Roommate.

An evening with Ms. Peanut...

Actually she does this almost every
 time I sit down at the table. 

She's so cool. 

Cure Cystic Fibrosis. Cure Izzy!

 
My 6 year old niece Isabel, or Izzy as she is called, has a disease called cystic fibrosis or CF. Every year since she was diagnosed, we (her family and friends) have been involved with The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides Walk. It is a great time to come together with others who are dealing with the same kind of struggles as Izzy and her parents. Each year we are appropriately named Team Izzy and wear matching shirts that Izzy herself designs. Last year we wore a kitty themed shirt along with cat ears and tails! :) We walk with the Northern California Chapter of the foundation to raise money for the funding of medications and hopefully someday, a cure!

Here are some pictures of past walks:

All of Team Izzy 2010. 

In this year Izzy wanted us all to be butterflies. 

Izzy with her mom (my sis) and dad.

Izzy's drawing was the t-shirt design for 2011. 

Walking to cure CF! 

Please notice the grown man sporting 

a furry cat tail for the cause. :)

Izzy and I at the end of the 2011 walk.

I love this amazing girl so much!!

YES!

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This year, my sister's friends made a short clip about Izzy to spread the word about what it's like for a kid to have CF. As you can see in the video, she is a brave and special little girl who has been through a lot of pain but she loves to jump, run, and swim despite! :)

 Please take a minute to peek into Izzy's world. And please 
consider joining our fight against CF with a donation to

Team Izzy with the link below:

www.cff.org/Great_Strides/TeamIzzy

Let's make CF stand for Cure Found!


More info about CF and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation can be found at their website: http://www.cff.org/

Itsa my Birthdaya

This is what I look like on my birthday of the 29th year...

and I went to Disneyland! :) 

I have so much to be thankful for in my life right now. It may seem obvious but I am so grateful for love, for my family, my friends old and new, my cat Peanut, my health, my job, and just the blessing of life itself. 

Here's to the last year of my twenties! (Good riddance? :) 

I need more RED in my life

On Valentine's Day I was greeted with a beautiful bouquet of lilys and tiny yellow roses, as well as a delicious (expensive!) bottle of Italian wine. That night I wore my new favorite red velvet blazer from Pretty Penny Vintage , a sheer polka dot collared blouse, my I Heart Ronson mini leather skirt, black tights, and black suede wedges. I put my hair up in clips and sported a dark red lipstick. It was understated and sexy, romantic and comfortable. In short: I felt cute. Which is something I have been struggling with recently. I am trying to be nicer to myself on a daily basis. I realized that I was putting myself down every single day, all the time. I was so mean to myself. Do you know what that's like - to never be satisfied with what you have? It's exhausting and oh so negative.  So lately I am smiling more, standing up straight, and loving myself for what I am currently. On our date we went to FIVE for cocktails and, naturally, I got a French 75 and he ordered an old fashioned.  Then we headed to the tiny old movie theater to see My Week With Marilyn. Afterwards we got a late night din at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe (owned by Mike Dirnt of Green Day) - I had a salad, he had a patty melt. Twas a great evening.
Here are some poorly taken photos of my fit: 

Posing in my kitchen. 

Cheeeeeeese.

Blowing a kiss...in honor of Marilyn. 

The beautiful lilys. 

Peanut, sitting pretty in the window. 

Audrey and Pippin

On and frequently off the set of 1958′s film Green Mansions,  Audrey had near her often a deer named Pippin. She called him “Ip,” rather than “Pip." In order for the deer to convincingly follow her character around during principal photography, she spent a great deal of time bonding with the fawn and training it to stay with her. The pictures of them together are quite possibly the cutest things I have ever seen. Can this woman be any more lovable?!

flickr

My life lately, according to the Droid.

Lake Merritt lights at night. 

This is where I live and it's quite lovely. 

Fat cat plates. Love. 

Kitty can haz tea?

Object of desire: Pantone storage cases

       

Chandelier of spoons!

Peanut sleeping on the internet modem, as per usual.

Colored vinyl....one of life's little pleasures.

My newest nephew, Sebastian Jove Huntzinger. 

Isn't he handsome? This was his one week old doctors check up. 

 New Years Day 2012 on the Embarcadero in the city.

San Francisco lights on the water at night.

Breakfast in Oakland at....

 ....Mama's Royal Cafe. Great place.

Peanut, my love. 

Two of my nephews passed out in the back seat of my car on the way to Grandma's house. 

So precious, melts my heart.

Friends at a Golden Globes party I attended. 

We had our own ballots and chose who we thought would win.
There were some upsets (Kelsey Grammar?!!), but we had a fabulous time
looking at all the pretty people and eating and drinking.  :)

(A certain kind of) Happiness Is:

A wall of colorful cute flats. 

I'll take a pair of each, 

thank you. 

Taken @ Urban Outfitters

It's that time of year again!

I love Christmas. 

Here are some of my favorite things about this
 crazy and wonderful holiday:

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Stonewall Kitchen Holiday Jam

My mom got me hooked on this jam. It's full of pears, cranberries, raspberries, orange liquor and spices. 

I could eat it with a spoon!

(and sometimes do)

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Giant Christmas kitty mug

You can pour a whole lotta hot cocoa in there...

Or spiked apple cider, whichever you are in the mood for :)

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These guys:

These are some of my friends from Chico and they play in an awesome Christmas holiday band called The Yule Logs. I look forward to seeing them every year. You HAVE to see them in action. Such a great time! But if you aren't fortunate enough to see one of their shows, buy the album on iTunes!

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Lights, lights, lights! 

I am partial to the big old fashioned Christmas light bulbs. But no matter what kind of lights, there is a warmth and happiness that comes with being around such festive glow. This year, I felt quite content to be in bed snuggled with my kitty in my dark apartment with only the sparkle of lights coming from my small tree. 

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Holiday parties 

with some of my most bestest friends in the world <3

Aren't they so adorable??

Oh and I love dancing. Duh.

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Gingerbread Houses

This has become a new family tradition in the past few years. My parents buy enough ready made gingerbread houses to accommodate our family and the grandkids (there are 12 now!). Everyone brings candy galore. My dad makes some awesome frosting/glue and then we all just go at it. We are pretty competitive by nature so everyone wants to have the BEST gingerbread house. I just love that we all get together and have a great time. Call me a sap, but I love being with my family.  :) 

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Aaaand this commercial:

This commercial has been around forever! It makes me smile every time I see it. 

It's getting pretty merry up in here.

My humble Christmas decorations. 

Those are my parent's old records I acquired last year. 

Listening to Bing Crosby on the record player while decorating made me so happy!

Wrapping presents with my cat around was a challenge to say the least. Maybe I should have done this.

My boyfriend's bamboo tree all lit up with my presents underneath. 

Pretty cute if you ask me. I was inspired and surprised by his Christmas cheer this year!

This is the outside of my parent's house. So festive!

I took these last two photos at a shop down the street from me called Juniper Tree Vintage. They go ALL OUT for Christmas every year. There are multiple trees decorated to the max and everything is sparkly and kitschy and awesome. Oh, and they always have really cute vintage dresses, shoes, jewelry, etc. Go to this store or check out their blog. You won't be disappointed!

An ode to Summer's end

Bye Bye Summer Playlist

Capitola Beach 2011