Cheers!

Another year is already upon us.
Can you believe it's going to be 2012?!

I want to apologize for getting a little behind on posting.
Please trust me when I tell you,
it's been a crazy hectic month.

I'm currently in Manhattan,
getting ready to celebrate NYE with millions of other people.
It's a surreal feeling to be here today..
The energy of the city is magnetic!
Can't wait to share with you,
all that I've been up to for the past few weeks.

Right now I have to run and get ready,
but first,
I want to wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year!
Thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving your sweet comments.
It really means the world to me.

Have fun and be safe!!
xoxo

Ho Ho Ho

 Hiiiii guys!

It's been a while, 

right?

Tis the season. 

The past couple of days have been filled with friends,

and food,

and wine. 

Oh.. and work. 

But mostly friends. 

Spa days,

sweets exchanges,

fondue parties, 

and overdue reunions.

I've had a chance to hang out with ALL of my best friends within the last couple of days,

and I feel eternally grateful. 

For having them in my life. 

For being able to see them around this magical time. 

Traditions are being developed as we speak,

and I hope they last forever. 

True friends aren't a dime a dozen.

It took me a while to figure it out,

but that's growing up for ya. 

Do you and your friends have any special traditions around the holidays?

I'd love to hear all about it!!

In Newport Beach with my bestie from Colorado.

Aaaah!

Via

Pardon my French. 

Just needed to remind myself,

to breathe. 

The last couple of days have been...

exhausting.

Exciting!

But still physically and mentally exhausting. 

Who knew that fixing up the house would be so much work?

I suppose I was kind of asking for it when I decided to plan this mini project,

during the time of finals, work project deadlines, and the holidays. 

But everything will workout eventually.

It always does. 

Finals are already over.

I got all A's.

Christmas shopping is... nearly complete. 

House renovations are coming along beautifully.

So what the hell am I so stressed about?

We should be moving in by the end of the week. 

This time next week I will be getting ready to host a fabulous holiday party for some of my bestest friends, 

celebrating with family, 

oh, 

and packing for our trip to D.C./New York!

Alright,

back to work. 

I'll have some house updates for you very soon! 

Weekend Diary

I knew this weekend was going to be awesome,

since we kicked it off by attending 

Riverdance!

The show was spectacular,

and left us all wiggling our bums and aching to visit Ireland as soon as possible.

The production is currently on tour,

and if they're coming to a city near you, 

I strongly suggest that you check them out. 

Besides that,

our free days consisted of 

shopping for the new house,

eating yummy Thai food,

and hanging with the fam for our nephew's first birthday party. 

How cute are those little munchkins above?

Happy to report that great genes run in the family. 

Hooray!

How Thoughtful of You

Do you spend countless hours every year,

boggling your mind about what to get your loved ones for the holidays?

Yeah,

me too.

Well this year is going to be different!

Not only am I going to finish my holiday shopping early,

all my gifts are going to be obnoxiously creative,

thoughtful,

and reasonably priced.*

Don't worry,

I've thought about you while I was perusing the limitless options online,

and here are some options

that will make your gift recipients say

"aaaawww.. you're SO thoughtful".

*wishful thinking

Photo-opoly

Give them the option to go past your face and collect $200!

I mean.. who doesn't love monopoly?

Print out some pics, and customize it for whomever you like.

Extra bonus: you can use this gift for some serious bonding time in between Christmas meals.

 ------------------------------------------------------

Casetagram iPhone Cover

Alright, is there really anyone out there who is not obsessed with instagram?!

It's only the best app evah...

Choose a few of your favorite photos,

and slap 'em on a phone case for your loves.

Easy peasy.

 ------------------------------------------------------

Customized Stationary

There are sooo many wonderful options for customized gifts on Etsy,

it can be really difficult to narrow it down.

I personally love the aesthetics of these note cards.

Choose your favorite color,

and the finished product arrives at your door in an adorable gift box that will melt your girlfriends' hearts.

 ------------------------------------------------------

Personalized Family Tree

This gift would not have worked for me a couple of years ago,

but now that I'm married into a giant family,

{hubby is one of TEN kids, and that's just the immediate family}

this sounds like an AWESOME idea.

This will surely make my mother in-law gush with gratitude. Score!

 ------------------------------------------------------

Personalized Melamine Plates

Picture this:

You're hosting your whole family for Christmas this year,

and as the guests go to sit down at the dining table,

they see their names printed on their plates.

Now that's a special touch that you will be getting praised for, for years!

Give Thanks

Dear eight pound, six ounce, newborn baby Jesus,

thank you for blessing me with..

an amazing man who I get to call my husband,

a healthy, loving family,

and generous, loyal friends.

There are a million other things I have to be thankful for,

but I'm not going to bore you with that list. 

Instead, I'm going to pay it forward,

by sharing this awesome recipe with you. 

Ooooh yeah,

just pulled mine out of the oven.

Getting all Martha Stewart on ya'll!

You're welcome.

Home Alone

Via

The husband and I have been making some pretty big moves lately. 

As in... 

buying a house.

Yep.

Yours truly is now a proud home owner.

How you like them apples?!

Three bedrooms, two baths,

in central San Diego. 

With a yard. 

And a garage! 

Now here comes the hard part... 

decorating. 

Lucky for me, 

one of my best friends happens to own her very own design firm.

Etherian Home - check it out, they do amazing work.

I only hang with the best. 

She's going to help me turn our little crib into a French Chateau. 

Hence the photos above.

That's the inspiration. 

Below are some pieces that will help me turn inspiration into reality,

oh, and my bank account into a very big negative amount. 

1/2/3/4

Weekend Diary

I'm getting pretty darn good at this "relaxing weekend" business.

The weather in So Cal has been acting surprisingly... fall-ish. 

You know -

rain.. wind.. cooler temperatures.

I absolutely love it. 

Thanksgiving is only a few days away,

and for once,

I actually feel like it's time!

Back to my weekend though...

A lot of lounging was done.

Home-cooked dinner on Friday,

movie night with my girls on Saturday,

and a spontaneous trip to Universal Studios Hollywood on Sunday. 

Now, you may be thinking to yourself,

why would you go to a theme park on the rainiest day of the year, you weirdo?

Well... when free tickets present themselves, I have a VERY hard time saying no.

We even dragged some friends along with us,

and you know what?

We all had an awesome time. 

An extra bonus of monsoon weather at the park?

No lines!

We were done with all the rides within a few hours, 

and then treated ourselves to a few brewskies at the bar for the remainder of the day.

Sunday Funday at its best. 

So Cal Bloggers Unite!

Guess what ya'll?!

Last Sunday I attended my very first bloggy blog meet-up!

It was such an awesome night!

Tammy, Olivia, Kelsey and Stephanie 

did such a great job putting this thing together. 

As you can see, 

the turnout was outstanding. 

We gathered at Flavor Del Mar,

an uh-mazing location that treated us to flights of champagne and other delicious goodies. 

It was such a pleasure to meet all these beautiful bloggers. 

And guess what?

We even got goodie bags! 

Oh you fancy, huh?

That's right..

Guess what else? 

Yours truly won herself a free dance class with Vavi. 

Wooot!

Anywho... 

Everyone had such a great time,

that the next meet-up is already in the works. 

Are you a So Cal blogger?

Would you like to join us next time?

Well don't be shy.

Shoot me an email or something... 

I can't actually read your mind.

Weekend Diary

Although this weekend started off kind of poorly...

Yeah, I know the Chargers lost.

Again. 

No need to rub it in, really. 

It actually turned around quite nicely, and ended up to be one of the best couple of days I've had in a while. 

It went a little something like this:

- game night at Tivoli's

- date night at Hive Sushi Lounge

- lots of beer at the Bikes Boards & Brews! festival

- even more beer, along with some pool at Live Wire

- and finally my very first official blog meet up (an entire different post coming up about this topic)

How was your weekend?

By the by, can you believe Thanksgiving is NEXT week???

What tha....