California Dreamin...

California. Why are you so perfectly perfect? 

California is the go-to vacation spot for a group of friends needing to get away from 105 degree Phoenix heat. So, in honor of my birthday and my friend Nicole's birthday - 9 friends, including myself, hit the road late Friday night for a short (but very sweet) weekend trip to San Diego.

We all get so excited to get out of the (not so beautiful) desert

... and see the (absolutely beautiful) beach. 

We all rented bikes to take a stroll around Coronado Island after a morning at the beach.

The weekend was full of birthday treats - including a birthday design on the sidewalk that was made out of sand and peanut butter ice cream in a delicious dipped sprinkle cone! 

A dinner in Little Italy - eggplant parmesan & spumoni birthday dessert!

A night out at Vin De Syrah - an Alice in Wonderland themed bar with the awesome bartender who gave us a free round of drinks and jumped over the bar like a gazelle to stop a fight. 

Oh, incredible friends & dreamy bartender...you all made my night unforgettable. 

Hello 25, I'm sure you'll be a good one.

Active Arizona

Friday morning - hiking, biking, and pool lounging with my best friend!

Friday night - eating bbq, hanging in the hot tub, and watching 2 cute little kiddos!

 

Saturday morning - hiking and enjoying a brunch with friends from church!

Saturday night - eating blueberry pomegranate chocolate chunk ice cream and playing battleship without using the pegs (talk about brain skills!)

Sunday - lounge ... literally all day.

How'd you spend your weekend?!

Vintage Market #2

Back in September I went to an incredible vintage market.

It was put on by the lovely ladies of Junk in the Trunk

and consisted of incredible refurbished and original vintage finds.

..[check out the goodies my friends and I bought here]

Well, this weekend I went to my second Junk in the Trunk market and was just as impressed!
The place is packed full of thrift shops and etsy shops selling their "junk"

Even though I didn't buy anything this time, I got some incredible ideas brewin' in my brain.

Fortunately, the school district I work in is FINALLY on spring break this week.

This means...I'm putting my crafting skills to the test!

I saw these cute signs made out of pallets all over the market!
I thought to myself, "Spend $50 on one or attempt to make one?"

Spring break project = Make a sign from a pallet.

I'm in no way a crafter. My brain doesn't come up with these brilliant ideas and I never know where to begin. Usually it looks a lot better in my head than the final result.
But, I'm determined. 
Some other cute finds...

They also had a raffle going to give away this incredible room!
I was in awe of the decoration hanging in the back.
So simple & so awesome. A bunch of paint dipped paint stirrers strung on a branch. genius.

Another gem at the market was the musician Kip Fox.
Man, talk about a beautiful voice.
He may have been one of the main reasons I went to the event...
Literally, before noticing any of the vendors, I noticed his powerful, passionate voice consuming the whole tent.

 
What are some of your current crafting projects?
And if you have any advice on making a pallet sign, send it my way!

Pork & Pineapple Paradise

One of my favorite homecooked meals that my mom makes consists of pork, veggies, pineapple, and white rice.

The deliciousness of the rice and pineapple together = mouth water-ing-ly incredible. 

I was craving this dish the other night, but considering my mom lives in a different state, I didn't think I'd be indulging in its delight any time soon.

So, it was time to improvise & make up my own similar dish! I had actually went grocery shopping that day, so I had some random fresh veggies and happened to buy some pork and a fresh pineapple. Coincidence? I think not. 

The end result was amazing.

Celebrate Earth Day

With perfect weather this past weekend & a new camera lens

...I hit the park for a stroll!

 The ducklings were out for a swim and the flowers were in full bloom! 

Happy Earth Day Friends!

Go enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

The Rocket Summer

The Rocket Summer

 [also known as the solo artist Bryce Avary]

 is known for recording all his instrumentals and vocals on his albums

and also known as a favorite of mine.

The Rocket Summer 4/17/13

For the past 10 years I have been listening to The Rocket Summer.
This was the music that got me through the struggles and painful years of high school. 
And to this day, 10 years later, I still consider him one of my top ten.

Last night, I had the privilage of seeing The Rocket Summer for the second time.

After seeing him the first time, I left disappointed. There is nothing like seeing your absolute favorite band at the time and being disappointed. The first time I saw him I felt like there was little to no joy in his performance. It was almost like he was performing because he had nothing better to do. 

The Rocket Summer @ Martini Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ

This time was the complete opposite. I've never been to a more intimate show.
This time it was like he had to sing to survive - to spread his absolute joy for life and music. 
He continually reminded his fans that we are worthy, loved, and appreciated.
I've also never seen an artist take so many song requests. He played songs that dated back 10 years!
TV Family, Cross My Heart & Never Knew were among the playlist.
These were the songs that spoke to me as a broken and lost high schooler - now being sung straight to me. 

When introducing the song 200,000, Bryce mentioned how everyone says, "Enjoy high school, these are the best years of your life." ...ending this statement with a big b.s. - right now is the best time of your life. I couldn't agree more.

An incredible show that now has me dusting off the oldest albums and putting them back on repeat.

We are Worthy of More

Last week I wrote about rejection. 

Being rejected by someone is a painful realization that makes you think, "I'm not good enough, there must be something wrong with me." 

When in reality, it is just God's way of saying, "I'm going to take these people (and situations) out of your life now (before they really hurt you), because they don't deserve someone as amazing and incredible as yourself."

I am stronger, greater, and worthy of more.

What an awesome way of looking at it.

Girls Night In

I love spending some quality time with the ladies.

I wonder if guys think all we do is paint our nails, have pillow fights and talk about girly nonsense. 

While this may happen on occasion...

 the majority of our conversations related to sweaty pits and stinky farts.

I'd call it a success of a night ;)

My 3 lovely ladies - Dena, Nicole, Brooke.

We started out our evening making a delicious meal.

Seriously, mouth watering goodness. 

Drool over our delicious BBQ Chicken & Spinach Pizza & Roasted Garlic Asparagus! 

Plus, the talented chef, Nicole, made herself a tasty gluten free pizza with caramelized onions, feta, and fresh basil.

Then we watched the movie Bachelorette. Definitely a bit more inappropriate than we were expecting and I'm not sure if I would recommend it. However, it did have some funny moments. 

Our evening ended with endless giggles and cupcakes. 

How do you spend your girls night in?

Rejection

There's something wild about your initial instincts.

Crazy how they may seem so exact, but you just want to dismiss them.

Everyone else tells you to ignore them.

Let go.

Give it a try.

Dive in.

But then before you even know it,

your initial instinct was exactly

spot

on

How many times does one have to be rejected before it all comes together?

"As we watched them come down,
I grabbed your magic hand
and held it until those falling
flakes were swallowed up
and swept downstream,
thinking you were as rare
as an Alabama snowfall
 and I needed to hold your hand
to keep you from disappearing
just as quick."

[Rare by Gabriel Gadfly]

 

Weekend Warriors

This weekend was the celebration of my friend Michael's birthday! We started out with dinner at PF Changs (dumplin's anyone?) , a birthday cupcake celebration, and then an evening out at Dave and Buster's. These pictures of my friends sum up the fun pretty well.

 How was your weekend?!