Baby cakes!

He's here!

We waited almost ten long months and our beautiful baby boy is here. He's perfect. And he's awesome. We got blessed with the coolest baby ever! The only time we've heard him even start to cry is when he has gas. Otherwise, he is happy and interested in everything going on around him.

Slowly, this blog is winding down, as I want to keep things more private. I have loved documenting some of our memories but it's time to move on. 

Photo by Diana Carolynn Photography.

Maternity Photos!

After 9mo of having a very tough pregnancy, I was reluctant to take any pictures to document this journey. I am so ready to have this baby! But, I knew I'd regret if we didn't have some momentos so my sister Leilani took some photos of us at the local beach. It was very quick, painless and actually fun! So happy we did it!

Our little man will be here sometime in the next few weeks and we couldn't be happier!

Baby Shower...

My amazing sister Leilani and BFF Lizzy threw me the coolest baby shower ever! Lots of fun, great food and lots of love to go around for our little man. Our hostesses had some really fun games, including a "Dear Mommy" note where each gal gave advice and then read it aloud, bingo during the opening of gifts and a raffle for those that brought diapers or wipes. Each gal also designed and created their own onesie for our baby! The party favors were beautiful bags that included an owl purse hanger (for when you're out at a restaurant/bar and don't have anywhere to put your purse), beautiful cookie ingredients in a mason jar w/recipe, and two chocolate bars wrapped in personalized wrappers.

It was a day I'll cherish always and I am so thankful to have all these beautiful, strong and intelligent women in my life!

Spread the Love!

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by! I miss documenting our adventures on this blog and sharing it with our friends but I am exhausted. Literally. I don't remember anyone mentioning how truly ROUGH pregnancy can be! Our little man will be here about three months and we can't wait! I am taking this crazy experience one day at a time... mostly because each day is so different.... the main difference depending on whether or not I got sleep! haha

Our life is filled with so much love and we're surrounded by the best people on the planet, and I couldn't be thankful enough! I hope to start blogging again soon. Right now I'm obsessed with watching is Kimora's: Life in the Fab Lane, based on her day-to-day life running JustFab. My sister Leilani works there so she's on the show every once and a while. Fun stuff! Till next time:

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." ~Mother Teresa

Baby Cakes

It's official - 

We have a baby on the way!!! We tried for 8mo unsuccessfully, got checked out by a fertility doctor, made a few minor adjustments and BAM! It happened! We waited until we were 9wks to tell our parents, sister and closest friends. I know that is a bit early but our OBG had to reschedule our first ultrasound to a couple weeks later and... I only had one pair work pants that fit! haha So I also let my teammates (who are actually more like family!) in on the secret. We decided to announce it to our friends and extended family via Facebook during week 14 with this little picture below. Inspired by a few I saw on Pinterest!

So far the pregnancy has been good. The first 12wks were completely miserable, I have to admit. During week 6, we spent 10 days touring Italy, which we booked before we new we were expecting. It was beautiful, fun and amazing - exactly what you'd hope for except I couldn't eat! Since I don't like white bread, pasta or cheese to begin with, I had a really tough time finding healthy items to eat... or that I could keep down.

Thanksgiving has just passed and man, do we have so much to be thankful for. I am so happy and blessed, I am bursting at the seams with joy! My parents were in town for almost a week, which was wonderful. I can't thank God enough! My cup runneth over!

Officially: The Hope Balloon

It's official!

My cheeks hurt from smiling and my heart feels like it's going to burst! The Hope Balloon has officially been published and released!

Get your copy today! It's for an amazing cause!

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3539025

The Hope Balloon

Here's a quick 1 minute video by www.pillbox79.com. It's about their little journey to find the perfect backdrop for one of the participant's in The Hope Balloon

Location Scouting for the Hope Balloon

Hiatus!

One year ago I was inspired by an amazing book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben, to start this blog. It has been fun, inspiring, been eye-opening, a journal and form of documentation of one of the best years of my life! I'm so grateful for the challenge and learning experience. I need to take a break for a few months!

I have poured every cell of my heart into a new project: The Hope Balloon. It all started as an idea to create a coffee table book... that evolved into something so much bigger than me or my little idea. I remember the day I wrote down different ideas and when I realized it could be a fundraiser, it was like a light bulb went off in my HEART. One plan led to another, led to another and with the help and support of so many, it has blossomed. 

I will spend the next three weeks editing each participant's writing and laying out their photographs and then the book will officially be released September 1st! Generous proceeds of each book sold will go to the American Cancer Society. It has been such a special few months for me, personally, my internal growth... sort of like this blog. I hope to start blogging again in October. Till next time, cheerio! ;) 

Check us out...

www.facebook.com/thehopeballoon

www.thehopeballoon.com

Sneak peeks:

Hula & The OC Fair

What a busy weekend! Friday night one of my coworkers hosted a happy hour. It was tons of fun!!

Saturday we spent the day relaxing and then headed to our good friends' daughter's Hula Recital. It was so fun!

It's summer... you know what that means! Nicer weather, laying by the pool or beach, get-togethers with friends and... the Orange County Fair! It was opening weekend and it was less packed than I expected. We went with our great friends and my little nephew! FYI - if you go from 10am-11am admission is only $2! No joke!

We did tons of walking, checked out the petting zoos and ate a lot. We were adventurous and tried a lot of fried stuff... fried twinkies, fried snickers bars, fried frog legs and my favorite - fried oreos! It was all super yummy and we won't have any of that crap until next year when the fair rolls around again. Cheers!

  

24hrs in San Francisco

I left my heart in San Francisco... and this weekend I went back to reclaim it! Saturday, my husband and I drove up to SF to take my Hope Balloon photo in a place that reminds me so much of my mother, it almost hurts to revisit. My dream was to take my photo at the end of the Land’s End hike, the furthest North/West point of SF with a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course, the weather was supposed to be 81 degrees and partly cloudy but as some of you know, this is literally the city that can claim, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.” We arrived in SF at 12pm, went straight to Land's End and the marine layer just wasn’t matching this amazing landscape I created in my head for my backdrop, so we switched gears and took pictures at a few others that day. We visited Ocean Beach, the beach just West of Fort Mason, the Twin Peaks towers, Fisherman’s Wharf and Embarcadero. We ended up checking out one last place on Sunday morning before heading home, and that was IT. By IT, I mean the photo that will be included in the book fundraiser! The picture below is not IT, but it's one that we captured:

I love the city of San Francisco so much. It feels like home... IF I would ever live in a metro city. It feels like home, except I'd never live there! And the weather would torture my hair. haha! Anyway, we did so much in the 24hrs we were there that I had to do quick list of places we were able to visit on such a quick trip. Cheers!


1) Land's End - It may be my favorite place in the country! It was too cloudy for us to make the journey on such a short trip. It's a 2mi scenic hike with stairs and hills and at the end you have a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge.


2) Twin Peaks - They couldn't make it any easier to find this - you take Mission to Twin Peaks Blvd and ta-da! You're at the matching towers with an amazing view of the city. On a clear day you can see Oakland and Alameda as well.

3) China Town - 5 city blocks full of shops, eateries, bakeries, toy shops - you name it!

4 ) Going North! There are two amazing views of the bridge and city, just north of the bridge. One is a true tourist/visitor area. The other, on the West side, offers amazing views of the bridge with the city behind it. Below you can see the marine layer was too thick to see the bridge, but it was a fun drive up there.

5) Driving around the city & Embarcadero - Driving around is intense but gorgeous if you can hang on. The hills and views are amazing. Embarcadero offers some really great shopping, restaurants and an organic farmers market. You also have great views of downtown and the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge. 

6) The Palace of Fine Arts - this place just melts my heart. There is so much to do & see! AND the Exploratorium is great for kids (5yrs+). I have loved this place since visiting as a child. 

Office Dip Party

Our team decided to kick off July with a bang! Our teammate Brianne had the brilliant idea of having an office Dip Party. Basically each person brings whatever dip they've made, along with the appropriate item to dip with. We added a little twist and made it a Surprise Dip Party, which made it even more fun! We ended up with a Mexican taco dip, a warm seafood crab dip, a caramel cookie dip, ranch & chips, insanely good guacamole, a veggie lime juice dip, an olive/taco dip, and a cottage cheese dip with jalapeno & red peepers dip. That is a lot! And we ate a lot! All day. It was a lot of fun and great that everyone participated. I have to tell you - each of us girls spent a bit of time on our dips and both of our male coworkers picked up something pre-made. It was hilarious!!

A long time ago, a girl I knew made this incredible apple and cream cheese dip. Every time I make it, everyone loves it (so thank you Girly Chef wherever you are!). I'm not sure what its official name is, but here's the recipe for the Caramel Apple Dip! I did mine in a a medium sized C&B dish and opted for light items.


* 16oz of light cream cheese (2 8oz packages, softened) ($3.50 ea)
* 1 cup light brown sugar ($2)
* 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ($1)
* 1 tub of Marzetti caramel dip ($4)
* 3 Heath Bars ($1.50/3; smash them)
* 6-8 green apples, sliced ($2.50)


1) Blend cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl until smooth
2) Transfer to decorative bowl
3) Pour caramel over the entire surface
4) Sprinkle Health Bar bits over the top


Voila!

31!

I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. My teammates are awesome - they got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a very sweet card, filled with awesome messages! My BFF sent me this beautiful Edible Arrangements bouquet - which was so big, all ten of my teammates worked on it and I still took a quarter of it home! My husband also got me an Edible Arrangements gift, which I did not share... because I LOVE chocolate-covered bananas! haha! I had a really happy and fun birthday.

Vanessa Carlton

All this talk about turning 31! Today was an amazing way to spend the last day of my 30th year. We headed to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles for the California Philharmonic's "Let the Festival Begin" concert. Maestro Victor Vener was amazing and we enjoyed his sense of humor and style. The USC Marching Band rocked the house with their jams and dancing, which was super fun. With an audience packed with mostly people over 50, they got them to dance and got the alumni to sing along with pride.

Ahhh, but my heart. My favorite pianist, lyricist and musician: Vanessa Carlton was phenomenal. I have loved her music from her first release and have followed along and grown with her music. There are memories of my life attached to her different albums and songs. Her most recent album, Rabbits on the Run is a throw back to another era of music, very Fleetwood Mac, which I love. 

Today we were in the fourth row. It is one thing to watch Vanessa Carlton to sing on her own, just her and the piano, or even to watch her live with her buddy violinist, Skye Steeler. It is completely another thing to watch her play and hear a full orchestra fire up and bring so much support and backing to her lovely music. Very powerful. It was so wonderful to hear her songs how she meant for them to be heard. 
She doesn't tour often but I have seen her every time she's come to LA. Cody & I agreed, when she plays with any city's philharmonic in the future, we will be in attendance! I thought I was dragging Cody to go see my favorite girl, and he loved every second. I know he totally dug that she played at this gorgeous grand piano with closed-toed stilettos on. She won him over with that!

Of course we were not allowed to take photos while they were playing music. So this is her Hear the Bells video. If you click on it, it'll take you to You Tube.

I had so much fun with my husband, my sister Leilani and her boyfriend Wesley today. Here are some random fun pictures we took. This is going to be an awesome week and I'm really looking forward to next weekend already! Big things are in the works!

  

Dear Journal

When I was 15, my Dad bought me my first journal. Nothing fancy. It wasn't even a journal, just a small notebook with lines for writing. I started writing my thoughts, my issues, happy things, accomplishments, my hopes and about things I loved. As soon as one book was completely filled with daily entries, I'd go out and buy another. I ended up stopping my journal writing in 2006, for no reason. Though I am totally happy not keeping a journal any more, I remember how much I looked forward to writing in it, especially when I was younger.


I'm turning 31 next week so I decided to look up what I wrote back when I was 21. I found several inspiring things (a new love of psychology, new friendships, my plan to move to LA, concerts, my volunteer work, weekend trips, partying with my coworkers) and a handful of hiccups (dropped out of college, got into a car accident, broke a few hearts). I enjoyed reading the pages, almost obsessively, as if I was transported back in time to relive these moments. I found so many things and feelings that I had otherwise forgotten about. Things I was unsure about, things I wanted to do in life, what I wanted to be. I thought it was incredible to see how much I’ve grown and reflect on the experiences of when I was 21. After reading most of the pages, I realized I wouldn’t change a thing. That’s the thing about getting older for me, I wouldn’t re-do anything or go back. I love getting older and constantly changing. What kind of life would we live, if we didn’t grow and never changed? I refuse to be stuck.

Thirty has definitely been one of my favorite years. I learned more this year about myself, than any other year and I'm so grateful. For everything. My family is healthy and happy. My husband brings so much joy to my life. My job is decent, I love my teammates. My new little project is happening! I feel so blessed!

My Wish List for My 31^st Year:

* Have a baby cakes!

* To sell at least 250 books (The Hope Balloon fundraiser), once published

* Take a trip to Europe with Cody

* Run a half marathon

* Spend more time volunteering, hands-on

* Take a photography class to finally learn how to use my flippin' camera

* Focus on nurturing my close friendships and investing in new ones

* To read another dozen books

* Share less, listen more


Cheers to another year filled with great memories, a life filled with love and the opportunity to learn and grow!

A trip to NYC with my sister. Ten years doesn't seem so long ago!