Tag Archives: Friends

Shopping, My 25th Birthday, Dinosaur Muffins and Cooking on Sundays

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This week was insanely busy, which is why I have not had a spare minute to post about everything.  I hope that with time I will get better at balancing work and blogging. If you have any tips, let me know!

The Roomie and I had a five day weekend from school, which was perfect timing as my birthday was smack dab in the middle of it!  On Thursday we slept in, to the gloriously late hour of 9am. We did a few things around the house and then went off to the mall. The Roomie and I found many cute things. We scored at pretty much every store.

Our shopping haul.

Our shopping haul.

On Friday I hit the gym, and it provided a much needed round of happy endorphins. Since I started working full time, getting to the gym every day has fallen to the way side. Starting in a week I hope to build it back into my routine. From the gym I went to my parents house to get Lightroom 5 set up on my mom’s and my laptop. For dinner we grabbed tasty greek food at Opa’s in downtown Los Altos. We had tickets to see Les Mis at the Saratoga Theatre, where two friends of mine were in lead role. I look forward the most to shows with actors I know personally.

After another glorious sleep-in, I set off for the grocery store. I picked up some snack but most everything was for my birthday party later that day. Around 4, people started trickling in, and we munched on tasty Mexican tacos and guacamole. We drank margaritas and horchata and enjoyed the warm evening air. We took a group photo, and I had everyone sign the frame that I would eventually put it in. People drifted in and out, and it was a glorious melding of friends, food and fun.

I made pumpkin spiced dinosaur muffins!

I made pumpkin spiced dinosaur muffins!

Our group photo.

Our group photo.

This morning after the Roomie and I tied up the house I wrote my thank you notes for my birthday gifts. We went over to the Castle and I tucked into cooking with my dad. We made ham and shrimp croquetten, mac’n’cheese and quiche lorraine. After a long round of dishes ( i swear we used every cooking utensil possible!) we tasted the mac’n’cheese. It was delicious and I look forward to munching on it after a long day at work next week.

Tomorrow I will be babysitting the whole day and Tuesday we start back  at work. I have one day of teaching, and then I fly out at the crack of dawn (have I mentioned I hate mornings?!) for my cousins wedding in upstate New York. More details on that later.

How was your weekend? What did you do? How do you balance getting you time and getting your errands done?

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Love,

-S

Summer Weddings, Premieres and a 3-Day Week

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The wedding yesterday was beautiful! It was at a local farm with in a beautiful meadow called Hidden Villa. Stefanie and I had gone to high school together, and kept in touch in college because we both were studying art. She is the rare gal that marries her high school sweetheart.  I had seen their romance from the very beginning and their wedding was a lovely start to their new life together. The cake was fantastic, a kind that I had not had before, called champagne cake. She had asked a few of us to make desserts, so there were 8 additional yummy things to sample, including my lemon bars!

She painted all these bottles that made up the aisle.

She painted all these bottles that made up the aisle.

I loved her lace dress!

I loved her lace dress!

She started tearing up when she read her vows.

She started tearing up when she read her vows. This is post-kiss!

I liked the doors that were at the end of the aisle.

I liked the doors that were at the end of the aisle.

We danced in the barn after dinner.

We danced in the barn after dinner. She made all these artistic details that pulled it all together so well.

The champagne cake.

The champagne cake.

The weather could not have been more perfect, considering the weekend before it had poured all day! It was warm and sunny until late in the evening. All in all, it was an amazing day.

Today I took care of things about the house, lazed with the pups watched ridiculous amounts of T.V (the good wife premiere!!!) and prepping for school. This week we have only three days of school, which fits in perfectly with my birthday on Saturday.

Hope you had a fun and relaxing Sunday!

Love,

-S

Kittens, Google, Sushi, and Mail

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I met my friend Natasha for lunch at Google, which is where she works. She gave me a lovely tour and allowed me to walk beside her her dumbfounded and gawking over how AMAZING the Googleplex was.

My badge was so fancy.

My badge was so fancy.

Look at how classy their wall art is!

They had art everywhere (inside and out), amazing statues, outside furniture for days, and bikes for people to get around between buildings.

I loved this dinosaur one. It had been yarn-bombed and has pink flamingoes tied to all four legs.

I loved this dinosaur one. It had been yarn-bombed and had pink flamingoes tied to all four legs.

We got lunch in the Atom Cafe where they had these fantastic food statues outside:

All of this desert artwork made me crave sweet things!

All of this dessert artwork made me crave sweet things!

I love the little bee!

A donut!

A donut!

Made of kitkats-if you look closely at the eyes you can see wafers texture

Made of kitkats-if you look closely at the eyes you can see wafers texture

Gingerbread man

Gingerbread man

Sorry for the funky hair, it was crazy windy.

Sorry for the funky hair, it was crazy windy.

Now I want to work at Google. We even tried three different kinds of fro-yo, at three different dining halls! It was an adventure, but Natasha was a doll about everything! 

Natasha totally made my day by showing me around.

Natasha totally made my day by showing me around!

Here is a shout-out to my friend Sunny , who successfully finished her second day at Google today!!  I know one day soon I will be bothering her about visiting her Google. :]

The family that I babysit for has two snuggly cats (Claire and Tabitha). They both love to jump onto my lap after the baby has gone down for her nap. Today, it was Claire who snagged the space on the couch next to me.

My friend Kim and I met up initially to work out, but after a new development occurred (more about that tomorrow!!), we changed plans and grabbed sushi. It was the perfect finish to a great day. We got these fruity little drinks.

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They were yummy and put both of us in a great mood.

Kim taking the first sip!

Kim taking the first sip!

I ordered some gyoza and vegetable tempura. It was delicious and hit the spot. A girls night out was just what I needed.

I got home and mail call came late today. My new phone case came in and I love it already! I went for the less cute but more durable option, because let’s face it people, I tend to be pretty accident prone and very clutzy. Buuuuttt it’s still nautical AND blue and has my name on it!

How was your Tuesday? Were you able to take a break and enjoy some you time at all today? Did you get anything fun in the mail?

Love,

-S

Fancy Friday, Gelato and a Sabertooth Tiger

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This week for Fancy Friday we met at a fun Mexican restaurant in downtown Mountain View. I had yummy fish tacos.  It was a smaller group this week for dinner, but it was nice to be able to catch up with everyone. Apparently someone sent out a memo that purple is in, because everyone showed up wearing some form of purple.

At the pearl tea place after dinner

At the pearl tea place after dinner

We grabbed pearl tea and gelato after dinner.  I got lemon gelato and caramel pecan and it was delicious.

Yummy gelato.

Yummy gelato.

The best part of the evening occurred when we got in line for gelato. The young couple in front of us, well, one of them was dressed as a sabertooth tiger. People stopped and took pictures with the tiger, but it was pretty hilarious. It had a moving jaw, and eyes that lit up when they spoke.

The sabertooth tiger in front of us

The sabertooth tiger in front of us-Photo Credit to Kendall

What do you think of the costume? What is the most hilarious thing you have ever seen someone dressed up as? What did you do on Friday?

Love,

-S

Coffee, Desserts and a Father-Daughter Cooking Session

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This past weekend I was invited to a friend’s birthday dinner at a wine bar in Palo Alto called Gravity. I had some free time and grabbed a coffee before meeting up with the dinner party. Sitting in the sunshine I enjoyed a calm moment with my book. It was lovely.

Coffee and a good book make for an excellent afternoon.

Coffee and a good book make for an excellent afternoon.

Abby was the perfect birthday girl, and we indulged in plenty of yummy food! The restuarant Gravity was new to me so we ordered a little bit of everything.

Our appetizers
Our appetizers!
My delicious pasta.

My delicious pasta.

Our desserts were unbelievably good. I had the strawberry shortcake, Abby ordered a peach pastry with vanilla ice cream and Rita got a chocolate lava cake.

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When I got back to the apartment the pups were snuggling despite the lingering heat.

Adorbs

Adorbs!

Today my father and I spent the whole day in the kitchen creating delicious things to eat. We tackled an impressive list: chili, tortilla lasagna, banana walnut bread, and peppermint-chocolate ice cream.  A long day, but so worth it!

I think chili is my new go-to soup.

I think chili is my new go-to soup.

3 Trays of tortilla lasagna!

3 Trays of tortilla lasagna!

I'm hoping this treat will make early mornings bearable!

I’m hoping this treat will make early mornings bearable!

There are no photos of the ice cream. So sad, because it really was delicious. Next time!

How was your Tuesday? What did you do today?

Love,

-S

Burgers, Friends and Fancy Friday

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The group of us went out to dinner last night at the Counter in Mountain View. Everyone looked fantastic and I had a blast. Burgers is what this place does best, but I enjoyed a yummy mint Oreo milkshake and a Cobb Salad. It was a lovely evening.

Dinner at the Counter

Dinner at the Counter

Doesn’t everyone look swanky? I’m thinking of Mexican food for the next Fancy Friday. How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun? Happy Monday!

Love,

-S

Sunglasses and Pearls Part 2, Fancy Friday, and IPhone Cases

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Robert the Magnificent (AKA my fancy photographer friend) sent me more photos. There were two beautiful ones from our photo shoot in the park about a month ago, you can read more about it in this post Sunglasses and Pearls. I’m wearing the sunglasses I talked about last post, from Banana Republic. I love them so much I am thinking about buying a back up pair in case anything happens to these.

Sunglasses and Pearls 3

Sunglasses and Pearls 3

Sunglasses and Pearls 4

Sunglasses and Pearls 4

I had a conflict on Friday, so this week’s Fancy Friday will be held on Sunday. More about that in tomorrow’s post! Robert was also able to recover one photo from the dusk lighting from last week’s Fancy Friday. He is fond of the serious faces, so this is why we look solemn.

Fancy Friday 3

Fancy Friday 3

I settled on this phone case, and ordered it this morning post workout. I got the durable option, and the Roomie is giving it to me for my birthday next month.

I hope everyone had a lovely Friday night! I know I did. What did you do? Do you have any big weekend plans? Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Love,

-S

Kittens, Mittens, and More

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A coworker is staying with my roommate and I until she moves into her new apartment. Her adorable pup is named Miton. It means mitten in Spanish, which fits this classy young animal as he has white socks on a black body. I have enjoyed having a third housemate (and third four footed beast), even if it is temporary. Miton is a shy young thing and runs from both me and the camera, although I don’t think of myself as scary. I’m hoping to photograph him later this week because he is a beautiful creature.

My best friend Alli recently got a cat from a shelter and on Monday I met him. Mack is 6 years old and has a sparkling personality. Although he is still settling into his new home, I was still able to give him a tummy rub while he joined us on the couch.

This was the photo from the shelter:

Mack the Cat

Alli gave me the inside scoop and apparently he is in love with this soft fuzzy blanket, and loves to spend hours curled up in this chair.

Mack the Cat in his favorite spot

I think he has the cutest face. It looks like he got into paint or something! Do you have any pets? Have you ever thought about adopting a pet from a shelter?

Love,

-S