highs and a low

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Kel

I was all set to publish a Happy Things entry and then I got some truly upsetting news.

Early Thursday morning I was woken up by a phone call from my aunt letting me know that my grandma (on my mom’s side) passed away just a few hours before. I guess it’s because I was still half asleep but I lay in bed in a total daze. I was stunned. It wasn’t until I woke Rob up to tell him that it really hit me. It’s like it wasn’t real until I shared the news.

My grandma lived with my parents and me growing up and she practically raised me. She introduced me to the Lakers (I know, can you believe it — that wasn’t Rob’s influence), soap operas (the ABC soaps were our favorites – One Life to Live, General Hospital), and books — all still some of my very favorite things. I’m not very good with words and it’s even harder for me now to express how much she means to me. I will miss her very, very much.

I’d still like to share my original Happy Things post — I write so infrequently nowadays that I can’t let it go to waste…

1. Dinner with Friends. Last Saturday night, we had a few friends over to watch the Lakers/Clippers game — Rob made gumbo, I made rice krispies treats, and our friends’ brought over alcohol and 50 McDonald’s chicken mcnuggets for appetizers. There were only 5 of us and we managed to eat ALL of the nuggets before dinner. LOL. For the record, I only had 2. Possibly 3.

2. The aforementioned rice krispies treats. Even this non-cook can’t mess them up. Nommy.

3. Belated Christmas celebration with BFFs. Lunch, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and the Golden Globes. Super low key and easy. And I can’t forget the presents! I am so spoiled…

4. Going to a basketball game at the Staples Center for the first time. Thank goodness for job perks because we had AMAZING lower level seats. Too bad it was a Clippers game, LOL (hopefully someday I’ll get to see the Lakers!). It ended up being a pretty boring game (they were playing the Dallas Mavericks and both teams seemed a little low energy) but it was a lot of fun to watch a game live.

5. My blog turned 10! TEN!!! I’ve been blogging at this domain since 2002. WOW. Happy Blog-iversary to me.

Hope all of you are well! *HUGS*

november’s happy things

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Kel

I meant to post this entry before vacation but ran out of time. Better late than never…

Aside from Thanksgiving, November brought some fun Happy Things my way (of the material variety).

1. Our Christmas tree!

2. The Kindle Fire Rob gave me for my birthday arrived and I love it. I think it’s great for the price point and particularly if you’re only interested in consuming media. I brought it along on our trip and so far I’ve used it to play games, read books, and watch TV (The Wonder Years is available on Amazon streaming!). The only downside is that because it’s backlit, my eyes definitely get tired after reading for long periods of time. So the Fire isn’t going to replace my original Kindle, which features a much easier on the eyes e-ink display.

3. We’ve lived in our house for over a year now but still have yet to finish furnishing our master bedroom. I’ve been looking for a vanity table to store my girly stuff and I finally found one! Now we just want to get a ceiling fan and floor-length mirror in there and we’ll be all set.

4. About a week prior to our trip, we received Mickey mail (aka our Disney vacation confirmation). I’m pretty sure my excitement skyrocketed. And I had good reason — so far, it’s been an AH-MAY-ZING trip.

5. I actually planned ahead and ordered and received our Holiday cards. Woo hoo! If you’d like one, let me know in the comments and I’ll send you an email!

Now it’s December, Rob & I have had a fantastic first week of vacation and we’re looking forward to the second. I can’t wait to share highlights and pics of our trip when we get back.

end of summer’s happy things

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Kel

I can hardly believe we’re heading into Fall. I enjoy summer and warm weather but I love the back half of the year so much more. Bring it on!

So yes, this means it’s time for an end of summer Happy Things post…

1. Going to Knott’s Berry Farm last Saturday to celebrate a good friend’s birthday. I haven’t been there since high school so it was definitely an eye-opener to see what’s still around (Montezooma’s Revenge!) and what’s new (uhhh… pretty much everything else). Sadly, I felt every bit my age by the end of the day. LOL.

2. 4-day Labor Day weekend! AWESOME.

3. TV marathons. So far this summer, I’ve watched the first 2 seasons of True Blood and started season 3. AND I recently discovered that Mad Men is available to stream instantly on Netflix so that’s probably the next show I’ll try to catch up on.

4. The local dollar movie theatre. Well ok, it’s really a $2 theatre. I’ve missed quite a few summer blockbusters (Super 8, Bridesmaids, etc) so I’m looking forward to catching them here.

5. Last weekend Rob was in Las Vegas for a boys’ weekend and he came home with MACARONS for me. Probably one of my most favorite treats EVER. IAMSOSPOILED. Obligatory pic because they’re so YUM.

Bonus happy thing!

6. Watching old episodes of So You Think You Can Dance. Specifically seasons 2 and 3. I still love the show but I mourn the earlier seasons when there was more variety — in terms of dancers, genres, and choreography. The show has become WAY too contemporary-focused in recent years.

Annnndddd that’s all folks. Have a FAB weekend.

happy things, (almost) july edition

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Kel

Rob’s out of town this weekend so I decided to take advantage and start watching True Blood. I saw the first couple of episodes at a friend’s place back when the series first started but I didn’t have HBO at the time so I never bothered to finish the season. It didn’t help that I wasn’t particularly enamored with the episodes I did see. I’ve since heard that the show definitely picks up after that point. And now that I’ve read the first 6 books of the Sookie Stackhouse series (which I enjoy), I thought I’d give it another chance. Hopefully I’ll like it much better this time around.

So it’s about that time for another Happy Things entry — this time it’s the (almost) July edition!

1. House-iversary! Rob and I have been living in our house for the past year. CRAZY. It really doesn’t seem that long. Particularly since we’re not even done furnishing or organizing the boxes in our garage. Not to mention that…

2. We JUST now (mostly) finished the work in our (tiny) yard. Yes, after a year! We had sod and pavers installed last September but since then, we’ve let weeds grow in the surrounding soil. Oops. Finally, two weeks ago, with my dad’s help, we got rid of the weeds, prepared the soil, and added plants. YAY.

3. The upcoming Fourth of July holiday. One of my favorites. Love how laid back it is. Not sure what our plans are for the long weekend but it’ll probably involve some work around the house. Maybe Rob will fire up the grill. And we can catch up on summer movies (still want to see Bridesmaids, X-Men: First Class, and Super 8).

4. Speaking of movies… HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2. !!! I can’t believe it’s almost over. *sob* I’ve already convinced Rob we NEED to see it opening weekend.

5. Two weddings and a baby shower. I’m going to be an aunt! My cousin’s wife is pregnant — since I have no siblings, I’m claiming their (future) daughter as my niece.

Bonus happy thing!

6. Comic-Con. We’re going the full 4 days again. I CAN’T WAIT. This time we’ll have other friends with us — it’s going to be great.

Random. I’ve had Bruno Mars’s “The Lazy Song” on repeat. This is like my summer anthem…

Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just want to lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
Cause today I swear I’m not doing anything

happy things, spring edition

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Kel

It’s about time for a Happy Things entry! Spring Edition this time.

1. An unexpected Friday off… giving me an awesome 3-day Easter weekend. To make it PC, my company officially called it a special “Spring Friday.” So awesome!

2. Making chocolate chip cookies for a friend’s barbecue. Rob & I have most of the ingredients on-hand so we make these whenever there’s an opportunity. No pictures because we ate them all. Hee.

3. Darren Criss. He plays Blaine on Glee. I completely realize that sometimes he is absolutely shoe-horned into episodes but I adore him so I just don’t care. (Hey, at least I admit it!). Anyway, he’s been doing talk show appearances recently (probably to promote the new Warblers album) and I’ve really enjoyed catching his performances and interviews. He’s not so great live… but whatevs.

4. Spring flowers, especially ranunculus and daffodils.

5. Food trucks at our local Farmers’ Market. It’s actually less of a Farmers’ Market and more of a mini-food truck meet-up. That’s ok with us, though. We pick up our fruit then grab lunch before heading home. This past weekend we indulged in various tacos and chimichurri fries. YUM.

Now, if only the weather around here would fully commit to Spring, then I’d definitely be a happy camper.

Hope everyone is doing well!

happy things, valentine’s edition

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Kel

February is halfway over and this is my first entry of the month. !!! Terrible.

I did get sick for about a week so… yeah. That helps justify my lack of blogging.

Anyway. HAPPY (Belated) VALENTINE’S DAY!!! It’s time for another Happy Things… Valentine’s edition.

1. Mini carnations. I bought them for myself on Valentine’s Day. Carnations get a bad rap but I love them.

2. Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. Thanks Carms for bringing them over! They were YUM!

3. Rob and I took one last trip to Disneyland before our annual passes expire. We normally “gift” them to each other for Valentine’s Day but we’re considering an international trip this year so we figured we should save the money…

He totally beat me on Toy Story Mania but I got him back on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, hehe.

We also finally saw the new water show World of Color, which was both amazing (loved the music) and disappointing (standing room only so hard to see everything going on even from the preferred viewing area).

4. We had such a great Disney day that we’ve decided to renew our annual passes anyway. SUCKERS.

5. We got new top soil in the yard and Diesel ran straight over and started rubbing his face in it. ARGH. He got SO dirty. But he’s still so cute!

And that’s it! How was YOUR Valentine’s Day?

december’s happy things

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Kel

It’s been a really tough past few weeks at work and I haven’t felt much like blogging. It’s the kind of tough where I’ve been waking up in the morning absolutely dreading the day. But things are calming down now (dare I say it’s even slow?) and I’m eagerly counting down the days until our holiday break… I need it!

But that’s enough of that. This is a no-work zone. I want to think about my current 5 Happy Things!

1. Putting up our Christmas tree.

Rob and I always put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. What can I say? We’re (ok, *I’M*) always super excited to usher Christmas into our home.

2. Girls’ Weekend in Palm Springs with the BFFs.

We stayed overnight at the Ace Hotel and despite the unusually cool weather for this time of year, it was an awesome getaway filled with lots of food, girl time and even a viewing of Eclipse. Perfect.

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.

OMG. The movie was amazing. Probably one of my favorites of the 7 so far. I’d love to watch it again. I’ll get to a review soon.

4. Next week’s 3-day trip to San Francisco. Yes, it’s for work so I have work obligations but I’m looking forward to seeing friends and just being in the city again. I miss the hustle and bustle!

5. My domain! The server hosting my site failed earlier this week so it was down for a couple of days. And I missed it! OF COURSE I wouldn’t be able to access my site at the exact time I’m itching to blog. But now it’s back. YAY.

Do you have any happy things to share? Diesel wants to know.

work in progress

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Kel

I’m sitting at home watching COLLEGE FOOTBALL. WHAT. Seriously, HOW is it almost Fall? The summer went by in a flash.

It’s also been 2 months since we moved to our new house and it’s STILL very much a work in progress. We have yet to paint the 3 bathrooms (we got super burned out after painting the main living areas, kitchen, master bedroom, and office so we decided to take a break). Boxes of “stuff” in the garage need to be opened, organized, donated, etc. And we have to figure out what we’re going to do about the windows on the first floor (curtains… I think?).

BUT. We’ve made progress on other things this week so it’s been a good one. Which means… 5 Happy Things!

1. We finally received our dining table. LOVE IT. It’ll be SO nice not to eat on the coffee table anymore. The bad thing is that we only have 2 chairs so far. LOL. We’re waiting for the bench to get shipped.

2. The area rug we ordered 2 months ago is finally off back order and is getting ready to ship. YAY. Our living area has felt incomplete because there’s just random pieces of furniture everywhere. It really needs an area rug to bring it all together. Can’t wait.

3. We ordered gorgeous white plantation shutters for almost all the windows on the second floor and they’re finally going to be installed tomorrow. ECSTATIC.

4. We’ve been procrastinating on getting our yard landscaped because we were lazy, didn’t want to incur the cost, fill in other excuses here. Finally, Rob hired someone today and they’re starting work tomorrow. YAY.

5. 3-day weekend here I come!

You know you’re getting old when furnishing and decorating your house makes you positively giddy. Pictures… someday.

this week’s happy things

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Kel

This weekend we finally finished moving out of our apartment. YAY! It’s so nice not to be shuttling back and forth. Too bad tons of our stuff is still in boxes, we have butcher paper covering some of our windows (LOL), and we don’t have a dining table yet (we’ve been eating standing up on our kitchen island or on moving boxes in front of the TV — CLASSY!). Rob also strained his achilles last week (probably from moving — we’re not entirely sure) so painting and planning the landscaping for our yard is behind schedule. Seriously, it’s only been 2 weeks and already home ownership is tiring.

Haven’t done a 5 Happy Things in awhile so it’s about time…

1. Getting asked to be a Matron of Honor in my best friend’s wedding.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEE. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of what is sure to be an amazing wedding!

2. Going to Comic-Con next week.
Rob and I have FOUR DAY passes. AWESOME. Programming was just released so I’m currently scouring through everything to figure out what I want to try and see (hopefully White Collar and The Vampire Diaries). After the craziness of moving, I’m really looking forward to some time away.

3. The Kindle price drop.
I’ve been wavering back and forth (and back and forth) about getting a Kindle. I never thought I’d want one — I love the feel of books. But lately I’ve been reading much more and now with the price drop, it is VERY tempting. Maybe I’ll treat myself for my birthday. Or get one of the refurbished ones. Only $110!

4. The release of the new Harry Potters and the Deathly Hallows trailer.

CHILLS. Seriously.

5. Craig’s list.
Last week I posted our old coffee table in the free section and after just a few hours, I received 80+ email inquiries. Gotta love it.

BONUS!
6. White Collar and Psych premiere this week!
Summer TV is awesome.

I swear I will finish the TV meme. Someday.

happy things again

Posted on April 20, 2010 by Kel

This week’s 5 Happy Things include…

1. Raiding a friend’s bookcase
I love to read but buying books adds up. What can I say? I’m cheap. And these days it takes me forever to finish a regular length book. So having friends who have their own personal libraries is awesome. I don’t need to worry about overdue library fees. Hee.

2. Saturday trip to Disneyland with my cousin and a celebrity sighting!
My cousin came to visit a few weekends ago so we could go to Disneyland (yes, again ). We used to go every summer together when we were growing up so it brought back lots of silly memories. Good times.

And we saw Jason Lee! For a split second. No picture though. We were in line for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters when we noticed a group of 6 boarding the ride with empty cars in front and behind them. I thought that was odd. Then I noticed they had their own Disney cast member with them (you can tell because they wear a plaid outfit) so I knew right away there was a celebrity in the group. Then I spotted him! So cool. Celebrities. They’re just like us. They go to Disneyland too!

3. Instant streaming on Netflix
I can be a little impatient (fine, A LOT) so being able to watch movies or TV shows instantly is the BEST. This is how Rob and I caught up with Numb3rs and Leverage. Once the current TV season is over, we also plan to marathon Dexter. And possibly The Tudors too. Ok, that last one’s just for me because I love JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS.

4. Lemon scents
I love love LOVE (almost) anything lemon scented and lemon flavored (mmm, lemon skittles and starbursts). So I get excited when summertime rolls around and lemon scents find their way back into stores. The Body Shop has their new Sweet Lemon collection and Bath and Body Works recently released Lemon Vanilla. Mmmm. I have to check these out.

5. Getting our tax refund
YAYAYAY. It’s going straight to our savings to use when we have to buy a refrigerator, washer/dryer, and all that other good stuff for the house.

Now I just have to get through Wednesday and then I’m off for 5 days! WOOT.