Beachy Keen

Just add margs.



*I'll be back here today with a few more Bahamas posts so stay tuned!

Black and White and Beachy All Over

Sometimes black and white are the only colors you need.

Where My Head's At

{somewhere in the Bahamas}

Don't you just want to dive in?

My Parents Are Too Cool for School!

Go check out my parents' wedding featured on APW! Yay!

Reyoon!

I'm counting the seconds!  Tomorrow I will be in the most beautiful tropical locale with the loves of my life, soaking up the sun and each other's company.  Does it get better than that?  I think my life has peaked.

For days I haven't been able to do anything but dream about waking up to balmy mornings, cheese souffle for breakfast, rum-dums and pringles all day long, and games of confession in the evenings.  So today, I'm not going to post any recent pictures or stories.  Instead, I'm going to drag you on a trip down my memory lane with some of my favorite pics from the last time we were in the Bahamas together in 2008. 

Indulge me.  I promise to do this sparingly at most.

Girls, six years later, you still "are my college," but you are also much much more.  I can't wait to see your pretty faces!!!!!

P.S. it's impressive what a dinky 2008 point-and-shoot and a little post processing can do, eh?

Wysteria Season

Is here.

{oh heyyy Leslie}

And there.

I wish this post was smellable!

{All photos taken in Berkeley}

Webbed Feet

Are so cute.

{photo taken at Chrissy Field in SF}

Cityscape

The down town/SOMA district of SF is one part of the city that I haven't spent much time exploring; most of what I know of it I've seen from the backseat window of a cab.  But as my days living (part of the time at least) in the Bay Area are dwindling, I've been trying to take in everything while I can.  So this Saturday, while Brian and I walked all over the place on an unsuccessful hunt for a book store, I paid attention, and I looked up.

I am such a steadfast disciple of modern design in my personal taste that most of my friends might find it hard to believe that I even have the capacity to appreciate the traditional and historical.  But it's true.  My heart melts over a crumbly old church, too.  And I credit my ability to appreciate and love old buildings to the most fabulous Italian woman.  She was the definition of chic - black wardrobe, red lipstick, impeccable coif -  and she was my professor when I studied abroad in Florence.  She taught a class about the history of Florence as told through its architecture, and each class period, we would walk around the city and she would tell us stories about how things came to be built the way they were, and what they were used for over the centuries.  It was probably the most inspiring class ever, and it legit made me want to be a city planner for like 5 minutes (ok, maybe 10).

I realize that the history embedded in the Florentine cobblestones has a few centuries on San Francisco, but walking the city streets on this unseasonably warm Saturday, I still felt a heavy sense of appreciation for the way new and old mix so easily in this city, not competing with each other, just different parts of a story over time.
 

{St. Patrick's Church, built in 1870}

I think of the new as the city showing what it aspires to be, like it's attempt to put its best foot forward.  But it's the old remaining among the new that gives the city depth, a soul, a story.  Sometimes those old buildings are there because they're the only ones that survived the earthquake, but sometimes they're there because people cared enough about them to protect them, preserve them, and restore them.  And that, to me, is the part of the story worth knowing.

{SFMOMA and the Yerba Buena Gardens}

Unrelated side note: Is anyone else saddened by the fact that all the book stores in down town SF are out of business?  Brian and I searched out FOUR different book stores in an attempt to buy a travel book for South America and they were all gone.  I know the Kindle/Nook is cool and all, but am I the only one who still loves a good ol' paperback?

P.S. I know this blog has been very un-LA lately.  That's because I'll be in SF for the next few weeks finishing up law school.  So bear with me, and I hope you enjoy the NorCal me in the mean time!

Look Up

It's easy to miss life above street level.  But sometimes, the best views are up there.

Fancy Pants

I love a good excuse to put on my fancy pants (or more likely, skirt), probably more than the next gal.  Fancy dresses, fancy finger food, and fancy cocktails are probably three of my favorite things.  So of course, I was so excited when Brian told me that his company was having a big celebratory gala, and even more excited when he told me that the theme was "From Hollywood to Bollywood" (visions of saris dancing in my head).

The party was on Saturday, and we met my friend Leslie, who came as a co-worker's +1, at our room at the W (very fancy schmancy, in keeping with the theme of the post).

{fancy windows} 

{fancy view} 

{fancy mirrors that I'm only a little obsessed with}

{fancy accessories}

And then, in my desire to document all fun parts of life, I insisted on a photoshoot on the window seat.  Thanks for putting up with me, friends.

{my fancy date - fo life}

So this party was on Treasure Island.  Have you ever been there?  When Brian first mentioned that that's where it was, I was like WHOA.  Treasure Island just sounds so...fantasy land, like maybe we'll find a pirate ship and exotic mer-women while we're there.  But then I was like whaaa?  Because, I mean, the reality of Treasure Island is that there's no there there.

But turns out Treasure Island is an awesome party locale as long as you have a gigantic clear tent, duh.

 

Pretty sweet, eh?  And the views!  Quite fancy.

I think my favorite part of the night were the Indian dancers in saris.  You must know how much I love saris!  I wanted to have an Indian wedding just so that I could wear one (or multiple), but no one else seemed to understand (can't imagine why not).  I think they just look so graceful and feminine and exotic.  And fancy.

 {how gorgeous are they?}

Or maybe my favorite part was the mini ice cream cones...hard to say.

{clearly excited by the revolutionary mini-cone concept}

They also had these uber trendy couches that look like normal comfy sofas, but then they're actually made out of hard plastic-like material.  I want them for my [non-existent] yard.  They are so cool.  But just a warning, sit softly.

{Leslie, looking lovely on the fancy way-too-cool sofa}

Oh!  And they had flipbooks!  As in, there were photobooths set up with props, and they would take a bunch of pictures in a row of you doing goofy things and then print them all into a flipbook.  Awesomeness ensued, and I'll let you imagine what that looked like (I may or may not have been doing the "Walk Like an Egyptian" dance).

Anyhow, eventually, the night progressed into a crazy-fun dance party (as all good nights do).

{I will spare you any actual pictures of us dancing}

And then, with a sudden switch of the lights, it came to an end (as all good nights must).

{fancy boa}

Other than the eel sushi (which really does not need to be discussed), it was an all-around smashing good time.

I wish every weekend was a fancy weekend.

Sunset Snapshot

Today's sunset is brought to you from a happy hour in Aruba.  Why Aruba, you ask?  Because Aruba is close (enough) to the Bahamas, which is where I'll be watching the most beautiful sunset this time NEXT FRIDAY (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

Fill in the Blanks Friday

Lauren does this thing every Friday where she asks questions, and then a bunch of bloggers answer them and link up so you can see everyone's responses.  And I like reading the responses, so why not join in?  Here we go!

1.   The best prank I ever pulled was      a surprise birthday party for my friend Ally that inclulded an ice luge (which I broke and then had to tie together with ribbon) and a shark pinata.

2.  The best prank ever pulled on me was    also birthday parties! I must be the easiest person to surprise ever because my (awesome) friends at law school have thrown me 2 surprise birthday parties already haha.

3.  A day without      carbs     is a day wasted.

4.  The most important things in life are     intangible.

5.  I dream of     Jeannie. Sorry, too easy.  For reals now - I dream  of...having too much storage space in my apartment, and living a life where there are too many cocktail parties.

6.  I dread      Team work.  Jam hands.  Traffic.

7.  A discovery I made this week was       Netflix work-out videos on streaming!

That was fun.  I might do this again next Friday :)