Thursday, October 31, 2013

0 military cape


similiar bomber jacket, similar blouse, similar necklace, similar shorts, similar tights, similar wedge sneakers, similar clutch

i have to admit i wasn't quite sold on the whole "coat as cape" thing. that's fine for super heroes & all, but for us mortal folk? is it right? or do we look pretentious silly? i'm not sure really, the only thing i know is that when one of your favorite jackets is a few sizes too big {one of the few sad stories of weight loss}, the whole "i'm too cool to really put this jacket on properly" thing kind of works. i mean at least i don't look like i'm swimming it anymore. or do i? i have to admit i wasn't quite sold on the whole "coat as cape" thing. cape's are fine for super heroes & all {although edna mode might diagree}, but for us mortals? is it right? or do we look pretentious silly? i'm not sure really, the only thing i know is that when one of your favorite jackets is a few sizes too big {one of the few sad stories of weight loss}, the whole "i'm too cool to really put this jacket on properly" thing kind of works. i mean at least i don't look like i'm swimming in it . . . or do i? either way i kind of like how it looks photographed {even if i do put it on properly when i wear it out in public - it is kind of chilly over here}. well happy halloween folks! we watched "rosemary's baby" as we munched on cheese & drank some wine {the fact that this was our chosen activity halloween night is probably related to why we didn't get id'ed at the liquor store - come on! don't i look like i'm 20 & going to a crazy frat party? . . . yeah . . . no.} anyway i was excited & a little sad that autumn was in full swing when i got back from japan {it's my favorite season & i'd hate to think i missed any of it}. the colors in the trees, the brisk air, it's perfect for sipping a cappuccino {but really when is it not perfect to sip a cappuccino?}. i am pretty happy right now so i'll give him the one. why am i happy you may ask? because i turned the charm i bought at the meiji shrine into a necklace {along with a 50 yen coin}. the charm is supposed to bring soundness of mind & body, let me tell you this - if there's anything i need right now, it's that. less than 2 months until the end of the semester & then 4 months more is graduation! the prospect of school ending {& what the hell i'm supposed to do after that} is a little daunting. here's to japanese luck!

p.s. this is one of my muji shirts & i'm in love!

p.p.s. i turned in my film from japan today . . . i'm so freakishly excited to get the photographs back! ah delayed gratification, there's nothing quite like it.








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Monday, October 28, 2013

0 peach salsa



in one of our ventures to the farmers market we came across so many peaches {delicious peaches too} that we bought a bagful & i decided that the best thing to do was to make salsa with them! i didn't like any of the recipes i found online so this is my own creation, ta-da! i'm pretty proud of it & neither ivan nor i could get enough of it. i hope you enjoy it! {best with fresh peaches of course!}


ingredients:
3 medium peaches - diced
2 large tomatoes - diced
1 avocado - diced
1/2 bunch cilantro - chopped
1/2 cup red onion - diced
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 bell pepper {color of your choice} - diced
1 jalapeño - thinly diced {this can be reduced if you prefer your salsa less spicy}

directions:
combine ingredients & keep covered in fridge until ready to serve.

enjoy with chips or as we did with some grilled chicken, arugula & queso fresco! que delicioso!





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Saturday, October 26, 2013

0 no i didn't die

school & work have just been, really, incredibly, insanely demanding since school started at the end of august. hence, my long silence. i guess i could have posted something, but i felt like to do anything with any sort of quality whatsoever would have taken more time that i had to spare - so i just didn't do anything at all.  which is very much like most of what i do. i'm a bit of an extremist in a way and tend to go all in or not at all - something i've been working on, as sometimes you can't go all in but you can't not do it either - hello busy work! so that's a personality thing that's showing up here in the blog. i'm sure you all understand that. however, i do enjoy blogging a lot and didn't want to just quit because i didn't have a lot of time. so i waited {not so patiently} until the first, insanely busy first half of my semester was over and i got back from japan - JAPAN!!! - to start up again. that's right folks, my childhood dream of growing up to be a beautiful japanese girl going to japan was finally fulfilled. well, not fulfilled really, because instead of leaving me satiated it only whetted my appetite! i took over 2,500 pictures - don't worry i won't post them all - as well as 4 rolls of film on my holga. however i will do several posts that highlight different aspects, like food, new & old architecture, oddities, etc. - everything was so diverse, animated (often literally), dense, beautiful & culturally rich that i felt that our extremely fast-paced {there was more than one occasion where someone got lost/left behind} 10 day tour barely skimmed the surface. i am currently just finishing transcribing an interview that took place on the trip and am almost done {7 pages down, just 3 minutes more to go!} well, now that i've addressed the most recent past i wanted to show a little about the beginning of the semester - mostly my school shopping! i, at 31, still get excited about shopping for a new semester - i probably always will. i just love buying stationary, pens, bags, etc., basically anything that will help me stay organized - all in the hopes that this will be the best semester ever! it probably stems from my frequent childhood moves {which often occurred during the summer} & seeing each new place {& usually new school year} as a chance to do a little better, a chance to {in a highly aspirational way} reinvent myself. now my goals are a little smaller, but they do usually include things like not being late to class & not half-assing any assignments - i have yet to accomplish those during an entire semester so far {the transcription i'm working on now was due yesterday - oops!}, but that's why there's always next time!

in other news i've recently become obsessed with loose/comfy/sexy tops. i bought 3 at muji in japan! i find it especially sexy to combine it with other inherently sexy pieces - such as my beloved leather pants and something fun like my wedge sneakers! they are my absolute favorites & yes i did take them trekking what felt like all over tokyo with only minor casualties - totally worth how cute they looked!





gap oversized button-up shirt: similar, hm leather pants: similar, aldo wedge sneakers: similar


i'm loving my new "bookbag"! similar here




p.s. how absolutely fantastic is this day planner?! i'm so sad i have to wait 2 more months to use it!

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

2 a little luxury


sometimes you want something simply because it's beautiful, ridiculous, impractical & unexpected. my two luxury purchases this week were precisely that. i'd been eyeballing the caviar manicure kit for quite some time now & finally caved. the texture is super fun although i have to admit it's definitely for people who don't use their hands a lot {or never do dishes} as it only lasted a couple of days - a couple of gloriously textured days! the other splurge was lady gaga's perfume, fame. the perfume itself is black {not the bottle} & smells addictively sweet. there's nothing like a little luxury to make reality {read school starting on monday} a little more bearable. 


as a sucker for good packaging i loved this seal. as well as the bottle, it's quite stunning.
p.s. the perfume in the background on the left is flowerbomb {my "signature scent"} the price tag is well worth the compliments it garners & although i love it, i'm pretty excited to add a little variety to my olfactory repertoire.

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Saturday, August 17, 2013

0 so much keeps happening!

as i may have mentioned before i've been working A LOT. i've been working so much that sleep has become a luxury & my coffee intake has increased exponentially {i never thought i'd be so excited for school to start so that i can work less}. over the weekend my sister suzy {who is a year younger than myself} & her husband dave came to town! why did they do that you may ask. was it to escape the extreme heat & boredom of phoenix? no, well maybe a little, but it was mostly because my dear brother travis got married this tuesday! the rest of my family {except one sister - there are 13 siblings total - I'm from utah remember?} made it for the wedding & it was a small, beautiful event. we were able to get together with natalie, a dear friend for brunch & discussed the awesomeness of "sharknado" {which ivan is trying desperately to procure - since we don't have TV}. we had thai food with my parents & the kiddos as well as indian food with the girls while the boys went go-kart racing for travis's bachelor party. all in all it was a great weekend & week! oh! i also purchased a pair of wedge sneakers! ivan is convinced they look like boots & only likes them because of how happy they make me  {apparently high-top velcro sneakers were never popular in bulgaria so he's missing the whole nostalgic affect the shoes give}. in other news i finally got my hair done! inch long roots are sooo not my thing. aaaaannnnnnd we ran a half-marathon this morning! after which we enjoyed the much anticipated machine gun sandwich from bruges waffles & frites {this indulgence has been planned since we decided that we wanted to run a half-marathon -  how else could we justify eating that many carbs in one sitting?} we had to walk around downtown afterwards so that we didn't feel quite so sick - i couldn't even eat the whole thing. sorry that my posts have become so infrequent & consequently ridiculously long! that being said here are a silly amount of pictures! i hope you are enjoying your summer! only one week until school starts! eek!

photo by lincoln
 preparing for the bachelor party

 indian food never gets old

 are my sisters not adorable?!
just a little plants vs. zombies
 i love these people!
 sister time
 eggs benedict! yum!
 lovely ladies!
 masculine men!
 we attempted a bbq in the canyons but got rained out, boo!


 i'm obsessed with suzy's shoes!

congratulations travis & luisa!
 time for dancing! this one of ivan & rachel melts my heart!!!
 time for thai!

 i love my goofy family!
 check out sarah's new half-sleeve! a flower for every place she's been to - still a work in progress.
 best carb loading meal ever!
 this is my bad-ass face since it was the porter rockwell half-marathon.
 this man is just beautiful - sorry i can't help but show him off
 this sandwich was so big we had to eat about half the fries before we could even attempt to fit it into our mouths

 even after all the windswept fry eating it was still difficult - we had sauce all over our faces! a sure sign of a good meal
happy saturday!

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