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Green California

Refresher

Chia|Honey|Lime|Orange|Blackberry|Mint|Water

Super

Gogi|Coconut|Blackberry|Chia|Vegan yogurt|

Just do it.

Be present in all things

And thankful for all things.

Merry merry

Stamp of approval

Invest in small things that you love and feel really represent you and you will get more than your moneys worth. I can say that about a lot of things but this month more than ever I have gotten so much use out of my wedding stamps. 

I bought a tree stamp for my programs 

And a pine one for my escort cards

And I can always find a use for them 

Christmas cards

Delivery boxes

Cake boxes

Christmas presents (db bought Justin Bieber, no judgments)

Thank you cards

Sooooo many uses. I've put them on labels, on cups, on walls, even stamped my dog because I dunno why, he walked by and we thought he'd look cute.

Night out with my sugarplums

Back in August my gf & I ordered tickets for The Nutcracker in SF and have been waiting oh so patiently for the day to finally arrive. I was a little nervous because DB isn't much of a theatre person but knowing I wanted to go was enough for him to grin and take it. Luckily, he enjoyed it more than I did. The man is cultured and appreciates a good ballet and I was so grateful for it. We've made more of an effort to branch out and do things that the other has more interest in that we normally wouldn't want to do and it's made us closer and the friendship that I thought was perfect already, only gets stronger. 

We ate at a little café next to the opera house 

Got coffee

Hella good London fog 

And headed over 

It was beautiful and everyone was dressed so perfectly (including myself as a woman complimented me on my scarf, I gave her my info and the next day she bought one from my etsy shop, Cha-Ching). 

During intermissions and after the show we met up with our double daters for some photos and laughs and hopped on the BART train back home. A successful night in the city.

Holla-day bakes

This month has been legit and lucrative as far as creativity is concerned. There are always more cake orders around the holidays and and this time one of them came with an offer to work with a caterer in the Bay Area as her "go-to cake lady". Holla. 

In one week I had to bust out a cake for a 76th birthday 

And a last minute order (and by last minute I mean she called the day before and wanted by 10am the next day) for a woman whose son decided he wanted to get married after his last final was over, way to celebrate. So his mom wanted him to have a little cake to cut, I've never done a "mini wedding cake" but I think now it's my new favorite thing. 

She saw the birthday cake and wanted something similar, hence all the pearls and draping roses.

And then there were office Christmas parties 

With biscoff and ganache cupcakes

And my bestie hosted a gorgeous cookie exchange with some great girls. I can't bake a cookie to save my life so I busted out some truffles 

And stayed out all night with the girls forgetting that my husband had a cookie exchange the next morning so I stayed to until 1 making 80 Russian teacakes which came out perfect for the first time but sadly I was too tired to photograph them.  Christmas is coming up and we are hosting it which means more desserts to come, gonna find a good use for all the fruit I froze.

Booked and bound

Be true in your truths

Christmas crafting blah la la la la

I painted my ornaments and my wine glasses 2 months ago and thought I'd be free of Christmas crafts yet here I am full of the spirit again. Every year I seem to make a new stocking because I misplace the old one. This year I made one for Boo dog with little hounds on them. I saw brown trim and couldn't resist. 

And with the leftover fabric I made a wreath

All is merry and bright. 

Saltwater

This week was so cleansing. Everything that had seemed to be an issue was not given a second thought and I owe a lot of that to the fact that I married a man who knows exactly when to book us a getaway. We spent the night at the most amazing resort. We walked down to the private beach, had dinner in the restaurant that makes only local and seasonal foods and watched the waves from our bed with the fireplace going while eating vegan chocolate parfaits. Perfection. We woke up and opened our glass door so we could watch the sunrise on the water before grabbing breakfast.  Today we got home in time to catch the ugly sweater run and party back at home. God is good.

This quote is sums it all up

Bee Eff Eff

I am truly blessed to have a best friend who for the last 6 years has been everything a friend should be and more. We have disagreed lovingly and openly but never argued. We are honest to the point where lesser friendships would have crumbled and that is because we recognize that what is being said is always out of love and never envy nor spite.  Our failures and successes are shared and not a single day has gone by where we haven't communicated. We've had to downplay our friendship to others as a means to protect it, that is how sacred this bond is to us.  She is beyond a sister and I would never want to live my life without her in it.  If I could marry her and my husband, I would. Just feeling terribly grateful tonight for all the good that I have.

"It is during the worst times of your life that you will get to see the true colors of the people who say they care for you."

Foods: Andy Nguyen & Temple coffee

Just eating my way through life.

Andy Nguyen is a top fave for me.

I love Asian food and I love veg food, win.

We ordered two spring rolls which come out about 6 pieces per roll

The menu items have names like "peaceful existence" so when you order you really can't help but smile "I'll have the eternal happiness please" 

This time around we got a noodle dish 

A clay pot 

And a faux meat and veggie dish. 

So 5 people, 3 family style entrees and 2 appetizers came to $58 plus we got lucky and snagged a groups for $10 for $20, not bad at all for food that makes you feel good after you eat it. 

We went to Temple after and sat outside and laughed and just appreciated where we are and what we have. 

And what I had was called "enlightenment" (full of zen that night) which was green tea and honey steamed in soy milk for a pricey $4.75 

But totally worth it for the atmosphere. The Thai coffee is amazing as well.