Carpe Diem

Are you ever too cautious that you nearly sabotage yourself? Story of my life. I was recently nominated for a promotion and was beyond nervous to chase after it. I have no problem acknowledging my flauts and I think I just need to give myself a break. My current team really pushed me to go for it and by the grace of God, I got it! I feel flattered, excited, dazed, anxious, giddy, lucky and blessed. 

I'm on a happy high:)

Thing

I'm a shameless level five clinger when comes to goods I own.  Matt and I have made great efforts to shrink down our collection of "priceless possessions" but it never seems to work. While bagging up a pile of his unwanted clothes I came across this Fantastic Four shirt and couldn't bare to see the critter on the front go. This summer's  must see movies have all been centered around comic characters like himself so I did but all good hoarders do and highlighted his redeemable qualities to justify his promotion to my closet.  Since i'm going through a no jeans phase I took a chance and paired him with a blue lace shirt and loved the outcome. I think the guys from Big Bang Theory would approve:)

Snip Snip

I found this Saved By the Bell/Circus dress for five bucks at a swap meet. I adored the fabric and wished it was a skirt so I granted my own wish. Matt didn't exactly see my vision and thought I resembled one that would be employed by Willy Wonka. He quickly changed his tune once he saw the final product. Now I present you with chomp job...

I sliced off the top and raised the front 3 inches to make a slight high low. You Dig? I dig. I guess if you can dream it you can do it:) I have a few more projects I hope to get done before school starts so stay tuned.

Photo Party

The reason I never want to get out of bed....

I LOVE my cat so much that I particpate in monthly link-ups to share her cuteness with the world. I spent my whole life hating cats until I met Matt. If I remember correctly it took me a whole 3 seconds to fall head for heels for her. I always joke that we don't need to have kids since we have her.

Stop by Reinventing The Ordinary to join the fun! Becky, the host is super sweet and always has great prizes!

Him & I

I would like to take a moment to thank Matt's work for enforcing a dress code that makes me drool all over my man.............moment taken.............moving on.... The great thing about Matt is that he has an equal if not greater love for clothes. Can you believe it? He has quite the tie, watch, and cuff link collection that he mixes and matches everyday. Yesterday I called him during our drives home and told him not to dare change because two cutie pies like us needed to be eating dinner anywhere but home (midweek dates are currently all the rage in our house hold).

Look at that pinstripe, checker, and paisley combo!

Thanks Matt, for being a good sport and allowing me to expose you!

XOXO

(Dress: Thrifted, Heels: Thrifted, Clutch: Hand me down from my Grandma, Necklace: Gift) The thrifting gods really shinned down on me during my most recent expedition. I'm glad I found pieces I can easily carry into fall.

We ended the night with apple pie a la mode and a banana pyramid!

Banana pyramid= banana cream pie dipped in chocolate with nutts:)

It's my favorite treat and a complete diet killer.

I can't wait for next week's midweek date!

Save The Dates

(Back)

(Front)

In order to avoid any Bridezilla meltdowns I’ve been getting as much wedding stuff completed in advance as possible. Tomorrow a fat stack of these bad boys will be sent to our 220 and growing quest list. So if you don't see me around as much it is probably because I'm working on My BIG Fat Mexican/Polish wedding or as usual playing with my cat.

I hope you like them!

XOXO

Midweek Rambles

• Blake Nordstrom is really tall. I met him today. NBD.
• Drinking and good health goes together like oil and water. I decided to stop stirring the unmixable combination and calling it quits for a while. Goodbye weekend margaritas and cute little floating umbrellas!
• I heart Panda Express. It never lets me down except when it comes to those darn fortune cookies. My cookie today read "Your hard work is about to pay off"...The empty promises stop here Panda Express! If your going to forecast greatness please deliver it as well.
• I'm currently obsessed with Lana Del Ray.
• My Save The Dates came in the mail! Woot Woot! This wedding thing is getting REAL.
• A little something Matt (muah, I love him) posted on my Facebook today-"Just in case you didn't know... I'm totally gonna marry you"

:)

Vacation Part 2

Below is my favorite "Don't judge me I'm on vacation" treat. I feel like when you have one of these puppies in your lap you can't help but smile and think of Homer Simpson.

Matt, my lovely little donut, and I went to our favorite swap meet on Sunday. Our house got painted while we were in San Diego so we were dying to pick up some neat things to fill our walls. "Some" quickly turned into many but we are really happy with our pickings!

I converted our third titty bitty bedroom into my closet and I think the piece below will look perfect! I was able to talk the guy down by telling him this bride to be isn't going to have center pieces because she's spending all her money on art and that a wedding isn't a wedding without flowers. He agreed and accepted my offer:)

Swap Meet finds: Dress $5 and Purse $10! I picked up another neat dress but it needs a little operation before it makes its debut.

We spent the rest of the evening by the pool with some of our favorite Amigos.

Odd Confession: I bought a watermelon and when I got home I realized I don't know the ways of the watermelon. I didn't bang on it like drum during the selection process (someone inform me what I should be listening for, thank you) and circled it with a knife 4 times while figuring out a plan of attack.

Sadly my vacation is over and I'm not ready to go back to work:( 

Isn't that the worst? 

  Lastly, please stop by The Pink Growl and  read my guest post! The writer is on vacation and I've been lucky enough to step in!

Toodles!

Vacation Part 1

Every year my family gathers at a resort in San Diego to relax and enjoy the gift of family. I know that last part sounds like a text book cheesy description but it is the honest cross my heart hope to die truth. My grandfather's sister and her husband honeymooned there waaaaaay back when and have made it a tradition to return each summer.

I'm standing 4 feet from the glass door of our room. Not a bad view, right?

Table for 30 please (we always roll deep). One night our crowd busted the seams of an extra small Italian joint in Pacific Beach. The food was finger licking good and the conversations were endless. Highlights of from our table talk: Listening to men in our family express their guilty love for Gray's Anatomy (direct quote "Miranda is my girl"), summer travels, painful professors, certain people's inabilities to ride a bike, and Vegan diets.

Derby Day outfit: Hat- Nordstrom, Dress- 4 season old bridesmaid dress that I got for 5.85 because it was missing the belt, Wedges- Ann Taylor.

We always show up in style!

At a nearby bar with my cousins.

We were only able to stay for two days this year but it was well worth it!

I have 2 new bestfriends

At 12:30am I stepped outside my house and the door locked behind me…numerous screams, fist pounds and body slams against my door soon followed. It was the most horrible feeling knowing I’d be without my keys, money, and cell phone (life line/soul mate for many of us) till at least 6:30pm. After accepting my situation I proceeded to run from house to house in hopes that someone would be home and let me to use their phone. The only person you answered was the balding chain smoking woman from across the way. I ended up spending the next 30mins with her while I called my work, Matt, my mom and the locksmith. Since she was so kind to help me I tried to make small talk so she knew I appreciated her and to avoid “I don’t know you” awkwardness. BIG MISTAKE! The woman pulls out photo albums, offers food, and puts on Maury. I'm sorry but the last thing I want to do when I'm two seconds from crying is watch a show starring a woman with 5 kids and 8 possible fathers. When I knew the locksmith was within 15mins I chose to slide out and take my chances with the heat. The guy arrives 40 minutes later and is unable to open the door because the lock has some built in defense mechanism that requires a tool that he doesn't have. While waiting for his boss to show up we talked about my wedding, why girls don't like him, traveling, surfing and church...true story. Then out of nowhere the balding lady appears to check on me and ended up joining the conversation.  At this point I’m ready to cry again and redirect my attention to my cat on the side of the glass and have staring contests with her. At 3pm I finally made it back into my home…only me. I feel like "life" owes one for today's shenanigans.

BTW, Thursday's giveaway ends tomorrow.

Beach Olympics

 In honor of the Olympics some of Matt's work amigos brought the London games to beaches of California. His friends live two blocks from the beach (beyond jealous) and were nice enough to haul out gear for corn hole, baseball, football, volleyball, ladder toss, racquetball, and the black trash can game.

Black trash can game (I don't remember the silly title they had for it): You place two black trash cans with slits on the side far apart in the sand then two teams of two take turns trying to make their Frisbee in the slit or through the top opening. Nearly half of guys Matt works with grew up on the East Coast and calm this game is a "big deal" over there (eh, I’m not buying it). I kept teasing that a bunch of successful college grads like themselves need to stop inventing fake games.

I'm really glad we went because it was the first time this summer I ran through sand and played in the ocean. Horrible, right? I nearly committed the biggest sin a Southern California resident can commit by not taking advantage of our coveted sunshine and beautiful beaches.

Dear California Beaches,

I'm sorry.

I appreciate you and will visit you again on Thursday!

Love, Jessica

BTW, don't forget to check out last Thursday's giveway!

I Can Cook?

A Conversation I had with my super old fashion grandmother years ago:

GMA- "When are getting married?"
Me- "I'm 16 years old."
GMA- "Get ready, get ready now!"
Me-"What? How? Why?"
GMA-"All of you girls are too modern with your box dinners and delivery things."
Me- "You mean take out?"
GMA-"You need to learn to cook good meals, clean or you'll end up alone"
Me- (no longer humoring her) "Are you sure I can't just hire a maid and server Doritos every night?"

Obviously I escaped her warned fate! But according to her this could have been me roaming through life with a camera extender.

Anyways, we've been trying to eat healthy around these parts and I think I've done a pretty good job of not driving my Fiance away (Thanks Grandma). We've been eating brown rice, steamed veggies, fruit, chicken, and ground turkey by the trunk loads....and liking it! How do you eat heathly? I started with quiting soda but I know that isn't enough.

(As I'm writing this Matt is picking up breakfast burritos. Our health goals don't apply to the weekend).



A Birthday and A Giveaway!

Many Asian cultures believe that a person's birthday should be celebrated on the day they were conceived rather than physically born… interesting fact, right?  Despite not posting my first entry till mid August I would like to celebrate my blog's 1st birthday on the day I created my account (August 2, 2011).  On that day I had lived in LA for 3 measly days and decided to track my new journey through this electronic journal. I love clicking through the last year of my little life and seeing all I've experienced, seen, shopped, loved, struggled, ate etc. My blog has only been public for 5 months and already I’ve made many amazing friendships… so amazing that I might need a blogger friend table at my wedding!

In celebration of my blog I invite all my dear readers, followers, and stalkers to enter my first solo giveaway! What is a birthday party without gifts, right? Check out the goods below and thanks for being a part of the pages of my life.

Love,

Jessica

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