Sunday, January 22, 2012

a few things...

some things have been going on lately.
not super exciting, but life.

my parents had a joint fiftieth birthday party after christmas.
dancing was had by all.

i've been painting my nails a lot and trying to be fun with my hair.
yes. i'm blogging about braids.

i've also been taking pictures of my outfits, and realizing that i basically wear the same thing everyday.
over sized tank, cardigan, and skinny jeans.
yay for red jeans though, i love them.

i left my retail job [finally] for a [way] better opportunity [more on that farther down] and found this moustache in a package. i took it home.
tucker came home for christmas break, we have a mice problem in our tract home, and i'm still working through the help.

my brother, tucker, and i have such conversations in the middle of the night. obviously we only like our own beds for sleeping. i found the dress while shopping with my mom but didn't want to pay fifty dollars because, a. i'm broke, and b. i didn't really need it. but i thought about it all week and mama brought it home for me. i love it. i've also been sporting my earrings that were gifted to me from santa, they're from this shop and i am completely obsessed. i need another pair [or ten]. i also reached 100 followers, so thank you, peeps, for being here to share my life. i guess i should post more now, huh.

january has brought with it some beautiful skies.

so, the new job: preschool. 
yes, i'm teaching again and i absolutely love it. i have awesome co-workers, families, and kids. they're adorable, i wish i could tell you all about them, but that would be illegal.
the not so great thing, this closet in my classroom that needs to be cleaned out. but instead of stressing over it, i drove to grandma's house in the bay area and she greeted me with a margarita. so thoughtful.


while in the bay i saw my oldest friend, danielle. we've been besties since first grade and brownies. that's us circa 1997 [?] and as i was driving to her house i did a drive by of my childhood home. oh, the memories.

i also took nan to restoration harware to return things and i spotted this giant scrabble board, swoon.
we found a gem of a shop where we found handmade treasures and crafting supplies from around the world after brunch at a yummy german restaurant.
looking through old photos from the forties and fifties, her high school superlatives were amazing:
'the girl most likely to give birth to a baseball team'
classic.

i've been loving this winter weather-really, and on thursday i had to meet mom for happy hour because it was just that kind of day, and all of the sudden my drink was gone.

i've been able to hang with this little [but big] brother lately. love that kid.

and another thing, something i'm upset about.
my favorite printing service has gone out of business.
it was family owned for years and they weren't able to make it in this economy. this makes me so sad and i urge you to buy locally, buy handmade, and support small businesses. i'm trying my hardest to do so and it feels so good. i was able to make one last order of small [3x3] instagram prints and some panoramic's, but i hope i can find something as a substitute. do any of you have a favorite printing service? i need recommendations.

i'm linking up with jenni for the first time. come check it out, yo.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

la bella vita

as i was browsing through my blog, i realized my italy post was missing more than half of it's content. serious sadness up in here. so, here we go, from over an entire year ago, the first half of my italian adventure with the fabulous hoffmann family during october of two thousand ten.
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we left osanbruck early, around four in the morning, and drove all day before finally arriving in tuscany. i remember driving across the country seeing signs for milan, rome, and venice, thinking 'there is no way this can be real.' i was on a modern day highway headed towards the mecca of art and history.

the first villa we stayed in was in pistoia. each day was spent in a nearby larger town, exploring, sightseeing, and most importantly, eating. our first stop, montecatini.
small, yet charming, montecatini boasts a world famous spa sanctuary and numerous health clubs. brangelina has been spotted there before, just sayin'.

another day we went to lucca, which i was really excited for because our close friends stevo and chris have family there. i also just like the name lucca.

we spent time lounging by the pool, and enjoying each others company, and taking it easy.

during the first week we also went to siena, which ended up being my favorite spot.
this picture was purely accidental, but so cute. do these people look familiar?
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wow, that was a heavy picture post. 
for those of you who stuck around, i congratulate you. 
hopefully i'll get my act together and show you more of italy in the next few days.