#20- Gwen Stefani

So, many of you who have known me for awhile probably are aware of my "slight" love of Gwen Stefani (and furthermore No Doubt). This woman is my inspiration to life. I love her. I have never met her, I have never spoken to her, or received her autograph, but non-the-less I love her (and have since I was about 12 years old). She is like a muse to me; for fashion, for hair (in my younger years I had, at times, a full head of platinum blond or pink hair), for charitable work, for basically everything life has to offer.

I have attended over 13 No Doubt and Gwen Strefani concerts here in San Diego throughout my life (every major headlining tour at least once for ND and twice each for Gwen solo). The first concert was No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom" tour, I was 13 years old. My dad dropped my friend Becca and I off at the San Diego Sports Arena by ourselves, a pretty intimidating thing at 13 since back then there was a very heavy punk/ska following (I'll admit we were a little nervous). Weezer opened for them, it's a day I will never forget. Neither will I forget any of the 12 other concerts I've seen with ND and Gwen. It was even to the point that when I saw Gwen's concert for a 2nd time on the same tour (all the way from the nosebleed seats) I could tell she was pregnant, I left telling everyone I knew she was, and no one believed me, a week later she announced it. (I also guessed her baby's name would be Preston, it was Kingston, pretty close)

I also own many of Gwen's product lines including an original L.A.M.B from LeSportsac handbag, quite a few Harajuku bags and perfume, and a least one item from every concert I've attended (including a hounds-tooth hoodie from the most recent ND tour). I wish I could list more, but they're not cheap items to buy (hence the fact I don't have a real L.A.M.B purse or shoes yet, stress on the YET). My next item to purchase will be this special Japan Relief Harajuku shirt with proceeds going to Japan. Gwen loves Japan so much she actually donated one million dollars of her own money after the tragedy hit, she's also selling these shirts to help out, and hosting an auction on ebay that starts on April 11th. I can not tell you how proud I am of her, she really is an amazing person and truly an inspiration! The big prize in this auction is a tea party in LA with Gwen, this is a dream come true for me (and every one of her thousands of fans). I know I won't be able to out bid all of her crazy fanatics, but my god I wish I could! To spend an afternoon sipping tea with Gwen herself?!? I'm speechless just thinking about it (a rarity with me), and to think it would go for such a great cause at the same time! (sigh...) So if anyone feels like making my life complete and wants to try to bid on this once in a lifetime experience on my behalf I will love you forever, and ever, and ever and ever! ;)

For the most part I think I'm just thankful that I had such a wonderful role model growing up, and still do to this day. Yes, she's definitely alternative, but what a woman to admire! She's so much better then the tramps the kids these days are into (Brittany, Lindsey, etc). She has built an empire (music, clothing, accessories, purses, you name it), she gets to do what she loves everyday, and she's always reminding herself to be thankful of that. We sure do have a lot in common. :)

So thank you Gwen Stefani, for a lifetime of inspiration. For always inspiring me to: grow up to follow my dreams & passions, be a successful hardworking entrepreneur, be a fashion diva and embrace all the creativity I can, and to most importantly remember to always spread the love and gratitude! I love you girl!

#19- Adventures!

Thursday's post is being thankful for adventures! I was supposed to go to school Thur evening for my bio class on the skeletal system (totally not my cup of tea, let me tell you). I was grumpy from trying to finish my homework quickly and make it to school, as soon as I put my completed homework away in my folder I received an email from my teacher: "a water main has broke on campus, Mira Costa is shut down for the rest of the day due to no water, class is canceled for tonight" Woooo Hooo!!! That was the best news I got all day!

So Andy and I hopped in the car and took off, we originally went out to run some errands (bank, return rental movies, etc) but we got hungry. In our search for food we decided to head down the coast and try happy hour at this place called Encinitas Ale House. It was a quaint little bar on the 101 South Coast Highway with a good happy hour special (half off all appetizers) we felt adventurous so we deiced to get the "muscles and scallops plate", the "calamari" and the "beef bruchetta" and a couple of beers. Everything was very delicious. Afterward we went for a little walk around the block, even though it was pretty chilly. We hopped back into the car and drove up and down Coast Highway a bit more, watching the pelicans fly by and the crazy people in the ocean. We then drove all the way up to the top of a mountain in San Elijo, where we watched the rain roll in from the coast, looked for our house, saw a beautiful sunset peak through the clouds and froze our little butts off.

We came home, got under some blankets and watched a movie. All in all a pretty fun day, way better then sitting in school for sure! :)

#18- sleep

Wednesday's thankful thing was dedicated to sleep. Mainly because sleep was the reason I didn't get the blog post up, lol! I love sleep, unfortunately it doesn't love me. We have a tough relationship, sleep and I. I want to go to bed at a normal hour, wake up at a normal hour and be a normal person, sleep doesn't agree with that at all. I spend hours and hours awake most nights, tossing & turning, staring at the clock changing hours, listening to my brain go on and on about everything it can possibly think of at once, poking/pushing Andy since he's breathing or snoring in my face, or trying to convince Chomper to stop barking in his sleep and come snuggle with me (has never once happened). For some reason Wednesday night I just couldn't keep my eyes open, I got home from school around 7pm and was just exhausted! I walked in and Andy was napping on the couch, I decided to join him since my body wouldn't let me do anything else, and I slept. It wasn't glorious, wonderful, dreaming sleep, but it was restful come easy sleep. So thanks sleep, for finally (for once) coming easy to me. Now let's try to shoot for a better time to make that happen every night. :)

#17- Yoga Pants

Is there anything better then wearing a pair of comfy yoga pants? I love yoga pants, if I could I would wear them everyday. They're slimming, make your booty look good, and are oh so comfortable. I can move all around in them, do yoga or Pilates in them, jog/go to the gym in them, grocery shop or run errands in them, and they never become uncomfortable. I like to keep mine simple, always black and mostly print-less, but you could really go nuts with color/print/fabric choices if you wanted to. I've heard it's really only a Californian thing to wear your yoga pants out in public, apparently the rest of the country changes into them at the gym or yoga studio and then changes into normal clothes again before they leave said gym/studio. To them I say: your freakin loss! Thank goodness I live in an awesome city, with awesome weather, that I can spend the entire day in yoga pants and flip flops (and a shirt of course) and no one even looks twice. It's our norm, and it totally rocks. It may be one of the reasons I started working at a yoga studio, so that I had even more excuses to buy and wear more yoga pants. My yoga pants now outnumber my jeans by at least 2 to 1. I've had to rotate out a few pairs recently from being too worn, always a sad day, but with me living 2 blocks away from the Prana warehouse that holds an annual sale in Dec I'm always restocking. (LOVE the Prana sale! That will have to be it's own post in Dec) So today I say thank you yoga pants, for you make me so happy to wear you all day long. ahhh....

#16- neuro bliss

Today I am thankful for my new found addiction... the drink "Neuro Bliss". I just discovered it at school the other day, I was feeling really stressed out and a little frazzled, I wanted a drink (adult beverage) but couldn't leave in time to drink a whole drink quickly and get back before my last class. I went to browse the cafeteria for something refreshing and discovered the pretty blue bottle with the word "BLISS" on it. I thought I would give it a try. It was lightly fizzy, lightly flavored, and (after reading the label) packed full of "feel good" stuff.

After further investigation I found out this little bottle claims to: 

-help reduce stress

-enhances mood

-supports memory

-promotes a positive outlook

It's packed full of B vitamins (the energy boosting ones), a few other vitamins and minerals, and a few things I have no clue what the heck they are. Though I didn't believe this was any cure all wonder tonic it did do a good job at taking the edge off of my stress and after having another today I did feel a little lighter and more energized. Sure it could all be in my head, but even if it had no effects I actually really like the flavor. It's reminiscent of something vaguely familiar that I can't quite put my finger (or tongue) on.... like something from my past, but in any case I really like it. I'd like to try some of their other "flavors" like Neuro: sonic, sleep, trim, sun, aqua, sport but not sure if I'll go as far as trying the gasm flavor! Check out their website for more details http://drinkneuro.com/. Thanks neuro drink for my little pick me up! (and a caffeine free one at that!)

#15- Spring Break

So, as some may have noticed, it's been a week since my last posting. (eep!) Not really up to date with the whole one-a-day thing, but we're just going to call it a "spring break". While many kids, students, and parents did celebrate spring break last week I was just feeling a little disconnected from the internet/blogger world. So we're just going to keep moving forward from here, chalk last week's absence up to a spring break from life and start with today! :) I'm thankful for my little spring break, and for the chance to be able to check out and take care of a bunch of things, and know that I can always come back to my busy life. During my break I competed in a bridal show table-top design competition (which I took first place in the "most royal" category and third in the "color me wow" category. Woot!), met with some brides, did a huge spring cleaning in my house/garage, attended some wonderful Pilates classes at Peace Love and Yoga (that totally kicked my butt), got to attend the amazing Summer's Monday night class at Yoga Vista (I don't ever get to go to since I'm in class at Mira Costa during that time) and went kayaking at Carlsbad Lagoon with Andy. Pretty good week! So thanks everyone for being patient with me and allowing me to enjoy my little break! Until tomorrow... ;)

#14- My FRIENDS

Ok, while I am very thankful for the show "Friends" and might actually post about my thankfulness of said show one day to fill in the days, today is just about how thankful I am for all of my personal friends. (I just think the logo is a nice touch since I can't add a picture of me with each and every one of my friends on here.... or could I? Well, we'll just stick with this.)

I have the best group of friends anyone could ask for! If you've been reading/following this blog daily (I know it's tough, even for me to do) :) you'll have read some postings about specific friends, and more will be coming over the next year, trust me, but in general as a group I'm pretty lucky to be able to call them all my friends.

Facebook states that I have a little over 200 "friends" though I wouldn't really consider many of them actual true friends. I can say that I have quite a wide group of true friends (more then most people I think). Many of them I've known since I was 11 years old, many have stood the test of time from middle school, some from baton, others from band, but all of these friends have been here for me for over half my life. Seriously, it's not like we lost touch for huge gaps of time, no the friends I had in middle school are still the people I hang out with today. I've been in many of their weddings, I've planned their baby showers and attended their parties. It's really cool to be able to say that out loud, how many friend do you still have from when you were 12? I'm pretty thankful for that, I hope it means I'm doing something right. Then there are the "newer" friends I've added to my list over the years, they come from all over and I've met them in many different ways but somehow they have all found a place in my heart.

And it doesn't stop there! Just having all my friends IS something to be thankful for in itself, but my friends are really the best kind of friends, the type that love me, support me, and help me every chance they get. They pull together to support me at my charity events I host (not only participating & donating but also their time to help me decorate & work at them), many have assisted me at weddings, some have helped me get my start in the wedding industry, I have muses, I have shoulders to cry on, I have people to confide in, anything and everything you can imagine a person doing for you I can name a friend in my list that will with one call.

So thanks everyone for being so awesome, you truly are the best group of friends a girl can ask for. I am truly thankful to have each of you in my life, and while we might not always be as dramatic or exciting as a sitcom I love all of us just the way we are! ("I'll be there for you...." Just so it's stuck in your head all night) You're welcome ;)

#13- the number 13

Since this is my 13th post, of my 13th day of being a blogger I wanted to be thankful for my favorite number:

Most people greatly dislike this wonderful number, some believe it to be the unluckiest number there is, but they are not me. I love the number 13, it's the date of my birthday, October 13th 1982 (yes, I just gave away my actual age), it's also my lucky number and my favorite number. I turned 13 of Friday the 13th, it was a really fun birthday party, one I think an old friend and I were just talking about yesterday (now that I think about it). My birthday obviously falls on a Friday every so often and I love it. It is just a number that has always been dear to me. At a younger age I debated getting it tattooed on myself, something I'm sure my mother and meme are pleased I didn't follow through with. It has appeared everywhere throughout my life. If you ask me to pick a number for anything, it will always be 13 (unless it's taken, then it's 7). So on this 13th day I just wanted to say that I am thankful for number 13. Thanks 13 for being a great number, you rock! :)

#12- Mike & Kimberly

I met Mike and Kimberly through Andy. He and Mike were BBQing together for T&H and became friends, after awhile Andy and I started spending time together with Mike and his wife Kimberly. The Vargas's are always a blast to hang out with, fun loving, laid back, and they love good food (a strong passion with Andy and myself). We all go out to eat together, or have each other over to our homes for a good home cooked meal, we chat about our jobs and families, we laugh and make fun of things, it's never boring. Mike loves football (the Cowboys to be precise, he's from Texas) and Kimberly is a very talented artist (she makes beautiful paintings). We had a great night out last year during comic con weekend with dinner at the Marble Room (we'll get to that as a posting one day I'm sure) and walking around downtown looking at all the comic con attendees running around all dressed up. (It is the night this picture in this posting was taken) It was a really fun time. We also went to a Padres game together last summer and spent many Wednesday nights at Stone Brewery over summer for their movies nights. Kimberly is the HR person over at a company called Modern Postcard and hosts all sorts of fun events for the employees that we get to attend (and bring friend too! Breck and Jessica & Rick have all been in on the fun). Modern Postcard seems like a great company to work for from what I've seen of their employee fun days. :) We've dined on BBQ and Pat & Oscars, watched movies on a giant blow up screen in the MP parking lot sitting on blankets or in the back of cars, they occasionally rent out an entire movie theater and we all get to eat free popcorn and drink free soda and watch a free movie together! (last time it was Tron and it was in 3D! So fun!) Tonight I went to dinner with them and Andy, something we haven't done in quite some time, and it made me realized I'd been missing them and our fun times together. So as we sat at dinner talking about this years upcoming comic con and making plans to go down and watch all the crazies again I just had to make a mental note that today I wanted to be thankful for them, some of my newer friends, but some keepers none the less. Thanks guys for all the fun! Cheers to the great times and wonderful food we'll share together now and well into the future! :)

#11- Pizookies

Ok, still playing catch up, apologies. Will get this blog-a-day thing down soon, hopefully. :) Wednesday's Thankful Thing is Pizookies from BJ's restaurant. As stated in an earlier post I love ice cream, and BJs has one of the BEST ice cream desserts around! Wednesday night I had the pleasure of going for drinks and dinner with my two friends, Rebecca and Breck, to celebrate Breck's birthday. I was greatly looking forward to this evening so that I could get one of my favorite desserts. After some wonderful conversation, good food (though slow service), and drinks it was finally time to order our dessert.

The flavor choices for this amazing dessert has really expanded since the first time I tried it. My favorite is still the original chocolate chunk but now they have an all chocolate one, oreo cookie one, peanut butter, white chocolate macadamia nut, and a few more. They have a mini sampler platter with 3 little ones that you can get 3 different flavors, or you can get a big party platter one to share with many.

It really is a decadent treat, with a warm rich cookie that melts in your mouth and creamy vanilla ice cream it is truly something to be thankful for!

#10- Yellow Deli

So, last night after a wonderful yoga class taught by my thankful thing #6 (aka Jessica) Jessica, Carolyne, and I went over to enjoy a post yoga snack at the Yellow Deli next door to our yoga studio, Yoga Vista. After a few hours of chatting, eating and laughing I headed home for the night. I walked into my house tired, full, and contempt for the eveing I slipped into my warm cozy bed and went to sleep. I awoke this morning and thought to myself "self, I don't think you blogged your thankful thing yesterday!" I didn't! So, my apologies on yet another late post. I'm new to the blogging world and especially making a post a day, so please forgive me as I still grow accustomed to this new part of my life. I promise I'll have it down by #364! ;) This one's for Tuesday.

I am SO very thankful for the amazing, wonderful, delicious, loving, magical place that is The Yellow Deli! If you have never been to this awesome restaurant in downtown Vista get in your cars and go, right now. :) The yellow deli is an interesting place for sure. It's run by a Christian/Hippie-type commune, some think of them as a sort of cult, others confuse them for Amish, but they really are just a simple, loving, religious commune. They all work together and share every aspect of their lives with each other, they describe themselves as belonging to the religion of the 12 tribes of Israel. Basically they live by the old testament while being Christian. Regardless of their religious, or life, views bottom line is they make some damn good food!  Everything they prepare is fresh, healthy and they offer many vegetarian, organic and gluten free options. They bake all their own breads in house, and most of their produce comes from their own farm out in Valley Center. They are kind people that have spent 5 year building their restaurant from the ground up all by themselves. They make their own clothes, make their own chairs and tables, the mechanics and building itself is a reason to go check this place out alone. It's like walking into a Disney themed restaurant. It's amazing.

I really enjoy their kaiser roll turkey sandwich, or most of their house-made soups (creamy potato, pumpkin, tomato to name a few), their cranberry cashew salad is a must try, as is their wheat sourdough bread steamed with butter (I'm getting hungry), for dessert try the cream cheese pie topped with fresh strawberries, and don't forget the banana milk (a wonderful concoction that blends a banana and some other stuff into ice cold milk, it's delicious). Most also enjoy their hot apple cider, I have yet to try it. But as you can see, it's a wonderful place to eat. I haven't even mentioned their hours! They are open Sunday at noon until Friday at 3pm for 24 hours a day every week. So instead of hitting up that nasty late night dinner full of fried, unhealthy food you can come cozy up in a corner and sip some hot tea while working on your computer or hanging with your friends. Jessica and I frequent there often after our yoga classes and sometimes stay and chat into the wee hours of the morning. (I think 2am is our record).

They also love us over at Yoga Vista. We share a wall with them, and put up with their construction for 5 years. We're the best of neighbors and many of the YV staff and students are regulars with them. They even named a special after our studio! The Yoga Vista Special is a garden veggie burger on vegan kaiser roll with fresh veggies with a side of veggies or mini soup, YUM! We at Yoga Vista love them so much we actually begged them to let us host our holiday party there. They were reluctant since it's not something they typically do but they did it for us. They went SO above and beyond what we had asked or expected I spent the whole evening hugging and thanking any employee I could find.

So I beg you all to take a chance on this wonderful little place, I know you will not be disappointed. You'll instantly love them as all the rest of us do!

#9- My House

As the rain poured down all night and into this morning I just HAD to feel thankful for the roof over my head. I was just laying in my warm bed, listening to the rain come down and thinking about how lucky I am to have a house, a home, that keeps me safe and dry.

Did you know there are on average of 8,500-10,000* homeless people in San Diego County? I couldn't help but think of them last night as the rain was pounding feverishly against my windows. What were they all doing? For the most part San Diego weather is mild and probably one of the better climates to be homeless in compared to most of the country, but last night's storm was a big one, and it made me think about all the poor men, women, kids and animals that didn't have a house or shelter from the rain. We take so much for granted every day, and I think the biggest one is our shelter. Who walks into their house every day and thinks "thank my lucky stars I have a place to call home" Not many I'm sure.

But in all honesty most days I do. I absolutely love my house. It's a small, quaint little town-home in Carlsbad that we rent from our very good friends, it's really my little dream home. It's 2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 balcony patios, a large kitchen & living room and a 2 car garage (with washer and dryer!) To many in the world this place is a mansion and I like to think of it that way too. I feel more comfortable in my home than anywhere else in the world. I have an office to work out of for my wedding businesses, I have a garage that's been converted into a floral studio, and I have a little front yard  that I grow succulents in (even though it's a no-no with HOA, shhhh). We have a pool & hot tub across the street, and access to an even bigger pool & hot tub in our community center, which happens to sit on top of the hill that below holds Leo Carrillo Park (a free range peacock ranch and historic museum. A really cool site for those who have never been) We're located in Carlsbad, a city I adore. We are actually a little inland from the coast which is perfect for me, it's never too hot but we don't have to worry about those days when the fog never leaves the coast. We get the best of both worlds cool and sunny. Our community is a nice one, people are very kind. We just got a new shopping center around the corner that holds many of my favorite places. Peet's Coffee, Trader Joes, and soon to be a Hendos (a delicious pizza/pasta place that Andy and I drive to San Elijo Hills to eat at right now). I'm even super close to the Floral Trade Center, where I buy all my flowers. (a real luxury compared to many florists that drive 20+ miles to get there) It's a wonderful little community and I really love being a part of it all.

So today I say thank you house, for being a wonderful little place to live. I couldn't be happier to be able to call you my home. I am truly thankful for your solid foundation, 4 strong walls, and peaceful roof over my head.

*If you want to do more for the almost 10,000 homeless in San Diego please visit this website: http://homeagainsd.org/ You can make a donation, volunteer your time, or even just spread the word throughout our community that there are those in need and we can help them every day!

                                           

#8- ICE CREAM

So, after #7 you're all up to speed on my tardiness right? Great! Onto #8, a really yummy number 8.... ICE CREAM! (it's gotta be in all caps. You scream, I scream, We all scream for ICE CREAM!) ;)

In my last post I touched base on the fact that the wedding this weekend had an ice cream sundae bar, a trend that I can say I am so ecstatic is growing. I hate cake, for those who didn't already know. I mean I really really REALLY can't stand cake, or frosting, or anything cake-like. I never have, even when I was a little kid, my brothers don't either, it's just our thing. When we were little for our birthdays we wanted anything but cake. There were many a birthdays I blew candles out of pizza, or cookies, but my favorite was ice cream pie! It's kind of sad too b/c when my mom was preggers with me she took cake decorating classes to make adorable cakes for us as kids, and we never ate them. Though that may be the reason I was a cake decorator when I was in my late teens/early 20s, and why I love decorating cakes so much. I just really have no desire to eat them.

So it's always a bummer to see wedding cake at a wedding. Dessert is my favorite thing in the whole world (as you can probably tell by my booty). I will literally not finish my dinner to save room for dessert. If a restaurant has a bad dessert I won't go back, even if my meal was fine. Above all desserts I love ice cream. A warm brownie (or cookie) topped with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, NO whip cream, and a cherry, and I'm in heaven. So you can see where a sundae bar at a wedding could have me giddy. This weekend's was particularly delicious. It had premium Dryer's Ice Cream (vanilla, chocolate and some delicious flavor that I have no clue what it was but I want it again, something with brownies bits). We set out cake and sugar cones, huge jars of cherries (another favorite of mine, I had quite a few throughout the night), coffee creamer containers that had been converted into topping holders with matching red print on them filled with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, and nuts. It was really a wonderful thing. I enjoyed it so much that as I was thinking back on it tonight and wondering what I wanted to write about I had to get up and make myself a sundae with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and nuts (we're out of cherries and brownies) and then I figured it must mean it's time to give thanks to ice cream. So thank you ice cream for always being there for me, especially in times of tears and more importantly in times of joy (even if it's the ice cream itself that brings me joy). Even though you're chalked full of empty calories and have no nutritional value I love you so!

#7- Awesome Weddings

So I'm a little late on my postings of "one-a-day", so sorry. I have a valid excuse though, 14 hours of wedding work on Saturday, then Sunday was a design show & site visit in the furthest corner of San Diego county (Coronado) and homework & a test for my Kinesiology class. Busy weekend! So this is post #7 for Saturday, and I'll post another right after for Sunday, then we'll be back on schedule!

Today's (Saturday's) thankful thing is awesome weddings. I know every wedding is pretty awesome, well when you love weddings as much as I do they are, but Saturdays was pretty rockin... literally. It's always fun when you get to work with a couple that wants to go totally off the wall and do something different with their wedding day. It could be something as chic as an ultra lounge feel complete with cocktails and appetizers to party the night away in style, or as elaborate as an all out theme to their event (I've even done a Halloween wedding), but this wedding was one for the books for sure! It was my first one of 2011 and I was hired by the mother of the bride, a trend I'm seeing a lot this year for some reason. MoB's are taking over the planning processes completely and leaving very little on a busy bride's plate. A nice gesture but I'm still getting used to it. In this instance it was a great treat to work with a really fun, down to earth, totally groovy mom. She was so much fun to be around I'm sad that it's all over!

Anyway, b/c of the mom planning I just met the bride and groom a week ago and they were totally my style of peeps! Young and in love of course, but some really nerdy rock n rollers. The wedding theme was Rock n Roll and they really went ALL out! The details we amazing! I really can not wait for the photos. There were real records at every place setting with a custom label and every person's name on each, there were not 1, but 4 custom CDs each with a different ear of hand picked music from 50-60's, 70's, 80's & 90's on them (that looked like records) with the wedding theme logo on them for guests to take home. Their colors were red, black, and teal (a palate I totally dig). I got to dress a little more "my style" with leopard earrings and my hair in a pompadour, which obviously isn't the norm in my world but totally is my vibe. They wore custom converse shoes, danced to indie music, and served the best food I've ever had at a wedding. The menu consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, chili (for chili dogs or chili cheese fries) and for desert an entire table of cupcakes AND an ice cream sundae bar (my one true love)! The best part was their AWESOME cake topper! It was an adorable Ken and Barbie doll topper sitting on a bench under a floral tree, the heads had been replaced with bobble head storm troopers! (from the movie Star Wars for those who are not well versed in nerdism) I told you they were my peeps! It was epic! They even cut their cake with a lightsaber! (again, Star Wars reference) I had such a blast, even with all the craziness wedding days hold (this one had it's fair share. The bride spent the night in the ER for a wicked gal bladder infection that is going to require surgery) it was a wedding I'll never forget for all the right reasons. I can't wait to get some pictures back and post them on FB and my Day of LOVE blog! Until then I can just say I'm totally thankful for awesome brides/grooms/Mobs/weddings! I love my job!

This was taken the night before the wedding as we were setting everything up. Just a little taste of the colors and style. More to come when I get the photos back I swear! :)

#6- Jessica

Today (well tonight really) I'm thankful for my newest addition to my friend list: Miss Jessica Wilson (soon to be Blankemeier). Jessica and I met pretty recently (especially in my world of friends, where most friends I've had for 10+ years), but we instantly connected. Jessica works at the yoga studio I manage in Vista, Yoga Vista. One day I walked into the studio to try a new class by a new teacher named Jessica. As soon as I saw her I smiled and thought, "I know this girl! But from where?" I spent the whole class trying to remember how I knew her... highschool? band? baton? After class I heard her mention she just moved here from Colorado, "hmmmm.... guess I don't know her" (well not in this lifetime yet)  I soon became a regular at her class, then we started to hang out after class, then on off days too. Her and her fiancée, Rick, both work at Stone Brewery (where my boyfriend Andy also works) so we saw each other at company events, and such. We spent the entire Stone Holiday Party chatting and dancing the night away together. The more we hung out the more we seemed to be attached at the hip. We love frequenting the Yellow Deli (the most amazing, magical, yummiest place you can eat at. If you haven't heard of it or been there it is a MUST visit) and talking about our lives. I even get the honor of helping her plan her wedding to Rick for June 2012 in Colorado, and fly out to coordinate and do the flowers for it too! Something I'm very excited to be a part of, especially since Jessica's giving me freedom to create whatever I want for her flowers.

Today made me want to say a little something about her since she called me out of the blue this afternoon, I had missed class this week due to my wedding industry event and she missed me (awwww). We spent some time catching up and she mentioned she also wanted to have me talk about my favorite yoga teach, Jon Mize. She was writing an article on Jon and wanted a student quote for it, and thought I'd be the perfect fit. It made me so happy to talk about a teacher I love so dearly and even happier to read the little article she put together for him. You can read it by clicking here (I'm famous!) :) It explains a little about Jon and also highlights the wonderful fundraiser our yoga studio has started for another fabulous teacher of ours, Summer, to help her recover from her third (yes I said third) round of cancer. She's even written an article on the fundraiser itself here! Jessica is a true inspiration, reminding me to take it slow, breathe and live in the moment. She's a wonderful friend, someone I trust completely and value her advice dearly, and she is an even better yoga teacher. I always look forward to her classes, and she's been so supportive in my Pilates journey too. Thank you Jessica for being such a wonderful energy of calm love to be around, you're my little soul sister! :)

Here's us getting ready to start the Oceanside Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving '10!

#5- Nicomi

Today was a tough day, I have two things that I could write about that I am very very thankful for, but I promised Nicomi today would be hers. SO, today I am thankful for the wonderful, bubbly, beautiful, bundle of sunshine: Mrs. Nicomi Morris (I mean Vargas) ;)

I am thankful to Nicomi for so many things, hopefully I don't forget any of them in this post. Nicomi and I met working at a salon together, she a hairstylist and I a receptionist (working for a very not nice salon owner). We were always giggly together, something hard not to do in Nicomi's presence, but after I left we kind of lost touch. Fate brought us back together when Nicomi needed help planning her wedding. We met up to talk weddings, hair, and flowers. Nicomi also does flowers so they were a very important topic for her own wedding (something we went over MANY times during the planning process due to "someone's" indecisiveness of components/color/style/theme, hard to narrow it down when you love all flowers so much) Over the course of a year we spent lots of time together, we agreed for me to do her wedding and she my hair. I finally had a chance to get my hair permanently straighted (something I love doing since my hair is naturally a crazy curly mess, but can never afford to do every 6 months till Nicomi came along)! We grew closer and closer as time went on, chatting during my hair appointments, sharing our love of flowers, we never ran out of things to say, she even started to assist me with weddings for floral set-ups. She gifted me a flat iron (a very nice one) and I try to spoil her whenever I can (though we had to give up the red velvet cupcakes). She truly is a wonderful friend. Always patient, understating, great at listening and giving advice, and always willing to swoop in and save me with anything I might need help with. I feel very lucky to call her a friend. She's such a joy to be around that I actually crave her company when it's been awhile since I've seen her. So I'm sure I forgot a thing or two specifically to be thankful for when it comes to my friend Nicomi, but hopefully you get the picture! Thanks Nicomi for everything! I love you! (and my hair looks fabulous) :)

Photo by the A-mazing Sean Capshaw of Resolusean Photography, a future post to this guy for sure!

#4- Caffeine!

I know, it's a silly thing to be thankful for, but hey it's what's fueling this girl today. After a late night of fun with my wedding peeps last night, and a bunch of tossing & turning till after 4am (yes, I'm well aware that I could have been up due to caffeine I do know irony when I see it) it really is the only thing keeping me from sleeping at my desk in school right now drooling on myself. Great mental image right? :)

Some consider it a drug, others a godsend. I'm in the latter category of course. When you lead as busy of life as I do you need something to keep you pumped and going strong, for me that's caffeine. Today alone I've already consumed 2 shots of espresso (in iced vanilla late form. YUM) and half a glass of mountain dew (I know, totally unhealthy, don't judge me!). Caffeine comes in many different forms, but my favorites tend to be coffee (espresso to be precise), soda, matcha green tea shots, iced black tea, and the occasional energy drink. If you've ever seen me at a wedding you know my day runs off of the soda of the week, whether it be diet coke, dr pepper, mountain dew, or pepsi, I have to have something all day long. Have to do something to keep the momentum going for 14+ hours! I love coffee, like I said mainly espresso, and iced. I am a regular at Peet's Coffee by my house (they know my name, my drinks, and my businesses) but in my defense I also hold a lot of consultations there. I also can be seen sipping Starbucks (iced black tea plain is a must) or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf iced vanilla late. I love caffeine, and am very thankful to have it in my life. So from this cracked out caffeine-aholic I say thank you caffeine for keeping me awake, alert, and sometimes a little crazy.

 

Thankful Thing #3- My Businesses (yes, plural)

Tonight I get to attend a spring release party for Exquisite Magazine at the classically elegant Rancho Bernardo Inn. I get to eat yummy food, drink fantastic drinks, and catch up with all the wonderfully amazing people that make up the San Diego Wedding Industry. We really are one big happy family, well in my eyes anyway. But seriously, how cool is this? And this is just a small portion of the fun items/events I get to be a part of just for being a wedding planner! I was just recently offered a free overnight stay at a resort so I can see what they're all about and refer clients to them. I have had numerous invitations to tour venues, dine at restaurants and catering places, and sip wine at wineries all "on the house". All in all it's pretty sweet to be a wedding planner (well, can't forget about the 14 hour days and dealing with brides all the time, but hey it's still a pretty sweet gig.) Work hard, play hard!

I truly am so thankful to have been so lucky in life. I LOVE what I do. No, really, I am 110% head over heels in love with my businesses and my industry. Some might call it obsessive, but I call it love. :) Weddings are amazing; the beauty, the emotions, the family & friends, the food & drink, it all adds up to one spectacular day. I get to be a part of something special, someone's big day, it's more rewarding then I can put into words. Yes, I know, some think I'm crazy. The amount of patience needed and high stress added into this day can make many people crack under the enormous amount of pressure involved, but not me. It's my "A game", I'm in the zone when it's wedding day. I think you can almost get a sort of contact high from the bride and groom's happiness, I swear.

It's pretty awesome that not only do I get to coordinate/plan weddings with my wonderful company Day of LOVE, but that I also get to play with flowers with my lovely company BRANCHES. It's like the best of both worlds! Creating, designing, and working with flowers is so much fun. I love seeing what new things I can make, what I can create from a bride's vision, and the look on their faces when they see the complete project..... It's priceless!

I can honestly say that I have not been alone in this journey to being my own boss, many have helped along the way (you know who you all are, but rest assured you'll all have your own page on this blog soon). Not a day goes by that I don't look at my websites, talk to a bride, update a facebook page or blog, attend an industry event, or work from home that I don't thank the universe for the amazing blessings I receive. I get to work from home. I have a career doing what I love. I am my own boss. I get to be friends with some amazing people that are just as passionate about this industry as I am. And above all else, I get to make a bride & groom's wedding day a success. I don't know how to be thankful enough for all of that!

I heard someone say once that in the wedding industry we work for gratitude, and I couldn't agree more! A happy, thankful bride (& groom/family) that truly recognizes your dedication and hard work to them is the truly the greatest feeling in the world! (and well worth all the grey hairs I'm earning along the way) ;)

Thankful Thing #2- Meme

So today I want to express my thanks to my amazing grandma, Phyllis Tromer (better known as Meme)

My Meme is the BEST! She's responsible for so many good things over the years (and years) I've been alive. Not only is she a fabulous grandma, when we were younger and we went to visit her in El Paso she would let us eat sugary cereal (which was a big no-no in our house.... awesome!), she also put up with taking us to malls, waterparks, and enriching us with the theater. She loves owls, she collects them, and it's always fun to find something new and cool to give her. I love looking for owl stuff so much I've started buying things for myself too, then when I see them I can think of her! (I'm even wearing an owl shirt today! Totally unplanned I swear) What made me want to pay some homage to her today was that I am attending Mira Costa College right now; every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. I'm in school to finish my Pilates certification, a much more intense process then I originally thought it would be, all so that I may teach (hopefully) at my Yoga studio after I obtain my certificate. Meme made this all possible for me. She's funding my education as she has done since I graduated high school through Mira Costa. It's not super expensive to go to a community college as apposed to a university, or in my case a Pilates certification program through a private institute (which can average in the $5,000 range), but it was more then I could afford and something I really wanted to do. My Meme swooped in and saved the day by offering to fund my adventure! She paid for my units of classes, parking pass, books (not cheap!) and everything else I needed to start school again. So everyday I'm sitting in my classes I try to send a little mental thank you to her for making it possible. It's not an easy class-load, I can tell you that, but I"m there; I'm learning and participating, I'm getting good grades, and I'm going to be able to teach others something I love to do (and I'm getting into really good shape too!). So I can't help but thank my wonderful grandma who's always been there for me for being there once more! Thanks Meme!

Thankful Thing #1- ANDY

So here we go, post #1 and it's a big one! This post is dedicated to my favorite person on this planet, my soul-mate, the love of my life, my monkey, Andrew (Andy) Charles Halvorsen. I don't even know where to begin to list all the things I can be thankful for about him. Andy is the most patient, kind, understanding person I know. The perfect yin to my very much yang. He keeps me in balance (something I constantly strive for being a Libra). He knows just what to say to calm me down, cheer me up, or rid me of my (almost constant) confusion. He's smarter then me, which I like, I can ask him almost anything and he knows the answer. Though there are times where the answer turns out to be incorrect and he just wanted to make something up I would believe to be funny. He really is a funny guy. He's great with my family, loving & caring to our dog Chomper (though he'll never admit it), a wonderful chef (professionally and at home when he feels like cooking), and an awesome best friend. He makes me strive to be a calmer, more peaceful, more accepting, better person every day. He has literally saved my life before (he took me to the ER at 2am when I had swine flu & step throat at the same time and I refused to go) and did a wonderful job nursing me back to health after. He took care of everything while I was sick; made sure I ate, drank fluids, took all my meds, etc. A top rate caretaker for sure. :) He's totally helpful when I need someone to bounce ideas off of, even though most the time those ideas are wedding related, he always has good suggestions. He even feeds my wedding addiction by bringing me home wedding magazines and showing me new ideas/vendors online from time to time. He has helped with many floral projects (even tried his hand in designing), made crafts for weddings, and has gone to weddings to assist me before. He is man of the house, making sure to always work hard to provide for our family. He never complains when he works 14-16 hour days or doesn't get a day off for months, he just works. He's great with kids, he really knows how to keep them entertained. He is a huge beer enthusiast and knows more about beer then anyone else I know. He is just genuinely the perfect guy for me. He's not perfect, we're not perfect by any means, but we're us and that's all I care about.

So here's to my man! May your work days be stress free & enjoyable, your afternoons filled with disc golf & beer, your nights be spent with friends, food, and happiness, and may you always fall asleep by my side knowing that I love you so. Cheers baby!

Thank you Andy for everything, you're my first of many things to be thankful for and I love you.