Noted on a Friday

{winter in San Diego}

Somehow, this has been the busiest week and I'm not even working. There was a huge amount of running around, a long visit with an out-of-town friend and her sweet baby yesterday, trips to Ikea, two doctor's appointments.. I thought I'd be bored not working but turns out, I'm loving it so far and the days just fly by. People keep telling me to stay active in these last few weeks of pregnancy and live it up without the responsibility of a baby, so I'm maintaining a concerted effort to make plans with girlfriends, go on dates with Flav (we're off to see American Sniper tonight), take lots of walks, and overall, fight my natural tendency to stay in and nest. Should be a good weekend. Enjoy! xo

{giant owl spotted at the dog park}

{I'm really in to pears right now, and seeing them on my windowsill makes me happy}

{my favorite barista at our neighborhood coffee shop makes me her Preggo Special - extra milky coffee in a teeny shot cup}

{these two are in love and they love watching Friends reruns together}

Noted on a Friday

It feels so good to be winding down the work week -- it's been a busy one. We're treating my mother-in-law to dinner tonight, and then I'm looking forward to recharging this weekend with some early Halloween decorating, catching up with the Parenthood season premier, and maybe a trip to the movies to see this. I hope you enjoy. xo

Butterfly fluttering by.

So excited!

Friends at the park. :)

Colorful decisions at a Wednesday pedicure.

Noted on a Friday

{Guiri volunteering to taste our anniversary cake}

So a quick update. I have been sick as a dog off and on for the last couple weeks -- we even had to cancel our anniversary camping trip to Lake Arrowhead :( -- but I am finally feeling better, thank god. Flavio's been coming home from work early, bringing me saltines and gingerale, walking Guiri, rubbing my back, and reading me stories in bed. What would I have done without such a sweet nurse to take care of me? Surely I would've died. Thank you, Flavio; I love you.

For obvious reasons, I haven't taken many pics, and am too lazy to upload the few I do have. Some things to note on this Friday, though..

Boyhood. Have you seen it? I can't stop thinking about it. It's truly unlike any other film. Loved.

Humans of New York has become my all-time favorite blog. A photographer shoots people on the street and captions the beautiful photos with quotes from the subjects. Some are sweet, some strange, some are just heartbreakingly beautiful. I love the bigger message behind this blog: we're all in this crazy human struggle together.

Weirdly, the only thing my sick stomach has wanted lately is beef. More specifically, hamburgers from Five Guys in Hillcrest. I've had one per week for the last two weeks and I officially declare: I like them more than In N Out. Yep, that good. Apparently, Obama is also a fan.

My brother is moving back to Cali, just 2 short hours from us. Yay!

While holed up on the couch, I've been watching a lot of Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsey is sort of sexy, no?

What are you up to this weekend? I am hoping to bake this ricotta cake and we're meeting some friends for dinner tomorrow night. Feels good to be back in the land of the living. Enjoy. xo

Noted on a Friday

Well, I did it. The Spring semester is over. Woot! I had really great students this time around, and the end is always bittersweet, but I am looking forward to a little time off before the summer session starts. It wasn't a terribly busy work week, so I'm not sure where all my time went... Actually, that's a lie. I've been busy working my way through three seasons of Call the Midwife (so sad it's over!);  we drank and jacuzzi'd and brunched with friends for Memorial Day weekend; Guiri and I have spent hours in the sunshine; and we've been hitting up some new restaurants (Circa, meh; Brooklyn Girl, delightful; Queenstown Public House, love!). Other than that, looking forward to ringing in June (OMG) with a visit from my brother and nephew tonight and having the next 10 days off. I hope you have a great weekend. xo

A few random fun moments from this week...

Sunday morning football at the park.

Park followed by a new ritual: heavenly croissants and good, caffeinated coffee at Cafe Madeleine.

Channeling our Mexico trip with this sweet papaya.

Guiri waits for dad every evening.

The best dinner: a cheese platter made from whatever you have in the house.

Call the Midwife

When my parents were here last weekend, we piled onto the couches, ate coconut cake, and watched their favorite show, BBC's 'Call the Midwife.' Now, Flavio and I are really into it -- we've been watching it on Netflix each night since they left. I don't know anyone else that's watching it, and I had barely heard of it, but now I'm obsessed.

Call the Midwife follows the adventures of a group of middle-class midwives who tend to poor East Enders, and six episodes in, I've laughed and cried at each one. As this LA Times reviewer wrote, "You will laugh, you will cry and if it seems a bit treacly, it is. But as another very famous British caregiver once observed, a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down."I love its heartwarming sentimentality and I find the midwifery so fascinating.

There was a TV dry spell after House of Cards ended, but we'll be catching up to the last season of Mad Men soon, and friends of ours are hooked on a French TV show called The Returned, so we might check that out, too. What shows are you watching these days?

Weekending, quick notes

Although there aren't photos to prove it, this was maybe the best weekend we've had lately. Last Thursday I was feeling anxious about having too much planned/being over-committed (I need downtime scheduled in, too), but from Friday - Sunday, we were on the move and in the end, we had a lot of fun and it made the weekend seem longer. Some highlights:

:: Some of my students were in a play, so it was fun to go see their talent and support them in their production of Balm In Gilead.

:: We pretended we were in Vietnam/France and went to Zion Market for their "Paris Baguette" pastries with friends. (Note to self: Friends report the coffee is amazing there. When we're back on the juice, I can't wait to try it. Pastries divine - like those we had in Paris.)

:: We partied at a BBQ on Saturday night.

:: I was a wee hungover Sunday and woke to the smell of bacon as Flav surprised me with breakfast - sweet!

:: We're sort of getting into Friday Night Lights and we binge-watched in pajamas Sunday morning - Flav is really into it - I'm sort of a fan. Reminds me of high school culture in El Centro.

:: We celebrated Jan's birthday with wine and delicious Thai food Sunday night.

Even though we were out late last night, I woke up this morning feeling oddly refreshed. Nothing got done at home this weekend, but who needs clean clothes, anyway?

{Sunday morning chef}

{paleo pancake breakfast a la Flav}

Your Birth Order Personality

{the younger set of kids}

My eldest sister Barbie and I are conspiring to do something for our parents' 50th Anniversary this summer and after hearing from her this week, I got to thinking about birth order and personalities. I am one of seven children, but there is a ten year gap between the four older kids and me and my younger twin brothers. So, it's almost like we are two different families, or sets, with the same parents. As the youngest girl, but the oldest of the younger set, I sort of identify as a firstborn personality. Even though I'm only 13 months older than my brothers, my parents always put me in charge when we were growing up, so I was always the responsible one. Like Barbie (who really is the firstborn), I tend to be the organizer and while she is more the matriarch, I am sort of the secretary. I can see my other siblings' roles, too: we have a rebel, an entertainer, a peace-maker, a giver, and a baby. Family dynamics are so interesting!

For fun, I took this birth order personality quiz and it ranked me as a first born child's personality. I knew it!

Also, I might be the last person in America still watching Parenthood, but it's all about family dynamics, which is why I love it.

Weekending, In which Guiri has a cold

It was a somewhat stressful weekend, and I tend to not take pictures of stressful. On Friday Guiri started coughing and by Saturday morning she had what sounded like full-on bronchitis accompanied by fatigue and phlegm. We debated taking her to the animal ER as our regular vet was closed, but decided to make her our magical chicken soup with extra bone marrow and let her sleep in hopes she would heal herself. Sleep she did. All weekend. It was sad to see our usually bouncy, smiley girl looking so miserable. She slept most of the day Saturday and Sunday, but then would be up all night coughing and snorting. We were so worried - I kept asking Flavio to get up and make sure she was breathing - so needless to say we got very little sleep. We think she might have kennel cough. On the upside, our friends brought over a humidifier, so hopefully we'll all rest better tonight, and Flavio's taking her to the vet first thing tomorrow morning.

Despite this bummer, we did carve out a few happy moments. We brunched with dear friends this morning, watched Thelma and Louise and a lot of House of Cards (holy crap! Season 2 is blowing my hair back!), ate way too many chocolate covered treats, and generally lazed about at home while nursing our little lady. It was nice quiet time.

Get well soon, Guiri girl. xo

{Valentine's squirrel from Anya}

Noted on a Friday

Thanks for playing along with my Week o' Valentiney Nerdiness. I hope you do something happy today, either to celebrate yourself and your loved ones, or to make fun of the whole thing - whichever suits your fancy. I actually spent two long hours at the dentist today, which was not romantic, but I'm looking forward to a low-key night. We'll be celebrating with Chinese takeout and a House of Cards Season 2 marathon. I'm about to get going on making a batch of chocolate covered strawberries and we'll be popping those and champagne for dessert. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with the ones you love. xo

Here are a few little things that made my week...

A valentine from my bestest in Boston.

Baking my traditional red velvets for Flavio's work, and keeping one for me.

I am still missing coffee/caffeine, but I'm loving the motivational messages on my morning tea.

This AM surprise - V-Day loot and a dystopian novel by my favorite author. Sweet!

This festive polish - for lasting all week.

Weekending

We spent Saturday in Temecula at a friend's wedding, which was lovely. The groom is Flavio's childhood friend, so it was like a high school reunion for the guys. It was a love-filled night, with great food and lots of celebratory booze and in the midst of the party, a couple things occurred to me. (A) We are getting older - lots of people there, our age, have children who talk and play and entertain themselves. People kept asking whether we have kids and I just showed multiple photos of Guiri. :) I know I've said it before but it was a reminder: It's time start making some decisions about children, but this book is scaring me off.  Also, it shocked us all to realize it's been 18 years (!) since Flavio graduated from high school. Whoa. Yep, getting older. (B) Flavio gave a beautiful and heartfelt toast to the newlyweds and I couldn't have been more proud. There were multiple points in the night where I'd look over at him telling a story or a joke, and I'd be struck by how handsome he looked, and how funny everyone thought he was. Sometimes, in a crowd, you get to see your partner through other people's eyes, and realize how lucky you are.

Nothing too terribly exciting on this Sunday, actually, but it was nice. Flavio went to play paintball with his friends in the morning while I slept in and lazily nursed my hangover with eggs and a marathon of DC Cupcakes (so embarrassed to admit I love that terrible show). This afternoon, we went to the dog park, cooked this delicious chicken, and slowly got ready for the work week ahead.

Valentine's is a comin'! I'm excited. I think I might do a week of heart-filled goodness on the blog. I realize some people are skeptical, or hate the holiday, but maybe just play along. I promise I'll try not to trigger your gag reflex.

{tulips, Trader Joe's}

{wedding, end of the night}

{toast!}

Weekending, quick notes

It was one of those beautiful wintry weekends, with moody skies that were sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy. If only I'd gotten pics.

Saturday Flavio worked so I held a cleaning party at home (I like to add music and/or movies and snacks to my cleaning extravaganzas) while this awesome chili bubbled on the stove. Saturday night we warmed up with said chili and then watched Drinking Buddies on Netflix, which we both liked. Cold nights at home together, in socked feet tangled on the couch, are my favorite.

Sunday morning I baked cookies for a friends' Super Bowl party. I was really there for the company, snacks, drinks, and commercials - while everyone else was really into the game. My favorite part: Bruno Mars and the Chili Peppers in the halftime show. Dancey!

We're now home for the second half of the game, Guiri sleeping on the floor, Flavio with beer in hand, eyes glued to the TV. Meanwhile, I'm watching highlights from the Puppy Bowl, blogging, and eating leftover cookies fireside. Delightful.

PS: I haven't seen all the Super Bowl commercials yet but I did see this one and loved it. :')

PPS: I love the time capsule aspect of blogging, that I can scroll through the archives and see what last year's Super Bowl weekend looked like. Re-reading old posts brings past memories and feelings right back.

{Sunday night, cookies and crackling fire}

Soak

My love of bubble baths has been documented on my blog (here), and it's finally gotten chilly enough to indulge these last couple of nights. How gorgeous are these bath time photos? It's a rainy lunch hour here and I'm dreaming of my nightly bubble bath with lavender epsom salts. Bring it.

You know how when you're swamped you gets tons done, but when you have more free time, you slack? That's been me lately. Not as busy as last semester, but with stuff to do, to grade, to prepare, to clean, but instead I've spent the week soaking up this (amazing!) read, watching this (stupid) show, and trying out a couple new recipes including Scallops with Apple Pan Sauce (so good) and Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs (easy and delicious).

I'm hoping the rain sticks around for the weekend. xo

{Photos via}

Podcast Love

Every so often, I get temporarily obsessed with one thing or another, and then move on. A couple years ago I was really into all-things Paris, decorating our guest room as a Parisian boudoir. Then I was majorly into soccer - not playing, but watching, and specifically Cristiano Ronaldo. For a while, I was totally fixated on Russian matroyshka nesting dolls and accumulated a large collection that included a Bill Clinton (random!).

But over this long break from work I've gotten a new craze: podcasts. How did I not know about podcasts before?! I don't have a smart phone and I guess I figured you needed one to listen to them, but Flavio showed me how to tune in on our TV and a slow burning flame has emerged. Being home for the last month, podcasts have become my companions - since Guiri doesn't talk. They're heartwarming, inspiring, and informative. Yep, obsessed.

My favorite podcasts are This American Life, RadioLab, Fresh Air, and Elevate Your Energy. Obviously, I'm an NPR geek.

Do you have any podcast suggestions? I'd love to hear. :)

PS: Did you know NPR has Valentines? So nerdy. Love.

Weekending, Christmas!

As expected, Christmas was quiet but lovely this year. I am usually in charge of something - desserts, appetizers, cocktails, playlists - but I was a complete Christmas Eve guest, responsibility-free, which was sort of nice. The relaxation spilled over to my blog and as much as I missed being here, it was a good little break.

Flavio and I try to be minimalists about Christmas. There are no oceans of wrapping paper, no endless rounds of opening, no piles of presents. Just some small stocking stuffers and a couple of meaningful things each - a nice scarf here, a good book there - and then we always choose something we can do together - an experience. So this Christmas we planned and booked a trip to Playa del Carmen for April.  Yay! Our formula for Christmas fun: food, music, movies, and simplicity. For us, it's the way to go.

{Christmas morning light}

Christmas Eve we had posole dinner with Flavio's mom.  We watched hours of A Christmas Story, ate a ton, and the three of us toasted at midnight. There were the usual family quirks, but it was a cozy night and we were happy to be there. I was missing my family but then something huge occurred to me... Flavio and Guiri are my family! This realization gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies and I went forward enjoying the holiday, feeling happy for my parents that they were in Hawaii, adding my own Clinton energy to my newish little clan.

{giant pot o' posole}

{Christmas Eve}

{posole, lime}

Christmas day we woke up late, opened presents, made a big breakfast, and went to our annual Christmas day movie to see The Wolf of Wall Street - which reminded me of Goodfellas, but funnier. I loved it and thought Leo did an amazing job keeping us entertained for three hours. We finished off the day with a sunset trip to the dog park, Guiri looking festive in her Christmas scarf.

{Guiri's present}

{new toy}

{She loves sleeping, playing and hiding behind the tree..?? Haha!}

{dog park, Christmas day}

Each Christmas, we try to get a new ornament and it's one of my favorite traditions. Here's 2013's bauble - a porcelain santa bell. Isn't he sweet?

The week between Christmas and New Year's always feels like limbo, waiting for more holiday fun. Friends were out of town and Flavio had to work, so I entertained myself with a lot of at-home movies, cooking, long walks with Guiri, and some obsessive de-cluttering and organizing. Sometimes, nesting alone in our sunny house feels blissfully meditative.

{lounging}

Highlights of the weekend included a mystery date to The Haven for pizza, sightseeing downtown to visit the new Central Library (gorgeous!), library book reading, lunch with friends from out of town, dinner with Jan and Gary (our San Diego parents), and hours of our new TV obsession, Homeland. It's totally addictive and is partially filling the Breaking Bad-sized hole in my heart.

{top floor, Central Library}

{Coronado bridge, Central Library}

{The greatest gift is a passion for reading. Central Library}

{book, blanket}

{just in case there weren't enough Guiri pics in this post}

{Sunday night, Homeland, wine}

I get to see my best friend of 22 years tomorrow. Anchorman II, tooling around, and a lot of laughter all on the itinerary.

On Hard Drives and Kindness

Sorry for the radio silence around here. Besides a terribly busy week, my laptop's hard drive crashed! I'd been getting the rainbow wheel lately, and ignored it, and then yesterday I got the dreaded blue screen of death! When I took it to the Apple Store, they ran diagnostic tests and about 5 employees asked me if I'd backed up my files. Backed up? Nope. No backing up over here. My external hard drive died a few years ago and I never bothered replacing it. The whole scene reminded me of this Sex and the City episode:

When they told me none of my data was recoverable, I started crying in the middle of the mall's packed Apple Store. Yep. Private tears in public spaces. Mortifying. I know it's not the end of the world, but I've been so tired that my coping skills are way down, and the result was a breakdown when I realized that all my precious photos and years of files are gone forever. Poof.

Thankfully, the woman helping me was a saint. She squeezed my hand, telling me this happened to her once, and to take it as a lesson learned, it sucks, but it's okay. She helped me see the positives: a brand new hard drive for a brand new year, getting the newest operating system, I'm still under their extended warranty (thank god!), and no more worries after today. She took AppleCare to a whole new level. It was a tender moment and a small gesture, but her kindness means so much. Surrounded by stone-faced holiday shoppers, bustle, and sleek machinery, she was a quiet example of good will and the true spirit of the season.

Friends, back up your hard drives and be soft with others.

Happy Halloween!

...from this little pirate to you.

What are you up to tonight? We're passing out $40 worth of candy (we always get a ton of trick-or-treaters) while drinking wine and watching Orange Is the New Black. I can't wait. Enjoy! xo