Life Lately-August

Just a random bunch of photos of what I was up to in the month of August.

My floor at work is under construction which means I don't have a desk at the moment.  At least I have a work laptop so I am mobile. My boss went on vacation so I got to sit at her desk and enjoy the view while she was gone.  Kind of a pain not having a desk but the view was nice.

Gotta love a theatre that serves wine! This theatre had those comfy reclining seats which would be great on a weekend but we were watching a movie after a long day at work so it took some effort not to fall asleep.

Every year my office has its retreat at this great place in the Santa Cruz mountains.  This place is so pretty and it is always nice to get away from the office and the daily routine.

In the middle of August I flew up to Seattle to go to a baby shower of one of my cousins. Despite the unseasonably warm weather while I was there I had a lovely time.

My cousin was pregnant with her first child and as you can tell from all the blue decorations she was having a little boy.  For so many years everyone on that side of my family had girl after girl but the last 3 babies born have been boys.

One of cute party favors was little bottles of alcohol labeled as baby making potion.  I took this one home but I haven't drunk it yet!

Near the end of the month I got a nice visit all of the other side of my family for a not so happy reason. My grandfather passed away at the ripe old age of 91 so his funeral brought my whole family to the same place at the same time. While it was not the happiest of occasions it was very nice to see everyone.

After a nice month it is time to September adventures!

A Birthday Mystery Guest!

Over Labor Day weekend I flew to Pennsylvania with my parents to help my sister celebrate her 30th birthday.  The fun thing about this trip was that my sister had no idea that I was flying in for her birthday.  She knew my parents were coming but had no idea I was joining them on this trip. In my family this is called being the mystery guest.  It may sound odd to just show up somewhere but in my family it is perfectly acceptable to show up to a party/event as a mystery guest.  Someone always knows you are coming but you are the mystery guest to everyone else.

Her birthday was the Friday of Labor Day weekend so we took a red-eye flight Thursday night and were there in time to take her to a birthday lunch. Her dessert came on a slab and my mom thought she should eat the chocolate by licking it. It was pretty funny so I had to take a picture of course.

After lunch it was nap time for us (we did take a red-eye after all) and study time for her. After my nap and a shower it was time to get ready for the main event.

We headed downtown to a farm to table Italian restaurant called Molinari's. While we waited for everyone to get there we decided to start the evening with a pitcher (or two) of white sangria. The evening was warm so this was a perfect way to start it off.

My sister looked fabulous in her navy blue maxi dress and I went for colorful in my dress. My dress is so comfy that I felt like I was wearing my pajamas. As you can see there is no family resemblance at all!

Three of my sister's friends met us for dinner and the food did not disappoint. I had a pizza and a glass of wine for dinner and trio of gelato for dessert. I don't remember the other two flavors I had but the strawberry basil was my favorite.

After dinner we headed over to a distillery to meet up with a bunch of my sister's med school friends for drinks.  

My sister had some kind of cucumber martini and I had a "Violet, you're turning Violet" martini.  Both drinks were delicious but a long day of traveling and fun it was time to call it a night.

 Saturday we went out to a fabulous little (and I do mean little) place for brunch.  I had a breakfast mac and cheese but didn't take any pictures.  We spent the rest of Saturday at my sister's place playing Hand and Foot and Mexican Train.  After working up an appetite loosing at both games we went to a gastropub for dinner. Everything we ate there was delicious but again no pictures.

Sunday morning we headed out to brunch at an Irish pub with live music.  We ended up sitting right by the band so it was a bit loud but we had fun and the food was good.

Sunday afternoon we drove to New Jersey to catch our flight back to California.  I was sad to leave my sister but also excited to see my husband after 3 days away.

My parents were flying first class and I was going to fly in the back but at the last minute there was a cheap upgrade so I got to fly first class too. Thanks parents! I had a glass of wine while waiting in the first class lounge and then we boarded our flight. The flight home was uneventful and I passed my time watching food shows and reading in my comfy seat.

Home from this trip but only home briefly before heading off on my honeymoon!

Show and Tell-Things I Can't Live Without

If there one type of item in my closet that I wear the most (other than undergarments) it is definitely a cardigan. I am pretty sure I wear one at least 3 times a week and often more than that.  I wear dresses or skirts most days to work so I just throw a cardigan over whatever I am wearing and head out the door. You never know what the weather will be inside my building so having something that I can easily take off as the inside temperature changes is great. 

Over the years I have gotten my cardigans at various different places but my favorite ones at the moment are this one from The Loft.  I have it in black, navy blue and grey in addition to some fun colors like pale pink and a nice teal.

Another item that I wear almost everyday is my ballet flats. Over the years I have had too many pairs to count. I always try to have a black pair and some sort of other neutral pair (usually either nude or silver) in my rotation.  

Once I have my neutral pairs taken care of then I like to throw in a few fun pairs like stripes or sparkles.  My shoes have a habit of all dying around the same time and then I am left scrambling to find new pairs and break them in before my old pairs actually get full on holes in their bottoms.  I always wear out the bottom of my shoes first and usually right in the front near my big toe. I think it is the way I walk but I can't do anything about it at this point.

The last thing in my wardrobe I can't live without are good bras! My current everyday faves are this Chantelle one and this Simone Perele one. I have them both in nude and the Chantelle on in black too.  I have no shortage of other more interesting bras but these two are the ones I reach for on a daily basis when I am in a rush to get out the door.

The other bras in my collection that get a lot of use are my sports bras.  I wore my favorite Wacoal one for years and this year I added a new Chantelle one to my rotation.