Costa Rica.

***Addendum***

We made it! We didn't sleep much either so I'm pooped, but I'm on the patio of our school and the water is 200 yards away so this is good =) 

Hopefully I've made it to Costa Rica by now. I've never been here so I'm stoked to check out a new place. I'm here on business, kind of, chaperoning a group of kiddos with another teacher. I'm also excited to learn more about the country; more to post later this week!
¡Ciao!
xoxo, natty ♥

Pinterest.

It's blowing up in the blogosphere. You can check out my stuff by clicking on the pin to the left, I'm pretty sure you don't need a Pinterest account to see stuff, but you might. It's easy and free; you ask to be "invited" but it takes just a few minutes to get said invitation. I still don't entirely get it, though. Here's how I believe it to work: it's a venue by which you create boards on which you pin {Pinterest...I got that much at least} things that you find interesting or inspiring or you just like. You can have different boards, one for home decor, for example. You can pin things almost anywhere on the internet {this is all virtual, folks}, but there needs to be an image otherwise you can't pin something. Some people claim addiction. I had some fun for a while, especially when I found the DIY crafty things {right up my alley, yo}, but I haven't been on in a while since I've been pretty busy. Soon, I'll go back for more!
I'll be out of town for the next week and hopefully will have internet access but I'm going to try to do some planned posts, like where you schedule Blogger to post them for you.
Good Saturday y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Fab. Friday/Marvelous Monday.

I didn't do my happy Monday thing, I totally forgot, so let's do it today.

It's marvelous fabulous.

1. I still have some vacation time left before school...some.
2. My teaching schedule came in the mail this week and it's not too shabby.
3. I'm still getting married ♥ and I'm almost able to say I'm getting married "next month".
4. It's Friday! Not applicable if it were Monday.
5. I ran with friends this morning, not by myself, which is always great.
What's fabulous about your Friday? What are your weekend plans? I'm going to Costa Rica late Saturday night as a chaperon...wish me luck.
Happy week-end y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Things I see while runing.

My good friend Rebecca recently wrote about things she sees and takes pictures of while running. This makes me feel good because I know I'm not the only one. I'm lucky to have a camera in my phone and a music player too so I don't have to lug around three different devices just for a simple run. I wouldn't really do that, though, you know that, right? It's just a happy coincidence for me that I can listen to NPR, field calls and take pictures while on my constitutional. Totally necessary things to do while running.
Anywho, here are two signs I saw recently while out running. 

 

If only I were feeling entrepreneurial, I could probably make some big bucks.

Also, my grandmother, aunt and I took a quick jaunt to Monterey on Saturday for some poking around. Shiner and my aunt and I had a good time on the beach.

Have a great Thursday y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Falafel & fun.

I had such a good and full day today! I ran with some friends this morning at Rancho San Antonio which was lovely. Our team in high school ran here everyday so I know the place and the different trails very well. On my own, though, I don't ever go out there {it's about 15 minutes away} because I'm just too lazy to do the drive and the sooner I get running the better the chance is that I actually do my run. However, whenever I go I am so happy I do since it's beautiful and full of wildlife and good smells.
I met up with other friends for coffee and we talked about back to school meetings and schedules and whatnot. I've really made an effort to meet up with people this summer and I'm loving it. I have great friends at work and ALWAYS miss them on vacation; yea for getting out of our vacation dens and doing things together!
Then {I'm into the italics tonight, can't you tell?} I met up with another friend for falafels and movie watching {Chocolat...Johnny Depp...le sigh...side note, this movie is already over 10 years old? It's also suuuccccchhh a cute, sweet & fun flick to take in; very "feel good" to use a movie promoting phrase I dislike but which applies quite well to this film} and nail making. "Making" not "painting" since we used those Sally Hanson sticker thingies. I actually went ahead and did the one mis-matched nail that Mimi mentioned HERE earlier. These stickers are super fun and last a bit longer if you put on a clear coat over them anduse a bit-o-caution when doing things with the ole fingers and hands.

My pink and brown zebra fleece bathrobe for the win!

Whaddya think?! I'm pleased and I suppose that's all that really matters since they're my fingertips; ha!
Anyway, good night y'all...this was a late post and I'm ready for some shut eye {socializing all day really takes it out of me}. I'm super grateful for all friends tonight, work related and otherwise {of course!}.
xoxo, natty ♥

Hey hey.

Yikes, I'm so sore y'all! I moved and moved and moved stuff yesterday, including 11 trips up from the basement carrying big Rubbermaid bins. It's all going into storage, actually, since this is stuff that we have no use for having moved into my grandmother's house {kitchen things, towels, home decor} and we should have done this a year ago when we first moved in here. Then school started. Oh well.
It felt super good to clear out so much. We have a storage unit for a reason, folks, and there's not much in it beyond our big ticket items {couch} so we'll finally be taking advantage of it. 
On another busy note, I've been working on the programs for our wedding {I'm sorry to talk about this so much, but it's what's going on so just sit tight}. They're fans. It's a fair amount of work. I love them, though, and I love that I'm making them. I kind of don't want to post pictures, though, until after the big day...maybe I'll change my mind later. We shall see.
I don't have much else to say, this has been a boring few days on the blog-front, hasn't it? I'll try to think of something interesting for later this week.
Good Tuesday to y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

In the quest of getting the house ready for a wedding, I'm also cleaning/organizing all of my/our things. I've alluded to or directly mentioned this before this post, of this I'm sure. I'm also sure that I'd rather be sitting around eating bon-bons and watching Law & Order reruns. Today, I continue the battle. My non-working days are dwindling rapidly and I'm trying to take advantage of the time.
On a happier note, I just ate almost-two full containers of berries {raspberry and blackberry}; I'm always pleasantly taken aback by how darn good good fruit is.
Cheers!
xoxo, natty ♥

Not much I can do right now.

There's a bunch of stuff floating around in my head this evening. I'm tired though, so let's chat tomorrow, ok?
Good night y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥
PS 
The only thing I feel like saying, though, is that I LOVE gardenias. Our neighbor has a plant and let's me steal the flowers...it's the time for them and I'm enjoying several in a coffee mug full of water on the table next to me right now = happy me!

Plugged in.

I just finished my run and am enjoying a ggod peach and well deserved coffee. It's been a busy week of wedding stuff and the next one promises to be so as well, thus, I'm going to enjoy a bit of a respite today. I'd like to get done as much as I can before back to school meetings start in the middle of August and I'll be away for a week soon so I'm definitely feeling the burn, so to speak. Once classes start it's 10 days until our wedding so getting as much completed before work makes my life crazy and takes up most of my time seems to be the prudent choice.
Anyhoo, in preparation for said nuptials there have been a few things going on in and around the old house. We're putting in some stone work in lieu of grass in one part of the yard and my cousin is spearheading this project. He ripped out the lawn, got 1300 pounds of flagstone into my little-car-that-could

and laid it out in the yard with my brother's help. My grandmother's putting in fast growing ground cover type plants to go in between the stones. Nice work everyone! I watched and worked on wedding programs. 
On a different note, I carry my phone when I run. It's technically for safety but I listen to things while I'm getting in my miles. It used to be only music, fast tunes with a quick beat {think Black Eyed Peas and certain Taylor Swift songs} but in the past year I finally branched out into podcasts {I'm a HUGE fan of Ira Glass} and even more recently I've delved deeper into some category of base and shameless runner that I never thought could exist; I run while listening to TV shows or movies on Netflix. I can access Netflix on my phone, see, and I don't watch them, obviously I'd not see where I go, rather, I just listen and follow along. This morning I listened to Food, Inc..
There are some running purists in the world who don't believe you're one with your sport/nature/God/etc. if you do anything else but run while you're running. There are lots of races where headphones are not allowed, though it's more for safety {so that you can hear things around you...like people!} but some smaller races definitely ban them out of moral reasons.
I need to confess, though; I sometimes get bored. Please don't get me wrong, I love running. I suppose it can be kind of love/hate as I believe all running relationships are to a certain extent, but the overall feelings I harbor towards running are extremely affectionate-addicted. I run a lot though, and mile after mile can get tedious. I also get tired, especially after a day of standing up in front of adolescents. The thought of tuning out to some of my favorite music is sometimes what gets me out the door.
So I'm OK with it, really, I am. I wear headphones and listen to things while I run and I make sure I'm not too zoned out to hear the approaching cars at intersections. I don't really care how I get out the door and off the couch, as long as I do. The joy I get from completing any run, no matter how long or short, entirely eclipses any self imposed guilt. I also realize that I'm not always going to be able to run {though I'm going to try my dangdest hardest, by golly} and I am going to be grateful for the runs I get in every day, even if the Real Housewives are my only motivation.
xoxo, natty ♥

On the side...part last for now!

Finishing up...though if I add any in the future I'll be sure to mention as I go.

Day Workers Journal is the blog of a local Day Workers Center that I've talked about before HERE. This is an amazing organization that needs and deserves all the support and recognition that it can get. This blog is especially awesome because it's the actual laborers who keep it. They had a class given on blogging and they began one for the Center; how cool is that? Super cool!


[Mr. Goodwill Hunting] is not a Gus Van Sant fanatic blog, it's a very savvy thrifting blog. This dude knows how to wade through a Salvation Army and come out with two new outfits and a Chippendale {not the dancers y'all, I hope you know this...} something and you all know this sort of thing is near and dear to my heart.

Mimi's Muñeca, after some Blogger profile stalking I found that my friend Monica changed her blog name...caught! She's one of my besties and we went to high school together. She writes about fun stuff, fashion. Monica focuses on local fashion which is great because we can't all live in NYC, LA or Paris and we still deserve to kick up our heels in style.


Last summer an amazing person passed away. Her death has been weighing on me recently because it'a almost been a year and I still feel cheated, as though something unfair happened without any warning. She worked with me and from the first day we met I liked her {it doesn't hurt that she and I shared a love of dachshunds...}. She was very kind and always remembered a few tidbits about everyone so that when you saw her she would ask you questions of your life, making you realize that some people really listen when you speak and that she was one of them. I loved her and I loved working with her. She was diagnosed with cancer and fought valiantly over the summer but it wasn't enough. Our community reeled from the sudden loss as did her beautiful and loving family. Her struggle was documented at Our Rene and I keep up her blog because I go back to it once and a while. I actually kept some emails from her at work too, the ones that go out to everyone, just to read through those from time to time too. She is so missed.

I don't want to end on a sad note. Rene loved life and would be loving this summer with the crazy weather we've been having. This week it warmed up again; today is beautiful and she'd want us all to go out and enjoy...so go!


xoxo, natty ♥

On the side...part III.

Continuing from yesterday...

Smitten Kitchen is a cooking blog. This lady does amazing things, beautiful things, basic cooking and beyond, from her tiny NYC kitchen. This means there's no excuse, y'all, to not cook when I know that our stove and kitchen are loads bigger AND we have a dishwasher. She's a talented chef and whips up some zingers.


Bakerella is super famous thanks to her cake pops. As her title implies, she does mostly baked goods and she does them beautifully.


Better After is SO.MUCH.FUN to read through. This woman does no renovations herself but somehow got it started that people send their before and after pictures to her. It's not personal beauty makeovers, it's mostly pieces of furniture but there are many room re-dos and even some house ones as well. Again, it's a blast to see what people have done {on their own, usually, mind you} and be inspired.


The King and the Bird is my friend Ev's blog. She and her hubby are super sweet and relatively new to the area AND they're expecting a bambino soon!


Until tomorrow!
xoxo, natty ♥

On the side...part II.

Oh my good Lord I am but STEEPED in wedding crafting and planning. I started last night with these cuties:

and then I just couldn't sleep my mind was racing so...how's the day-of set-up going to happen? We need to make signs to direct people here and there. How will I ever go back to work right before the wedding?!?! I need to finish planning our centerpieces. What about programs?!?!? I actually ended up working on programs today...just about all day. I feel like some sort of computer junkie, still in my running clothes from this morning on the couch all day playing around with digital graphics and formatting and not stopping to eat! It's fun, though, and I'm blessed that I have these days where I can dedicate the majority of my time to selfish pursuits. Until August 17th, that is, when work meetings start...

Moving on...I'm adding to the explanations from yesterday. I'll do this until I'm done. Today it's the next four {I need to do more than just three at a time in order to finish in a timely manner y'all} and without further ado:


MADE is a blog I snuck onto from a new friend's blog {to come tomorrow or the next day}. This woman can sew! Learning the skill is on my list...not a bucket list but more of like a "in the next few years" list {which means I just need to suck it up and do it NOW otherwise it won't happen...maybe an "after the wedding" list is a good compromise}. I digress. She does an amazing job of making super cute things for herself and her kiddos and she has pretty straight-forward tutorials.


The Pioneer Woman is a good friend but she just doesn't know it. This lady is known far and wide not just online since she has published several books. I just love her casual way of speaking and her sincerity. The blog is CHOCK FULL of tidbits, not just quotidian musings, so give yourself some time here. As an aside, the New Yorker wrote a fascinating profile on her that belies her down-home image and points out just how dang hard working she is and has to be in order to maintain her blog and it's many shoot-off endeavors. Amazing. Plus, I have an agrarian fantasy and reading this fulfills it vicariously.


Apartment Therapy is a blog that I haven't explored much because I find their format to be a bit confusing {shh, please don't tell, they're HUGE and could gobble me up} but I keep them up there on the ole blogroll because I mean to get to know them better. They have way-cool peeks into beautiful, adorable, funky, DIY, decorated, un-decorated and inspiring homes.


Young House Love is a recent addition. I stumbled across this one from some random blog, as is how new ones are found. It is kept by a, you guessed it, young couple! They chronicle their home renovation projects {including an at-home wedding}. The amount of information can be a bit overwhelming since they usually post twice a day and the subject is Home-Depot-ey. After reading through a few of their posts, though, the tips and tutorials these two churn out are fabulous; they're for the little people like me! It's groovy to see that I could do the things that they do and that it's much easier than one might think. Plus, they have a cute baby.

***Disclaimer...these blog peoples have nada idea who I am {except for my friends...I hope} and I ain't getting no thang for gabbing about them, I just dig what they do and want to spread the word***


That's it folks, for today, this later than usual this summer poster needs to s l o w down her mind and eat dinner. Should I continue program planning after I eat? I have just one more part to finish and then that's it for tonight, I promise to self, and then relaxing without a screen since I have an early am date with Mike tomorrow. We're doing our long run on Thursday this week since he's traveling over the weekend. Wish us luck.
Over and out.
xoxo, natty ♥

And what will you have on the side?

I love reading blogs. There are so many out there; ones that haven't been updated in ten years, daily ones, legitimate NPR ones, ones by friends, big famous ones, Wordpress ones, really plain ones, really fancy ones...I did something to get the little toolbar at the top of my blog to go away but on other blogs where it still is I'll sometimes just click the "Next Blog" button to see what Blogger can give me. 
It's voyeuristic, for sure, to read other people's blogs {rather than a one connected to a business or something like that} but it feels somehow better than facebook since there's reading involved {am I wrong?}. What gave me the idea to start my own was seeing how many exist and realizing that I can do whatever.I.want.to with my blog. Actually, It technically started when I google imaged Chris Martin of Cold Play and the image I clicked on was from someone's personal blog. I read it for a bit and then clicked on a link to someone else's blog and then another and the rest is history.

Via.

Many personal blogs I've stumbled upon have one or several blogrolls. That's the list of other blogs the writer enjoys reading and it goes along the side. Mine right now is to the left <=. It used to be to the right =>. I should probably make a separate heading for each type of blog I follow since they go into different categories but I think that the number is still few enough to keep them all under one list. 
Anyway, I thought I'd explain the ones on my list since they're just there without any explanation. For today I'll start with the top three. Their order changes everyday according to what's the most recent and it even tells you below the title of the blog how long ago it was updated so that you don't need to check by going to the blog to see if there's been a new posting {ingenious!}. You can click on the bold title or just find it on the blogroll.


Miles and Laurel is my friend Rebecca's blog. She's a great writer and posts about the every-days in her life much like I do but with more eloquence. She lives in the city where we met in college and I love reading about her adventures there.

Awkward Family Photos makes me laugh out loud by myself. Check it out! There's a pet offshoot as well.

Operation Beautiful is sweet. People {mostly teen-aged girls, which is basically what I am} write post-it style notes that tell people they're beautiful and worth it and all sorts of good things. They then leave these notes in public places. This blog is where the movement started and where pictures of the notes are posted. Great for a bit of a boost =).


There you have it! I hope you have as much fun creeping around in the blogosphere as I do. I'll finish this up by the end of the week!
xoxo, natty ♥

Marvelous Monday.

I'm doing it again; ha! Although I think the title is a bit smarmy. Oh well.

Give thanks; life's marvelous!

Why today's marvelous:
1) It's warmed up a bit.
2) Two coworkers welcomed little ones into the world the past two-or-so weeks; yea for babies {super cute ones at that!}!
3) I'm getting married in 47 days ♥.
4) My pops grilled some fresh salmon last night and it was likethemostdeliciousthingever.
5) Guinness is clean, we bathed him yesterday {this is huge, folks, this dog can get pretty gnarly}.
Why is your Monday marvelous? What's good about this week in your life?
xoxo, natty ♥

Beach Day.

Yesterday my amazing friends gave me a girls beach-day-bachelorette-extravaganza. It was great. We started with lunch at Gayle's in Capitola.

Then we stopped at a CVS for some trashy reads and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach.

We got ourselves decorated 

and headed out to dinner which included a treacherous walk up a steep road; it was adventurous!

 

We topped off the evening with a dip in the hot tub, some bubbly and "In Her Shoes" with Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette on TV and it was perfect. I had such a blast celebrating with these lovely ladies and am so grateful for them in my little life =).
Thank you so much girls for a fabulous weekend!
xoxo, natty ♥

A find.

My aunt and I went to an estate sale the other day. These can be kind of difficult for me to go to since they are often the bookend of someone's life and a most intimate look at what was left behind; a home. I tend to assume the most melancholy scenario and it helps to remind myself that it's the life lived that matters and that I never know the actual story of this person or family; it probably isn't as sad as I'm imagining.
Anyway, aside from my personal conflicts, there are amazing things to find at estate sales. Like this

it's precisely what I needed when I was twelve!

It's perpetually 4:25.

This house was a beautiful example of what I love about 1960s ranch style homes {again with my predilections towards burn sienna and shag}.

The wagon wheel chandelier is an eye-catcher, for sure.

This guy was on this truck{?!} across the street for reasons unbeknown to me.
I'm still on a phone-camera jag so the pictures aren't that fabulous. Actually, who am I kidding? I'm not a great photographer so they probably wouldn't be that fabulous anyway. I wish I were, though, since there was so much about this house and the decorating style that I appreciate.
Have a great Saturday!
xoxo, natty ♥

100.

This is my 100th post y'all {channeling Paula Deen here, in case you haven't noticed}!

Via.

I am so glad I do this blog. The readership may be limited but that's not my goal. What I aim to do is purely selfish; I need to remember my days. I've said it before and I maintain that it's super easy for me to forget little details and time just seems to go faster and faster every day {case in point: where has my summer vacation gone?!?!}. I'm grateful to be able to read back about mundane things I did or was thinking about; I'm hoping I'll be even more thankful for this in later seasons of my life when the landscape has changed {children hopefully, different jobs, more education, different cities, more wrinkles, etc.}. I look forward to remembering what this time was like and to continuing my recordings of what's going on. Hopefully that made sense written the way it does in my mind!
I could do a "100 things about me" sort of thing. Maybe I will tomorrow? I am more drawn, though, to committing to 100 more blog posts. Ideally that would be 100 more days since I've been sticking to this everyday situation. That would take us to...wait for it...October 23rd, 2011. As an aside that would be 50 days after our wedding. A good goal for us as a couple and for me as a blogger I suppose! Ha!
Anyway, here's to 100 more and a great weekend☺!
xoxo, natty ♥
***Addendum*** Oh shoot! After I posted this I double checked the count of posts on the left and it says I'm at 99; ha! When I go to my log-in screen though, it says I have 100. Yikes. Despite my desire for accountability, I'm not going to individually count each, sorry, rather I'll just do something 100 related tomorrow as well. Does that sound good? Yes, I agree, it sure does. Until then...

Change of plans, some random thoughts.

I had been gearing up to rant about where we live. The weather has been a bit cooler than I like {think 70s} and I had recently, out of curiosity, checked out home prices here {Bay Area} compared to where we went to college and to where Mike's family lives {AZ}. These two things were enough to get me going, oddly enough, on how cold and unaffordable it is where we live. Especially when it's at least twice as much as those other two places {whiles salaries there are not half as much as they are here}. Which is silly. It's beautiful here, there's not 80% humidity and 80 degree days nor do we even get snow. We're within several hours of the beach, mountains, redwoods, what have you. Anyway, I got over it. It is still so expensive, though...
Since I've been all over the place blogging-wise recently {which is exactly the beauty of a personal blog hee hee} I'll continue on that jag. 
I wish there were a way to reference articles within a blog post much how one is able to do on facebook which is precisely how I noticed this article this morning

 

via.

Click on the fair Duchess of Cambridge or the link below her to read the article. It's about panty-hose! ¡Qué ridículo ja ja ja! {quick, what movie is that quote from?!?!} Oh my goodness the last time I wore any was like the eighth grade and they were egg shell colored! We used to have this fashion show in high school and my friends wore some to the try-outs we all went to {now that's <>}. The overly chic model-teacher {?} told them to take them off! Maybe, though, they'd be fun to try out? What do you think?  I don't often wear closed-toed anything except running shoes and that just wouldn't work.
My aunt and I are going to a Silpada sale today; fun!
Happy Thursday!
xoxo, natty ♥

Was supposed to be longer.

I have a longer post in mind but I'm meeting people to go running in a bit so it will have to wait for later.
We had a fun little get together for my papito's birthday last night and I took zero pictures. Oh well, memories will have to last. There was a Halloween funfetti cake involved.
We have put deposits down all over town so we're financially vested in this wedding which means it will happen!
I'm going to attempt those photo collages I've mentioned this week or next...and more fabric flags/bunting as well. Also, I need to finish my centerpieces. Then I'll feel better. I got my dress fitted again this week {a lovely coworker is doing it for me}. Hopefully I don't lose/gain and weight or height between now and then. 
I also got a photographer finagled this week as well as rental stuff taken care of so as of now people will have places to sit, some food to eat, pictures will be taken, I will have an outfit, music will be played, we will have flowers, tables will be a bit boring, dessert will be eaten and the boys will have outfits; this wedding could happen if nothing else got taken care of. Except for the license, we actually need that.
I need to get the name changing information taken care of too and I'm trying not to be overwhelmed by just how many things fall under this category. Is there any advice out there? 
That's it for now. This, dare I say, is such a random/boring post; I apologize and will do better next time. Maybe.
I'll leave you with a picture of the dog just to put the nail in the coffin of this posting malfunction.

Sometimes I think he looks like an seat otter that's not quite as cute as the others...who also walks and has a snout.

Mike was walking away from the car and Guinness was staring longingly.
Have a great middle of the week!
xoxo, natty ♥

Happy Birthday!

Today's my dad's birthday.

So handsome!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man; we love you so much Dad!
xoxo, natty ♥

Marvelous Monday.

Let's be cheesy, yes? Five reasons that make today, Monday, marvelous:

1) I'm on summer vacation {that one NEVER gets old}
2) It's a beautiful day today, not too hot and not too chilly
3) I already got in my run {five miles, legs still sore from yard work...I should ice them}
4) Two fun trips on my horizon: going to Costa Rica & Lake Tahoe
5) Tomorrow's my dad's birthday and I think he's really going to like the gift we got him and hopefully he like's the cake I'm going to make him {even though it's not going to be store-bought}

We'll see if I do this next Monday; it's kind of a break from thinking of something to write about. What's marvelous about your day today?
xoxo, natty ♥
PS
Mikey's family is having a vacation this week. We got a picture of them from his mom and wish so badly that we could be there with them; we hope you're having much fun y'all!

An assortment of things.

I have not a whole lot to report about this weekend. We Obon-ed it up yesterday {refer to posts from earlier this week}, did some yard work, got really sore from that yard work, searched for wedding bands,, went to Costco and decided that tonight we'll get pizza for dinner. That's about it and moving on to other, random things...
I came to a realization the other day; I don't think I announced that Mike and I are getting married. I might have but don't feel like looking back through the annals of history. I believe that I just started to mention it here and there as it pertained to my days and going-ons. What a blip! So...

my dude and I are getting married!!!

It happened in October last year over a wonderful weekend. I just couldn't be happier to be with my right hand man for the rest of our lives. We've had an amazing time together for over five years and look forward to many, many more. It's been so much fun to think about how we'll be spending those years and to plan our big day which kicks them off {and which is rapidly approaching at the end of my summer vacation; yea!}. 
This was us the day after he popped the question. And I said yes. Obviously.

Like I mentioned, the most recent wedding related adventure has been looking for bands and working on the yard which is an integral space for our day. My body aches now from that work.
Another random tid-bit {I know, this post is so disjointed}is the Harry Potter biz-nass. I've been a fan since I was in high school when I started reading the books and would schlep myself out to buy the new ones as they were released. I've never gotten into the movies, though. In anticipation of the last movie coming out, I've decided to watch them all before. Also, to read to all too. With what time you ask? It's summer after all! Plus, I can fold laundry and craft my nuptial decorations in front of a tv. I started the first book last night. ABC family has been playing all the movies this weekend and the mr has been watching {ha!} but that's too disjointed for me so I'll watch each one after I finish a book? Again, I am one of the lamest people I know.
We're invited to a HP party this coming Friday where everyone will leave to see a late showing and I'll beg Mike to go home and let me sleep; it's safe to say that I'll probably see it during the day at some point. We will, however, be dressing up.
As you can see in this picture

Mike has been growing out a beard. It's getting scraggly. It's perfect for this costume:

Via.

I was thinking of going as a house elf but decided on this idea that I got from my friend Kathy

via, via.

Only Harry Potter fans should be able to guess what my costume even means.
Guinness will also be in attendance. I'll be sacrificing a couple of Good Will stuffed animals and something to attach their heads on.

Via.

Are you doing anything interesting for the movie release? Do you have a favorite book/movie of the series? {Mine is the last one I think, I love closure.}
I haven't been feeling super great all day so we're finishing off the weekend easy and I hope that you are too!
xoxo, natty ♥

Fail.

That attempt at accountability by writing my boring things-to-do on here yesterday? It failed. My friends and I had lunch for like two hours. It was so much fun. I am trying to see people other than those I live with at least once a week and I'm super happy that I'm doing so because it brings variety to my days. However, not much got done because of our leisurely lunch. Oh well. 
Here's to being more productive today!
xoxo, natty ♥

Gotta get down on Friday.

The title of this post belies the actual nature of this day which is mostly all about getting things done and going to bed at a reasonable hour; I'm like the lamest 20-something out there, aren't I? Oh well.
I have plenty of wedding stuff and general all-around cleaning to "get down" with today. I'm also meeting friends for lunch which I'm looking forward to. One of the big things I need to work on is scanning. I've been thinking about making posters of the mr and I as we grew up, kind of like poster sized collagees. Since it's probably not a good idea to cut into all of those original pictures of us from the 80s and 90s that have no negatives (do you remember negatives?!) my plan has been to scan them all, print them out (any good ideas on this out there? I usually just take a usb to target and print them out on their machine, but I've never done more than 10 or 15 and I can't fathom how long it would take with the amount we have...), crop and arrange them in poster frames. We'll see how this turns out.
Another crafty thing I've been working on is fabric bunting that I want to use to decorate the yard and outside of the house. I'll post my own pictures later, maybe, but here's an idea of what I'm aiming for:

via

I'm using fabrics of varying patterns as long as they're bright and colorful and not too focused on one color. My eyes get bored easily.
That fun stuff though, will wait for next week. Today is about cleaning and more mundane tasks. Mentioning it here (to the bored chagrin of my readers) is meant to keep me accountable.
Wish me luck and GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!
xoxo, natty ♥

Off-Schedule

My schedule today is off; ugh. I love me some routines and I kind of just got used to my summer one; wake up and run (which is a huge feat, as I've mentioned), take Mikey to work, have coffee, read the paper/blogs/write post, clean a bit (in a wedding related manner), have lunch, clean/work some more (again, wedding related), think about dinner, maybe get it ready, go pick up the mr, come home for dinner, maybe some more crafting/work, read, blessed bed. 
I realize it's boring to post how my days work (don't deny it) now that I've written it out, but I forget things so easily and at some point I'll like to look back and see how I spent my summer (won't I?). I've also been sprinkling in coffee and lunch dates with friends which has been great. 
I feel at ease with the world when I have the majority of my day to do what I want and today I had things to do. Errands to run. Places to be. They weren't particularly boring of difficult to-dos (I took my cousin and her friend to get their nails done as a birthday gift and I got a pedicure too!) but they were just things to do and I couldn't do my thing. As a disclaimer, I am aware that this is pretty selfish behavior. I worked hard for my summer, though, and I'm working towards this wedding of ours and spending time with family and friends; I'm not just eating bon-bons all day. I also realize that there will be a time in my life when I won't have this luxury (whether I get a non-teaching job at some point, have my own little kiddos running around, a combination of the two or some other unforeseen set of circumstances) so I'm really loving my time these days.
Alas this vent does not match up with my trying to be positive and enjoy the summer so I shall leave it here and move.on; it is a beautiful day here, life is good and we have so much to look forward to in the next few days, months and years.
Moving on; Tuesday was my mama's birthday and I forgot to mention it. ¡Feliz cumpleaños y zapo verde! I made her dinner and {bought} a chocolate cake and we had a great time. I made my mother Bisquick Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie.

There in me lurks a 1970s housewife from Michigan; I love casseroles AND I love recipes that come on boxes. In Minnesota they are called "Hot Dishes" and I love those too. It's fabulous, in mine eyes, to have all meal components in one place at one time especially if melted cheese is involved. Mike is so off-put by the name of this meal and casseroles in general but he'll still eat it and ask for seconds; ha! I wouldn't say it's impossibly easy because that just doesn't quite make sense AND impossibly easy would be ordering in Indian food. I still ♥ it.
That's about it for now. It's been warm, which makes me happy, and Mikey and I enjoyed an outdoor movie last night. There was a costume contest to go along with the film. That and delicious kettle corn.

Can you guess which movie it was based on our outfits? 

Needless to say, we did not win but we had a blast.
San Jose offers nighttime movies outside at a few locations downtown which is AWESOME if you ask me; I'm a sucker for community events of any sort. You can read about it HERE if you're a San Jose-ian and curious. Also, don't forget the Obon festival in Japantown this weekend; I mentioned HERE and HERE and you can read about it HERE. 
Have a great rest of your Thursday y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Phoenix

I love Arizona. The California/Sonoran/Arizonan deserts are some of the most beautiful places on earth to me and, as previously alluded to, I am no small fan of high temperatures. Give me warmth, warmth and more warmth! I had never been to Phoenix in the middle of summer, though, and I was so excited to experience the heat. I was not disappointed. Again, as mentioned earlier, it hit 118 on Saturday which even I'll admit was toasty. The skies, though, were beautiful. 

I don't know if it's a this time-of-year-thing, with the heat and wind that comes up, or if there was something funky going on with storms in the distance, but I was loving it.

 

The storm never really came to us, but it sure did threaten to.

Those clouds are so dark! I'm still on a phone-camera kick, by the way, so don't mind the low quality; I can upload them directly to photobucket from my phone and it's just easy. Some day I'll have a nice computer that can't handle loading pictures AND a really nice camera. 
We had a Fourth of July family get-together on the 3rd since Mike's brother left on the 4th. There was a ton of food including home-made ice cream which was DELICIOUS {thanks Kathy!} and everyone had a great time.
This is us right before people came over, we had just gone for a dip.

When Monday night rolled around we went to watch fireworks and ended up on the side of a small road with plenty of other people. The show was great, not too close so the noise was manageable but close enough to enjoy {I ♥ fireworks, fyi}. We were serenaded by a small child singing Katy Perry's Firework over and over again. We were also in the middle of a dust storm. They're called "haboobs". Read about it HERE, though this one actually happened yesterday; ours was a bit less intense.
It was a fabulous weekend. I'm super lucky to have such a great second family through Mike and I love spending time with them.
To top it off, the mr and I went to a local snow cone place that we like. I got cherry-lime with cream and he got lemon-lime; yum!

I love the patriotic touch!
xoxo, natty ♥

Back!

We're back, yo. We flew in this morning. The Mr. went to work like a productive member of society and I have stayed home and lazed, worked on blog stuff {I like my new look!}, had coffee and am thinking about what my alter-ego must be doing out and about for me today since I'm not {buying fabric for a wedding project, folding laundry, buying groceries, whatever...}.
I'll have more to say about our little trip/mini-vacation later this week {we had SUCH a good time}. As it is, I've spent enough time online getting the new template up but...a quick thought. I love those blogs that have cute pictures in the heading. Mostly it's families or kids or someone's personal artwork. Again, I just love them, they're so colorful and pleasing to the eye. My headers always just have words in them since I'm not a talented graphic artist who can make really snazzy online collages nor do I wish to pay for one. Though pictures work so well for other people's blogs, I think the only pictures I could put up would be me and my dude, which makes me feel a bit full of myself - putting up family pics that include kids seems "ok" since other family members can keep up that way, but we're not there yet - or our hound and I do NOT want to be one of those animal people {though it works for them}. Sigh. I'll just have to keep at it with pretty fonts and the free templates I snag for the time being.
Cheers to a short week!
xoxo, natty ♥

Today.

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. " Erma Bombeck 

xoxo, natty♥

Valley of the Sun.

It's more like Valley of the Really Really Strong Sun. We're in Phoenix visiting Mr.Mike's parents and having a great time. I actually ran outside yesterday morning. That was before the mercury hit 118 {woah!} and it was really early. Honestly, though, I'm loving the weather. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm perpetually cold. Cold fingers, cold nose, cold toes; I'm used to it all. Phoenix, however, warms me from the inside-out. I haven't been cold once since Friday night. This may sound bizarre, but it's me.
Like I said, we came to visit with family and have a good 'ole time. Yesterday my future-mother-in-law and I got the invitations just about ready to go (♥!), we hung out and ate at one of Mike's favorite restaurants. Today we're having a BBQ today for the holiday since Mike's brother has to go back to where he lives tomorrow.
We're getting ready for our grill out right now and I'm trying to get people into the pool to cool us down even though the water is in the 90s {just the way I like it!}- wish me luck!
That's all for now =)
xoxo, natty ♥
PS
My lovely step-mom is traveling around the world this weekend to visit her home country; have a wonderful time Leah!!!

Two pictures.

Yesterday morning on my run I took this picture {I was stretching at a light post, looked up and loved the view}:

Today, I took this one:

Where in the world am I?
Happy Holiday weekend!
xoxo, natty ♥

Phone ridiculousness.

I'm constantly baffled by just how vast the internet is; it is seemingly endless in its offers, online communities, shopping, love connections, Google and Lord knows what else. I kind of feel as though the only thing that rivals the interwebs for possibilities that go on forever is human creativity; without said creativity there would be no World Wide Web. So, the two together is like two mirrors facing each other, the images continue into infinity and so do technology and the weirdness that you can find online. 
I put "smart phones" into the category of technology/internet/the beginning of the end. I also include the growing number of phone "applications" {I've always eschewed the word "apps"; I'm not big on abbreviation}; there are just so freaking many: useful, funny, pointless, macabre and the beat goes on.
Every once and a while, when laying prone on the couch watching a re-run mystery with my grandmother, I'll browse the "app" store on my phone just to see what there is. I'll download the free ones; they're free and it's a lark. Once and a while I'll splurge on the 99 cent ones. I did this a few nights ago and found some interesting stuff. First of all, when I mentioned "macabre" above, I'm referring to the Casey Anthony trial -follower applications {yes, there are two} {barf} that I stumbled upon.
Secondly, I ended up downloading one in the "very, very pointless" category. It's called "Top Girl":

Maybe it is useful after all, it's meant to help young women succeed by practicing useful life skills using a hand-held interface and realistic graphics. Upon joining, you have to choose your looks {totally true-to-life}.

Then you can dress yourself with your limited wardrobe. You can get more clothes as you work more and get paid.

 

Little notes pop up telling you where to go. Your options are: your closet, the modeling agency where you start as as assistant, the clothing & accessory store, the club {to meet boyfriends} & the cafe {to get energy in the form of caffeinated beverages or candy so that you can work more to get money to buy clothes or gifts for your boyfriends}.

Being career-minded, I went straight to work.

Then I ran out of energy so I went to the club to "snag a boyfriend". I checked the stats of the veterinary assistant and ended up with another guy. We went on dates.

By this point, I had run out of money to buy gifts for my boyfriend since I needed to buy more clothes to work. Working, though, had depleted my energy but I had no money to afford my coffee and candy so I went to the ATM and when I got there, I was met with this:

It's not really free! I was flabbergasted. I could no longer play without spending real money and reality is exactly what I'm trying to avoid in downloading stuff like this. What bothers me, though, is that people.get.away.with.this. Also, people.get.paid.for.this. 
In conclusion: the internet is crazy.
xoxo, natty ♥