yesterday & today & tomorrow

yesterday i spent most of the day giving my poor car a much needed bath & reading dan brown's the lost symbol. sadly i'm a very slow reader, so it takes me a while to get through books. this book though - it's a definite page turner. i started reading it when i was in thailand staying at this neat guest house that had lots of nooks & comfy places to read & a whole corner of books. the lost symbol  was basically the only book in english, & i was wanting something to relax at the beach with. so i began reading it. & i really got into it. i wanted to take it with me, but since i'd never stole something before, i didn't exactly want to start then. so when i got back home, one of the first things i did was take a trip to the thrift store with lizzie & found myself a copy. at 639 pages, i'm not even halfway through. i'm kind of glad though. i don't want the story to end too soon.

today, after swimming laps with my sister, i went shopping with my mom at target. we found these sleeveless merona tops that were $6 at 40% off. i loved the striped one & picked that one out for myself. i can't wait to wear it tomorrow.

tomorrow i am working in the morning & then visiting miguel for a few days. i'm escaping to his place for a quiet space to convert my thesis into a journal article for a job i'm applying to. it's a bit of a daunting task to do in a couple of days, but i'm going for it. i also think we will be cooking one of these wonders & getting excited for somebody's birthday next week ;)

p.s. also excited for somebody's wedding on saturday! oh love.

a little hello & my birthday

hello! well, my life has once again been a whirlwind. i'm starting to think that it's just a whirlwind period. i hope you americans had a happy thanksgiving (& some international readers too according to instagram!)! i did (having two thanksgiving meals yesterday) & am leaving to visit my cousin wendy today for the weekend & another thanksgiving meal! 

i am still looking for a full-time job & it is a bit discouraging, but i know the right one will come along. i just have to be ready for it. 

i have a few events that i want to blog about over the next few days/weeks of things that i have been doing, so bare with me!

first up, i want to share my birthday with you! i was not in the birthday mood this year because since i was turning 26, i would lose all my medical, dental, & vision coverage from my dad. also, the grace period for my student loans would be up & i would have to start paying them... happy birthday to me! aha. but, miguel knew all of this & was on a mission to get me in a happy birthday mood, showering me with loads of gifts & lots of loving. & it worked. he came to visit me & brought the most beautiful bouquet of roses! yellow & blue are our colors & the multi-color roses were just plain epic. 

he bought me lots of books/comics that i have been wanting! like the second hunger games book, the kinfolk table cookbook, & the soppy comics! 

 these comics are completely miguel & me ;)

then he spent the day with me & my mom shopping & getting sandwiches at ike's place. oh how i love him.

earlier for my birthday morning, i had breakfast with these lovely sisters! lizzie & hannah treated me to eggs benedict & a bag full of amazing things. it was such a happy birthday morning!

oh yeah, i also took my NEW CAR to get it's first car wash (because it's free on my birthday!)! this is a late graduation present from my parents & grandma (& i'm paying for the rest of it!)! i was seriously in shock when they told me that i would be getting a new car. i love my 2013 honda fit sport : ) i named it rosie the riveter.

 my birthday ended nicely with dinner out & strawberry shortcake in.

little did i know that more birthday plans were in store for me, but more on that later.
i am so thankful for people in my life that love me. love really is the greatest thing.

terrariums, lemon bars, & celebrating

i made another terrarium! i had a few succulents left over & my mom picked up this glass vase(?) for me when she was out thrifting, so i decided to put them all together. i really love terrariums & succulents for that matter.

last saturday, my sister raquel & i went over to my cousin brisa's cute little home (i love that her & her boyfriend joseph have moved to my city!) & made lemon bars! she has a wonderful lemon tree in her backyard, so there was an endless supply of lemons. i think i would love to have my own lemon tree when i get my own place.

 i took a trip on the train to stay with miguel for a couple of days & tried to get some reading in on my trip. i've been reading (trying) lunch in paris: a love story with recipes by elizabeth bard. it's hard for me to get into it. i think it is mostly due to the fact that the main character has been annoying me because she is quite naive & seems a little haughty. anyways, the book also includes about three recipes at the end of each chapter, which is pretty awesome. the author even had a blog with recipes inspired by the book. the book does however let me reminisce about the trip i took with nicola to paris. oh how i miss europe!

miguel knows how much i love european things & took me to a eauropean inspired deli down the street from where he works. (he works in the cutest downtown area with little shops, bookstores, & coffee shops!) he had been wanting to take me there for so long & it did not disappoint!

 i went to visit miguel to celebrate our 17 months together ;) we love a reason to celebrate & still have fun celebrating each month we are together. we decided that instead of going out for dinner & spend money, we would stay in & cook together & save some extra money for austin next week(!!!). we decided to make lasagna with cheese & veggie meat. when we started putting together the sauce (we made our own sauce from scratch), we realized that we couldn't find a large enough casserole dish for the lasagna. so, miguel went out to pick one up & came home with not only an amazing glass casserole dish with a lid, but flowers, macaroons, & eclairs! i was quite surprised & happy : )

 i took this photo on the morning i went back home. there is a train station just around the corner from where miguel works, so we try to plan efficient trips so he can pick me up & drop me off according to his work schedule. anyways, he made us smoothies that morning for breakfast & put them in the starbucks cups he saves. haha. oh miguel.

i took my flowers home on the train & i felt happy to have them in my bag.

miguel & i leave for austin on wednesday! i am so beyond excited for this trip. i'm excited to be traveling traveling with miguel & i am excited to see all of my blogger family pals & to meet the new ones! see you all soon!

so many things!

photos:

1 & 2: my family took a very spontaneous trip to the coast. we rented this little blue cottage & enjoyed one cozy night. my sister came & visited after coming back from peru! so it was really nice to see her : ) she borrowed my copy of mindy kaling's book, is everyone hanging out without me? to read. she reads so much faster than me!

3 & 4: i rode in the bike-a-thon! i get to cross off another thing on my list! melissa rode with me & miguel came to be my cheerleader : ) i biked a total of 20 miles! i wanted to do more, but on my 10th mile, i got into a crash. i banged up my crotch area pretty bad, scraped my knee (it was ugly & bloody) & the handlebar baned into my chest. i was in pain, but i managed to get back up & bike 10 more miles! i think i was crazy haha. it took a week for my crotch & chest to heal up & lose the black & blue color. my knee is still healing! a big thank you to amy & carissa for sponsoring me!! you are awesome!!

5, 6, 7, & 8: my friend holly started up a crafting club & asked me to be a part of it! i was flattered : ) we had an outing last weekend & went on an art walk, visiting local galleries & hearing poetry from local poets. it was such a lovely day!

9: holly's cat luna. she is so sweet!

10: i finally got an iphone 5! i've never had an iphone & have been wanting one for so long. miguel works for at&t & traveled via train to his store & bought one from him. i was so excited haha.

11 & 12: later that same day, miguel took me out for a fancy date! we got to sit at the chef's table & watch the food be prepared. it was so so fun! the waitresses were so very nice. one even went to the garden outside of the restaurant to pick me some lovely flowers. it was such a great night.

13, 14, & 15: us..just being us.

so, that is a mini catch-up for the past two weeks or so! i've been so very busy & stressed with thesis work. the deadline is fast approaching & i'm feeling the time crunch! i'm at about 75 pages so far & i've never thought i would be able to write that much. but i did. & that's crazy.

non sequitur october

 so, the last time i blogged was way too long ago & i've seriously missed this part of my life. i've been ridiculously busy lately & this post will show only some of what i've been up to. since i'm lazy & tired (& feeling a tad under the weather) the following will be a bit out of order & a bit long.

this october has been quite a nice one. i've spent time with miguel as often as i could throughout the first half of the month because i knew that i wouldn't be able to the last half as i am substituting as a tutor for a friend who is getting married this sunday. very excited for the wedding : )

these first photos are from the pumpkin patch miguel & i went to. honestly we only went to take photos...haha. we only stayed about 5 minutes, but i love how the photos turned out.

 earlier this month i went on a lovely picnic with melissa. we made cheese sandwiches & melissa baked chocolate chip cookies. we ate on a vintage quilt & used vintage plates. we ate at my favorite park that has a beautiful white gazebo & is on an island. we had a fabulous time with our fuji instax cameras!

 i even drove my family's giant truck for the first time. i was a bit scared! but i felt really empowered when driving it!

 one time when miguel & i were shopping at h&m, we were taking advantage of the full length mirrors & taking photos together like sillies. he bought this blazer. i think he looks amazing! as dillon would say, "so dapper" ;)

 so, mayte (from the blogger family!) was going to be in my neighborhood this month, so miguel & i drove to the city to meet her for dinner. it was so nice to see her again! i was super excited & honestly a tad bit nervous. we had a nice time with good food. (later that evening was awful - next time we are taking public transportation into the city).
anyways, love his face here...

 mayte!

what's not shown in the photos is that:

• i finally got hired! i work for the university of california as a set (science engineering & technology) program representative. i feel all important & grown-up with this new spiffy job title. hehe. i even have my own mailslot in the office.
• i've been getting caught up with the walking dead & girls. 
• i've added the fault in our stars to my ipod & listen to it on my morning walks. so many of you have read it & love john green, that i've decided to give it a go. i've never read anything from him before. i'm on chapter 18. 
• between my two jobs, it's been really hard to find time to work on my thesis. this is not good... :(
• also because of my two jobs, i won't be able to go visit miguel until november...which is also not good... 
• november, please be less demanding of me! it's gonna be my birthday month!!