It's Shaq's Birthday. FYI.

real-life bros

So, Alena and Sam have been teaching me about Bros and how to spot them.
I'm still honing my skills, but I think this is a pretty concrete example:

We spotted this "bro-y" truck one day in San Jose.

Bros love big trucks. The bigger, the better.
They also love big wheels. And high up trucks (raised trucks? truck lifts? I'm not really sure what we call these).
But, I knew I was on to something here ...

And their destination confirmed their bro-dom.

I also recently learned the bro-related phrase "to bro down" (to hang out).
I love to bro down. (But probably not with real bros.)

Arts, Crafts & Sweet Finds

Lately we've been reviving our middle-school craft skillz. This revival has been aided by the reintroduction of Lisa Frank gear at Target and the unbelievable selection of funky/kitschy/crafty stuff at a newly discovered and super-fance Long's Drug store. (This Long's is seriously the bomb. I'm talking Don's Hobby bomb. Maybe even -- dare I say it --better.)

We decorated Obama. Middle-school-style.
(In case you can't tell, that's green glitter. All we need now is puffy paint.)

This is my pride and joy. It's one of those scratch-off pictures. You know, where it starts out all black and then you scratch off the top layer to reveal the beauty beneath -- often the beauty layer is rainbow, but this was sparkles. Oh!
And, no, I didn't actually draw that unicorn (I WISH!) - but I did scratch it off.

Baby tiger Lisa Frank puzzle.
These are currently in the dollar section at Target (unless they're already sold out).
I like this because it reminds me of the inside cover of Thriller. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest you check it out. MJ + baby tiger = maximum preciousness.

This magical-looking light bulb was ONE DOLLAR! Can you believe that?!

It reminds us of that rose in the display case (is that what you call it?) that the Beast keeps hidden up in his tower.
But we don't hide ours.
We display it prominently in our living room.

This is my most recent art proyecto. I found this sticky, yellow (mylar-ish, but more rigid) plastic stuff at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse (which is a pretty cool place & is just down the street). Anyway, I found this picture of birds on the internet, transfered it to my plastic, cut them out and stuck them to the window.

I think they turned out pretty well.


Next up: hair wraps!

Birthday Party Time!

Happy Birthday to my most favorite niece!
Love you Sada!

in the mail today

NANCY's COOKIES!
4 Kinds!

we can't decide which kind is the best because they are all THE BOMB!

hmmm ... what could be in this bear oven mit?

OMG. Does that say Schmidt's?

Yes, it does!
German Beer Sausage!

We had to open it immediately.

Summer Sausage Breakfast!

YUM!


Thanks Mom!

of late

So, it's been a while. And many exciting things have happened. Perhaps most notably, we've had quite a number of visitors. It has all been very exciting, but unfortunately has consumed my blogging time. So, without further ado I bring you the last few weeks (in photos).

A few weeks ago the roomies got all dressed up and went dancing! (Disco party time.)

And then for early-Valentine's day I made these precious almond bark pretzels!
Where did you find this almond bark, you ask? Saint Peter. Econo foods. I brought it back all the way from MN to introduce my co-workers to the wide world of midwestern cuisine. They loved it. (Obv.)

Mimosas at Rolling Dunes. Brunch!!
MacKenzie came to visit! For almost a whole week! And I took vaycay from work! It ruled!

Mac D found this palm tree to hide out in. Only in California ...

And we stopped by the chocolatery to pick up some Hooper's bloopers (discout oops truffles). Mmm.

On Valentine's day we participated in what I'm told is the world's largest flash-mob pillow fight.

It was fun for about 5 minutes/5 pillows-to-the-head. Then we ditched and headed down to Santa Cruz for a Prince (the artist)/Bubbles/Candles/Balloons themed V-day party.

We took this precious picture to celebrate our love.
We also had pretty fly outfits (you'll just have to trust me) and sweet accessories (bubble gun, balloon animals, etc., etc.).

But we were back in the bay in time for burritos ...

... and my co-worker Andrew's birthday party!
We (Maya, Andrew, Rachel) are working the serious faces.

I brought my crew to help celebrate (one of our specialities).
L to R: MacKenzie, Alena, Maya, Lizzie, Rachel

We celebrated presidents' day by visiting the Full House house.

And by taking these precious photos.

And we rounded out MacKenzie's SF tour with a stop at the Mrs. Doubtfire house.
(FYI, I am watching Mrs. Doubtfire with Allie and Aaron RIGHT NOW. It's way more meaningful now.)

Then Alena got her nose pierced. I provided the moral support.

Tuesday's highlights: Claremont diner!

And Karaoke at the Mint!!
(Me with my backup singer/dancers)

OMG. Guess what MacKenzie did?? I'm not saying anything ... but those pidgeons made a new BFF from NY.

tourist party time

We saw these dogs in REAL LIFE. This is what my future pets will look like.

Fan Club at the G(olden) G(ate) B(ridge)

Celeb sighting!! This is one of the girls from America's Next Top Model. I ran up the escalator past her, then took this shot from the down escalator as Alena approached for a convo.

Mac D and I also went to Muir woods. I have a bunch of other pics, but this is probably all you need.

view from the top (of this hill by the Friedmans' house)

And then Allie came!!
And sewed me a beautiful blue skirt ...

... for our neighbors' Rubix colors party!
Lizzo and I rocked some hot duds.

Cousin-dress-up-party-time! We had some great options, but these were our final pics.

We were the best dressed people there (fo sho).

Cousin photo opp! (This is pre-Big Lebowski viewing up in Berkeley, and mid-White Russian celebration at my apt.)

And Allie is still here! She is sitting next to me right now (if you can believe that)!
I'm trying to convince her to move out here so we can be BFF-cousins in the bay.

OMG so precious

Click that button. You will not be disappointed.

Alena: i totally love it

it's like Lisa Frank in an internet button