i'm engaged!!!

that's right, he popped the question tonight! he sent me on a wild adventurous treasure hunt all around the city and finally to the beach at sunset. i'll have the full story with pictures next week.
AAAHHHH! : )

this is a random photo from the treasure hunt today - me giddy with excitement, knowing what real treasure awaits!

and now we are off to portland for a super short weekend trip. but it'll be great to get away and hang out in one of our favorite cities with dear ole friends! and, you know, voodoo donuts, of course.

happy weekend everyone! maybe i'll see you up here on cloud 9? i hope so!

three

it was three years ago today that i started dating my best friend.
lucky lucky me!

happy music for your tuesday!

{photo from weheartit}

hey everyone! hope you're all having a wonderful week! wait, what? it's only tuesday? well, if you have a schedule that's like mine, the hardest days are mondays-wednesdays. so in the words of my 5 year old client, "well, when life is a lot, i turn to my music." seriously, he's ridiculously adorable! and i have to agree. here's some super fun music getting me through.

my sincerest hope is that you dance whilst listening... come on, you know you want to!... ;)

dolores park!

this weekend was SO warm! so we headed out to dolores park, our favorite place to hang out and people watch.


dolores is kind of like a free carnival - all sorts of people come out and exhibit their amazing talents. there are people juggling, doing acrobatics, hula hooping, and tight rope walking. there are people with carts and bicycles selling ice cream, weed, lemonade, acid, creme brulee, and burritos. people bring all sorts of animals too - snakes, parrots, lizards, cats on leashes, and tons of dogs! people play live music and all sorts of lawn games, any of which you can just wander over and join in. there's even a ledge in the hill we affectionately call "the banana shelf" where all the muscley gay boys sunbathe in speedos!

look! even the dogs are multi-talented!

we're way too cool without our long sleeves.

other wonderful things about this sunny weekend included brunch at boogaloo's {my favorite restaurant!}, vintage thrift store shopping, and picking up my graduation regalia. the not-so wonderful thing that happened this weekend was going bathing suit shopping. oy was that painful! next time i need to remember to take an antidepressant before trying on bathing suits. :)

what was your favorite thing from the weekend?

happiness

have you been in a place in life where everything is going so well all of a sudden? where life has numerous exciting events all coming together at once?
but none of it has actually happened yet, so you have all this wonderful stuff to look forward to and day dream about, without the stress of actually preparing yet?

that's where i am right now. my future is shaping up to being really wonderful. and it's killing me that i can't gush about it in detail at this point, but i just had to share all this happy energy that's in my heart.

i feel like a little kid discovering for the first time that narwhals are real {okay, that maybe happened only a year ago...}, or the thrill of getting a new puppy {please oh please let that be a part of my exciting future!}.

so, even though i can't get specific, i just wanted to say Thanks Universe! and that i truly hope your weekend is full of joy, whether it's big life changes or delightful simple pleasures!

high five everyone!


{photos from weheartit}

baggage

i was recently tagged by the lovely erin at pughs' news with a fun "what's in my bag" feature. so here's what i was lugging around yesterday in my giant black abyss of a bag:

my fancy new water bottle
a green folder full of important papers for work and class
a grad school version of a pencil case {which means i carry pens and pencils... oooo!}
this pretty flowery wallet that is $15 on lulus, but which i bought for $9 at forever 21 {what a steal!}
pocket mirror for the quick "is there something in my teeth" checks
burt's bees chapstick
a pen for all my pen-related needs
trusty old-school cell phone
camera {actually, that's the just the case as i was using the camera to take this picture}
$2 which i carry at all times for bus fare
a mini bag {i really like organizing things with bags within bags} full of supplies such as lotion, disinfectant wipes, hair ties, band aids, *ahem* lady things, and a safety pin
an adorable posy paper co. pocket calendar
ginormous sunglasses
a scarf
an extra sweater {we san franciscans never know when we'll need more warm layers}


those are the usuals, and on certain days i have to lug my laptop around, or extra shoes when it's rainy. after 5 years of walking every where i go {i don't have a car} and carrying this behemoth of a bag, i've developed some back problems. but soon i'll be living in l.a. where i'll have to get a car, and in many ways, i'm grateful for that change {sorry earth!}.

so there you have it - my daily baggage! :)
is there anything you can't go anywhere without?

happy existence day!

today is Existence Day!!! isn't that wonderful?!
do something special today to celebrate the fact that you exist.
and celebrate your fellow men and women for their existence too!

we all exist and it is awesome!


i'm so happy all of you exist!

i'm here

have you seen i'm here? a dear friend told me about this so i watched it this past weekend. it's the most adorable movie ever!

it's a short film {only 30 minutes} by spike jonze {who directed where the wild things are, adaptation, being john malkovich, and dozens of awesome music videos} about two robots who fall in love. it's a super sweet and deep love story, with gorgeous music... and i maybe cried a wee bit at the end... maybe.

click here to watch this beautiful movie.

oh what a beautiful morning!

it has been gorgeous lately in the bay area! it was in the 60's yesterday {which meant that everyone went outside in t-shirts and ate ice cream and lay around in the grass}. just beautiful!

my weekend was pretty chill. we roamed around the neighborhood, hung out in alamo square {one block from my house} and looked out over our city. and yup, that is the 'full house' park where the tanner family picnics in the opening credits. :)

then yesterday was my friend mike's birthday, so we all went out to pizza orgasmica. not only is the pizza there amazing, but the they also have suggestive names like 'doggy style,' 'hot mama,' and 'the virgin' {and on some nights they have belly dancers}.
it was great just sitting back and hanging out with friends on a work night {how gloriously irresponsible of me! :)}.
happy birthday mike!

oh what a yummy cake that was! chocolate truffle {gughle...}!

how was all of your weekends?

best. concert. EVER!!!

oh thom yorke! so talented, so amazing, so dreamy!

...i'd like to thom his yorke!

dannon, being the good man that he is, managed to wrangle us some tickets to atoms for peace for our 3 year anniversary. our anniversary is actually a couple weeks away {i can never actually remember the exact date, making me the most awesome girlfriend in the world}, but since our relationship is built on a good foundation of amazing concerts, and since dannon knows thom yorke is my heroin {and #1 on my top 5 celebrity freebie list}, we decided to celebrate last night.


the concert was at the amazing fox theatre in downtown oakland. if you ever have a chance to see a show there - do it! it's the most amazingly beautiful theatre, and small so it's easy to get perfect views of musicians from anywhere {that's vital for a 5' shorty like me!}.


atoms for peace is thom yorke's band {the brilliant mastermind behind radiohead}, made up of flea {the bassist from red hot chili peppers}, the drummer from beck & r.e.m., another incredible percussionist, and thom yorke's producer. it's kind of a random mix of people, but together, they were oh so amazing!

some of my favorite parts were:
flea playing a melodica {in the crazy, epileptic siezure-type dancing way he plays his bass}
thom dancing [insert long dreamy sigh here]
thom playing a live version of "like spinning plates" {a song that is actually another one of his songs backwards - look it up, it's amazing!}
the very cool light tubes hanging above the stage
and
experiencing a real enchore!
you know how all musicians plan their enchores? well, yes they did their planned enchore. then the house lights came on, the house music started playing, and the roadies started taking mics and instruments away. but no! we weren't having it. we wanted more. so we cheered and clapped and generally caused a raucus. until finally, the roadies brought mics back out, and then instruments, and then the band! the next couple songs were totally unplanned. there were no fancy stage lights, the band had to discuss before each song so they knew what key, and they just jammed for us like the talented musicians they are:
here are a couple more pictures from the evening:

and here we are at the very end - happy and swooning!
i've been to a lot of mind-blowingly good concerts, but i'm gonna have to say this is number 1. there are still a couple bands on my "must see before i die" list, but really, after last night, i feel pretty complete in life.

you can edit, you can edit...

remember how i said this was going to be an awesome week because one of my classes was ending? well, that's still true. but first i have to do some major editing of my lit review and prepare for professional discussions with psychologists from around the bay area who will be coming to our literature review expose, which i affectionately call "psych-con" - oh how i love to geek out on psychology! :) it seems like all i've been doing this week is editing. which is wonderful, really. it's just that i am sick of my paper at this point and ready to be done.

my salvation has been this pretty french music by coeur de pirate, which has been keeping me company like a dear old friend. have a listen.

and speaking of music and wonderfulness... tonight dannon is taking me to a thom yorke concert at the gorgeous fox theatre!!!! AHHHH!!!! i am so unbelievably excited. and yes, i'm sure you'll hear all about it tomorrow. . . and possibly for the rest of my life. best day EVER!

namaste...

{photo from here}

okay, so in addition to the 30 day shred, the occasional heavy metal aerobics, dancing wildly in the privacy of my home, and deep hearty laughter, yoga is one of my favorite ways to be healthy. with work and grad school you can be sure i get a teensy bit stressed... and by 'teensy' i mean ridiculously, out of my mind stressed which no amount of squishy balls can relax. so to end my day with some calming yoga, or begin my weekend mornings with longer energizing yoga, makes me feel like a brand new shiny woman!

and yes, living in san francisco, i am surrounded by yoga studios practically on every corner. and yes, i think very highly of live yoga classes with real teachers who can tell you if you're doing a pose correctly, or if it's normal to lose all feeling from the shoulder down. but let's face it. i'm poor. really really poor. and i look downright silly doing yoga {i'm terribly inflexible and i love wearing granny panties under my yoga pants... there, i said it}, so i tried my yoga online a year ago, and it was one of the best decisions i ever made for my sanity.

my yoga online is a website full of dozens of yoga class videos, with all different types of yoga, different lengths of practice, and different levels of expertise. they have yoga for stress, anxiety, depression, injuries, and pregnancy. they also have videos for pilates, meditation, and general health {even a belly dance video!!! how awesome is that?!}. and it's SO cheap - $10 a month!

i don't want to sound like paid advertisement, but it really is an amazing thing and i didn't want to keep it a secret from all you lovely ladies who might benefit from it as well.

have you tried yoga? do you like it? love it? hate it? weirded out by it?

{photo from here}

much love monday!

happy monday everyone!
what?! i included "happy" and "monday" in the same sentence?!
that's right kids, cause things are looking up.

i had an amazing weekend that included the most amazing meal of my life on a fancy date with dannon at pulcinella {tortellini stuffed with porcini mushrooms in a mushrooms sauce and white truffle oil - pure heaven in my mouth!!!}, and quality time with some new friends, and a, um, well, fancy commode with a heated seat that washes and dries you with the push of a button {yup, i'm blogging about a toilet... but really, you all should be so lucky to experience that kind of luxury}.

and today?
well, it's a lovely monday because one of my classes ends this week, providing me with LOTS more time to live and relax and plan for things {which shall remain nameless for the time being}!

because i'm feeling so happy, i wanted to finally play along with anna's much love monday. so here is my lovely picture of a heart from one of my art journal pages.


and one thing that i love?
well, does a boyfriend count as a thing? because i am pretty overflowing with love for him...
but just in case that doesn't count, an actual "thing" i love is that picture of the two of us. it was taken on easter and is just so bright and fun and cheery!

so what do you love today?

gratitude!

man am i glad this week is over! sure, there were lots of great things which i'm thankful for from this week:

*hearty laughter
*walks in the sunshine
*that amazing lost episode
*getting a cute new dress in the mail
*yummy blueberries
*lovely music as a soundtrack for my life!

yup, those things were all delightful. but the most amazing thing that i'm grateful for this week is FINALLY being done with my literature review!!! have you ever gone through something that was so hard you thought "if i can just make it through this, i'll be able to make it through the rest of my life!"? that was my lit review. that beast controlled my life for the past week and now that it's done i feel like an elephant has been lifted off my shoulders.
i can't wait to join the land of the living!
yippee skippee!!!

{photo from weheartit}


what are you thankful for this week?

jonsi

oh how i've loved sigur ros for many years, and now the lead singer, jonsi, has come out with a solo album {which is in english instead of icelandic or the made-up language in which sigur ros often sings}. it's so beautiful and ethereal, perfect for a quiet night in with a hot bath, or looking out over the world from the top of a mountain, whichever is more applicable to you. have a listen:

swell, isn't it?!
i've been listening to this album nonstop for the past few days. it's the official soundtrack of my literature review. thanks jonsi!

Free Art!

this weekend i was slaving away at my lit review and hanging out on twitter for teensy little breaks. rainn wilson {who has really funny tweets, by the by} posted an entry quoting Euan Uglow stating "I've never believed in God, but I believe in Picasso," with a link to a website. i was intrigued, and in need of a break from my piles of research articles, so i followed the link.

much to my surprise, it was an article on soulpancake interviewing Jen Wallace {from Indie Fixx} about her free art project, Feed Your Soul.

i've been a fan of feed your soul for a while now, and i'm so excited that word is spreading about it. each month new prints are added which are totally free to download. so if you were wanting some new art, or if you are an artist interested in submitting your art, check out the site. and if you want to know more, you can read the soulpancake interview here.

there are so many great pieces, but here are a few that spoke to me:

aren't they wonderful?!

three cheers for free art!!!

have you danced today?

{photo borrowed from here}

"And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

my very fun easter weekend!

i had such a great easter weekend, despite the fact it turned rainy and i spent half the time working on my upcoming literature review.

other than that, i filled my time with:

catching up with dear old friends {who made amazing pie!}

playing with dogs and children at second wind

roaming through fun neighborhoods
stopping in for books at dog eared books {one of my favorite bookstores of all time}

smoothies at mandarina

little chocolate eggs from miette

having way too much fun taking photos of us walking
heaps of delicious indian food
a walk through alamo square at dusk {my favorite place to watch the city lights come on!}and finally seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox
{which i am completely in love with, as i am with all of wes anderson's movies!}

what did you do for easter?

i hope you all had wonderful weekends full of love, yummy goodies, and happy memories!