Favorite Wines

Now that spring is in full force, I'm getting excited about sharing wines with friends. Don't get me wrong, I love a glass of good wine year-round, but there's something extra special about enjoying a glass on a friend's porch while we bask in this wonderful California weather. Here are a few of my favorite wines, in no particular order:

I really like Merlot wine - but I'm very picky about it. Which is to say, I really like the Merlot wines that I actually like. I found this one by Bogle to be very enjoyable. My very favorite Merlot that I've had to date is by Lange Twins Winery in Lodi, but I don't know where they sell it so I've only ever had it in a restaurant.

This could very well be my favorite wine, ever. 6th Sense Syrah by Michael David Winery from Lodi, CA is delightful. It's full and velvety and everything good.

I'm not big on white wines, but Seven Heavenly Chards (by Michael David Winery) is great! This chardonnay has a smooth, full, slightly buttery flavor. One of my favorite treats is sitting down with a glass of this wine and a bowl full of fresh popcorn.

This Pinot Noir by Clos du Bois is excellent. Although I definitely prefer the 2008, the 2009 is also quite good and easier to find in stores. The flavor, again, is full (no watery wine for me, thank you very much!) and smooth.

(And yes, I do realize that it's painfully obvious just how inexperienced I am at tasting & describing wines. I know nothing of tannins and I'm scared of saying that wines are "fruity" or "nutty" or "oaky" because, honestly, I'm not 100% sure what those things taste like.)

Own the Night Tour

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I saw Lady A in concert! The photo above is of me and one of my best friends at the concert. It was a wonderful experience! I was never a huge Lady Antebellum fan but their latest album has several treasures and they're great performers.

The opening act was Thompson Square, a new country group that I really like. Unfortunately, it was pretty evident that they're inexperienced performers. But, I look forward to seeing them again when they've gotten more experience under their belt and know how to enunciate into a mic :).

Darius Rucker also performed and I'm not a fan of 95% of his country songs, but overall, the entire concert was awesome! I only wish it had lasted longer. If the tour happens to be coming near you, I highly recommend going to see it. It was worth every penny!

Here are a few of my favorite songs from the evening:

Love I've Found in You - Lady Antebellum

Dancin' Away With My Heart - Lady Antebellum

Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not - Thompson Square

An Ampersand & Another Ampersand...& More Ampersands!

Sorry for the poor quality. My phone has a terrible camera.

If the above photo has you thinking that I'm addicted to ampersands...you're probably right! I love them. I cannot get enough of them. And while I'm not sure exactly what it is that draws me to them, I suspect that it's a combination of their graphic beauty, straight lines, and gorgeous curves. Here's where all my ampersands came from:

1. The & pillow was made for me by my sister and co-blogger, Ashton. Etsy has a variety of ampersand pillows, in case you'd like to purchase one.

2. The poster print of ampersands in various fonts was purchased on Etsy from here. The frame is from Target.

3. The large, rusty metal ampersand was a birthday gift from my three younger brothers. They found it at an antique store in Oroville, CA during the California State Open Fiddle and Picking Championship Contest.

4. The smaller, thicker ampersand was purchased at Kohl's a while back. Judging from their website, they no longer have them.

5. The black & white ampersand print was purchased from this Etsy seller. The frame is from Target.

Procrastination

I've always been a master procrastinator, but now that I'm in grad school, it's reached a dangerous level. In undergrad, it's fairly easy to get away with procrastinating - your assignments are shorter and teachers aren't looking for the depth of knowledge and understanding that they expect at the graduate level, and that only comes with investing hours and hours and hours into your readings and assignments. I try not to procrastinate, but honestly, unless I wait until the last minute to do something, I usually end up wasting a lot of time doing anything except study during the time I set aside for studying. Here's what usually ends up happening during my "study" sessions:

1. Get to campus and set up my supplies - books, pens, highlighters, laptop, water, coffee/tea, snacks, articles, etc.

2. Get on the internet to do "research" - also known as, check facebook, catch up on blogroll, send emails, check other blogs not on blogroll.

3. Realize that the noise I'm hearing is the printer - turn on Spotify. Play around on Spotify for 5-10 minutes trying to find the perfect study music for the mood I'm in (country usually ends up fitting the bill).

4. Log onto library and conduct search for articles (this takes about 5 minutes).

5. Remember that I need to respond to a friend's text. While on phone, also send texts to about 5 other friends.

6. Look at search results and realize nothing there is helpful. Conduct 5 more searches, which turn up a total of 2 helpful articles.

7. Email articles to self to print later.

8. Watch an episode of a TV show on Hulu or Netflix.

9. Finally start on actual project. Go home after an hour or two because I'm too tired to keep working and need a nap.

However, here's what happens when I wait until the last minute to do something:

1. Get to campus and quickly set up work station.

2. Start typing frantically.

3. Finish assignment, proofread, print, and head to class to turn it in.

The wait-til-the-last-minute method is a LOT more efficient but it always leaves me incredibly stressed out and I realize that if I discipline myself to remain focused during my non-procrastinating study sessions, my life would be much improved AND I would no longer have to worry about last-minute things coming up and preventing me from finishing my assignments on time.

Ironically, I'm writing this post while I should be finishing up an annotated bibliography that's due this afternoon.

Grad School is Bad for Your Health

The picture on the left is from early September, 2011, just after I started grad school. The picture on the right is from a few days ago, about 6 months after starting grad school. Note that in the first picture, there are no bags under my eyes. Note the bags under my eyes in the second picture. Also I have three grey hairs that were non-existent last August.

Wreath Redux: Spring Edition

Remember the frame wreath I hung on my front door for Christmas? Well, I decided to set myself a little challenge and bring it back with a new twist for every season this year. Here's what I came up with for spring:

The "welcome" sign thing came from the dollar store and therefore cost only $1 - my only expense for this project! (The ribbon was wrapped around one of my birthday gifts from my parents. I'm pretty sure it came from Costco - that's where my mom buys all her ribbon.)

The entire thing only took about 10 minutes, which includes the time it took to go the dollar store on my way home from work.

I never really understood the point of wreaths, but I actually quite like them now! Even if my roommate and I were the only ones to ever see it, it would be totally worth it - the wreath adds cheer to every day and makes coming home extra special!

Linking up to Rhoda's Spring Door Decor party.

Words for Your Wall

Ever since joining Pinterest, I've been finding some perfectly lovely word art, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite discoveries here.

It took me forever to find the original source for this one! Aren't the pins that link to tumblr the absolute worst?!

Original source.

Cicero hit the nail on the head with this one! Original source.

I actually bought this one. It's lovely! For sale here.

Good motivation to stop procrastinating! For sale here. 

Alien Eyes

This is the only photo in this entire post where Cora's eyes look normal. Just one eye, actually. She was wiggling too much and her face got cut out of the frame. Her eyes are glowing alien-green in every other photo I took of her today, however, so this one ultimately made the cut :).

I found Cora under our coffee table with her ball so I grabbed it and threw it for her.

She ran and brought it back, flying around the corner.

 

Here she comes!

After retrieving the ball a few times, she was tuckered out.

She quickly moved on to her new favorite toy (a gift from my mom).

Isn't she cute with her head cocked liked that?

This afternoon, as usual, I took her out on a walk. It was supposed to be a quick 30 minute deal around the park, but on our way there we passed an elderly woman standing just outside her garage. Cora started to go up to her to be pet and the lady asked me a few questions and before I knew it, we were deep in a conversation. We ended up talking for an hour! The woman shared a lot of her life story with me and it was so interesting. It's nice to have the opportunity every now and then to listen to people talk and share their life and the wisdom they've gathered over the years. At the end of our conversation, she told me to feel free to knock on her door anytime and I just might take her up on it!

A Few Hours in the Country

A few weeks ago, I went home for a few hours and went on a walk with my mom. Abba (my younger sister) was up at one of the neighbors training horses so we decided to walk there and watch her. Here are some photos from our little trek:

Three Recent Pins

I've decided that every now and again, I'll write a post with just a few of the things I've recently pinned on Pinterest.

I love the idea of using more mason jars to help keep things organized in my bathroom! I hope to recreate this system sometime soon, but I'd use the jars to organize makeup brushes, various tubes, lip gloss, mascara, etc.

I saw this Shakespearean version of the "Hokey Pokey" and cracked up! The person who wrote it is brilliant.

Someone gave my roommate this lip balm for Christmas and she loved it so much, that our best friend and I decided to buy some, too. It is amazing! The lip balm itself is wonderful (and it smells really minty, which is delightful), but the real kicker is the unique shape. One of the most annoying things about lip balm is that when I'm feeling around in my purse, I frequently mistake it for a pen and vice versa. The unique egg-like shape of the eos lip balm, however, prevents this from ever happening.

Gungor's Ghosts Upon the Earth Tour

Last Sunday, my two best friends and I went and saw the music group Gungor in concert. It was absolutely amazing. I wish I had known just how wonderful it be, because I would have invited a lot of people I know to go with me.

The concert program was beautifully crafted to movingly narrate the history of God's desire for a relationship with us. Each song and the poetry that was performed between segments built to a beautiful crescendo of what eternity will hold for us. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

If you live in or near a city where Gungor will be performing during their Ghosts Upon the Earth Tour, I highly, highly recommend that you go see them and bring any friends you have who are seeking meaning in their life. I really think this is the perfect concert to introduce a non-Christian to Jesus and the musicians are extremely talented; together they create wonderful, unique music that anyone, Christian or non-Christian, would enjoy.

I Got a Dog (!!!)

So I have some news I probably should have shared weeks ago. I bought a puppy! Everyone in my life, including me, is really, really surprised that I did this. See, I've never been a huge "fan" of dogs. I mean, I like them and all, but my relationship with dogs tends to be one of toleration rather than love. I have always known that I want to own dogs, especially when/if I ever have kids, but I didn't expect to own a dog as a single person, especially since I will be living in apartments for the foreseeable future.

...Which is the other surprising part about this whole thing. I got a small dog. My family has always only ever owned large dogs and frankly, I don't even like small dogs. I barely even tolerate them when they're around. However, several years ago we visited some family friends and met their little Maltese dogs, which were totally awesome and don't shed! (Dog hair is one of the main reasons I'm not a huge fan - I hate it when the hair gets all over my clothes and then I have to wash/iron them.) Since Malteses don't shed and are super sweet little animals, I told myself right then that if were ever to get a small dog, it would be a Maltese.

Then, on February 6th, 2012, I was studying with a friend from church and he told me about a puppy an acquaintance of his was trying to sell. She was 7 weeks old and half Maltese, half Poodle. Well, after I saw the picture, I couldn't get her out of my mind! The price was right, so I called the guy and went to look at her the next Saturday with my sister, Abba. I decided to buy her!

Since she didn't have any of her shots, she stayed with a friend for a few days and then I brought her down to my parents' place - I didn't want to have her stay with me until she was fully vaccinated because Sacramento has one of the highest rates of Parvo. But I'm bringing her home this weekend and I cannot wait! The timing is really perfect because I'll be on spring break, plus since we just had daylight savings, there will be plenty of daylight at the end of the day for us to go play/walk in the park.

My pup's name is Cora and she is so sweet & playful! I decided to litter box train her, which I thought was really weird, but after googling it, I saw that litter box training is actually really common with little dogs. And one of my coworkers actually used to have a Cocker Spaniel/Poodle mix that she litter box trained. So far, Cora has done really well with the training. It took her a few days to get the idea, but she has been piddling in the box consistently for a few weeks now and my mom just told me today that she has started to poop consistently in the box, too. (Sorry if that is TMI!).

Anyways, I am really, really surprised but SO happy that I bought her! I know she will bring lots of love, joy, and activity to my life for years to come and I can't wait to start studying with a little dog by my side :).

City Sunset

Several of my friends get together a few times each semester to go to the top of one of the parking structures on campus and watch the sunset. I've never been able to join them but a couple weeks ago I had to park on the top level of one of the structures and I got out of class just as the sun was setting over the city. It was one of those rare occasions when I didn't have to be anywhere right away, so I sat on the hood of my car and took some photos.

Much as I miss living in the country, I'm learning more and more each day to notice the beauty in the city, too :)

In Case You Hadn't Noticed...

Just in case you hadn't noticed, I thought I'd point out that posting has been anything but consistent over the past couple months. Between my work/grad school schedule, and my sister Ashton's computer breaking (in addition to moving to a new place and dealing with other life changes), we just don't have time to post five days a week.

So, going forward, we're only going to post when we feel like it. What does that mean? Well, first, it means that there won't be a post every day...or, there might be multiple posts on a single day. It depends on our available time and our inspiration. It also means that we're only going to post about things that we really want to, that we really care about.

That's it! We hope you'll still stick around and read what we write but if you don't, we're fine with just writing for ourselves :)

Floral Scarf Round-Up

In case yesterday's post didn't make it crystal clear, I'm kind of addicted to scarves! In fact, I pretty much wear them everyday, all year-round. Sure, sometimes they're not the most convenient accessory (think puppies trying to play with them, or the wind blowing them all about), but most of the time they not only add a stylish flair to an outfit, they also serve a practical purpose.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who is also a scarf-enthusiast and I think we scared those around us a little bit with our passionate discussion of the benefits of scarf wearing. Here are just a few of the things we mentioned:

- Scarves add instant color or pattern to an outfit
- Scarves are absolutely wonderful in the winter when you're in that in-between state of too-cold-in-just-a-shirt and too-warm-in-a-jacket-or-sweater. You can simply take your scarf from your neck and wrap it around your shoulders. Voila! Instant maintenance of a comfortable temperature.
- Scarves are absolutely marvelous in the summer when you need protection from the sun - wrap it lightly around your shoulders or over your head.

Anyway, after organizing my scarves, I realized that one thing I am sorely lacking is floral scarves! So today, I decided to round up a few under-$20 scarves from around the internet. In no particular order:

$12.97 from Lands End Canvas. Also available in a pale coral palette. 

I've had my eye on this one for quite a while and may have to snap it up soon.

$16.94 from Old Navy. A beautiful, orangey-red tone.

$19.95 from Gap. Technically not floral, but I'm calling it "close enough."

$12.00 from Pier 1 Imports. So bright & fun, perfect for summer!

$14.99 from World Market. A more sedate floral scarf.

$14.99 from Target. I think this one may be my favorite of the bunch.

Bedroom Changes

I recently made two changes in my bedroom. Unfortunately, I forgot to get before pictures, but here are the afters!

The first change I made brought more organization to my scarf collection. I was given a couple scarves for Christmas and I also recently purchased a couple more. My once stuffed-full scarf drawer had been overflowing for a few weeks so I knew it was time to reorganize them. My bedroom has two closets, a large walk-in one and a random, very small one. So I decided to move all my clothes into the large closet and use the little one for scarf storage:

I still have some knit scarves in my drawer, but all the flow-ier scarves are now hung in my closet. I used a chrome tension rod from Target along with doubled-up plastic shower curtains rings to hang the scarves. I didn't put much thought into the order in which they're hanging, but I generally put the winter-weight scarves on the left and the summer-weight scarves on the right...though the thickness of my summer-weight scarves does vary quite a bit!

My summer-weight scarves.

My winter-weight scarves.

Here's the second change I made:

I've been meaning for a very long time to set up a little jewelry station on top of my two (stacked) bedside tables and I finally got around to doing it last week.

The great thing about this organization project is that I merely used things I already had. The white tray I got on sale from Target last year for only $5! The multi-colored dish is a present my sister brought for me when she went to India back in Fall of 2001. The other items are from a variety of places, including Target, Marshall's, World Market, and Ann Taylor Loft.

I purchased this ring holder a number of weeks ago from Amazon for $8. It's definitely worth it to have my rings so easily accessible.

  

 This dish came from World Market a couple of years ago and I use it to hold some of my more frequently worn bracelets.

So these are the two little changes I made. So far, I love them! My jewelry and my scarves are so much easier to access that I actually do put things away more often than I used to. Hooray!

(Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick's closet link party.)