Miserable, Magical Monday

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I've been MIA for about a week and I feel kind of awful about it. Not because the content on this blog is anything life changing, but because I'd been on such a good writing rhythm (guess how many times I had to re-spell that word) and now I've lost it. But my resolve to bring you semi-consistent updates about the goings-on in my life won't quit, so I'm back this week to remind you I'm alive and well. Just tired.

P.S. I get slightly judge-y when I read bloggers post about needing a break from blogging to enjoy the real world. Obviously, I'm in no position to pass such judgement, but does that ever stop any of us from doing it? Oh yeah, my point. This isn't one of those posts. I've just legitimately had the busiest week of July. I've started looking back at my Costa Rica trip as chill, even though we had a pretty packed schedule despite it being a "vacation."

1. One of my friends got married this weekend! Brandon and I carpooled out to Salinas with some friends and enjoyed a good old country wedding complete with a stunning barn. Seriously, this venue was awesome. I wanted to be sure I got photos of this wedding since I missed out on documenting the other wedding I went to a few weeks ago. Boy, did I deliver. I posted almost all of these on instagram but here they are once more (with feeling).

I kept my place card. Because nostalgia, that's why.

Bouquet toss.

Garter getting.

Blurry dance floor duck face selfies.

#blurry

The most boring photo we've ever taken. Seriously, I almost don't like it because of how
normal we look.

I had such a good time at this lovefest of a wedding. Seriously, the love was palpable and it made everything that much more beautiful. Also, I just love love so I was bound to enjoy this wedding.

2. So this summer I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm approaching my mid-twenties. Everywhere I look my friends are going through major moments in life; making a big move, getting engaged, getting married, buying houses, planning for a family, kicking off their careers. Seriously, just this weekend I had a cousin make the move from home to the OC, I witnessed a friend move into married life and another open her own business. It's kind of weird to finally find myself at this age. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd accomplish by 25 as a kid...I wasn't completely wrong about myself. I for sure thought I'd be married (check) and have my BA (check) but I also planned on being done having children by this age. And that's totally not in the cards right now. I guess the funny thing about being in my twenties is as much as I'm still a kid, I'm also starting to get the hang of this "real" life. I kind of like it.

3. Having finished New Girl, Brandon and I had been searching for something to watch during our veg sessions. I've written about us trying to watch The Office and Parks and Rec, but neither one of them really hooked us the way New Girl did. I wish Modern Family was on Netflix because I think that would help me transition into the mockumentary style of the other shows. Anyway, we finally decided to restart How I Met Your mother (HIMYM from now on). I've only ever seen it once through, so I'm rediscovering the hilarity and brilliant writing this show has. Also, knowing the end makes it more fun for me to put clues together that I missed during the first run-through. I firmly believe we as the audience judged the show by it's cover name and that's why we never saw the end coming. But that's an argument for another time (aka never).

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4. Almost all of you who read this blog already know this, but I have to share out of sheer excitement: I've secured a new job! It all happened very quickly. I sent in my resume and cover letter after some epic (and requested) scrutiny editing from my best friend, got an interview, wore the hottest office-appropriate LBD of my life (also courtesy of my best friend), rocked said interview, and then a job offer a few days later. I'll be working out in Napa starting next week. Although my commute is growing again, I'm still really excited about the opportunity. The position seems to be a really great jumping off point. I met at least five people who all started off in the position I'll be in before moving into management positions in other departments, which is super reassuring. Also the grounds are gorgeous and everyone seems a thousand times friendlier. I can't wait to start. But really quick, back to the LBD from heaven. I looked like freaking Clair Underwood in that dress. Plus I got so many compliments on it. As a person who almost always looks pulled together, if someone says you look nice, then you probably look really nice. Was that conceited? Oh gosh, probably.

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5. I'm reading Divergent right now in my effort to actually finish I book I pick up to read. I've literally started four other books and haven't finished them. I don't know why. I always say I don't have time, but if I have time to watch hours and hours of HIMYM then maybe I can spare one a night reading. Anyway, I'm enjoying the book so far. It reads in first person the way Hunger Games does, but this hits me as less choppy than Suzanne Collins' writing. I'm in chapter 11 or something and I still have no idea what Divergent means in the series. I think I found out more in the trailer for the movie. Still, I'm keeping in mind that it's a three part (?) series so I'm guessing I'll find out what the big deal is about the Divergent label in the book's unvierse closer to the end. I'll keep you posted.

6. The start of a new job will mean a new dress code. From what I saw it's a pretty casual office (jeans are allowed on all days of the week) but based on my one day of training, I can tell my idea of casual is sub par. I'm going to have to step it up on the cute clothes thing, which is the perfect justification for spending some money on clothing. I've been stuck in a style rut, anyway.

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Almost every day, I wake up and look at my clothes and hate them all. I hate that the only color I own tops in is blush. My one pair of gray pants are so old they're low rise jeans. I haven't purchased low rise jeans since 2009. If I'm honest my style rut feels more like a style crisis. But I haven't just been wallowing in my "ugly" clothes, I've been working on defining the look I'm going for. I've made lists, I've made secret Pinterest boards, I've online window shopped. I've even made excuses to go to the mall over my lunch break (side bar: going to the mall alone is the worst idea ever). My biggest obstacle is not being able to find the pieces I'm looking for. No joke, I've been searching for a freaking white t-shirt with small black stripes for ages and can't find one anywhere. I'm tempted to take BART into San Francisco just to shop at the two H&Ms by Union Square. Yes, there are two. It's almost heaven. 

7. My best friend Barbara lives in Northern California now which means I get to see her all the time. We got together to celebrate her birthday with pizza at Woodstock's then moved across the street to Wunderbar for some drinks and two very terrible games of pool. Then Friday, we reinstated our Friday Night Family Dinner tradition. She and I made orange chicken with rice and stir fry veggies. It was a simple meal but by far the most elaborate one I've co-prepped in a while. Usually I bake chicken or make pasta. I've gotta step my dinner game up. Anyway, we ate, watched HIMYM as well as the trailer for the new Assassin's Creed game. Not only is the theme music the song Lorde wrote/performed for the Catching Fire soundtrack, but the game's story line is based on the French Revolution. We all agreed that it would make a killer movie. Once Derek showed up we popped in Shaun of the Dead. It was the first time I'd seen it, I'm told it totally counts as a classic, so maybe I'll finally get to knock another thing off the 12 Things list.


I promise I'll keep telling you about Costa Rica one day soon.
Later, friends.
♥ A

Miserable, Magical Monday

Deciding to do a weekly post on one of my busiest days of the week was definitely an idiotic decision, but damn if I don't love the title too much to change the day to something less packed. Also, I apologize in advance for the lack of Costa Rica stories in this post, but I'll be writing about the adventures (of which there were many) at length in the coming weeks.

1. Vacation Bible school (VBS) was a hit and a blast. I really, really enjoyed getting the chance to act alongside my sister again. She is one of those people who's "on" like 95% of the time and her stage presence is unmatched. She completely brings out my secretly big personality. Also, VBS is basically my dream excuse to draw freckles on my face and literally jump around during music. People totally eat it up when you're pretending to be a kid, but if anyone saw me rocking out like that in a different context (like, say, my car), I'm sure I'd get a Regina George eyebrow look.

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YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT.

2. My body is going through actual Costa Rican withdrawals. I held my office at a toasty 80 degrees all day (while in pants!) and still had to go out to my car to fetch a cardigan because I was freezing. My hot tropical blood misses the homeland.

3. Have you ever looked back at your last four weeks only to realize that you've been too busy to notice you've been so busy? That's sort of what June and July is for me. They're always a blur. A stressful, surreal blur. Ok enough with the Mean Girls references (for now). Two weeks ago, I was busy doing VBS from Sunday to Thursday. Thursday to Saturday night/Sunday morning I was traveling around Costa Rica. I've got this work week at home before heading down to San Diego for a wedding on Friday. Then Sunday when we get back form our tiny road trip, Brandon heads off to Kid's Camp for five days. Okay, that last part doesn't really involve me, but it feels like so much! To be real, I'm sad I have to miss camp this year. I've been a counselor for five years or so and planning my wedding didn't stop me from going last year, but my full time job (and international vacation) did. Remember that time I said I hate full time work in the summer? Yeah, now I hate it even more.

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4. In order to distract myself from the fact that Brandon and I will end up spending almost half of July apart, or the fact that I won't even have a dog to come home to and snuggle during the five days he's gone, I'm already thinking of ways to spend my time while alone. Right now the list includes blogging, catching up on one or two of my 12 Things, watching lots of chick flicks and West Wing (and Veep!) while painting my nails, yoga, tanning by the pool and baking. You'd think I was planning for another week off, huh?

5. My serious excitement over celebrating a whole wonderful year of marriage with Brandon has me planning our festive outing already. It's kind of working out since we both have procrastinator tendencies. The general idea is to do something special but modest somewhere within two hours from home. It's hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly! Since we'd been dating for seven years, one more year of being together (just married) didn't really strike me as the sort of thing that I'd want to make a big deal. But I guess marriage and the public commitment we made to each other is a big deal. Either way, I'm looking forward to spending a weekend away from home and responsibilities with just Brandon.

6. Great news! I finally got Brandon to watch New Girl with me! I'd gently asked him to watch it with me for months but he was never really interested. But since we caught up with House of Cards and Sherlock and Game of Thrones ended for the year, it was time to pick another show. I basically begged the guy to watch it with me and he eventually gave in. Now he loves it, just like I thought he would.

A relatively decent representation of my victory dance.
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Keep checking back because I've got so much to share about my trip! My sister and I already started working on post titles...and they're good.

♥ A

Pre-Vacation Guarantees

A few things are bound to happen right before you go on vacation.

First, you'll have the busiest week ever at work. The universe will decide to restore balance and will make up for all the weeks where you had nothing to do (and nowhere to go) by cramming all of the time-consuming work into the four day work week you originally hoped would be super chill.

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You'll inevitably have an extremely busy week outside of work, too. Leaving you with the choice between packing and going to bed at a decent hour. Or showering and going to bed. Coffee will be the only thing getting you through the day. And the candy from vacation Bible school. That's breakfast.

People at work and drivers on the road will sense that you're days away from hopping on a plane to a tropical paradise. Their jealousy will overflow and you'll be forced to handle passive aggression and idiot driving decisions. It'll totes throw off your day, so you'll definitely escape to the Starbucks where everyone knows your face (and is learning your name) for a #sadnessfrapp. You'll proceed to stroll around the expensive downtown antique stores that carry furniture that literally looks like they 3D printed it off Pinterest.

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But no amount of blerg will distract you from the fact that in less than 48 hours you'll be out of the country for the first time in three years. And the fact that you're gonna get so damn tan.

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Be back July 7th!
♥ A