Day 263

Thursday 7/28/2011

BATT prep was in full effect Thurs. night! I finished up the shirts and moved onto the DVD covers. I just love doing this kind of stuff, especially for my oldest friends! Couldn't wait for this Tahoe trip. Can't wait for the next one!

Day 262

Wednesday 7/27/2011

As I was preparing for our Tahoe trip, aka BATT, I had to take some pics of old photos that were not digital. I came across this picture from our senior trip. We've got 9 out of 10 Besties in this pic...Hard to believe we were 17/18 in this pic and we're all going on 31!!! WOW!

Day 261

Tuesday 7/26/2011

Joseph and I did breakfast for dinner-team style. He made the bacon, I made the eggs-and appetizer! FRUIT! It was so pretty and colorful, made it pic of the day!!! YUM! YUM! YUM!

Day 260

Monday 7/25/2011

You'd think since I was back to school FOR REALS today I would have posted something about that...

Nah! Joseph and I went shopping and we are super GREEN!

Shout-out to using the Chico bags while grocery shopping!

Day 259

Sunday 7/24/2011

I have lived in our apartment complex for 4 years...and I am surprised what I haven't noticed! When I went to dinner the other night, I noticed this beautiful tree as the sun was going down! It just lit up in the soft light; I am pretty much obsessed with it.

Day 258

Saturday 7/23/2011

Our newlywed & our prego! Kristen hosted us for a phenomenal "Girls' Night In" at her house! We hit the pool, Shady Lady, and then went back to the house for a champagne toast, games, and dancing! We had A LOT to toast to-including these two!

I am so glad to have such great girls to have so much fun with!

Day 257

Friday 7/22/2011

Friday night dinner!

One of my VERY favorite places in Sac!

3rd-wheelin' it with K10 & Mike.

Day 256

Thursday 7/21/2011

Attention Walmart Shoppers...

Hahahahah! I went in to Walmart at 8 am to grab some spray paint....and walked out with 30 boxes of Crayons!!! I cannot resist the Walmart school supplies. I don't need the stuff, but I cannot get enough of it!!! There are just a few brands I will not compromise on: Fiskars scissors, Crayola anything, Expo markers, & elmers glue. Know about it!

day 255

Wednesday 7/20/2011

This is what I see every week, 3x/week as I am leaving bootcamp to head to work. On Mon., Wed., and Thurs. I head downtown for some good ol' pushups, squats, and the like! The picture is really no big deal, but, to me, it represents a new beginning, the hard work I put in, and a great start to each day! I Love Bootcamp!

Day 254

Tuesday 7/19/2011

Grateful! That is the word of the day. While many classrooms/teachers get 100 bucks or nothing for school supplies, my school still makes it a priority to make sure our students have what they need. I am very thankful for what we have. Plus, these supplies totally make up for the four walls and 2 boxes that are my classroom/heater/air conditioning!!!

Day 253

Monday 7/18/2011

State Fair Day!

Every year we go to the CA State Fair with K10 and Mike...we check out the exhibits, shows, baby animals, rides, food, and people!!! This year we were so lucky to see MC Hammer!!! He has still got the dance moves at 50! Even more fun to watch were the people in the audience.

Day 252

Sunday 7/17/2011

Returning home from Tahoe I was pretty drained. J was already over at K&Ks, so we decided to just stay. We watched the USA women lose, Giants WIN, and then decided to hop on the bikes for a leisurely ride and ice cream at Vic's. It was so relaxing-even though we looked like a bike gang riding through the peaceful, shady streets of Land Park!

Day 251

Saturday 7/16/2011

Ray Romano. Troll. In The Face.

This was one of the most beautiful days I've seen in Tahoe. Blue skies, mild weather, that clear turquoise water....and celebrity golf!

There were so many memorable moments in the day. We saw sports figures that I'd only seen on TV-Jordan, Rodgers, Romo, Hardaway....they were all great. But, I had the troll and knew Ray Romano was the One person on the course that would probably humor me. i was on a mission and that mission was accomplished. Troll game has risen to another level!

We also hit up the beach and Vex that night-had a blast on the stage right next to Penny Hardaway and Dominic from SYTYCD then yelled at Guy Fieri as he strolled by in the casino! GREAT NIGHT!

Day 250

Friday 7/16/2011

I am so lucky to have good, make that great, people in my life. Katie and Shawnee invited me to celebrity golf with them... "spur of the moment" (for me 3 days ahead IS spur of the moment)!!! We stayed in South Lake at a hotel right on the water! It was such a romantic room with cool lighting fixtures and a fireplace! All 3 of us were really excited!

We headed up Friday evening and hit the casinos! Night one was a lot of fun and I was excited about the weekend!

Day 249

Thursday 7/14/2011

FEAR THE BEARD!

Kev got me this from a kid's party in the bleachers at the last game we went to. After dinner with K10, Mike, and Victoria we settled in to watch the rest of the game at our house...this was a must do!

Day 248

Wednesday July 13, 2011

Katie's Birthday!!!

Headed over for a swim party and BBQ at K&Ks to celebrate! It was fun to hang out with everyone...Kat found a creative way to display her guft for Katie! LOVE!

Day 247

Tuesday 7/12/2011

Joseph and I decided to have a Sac day and headed out to the Crocker Art Museum for the afternoon. As it turns out, we are more of modern art folks, and this was a lot of artifacts & impressionism work....sooooo it took us a little over an hour to get through all 3 floors. We decided happy hour was more up our alley, so we took off to the Shady Lady for a beer and some ham & cheddar hush puppies...as I said to J, (sarcastically & with a smile), as we were sitting in the sun outside of the saloon, "Our Life Sucks!"

Day 246

Monday 7/11/11

Day 245

Sunday, 7/10/2011

The end. It's always sad to leave everyone and such a beautiful place. We prolonged the trip a bit by stopping at the Bakery for potato fritatta, ham n cheese croissants, and coffees that could be passed off as artwork! Before we left, we did a quick Girls Weekend cheer!

Only two hands were missing-Steph's and Sarah's...next time we will ALL hopefully be there!

Day 244

Saturday, 7/7/2011

After a delicious breakfast a la Jenny, we headed out on a beautiful hike to McWay Falls! Paradise-just wish we could've gone down there! Then we headed to Big Creek to check out Jesse's family's property. It was beautiful, serene, there was an outdoor toilet....the creek was flowing-we even drank some of the water! The only snag in our entire vacation was that when we attempted to head back to the house, there was a really bad accident and the road was closed.

We decided to tour Big Sur, then try again. We checked out Ventana-a resort/hotel. Went back to the bakery...still no luck. Since we had dinner reservations, we tried to get in early. Didn't happen immediately, but soon enough we were munching on fries, burgers, and for me-beer at Nepenthe! It is a good restaurant with a GREAT atmosphere and view!!!

The night ended with a quick hike, Inbar and my engagement photos, dress-up time, chair bear pics, Apples to Apples, and looking at the stars-I felt like I could touch the Big Dipper! What a great time!

Day 243

Friday 7/8/11

We took a 2-3 mile walk down the hill to the beach. So glad we did. We did Emily's Long Beach track workout-running 300m in the sand at your top speed is HARD!!! When we first were down there it was incredibly foggy, but as you can see, it cleared up nicely!

The rest of the day included hiking back up the hill-much easier than expected! More cheese, crackers and vino! The moms arriving-YAYAYAY! A fiesta over the firepit-believe it or not, I helped cook! S'mores! And Amber's b-day celebration! Such a fantastic day!

Day 242

Thursday July 7, 2011

Ahhhhh....finally.

8 am meet-up. 2 stops in Carmel. Delicious sandwiches at Big Sur Bakery. Meet Up with the 1st round of Cooper cousins. Braved the "death road" up to the house...(which wasn't as bad as my dad made it seem-but then our trip was not mudslide rainy!).

After unloading, we headed back down the hill to pick up our 2nd set of Cooper cousin/aunt!Aaaaannnddd....really FINALLY-we were there. Over a cheese and cracker tray, we chatted and laughed. I snuck inside and took this picture looking out the window onto the deck. I love that it's so real-Emily genuinely laughing! This is what Girls'weekends are all about!

We also spent tonight eating amazing carmelized onion Guyere fondue, followed by our "blind" wine tasting game, and chocolate fondue with delicious fruit to finish. Perfect 1st night!

Day 241

Tuesday July 6, 2011

For the last 7 or 8 years the ladies in our family have gone on a girls' trip. South Lake, Palm Springs, Newport Beach, North Shore, and now-BIG SUR! We try to make a little mix tape each year; these are this year's!

Thank you, Joseph-best one yet!!!

Day 240

Monday, July 5th

***COMMAND CENTER 815***

HA! Having borrowed my mom's computer to transfer some pictures, we ended up with 4 laptops and a monitor sitting on our coffee table. Looked nuts!

Day 239-FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR!

Monday, July 4th-MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!

I LOVE 4th of JULY!!! I like what the date represents, I like the swell of pride many feel for their country on this day, I like the colors red, white & blue together, I enjoy the decorations, I LOVE fireworks, but...I think a lot of the reasons July 4th is my favorite holiday is shown in this picture.

It is a time where family and friends can get together and enjoy each other and summer! I am always reminded of that scene from "The Sandlot" where the boys grab hot dogs and run out to the field, and then can't play ball cause they're memorized by the fireworks! that's the epitome of how I feel! Growing up, that's what July 4th was all about: family, friends, BBQ, summer heat, swimming, fireworks, and celebrating!

This year we did all of the above, plus had a leftover pinata from the weekend. After a Cirque de Soleil-ish routine by David and Sean to get the pinata hung, the kids surely enjoyed racing to gather the candy that's scattered on the driveway!

Day 238

Sunday 7/3/2011

I couldn't pick just one. What a perfect wedding! So much love, so much family, so many friends, lotsa traditions, a STUNNING bride, tons of dancing, my bro and cousins break-dancing, sweating through our clothes, family photos, cute babies/kids, beautiful setting, just an overall FANTASTIC event! Congrats Sean & Inbar!

Thank you Tor for letting me use your camera for the weekend! Couldn't have taken such fun pics without your generosity!!!

Day 237-BANG!

Saturday July 2, 2011

Of all the preparation pics I took for this event...and all the amazing details pics I took....and all the beautiful pics of Sean and Inbar, and cute ones of the kids...this one's got my heart. These are ALL of my 1st cousins on my mom's side. I am soooo glad that this happened. It makes my heart sing and soul smile. I know it would make my Grandma's too!

Just a couple notes on the rehearsal dinner: my aunt did a phenomenal job with all the food, decor, EVERY detail-right down to the plates and utensils syncing up to create a classy western celebration! Inbar was a teriffic bride-to-be, making sure to hang out with every guest...and Sean had a blast doing what he does-feet in the pool, drinking beer, rocking his Longhorns hat, while singing his favorite country songs! It was a fabulous event and kickoff to a GREAT weekend!

Day 236

Friday July 1, 2011

Today was VERY exciting for me cause I hadn't seen my little sister in over 3 months. We picked her up at midnight an it was a blast to make a ruckus and hold her sign out the window as we rolled through Oakland Airport to pick her up! SO good to see her and SO good to have her home!

Day 235

Thursday 6/30/2011

Game-On Diet is done!!! This pic is dedicated to my cousins and Game-On teammates Emily and Jacque!!!

My cousins recommended that, since I lost around 20 lbs., I should attempt to pick up a flour bag that weighed that much. Well, I did-and it felt like a TON! No wonder it was hard for me to run before...Jeez! It makes me motivated to lose 20 more....then I can be like, an olympic runner or something! LOL!