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 ♥

June 30th

The alternate title for this post is "No, please don't go!", referring to June being over. 
Attempting to blog every day in June was a whim. It came to me as I was writing a post early in the month and I realized that I had done one every day so far which was like, two or three. I wondered if I could keep it up; I did! I loved it, too. There was one day where I posted the next morning, but I'm letting it slide. I have really enjoyed getting out some thoughts each day, even though it's pretty mundane stuff and my writing has never been great- I can't organize my thoughts super well. I kind of feel as though some people have this image of a blueprint of whatever they write; I don't have that. Oh well. It is my blog, after all.
I'm going to aim for July now. I think I might have mentioned that some lurking fear of commitment (& a job that starts in August) is keeping me from attempting a true 365 (posting once a day for a year), but month-by-month I can warm up to. Honestly, the biggest challenge I see in the next month, 11 months even, if I'm really toying with the idea of a 365, is that I'm leaving the country for a week. There will be an internet cafe situation, but those one or two random days of no access might happen; I can just post twice the next day, right?
Anyway, July, here we come. I'd like to ring in each new month with a quote. June had her month in the sun (though we saw quite a bit of rain here!) and every other month deserves that too I'm realizing. Tomorrow I can talk about why I like this month and today I give you July's quote/poem/something to ponder/whatever I can find for each month. This is something I had never fully read until now and I think it's a beautiful and very strong piece of work. Do you know where this is found in our country?

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus, 1883

xoxo, natty ♥

Ammended.

Oooops! I forgot to censor my little tush in the last post, so, there you go, all better now =)
Yesterday was a beautiful day. It POURED for hours. I know that in some climates, summer rain is normal, but not here. The clouds with the strong sun hiding behind them made for ethereal, ephemeral, epidural {?} light {I needed three e-words}. I just sat and watched for a bit.
Then I went to the mall. I'll be the first to recognize the mall as definitely not a bastion of culture and critical thought, but I still love it, as much as a fabulous museum even. If you think about malls, they are museums, but more like anthropological museums than art or hands-on science ones. To me there seem to be all sorts of people in a shopping center, even depending on the time of day one goes. 
I think I love the morning crowd the most. I notice many mothers of babes in strollers with toddlers in tow. In my imagination they are just dying to get out of the house and go somewhere different. Perhaps they have a rotation every week; the mall, the library, a certain playground, a grandparent's house.
There are older folk in the mornings as well. They make me think of a different generation that did things according to rules. If you need something new, go to appropriate Macy's department. I love that they take advantage of the less crowded AM hours; I so don't blame them.
The people who work at the mall make up the backdrop, getting displays ready and chatting amongst themselves. I've always been fascinated by the community they form, knowing who works where, getting deals from the food court, being privy to the back hallways and exits that comprise the behind-the-scenes scene.
The afternoon and evening hours belong to them, those who are associated with the mall in countless movies and those who also so often help to keep the mall running with their labor, those who roam in groups and really go for the socializing and maybe the cuisine, but definitely not for the shopping; the teenagers. This is where anthropology comes into play considering the intricate group dynamics this crowd is involved in and which I will not be focusing on today, considering that it could fill several tomes. Or Teen Beats.
As I mentioned briefly in an earlier post, the mall is kind of like suburban comfort food. I actually stole this phrase from a friend a while back (you know who you are!) and it perfectly named the way I feel about those places. It's nice to know that there is so much, practically anything you ever needed, under one roof. It's nice to know that you can just go and walk around, get a snack, do some people watching or find an obscure corner to make out in (for the teens, duh). 
I think it also makes me think of the department store of yore where one could REALLY get everything necessary. I have a few memories of these behemoths and I'm talking about the department store that would have everything under the sun inside, kind of like Sears but on a grander scale. There are some relics of this way of shopping left over here and there; Macy's has their food court (in certain bigger stores) and furniture department and the aforementioned Sears has appliances and tools. Chicago's old Marshall Field's which is now Macy's is the best example that I can think of that I've been to recently, with a candy department and toy store, but then again, I've never been to NYC and I'm sure things are even more amazing there. 
These old stores would have a grocery department, a toy section, a fishing/hunting area, an electronics department, a pet store, a book store, a cafeteria to eat in, a nicer restaurant to eat in on nicer days and experts in their area tucked away behind each counter (or so I imagine)...when my grandmother took me to England, I was ten and we would go to the shops everyday. One of the best was Harrods, obviously, but a cheaper locale we favored was Marks & Spencer because we could get food for dinner as well as some new socks since we hadn't brought enough. We also favored this heavenly place, seven stories of toys and candy, and went to Liberty a few times for good measure. I digress for sure, but how in the heck can I remember these things? I can hardly recall last night's dinner.
I love the idea that one could get all one needed in one place. It's not the most logical idea presently and I think that most people shop around for deals and different styles. With the internet it's possible to get practically anything our minds can dream up, especially with sites like Etsy where custom-made is merely one of thousands of choices. Choosing from the five available styles, colors or options that the old department store had, though, simplified things(at least I like to think it did) and maybe my life would feel less cluttered I weren't able to order whatever type of two-and-a-half person couch with Micronesian baby down feather stuffing and hand woven twine threading.
Waxing poetic on malls and shopping centers is certainly not a high point in my life, but something does need to be said for them and my accompanying thoughts.
xoxo, natty ♥

Ho hum.

Again, I come to you with not much to report on the home front. I'm taking off today from running because I do that once a week. I also have a sore spot on one shin and time-off is the cure for that...along with some ice. The trouble on these days for me is that I get restless, even if I'm doing stuff, my body can tell that there's a bunch of energy that isn't being used but I need to remind myself that rest is good.
I'm continuing the great scam of summer 2011. Prior to digital, we folk would take pictures with a film camera. Therefore the pictures of me up through parts of college are all actual prints, roaming around the house in boxes and envelopes; some are even in albums. I want to do a sort of project with old pictures of me and the mr for our big day, so I'm scanning them all in so that I can print them out and cut them up to make a collage or something cute. Yesterday I tackled baby shots of yours truly that were conveniently in the hall closet; today, I need to delve into the dank and swampy basement. I suppose its a good thing to do on a day like today, considering that rain is in our forecast (Why, oh weather gods, why???).
I'll leave you with a picture I stumbled upon.

Glory be; I just can't get enough of this pool!

xoxo, natty ♥

Not a whole lot, not even a little lot.

The title of this post sums up what's going on right now, so this post shall be short, much like the last. I just finished my run. This morning run thing I did last week because of the heat has been kind of nice and we'll see how long it shall last. Guinness and I are about to take Mike to work and then come home to do the Monday crossword and drink coffee. Boring but that's "ok" by me!
Good day to you all.
xoxo, natty ♥

To-dos

Today, Mike and I are trying to cros off things on our list, a to-do list, not a bucket list or anything fun like that.. We got in our run and we're about to go to Mike's office to get some wedding stuff planned and taken care of.  It's easier there since there's a big table and open space. We're picky about our work environments.
There is some fence painting and grocery getting to be done as well.
Hopefully backyard bbq-ing will happen tonight, heavy on the vegetables ideally. With the kitchen being worked on last week, we ate out a lot. Despite healthy choices, it doesn't feel that great after a while and I'm sooooo looking forward to at-home eating which is much better for us and can include yummy grilled stuff.
That's all, this is the really short post I set out to write yesterday.
xoxo, natty ♥

Pretty flowers, patriotic toes and king of the mountain easy chair

I had brunch this morning with a good friend in the Big City. After driving home in a warm car (our Big City is notoriously foggy/cold in the summer all the time so I was enjoying the ambient warmth of my car) with delicious noms in my tummy I am sleepy. As a prelude to a nap, I'm blogging.
I snapped some shots of the flowers in our driveway.

These are trumpet flowers; that's what I call them because they look like these:

Note the resemblance. Photo courtesy of here.

They are night bloomers and smell beautiful in the evenings.

They flower several times throughout spring/summer/fall so we get to enjoy them lots.
I don't have a name for these.

 

They're just pretty.

Yesterday a different friend (see: first paragraph above) and I got pedicures since we hadn't seen each other in a while and that's what you do upon reuniting.
I had patriotic nail stickers and asked my nail lady to add them to my toes. I like to add flair to myself, especially holiday flair. Don't mind the freaky-deaky sandal marks on my feet. Also, don't mind the feet pictures. I'll never do it again, I promise {I might be crossing my fingers as I write this!}.
On second thought, as I just looked at the pictures on photobucket, I rescind the pictures without ever even putting them up. Some things I shouldn't post, I realize. You're welcome.
We have two smallish dog beds for our hound. They sit next to each other in our family room. One usually has some toys in it while the pooch will laze in the other. A cat will sleep in one at night too. While cleaning was happening yesterday both beds were stacked onto a chair we have and when I looked over at one point, I saw this:

Let me give you a better angle.

I hate (kind of) that I'm one of those pet picture takers, but he's just so ridiculous to me, I need and must document it.
xoxo, natty ♥

Shorty.

As in a short post, not a girl. 
I'm mired in summer and loving it, even though it's back down to the 70s; am I such a freak that this is "cold" to me?? 
Yesterday I had lunch with friends, dinner with a high school alumnae group and killed an hour {or two} in tar-jhay. I love these days so much because I don't need to worry about being prepared for the next, I can just float about and do what I like. Don't get me wrong, work is a fabulous thing and as I've mentioned before, it always feels good to return, but an eeentsy part of me just can't wait for retirement.
After lunch yesterday we walked around downtown Sunnyvale, where we ate and walked past Willy's {see yesterday's post}. My inner grammar-demon came roaring out {disclaimer: I know that I don't always use perfect grammar here [and in life], I split my verbs, use indicative when I need subjunctive, over-use superlatives and run-ons, blah blah blah...but I can still be picky if I has a hankerin' to!}. This:

needs to be this:

It sure is a good thing that they have me to fix things.
Today I get to do more summer. Tomorrow, even more. Next week, EVEN more. I'm seeing three great friends this weekend which I'm really excited about and we're looking at rental stuff for our big partay coming up. Next weekend we're hoofing it down to Phoenix for the fourth which should be right up my alley: HOT. 
I'm also looking forward to the Obon Festival in two weeks time. I blogged briefly about it last year and you can check out more genuine information here. I realize that I'm a fool for festivals, though not all. A festival needs a specific food-type to be worthy. Those traveling food booths that are the same for all street festivals are whack; these are not to be confused with food trucks, those are wonderful. Back to festivals. The food must shine. Now that I think about it, I'm drawn to cultural festivals. That must be it, the food AND the ethnic diversity just reel me in.
We are LUCKY to have many in our area and the Japanese Obon ranks high on my list. The food I've had there and deemed drool-worthy, in the order it should be consumed, is: Gyoza, beef Teriyaki, Udon, strawberry shortcake (yes, strawberry shortcake!). 
I can't wait. 
If you do go, it's in our beautiful Japantown so try the light rail so as to avoid parking which can be difficult to find. Or, if you're like most everyone and drive {guilty I am}, park in the neighborhood, you'll need to walk a few blocks but it will go towards canceling out all of the calories you'll consume. There's fun dancing to watch, beautiful flowers (& leis) to buy, BINGO, and game booths for kids.
This was longer than intended. Happy weekend y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

Scenes from a summer place, our place.

As is known by many some, we in our family have a thing for the Goodwill. Also, for the Salvation Army, the Savers, garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales, you get the picture. There is just SO MUCH stuff to be found. Exhibit A: the window dog.

One of them is real...

I think it's supposed to be some sort of Afghan dog.

one of them is not.

My auntie dear, she who perpetuates this second hand addiction of ours, got this at Willy's, as we call it. She claims they're somewhat expensive in real life which I don't doubt, and then somehow it ended up in the window. I guess it might be embarrassing, but I think it's pretty high-larious. There's a fake dog in our window!
Once, in random internet land, I read that it's a southern US thing to keep a mannequin in one's front window and to change its outfits season-to-season, or day-to-day if you have more of that time stuff people are always talking about. This is just our version here in San Jose my family.
xoxo, natty ♥
Le post script: please don't mind the poor exposure, picture wise. There is only so much that the iphone camera can do and I'm not feeling into excessively tweaking dog pictures in the photo programs I have and the real camera has gone away for a while so here we are.

At the drive-in.

Last night Mike and I {& the dog!} loaded up the car, grabbed some take-out and headed to the drive-in to catch the Hangover part deux. I had a blast. For those of you in the area, this is such a good deal! Normally it's like $6/adult but on Tuesdays it's less than $5. They tell you the radio station to tune-into {there's no shell like in the Flintstones :(} and which screen to go to. There actually is a lobby/snack area, but you can bring what ever you want in your car, so we had burritos! We backed in the car and opened the trunk {we have an suv thing} and settled into the couch cushions we brought {class, all the way}; it was fabulous and a great way to spend a hot night.

In line waiting to get in.

Screens waiting for darker skies.

The movie was as it should be, raunchy and laugh-worthy, and the chocolate chip cookies I stashed in the back were delicious too.
Some randomness, Wednesday style:
• Today I'm taking a running day off, I do one a week {at least!} so hopefully I can get other stuff done. 
• The kitchen continues it's transformation, though it will be at least a week until we can get back in there and stop eating out. I guess we could be really creative about grilling and rinsing stuff off in the bathroom sink (or the shower like Cosmo Kramer), but with the heat and everything piled under tarps and not where it normally is, it's just hard.
• I think my aunt and I may go to the mall today, sweet suburban comfort.
Happy middle of the week!
xoxo, natty ♥

Summer Solstice.

Happy longest day of the year, y'all! This is the greatest day of the year, I think, along with a few others (my birthday!our to-be wedding day!), because there is the most light and it's (usually) warm- a perfect combinatino in my eyes☺(how did I EVER survive at college in the arctic tundra?).
What are you doing/did you do to celebrate this day? I ran early, again, which is a feat in mine eyes. I'm not normally a morning runner, which is ironic since all races are in the morning! If I have the luxury of a morning with no schedule, I like to enjoy my coffee and the paper and maybe some reading then I can get in a run at my leisure. Despite loving the heat, I don't love running in it so I try to be responsible on these days and I was succesful again today- yea me! It's supposed to cool-it a bit so maybe my mornings will go back to relaxed, but I realized, as I do whenever I run before my day starts, that I actually like it this way, being able to do anything I need/want to in the day and not have to worry about getting in those miles.
I also ordered our wedding invitations; it's for real now! Though I said that when we ordered the save-the-dates too...now it's more real ♥.
I ate a Trader Joe's cold lunch (southwest salad with sonoma style chicken salad and pita chips...and an apple!) and have been watching an SVU marathon; what is up with these tv marathons on during the week? Don't people work?
I'm going to go splash around some more and go on a date with my sweetie; the video is a clue to what we're doing, you'll have to read tomorrow to find out what we did! A great official kick-off to verano (that means "summer")!

I hope you're enjoying the season too!
xoxo, natty ♥