Category Archives: Photography

On My Radar

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Hello Friends,

This week we finally got a glimpse of summer. It has been pretty hot during the middle of the day, but cold and grey in the mornings. It’s all about layers people!

Here are a few things that I’ve found recently.

One: Beauty Lessons from a Ballet Dancer:

As a former ballerina, I really enjoyed this clip. She moves so gracefully and clearly loves what she does.

Two: Robot Love

This little girl finds a broken water heater at the curb and thinks it’s a robot. She is so pretty adorable.

Three: My Darling

This song has been on repeat on my playlist at school. So so good. I saw her live this fall and she is an amazing artist.

Four: 

Have any fun weekend plans anyone? I’m headed off to a wedding for a old college friend, and I can’t wait to see him and catch up!

Let me know what you are doing this weekend in the comments below!

Love,

-S

The Best of 2016

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Hello Friends,

Happy New Years! We spent the evening at our neighborhood party, and then relaxed at our house playing boardgames. It’s very homey with the fire roaring and we drink tons of thai iced tea to last us til midnight. It’s always very festive and fun. How was your New Year’s Eve? Do anything fun?

best-of-2016

Looking back on 2016, it was a very full and exciting year, with many highs and quite a few lows.

From left to right, I had amazing time with A flying to Florida and having the time of my life at Harry Potter World in January.

Relaxing on the beach in Hawaii with A in February was exactly what I needed heading into a busy time prepping my students to submit their AP portfolios. In June I watched my prides and joy (all 45 of them) walk down the aisle and receive their diplomas. I also said goodbye to the school that made me into the teacher that I am today, and hugged & waved goodbye to all my LPS Phoenix’s (and my classroom) for the last time ever.

In July we took a family trip and fulfilled a childhood dream of mine to return to the island where I had spent a glorious summer (#sweet15) in Nantucket. In July we spent some time with my Grandfather in Pennsylvania.

In August, I lounged at an amazing lake house and soaked up every last bit of summer before starting school at my new job. In September we enjoyed glorious weather on many walks in San Francisco. In October A and I cajoled our friends into eating the brunch buffet at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay. I also saw my favorite musician Ingrid Michaelson on her latest musical tour.

In November A and I took a food eating tour through Portland, and I got to explore the beauty of the Northwest (and see Shannon!). For Thanksgiving Week I joined Aaron and Kim and her family on a week-long sunny stay in Cancun, Mexico.

And finally, I’ve been here in Tahoe for the last week and a half, being as lazy as I possibly can before starting back to work on the 3rd. The snow has been kind to us, and I’ve been able to get in 3!! days of skiing in between the hot tub, reading books, watching movies and boardgames.

I’m sure 2017 will keep me just as busy as 2016 did, as I know I already have a few trips planned with A, seeing my first crop of seniors at Notre Dame graduate in May, and adding a few new things to the new pad in Santa Clara (like finally owning a Tv.)

Are you looking forward to 2017? Any fun things you are looking forward to? Thanks so much for reading the blog these last 12 months, I couldn’t do it without you guys!

Love,

-S

 

 

 

A weekend in Portland Video

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Hello Friends,

In late November my friend Annie and I explored the glorious city of Portland. I have driven through it on my way to Seattle, but hadn’t really spent much time. I fell in the love with the fall colors, glorious food, rainy weather and beautiful gardens. Here is a short video about our trip to Portland Oregon.

Have you ever been to Portland? Found any places that I should add to my list for when I return?

Love,

-S

Life Lately

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Hello friends,

Life has been extremely busy lately, thus the radio silence on the blog here. So many holiday events, get togethers with friends, observations at work, prepping for Christmas and time in Tahoe.

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Our neighbors got a wood-fired mini pizza oven, and we made our first batch a few weeks ago. They were amazing!!

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I went to a pearl tea place with a friend and these were their signs outside. I loved it!

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This was a cute birthday card given to a co-worker at ND, and i thought it was supercute. #ilovealpacas

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My brother and I baked apple donuts for the first time and they were deliiiish. I liked the donut holes the best!img_7553

To go with the apple donuts we made chili and I made the cornbread. Yum.

Also, we bought a Christmas tree….and then I got one for my house, and then one for my brother’s house. That’s how we ended up with 3 trees!

My tree all decorated. It only leans a little as it was hard to tell if it was straight in the tree holder as I live by myself.

I made biscotti as a holiday gift for friends, family and co-workers. I make both snickerdoodle and gingersnap! So tasty, I ate so many during the first batch there weren’t many to share.

Kim’s family had me over for their thanksgiving holiday party this past Sunday at their new house in San Carlos. I had so much fun, we did a while elephant exchange.

That’s it, life has been good and busy, but I promise I get back to posting more often!!

Love,

-S

Tea Parties

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Hello Friends,

Recently I had a few friends over for a mid-morning tea party. I picked up some delicious snacks from Cocola Bakery, and if you haven’t been there you are missing out on some fantastic food. I tidied my apartment and pulled out all my teas. It started out as just inviting my friends Andrew and Andrea, and then we decided to invite more of our old SCU friends. It was nice to just sit and talk and relax with some foody snacks and a big mug of tea. I think everyone had fun!

Tea Party Tea Party

Have you ever hosted or been to a Tea Party? Are you more of an avid tea drinker like I am, or do you prefer coffee?

Love,

-S

Life Lately

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Hello Friends, Here are a few snaps from my Instagram, which I update a little bit more often than the blog here. Feel free to follow me (@sisforSandy) to see more about what I’m up to! My amazing brother make … Continue reading →

Class of 2011

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Hello Friends!

The first weekend in Oct. my university had their reunion weekend. It’s a big event at Santa Clara that runs from Thursday through Sunday. I had reached out to a few alumni friends that I still keep in touch with, and we decided that although the events at Santa Clara sounded fun, we wanted something a bit more intimate. We sent a group text to all of friends from my year and picked a time and place.

Sunday evening we all met up at Santana Row for a group dinner at Maggiano’s. We ended up eating some delicious pasta, catching up on the last five years, and reminiscing on various shenanigans that we did during our time at SCU. I ate too many carbs, laughed a lot and smiled until my face hurt. I had forgotten, as we all do with time, how much fun I really had in college with these great people.

We asked a waiter to take a photo, and although the first one we had scary red eyes and cut off some peoples body parts (Sorry Katie!) the second waiter was a much better photographer. We hugged it all out, and parted ways, hopefully to see each other again far sooner than our 10 year reunion.

(Oh shoot, now you know how old I really am..) ;]

Love,

-S

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph

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This gallery contains 8 photos.

At the end of my first week of teacher prep at my new school, all of the admin, support staff and teachers went on a staff Retreat to the Cathedral and the San Jose MOMA. We were split into two … Continue reading →

On My Radar

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Hello! We made it to Wednesday. This is my first full week of school with my kiddos, and so far it’s going great. There have just been so many good things going on lately with friends, family and work. These are recipes, videos and photos that have popped up on my screen lately.

 

Sparkling Strawberry Kiwi Sangria

I have a girls dinner that I’m just starting to plan for next month, and a friend passed this recipe along. I might have to make a test bath before my event! It looks delicious.

 

The Cinematic Age

A few friends have posted compilations of their wedding videos. I find them so touching and sweet. I found this one and love everything about it.

 

The Best of Tumblr: 

My best friend A sent me this super cute photograph of dogs holding tennis balls in their mouth, and this user has the best posting. I particularly love this one, but they have a lot of great things on their account.

 

Studio McGee

I’ve been following this brand on instagram and their blog for a while now, but they just started doing videos, and I’m hooked. They are both so cute, and their designs are impeccable. I would love to use them, if I ever buy a house. You can watch their first video here!

 

Olympic Commentary Fail

I have watched this so many times, and every time it cracks me up. This is typically my level of understanding of each sport I watch.

 

Hope your week is going well! Have any fun plans for the long weekend?

Love,

-S

 

A wedding in Lake Tahoe

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Lake Tahoe 2016

Mom and I flew back from NY into Lake Tahoe. Our dear neighbors were kind enough to drop us off and pick us up from our trip to the East Coast. We had a beautiful sunset on our drive over the hill to our house.

I had some friends from the Bay Area driving up to spend the weekend with us while they attended a wedding down near the Lake. They invited me to spend the day with them on Saturday and so we ate at an all you can eat sushi in Reno and had a ton of fun back at the house in the jacuzzi.

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Kim and Aaron and their family left Monday morning, Dad, Cathy & Eduardo drove up to the house Monday afternoon. Mom and I spent most of the week with them, and I drove my little Prius home Thursday as I had to return to normal life and babysit. It was a sleepy week in Tahoe, we played board games a ton with our down the street high school & college neighbors, who are pretty cool kids. I also finally got a chance to use the kayaks with Cathy and Mom out on the lake, which was great and I can’t wait to get back out there on the water again.

I always come back from Tahoe well rested and relaxed and happy.

Do you have a place that you can “turn off” your brain at?

Love,

-S