hello 2013!

Being silly on It's A Small World Holiday (Disneyland, of course!)

Happy 2013!  As this previous year finally comes to a close, it's time to start the new year fresh and begin blogging once again.

Everything about this last year was challenging, exhausting, and stressful, so it definitely feels really good to get a 'fresh start.'  Here's hoping for new and great things this year!  (Looking at you, Year of the Dragon...)

Nothing felt better than having a long 4-day weekend... one that actually started off early on Friday since we were allowed to leave work at 3p - woo!  Saturday we braved the crowds (which turned out to not be too bad) at Disneyland.  Sunday we met with my friend/co-worker at Disneyland for our usual Sunday vinylmation trading at Downtown Disney.   We even had time to get some lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which I've been dying to try.  I had the special Holiday Turkey Sandwich (basically, Thanksgiving dinner on a roll... I was even surprised that I didn't mind and actually liked the little bit of cranberry), potato salad, and a brownie creme sandwich (chewy brownies made with Ghirardelli chocolate sandwiched with chocolate creme - essentially frosting), all of which I've read about before and it was all delicious.  Even Matt, who is not always a fan of toasted sandwiches, liked his turkey and swiss sandwich.  I'm just excited to have another tasty food option at Downtown Disney.

 Earl's Holiday Turkey Sandwich - yum!

Monday, we met with my Norcal/Stanford alum cousins for Korean BBQ for dinner (they were visiting for the Rose Bowl game today) and it was great to catch up.  Clearly, I am an old person though because my actual NYE night was pretty lame - I barely stayed up until midnight and fell asleep soon thereafter, not much celebrating done around here and I didn't even have a drink to toast the occasion lol. 

Today has also been equally lazy... I meant to do some things like bake some chocolate chip cookies or have a major crafting day but I just couldn't get things going.  I did have Matt help me pick up a tray of pint-sized mason jars which I've always wanted - for crafting and kitchen purposes.  Can't wait to see what I can do with those!  I think I'm mostly sad that the long weekend is coming to a close (felt too quick yet again!) and am trying to avoid thinking about going to work tomorrow (ho-hum) so I spent the majority of the day watching sports, napping, and reading.  Very relaxing but it would've been good to be more productive.  Ah well, I think it's never bad to ease into a new year... Just have to live in the moment sometimes!  

And it feels really good to be back in the blogging world... especially with a new blog design :)

hello 2011!

Hello world!  I feel like I've been MIA from my blog for a long time, even if it's just been a few weeks.  Now it's mere moments away from being 2011 (a whole new year!) and I feel like I need to catch up on what's been going on in the last bits of 2010.

Things have really been topsy turvy lately.  I went from beginning to plan my new study schedule for the February Bar exam to go along with my crafting and Etsy-ing to interviewing for and getting a new job!  That came out of nowhere, for real.  So, that's where I've been the past few weeks, just adjusting to a lot of new things.  It's been challenging and stressful and frustrating at times, but it's good, too, and good to be earning my own money again.  We really needed it!  Although it's been a lot to take in, I'm going to look at it as another challenge and go into it with a fresh attitude and mindset for 2011.  Some day I'll look back on this day and think about how silly I was for feeling so overwhelmed.  It's just adjusting and becoming comfortable - I just wish it'd feel natural already, but looking back at my first job out of college, I remember feeling the same way.  So I'll try to work on some patience and keep an open mind.

Even in these few weeks, besides the job, a lot of fun stuff has been happening.  My sister bought her Disneyland annual pass and we went twice in the span of 4 days (and even survived a rainy night the second time).  After she flew home, Matt and I spent a lovely Christmas at his parents' house with family and friends.  It's always good laughs and craziness and this time was no different, especially when we encountered an interesting character at the bar on Christmas Eve that became completely smitten with Matt's mom's friend.  Yikes.  Definitely a story to remember.  And we got to meet up with some of Matt's dear friends and it turned out to be a lot of fun catching up.  

I got some lovely things for Christmas but I think I've gotten to the point where it's more about the time and festivities than it is about the gifts.  I didn't get anything major but it was cute to receive thoughtful little things, like handmade crochet takochu from my sister, a Smashbox makeup kit from Santa, a super cute monkey plush, a yoshi plush, and cute keychain and coin purse from Matt's grandma.  Now that I'm making my own money again, I can't wait to start paying off some of my debts that have accumulated.  Also, my goal (hopefully soon) is to buy my first DLSR camera.  I'd love to improve on my Etsy shop photos and also, I'd like to be able to take some nice photos just for myself.  Maybe for art around the house or just as inspiration for crafts.  My sister just bought her first one so I'm waiting to see/hear if it's great and hopefully I can pool some money together from my Christmas money and save some from my job and get one soon, too.

I've decided that this year, I will do the yearlong photo-a-day project.  I learned about this too late last year to do it so I've been waiting for the start to the new year to get it going.  I'm planning on taking a photo a day for the entire year, to keep a photo 'scrapbook' if you will of things that happened each day.  I'm sure some days won't be as interesting but I think it's a fun challenge and to look back on 365 days' worth of photos might be pretty cool.  I haven't decided if I'll post the photos on my blog or my tumblr, but I might do it on both.  Just a short entry each day.  I'm reluctant to go through the hassle of creating another blog and have yet another thing to maintain when I already have trouble with the ones I have now so I'll just keep it simple.  I'm excited and I hope you will be, too!

I'm not one for big new year's resolutions but I think I have some goals for the new year.  They're just general ones but I think they're good to keep in mind.  Like I already said, I'm looking forward to a fresh start and having more patience with things.  And I'm hoping to find a nice balance between work, studying and play so I can succeed at everything.  I miss crafting and wish I could expand on my Etsy shop.  I also want to make sure I sketch and write and take more photos...I have so many cool crafty mediums and this blog and a tumblr that need more attention and a lot more re-focusing and re-design.  I want to make 2011 great and am looking forward to a lot of great changes and growth.  I'm not sure where 2010 went but I'm sorta glad it's over because it was rough at times, but I hope 2011 has a lot of great things in store.  I'm ready!

Photo yearbook day 1 is coming up soon! :)