happy radio

it's no surprise {if you've spent any amount of time on my blog that is} that i'm a massive music-lover.  oh no, sorry, i don't think i said that right. what i meant to say was, i must have music playing at all times if i am to get anything done, remain a happy person, and not pass out on the floor in a melodramatic fashion.

now when i'm at home, i have my grooveshark playlists, wonderground radio, and eclectic 24 to keep me company at my computer, but i'm in a whole world of trouble in the car.  i'm not sure if you're aware of this, but it's really hard to find a happy radio station outside of the interweb.  this has always troubled me, especially now that i live in LA, a city full of frustrated drivers who could use a positive influence.

{having fun at kusc}

ever since high school i was surrounded by radio hosts.  several of my best friends {holler brian!} worked at our local classical music station and i would spend countless hours in the booth, even working the buttons after the boss went home {shhh! don't tell}.  so i suppose it's somewhere in my blood to have a strong desire to start my own radio station. only i want mine to be one that is ridiculously happy and fun... a radio station that takes the airwaves on a trip to the petting zoo, buys it an ice cream cone, and plays hopscotch with it.  sadly i don't have a real life radio station {and am not likely to have one at any point in the near future},
but what i do have is this blog and an extremely active imagination.

so step on up folks and push play.  delight your ears with the sounds of my pretend real life happy radio station!  a station that reads uplifting quotes instead of commercials and reports only good news stories {this just in, a little girl in oregon has been happily reunited with her lost puppy!}.

what's your favorite happy music?

romantic food

scones, with fresh preserves and clotted cream.

fresh baguettes with herbed goat cheese, {fake} meat, and veggies.

savory breakfast tartlets.

fruit, crackers, and various fancy cheeses.

quinoa with grilled veggies, feta, & tofu.

tea, lemonade, and a bottle of wine.

if you follow me on twitter, you may remember my call for romantic food ideas.  for our getaway up the coast in a few weeks, the mister and i will be fairly secluded from civilization.  we won't be eating out at restaurants, but we also won't have a full kitchen to work with in the cabin.  that means we'll need to take food with us which is easy to prepare and i don't want just any ole boring food.  no, i'm determined to make our
menu just as romantic as stargazing over the ocean {which we will definitely be enjoying!}.

any other favorite romantic foods?

ps - i just so happen to have a delicious recipe for the savory breakfast tartlets,
which i will share here in the coming week.


{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

embrace your true self

" everybody is a genius.  

but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a 

tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

- albert einstein

i read this quote a few weeks ago and it has been haunting me ever since.  

i wish so badly i could convince everyone in the world of this truth.

for some reason, many of us have the belief that we must be just like _____ [fill in the blank: actors? models? whatever your peers seem to like? musicians? whatever your parents told you to be? rocket scientists? quarterbacks?].  whatever or whoever it is that you think you must be is not
necessarily who you are nor who you were meant to be.

just think, what if rosa parks had decided she needed to be something other than herself?

or what if albert einstein listened to his critics who thought he didn't fit the mold of an intellectual?

and what if you, because of your belief that you're not good enough in some way, never live out the extraordinary things you were born to do in this life?

{photo}

it is my sincerest hope that we can all embrace our unique gifts, abilities, and life paths,

regardless of what anyone else {especially our inner critic} has to say about it.

thank you!

a huge thank you to everyone for all your birthday wishes, phone calls {and not calling me :)}, texts, emails, and letters!  last night i met up with a bunch of dear friends at alcove bakery to celebrate the
big day - delicious food, a beautifully warm night, and lots and lots of laughs!
a pretty great way to welcome in another year.

{my friends tried to steal our table number for me - no. 29 - but it was snatched up before they could swipe it. i love friends who are willing to steal on my behalf.}

i collected a great stack of books that i will donate to milk & bookies, which will then be distributed to kids in my neighborhood.  i am also happy to say, i finally {FINALLY!} got my toms shoes!!  dannon left a shoe-box sized package with my name on it sorta hidden in the house before he went to work.  i held out for a few hours but eventually climbed to the top of the bookshelf and pulled it down.  turns out, it was a decoy! no gift inside.  he knows me all too well.  :) later he handed me the real package with my new toms. as it turns out all the gifts i got are making the world a better place.  thanks to my toms, a kid somewhere out there will now have their own pair of shoes.  also, brandi sent me the most gorgeous earrings from branchbound {i had always drooled over a pair that brandi had from the same shop}.  the lace used to make my earrings was purchased at a fundraiser where all the proceeds went to benefit a homeless animal rescue organization.

hooray!!

today

today is my birthday!

which means i'm either 29 or 30, depending on how you count birthdays.

{this has always been a very complicated calculation for me.  i mean when we finish 8th grade we are immediately called a freshman, but when we finish our 29th year of life, we still call ourselves 29? i would just like some consistency please.  so, just to be clear, i'm beginning my 30th year of life, which most people in the US call "turning 29."  whatever.}

{photo}

looking back over my life, i feel grateful for so many things!
so i've decided to share my gratitude post with you today instead of tomorrow.

after 29 years of life, i'm thankful for:

* the 80's.

* the 90's.

* yeah, the 2000's aren't bad either.

* reese's peanut butter cups.

* my wonderful, large family.

* all the amazing groups of friends i've had at each stage of life {isn't it fantastic how people impact you forever? even if you haven't seen them in years, a little piece of them lives on in your life}.

* music and all of my experiences with it.

* growing up in the country and a teeny tiny town.

* moving to the big city.

* swear words {i love swearing so fucking much!}.

* becoming a therapist.
* the goonies.
* getting my first tattoo {notice my usage of the word "first"} :)

* every single minute i spent living in san francisco.

* the way life brought dannon and i together {by the way, if you missed it, you can read the story of how we got together over on charlotte's blog}.

* all the heartbreak, fear, confusion, struggles, challenges, and bad times.  without them, i'd be so boring {and not very wise at all}.

* all the giggles, late night movies with friends, perfect moments when everything fell into place, taking risks, and all my other amazing memories.

* outdoor adventuring.
* surviving my teen years {phew!}.
* that i never have to go back in time and relive a certain high school haircut.

* being raised by a family who encouraged me to be fiercely independent, to have an open mind, and to search out what was right for me in every aspect of life.

* and you didn't think i'd forget this did you?  the elephants!!!  best experience of my life, by far.

****

also a tremendous happy birthday to all of my dear ones who's birthday is also today!!!
{i have 12 friends & family members with my birthday, plus 5 previous co-workers and acquaintances - yup, popular day to be born.}

reminiscing.

around this time of year {being the day before my birthday that is} i stop to think about my life.  

here are a few of the highlights:

* learning to do the moonwalk from my 16 year old sister when i was 6.

* living with a bunch of friends in a giant haunted house without adults in my teen years. 

* surviving multiple tornados, earthquakes, and getting struck by lightning.
* having an up-close encounter with a black bear in the wild whilst backpacking.
* every single amazing concert i went to.
* getting my first tattoo.

{i love how dannon's art vest matched my shoulder tattoo.}

* sneaking away from my class to explore on my own during our senior class trip to NY city.

* watching a meteor shower from a mesa in the middle of the grand canyon.

* almost dying on the edge of a cliff in the grand canyon.

* riding in the back of a police car all the way to the jail cell {yup}.

* the four times i ventured out in public in my underwear {just another tuesday in SF}.

{oh you know, just me and some friends waiting for the BART in our undies.}

* stopping a kid from committing suicide.
* getting into a fist fight with some guy who was rudely hitting on me... and winning {be proud dad!}.
* the night i bought my one-way ticket to san francisco.
* totally starting life over from scratch in san francisco as an independent woman.
* taking care of the elephants!

yeah, there have been extremely high highs and extremely low lows
and even extremely mediocre mediocres, but all in all, it's been an amazing past 29 years!

summer sips

last summer the mister and i experimented a lot with some sweet concoctions to serve at our wedding.  since we had a picnic wedding out in the sunshine, we wanted to be sure to provide a variety of refreshing, celebratory, and beautiful drinks.  here are a couple of the recipes we came up with.  please note that these recipes are to make several pitchers at a time, perfect for sharing at your next gathering.

{photo}

~ K+D's summer wedding drinks ~

passion tea lemonade

ingredients:

+ tazo passion tea

+ lemonade 

+ sugar

1. brew 8 cups passion tea {using 7-8 tea bags} for about 3-5 minutes {as you usually would with tea}.

2. remove tea bags and set aside to cool.

3. mix in 16 cups lemonade.

4. add 1 Tbsp sugar and stir.

5. refrigerate until cold & enjoy!

for two servings, brew 1 mug of tea w/ one tea bag for a few minutes. remove bag and split into two glasses of lemonade. refrigerate until cold. {the ratio is 2:1 lemonade to tea, plus a bit of sugar to taste.}

****

ginger limeade  

ingredients:

+ 2-3 whole ginger roots

+ limeade

+ sugar

1. cut off all the branches of your ginger and line up until you have about 12" of ginger end to end.

2. slice all 12" of ginger and add it to a pot of 11 cups of water.

3. steep for about an hour, until the water has simmered down to about 9-10 cups.

4. remove from heat and mix in 1/3 cup sugar until dissolved.

5. add 5 cups of limeade for every 3 cups of ginger tea/sugar mix. 

6. refrigerate until cold and enjoy!

for single servings, follow the ratio 5:3 limeade to ginger brew tea, plus a bit of sugar to taste.


****

oh so good!
and we all have that fabulous mister of
mine to thank for coming up with these blends.  yum!!!

good deeds ~ milk & bookies {giving up my birthday}

remember when i shared the "good deeds" post on paul rudd giving up his birthday to a charity and encouraging others to do the same? i found that completely inspiring, and since this thursday is my birthday, i've decided to ask my friends to give children's books, instead of gifts, which i will donate to milk & bookies.  

milk and bookies is an organization that teaches kids the beautiful act of giving by collecting books and donating them to other children who don't have access to books in your home town.  it's a really beautiful way to impact your own community and teach the joy of giving.  i love this adorable video explaining how important it is that children get books.  as a former teacher i've read all the research that links childhood reading {including reading to children} and later life successes.  providing books and stories to kids is absolutely vital.

if you are in the LA area i would love to see you this thursday as i celebrate my final birthday of my 20's!!  that's right, i'm not a kid nor do i have any, but i am a lover of my inner child.  as adults i think it's extremely important to experience the act of giving to others.  if we think it's a valuable lesson to teach children, then we should certainly be living this out as grown-ups as well.  

i'll be at alcove bakery between 7:30-10:00p on august 25th.
stop by if you can to:  

- give me a birthday high-five,

- grab one of alcove's famous desserts or hot chocolates, 

- drop off a book for a needy child.  

if you're not in the LA area i highly encourage you to:

- donate books directly to milk & bookies,

- donate books to a library, school, or other agency in your area,

- throw your own milk & bookies party to collect children's books!

{if this idea sparks an interest in you, i recommend contacting a local bookstore to team up with.  they can help you advertise to the larger community and provide the space for fun activities.  you could do a book reading with one of the donated books, offer free milk & cookies to everyone who donates, and provide cute bookplates where the donators can leave a message for the child who will read it.}

ps - erin!! you should especially check this video out.  ;)

gratitude

fresh flowers the mister gave me,

seeing photos from our friends' wedding {which we were unable to attend},

trying my very first nectarine {oh they're so delicious!}

a 7 day pass to a gym {i miss the gym so much},

allowing some of my talent to shine,

making a positive impact on others,

the end of a very long {but still great} week,

finally hearing music by the mister's band,
finally, a day off {that's today!},
jonathan safran foer,

my morning pages,
dead man's bones,

ice cream!!!,

and 

iced coffee from my local coffee shop.

these are just a few of the things i'm thankful for this week.

how about you?

{oh this picture has nothing to do with 
anything, i just really like it}

a few small words

{photo}

what are you built for?

and will you sail beyond the harbor?

guess what?!

that dreamy partner of mine is in a real live band!

i present to you raised by wolves:

{check out that handsome man on the far left. recognize that vest?}

they're still an emerging band so they only have a couple finished songs recorded,

but they are extremely talented!  and i'm not just saying that because my husband is the 

violinist {and helped write out the string parts might i add}.  after all those nights practicing and writing music, i was floored to hear the results.  here, have a listen to these two songs:

amazing right?!  

i'm so proud and i can't wait till they have their full album to share.

they just started a kickstarter page for those of you who want to pitch in a buck or two.  all the proceeds will go to the making of their record as well as travel costs for playing at SXSW next year.  {by the way, you should check out the prize for donating $500. it's pretty awesome, and they already have a backer for it.  although i have a feeling they're going to be writing a song for one of their moms.}

yay!!!

where is my mind?

i'm gonna be honest. all i've been able to think about lately is our anniversary trip to northern california.  yes, it's still over a month away, but i can't help it.  there will be so many of life's simple pleasures during that getaway.

a road trip, preferably along the coast with dozens of farmer stands,
cute beach towns, and pretty views of the ocean.

san francisco, where i left my heart,
along with so many of my favorite places and people.

***

nature! redwood forests, ocean cliffs, beaches, hiking, stargazing, animal-sightings,
and maybe {if we're brave enough} swimming.  i am a total city girl, but i
need me some nature, and i can't wait to escape to the great outdoors!

cheese! a visit to the cowgirl creamery in pt. reyes for an official cheese-tasting
{this may just be at the very tippy-top of the list for things i'm most excited about}.

***

time with loved ones. we have several really close friends that we'll get to see,
including celebrating one of their weddings, and maybe {hopefully} a meet-up
with a certain favorite blogger friend.

so you see, as far as i'm concerned, september 21 really can't come soon enough!

{although don't ask me when my actual anniversary date is. i know it's a few days before we leave, but i don't remember which date specifically. failure to remember important dates is something the mister has always known about me, so it's okay.}


{romantic getaway photos found here}

4 questions

when i was in grad school to become a therapist, i learned a lot about cross-cultural healing.  in many ancient and tribal cultures, if a person was sick, unhappy, or stuck in life, they would visit the village elders.  the very first thing the elders would ask were these 4 questions:

1. when did you stop singing?

2. when did you stop dancing?

3. when did you lose interest in stories, particularly your own?

4. when did you become uncomfortable with silence?

i love these questions because they speak to something which brings so many people into 

therapy - healing your inner child.  think about it.  children are pretty passionate about every single one of those topics - singing, dancing, stories {particularly their own story}, and while they may make a lot of noise themselves, they are certainly not weirded out by silence the way adults are {i've had several clients under the age of 12 who spent many of our 45 minute sessions in perfect silence}.

  

there's something that happens between early childhood and adulthood.  we make all sorts of assumptions about ourselves and the world around us, which in turn, teaches us to close ourselves off from our feelings, from taking risks, and consequently, from true joy.  think about those 4 questions again.  each of those topics asks us to embrace an attitude of openness toward experiencing all that comes with living a full life, and often times these experiences involve facing our inner critic.  how many of you read the first question and thought "oh but i can't sing!" or something along those lines?  that was your inner critic. if you'll look again, the question is not "when did you stop singing well?"  it doesn't matter one bit what you sound like! singing benefits ALL of our souls.

the good news is, we can heal our inner child.  we may have learned faulty lessons when we were young that caused our inner child to become wounded, but we don't have to wait to unlearn them in order to embrace these 4 joys of life.  by choosing to sing, dance, tell our story, and sit in silence, new beliefs will replace the old.  don't wait until you FEEL like taking action - that may never come.  but acting despite the lack of feelings will transform you into a new person... shiny happy people dancing! and all that.

who's going to sing today?

who's going to dance?

who will tell their story?

who will take time for silence?

i will. care to join me?

{dance, stories, silence, sing}

gratitude

say what?! it's friday already???

has this come as a shock to anyone else, or is it just me?

i have had a fabulous week full of great friends, great work, and great fun!  but would you believe it, i spent so much time playing that i forgot to snap any photos.  it's a shame because on two eventful evenings this week the mister and i {and friends} got all dolled up in masks and steampunk and 20's garb.  ah well, i'm sure we'll dress up in all that stuff again soon {knowing us and all}.

here's what i'm thankful for this week:

* attending my friend's dubstep premier at a fancy hollywood club {they were awesome and we were all so proud! this was also a masquerade party where we got to wear fabulous masks we made ourselves.}.

* quitting my other miscellaneous job {it was great as far as a random job goes, but it's time to focus on my career full time now. plus the simplicity of only having one job to worry about is heaven sent!}.

* accomplishing a huge to-do list for our little apartment {and soon we'll have our cabana!}.

* meeting up with one of my dearest friends {who lives all the way on the other side
 of the country} at the edison for a little whiskey and blues dancing.

* this playlist over on for a life inspired full of awesome covers {there are old favorites *heartbeats, such great heights, where is my mind* and some new discoveries *my boys, animals, i'm on fire* ...it's so good!}

* finally making some progress on my new blog design {i couldn't find a designer to work with, so i'm doing it myself, learning along the way. this html stuff is crazy!}.

* reading this amazing article, discovered on exquisite banana {thanks kayla!}.

* gaining a bit of inspiration with food.

* reading for fun {yay!}. 

* discovering this beautiful tumblr, luna~nueva, where i found this sweet photo:

happy friday!!

what are you thankful for this week?

and do you have any fabulous plans for the weekend?

my birthday wishlist

here it is, my fabulous birthday wishlist.  since this is my final year of my 20's, i want to make it a good one.  that includes good gifts too!  

+ i have asked for toms shoes every single christmas and birthday for the past 4 years and still have never owned any.  i've informed the mister that this year i will be getting a pair... grey, size 5.  you're welcome shoeless child in an impoverished country who will also be getting a pair of shoes for my birthday!

+ a really cute watch.  have you tried looking for watches?  it's really hard to find nice ones, at least nice ones that match my style.  a watch is a pretty essential thing to have when you're a therapist though.  so far i've found these two which i spotted on ruche.  aren't they sweet and feminine?  they'd match all my warm therapy outfits.

+ more vinyl for our collection. for some reason, listening to records at night is highly associated with autumn and winter.  since summer will be coming to a close in a couple months {it doesn't really end in CA until october}, i've been feeling the cravings for vinyl.  i'm thinking the new beirut album, the black keys, or the national. yay music!!!

+ yellow curry with tofu and a thai salad with peanut sauce from banana house in san francisco, my favorite restaurant ever.  i used to eat there once a day when i worked around the corner, but now i only get it when we take trips back home.  since a 12 hour roundtrip drive is probably not going to happen on my birthday, i am hoping someone will package it all up in amazingly secure containers and overnight it to me.  

+ jewelry isn't usually a big deal to me, but i've fallen pretty hard for the sweet delicate pieces from upper metal class.  Love!

{by the way, 100% of the proceeds for the bracelet will benefit japan, and it's customizable so you don't have to get it in red}

so there you go dannon... i mean, blog readers.  :)
also the other day someone asked which day my birthday was on - it's the 25 of august {holler!}.

art for the soul

remember the imaginary museum i built behind my dream house? well sometimes i like to think about building a second museum, this time at my future private therapy practice.  it would hold the most moving, emotional, deeply beautiful pieces, perfecrt for personal interpretation.  

last year, at the holiday renegade craft fair here in LA, i met catia chien and fell head over heels in love with her art.  it's absolutely perfect for a therapist's office, especially if that therapist happened to work with kids {except don't we all have an inner child? and isn't a wounded inner child the thing which brings us to therapy in the first place? so it works for everyone really}.

and one that i especially related to:

aren't they all magical?!  love, true love i tell you! 

there are so many other great pieces so please go check out her website for more.

but those aren't the only pieces i'd want in my therapy museum.  our very own gracey, a dear blog 

friend from the other side of the pacific, is also an amazingly talented artist.  

gracey's art speaks volumes of emotion and depth.  see?

oh! amazing!  

you can find more of her work on her blog paper aviator, and her portfolio.

a walk down memory lane

last week i was tagged by the lovely lynn from the actor's diet with a really fun series: the 7 links project.  if you've never read lynn's blog you should go check it out.  there's all sorts of great stuff about food, LA hot spots, adventures as a working actress, and experiences overcoming an eating disorder.  talk about the benefits of blogging! lynn has definitely used her's as a way to help others, and in real life she's as sweet as can be!

 i'm so excited to play along with the 7 links project.  the idea is to join with other bloggers in sharing some lessons i've learned and highlighting some of my greatest posts from the past.  there are 7 categories, as listed below.

my 7 links:

1. most beautiful post
 i totally think my happiness truck post was the most beautiful.  not only did it include beautiful photos from the most beautiful shop in the world, but it also encaptured my beautiful dream for making life really really ridiculously beautiful for everyone.  that's 4 whole "beautiful's!" {also, dictionary.com informed me that i completely made up the word "encaptured." i hope you don't mind.}

2. most popular post
the most popular one was by far the post on my mental illness.  for those of you who don't know, i have clinical ocd.  it is a daily struggle for me to cope in a world full of germs, which i perceive to be extremely "dangerous."  it was a pretty big leap for me to talk about this part of life in a public forum, but i'm so glad i did - i received so many emails and comments from many of you sharing your own struggles and thanking me for helping them understand loved ones with mental illnesses.

3. most controversial post
i really thought this was going to be the post where i shared my husby's & my decision to do a domestic partnership instead of a legal marriage.  as it turns out though, you all were very supportive of us saying no to marriage, and my most controversial post turned out to be the one where i shared how much i dislike food.  you all thought i was crazy and i loved reading all of your comments {don't worry, everyone was nice even if they did get all riled up}.  the ironic thing is, i now work at a residential home for people with eating disorders, where i have to eat meals with the patients and model a healthy relationship with food.  oh life.

4. most helpful post
i'd say this was also my ocd post.  i'm so glad my honesty was able to help so many others understand mental illnesses better and feel like they aren't alone in this world.  however, since i've already given the link to my ocd post, i'd say one of my other most helpful posts was the busy girl's guide to staying healthy.  in a busy world we could all use a few more ideas on how to stay healthy and sane, am i right?

5. a post with surprising success
my most surprisingly successful posts were often the ones i wrote out when i was feeling a wee bit cheeky, like the post where i wished for ridiculous yet awesome things and made reference to skee-lo.  apparently you guys like it when i write late at night, whilst feeling slightly bitter and especially sarcastic.  good to know.

6. a post that didn't get the attention it deserved

our kazoo sing-a-long!  we worked hard to count out 60 kazoos by hand at the party store, but it was all worth it when we handed them out immediately after tying the knot.  50 people playing kazoos as our first act of celebrating our union? best thing ever! plus, i died laughing while typing the kazoo song books, complete with special kazoo translations which went like this:

7. a post i'm most proud of

ok, i'm going to cheat a little bit, but all of my posts about my wedding were ones i'm most proud of.  dannon and i were only engaged for 4 months, and we only used the one month before our wedding for the actual planning.  i was never one of those girls who planned her wedding growing up {i was never even sure i wanted to get married ever}, so we definitely came up with everything in a very short amount of time.  sure there were things i might have done differently had we more money, but i'm pretty freakin proud of all the creativity, hard work, and meaningful experiences we included in our wedding.  we did a hand-binding, kazoo sing-a-long, picnic basket dinner, lawn games, dancing, and i threw a rubber chicken instead of a bouquet, just to name a few of things i loved about our special day.  it was a ridiculous amount of fun, which was exactly how we wanted to kick off this new phase of our relationship.  i can't believe it was almost a whole year ago! 

so those are my 7 links!

aren't you all proud of me for not mentioning the elephants? :)


and i would love to pass this sweet walk-down-memory-lane project to the following 4 fantastic bloggers, just because i hope to see some of their top links from over the years too:
+ brandi of not your average ordinary
+ tiffany of dancing branflakes
+ erin of pughs' news
+ lillian of unstitched
+ and anyone else who wants to play along!

remember when?...

amongst our friends of 30-somethings, we like to play a little game
called "things the kids today don't know anything about."  

yeah, it's a terrible name, but stick with me.  the point of the game was partly to poke fun at the
over-technologied kids who stare blankly at us when we mention the rotary phone,
and partly to reminisce all the crazy things that we grew up with which no longer exist.

such as...

- home telephones {i was so jealous when my best friend's family bought a cordless phone - LUCKY!!}

- life before cell phones in general {remember when you couldn't reach someone if
they weren't at home? i know, it was weird.}

- typewriters & word processors {you know, life before any of us had computers}
- juno {the email-only internet service, not the diablo cody movie}
- the zack morris cell phone {aka - the brick}
- dial-up internet {eeeeeee-rrrrrrrrrr-ding!ding!ding!rrrrrrrr}

- floppy disks
- pagers

- 8 tracks

- atari

and a few other non-technology things for good measure:

- pee wee herman, back before... you know... [ahem] ...
- when "the simpsons" were simply a short on "the tracey ullman show"

- the very first "reality" show ever
- USSR & yugoslavia
- the berlin wall
- fraggle rock

and if that's not enough, here's an awesome video along the same lines.
it's funny, because it's true {especially the very end}:



isn't it crazy how drastically the world has changed over the past 30 years?  this weekend was the 20th anniversary of the world wide web. only 20 years! my entire childhood was spent without the existence of the internet, cell phones, and home computers.  now i'm sure every generation gets to adulthood and amazes at the historical changes throughout their lifetime, but i feel like the changes which my generation experienced seem to be so much more extreme.  thanks to the boom of technology through the 80's and 90's, the world is completely different from when i was young.  crazy right?!

gratitude!

another week has come and gone, and a new month is upon us!

this week i'm thankful...

+ that it's august {yay!}.

+ for discovering that the barn owl who lives in our tree is actually
an entire family of barn owls {with two babies!}.

+ getting my awesome textbooks early {no i'm not in school anymore, but i am apparently still a total nerd}.

+ reserving the cabin in the woods up at point reyes for our 1 yr anniversary trip.

+ planning out the rest of our anniversary trip {we'll get to eat at all our favorite restaurants back in SF, see some dear friends, attend a cheese tasting at the cowgirl creamery, attend our friends' wedding, and spend several days in the wilderness along the coast - i can't wait!}.

+ that she & him is coming out with a holiday album this year.

+ finally feeling like i'm a therapist again {i had an existential crisis for a while
there, but things are feeling much more aligned now}.

+ receiving not one, not two, but THREE fun packages this week: the fingerless gloves i won from decoybetty {i can't wait till it gets cold!}, armenian cucumber seeds i won from kathleen {the first thing the mister & i will plant together}, and these fun feather earrings i won from micaela's giveaway by the soaktree.  jihee, the talented gal behind these earrings, is a total sweetheart to work with and takes great care to choose the best feathers she can find. go check out her shop and all the other fun items up for sale!

what are you thankful for?

kinfolk

thanks to a very helpful reader the other day, i was finally able to relocate kinfolk, the most beautiful food magazine ever {although i still don't remember who's blog i originally discovered it on - sorry!}.

kinfolk is a grand source of inspiration for the art of building connections and creating meaningful experiences around food.  there are ideas for small gatherings, sweet food dates for two, and even for when you're on your own.  everything involves food and meals, but the focus is very much on the bigger picture of life - beauty, reflection, intentionality, growth.

oh and the pictures -- {The Pictures!!} -- just gorgeous.

as someone who longs to rush through every meal, it has been a big deal for me to connect with this magazine.  now that i work at a residential facility for eating disorders, i've been making the extra effort to get to know food in a whole new way.  thankfully, kinfolk came at the perfect time to make things just a little easier for me.  i may still hate to cook, but maybe, just maybe, i can find ways to use food as an excuse to spend time with loved ones, practice mindfulness and gratitude, and get to know myself a little bit better.

my apologies for this post

so not many people know this about me, but in addition to having clinical ocd and synesthesia, i also have adult ADD {can you see why i don't want to procreate?}.  usually my ADD results in me having to heat whatever's in the microwave 6 times before i actually remember to pull it out while it's hot, or starting about a million different tasks at once only to spend a total of 45 seconds... 

anyway, yesterday i began writing 4 different posts with the intention that one of those posts would go up today.  i didn't finish any of them.  instead, amongst all the attempted blog writing, i managed to:

sing "lola" over and over while the mister learned it on the mandolin,

tried to write a blog post,

heated up some tea,

read one paragraph from "the eating disorder sourcebook,"

looked at all the photos from the holiday LA renegade craft fair from last december on flickr,

tried to write a blog post,

wandered outside to watch the baby barn owls in our tree,

remembered i had heated tea but never drank it,

reheated tea,

tried to write a blog post,

read another paragraph in the "the eating disorder sourcebook,"

DANCE BREAK!!!

googled "encaptured" to see if it was a real word or just one i made up,

tried to write a blog post,

looked at my "funny" board on pinterest and laughed for a solid minute at this one,

got a glass out to make tea,

remembered i already had tea,

went back outside to watch the owls,

tried to write a blog post,

tweeted about hearing satie's "gymnopedie no. 1,"

looked up erik satie and got sucked into the vortex that is wikipedia,

tried to write a blog post,

remembered that 3 days ago i wanted to look up the lyrics to "lisztomania" once and for all,

read the criteria for ADHD in the DSM-IV,

finally looked up the lyrics to lisztomania once and for all {girls going crazy over franz liszt is pretty funny, however that phoenix song is pretty freaking stupid},

finally wrote this post.

i think i need cereal.

random pretty photo found on pinterest:

{there... humor, honesty, & a pretty picture - all the essential components of a good blog post}

hopefully today will be much more productive.
happy wednesday everyone.

august intentions ~ yippeeee!

each month i come up with a new set of goals or intentions, which is my own alternative to a new year's resolution. i mean really, who sticks with their new year's goals throughout the entire year?! okay, some of you are great at that, but not me.  my needs change from month to month, so i like the flexibility to adapt to those changes.  i skipped last month, giving myself a break from any new goals while i got settled into my jobs.

but it's a new month!
and the month of august is a pretty special one because it's my birthday month!!  i'll be turning 29, which technically means i'm beginning my 30th year of life.  august also means it's been an entire year since i finished grad school and moved to LA with the mister.  this time last year we were unpacking boxes while simultaneously planning our wedding {we planned the whole thing in just one month}.  yup august was a pretty crazy month last year, and it's amazing to see how far we've come.

{photo}

so my goal for the very special month of august is simple
but incredibly important -- to have a whole bunch of fun!!
that's right, after a full year of overwhelming stress i'm going to enjoy life with all my heart.  

i will...

* carve out time to do fun things each week
{i will have 3 days a week when i'm not working, so NOT work is just what i'll do}.

* say yes to random fun opportunities that present themselves.

* sing, dance, & play the ukulele.

* get out in nature on some hikes.

* eat way more gelato.

* check off some of my summer goals, like attending more summer concerts,
visit the tim burton exhibit, & have a picnic at the hollywood bowl.

do you have any goals for august?

****

UPDATE: found that online magazine, thanks to a very helpful reader.  phew!  a few weeks ago one of you posted on your blog about an amazing online magazine devoted to food.  it wasn't just any old food magazine though, it was more focused on making connections with other people and sharing food-related experiences.  it was also gorgeous!  i can't find it anymore, and i can't remember which of your blogs i discovered it on.  i've tried googling all sorts of things to find it, but with no luck.  if you know what i'm talking about, or have some ideas of what i might be thinking of, please leave me the name/link in the comments.  thanks you guys!