What's been happening and what's coming up next:

It's that time of the semester! Final papers/projects/tests that were so safely in the distant future for the first few months of the year suddenly have very real, very quickly approaching due dates. It always seems to happen so suddenly. It's a whirlwind of work and stress and freaking out feeling like I'll never get it all done and then, abruptly, it's all over and I have the whole summer ahead of me. I'm not quite at that part yet but I am very close.

So yeah, my presence here on this blog has been limited because of that and probably will continue to be for at least the next week as I finish things up. I had a 5 page paper due this past Monday, another one yesterday, an assignment due this evening, and a couple little short papers to do this weekend... then a quick presentation next wednesday, and then 2 finals and one more 5 page paper between May 6th-8th. Shouldn't be too horrible, but enough keep me busy and remind me that it's not summer, not yet.

There's a lot to look forward to when the semester finally is over, though! My 22nd birthday is on May 10th, and although I'll actually be working and doing pretty much nothing interesting on that day, Colton and I are going to leave the next day for a vacation in honor of my birthday. There's nothing in particular that I really want, so a trip instead of presents is my kind of birthday celebration. We'll be spending some time in Prescott for Mother's Day and my dad's birthday, which is the day after mine, and then heading to LA to go to Disneyland and California Adventure! After that we are spending a couple days in San Diego where we'll hit up the beach, maybe go to a baseball game, and just relax. Should be a lot of fun :) It will be the best way to end the school year and kick off the summer!

Speaking of summer, I'm planning on doing a little weekly feature here on my blog for about 15 weeks through my summer vacation. It's going to be called "homemade summer"- every week I'm going to try to cook and blog about something that one would typically just buy already made at the store. A blog I read called Macheesmo does something like this that he calls the homemade trials, where he tries to deduce whether it's better to buy something premade versus making it yourself at home based on cost, time, taste, and nutrition. I'm not going to be trying to figure out if/convince you that making something at home is better, I'm just going to be doing it to a. see if I can, b. have fun, and c. appreciate the differences!

Here are a few things I'm thinking of trying to make: Ricotta, mozzarella, marshmallows, pickles, corned beef, butter, bagels, yogurt, chocolate, nutella, mustard, and many other things. If you have any ideas for things that are possible to make at home but that most people just buy at the store, let me know!

Alright, I'm off to work on a couple assignments before I go to work tonight. Have a nice weekend!

Good things are happening!

Clemenoodles cuddles ALWAYS boost my mood!

After a week or two of feeling pretty exhausted, stressed, unmotivated, and generally 'meh', some really great stuff happened these past few days which has really boosted my mood.

First, this:

"Thank you for submitting your petition to the General Petitions Committee.  Your petition has been read by the doctor at Campus Health who has seen all of the materials, has carefully weighed your specific circumstances, and has voted on your petition.
We are happy to inform you that your petition, requesting a complete retroactive withdrawal from Spring semester, 2012, has been approved."
 
Then I got a 98 % on a Roman literature test I was about 99% sure I got a C or B- on. Don't know how I pulled that one off but I'll take it.

Then I stopped by the fine arts graduation services offices and got my degree check to GRADUATE IN DECEMBER! Still a couple things I have to do for that but no problems popped up with the initial check so I should be good to go. Something felt so freaking satisfying about filling out a form with all my degree information and letting them know how to spell my full name to go on my diploma. gahh :)

And finally, I've lost 30 lbs in exactly 12 weeks and I'm feeling great about it! 10 more will put me about at what I was in high school, but I didn't really work out in high school so hopefully I will be much more toned at that weight now.

This quote has always seemed kind of dumb to me since everyone loses weight at different paces and there's no way of knowing what effect a certain amount of time and effort will have on your body...

 ...BUT, in the past week a couple people have asked me if I've lost weight or told me I look skinny which is really awesome to hear. I think anyone who has tried to lose weight knows how meaningful it is to have the hard work manifest itself on your body and to have other people take notice. Very rewarding.

So things are going really well right now, which is great because I was feeling really overworked and a bit down over the past couple weeks. I'm still a bit exhausted and stressed from work and school but knowing summer is just around the corner is a bit of a relief- and knowing that by the end of 2013 I'll have a degree and an even stronger, healthier body is enough to motivate me through the rest of the year!

Sorry for this rather braggy-bordering-on-gloaty blog post. I know sometimes it's looked down upon (especially in the land of the internet) to get really excited about yourself. But oh well, blogging and social media is narcissistic by nature :) and (because apparently I'm really feeling the inspirational quotes plastered all over the internet today):

 <3  

The Week in Photos/Instagram

I wish I was better at using Instagram. I've had it for a year and I've only posted 30 photos. I have hundreds of pictures on my camera, I just very rarely deem them worthy of the minute it takes to apply a filter, upload them, and share them with the world. I'm trying hard not to be one of those people whose Instagram is 90% pictures of their pet so there's that too. Maybe doing posts like this will help me get better at using it because it looks kind of silly to have normal camera photos next to instagram stylized photos.. or maybe I should just start carrying around my DSLR with me everywhere again :)

I'm also temporarily without Adobe Photoshop which I use to edit my photos so crappy camera pic quality in all its glory it is. Sorry!

I'm sure many of you have seen this on pinterest- lemon slices, salmon, butter, salt, pepper, wrapped in foil and baked. We had this for dinner last week and I added some fresh dill which made it even more amazing! Great simple meal.

I served the salmon with roasted asparagus and smashed rosemary red potatoes.

 Bored working the street fair... I tried to get a pic of all the closed up booths and empty street but it was too dark. Just the pizza heat lamps to light up the night!

I really wish I'd brought my DSLR to Roland and Annalise's wedding. There were so many gorgeous details! Burlap favor bags, the fantastic dinner, flowers everywhere, the gardens at sunset... and of course all the fun happening everywhere. This an a blurry, dark photo of the half empty dance floor are the only pictures I took the whole night. Oh well.

Me and Clemenoodles hanging out on thursday night watching Doctor Who. Such a great show! And I love how Clem cuddles up to me constantly. Such a mama's girl.

Except when she's in one of her crazy playful moods. Sometimes when she gets out of control I pick her up and put her on her back in my lap and tickle her belly. That's her favorite!

I was snapping the picture below and took one of me and Colton first. We went to Mother Hubbards for breakfast this morning and we work this afternoon at 4- Same old Sunday routine!

Here's the deal with this dress. I bought it at Goodwill about a year ago, even though it's a Small and I knew at the time it wouldn't fit me. I didn't even try it on. It was cute and 10 dollars and I was confident that eventually I would be able to wear it. Instead of hanging it up in my closet I hung it on the wall in my bedroom, as a bit of inspiration. A goal I was working towards. I didn't start really trying to lose weight until this past January, but I'm so proud with the progress I've made in the last 10 weeks! I decided to try this dress on last weekend for the wedding and it fit!! I put it on again today and it actually is a little loose around the waist. I'm so happy to be able to have this cute little number off the wall and finally into my clothing rotation!!

Hope you are having a nice holiday weekend! 

<3

Registered.

It's been a fairly busy week!

The retroactive medical withdrawal that I mentioned I had to work on in my hair mask post has finally been completed. It involved me working for five hours on Friday typing a statement, emailing professors and campus health, and filling out paperwork.. and then spending the last three mornings visiting each professors office, going to the health center, filling out MORE paperwork, and putting together a big 'ol stack of stuff... which I turned in to administration this morning. WOO! It's something that has been stressing me out and sitting at the back of my mind for a year and it feels good to have it totally DONE.

On top of that, the spring 4th ave street fair was this past weekend. Street fair is kinda fun because we close the inside of the restaurant off to customers and just serve slices in the front. I work counter so I get to be the one manning the register, serving customers, and dealing with lots and lots of hungry people. It's nice to hang out outside for a whole spring evening, and my work is sufficiently reduced since I don't have to deal with pickups or keeping the dining room clean... but it can get pretty crazy with all those sweaty tourists demanding pizza.

So that was Friday night and Sunday night. Sunday we closed around 7 for our biannual Brooklyn party that happens every street fair. Brooklyn parties are effing insane. I've gone and had fun in the past but I had no desire to drink my face off and watch my coworkers get crazy sloppy this year so I went home after I was done closing and ate dinner and watched battlestar galactica instead.

On Saturday, our friends Roland and Annalise got married at the lovely Tucson Botanical Gardens. I know Annalise from Mama Eddas (She worked there after I had left but I saw her all the time since I was always in there with Linn, Kris, and Nick) and Roland has been one of Colton's friends since high school. It was soooo gorgeous at the garden at dusk and their ceremony was simple, short, and sweet. The reception was immediately after and it was nice because you could explore the gardens while waiting for everything to be set up for dinner. It was a very, very fun night and I am very happy they invited me :)

MOST exciting thing that happened this week though, is that I got totally registered for my LAST classes as an undergraduate EVER.

The way the registration process works, it takes 2-3 weeks to register for each upcoming semester. Once the class catalog is online, you have to plan your schedule. Then you have to fill out a form (at least for my department) with the classes in your major and that has to be turned in by a certain date depending on your standing. Then about a week later you have your "enrollment appointment" when you can register for any other classes that don't require department consent. Hopefully by that point you know whether or not your department was able to register you for the classes you wanted and you can submit new forms if necessary.

This semester, everything went off without a hitch! It was the first time I haven't neglected filling out my form until too late (which results in having to turn it in with students of lower class standing/being lower on the registration totem pole) so that might be why. My classes next semester sound REALLY awesome too.

They are:

An upper division classics class on Greek and Roman influences on 1930s art
Film Styles and Genres, a 400 level film and television class which changes emphasis each semester. Last fall I took it when it was Westerns, next fall it is Crime Drama. 
Screen Artists, another 400 level FTV course with rotating emphasis. This spring I'm taking it on Stars of History and Today, next fall it will be on the Coen Brothers. Goodie!
My FTV Senior Seminar, which will be on Cult Cinema.

I've already had all the professors teaching these courses and they're all awesome so I'm excited.

I'm even more excited for the end of December this year, when I will be walking across the stage in a cap and gown and receiving a diploma! Finishing college. What an accomplishment that will be. I imagine it will feel something like this:

Aaah. That will be nice.

For now though, it's 5 1/2 more weeks of this semester, a crazybusy summer, and then one more round of syllabi, essays, and school-centric life. At least the end is in sight!

<3

Thursday Update: Spring Break

It has been SO NICE to have a little break from school the past few days. I've still been working a lot, but having nothing I have to do during the day is so relaxing. The weather dipped over the weekend but now it's wonderful and sunny and 85-90 degrees out! Awesome spring break weather.

Here's the week in photos:

continuing with using my new crockpot/searching for yummy, low cal recipes... this is a thai peanut coconut curry that works with chicken or veggies (or both in this case!) It was a success so maybe I'll blog about it later.

 

I gave Clementine a bath finally... it had been longer than I'd like to admit! After she was all clean and out of the tub (and running around going CRAZY like just-bathed dogs do) we noticed that her now soft, smooth hair had separated into a perfect part running down the length of her back. It was hard to get a good picture because she is so rambunctious but it looked absolutely ridiculous/hilarious. 

I attempted to make low-ish calories cookies! I kind of made up a recipe, reducing the flour/sugar/chocolate chips/eggs in the toll house recipe and then using greek yogurt in place of some of the butter...They turned out pretty good. Taste wise they're great but I wish the texture was a little more fudgey/dense and less cakey/airy. I guess I'll just have to do some more experimenting.

I posted this on instagram the other day. It has been so nice out (and our house can seem so small and dark) that lately we've been leaving the front door open while we do things around the house during the day. We have a very small fenced in yard around our house so it allows clem to be able to go outside and run around/frolic in the grass/mess with the dogs on the other side of the fence. A couple days ago I was doing my ab workout while Clem was outside and she decided she was done playing and ran in and hopped right onto my chest. She's such a little mama's girl. 

And this is a picture I took of myself yesterday wearing a skirt I bought at Ross last week... Say what you will, I think the high-low hem trend is super cute. I've been buying more clothes in the past few weeks that I have in the past few years combined... Finally having a job and working a decent amount of hours combined with not eating out and not spending any money on alcohol has been very good for my bank account. 

I also took this picture because as of yesterday I've lost 20.2 pounds and 20.5 total inches (added up from all over my body) since I started trying to lose weight on January 17th! I am very very very happy about this. It's kind of a halfway mark to where I want to be. also, 20 lbs is a huge hurdle. I think I should do/buy something extra special for myself as a reward but I'm not sure what that will be yet... But I'm looking forward to continuing to workout, tone my muscles, eat well, and reduce my body fat over the next few months.

In other news, this week:

My friends Nick and Amanda came to Tucson to visit/search for apartments! I was working most of the time they were here but I got to spend a couple hours with them and I am SOOO excited for them to move down here! They are definitely some of my best friends ever, I've known them since I worked at mama eddas in 2010. Nick actually hired me and was my boss haha.

I still have one serving left of the veggie soup I made and I think I'm going to make more this weekend. It is soooo good. I've been eating it with a salad literally every day for lunch, even though I have a ton of other food in the fridge.

I've been trying to figure out who I'm going to do my star study on for my screen artists class. I want to pick someone obscure enough to be interesting but no so obscure that they aren't really a star... I actually really wanted to talk about James Deen, who is a male porn star turned mainstream actor that recently starred in a Bret Easton Ellis film with Lindsay Lohan. I find him interesting because he has been called "the boy next door" of porn by mainstream journals/publications... in that he "looks like someone you would want to talk to at a coffee shop". He has a HUGE female fanbase though, dubbed "deenagers" (many of his fans are younger women) which is pretty much unheard of... He's kind of an anomaly and I think it would be so interesting to talk about his "star image". I'm worried it might be too taboo of a choice though. Ugh. I dont know. Suggestions on interesting stars?

Coming up:

This week I decide on/register for classes for my last semester of college!! Woohoo!!!

Back to school with a couple midterms and papers just around the corner. blegh. 

Not much else... this is going to be a pretty ho-hum week. No big plans, just school, work, working out, and sewing and blogging if I get the time :)

Hope you all have had/are having a wonderful week! Enjoy the weekend!

Love,
Em

Thursday Update: March is Here!

This will be a short update since I didn't blog much at all this week due to being out of town :)

This week:

This blog reached (and surpassed!) 25,000 views. That is pretty amazing! I can't believe people were still somehow finding and reading my blog while I was away... but I'm glad they were and still are! Hopefully that number will just continue to go up up up :)

I learned to ski! It was so fun, but exhausting! My legs are STILL sore.

I got my first concept exam for my Screen Artists class back- 90%! 10% deducted for not having a works cited page, but many of my classmates pointed out that it was not stated in the instructions so we can turn one in after spring break.

I kind of explored downtown Flagstaff for the first time, aside from an impromptu rainy day trip Stewie and I took there back in 2009. Apparently holiday lights all over downtown in march are a-ok there.I really enjoyed it though! We did the art walk (very similar to all other art walks) and ate at a cool local brewery.

I'm trying one of the many things on pinterest that may or may not be a complete waste of time (I have a massive love hate relationship with pinterest that recently has been mostly hate). I've been swishing with 50/50 mixture of mouthwash and hydrogen peroxide to see if it helps whiten my teeth. Hydrogen peroxide is supposedly the main ingredient in whitening strips? I read it on the internet so it must be true.

Photos:

Taking a break from skiing for lunch... Green Chili Chicken Soup and a Magic Hat Number 9 pale ale. yeah...I didn't take any pictures of the actual skiing. Just food.

While driving to Tucson from Prescott I passed this truck/bus/contraption and had to snap a picture... I'm not sure what exactly they do, but they're rather confident about it.

Coming up:

Spring break starts today! Hopefully that means some much needed time to focus on sewing/etsy stuff and also plenty of time to cook.

It's getting warmer and warmer in Tucson... it's supposed to dip a little this weekend but maybe sometime later this week we can head out to Tanque Verde Falls, Sabino Canyon, or one of the other Tucson swimming spots. Like the University Heights pool.

With any luck this week I'll hit my first weightloss goal... a 20 lb loss! What an incredible and rewarding feeling that would be.

Happy Weekend!

Love,
Em

Thursday Update

Thursdays are my last day of school during the week and my last day off before I go back to work (I work Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays) so it's a good day to recap what's been going on and talk about what's in store for the weekend and the next school week. This week I'm going to talk about all of February since it's the first update! I'm going to try to post a short little update like this every Thursday just to keep you filled in regarding my day to day life :)

This past (few) week(s) in photos/instagram:

Celebrating 211 much more quietly than in past years... getting a hot drink at Skybar after work. 

I got really into hot toddies in these chilly winter months! Whiskey, honey, lemon juice, hot water, garnished with cinnamon sticks, lemon slices, and cloves.

Valentines day was nice and quiet since my boyfriend Colton and I were taking a trip the following weekend that was kind of a christmas/valentines gift hybrid. I went shopping on my break between classes and bought a couple cute dresses and that night we made a nice Italian dinner at home. We did get each other a few small gifts but nothing crazy.

Spearmint gum (my favy) leek and morel mushroom jack cheese (yesss), some potted flowers, and coconut water. Perfect Vday gifts for this girl.

 That weekend Colton and I went to see one of our FAVORITE comedians, Louis C.K! We drove up to phoenix for the show, stayed in a nice hotel in tempe, went to an only so-so restaurant for dinner, and went to the late show which they were filming for HBO! it was sooooo fun and I'd pay 45$ a ticket to see him again any day. 

Hotel mirror pic! Right before leaving for dinner.

A week ago last Wednesday it snowed in Tucson! I've live in Tucson since Fall of 2010 and I've never seen snow here, other than way up on Mt Lemmon. It was really awesome... big, fluffy flakes were falling all day and night long and the next morning there was a wee bit that actually stuck. Of course it was gone by noon. Still cool to see though!

And of course Clem had her birthday on Sunday but I showed you that pic.

Here's what else has been going on this week:

I turned in my first test for my Screen Artists class, and received my grade for my first Roman Literature test. 96%! Not bad considering I was almost certain I would sound very stupid next to all the Classics majors in the class... I've never taken a Rome-focused classics class and it's actually been about a year since I took a classics class at all. 

I've lost 16.6 lbs total since I started actively trying to lose weight on January 17th. Woo!

I finally made a tumblr but I have no idea how to use it so someone should inform me...

I got my first paycheck since upping my hours at work back to 3 shifts a week. That's what I started with a year and a half ago but after Linn died I went down to 2 shifts and then to one measly 7 hr shift a week. It felt soooo good to have a paycheck over 120$ again! I'm looking forward to hitting up Joanns for some nice fabric and filling out my Etsy store.

Here's what's coming up:

Tonight I'm driving Clem and myself up to Prescott. Tomorrow my Dad and I will be going up to Flagstaff for a little ski vacation. I haven't skied since I was about 7 or so and I remember a lot of falling so... should be interesting. but fun!

Next week is the last school week before spring break! yay!

I have a TON of my own recipes saved on my computer, all with serving sizes and calorie breakdowns. This week I'd like to remake a couple of them and take pictures so I can share them on this blog! Looking forward to another week of healthy eating. 

 That's all for now! Have a great week/month and see you again in a few days!

New Things, Old Things

I've decided, after nearly a one year hiatus, to try to start blogging again. It's been something I've wanted to do for a very, very long time, but due to life circumstances have not had enough time, motivation, or mental stamina. The past year and a half of my life has been very strenuous and difficult (I might go into it more in future posts but for now all I can say is it was very taxing), but now I finally feel I have reached a point where I am able to once again devote time and healthy, positive energy towards this blog.

Many things have changed over the past year, and I feel I've really grown as a person and learned many things about myself, both pleasant and unpleasant. The past few months, in particular, have been like emerging from a dark cave I hadn't realized I had been trapped in. I feel a fresh, invigorating new appreciation for life and an ability to once again see things clearly! It's been amazing.

Lots of exciting things are happening right now, too, which I feel are really propelling me towards a positive future. In order to reflect all the many things that have happened and are happening, I decided that a new blog design was crucial to my renewed desire to blog. My old blog design, which I lovingly designed and took many hours to perfect, was made when I was 19 and still (relatively) fresh faced and oblivious to the trials and tribulations of life. It was lovely, but also rather gaudy. I feel like this new, muted grey and floral look is a much more accurate representation of myself at this stage in my life.. and I think it's much easier on the eyes! I hope you agree.

While my interests and thus the content of this blog will for the most part stay the same (cooking, fashion, film and television, health and fitness), there will be some new things dominating my time and thus likely playing a part in this blog! For instance:

Over the past year, I have become very interested in sewing. I even have my own craft room at my current house! A couple weeks ago I opened up my own Etsy shop, which specializes in fabric housewares, accessories, apparel, and upcycled vintage clothing. There is a new link for my shop at the top right of my blog and I hope you will visit it as I begin to add more items! On this blog, you can expect to see some DIYs, patterns, and updates on my crafting and shop.

As always, I am very interested in nutrition, healthy eating, fitness, and weight loss. I gained a fair amount of weight over the past year as a result of depression and alcohol abuse and while I am very pleased to no longer have issues with either of these terrible ailments, the weight has stuck around as a bitter reminder. Through menial exercise and daily calorie counting I have already managed to lose 15 pounds in about a month and a half, but I still have quite a few pounds to go. Expect to see low-calorie, delicious recipes and perhaps my thoughts and experiences with various workout regimens that I experiment with as I whittle my way back down to my ideal size. For recipes that already exist on my site click here, and for my current weights workout routine which I supplement with various forms of cardio, click here.

I am going to be graduating with my BA in Film and Televison (formerly known as Media Arts) this December, meaning I am a quarter way through my senior year at the moment. As I near this exciting turning point in my academic career, you may see many things relating to my current school work and film studies on this blog.

And finally... this isn't much of a change and it won't really influence this blog, but my darling Clementine turned TWO today! What a big girl! Here she is the day after I got her, at 5 months:

On her 1st birthday, last year:

And now at 2 years old!:

Hm. Looks like she's gotten scruffier and her dresses have gotten fancier. Don't worry, I'm not one of those people that always has their dog dressed up. Just on her birthday!

Well, I hope to be able to write in here at least a couple days at week. I'm busy with school and work (at Brooklyn, still!), but I am very eager to get back on this train and continue doing and writing about the things I love.

Thank you for being here after all this time!


Love, Em

A visit from my mother: aka, all my problems are fixed!

 Last weekend, my wonderful mom visited me down here in Tucson. My dad came as well, but for the most part he was at my grandpa's house doing some work. So, it was pretty much a mom-daughter girly weekend. I thought we'd pretty much just hang out and maybe visit a few of Tucson's modest attractions, but we ended up getting a lot done!

A little back-story. My car, a 1997 Subaru outback, is great. However, over the past few months little things have been breaking or falling apart. Nothing serious, just aesthetic things. For example, my radio stopped working. Then my cigarette lighter (which is essential for my handy-dandy two-in-one phone and ipod charger) completely fell out. There were also a few things wrong with my apartment... I tripped a breaker (faulty outlet) and lost power to half my apartment. I still had my fridge, my stove, my internet, and my dining room light, so I put off calling maintenance and just waited for my dad (an electrical contractor) to get there. Also, as much as I love my little pup clementine, she wasn't exactly house-trained when I first got her. My apartment has carpeted floors and even though I tried to stay on top of taking her out frequently (and cleaning up the messes when I didn't), there were more than a few stains after 7 months. Enough to keep me from inviting anyone to my apartment. Finally, stewart moved out last month to get his own place, and took half the furniture with him. This left me with an empty living room, since the futon was his. My poor mother had to sleep on an air mattress on the floor.

But all that changed this weekend!

My mom borrowed one of those steam carpet cleaner things that looks like a vacuum from my aunt and uncle. At first I was seriously skeptic, and told her we could definitely try it but I seriously doubted it would make much of a difference. At this point I had pretty much given up on ever getting my security deposit back. After running a few other errands on the first day, I took an hour long nap and she decided to try out the cleaner. When I woke up and walked out into the living room, all I could say was "oh my goodness. oh my goodness!" over and over again. I was shocked! The carpet literally looked brand new. If you have ever been to my apartment before, you know how crazy that is.

We also went out to a little car accessory shop, where my mom bought me a new radio for my car- one with an auxiliary output, which my last radio didn't even have. AND, the guy fixed my broken cigarette lighter for free when he installed the radio. This combined with the ipod dock/charger that stewart gave me for christmas turned my previously mute car into mobile musical awesomeness.

Finally, while my mom was finishing up the carpet, she had me look on craigslist for futons. I found an awesome cherry wood one with a super comfy mattress for only 200$. The next day my parents and I drove out to buy it, packed it into my subaru, and then brought it home and set it up in my living room. I have a real living room now, people. Not just a barren puppy pee-stained room with a bookshelf.

Ta-da!

 The futon has a bed sheet over it right now, but the mattress is actually a lovely cream color with decorative cinches. I just moved the furniture around today, so some of the pictures aren't in the right places. I'll probably get to that tomorrow.

I took a picture of my typewriter, just cause I love it so much.

Anyways, it was definitely a super productive weekend. It was also a lot of fun, too!

My mom and I went to the Tucson Art Museum, where there was an exhibit of photographs of Frida Kahlo taken by one of her lovers. There was also an awesome exhibit of artwork featuring text/words called "con(text)". some really cool, inspiring stuff. We also tried the museum's restaurant, which I had been dying to go to for MONTHS. Stew and I tried to go once, but downtown Tucson can be confusing and hectic if you aren't sure where you're going, and since we didn't see it (or the museum) right away when led by my phone's gps, we decided to just get out of there and go somewhere else. This time, however, we did find it, and it was awesome. It's called Cafe a la C'Art- so cute, right? They have lovely outdoor seating with mosaic benches and pillows running around the perimeter, and lots of delicious sounding salads and sandwiches.

 This was a sandwich with baby spinach, havarti cheese, tomatoes, bacon, turkey, and apple slices on a ciabatta roll. It came with a small side salad and a thin asiago cheese and sesame seed cracker. sooo good. I will definitely be going back.

One other exciting thing happened last weekend, and that was Clementine's birthday! Clemmy turned one on Friday, February 24th. To celebrate I bought her a little "happy birthday" shirt...

a little green squeaky bear (although her mouth isn't big enough to make it squeak so she just chews on the arms and legs)

And of course a special birthday dinner. I also let her come to the pet store with me and sniff around at all the yummy goodies.

All in all, it was a lovely weekend and I definitely feel much more comfortable in my car and in my apartment.

I hope you all had a nice weekend as well, and a happy leap day! the world is back on schedule now.

Love,
Em

Summer 2011

It's October, which means several things. 1, it's my favorite month! 2, I'm going to spend the whole month cursing the tucson heat and wishing I was having awesome Fall-filled October like the rest of the world, 3, it's definitely the end of summer and a summer post is way overdue.

Summer 2011 was insane. It was filled with so many amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences, lots of changes, lots of really difficult times, and lots of really wonderful happiness and love filled times. I swear, every year my summers just get better and better. Now let me rummage through my photos file and facebook to find evidence of all this awesomeness :)

This is how I spent the beginnind of my summer. And a large of my time at home in general, at least before I got my new puppy that makes my older, sweet, perfect puppy feel like she shouldn't spend as much time with me. Internet, puppy cuddles, comfy bed in my nice familiar bedroom :)

My best friends in Prescott are the people I worked with last summer at Mama Edda's. And now 3 or them all live together, so I get to hang out with them all in one spot all the time :) every time i'm in prescott at least. This is from one of the first times this summer I went over to their place. I wasn't planning on staying the night, but then I did. It's kind of a long story with the blanket but basically while I was in Tucson all my prescott friends had a Lord of the Rings night where they all dressed up like LOTR characters. This blanket (and by blanket i mean awesome cape) was a part of one of the costumes. I was cold/jealous/probably a little bit tipsy so we decided I should get to wear it and take pictures and be part of the LOTR group. It was a fun night.

On that same night we played with this plastic dinosaur, sticking it ambiguously into as many pictures as possible. There are probably at least 20 pictures, but I chose this one cause it shows me and one of my besties Natalie :)

 On this day, I woke up at like 11, and decided I was going to work hard all day on getting the youth retreat catering stuff done. at 11:15 I got a call from linn, the boy on the far right, asking me what I was doing. Still in my pjs and having just brushed my teeth, I lied and said I was working on my catering job. He asked if I could get away from that for a few hours and come to frog falls (a swimming hole about 20 minutes away from downtown prescott) I thought about it for a few seconds and ultimately decided that having fun and making memorable experiences would be more important in the long run than spending the whole day working. 2 hours later here I was, drinking blue moon and hanging out with lovely, wonderful friends at a super awesome swimming hole.

 And then there was greece. These are not in order, and they are not my photos. This is at Mystras, an old monastery near Sparta.

I think this is at Pleuron, Greece. With my closest girlfriends of the trip (from the left) Laurent, Jessica, and Jill.

 Jessica and I thought it would be such a fun idea to pick up the ridiculously copious amount of flower petals on the ground outside of the Benaki museum in Athens and throw them in the air. It's pretty obvious in this picture that the girls totally know what's going on and the guys are lost as to what the point of all this is.

 We had to do both a site report and a reading as assignments on our trip. This is me giving my site report on the Charioteer at Delphi, Greece. I am so knowledgeable on this statue it's not even funny.

 One day in Santorini, we climbed down the 587 steps to the dock (i also climbed up them because I was too broke to pay for a donkey or the airlift, but theres no reason you should see a photo of that. 587 steps in 100 degree heat? you try that shit.), loaded up on a boat, and went to the volcano island santorini is next to, and the to the hot springs that are heated by the warmth of the volcano. While treading water furiously and waiting to climb up the single ladder to get back on the boat, we decided to get a picture. the group of people in the back is us, and I'm the sixth from the right.

 One of the most awesome things we did on my greece trip was perform a live reading of The Bacchae at a winery in Santorini. If you haven't read The Bacchae, well you should. Read all the greek plays that remain, in fact. They are all awesome. This is a picture of me reading one of my lines.

 Going back in time. This is at Olympia, in front of one of the many olympic temples. Olympia is small, by the way. just a couple blocks and some ancient ruins. Isn't that weird?

 Santorini again, right after having lunch at a super duper fancy restaurant with an awesome view.

 Back in time even more. Right after arriving in Santorini. We rode a very rocky ferry which made many of the people immediately next to us vomit. It was, um, not incredibly enjoyable. I mostly spent the time with my eyes closed and my ipod on, trying to pretend the rest of the cabin wasn't seasick and disgusting.

 Further back in time. This is in athens, in front of the legendary olive tree that Athena gave to the city of athens in the competition for who the city would be named after.

 Back on the boat in santorini, immediately before jumping into the hot springs water.

 on the almost last day of the trip, feeling very pensive and sad while waiting for the National Museum to open.

 Just a few minutes before I got in the taxi to take me back to the athens airport. So many wonderful friends made, so many wonderful experiences had, so much deep sadness and flittering excitement at this moment.

I flew from Athens, Greece straight to San Francisco California, and then drove to Mendocino, California. The next day, I started work as the head chef for the Mendocino youth retreat which was so much fun, so much work, so exhausting, and one of the best experiences I've ever had. I loved cooking for 30 wonderful individuals and I loved letting my recipes become worthwhile and enjoyed by so many people.

 Roadtrip back to Prescott with Stewie :)

 I got my perfect, wonderful, adorable pup this summer! Clementine has started to show so much personality and spunk, especially with her wiley age of 7 months. Right now she LOVES chewing on anything she can (she's teething), goes nuts when stewie or i come home, and has gained so much confidence from her socialization- she will approach people, lick people's hands, and explore when i let her off her leash. I have to chase after her to get her to come back sometimes :) when I first got her she would only stay by my heels and hide behind my legs :)

 So, I haven't fully disclosed this on this blog. But stewart and I broke up. No worries though! We are still the very best and closest of friends, we are still roommates, and we still have so, so much fun with each other. Not too long after we broke up though I started dating this boy, Linn. He's very sweet and fun and I met him when I started working at mama edda's last summer :)

 One of the parties we had in the second half of summer was a fancy schmancy party for our friend amanda's birthday!

 Then we had another formal wear party after my friend Natalie got back from Italy. I got there at 8pm and everyone was already wasted and passed out... so me and the 3 people that weren't done for already spent the rest of the night hanging out and taking pictures :) see below.

 above two: me and my girly lauren at said party :)

 We went on a picnic at goldwater lake! I made everyone sandwiches and I even wrote their names on all the bags. Cause yeah, i'm adorable. it was so much fun. We drank a few beers, played with puppy, and had fun on the playground :)

 More picnic :)

 This summer ended, as last year's did, with the VW festival. Stewie couldn't go this year due to his cousin's wedding, but I went with linn and there were lots of other people there that we knew. It was a really great time, and I'm already counting down the days 'til next year :)

It was a great summer, 2011. Thanks for all the craziness, all the good times, all the fun, all the sadness and hurt that let me learn so many lessons. I can only hope that the rest of the year will be as awesome as this summer was :)

hope your summer was just as awesome, and hope this coming fall is even better!

Love,
Em