On Tuesday of last week, my parents and I picked up a rental car and drove to small beach town about thirty minutes north of Puerto Vallarta called Punta de Mita. Mita is a relatively small town, nestled along the … Continue reading
Last weekend dawned bright and sunny. Winter in California is pretty darn good. My mother and I started off my winter break strong with a day of shopping. While this is typical for me, my mother dislikes shopping, but loves … Continue reading
About two weeks ago, my brother, Eduardo and I took Sur La Table’s Pizza class at the Los Gatos location. I worked for three years at this location, and knew heading into the class the chef would be amazing, and … Continue reading
My family has a tradition. Typically a day or two after Christmas, we head for Tahoe. A tradition that started many years ago, is now set in stone. We tidy up the house after the Christmas chaos, pack up the car with all of our stuff and a dog, and drive up to our cabin for a gloriously lazy week.
Occasionally, we are lucky enough to get a fresh dump of snow right before we head up, but the last few years the snow has been in scarce supply. We watch tons of movies, jump in the hot tub, cook great meals, and usually have friends that a day or two before moving on to another holiday event.
Some years, its a bigger group for Christmas Eve, like last year we were 21 total (kids and adults!). This year, was a smaller group. With both my brother and I working full-time jobs, we have come to value our weekends and family time. This year, our group in Tahoe was much, much smaller.
We started NYE off at a neighbor’s party, where I promptly put on this great hat. After a while, we wandered back to my house, where we played board games until the wee hours of the night.
A crackling fire at our backs, fizzy drinks in our hands, good friends by our sides, we rung in the new year.
I’m going up to Tahoe again with friends in a week or so, and I’m looking forward to relaxing, watching movies, and playing in the snow again. Tahoe is one of the few places where we unplug, sleep in, breathe in the mountain air, and relax. I love it there.
Love,
-S
The few days before Christmas were filled to the brim with seeing out-of-town friends like Julie and Jackie. We ate bagels, Starbucks and a yummy peppermint cake pop!
I mailed tons of Christmas cards this year (it was on my 101 in 1001 List!) and munched on delicious home-made baklava made by my Aunt Beau.
My brother and I met at the Falafel Drive-In for a tasty lunch while I grabbed the last few things from my apartment before staying at my parents house for the week.
I wrapped my presents a few days early, and settled into the holiday spirit! I drank tons of tea and played with the pup. Christmas Eve we ate as a family a delicious home cooked dinner and relaxed late into the evening!
Do you have any family Christmas Eve traditions like food or activities? We are still trying all sorts of foods in search of a meal everyone in the family likes!
Love,
-S
Basically the last few weeks have been jam-packed with fun events with friends and family.My friend Yaelle and I had tickets to go to see MockingJay Part 1, which was amazing. I ordered us these great pins off Amazon and we dressed … Continue reading
I think this should happen, like now.
[ Image from Stumble ]
Wouldn’t that be so cool? Think of how many people could be tons more successful if college textbooks were free.
All I want for Christmas is You
I’ve had this song basically on repeat for the whole week leading up to Christmas. Oxford University’s all male a cappella group called Out of the Blue is hands down amazing, and adorable.
Walter the Labrador
At a small italian villa, a Go-Pro was placed on a Labrador named Walter, and we watch as he races down the mountain towards the water.
A Curious Marmot
Greenpeace set up a camera for a time-lapse video at Glacier National Park, that was disturbed by a tiny, cute, and very curious marmot
Sea of Shoes: Le Bal Des Debutantes
I stumbled across this amazing blog called Sea of Shoes, which is a fashion blog, and the author went to one of the premiere debutante balls in Paris in 2013. The photos, the dresses, the decorations, the girls, everything is divine! There’s tons more photos on her website if you follow the above link.
[ Above Photos from Sea of Shoes ]
I always find the best things on Stumble!
Love,
-S
I believe every week in December will hold something amazing. This year my alma mater had their annual December book-fair, which is something I always look forward to. Even though they have moved to a new campus, and have tons of new staff, I always enjoy coming back and seeing the few people that made my middle school years so memorable.
Our librarian Walter, is a professional story-teller and always reads a chapter or a portion of a book. This year, it was a co-telling by Walter and Esther and it was amazing.
My masters classes at Santa Clara University and work vamping up heading into a second set of finals meant most days I am burning the candle at both ends. So, I treated myself to coffee and a manicure, and to some yummy fro-yo after babysitting all day. There’s something so decadent about taking time for just yourself, especially in the midst of the holiday chaos. It was exactly what I needed.
We had a pretty epic storm here last week, but I settled in to my itty-bitty apartment to binge-watch Gilmore Girls and eat soup! I loved every rain-soaked minute, including the tippy-tippy-tap of rain on the roof, wearing my rain-boots every day for a week, and the fresh clean scent of the air after it rains. We got some pretty gorgeous sunrises and clouds after a week of pouring rain.
When you are pushing yourself too hard (either at work, or school, or both!), how do you relax?
Love,
-S
Last Friday, my uncle Eric came into to. Eric is actually my father’s cousin, but we have called him Uncle Eric my whole life. He lives in Illinois and I usually only get to see him for about one week … Continue reading
About a week after my birthday my family and I flew to Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding. My cousin and her now husband live in Hawaii, so it was a destination wedding for only my side of the family, as … Continue reading
Classy and Fabulous 
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