the Old Faithful Geyser and he said “isn’t that the one in Yellow Stone NP? No, I haven’t been there”. I knew that there was a geyser in Yellow Stone NP, but I meant the one ‘in our backyard’, the one in Calistoga, CA. When J told me that he had never been to the that one either, I instantly knew where I wanted to go for our anniversary. I mean, I – science geek that I am – have been there (only) twice, but I made sure to take my parents and Basti there last summer. To think that I had never taken a trip there with J seemed, somewhat, impossible.

The geyser is one of three geysers in the world with the designation “old faithful”, which means that they perform at regular intervals. About every 15 minutes, there is an eruption of steam and scalding water spraying 60 to 100 feet in the air. The eruptions are recorded and monitored and a change in the eruption pattern usually foreshadows an earthquake. The eruptions last about 5 minutes and it’s a really fun thing to watch. I mean, it’s like a show put on by mother nature, you know?

It was a really beautiful day and there were a lot of people out and about (naturally). We had fun driving through St. Helena, a little town in the heart of Napa Valley. Well, and there is also this:

I know, right? That store alone is a reason to drive out to Napa. So, you can imagine, J was easily convinced to spend our anniversary there.

I think we spent at least an hour at Dean & DeLuca. J and I love good food, we enjoy shopping for good food and they have hands-down the best selection of Italian meats, antipasti and cheese. Also, coffee.

After leaving a substantial amount of money at this store (and we could have spent more!), we headed out to a picnic spot with iced coffee, baguette, salami and proscutto, cheese, antipasti and drinks. Best anniversary dinner ever – if you ask me. And we had a beautiful view. Can’t beat that.

We were lucky that our anniversary fell on the long weekend this year and we’re also very lucky that we live so close to awesome destinations here in California. It was nice to spend a day in wine country (without drinking wine, mind you!) and still have another day to hang out together.

Did you do anything fun this Memorial Day weekend?

What we’ve learned

May 28, 2012 filed under: about me, marriage, nostalgia

Yesterday was J’s and my anniversary. I can’t believe we’ve been married for 6 years. Sometimes, it feels like we just got married yesterday, in many ways it seems much, much longer than 6 years. We took a little day trip to wine country (hooray! More on that later!) and just enjoyed some quality time together.

Inspired by these posts of two other bloggers, I decided to do a similar post about the stuff we’ve learned in 6 years of marriage.

There is a German saying that pretty much sums up life (in general):

Erstens kommt es anders und zweitens als man denkt.

(a. you never know, and b. how things turn out.)

So very true.

If there is one thing that you can’t really predict for the future, it is what’s going to happen after you say “I do”. Of course, you have dreams and aspirations, you make plans and set goals, but in the end, regardless how diligently you plot and plan, there are often situations that are outside of your control and you have to learn to just try and hit the curveballs that might be thrown your way. J and I definitely had our fair share of curveballs, but they taught us a lot for sure.

We learned that…

+ communication is key.

+ even though I am a planner at heart, I can’t plan everything.

+ J is a night owl, I am a morning person.

+ through thick and thin can really mean through thick and thin.

+ I will never understand why guys have to pee standing up.

+ J will never understand my need to take pictures of ALL THE THINGS (but at least he doesn’t care too much and let’s me).

+ Baseball > Football.

+ we both love salty snacks > sweet snacks.

+ Chocolate Chip ice-cream is still pretty awesome.

+ J doesn’t believe in cards/gifts for special occasions, but prefers to generously give on ordinary days, and that

+ I still think it’s very important to send cards and gifts for special occasions. (Double win?)

+ marriage is not always a picnic-in-the-park, but still worth every effort.

+ we can not watch (political) news without pausing every 5 minutes and discussing it. Luckily, we’re pretty much on the same page on all issues, so it doesn’t compromise our relationship.

+ the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

+ you have to stick together when shit hits the fan.

+ cooking > eating out (most days).

+ opposites attract. (He’s always hot, I am always cold.)

+ we both like the water (J likes the ocean, I like the snow. Well, I like the ocean, too.)

+ we agree on (most) music.

+ I’m the tech person of the two of us.

+ nothing is more important than being able to be ridiculously silly around each other.

2012 in pictures: week 21

May 27, 2012 filed under: a year in pictures, photography

cactus // skirt day // coffee //
a new bracelet // spaghetti bolognese // my herbs //
fresh bread // hi! // orange chicken //

Things I love Thursday

May 24, 2012 filed under: love, TILT

I haven’t done a proper TILT post in 3 months, so I guess it’s time to round up a few of the things I’ve been loving lately.

I’m loving…

… that there is a 4-day weekend coming up (and it’s our anniversary weekend, too). Weeee!

… my little blooming cactus.

… 90’s music. I don’t know if it’s the nature of getting older and getting stuck in the music genre that you loved in your late teens and early 20’s, but part of me can’t get on board with the music of today. You can make me happy with anything alternative rock from back in the days. I think it’s safe to say that Pearl Jam’s “Ten” is still my favorite album, ever!

… evenings on our little balcony. It’s so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the cooler air after the sun goes down.

… a weekend at the beach in SoCal (obviously).

… Instagram. It’s just such a fun way to share photos.

… my Erin Condren Planner. I was reluctant to buy it because of the steep price tag, but decided to get a 9-months-reduced-price version to see how I like it. And boy, do I like it!

… all the BiSC recaps, which I vicariously live through and which at the same time also give me the sads for not having been able to be there this year. 2013 for sure.

… painted toe nails.

… stamps. That’s no news, really. I seem to have acquired a little addiction.

… turning some online acquaintances into online friends and turning some online friends into IRL friends. It’s always lovely to see how easy the transition is (in most cases).

… feeling understood.

… being able to live in my sandals for the rest of the summer.

… my nook, although I never thought I would say that, but last weekend definitely proved how convenient an e-reader is for traveling.

… the trip to the East Coast that J and I are dreaming up right now. Flights are booked, but details are still in the works. 5 weeks to go!

What are you loving right now?

SoCal weekend

May 22, 2012 filed under: food, friends, photography, travel, weekend

We had a fantastic weekend, peeps, and I got home so late on Sunday night that you’re getting this recap a day late.

On the flight down to SoCal on Friday morning, we had an amazing (!) view of Yosemite National Park from the plane. I’ve never seen the Yosemite Valley that clearly from the plane. It was absolutely breath-taking and I was able to snap a quick picture (click on the picture to see notes). Luckily, this time I remembered to get a window seat on the left side of the plane (I tend to have my “duh”-moments when I realize that I chose a seat on the right side where I can’t see a damn thing.)

We made it to Ventura around 2 p.m. and I helped my MIL pick out some plants for her patio in the afternoon. We headed to dinner at Anacapa Brewing Company in Downtown Ventura for a belated Mother’s Day dinner in the early evening and then went to the Ventura Improv Theater. Oh my goodness, belly laughs for two whole hours!

On Saturday, I had a lunch date set up with Maegan at the Lazy Dog Café in Thousand Oaks. It’s a SoCal chain restaurant, but the food is pretty amazing and we had excellent service. When I ordered an iced tea, the rather cute waiter recommended an Arnold Palmer, which I had never heard of. Then he said, even better is a Tiger Woods (and Arnold Palmer with a splash of cranberry juice). We were persuaded to try it (“if you don’t like it, it’s on the house“) and it was quite delicious! As first time customers, we also got a free order of garlic-parmesan flat bread — so, you can imagine that was an easy way for us to be SOLD on the place!

I had a delicious Maggie’s Snake River salad (with bacon bits and goat cheese, yum!) and Maegan and I chatted away. OMG, how I love to meet online friends that turn into IRL friends so, so easily! I don’t think we shut up longer than 10 seconds for the entire time we were there! It was like she took so many thoughts right out of my mind.

We got some fro-yo around the corner for dessert (and frankly, because I didn’t want to let her go home quite yet, ha!) and it could have been an absolute PERFECT day, if Maegan hadn’t injured her foot on the stupid glass door at the fro-yo place (pictured below on the right). Our meeting ended with gushing blood on the top of her foot. Ouch. I really hope she won’t always keep that as a bad memory of our first date! It went so well otherwise!

We had a BBQ at J’s parents place in the evening with yummy steaks, potatoes and salad.

On Sunday morning, I helped J’s Mom plant the plants and flowers we had bought on Friday and then we went to the beach! First stop, the Ventura Pier (which I love!) for some fish tacos at the new Beach House Tacos.

Later in the afternoon we met up with J’s brother at San Buenaventura Park for some fresh oysters at ‘The Jolly Oyster‘. (Sadly, no other pictures.) I am not really eating oysters (as in, not at all, at least not raw), but I indulged in some Sauvignon blanc, french bread and brie. Yum. There is nothing better than a seaside picnic!

Despite it being overcast and breezy, it was pretty warm and I just loved to spend some time on the beach the last couple of days! And just like that, the weekend was over again. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of the whole day in Ventura, as I had booked the last flight of the day to return to Sacramento. We headed back to the airport around 6:30 pm.

Of course, I noticed that it was “getting kind of dark early”, but completely blanked out on the fact that there was a solar eclipse happening on Sunday. Duh! Did you see it?

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

2012 in pictures: week 20

May 20, 2012 filed under: a year in pictures, photography

pizza // new hair color // TJ’s //
green // Southwest // Yosemite from the plane //
Lazy Dog Café // oysters // Ventura Pier //

Friday Link Love

May 18, 2012 filed under: link love

Connections by Nilsa (Somi speaks). Nilsa’s chiming in on blogging and connecting.

This is a rant. Period. by Jill (via Stratejoy). Women can relate, I am sure.

The ultimate swindle: ‘Would you like a coke with that?’ by Heidikins (Heidikins). It’s not like I didn’t know this, but woah.

15 (more) free fonts by Kayla Aimee (Kayla Aimee). Who doesn’t like to discover new free fonts?

Blogging on a budget Pt.1 by Allison (Show & Tell). Blogger resources.

Stempeln for beginners – lesson number zwei by Fee (Fee ist mein Name). This blog is in German, but with some English translation. Go check it if you like stamps as much as I do!

Are there any blog posts that you’d like to recommend to me this week?

Happy Friday, peeps!

On who I am right now

May 17, 2012 filed under: about me, Who I am

I am …

… in a little bit of a shock that May is almost over. I mean, seriously, where did this ~~month~~ first half of the year go?

… totally in love with my new sandals (and they’re comfortable, too. Double-win!)

… thankful for some new connections that have slowly but surely grown into friendships over the last couple of months.

… always super-happy when I find a letter or card from someone in my mailbox. If you want to know the way to my heart, send me snail mail and you’ll be my bff for life!

… looking forward to spending the weekend in Southern California. I’ll (hopefully) go thrift-shopping with my MIL, meet with a new friend, go to the beach and just have a good time. Sometimes I really miss living in West LA. J and I had a good time there and I loved being so close to Santa Monica and the beach.

… curious what everyone else thinks about the book “MWF seeks BFF” by Rachel Bertsche, which we will be discussing at the Stratejob Bookclub meeting on Monday. I can say as much as that I could very much relate to Rachel’s endeavor to find new friends in a new city. It’s not the easiest thing to do once we’re out of school/college. In fact, it turns out to be quite hard.

… missing my niece and nephew a lot. My sister keeps sending me these adorable pictures and videos and I just realize every single time how much I am missing out on. Sigh. Can’t wait for our next skype session (hopefully) next week!

… stoked about Baseball season. (Go, Red Sox!)

… getting into the new HBO series “Veep”. First we thought it to be a bit silly, but now it’s been kind of growing on J and I. We’ll keep watching for now.

… hating a little bit of miscommunication that I had with a friend due to ‘cut-off’ text messages, missed phone calls and stupid assumptions. Always talk it out, peeps. It’s much better than letting bad feelings fester.

… happy to see my little potted vegetable garden grow. I am a total newbie to gardening and I really hope that something will come off it. I’ve been taking pictures of the progress (I am only in week 3 so far, so there is not much to see yet), which I will share at a later point.

… ridiculously excited about a trip to New England that is in the works for this summer. It’s been long overdue! We’re going to see some friends that we haven’t seen in a couple of years and then we’re also going to go up to Boston (my favorite city in the whole wide world!).

Weekend recap

May 14, 2012 filed under: photography, weekend

I had an appointment at the hair salon on Friday. Can you see the change? It was long overdue and besides getting my ends trimmed (significantly), I had also decided a while ago that I wanted to go redhead again for the summer. I used to dye my hair in all kinds of reddish colors when I was in highschool and College. For a while, I experimented with brown, hazel, and highlights, but ultimately I wanted to do something different again.
It’s really hard to capture the actual color, because you need just the right lighting, but I think you get the idea. I am really happy with it.

I went to Costco in the afternoon (because Friday afternoons are perfect for shopping there and besides, who doesn’t like to go to Costco, right?) and then J tried to talk me out of doing our laundry on Friday, but I insisted that we would feel so much better if we just get it over and done with and don’t have to worry about it anymore for the rest of the weekend. As you could have guessed — we went and we were high-fiving each other when we were done (because you know, that is what we do when we get chores done!)

Saturday, I took the car to the shop (the stupid low coolant light came on again) and went to the gym after that. Remember how I said that I could barely run two miles in the park last week? Yeah, easily ran 4 miles on the treadmill on Saturday. I am really at a bit of a loss. Even my Dad – an athlete and P.E. teacher for over 35 years – has no clue as to why I am so weather-sensitive. Trust me, I’d love (and prefer) to run outside, but for now, I want to figure out why I have such a hard time running in the heat.

We ran our errands in the afternoon which always includes shopping here

and then ordered in pizza from the best pizzeria in town. You must know, I am bit picky when it comes to pizza. I am really not a fan of the “thick crust American pizza”, but like mine crispy and thin. Italian style. You know, like this:

{thin crust with pepperoni, mushrooms and jalapenos}

As you all know, yesterday was Mother’s Day and since I couldn’t hang out with my Mom, a family Skype session had to do. At least, I got to see my whole family (including my niece) as they were all gathered for dinner at my parents’ house and it was great to see them all together.

I hung out with Katherine for a while on Sunday afternoon and then made it home just in time for the new season premiere of ‘Sister Wives’. Unfortunately, none of my fellow watchers were online for live-tweeting, but I still hope to catch up with you about the show!
J only ‘allowed’ me to watch, because I agreed that I’d do something else (productive) while watching. He thinks that I shouldn’t waste an hour of my life just watching this “stupid show” (his words, not mine. Can you tell, he’s not much into Reality TV shows?) Silly, heh. While I indulged in my “guilty pleasure”, J cooked us dinner. I might not be a mom (yet?), but I still liked the special treatment!

Other good things this weekend:

strawberries ♥ a nap ♥ reading ♥ sitting on the balcony ♥ grapefruit juice ♥ a revised workout playlist ♥ cute videos of my niece and nephew ♥ tabs for my Erin Condren planner (thanks to Lisa) ♥ ice-cream ♥ air-conditioning ♥

How was your weekend, peeps?