Weekend Love

I'm getting set for this weekend in Santa Barbara with the love of my life to see my family. I just want everyone out there in the world to be jealous of the beautiful place I call home and the fantastic weather I'll be enjoying!

Sunday Funday

A lovely time was had by all...

Yesterday was a GREAT day! Brian and I finally had the same day off work - A WHOLE DAY! Since these are few and far between we decided to drive up to Napa Valley for the day. We ate brunch (more like lunch) at Fish Story which was fantastic. If you're ever in the area you should go. Check out their menu. Lovely! We also enjoyed the above drinks. I had "Bliss" and Brian had a Hemingway - of course it was a martini.

Then we headed to Tyler Florence's Shop where Brian picked up some Smoked Oil Olive (AMAZING!) You should buy some if you like a little punch and a little smoke. It takes about 10 seconds for the heat to kick in but it's great.

After wondering around downtown Napa Valley for a couple hours we headed over to OxBow Public Market. I felt like I walked in to an airport terminal if airport terminals had awesome restaurants, bars, fresh produce, and live music.

Of course I found myself at a wine and cheese bar. I thought I died and went to Heaven. The bar/nomz consist of 2 different stores: The Oxbow Cheese Merchant and The Oxbow Wine Merchant. To my great and wonderful surprise, there's also one in San Francisco in the Ferry Building. Needless to say, I'll be back there.

You can see the awesome wine section behind the bar.

After the Public Market we hopped back in the car and headed a little south in to the actual wine country of Napa Valley and made it to the much anticipated champagne tasting at Domaine Carneros. Well, technically it's California Sparkling White Wine. I think I had a borderline religious experience. A few glasses of bubbles and another meat and cheese platter later we had rekindled our no-love-lost relationship. It was honestly like I went to Europe for the day.

And if our day doesn't seem like it was phenomenal enough we then hit the Marin Brew Co. on the way home and grubbed a scosh more. After our long yet eventful and overwhelmingly fantastic day we headed home to the chilly city.

If you learn anything here it's to enjoy random days and create memories with your loved ones. Yay!

Fashion-not-ista

So I was literally JUST talking about how I have no sense of fashion. I'm pretty sure I haven't changed my style... Ever. I don't follow trends (usually) and I'm pretty much a "t-shirt and jeans" sort of gal. I like to wear what I like to wear and I'm not too concerned with what people think about it. When I moved to this lovely city I realized that I'm so low on the stylish totem-pole it's comical. Well, World, I'm here to say, "Na-na Na-na, Boo-boo, Stick your head in Doo-doo". Check this beauty out: Look of the Week – Being Exactly Who You Are

P.S. Kirsten, I utterly adore you!

I Love My "Husband"

Husband... Funny word. It's a word I thought I might never say; true story, just ask my friend, Mike. Alas, a word I'll get to use in 275 days from today and I could not be more excited. Well tonight I thought I would share a cute little detail about the man I love: he loves WALL-E. And by love I mean is a little obsessed. (He's probably super un-stoked that I'm blogging this right now). In fact, we have a WALL-E "action figure" in our apartment which he likes to turn on just to hear his voice. It's pretty darn cute. He looks like this:

If you're really Jones'in for your own you can buy one here. The fact that Brian loves WALL-E only makes me love him more because he's after my own Disney-freak heart. YAY!

Big City, Big Job

So I guess I could have written about this when I wrote about us moving to San Francisco but I got a new job. I work for a super cool company which you lovely little thing can read about here. I absolutely LOVE my job! I honestly cannot express that enough. I love the people I work with, I love my boss, and I love all the awesome, killer, can't-be-beat perks that we get.

Also, quick side note: if you or anyone you know is looking for a job, WE'RE HIRING! Email me and I will definitely send you all the details!

Love Is In The Air

So over the past weekend Brian and I went to Santa Barbara and took our engagement pictures with this guy and he did an amazing job! It was so much fun. I think we laughed for 3 hours straight.

The shoot totally put me in the mood for the wedding and I couldn't be more excited to be married. YAY!

We spent the entire day running around Santa Barbara and loving on each other and just living the dream. I have a super cold now and it's probably because...

I fear this blog is going to turn in to a wedding blog before I know it!

New Place, New Space, New Name

Alright, so it may seem that my blog is a little schizophrenic when it comes to names, but I really think this one is going to stick...

I guess I should start off by say that Brian and I move to San Francisco. That's right, this girl moved out of her home town! This is by far the biggest life adjustment I've ever had to make and so far I can't really gage how it's going, because I have yet to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge (pictured above); which I could say that is gaging it a little bit. But that is neither here nor there. This is the view from our new apartment, which all things considered, turns out pretty great. We live in a good neighborhood which is awesome and even though you can't tell from the picture, we're just about 2 blocks away from about a million restaurants, shops, a grocery store, 2 gas stations (although that's not a huge plus in "the city").

The move kind of explains the new name, but not really. I never considered myself a "country bumpkin" until I moved to an actual city. Don't get me wrong, Santa Barbara isn't small, or maybe it is, at 90,000 people - I guess it depends on who you ask (I blogged on this before) but San Francisco is HUGE! It's just around 775,000! And in 7 square miles, that's A LOT of people! BUt I digress; I'm feeling a little out here and I think that's because I came to realization that I'm a country girl at heart. Nothing about me screams, "CITY!" including my attitude in/about life, my personal demeanor, and especially not my clothing choices. Let me tell you, t-shirts and jeans aren't exactly city material. Oh sure, people wear t-shirts and jeans, they just accessorize differently (ie: not with a baseball cap - my go to on most days). So, there you have it, a new name.

Since I'm here now without a job and with a minimal number of friends (for now) I will take up blogging (again) about my daily life, which I'm not sure will interest a lot of people, but that's OK... For now, xoxoxo

Food Rant

So tonight I had Trader Joe's Guilt Free Mac&Cheese; and let me tell you, OMG! It is so delish, 270 cals and only a few bucks! I have to recommend that everyone goes out and gets themselves a box RIGHT THIS SECOND!!!

The Bachelor - "The Women Tell All"

This week on "the bach" all of the scorned and bitter women who weren't chose came back to argue about why they should still be on the show. This is probably my least favorite episode every season because really, who cares? I was semi-looking forward to this one only because Michelle was coming back and I wanted to hear an explanation for her psychotic behavior. But, I was sorely disappointed...

Let's start with Ashley. GUUUUUURRRRRRLLLLL!!! LOVE YOUR HAIR! You need to stay a brunette. I'm glad that you could finally admit that you had feelings for Brad and that you had a serious hand in making a mess out of things in South Africa.

Michelle - I like you better now but I wanted you to stop saying, "I left my daughter for this..." SERIOUSLY! WE GOT IT! I felt bad for you and I'm glad that Chris Harrison said something to those terrible women. Speaking of...

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE?!?!!?! Where you even on this show? I didn't even bother to learn your names so clearly you aren't so important. And to whatever your name is who dug in to Michelle like it was your job: SHAME ON YOU! I could go on but I digress...

Brad, Emily is the One. The End.

The Bachelor - Review (South Africa)

Oh boy....... This week was a little intense. From the most original (about as original as ABC's The Bachelor can get) entrance to the most awkward date on the face of the earth I was left wanting more (clearly the point of this show). I love that they finally went somewhere that didn't included white sand beaches or rolling around in the ocean. Thanks for stepping up the novelty of the "Fantasy Week". Unfortunately after watching a few seasons of the show I knew that during dinner this week Chris Harrison (even though we, the viewer, never actually see him) will give a "Fantasy Suite" card to Brad to give to each lady; more on that later. Let's get started...

Chantal - Your outfits are killing me. Did ABC make you wear the ridiculous hat while riding in the truck on your safari? I understand you're in Africa and it's hot but seriously, the bow on the side did NOT make it more flattering. (Brad's matching one made this worse). You did your chest a favor (FINALLY!) but then back down you went again during the Rose Ceremony. Alright, enough about your clothes; let's talk about the fact you think Brad is going to protect you from wild animals in the deserts of Africa. WRONG AGAIN! Hippos are notoriously dangerous animals so what made it OK for you to sit and hang out with them at lunch? I'll never know. Let's fast forward through dinner to the proposal of the fantasy suite card. Chantal, you need to pull a page from Ms. Emily's book. Could you have been more eager to get Brad alone in the bedroom? "What happens in the fantasy suite stays in the fantasy suite." Really? You used a dirty Vegas line about one-night-stands to describe your alone time with a man that you're looking to marry? However, the fantasy suite tree house was ridiculously awesome! (I am in no way giving credit to Chantal for this it just happened to be on her fantasy date). I would be concerned about wild animals eating me in the night but other than that, I was way impressed by ABC's originality. (I should note that you're not the fan favorite and I'm still miffed about the fact that you slapped Brad, let alone anyone, the second you met him. RUDE!)

Emily - My lady-friend crush on you is starting to freak everyone out. In my eyes you can do no wrong, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You're real, beautiful, kind, nurturing... I could go on but I digress... LOVED LOVED LOVED your outfit on both day-date and dinner-date. I think I need your fashion advice in my life. I think it's sweet that Brad gets so nervous around you and I'm so happy that you finally opened up about your feelings for him. I know it's scary, but it's scary whether or not you're on television or not. I'm glad that Brad has the same feelings for you and I'm also glad he shared, makes me like you two together even more than before. Don't get me wrong, I still think you're too good for him, but if you were the one in the end I wouldn't be disappointed. I'm also happy with the fact that you were vocal about your acceptance of Brad into Ricky's life. You are clearly protective but Brad wants "the package deal" (Super points for Brad on this one). Soooooo, about that fantasy suite card... I'm glad that you decided to spend time with Brad and you prefaced it by saying you need to be a role model for your daughter. I gotta lay into ya for this one a little bit though, I felt like you were covering you a** just a smidgen. But that's OK, you're a mom and that's something that you needed to do. Didn't so much care for your dress at the rose ceremony though, sorry.

And the doozy...

Ashley - You are too cute and your excitement upon seeing Brad was adorable and that's about where I stop with the positive on you. Your outfit on day date made me wonder if you are 16. Cut-off jeans with the pockets hanging out? Honey, I know you're a student but that doesn't mean you shouldn't dress like a woman your age. Your reaction to the helicopter was insane; I don't mean "so great and I wanted to hug you out of love" insane. You acted like a buffoon. Really? Running away seemed like the most appropriate reaction to being flown around and getting the most amazing tour of Africa ever? Well, you were wrong. Anyway... your conversation with Brad shouldn't have been so hard to have. You were the front-runner for so long that it was hard for me to watch you make such a fool of yourself. Let's get into dinner. (I lied earlier, I liked you dinner-date outfit too.) I have to congratulate you on successfully making my fiance burrow his head into a throw pillow like an ostrich to avoiding watching you make yourself look like such a moron. I wanted to duct tape your mouth shut. It seemed like you were trying to make Brad lose interest. Self sabotage? I think so. You made me cringe the entire time. All of the air was let out of your little love balloon and it just drifted away into nothingness. When you're talking about other things that you've done together because there is nothing else to talk about, you know it's headed in a bad direction. And then there was the fantasy suite card. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Brad handed you the card. I thought for sure he wasn't even going to bring it up (you can add that to the list of mistakes made on this date). So you said yes, huh? WHY? Why would you do that to yourself? I've been on some awkward dates and guess what? Prolonging them isn't on the list of things to do! And then, as if this wasn't already bad enough, you brought up mosquito nets! OMG! I almost had to change the channel. And then there was a rose ceremony, or lack there of; the entire population of the United States of America knew you weren't getting picked so how did you think it "came out of nowhere" and why were you so surprised? Are you that naive or could you just not think of anything else to say? Either way, I was embarrassed for you.

So, in the end I'm pretty happy with the girls that are left but I can't help but feel that neither one is quite right for Brad. Wouldn't it just be phenomenal if we had a déjà-vu moment and he picked no one! Oh boy. Actually, I think I might lose the respect, small but potent respect, for ABC's The Bachelor. Oh, and also, I know that last week I said I was excited for the girls to meet Brad's family but I was ahead of myself with that one. This week I'm extra excited because there were NO previews with his family in them. Should make for a great week! Plus we've got all the rejects from the rest of the season. BRING ON THE CRAZY TRAIN!!!

The Bachelor

Alright, So I know I haven't written reviews from the beginning but I figured I should start now. Honestly, I'm sickly obsessed with this show...

Chantal – You looked pregnant in that red dress. You should be embarrassed by your choices in clothing. You also used WAY TOO MUCH hairspray. Honestly, what was that? You’re not an ugly girl but you did a great job dressing up like one. Quick question for ya: Do you and your mom not get along? AND HOLY HOUSE, Batman. I will, however, congratulate you on never appearing snobby or coming off as the “Rich Bitch”.

Ashley – Well slap me twice and call me a monkey’s uncle! You totally surprised me this week! You are way cooler than I thought and I totally dig your family. I think I've changed my mind - you are now "the one" in my book. But I have a little bone to pick with you; please don’t say you’re a dentist if you’re not. There is nothing wrong with being in dental school (or any school for that matter) so no need to lie. K? Thanks. P.S. Dental school is expensive as hell… Who’s paying???

Emily – If I loved you any more you might need a restraining order against me. Your daughter is adorable and I loved watching you two together. (ABC, SHAME ON YOU!!! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! I can’t believe you would make us doubt Emily and Brad even for a second!) And even though it’s been said, I’ve got to comment… Your house is awesome and if I were Ricki, I would totally love that princess room you have going on. OK, I understand, you’ve got a great job; you’re beautiful; your daughter is adorable. But really? A great house on top of all of that? Well I guess it is North Carolina and I have been severely brainwashed by California housing pricing but still. I thought it was great when you finally went after Brad showing your lady-like yet aggressive side. KUDOS! But, when you aren’t chosen (SORRY! YOU’RE TOO GREAT!) you will make an awesome “Bachelorette”.

Shawntel – Your job is creepy. End of story. I knew you were out the second he met your family. Now, that’s not to say that they aren’t awesome, but it was clear that you are expected to stay in Chico and drain bodily fluids from the dead, errmmmm, I mean, take over the family business. As usual I loved your outfits, sad to see the fashion go. Can’t wait for Brad’s family to tear it up next week!

Personal Time

So I was talking to a co-worker and friend about how precious marriage is and how fantastic it is to have a partner in life. Yeah, it's great and all (or so I hear... for now) but what about alone time? How about that time that I use to cherish incredibly, especially in college, where I was the only one home for a very few sacred hours? I know that most of you can understand this but if you can't then you may bypass this entry and move on to the next one. But I guess my point is that am I expected to lose this once I become a MRS.? Oh goodness I hope not! Any ideas on this one?

Dream Wedding

Alright cyber-world, I just entered to win me and the man-friend a "dream wedding" from Crate & Barrel that's worth $100,000. What does that mean to you? You need to get out there an vote for us. You can do so by going here: http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entry/103782 It would really mean a lot for us to win and you can read our "love story" on the site too. Thanks!

New Life

So it's been a while since I posted and so many things have happened. The long of the short of it (a saying that I never actually understood) is: I got engaged! And I feel like ever since that happened I may have fallen off the boat and perhaps that fall was accompanied by a very large splash. Also, I become incredibly obsessed with (not in a creepy stalker sort of way but obsessed all the same) a complete stranger's blog. She is witty and funny and a little sassy to boot!

Anyway... I have wedding brain to the max - I forget things at work, I get lost while driving, and I fall increasingly in love with Martha Stewart everyday - the woman is a genius. I'm going to have to learn how to cope with this if I have any chance for survival.

WISH ME LUCK!