he's back!

just wanted to say welcome home, mark! after his amazing experience in cameroon, my brother-in-law is back in the united states. we're glad he remained safe throughout his experience, and i look forward to visiting with him and hearing about his time in africa. if you want to read any of his tales, again, his blog can be found here.

wedding invitations

well, i've had a few people ask about weddings/my wedding invitations recently, and i realized i had never documented them, so last night i decided to take some pictures of them. brandon and i designed, printed and assembled them all by hand--truly a labor of love.

first, our save the dates...we took the picture in golden gate park, near where brandon proposed.

next, i got the [insane] idea to do envelope liners. time consuming, but so pretty! thank you, martha stewart, for the how-to...
and then for the final product, the actual invitations. the names have been blurred for privacy, in case that was a point of confusion--no, we didn't have gray smudges on our invites. on the left is the invitation how it would come out of the envelope--folded up with the band around it. on the right is the unfolded invitation. the left side had a pocket which held the rsvp card and map/directions/additional information card. we also decided to "splurge" and purchase custom stamps from zazzle.
and now for the invitations:

overall, they were extremely time consuming and stressful at times, but i think we enjoyed making them, and at the end of the day i was glad we customized ours so much. i really feel our invitations represented us, and i like that there are no other invitations out there exactly like ours.

*note: if you'd like to see better resolution of any of the photos, please let me know!*

official [almost]

after months of dragging my feet and getting used to the idea, i finally felt ready to make the big swap and change my name. i got together the proper documents and application, and headed over to the social security office this morning. after waiting in line (i'm glad i got there early), going through security, and getting checked in, i was welcomed with an announcement stating that the computers (supposedly nation-wide) were down, and therefore they were unable to process people. they said they'd do as much as they could, but anything involving the computer was impossible. i was one of the first people called, and they took my application and filled out the remaining details, and said that when the computers came back up i'd be processed. then they'd send me a receipt letting me know that everything was changed. that was a little frustrating, especially because i wanted to just get it done. of course the day i go is the day the computers go down.

anyway, it was extremely strange to fill out the form with my "name to be shown," and i sort of felt like i was renouncing my family, but despite my hesitations, i am excited to finally make the change and share a name with brandon. it's like another new beginning for us, and the official start of our family unit.

i won!

so, i rarely win things. i feel like i don't have great luck most of the time. i enter contests and drawings in vain, just thinking that maybe my luck will change and i'll actually be a winner.

well, that day came yesterday. i got an email with the subject "CUB spring promotion winner!" i opened up the email and the first line said "Congratulations! You have won a free CUB White Station by participating in our CUB Spring Promotional Event." um, excuse me? i never win things! and this isn't any old thing that i won--this is a very nice piece of furniture. i had an ear-to-ear grin, but the annoying part was that my sister was in a doctor's appointment when i found out, so i had to wait and be patient which is not one of my strengths. when i did tell her, however, she was quite giddy.

yesterday morning my sister and i were discussing baby furniture (as we do most days) and we were trying to kind of make a choice on a crib. we finally decided that if we were going to go with a modern crib, it'd most likely be the cub as it was the most reasonably priced. we weren't 100% (and of course josh had to be consulted), but that is the direction we were leaning. it's well made, non-toxic finishes, made with formaldehyde-free mdf, and is nice and compact. to have that discussion and then get this email? that made the decision easy--cub crib it is, and now we have the matching changing station!

so now, the proposed nursery scheme can be unveiled with the furniture pretty set...so as not to confuse, we do not yet know the gender of the baby--my sister has loved the little prince since she was young, so it is a little prince-themed room, but that does not mean boy. there will be plans to follow, and things may be changed/swapped out as research is done and plans are drawn up.

and so, the scheme in it's current state:

conversations

i got a good laugh out of this one:

[on getting a hotel room in bend, or for a concert we're going to over memorial day weekend]

sara: did you book our room at the ritz yet?
me: not yet
i was going to do that today
i was debating between ritz, w, and the 4 seasons
sara: oh, maybe try the w
i'm so sick of the ritz

oh, if only...instead it will be more like the best western...

cookies & kitties

although i enjoy it, i rarely bake--mostly due to the fact that i have zero self-control when it comes to not quickly devouring my entire batch of baked goods. yesterday, however, i got an excuse to bake some cookies. i baked some of grandma's recipe oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies (for this batch i left out the raisins). because of the spices in the recipe, and the fact that i normally have them at the holidays, i felt like it was christmas in may! it was the first time i made them, and i was pleased with the results.

here is the dough:

and the finished product

while i baked the cats decided to hang out and snooze a little. call me the cat lady, but i just couldn't resist taking some pictures.

stuart lounging

the boys snuggling (ben is in the the one giving bedroom eyes)

overall, it was a nice way to spend saturday afternoon. i think i might have to make more of these soon--they were delicious (in my opinion).

two things

first, i'd like to share that on april 30, brandon, sara, chris and i went to see colin meloy at the fillmore. can i just say...amaaaaaaaaaaazing. absolutely incredible. what talent! and then hearing about his 2 year old hank...it was almost too much. colin, you can sing to me/around me anytime. i know i'm kind of gushing like a teenage girl, but i really don't even know what to say other than he blew me away. to pull off mariner's revenge alone in an acoustic set...well, that just shows how great he is. i was really excited that he sang grace cathedral hill, as it is one of my favorite decemberists songs. o, valencia didn't disappoint either...well, every song made me happy and excited, so i'll stop there. sufficient to say i wouldn't hesitate to see him again. and again.

second thing:
i walked home from work yesterday. as in, the whole way. normally my commute is cable car to light rail, light rail to my office. yesterday i got out to the platform for the t (my light rail line) and saw the next train wasn't coming for 28 minutes. i waited a few and the time wasn't decreasing, so i thought to myself 'hey, i can make it to caltrain (by the ballpark) in 28 minutes...i'll just walk.' good thing i did, because no trains passed me by in the entire walk. i got up to the caltrain platform and looked at the time ticker. another 20 minutes. i was meeting brenna at union square, and i thought well, who knows if it will actually be 20 minutes, and then i have to get on the train, which will be packed, and ride it which will at least be another 20--i might as well walk. i walked to union square, and then once there brenna and i decided to walk home instead of take public transit. overall, i guess it wasn't that long of a walk--only 3.7 miles, but if you know where my office is (out in the boondocks), it seems like quite a feat. it was a fun little adventure, but i wouldn't want to do it every day. i'm curious what the hold-up was with muni as well...

here was my route:

View Larger Map

i'm from barcelona

this evening we went to a concert for the band i'm from barcelona (who, incidentally, are from sweden). i was excited reading concert reviews, which talked about balloons, confetti, and leaving the concert happy and full of joy--and the reviewers were right! the band is comprised of 29 members, and literally started with a group of friends (i think i counted 17 members present at the concert). they sing about things like treehouses, the chicken pox, and sleeping in, and are just overall...happy. they don't take themselves too seriously, everyone on stage is having fun, and it just makes you want to leave all cares behind and sing along. it was slightly campy (in a good way) and induced giddiness--a great escape from work.

and yes, my hopes of confetti and balloons were fulfilled. i felt like i was at a birthday party.

the confetti aftermath

and for a little video:

six months

happy six months to us (well, as of yesterday). time flies when you're having fun! just wanted to say happy 6 months to the love of my life...i look forward to many many many more months to come. it's been amazing so far, and i can't wait for all the adventures waiting for us!

*photo courtesy of edyta szyszlo photography*

re:coachella

well, we're back safe and sound from coachella! it was a super fun weekend. we drove down to l.a. friday night, spent the night chez asuncion, then drove out to indio on saturday morning. luckily, it wasn't as hot as last year so we weren't exhausted so easily. we started out in one of the tents at mgmt, then wandered over to see a little st. vincent before we decided to grab a bite to eat because we had back-t0-back-to-back shows coming up and it was our only opportunity to eat. after food we were conflicted because hot chip and death cab were playing at the same time (well, overlapping times) so sara and i wandered over to hot chip while the boys went to death cab. as soon as we got to the hot chip tent, however, we realized the organizers MASSIVELY underestimated the following that hot chip was going to have. the tent was already overflowing--there was no way we were going to see anything. we decided to go back to death cab which ended up being a great choice--literally thousands of people were migrating over to the hot chip tent (that was in addition to the people already there). somehow we fought through the crowd and met up with the boys at death cab.

death cab was amazing as expected, and then we ran over to see rilo kiley. after that we went over to animal collective, which was a little too smokey for us, and then we ventured home. i have to say highlights: death cab and rilo....low-lights? my horrific HORRIFIC allergies. we're talking i went through multiple tissue packs and napkins and basically had watering eyes all day. as in it looked like i was sobbing. all day. i swear i was having a good time:


other than the allergies, the day was great!

on the way to indio

mgmt

having fun

walking around

death cab for cutie

rilo kiley

coachella at night