Shopping for Hawaii with Funny Face

[Clockwise from top left: Hepcat Shades; Too Much Fun Dress in Island; Sanuk Yoga Mat Flip-Flops; Nike Flex 2012 Run; Herschel Supply Company Backpack; A Whale-y Good Time Top]

With the New Year, I put myself on a mandated no-shopping-until-our-vacation regimen (which admittedly I wasn't so stringent about today but I swear I was doing really well for 8 weeks,) so in anticipation for our trip in March (Oahu! The Big Island! Poke!) I'm already surfing around my second homes on the Internet (Modcloth. J. Crew. Madewell.) for colorful gear to bring with me.

Meanwhile, I've been loving all of the musicals and Audrey Hepburn movies on Netflix. I used to love, LOVE Audrey Hepburn as a kid (and still do.) Funny Face used to be a favorite rental for me, so when I saw it on streaming I jumped for joy. It's still so stylish and gleeful after all these years, and the opening credits by Richard Avedon (see below) is really well done.

Haven't seen Funny Face? What are you waiting for?! It's beautiful to watch.

Looking Back on 2012

[First row, from left to right: DIY business card I made for my first professional conference. DIY red envelopes I made for my nephews and nieces. Love Park in Philadelphia, taken during my trip there last March. Second row, from left to right: Hello Kitty cup at Yogurtland during the summer Sanrio promotion. Me at my new job, comparing my scarf to a 1950s design book I reviewed. My sister and I after successfully completing the Safari Park Half Marathon.

[First row, from left to right: Me and Levitated Mass at LACMA during the summer. My cousin and two sisters after completing a relay at the California International Marathon in December.  The Color Run in August. Second row, from left to right: It's a Small World at Disneyland, all lit up during the holidays. A latte at Coffee Tomo in Los Angeles. The boy and I at his department holiday party.]

2012 marked a transformative period for me. I graduated (**wooohooooo!!!**,) switched jobs and careers, ran the most I have ever ran in my life in three races (a half marathon, a 5k, and 6 miles of a relay marathon,) started to dress like a grown up (pencil skirts at J. Crew Factory are awesome, who knew?,) and healed after a particularly hard 2011. 2012 personally rocked with good memories.

2013 promises to be filled with excitement, as I get to be part of some rewarding and monumental projects and spend more time getting healthier and spending time with the boy. On the horizon...

+ A trip to the Big Island and Oahu. This will be the first long vacation the boy and I are taking since our honeymoon back in 2010. We have our flights booked and lodging on the Big Island taken care of, now we just need to choose a hotel (or rental) in Oahu. Any suggestions for places to go, things to do, and people to see are welcome and appreciated!

+ I'm going to keep running! I signed up for the Safari Park Half Marathon again, and I've snagged some more runners to do it with me, including the boy, our friend, my other sister and cousin (I think? Those two need to sign up still!) and my wonderful mentor. We have a whole team of people, it's going to be so much fun!

+On a more general note, I'm trying hard not to spend so much money. I'm on a no clothes buying spree (6 weeks and counting) and it is HARD. I'm giving myself until March, which is when I'll allow myself some items for our Hawaii trip. Having three months without buying clothes is probably a piece of cake for most people who don't drool over shoes and jewel-toned handbags, but this is who I am. I like pretty things. Not buying them is difficult. Because of my no shopping spree, I've unsubscribed from all the usual suspects (ModCloth, J.Crew, Anthropologie,) so that my email isn't laced in temptation. Be gone bright skirts and cashmere cardigans!

Oh, 2013. We have so much to look forward to.

What does 2013 bring for you? What do you hope for in the new year?

Boy's Birthday in Vegas

Hi. We have a lot to catch up on. I'm not sure if anyone is out there anymore, (hello readers! does anyone still read my poor, abandoned blog?) but I had some requests in the Real World to keep it up (you like me! you really do!). Also, last week, the boy asked, "what did we do for our anniversary this year?" and normally I would, in my most disgusted look ever, "What?! How can you not remember? Clearly the day we got married is not high on your list." And then I would scoff repeatedly in his general direction. 

He loves me. 

But instead, I sat there for the longest time and realized I have no idea what we did for our anniversary. Did we do anything the day-of? What happened? Wait, how long have we been married? And then the boy said "what happened, you're supposed to be our family historian." So here I am. And, man this blog needs some cleaning up!

For now I'll start by recapping the boy's 29th birthday! We went to Vegas on a Wynn promotion ($299 for two nights, tickets to the show La Reve, and a Wynn buffet credit--great deal!) that we received in the mail. Everything was wonderful. As our usual, we packed a lot into two days. On our itinerary: 

+ The Neon Museum.  Ok, admittedly this was for me and not the boy, but he enjoyed it too! I think. This is a fun off-the-strip excursion that is by tour appointment only and lets you see all the old Vegas signs now piled all in a "boneyard". This place is photo-op heaven, every corner I looked there was something interesting to snap. They allow pre-approved photo shoots, so if you're in Vegas and looking for a spot this would be a wonderful and unique place. 

+ Dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak. Hell's Kitchen fans, this is the restaurant now orchestrated by the winner of the show. The whole restaurant was an experience in itself, but it was so dark I didn't get many good photos. Gah! You can see what I had at the end of this post, which because I've been a delinquent historian, I don't remember what it was! But doesn't it look delicious, meat eaters?

All in all, a wonderful birthday. We definitely plan to return, next time to eat at Wicked Spoon and catch another show.  

[The Neon Museum's Boneyard Park sign and glass slipper]

[Love these scripted typefaces many of the signs used!]

 [Lucky us--perfect weather]

[The boy and I]

[The sparkly view from our room at The Wynn] 

[Mmmm...my dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak]

 [Another shot of us in front of the restaurant]

Our next big trip that I haven't brought up here is to Hawaii, which if you've been reading for a while, you know has been on my wish list for quite some time now. More on that trip later. :) 

Summer Highlights 2012

[From The Color Run, Sacramento]

This weekend I ran The Color Run with my dear friend (see our adorableness above) which is a 5k in which you get drenched in colored powder: yellow, orange, pink, blue, green, and purple. Volunteers squirt this colored powder on you during the 5k, so by the end, you look like Jackson Pollock attacked you with happiness. It was fun and super quick in comparison to the half marathon I ran in May, which was really a test of my endurance and tolerance for hills. This was more a matter of, how much of the pink colored powder can I get on my shirt? Or thoughts like, omigosh I just licked my lips and this stuff tastes disgusting. Or, how am I going to get in the car without totally ruining it? It was a cooler weekend in Sacramento, which was such a blessing, and a nice getaway from my day-to-day in San Diego. 

Last weekend, the boy and I made a day trip to Los Angeles to see Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass at LACMA. It was worth the visit, but left me feeling a little depressed. [It's also been all over the press for costing $$$$ and making quite the trek across LA to its home at LACMA--you can read more here.] It's a single boulder fixed to steel beams over a cement walkway, and the surrounding landscape is dirt and gravel. You can walk under the boulder and view it from different angles. It felt very isolating and stagnant in comparison to the rest of the museum. But this is coming from someone that willingly had strangers shoot paint at her for the sake of looking colorful and messy. I also still own stuffed animals with names, so I like the color and whimsical in my art. Which really wasn't always the case--I find that the older I get, the more I just want art to make me feel contemplative but happy. I think more about how my time is so limited; I want to surround myself with objects that conjure up good, happy feelings.

[Window display featuring photographs by Jay Clendenin/LA Times]

The real star of my life lately has been work, which has consumed most of my thoughts and time. I don't mind it at all, as I am really loving it. This window display was something fun I got to do for the Olympics. I'm glad my graphics background is coming in handy as a librarian. It gives me a chance to exercise that part of my brain and put my art training to good use. 

Some fun things on the horizon: 

+ The boy and I want to take a trip to China! As I settle into work more, this seems like it actually might be a possibility instead of just a fleeting fantasy that I research to death with no outcome. 

+ We're planning a trip to Vegas to go check out the Neon Museum and Max Brenner. 

+ This Fall marks the first Fall in three years that I will NOT have school at night/weekends!! I look forward to enjoying the seasons more sans grad school. 

June 2012 in Review

 

 

I'm ready for life to slow down, and to get back on here and document more of it! For those of you who want to keep more up-to-date tabs on my life, you can find me on Instagram under pinkargyle. :)

Transitions--A New Job, A New Career

On Thursday, I quit my job. After 5 years of working on a project that recently came to a close, I quit my job. And part of me knew that everything would be okay, and that my boss would be kind and courteous and wish me luck, but then there's the irrational paranoid anxiety crazed part of me that was really, really scared. But like most everything else I tend to have unnecessary meltdowns over, it was okay and easy. I walked in, said how much I had enjoyed working there and how much I would miss my coworkers, and gave my last day. She told me how much she appreciated what I had contributed to the company and that she would miss me, and then I exited her office to tell my fellow editors the news as well. That's the sad part of this post.

The good part of this post is...I got a new job! Irrational paranoid anxiety crazed me is paranoid that typing that will somehow take it all away, but I like living on the edge, so I'm going to type it again--I got a new job! Some of you who have been reading a long time know that I have been living a marathon of a professional life. For the past three years, I've been working full-time and going to graduate school part time to complete my MLIS (Master's in Library and Information Science) to be a librarian (yes, librarians needs master's degrees!) This schedule has taken its toll. I have little time on weekends, I don't get to do as many fun things, and all my creativity is zapped from writing and reading for school. I've got the words "burnt out" stamped to my forehead.

With the economy in the crapper, libraries being consolidated and closed left and right, I was not counting on anything. I figured that after graduation (t-minus 6 days until my last assignment is due! oh. em. gee.) I would start job hunting and polish my e-portfolio, maybe volunteer or take another internship. I never thought I would be so lucky to have a job lined up right after graduation. Since I've been absent from our blog circle of style-savvy, creative, supportive women, I've been lurking at library school and library job hunting blogs (and the occasional HR blog) to read about career advice. Reading about everyone's experiences was driving me to new heights of anxiety because my future career outlook looked damn right dismal.

So I feel VERY lucky, and I think (and truly hope) this is going to be a good fit. I'm really thankful, but nervous. And I'm ready to celebrate.

Pale blue, yay or nay?

Mission: Find a dress for the purpose of graduation, potential summer dinner dates out with the boy, and upping Mo's happiness meter just a little.

Subject in question: Eva Franco's Belle of the Butterfly Garden via ModCloth. Subject gets extra points for the cute butterfly print, v-neckline, and light, airy summer style.

Question for my readers: Does this pale blue color go with my skin tone? I tried to think of clothes I own, and I can't really remember light blue being in there...sea foam green, yes, but no light blue. Orange for instance looks kind of odd on me, and yellow is also a hard color to pull off (but I still wear it because the shade makes me happy.) I don't know if this pastel blue color will like me or not.

But I sure do love the butterfly print.

Do you have colors you steer clear of? What do you think of the dress?

Safari Park Half Marathon Recap

[My sister and I (I'm on the left) after completing our first half marathon, the Safari Park Half Marathon. We finished!!!]

Yesterday, I ran my first half marathon with my sister at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. I have been training for the past few months, and I was nervous because I've encountered some obstacles (a hurt knee, breathing problems, chafing, oh my!) during my runs. My biggest fear was training and then not finishing (there is a 3 hour time limit.) I'm happy to report that I not only finished, but also had a lot of fun during the process. I was smiling most of the time from all of the entertainment along the course (music, animals, rousing supporters,) and watching the other runners' excitement.

The race started early at 6:30 AM, so we were out the door by 5:00 AM and arrived a full hour early at the start line at the North County Mall. It was FREEZING, the porta potty line was ridiculously long, and I was rethinking purchasing this cumbersome iPhone clip-on case I bought the day before. It sure was annoying my hip bone, but later in the race I hardly noticed it anymore because my other body parts probably hurt more at that point, ha!

This is what it looked like next to our pace group, all the way back at 11 minutes:

Above is a timing chip. I didn't know this until the half marathon, but our time is recorded via this little chip. As an added bonus, it's super cute and a nice keepsake. I was checking mine out right before the start buzzer. 

When we first started running, we were shoulder-to-shoulder and I saw the sea of people moving forward. I started running with my sister, and then got lost in my headphones and gained more momentum after mile 1. I think that I went the fastest from miles 1 to 6, and didn't even stop for water or powerade. There was a baby cow at one hydration station that people were petting, and I really wanted to stop and pet her too, but all I could think was "nooo, 2:30 pace! 2:30 pace!" Me passing up saying "hi" and petting a baby animal takes extreme circumstances, like finishing at my goal time. When I took this photo, I was feeling pretty good:

But when I reached mile 6, there was the. scariest. hill. ever. 

[Photo from half marathon runner Lucy Bender]

Really steep. Sand. Dirt. I had to walk. It was nothing I had tried to run before, and unfortunately after this hill I lost momentum. But I kept going! And going! And going! 

Eventually I got into the park, and got excited when I was nearing the end and saw this sign. 

[Photo by Georgeanne Irvine, San Diego Zoo staff]

I finished 2 minutes after my goal time of 2:30. Good enough for me! And now I have this shiny medal and wonderful memories of our first half marathon. 

 [Basking in our victory after the race] 

I can't wait until next year. We're already planning our costumes. 

Next up, I've signed up for the Color Run. I'm officially hooked. :)

Up to 9 Miles!

[Some snapshots from today's run: Lake Miramar, my Asics, a great song to run to, and my snacks of choice]

The half-marathon is in 3 weeks (eeek!), and today I made it to 9 miles! Although I love the challenge, I never anticipated how much training would affect my body. In addition to the aches and pains I had at the beginning of my training, I have now been having trouble breathing. I visited the doctor and hope to be better, but all this running is taking its toll! Vitamin Water and Powerade have also become my best friends, because the electrolytes have helped counter some nausea I was feeling after running. Nausea + aches + gasping for air = no fun. But I feel such accomplishment when I'm done that's I think it's all worth it.

I'm also just 6 weeks away from graduation. When I was getting married, all I could think about was the day of the wedding (July 3rd). Anything else after that just seemed non-existent. I have that same feeling about graduation. I just keep working toward that first week in June and I can't think beyond that. All in good time...and once graduation is over, I'm up for the next challenge! 

I know I've been absent, but trust me, my life is very boring right now...hence the lack of posts. My life can basically be summed up by school, career, running, cuddling with the boy. Career, running, cuddling with the boy, school. Cuddling with the boy, school, running, career. 

And sometimes I sleep. :)

Springtime in Philadelphia

I went to my first professional conference (go librarians!) in Philadelphia (my first time in Philly) last week and had a wonderful time. I was a little anxious about being out of my element at a conference for a profession that I don't fully call my own yet, but all in all, I had a great time. It helped that my hotel room was spacious with a beautiful view, that mouth-watering food could be found around every corner, and that spring was blooming in the city.

This was the view of Broad Street from my hotel room:

 [Lucky me got a corner room!]

When I wasn't mingling with librarians, I spent a lot of time at the Reading Terminal Market, which was (much to my delight) right across the street from the convention center. I wish something like Reading existed in San Diego! There were so many delicious treats--flowers, candies, cheese steaks, pretzels (oh the pretzels--I've never had such a good pretzel!), cupcakes, vegetables, meat, jams and jellies, coffee--loved it all. Did I mention the pretzels?

The Market is indoors and has rows (or "avenues") of vendors, like this one:

I was particularly lured in by the sweets: 

 [CANDY AND CHOCOLATES! Where do I even start??]

 

These sticky buns at Beiler's Bakery were also incredible--sticky and sweet and made right in front of us.

And the flowers were beautiful! While I was there, the east coast was having a heat wave while San Diego was rainy and frigid. Craziness.

 

 

And finally, I cheated. I didn't actually eat a cheese steak, but instead had this roast pork sandwich from DiNic's, complete with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe. YUM.

To work off a fraction of the food I just showed you, I ran from my hotel all the way up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a la Rocky Balboa.

 

[Watch out half marathon! I'm comin' for you!]

I did a good amount of career soul searching while I was there, but was happy to have had breaks to eat, smell the flowers, and pump my fists up the steps of the museum.

Philadelphia, what a wonderful city.

Hi, Remember Me?

[I got a haircut with more fringe and bangs.]

[The amazing Abbie sent me these awesome running socks! I felt so loved opening the package. Thank you Abbie! Abbie's also got a great business cooking, Girl Friday Events+Design, soon to come here.]

 [The boy promises a trip to this tree house to commemorate being together for 10 years. I hope it happens! You can drool over its magical splendor here.]

While you're looking at the photos, you should play this song:
[The lovely Priscilla Ahn]

 [I'm thinking about doing this to our bedroom wall. Our bedroom is BORING. It's got nothing on the walls and looks depressingly sparse. This would either make me dizzy or really happy.]

In other news that don't have pretty pictures attached to them...

I am 93 DAYS away from graduation!!! The boy and I already booked a place in Seattle and are now looking into spending some extra time in Vancouver. I'm excited!

________________

Next week, I'm attending my first professional conference in Philadelphia, so I'll be surrounded by librarians. It's going to be eye-opening and a good start to my career.

________________ 

Training for the half-marathon is hard, but I'm getting there. It was really hot on Sunday when I did my run, and I got too tired and *sniffle* walked. I hope for a better week of training!

________________ 

I'm almost done with a huge work project that has taken 4 years. I'm so close to being finished, and I'm not sure I'm going to believe it's done when it really is. A celebration is definitely in need when it happens.