12 hours down the California Coast

Oh hiiiii there. 

Remember me? 

Is anyone out there? 

Is blogging even cool anymore? 

The Dizz said to me the other day, "I miss reading your blog. You should really get back to it." Well gee, shucks. Thanks boo. (Though, I didn't know I was "out of it", I was simply taking a little holiday break.) But, dearest Dizzle, you're my number one fan and for that, I shall dedicate this post to you. A post that shows all of our photos from our road trip to San Diego. You know that trip where you were in the car right next to me seeing all of the same sights I saw? Yeah, that one. 

Ready for a butt-load of pictures?

Ready. Set. Go!

^^^ Pit stop in Carmel! (And when I say 'pit stop', I really mean I just shouted, "Oooooh look! Pull over!" So we did. Took a picture. Then left.)^^^

^^^Cows!^^^

^^^Elephant seal! This was another one of those "LET'S PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY!" moments. And it's a good thing we did, because those things were ginormously splendid to see.^^^

Driving down the Coast took a good 3 or 4 hours longer than if we had just gone the "normal" route, but I'm glad we did. Isn't it beautiful?? Neither of us had done it before and now we can check it off our list.

We had a fun 5 days down in San Diego for the holiday. You know, as fun as long periods of time with family can be. ;) It was filled with a zillion shopping trips for food and last minute presents at Target and Costco. Oh the hecticness of Christmas. Yet, with all the stress this time of year brings, we continue to do it, don't we? ;) It's crazy to think that just a year ago we were hiking the Cinque Terre in Italy and this year, the closest we got to Italy was a Christmas Eve lunch at the Olive Garden, because my family is classy like that. 

My how things can change so much in just a year, eh?

I wonder what this next year will bring. Knowing us, I'm sure we'll figure something exciting out. :)

Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday and I hope you have a great, great New Year's Eve!

I'll see you next year! 

xoxo

I don't believe in Christmas Cards at this stage in my life

We've received so many fun Christmas cards these past few weeks from friends and family and there's a part of me that wishes we sent out cards too.

BUT....

Verner and I have only been together for 2 1/2 years, we aren't engaged, we aren't married, nor do we have children. Heck, we don't even have a dog (if we DID, I might be compelled). 

Soooo....... I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't! It doesn't make sense.

HOWEVER....just because I haven't mailed official Christmas cards out doesn't mean I didn't spend a little time making one just for fun...

I mean, it's been one heck of a year, right?

So.

To you, my dear blog friends, Merry Christmas! Enjoy this virtual Christmas card. ;)
Hope you have a wonderful holiday with loved ones.

Tomorrow morning we are taking off for San Diego! We've decided to drive down the coast and make a little (10 hour) road trip of it. I plan on taking lots of wonderful pictures along the way.
Are we Insty friends yet? No? Well let's be, yo!

xoxo

Good thing I had a team, because it appears I'm horrible at Trivia.

There's this pizza joint, Patxi's (which is apparently pronounced: Pah-cheese. And let me tell you, took me a long while to figure out as I've been terribly trying to pronounce it: Patxxxxxi's. Go ahead, try and say that out loud. It ain't so easy with a 't' and an 'x' combo). Anyway, Patxi's hosts a Trivia Night every Wednesday. So, The Dizzle-Meister thought it would be a grand affair if we invited some friends to go for a night. One last little hoorah before the Holidays, if you will.

Now, if you don't know this about me, I will tell you today: I am very competitive. Like, no matter what the game is, I must win. And I must make sure no one else is cheating. And if I am winning, I also must make sure everyone else knows by shouting loudly, "WHOO HOO!!!!" "We SO got this!" "Oooooh yeah, who's winning now, BITCHES?!?!" Okay, maybe not that last one, but it might as well be with how obnoxious I can be.

So of course, last night's trivia sesh was no exception. I went into it with full confidence. We had six highly intelligent people on the team, if I do say so myself. We had it in the bag! I made sure to tell everyone before the game started that when it came to anything MUSIC or CELEBRITY related, have no fear, because I was SURE I would know it!

First question: Which celebrity was the most searched person on Google?

I knew the answer immediately! It was SO obvious! I had just heard this on the radio the other day!

So I said, "Guys, guys, guys! I know this! It's BEYONCE!!!!!"

And because I said it with such confidence, no one even thought to question my knowledge.

After submitting our answer, I gave myself a little mental pat on the back for being such a great contributor to our team.

The answer was revealed by the emcee: "The most Googled person for 2013 is.........MILEY CYRUS!!!!!"

Silence.

Shock.

Shame.

Me.

I kid you not, for the rest of the evening, I didn't know any of the other questions. Seriously. None.

Politics, history, celebrities, movie titles, writers, China something or other, volcano stuff in Italy? I mean.... huh??

But guess what?!

I DID have a perfect team, because EVERYONE else at my table KNEW the questions! EVERYONE. ALL OF THEM. THEY ALL KNEW.

But me.

So yeah, we won. And know that I use the word "we" loosely.

We got $50 off our bill that evening, which I was very happy to have won. But you know, clearly a big wake up call to my lack of trivia skills.

Sorry guys. Maybe next time I'll just be your cheerleader as you guys rock it. ;)

xoxo

My First Grown Up Dinner Party

Saturday night, we were invited to head up to Marin County for a lovely little dinner party of nine. The Dizzle's Mama's best friend was hosting and let me tell you, she went above and beyond! So above and beyond that I have officially decided I will never be able to pull something so amazing off and therefore will only attend dinner parties as opposed to hosting them.

The evening started with some wine and living room "mingling." We met this older Dutch couple of about 70 and well, they were just the cutest! And as you know (or don't, because why would you?), The Dizzle's Mama is from Holland, so they were getting along swimmingly in all of their Dutchness. May I also mention that there were bottles upon bottles of wonderful wine. And I'm talking wine that was way fancier than my $9 bottle of Pinot that I'm used to. One could say I was in wine heaven. I even had the Asian Glow to prove it.

That beautiful, splotchy, not embarrassing at all, Asian Glow.

Moving on.

We started the meal with this delicious goat cheese/walnut/raspberry salad, and I wish I took a picture of it because it was so pretty. Can a salad be pretty? Because it was. But instead of taking a picture, I devoured it in 5.2 seconds (have I mentioned how classy I can be at a dinner party?). Next, we moved on to the main meal. LAMB. I had never had lamb before, but as I recently promised myself, I was going to venture out and try something new. I tried my hardest not to think of my childhood best friend,  Lamb Chops, but it was a tad difficult. Between you and me, though, I really did enjoy those chops. They were juicy and tender and also devoured in 5.2 seconds. Sorry, little Lamb. I do love you.

During our meal, we were informed that we had little name cards at our seats and to open it up to reveal a question for each of us. (I tell ya, this hostess thought of everything to make this evening one of perfection). We took turns reading our question aloud and answering it for the group.

My question was: "What's your favorite place to visit?"

And well, we all shouldn't be surprised that I went on and on about my love for Thailand.

Anyway, it was a really great evening. Thank you to Kathy for being such a gracious host and making the evening a memorable one. Let's hope I didn't make a drunken fool of myself and can perhaps be invited back sometime.

P.S. Verner and I couldn't stop making fun of his oh-so mature sweater ensemble for the evening (you should have seen his slacks and belt, too). I told him he looked like a dad going to his kid's Christmas music program. HA. You can just tell he loved that comment.
Don't worry boo, you're the sexiest dad I know. (<---creepy?)

xoxo

Dramatic Sleeper

It has come to my attention that I am quite the......"interesting" sleeper, if you will. The Dizzle has taken it upon himself to capture these sleep moments of mine because, well, he clearly likes to hover over me and stare creepily at me while I sleep. Just kidding.......or am I?

Keep in mind, these photos were taken all on different days and I had no idea I ever slept like this until now. I always thought I was a quiet and still sleeper who only slept on my side in the fetal position.

But alas, that is not the case...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, "The Dramatic Sleeper."

I mean, what's up with that bottom left one?

It's no secret I've always wanted to be a famous actress, but apparently even my subconscious likes to work on my craft, so you know, I can always be ready to..... faint dramatically? Skillfully hide? Appear dead?

Anyway.
Now you know how I sleep.
And now you can continue on in your life with that knowledge and feel more complete.
You're welcome.

xoxo

Beach Blanket Babylon - Keeping the tradition alive!

Have you heard of Beach Blanket Babylon?

No?

Well, allow me!

Beach Blanket Babylon is America's LONGEST running music revue. It began back in 1974 and plays every year in the North Beach district here in San Francisco! (Not sure if you remember my little North Beach mention?) Every year, the show changes based on that year's events in pop culture and politics and the show consists of elaborate costumes and hats while performing satirical renditions of current pop songs. (Thank you Wikipedia.)

In a nutshell, it's pretty amazing.

The Dizzle and his mom have been going basically every year since he was ten! It was kind of super cute to learn that about him and his mama. Last year, I was invited to go along on this tradition of theirs and guess what? This year, we're going again! TONIGHT! I'm so excited!

I feel honored and special that I get to partake in this little tradition of theirs. We're going to have a bliggity-blast!

I hope you all have yourselves a great and wonderful weekend as well. We're already halfway through December, can you believe it? Sheesh.

///

Before you go, I wanted to introduce you to one of my lovely sponsors. Her name is Z. She blogs at Sometimes Z Takes Pictures. And quite frankly, I think she's pretty Kick-A and a helluva lot cooler than I am. ;) So. Instead of the regular little "hello blurb" from her, we did a little Q&A so you can get to know her a little better! I got down to the nitty gritty and really went after those soul-searching questions. Okay, not really, but at least she loves red wine, which basically makes her a best friend in my book. ;)

Enjoy and hope you can pop over and say hi to her!

Blog / Bloglovin' / Twitter

M: If you were on death row, what would your Last Meal be?
Z: Blerg, after Thanksgiving I'm having a hard time looking at food, but my standard is usually dino-shaped chicken nuggets. With barbecue sauce.
(Side note from me, and me being Mish for all of you reading this, I used to be OBSESSED with those chicken dinos. Like, I would have my mom buy the bulk size from Costco so we always had them on hand. Anyway....moving on.)

M: Red wine or white wine?
Z: DEFINITELY red wine. If there's one thing Europe teaches you, it's an appreciation for wines.

M: What would a perfect day look like for you?
Z: All of my favorite days happen when I'm kicked back at my lake during summer, but I'll also take a lazer tag adventure or a movie marathon.

M: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Z: Hopefully working somewhere in the music industry, hopefully with some kind of manager position, either on the road, or in a neat, hipster-y office.

M: Favorite place you've traveled to?
Z: Agh, I went on a three month study abroad last fall and had the chance to visit soooo many amazing countries. My all-time favorite would probably be London - it really fit my personality and lifestyle. Plus...accents?!

M: What's the best advice someone has given you?
Z: My mom is always really good at telling me when to take a step back and relax about my life. I usually get super worked up about tiny things and she's always there to tell me to take a break and have at it tomorrow.

Thanks so much for doing this Q&A with me, Z. It's been great getting to know you a little more and I appreciate you being here today!! Now....perhaps people should start calling me "M"...? No? I'm not that cool? ....You're right. Whomp whomp.

xoxo

Today, it's just you and me, Blog.

Dear Blog,

After staring at this blank screen for a bit, wondering if there was an interesting or funny tale to tell my readers, I just decided that instead, I'm going to pretend that it's 2011 and no one, but my mother, is reading this.

December around these parts has been a bit of a roller coaster for me. I recently bought a little magnetic white board to put on the fridge so that Verner and I could see our monthly bills, income, savings, credit cards, etc. It's been both stressful and motivational. Stressful because, well, it seems that each month, we're just barely chugging along to survive in this oh-so expensive city and I'm wondering when the day will come that we won't be so stressed about it. Motivational though, because we have goals. Financial goals. And we are being (mostly) responsible and diligent to reach those goals. So seeing them everyday on the fridge helps us to remember what we want to accomplish. It might mean saying no to some dinners out and saying yes to a lot more homemade meals, but I know that this situation is not our forever and that we just need to keep our eye on the prize.

This time last year we were in Italy and I'm pretty sure I said to Verner, like I did so often back then, "I wonder where we'll be a year from now?" Because, honestly, we had no idea. But here we are, living in San Francisco, in our little studio with our even littler Christmas tree. I met a girl today and we got to talking about life plans and that making them often seemed to be laughable. I've always been a planner. I've always (thought I've) known what I wanted and what I was going after. But since coming "home" 6 months ago, here I am, still figuring that out and have come to realize that most plans I've ever had don't actually ever work out the way I thought anyway.

Whenever I talk to someone new about their job, I always make a point to ask them, "Are you happy? Do you like it?" Most of the time there's a slight pause followed with an "Um, sure, it's ookaaaay." But then every now and then, someone will quickly respond with, "Yes, I love it!" And that, dear Blog, is what is so inspiring to me. I love hearing someone tell me they love their job and it's actually believable. It's like hearing someone tell me they're happily married after 50 years of marriage and I just know it's the truth from the way their eyes light up thinking about it. Those "rarities" are inspiring because it means I'm holding out for something bigger than what I've done in the past and that it's out there. Something is out there that will make me so excited and I'll think, "A-ha! THIS is what I've been waiting for all along!"

Sometimes it's frustrating being 27 and not there yet. Actually, most of the time it's frustrating. But I'm trying to keep my head up, eye on the prize, and keep on keepin' on. Just because I don't have this so-called career down yet, doesn't mean I can't make the most of this time on my hands. Like I've said before, nothing is forever, so I might as well enjoy whatever "now" I have.

So. What's my now?

Verner is on the bed next to me, sleeping away, because he has been up since 5am, poor little fella. I am so very thankful for him and I'm trying my best not to reach over and smother him with a hug! So instead, I will just stare at him creepily while he sleeps....kidding. Sort of. I am going to enjoy these days that we get to spend together when I know that's not something a lot of couples get to do on a random Thursday afternoon. I am also going to try my best to enjoy this moment of the unknown. Like the girl I met today said, I'm going to go with the flow and enjoy it along the way. Amen sister.

Peace out, Blog. It's been real.

xoxo