First Few Photos...

Breaking my blog silence...to bring you some photos from our session with the totally fabulous Jenny Jimenez - she is amazing! These are just the first few but I had to share, it's our first "forealsies" photos together. Pearl was quite a ham, very photogenic, I'm sure you'll agree :)

Wellie-my-Sister-Rocks

You Guys I was spoiled rotten this year for my Birthday/Christmas. My sister bought me the Hunter Boots I've been wanting for years!!!

She is totally the best sister ever of all time. We've had a ton of wellie weather around here lately too, and they're great for walking Pearl around in. Thanks so much Court!!! :)

Happiest Moments of 2011

2011 isn't quite over yet, so I know there will be more in store, but I wanted to share my Happiest Moments of 2011 and ask you to share with me yours as well in the comments (it makes me smile hearing your stories too!).

1. Palo Alto.
I got to tag along on K's business trip to Palo and I got high off the sunshine - it was glorious weather in the dead of January! Something this sun-starved Seattleite was dying for.

2. When we got Pearl.
Oh happy day when we added that quirky mutt to our family!

3. Cali for my cousin's wedding.
I hadn't seen my cousins for almost a decade, it was so fantastic to see them and it felt like no time had passed at all. They had a beautiful, romantic fun wedding too.

4. Seeing my sister graduate college.
Duh, this was awesome. So proud of her!

5. 4th of July.
I don't have documentation of it, but this year we got to watch the 4th of July fireworks from a houseboat on Lake Union. It was the best 4th we've had in years!!!

5. When Keene won his first big case.
He worked really hard for months and it was so exciting when all that hard work paid off :)

6. Pittsburgh.
So cool to see my friend in her new city! P'burgh was such a fun town to explore and it was fabulous to hang with my friend.

7. I got a job!
Woo! Goes without saying, this came out of left field and I couldn't be happier. I'm so lucky.

8. I hit my weight-loss goal!
This one was less luck and more time and dedication. Lots of time, and some dedication ;)

Fun looking back at my 2010, 2009, and 2008 Highlights....what are YOUR happiest moments of 2011? Let me know if the comments!

Weekend/Week Wrap-Up:

My mom and sister made this beautiful apple pie for Thanksgiving:

Martha-worthy, right?! They are truly talented cooks and made yet another fantastic dinner for all of us - I felt so lucky and grateful for them. Thanksgiving is such a huge undertaking and yet they make it every year happily while the rest of us get away with merely eating and washing some dishes! I plan to do my part in the future by contributing to Christmas feasts but until then I owe them...big time. I have so much to be grateful for this year...where to begin. Stay tuned for the annual "Happy Moments" post where y'all can join in with what you're grateful for and your happiest moments of 2011 :)

Sweet Fairytale Weddin'

The whole reason for our California trip last weekend was to see my cousin (1st cousin, once removed, to be exact - I wiki'd it!) get married to the love of his life. It was so adorable. The ceremony was at "The Church Built from One Tree" - named, obvs, because it was built from just one redwood tree! Pretty cool, huh?

This was a HUGE wedding! Lots of people there, which was great to see. They have a lot of family and friends supporting them :)

Who doesn't love stained glass?

It was an absolutely perfect sunny day and the light filtered in through the windows - very pretty.

My other cousin, Rachel, sang at the beginning of the ceremony. The song was written by the bride's father (I think) and she did a lovely job singing!

They were so excited and were beaming the whole time!

See what I mean about the weather? It was probably about 75/80 degrees.

Here we are! Thanks Dad for taking this picture. I had soooo much fun with my cousins (and 2nd cousins!) that I forgot to take any pictures with them. DUH! Sometimes I just try and enjoy myself and not be so hyper vigilant about picture taking. Although I really wish I'd caught some of all of us. It's been at least a decade since I saw most of them. It was like yesterday though! Can't wait for another trip down to Cali to visit. Maybe next time we can all go to Disneyland again. LOVE going there.

:) I'm so glad we made this trip!

Our Dog, a Weirdo

I'm back from Cali! Lots of pics to post as per ushe, but until I get to them I thought I'd share this little gem I found on my camera from a bit ago:

We took Pearl over to the future in-laws house and you know what? That little bugger went and found a giant mud puddle, walked right into it, and then decided to LAY DOWN in it. Like, for a long time. The other dogs were looking at her like, "Dude...no". But that's how Pearl rolls, never ever acting like a normal dog.

I thought she looked like a black and white cookie:

Thankfully we had a grooming appointment shortly after this incident!

Ask MansionMogul: Advice?

Y'all want advice? From Moi? Well ok then, but take all this at your own risk!

A while back my little sister asked MansionMogul: "I'm getting ready to graduate college. If you could give your 22-year-old new grad self any advice, what would it be?"

I thought today would be an appropriate day to dispense such advice, seeing as how my sister just graduated Saturday! Woo! So proud of her. Sitting there at the ceremony, I just couldn't believe that 4 years had already gone by. TIME FLIES. I never had any doubt that my sis would graduate and do a fantastic job in school. But getting your Bachelor's Degree is still a huge accomplishment. So much foundational learning, and life lessons, and growing up happens in those four years. I think she definitely got the most out of her experience there and left her mark!

Here's the little bugger walking in now! I might've teared up a bit...or a lot. Held it back though! I don't know why, guess I don't want to look like the crazed older sister.

Speeches n' stuff...I wonder why didn't they just ask MansionMogul to speak?! Seriously. They would've saved a lot of money probs.

I made sure to get a pic of Court's shoes. On my grad day I broke in a new pair of FABULOUS shoes and in the photo that the photog took when I got my diploma they were not in it! I put in some good 2 hours in those pumps so I was bitter! Courtney's looked great. A nice nude color to elongate the leg. I always look at people's shoes on grad day. I know that's tacky of me but they're all just wearing robes so it's the only individual thing they're wearing!

And before you know it...TA-DA! All graduated! Court is right there below that guy making a goofy face. He kinda looks like "Dan" from Gossip Girl. Anyway, so glad Courtney looked back at us so I could get this pic. She was really happy and had a great time that day :)

YAYAYAY!!! You've got your entire future before you - so excited!

And on with the advice...follow at your own risk, graduates!

Poor Little Conehead

You Guys: she haaaaaaaaates this thing. HATES it. But lil' Pearl somehow got a tiny scratch on her eye that got infected and now she has to wear the cone for a few days while it heals. Poor thing! It's really hard to make her wear it when I know she's so miserable. She's gonna feel so happy when it finally comes off though!

A Day for the Moms

Woo-hoo! Time to celebrate the Moms!

My sister, mom, Gram and I all went out for lunch to celebrate how awesome they are and all they've done for us.

It was yummy! We might've got to chatting and stayed a little long...whoops!

I'm all about celebrating my mom. She is responsible for anything good that I am today and she's a fantastic human being and one of my favorite people in the whole world.

Things My Mom is Awesome At (among many other things):
She's an artist, and very creative crafter!
a fantastic teacher
Funny
Sweet
A good cook
Classy
Smart
Musical
Cool
Insightful
Fun to be around
A great role model
Thoughtful
....and that's just to name a few!

My sister and I are very lucky to have a mom like ours!!! :)

Perks of FunEmployment

Y'all want to know one of the best things about FunEmployment? Weekday lunch excursions! Yep, Pearl and I hit the road yesterday to go visit my sis in Bellingham. So fun! Of course we had to hit up one of WWU's best institutions: Casa Que Pasa.

So...it's changed hands since I was in college a million years ago, and it's got this really funky/cool bar now! I mean, maybe it was like that before, but I don't remember any skylights or wall art...just a divey bar in the back. This was a major upgrade!

Court making her standard "crazyface" when I try and take a picture of her...

Pretty funky, pretty cool.

Elaborate art near the bar. Also, I don't know if maybe I just didn't notice this in the before-time or what, but their menu has a lot more than just a potato burritos - it all looked really good!

All together now: "Potato Burrito"

Court knows exactly how to order it: with extra-crispy potatoes and extra red chile sauce. HELLLS YEAH. I've got leftovers of this baby waiting for me in the fridge right now. Jealous?

Grateful for an excuse to go on a drive to B'ham to visit my sis. She graduates this year - I can't believe how fast time goes by! All y'all have a fabulous weekend - here's hoping there's a potato burrito in your future - Cheers! :)

30th Birthday Re-Cap

...Oy...where to begin? I think I'm going to stay away from the ugliness that was my intolerance for alcohol on account of becoming an old lady, and just go with the highlights!

A snapshot of the night and illustration of how I wanted to be over the top with my bday costume:

Cupcakes from my favorite, Trophy, that may not make another appearance in my life until 2012. But don't they look pretty? (Snowball, Red Velvet and Samoa flavors)

There were some cute pics!

And then began the rounds of me making people take pictures with me acting like a ridiculous ham. They get much worse and unflattering than this, but it's my blog so I get to post what I want!

Lots of lessons learned by 30. Firstly: apparently I'm not old enough to resist peer pressure (jager, really, People??), but too old to handle a hangover anymore. "I'm too old for this stuff!" It was fabulous to have all my good friends there with me though and I hope they had a great time too. I'm seriously relieved to be in my 30s finally and can't wait to see what the next decade brings! :)

Stuff n' Things

Yesterday was my little sister's birthday! I'm so proud of her. A few days ago we went out to dinner at Madame K's in Ballard (before it closes for good...tear!). It was sooo yummy. Thanks for being born, Courtney! I love you and am so proud of you!!!

I feel like sharing with y'all the expression that my dog has perfected:

The art of looking pathetic and sad and cute. She does this every morning until I finally break down and stop being lazy and take her for a walk.

Last Friday I managed to grab a couple of blurry-low-lighting shots of "The Diller Room" where we went to happy hour. Supercute location complete with tin ceilings and friendly Cornhusker fans. Good times! Not the cheapest happy hour around but it does have this chandelier.

Last but not least...a blurry picture of me with CHER. I cannot WAIT to see this movie!!!

Bellingham State of Mind

My lil' sis is back up at school and we had to go check out her new crib! It was fun to make a day of it and she showed us all the cool stuff and I got to take a little trip down memory lane...college!

First stop: Boundary Bay. We got that tapenade I couldn't stop thinking about from last summer, and salad and chowder and of course, oatmeal stout. Mysty waited impatiently outside for us, making friends and enemies. Obnoxious!

Next stop: Lafeen's! Court reminded me about this awesome place. Ladies, remember the pj-clad late night doughnut missions? Good times...

 

This place is friggin' classic...and they have wifi!

The classic.

Apple fritter goodness.

My raspberry jelly doughnut. SO GOOD.

Yeah.

Noshin'.

I love my sister!

Where to next? How about Whatcom Falls. And let's check out the fish hatchery while we're at it...

Fishy makin'

Fishies being fishies

Supercute bridge

Court I think you are channeling Aunt J here...

Falls. Some crazy people jump here ;)

Another fall.

Whew! Worked up an appetite. Headed over to the other other B'ham brewery...

Chuckanut...sat outside and enjoyed the view and last moments of Summer...

Cohab got the sampler, of course!

I got the Kolsch. It was Kolsch night! I like this a lot...

Chowdah. Really good.

Last stop: tower on campus. I did not even know about this when I went here. It's this really creepy tower on the top of Sehome Hill that you can climb up and see all over. That's Canada over there. I think.

Mt. Baker.

B'ham!

There ya' have it, Folks. Another day trip to B'ham to visit the sis in the books. I can't wait to go back. Maybe we'll have to make a Winter trip up there. Thanks for hosting us, Court! :) :) :)