It's December!

In November...

 

Handsome Husband spent a few days in Portland, Oregon at a Negotiation competition, and found out he would be traveling to a few competitions in 2014 also!

I got to spend the morning catching up with Cousin Snapshot and Best Cousin during Cousin S' visit to So Cal. 

L-R: Cousin Snapshot, Me, Best Cousin

 

We hosted a fun birthday dinner at our house for birthday girl, Mother-in-Law Red!

 

Gardening Mom, Sisters Singer and Swimmer and their friends and BF YOLO, Handsome Husband and I kicked off the holiday season with the Tree Lighting Ceremony we attend every year!

HH and I at Tree Lighting

 

HH and I commemorated this pregnancy with some maternity photos (that I've yet to share on the blog...coming soon, promise!) in Old Towne Orange.

 

Sneak peak - I'll share more soon!

 

Handsome Husband kicked his studying into gear for finals - and we started getting really excited that once he is done with finals, little Baby M will be making her grand debut any day!  (And because I'm neurotic, I started worrying about what I would do if I went in to labor during one of his 3+ hour long finals.)

 

Cousin Study Buddy and Mr. UNC accompanied HH and myself to a USC basketball game when we were lucky enough to get courtside seats from Gardening Momma's boss.  The game was exciting, but I was a little nervous the entire time shielding my basketball (aka my baby belly) from stray balls and players.  Luckily we stayed out of the action.

 

Best Friend Cute Apartment hosted a lovely baby shower for me to celebrate Baby M's upcoming arrival with all of my closest girlfriends.  It was gorgeous, and I will be sharing details soon!

Me and the hostess with the mostess, Cute Apartment

 

The family got together to celebrate the birthday of Tutor Girl - she's getting close to the big 3-0, and I admire her for loving that instead of loathing it as I do!

 

We attended the wedding reception of a good friend of HH's from law school, and were happy to celebrate their recent nuptuals with them.

 

Aunt Fancy Chef treated the ladies in HH's family to a day of yummy food!  First we had a lovely breakfast, followed by a super fun cooking class!  I can't wait to go back, the cooking class was so much fun!

 

Thanksgiving was full of family and great food and as usual, we were feeling blessed to be able to see both my side and HH's side of the family on the holiday.

 

I opted out of Black Friday shopping, and instead chose to do some Black Friday crafting and wrapping with Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer.  Gardening Mom and I managed to crank out some adorable burp cloths which will be making their way to the blog very soon!

 

We wrapped up the month with a lovely Hannukah Dinner at Gardening Mom and Hat Dad's house - and I got my annual fix of potato latkes!  I can never get enough, especially leftovers!

 

In December?  I'm crossing my fingers for a slightly early arrival of little miss Baby M, and we've got lots of fun holiday events to attend!



Goodbye, October!

In October...

 

Handsome Husband and I were lucky enough to be invited to the new beautiful home of The Esquire and Baker Girl.  We enjoyed seeing their brand new place, and an amazing dinner prepared by BG!

 

I had the dreaded 1-hour glucose test, failed, freaked the eff out, took the 3-hour test, and passed!  Very typical Stress Casey behavior to have a meltdown before the problem entirely presents itself.

 

I had a lovely time catching up with an old high school teacher of mine over coffee (well, decaf tea for me).  It was so nice to hear about a program I was heavily involved with in high school (Model United Nations, for those wondering), how it's changed, and to get Mr. T updated on many of his former students and the awesome things they are doing nowadays.

 

HH and I got to head to San Diego for a soccer game on the field I spent so many days and nights watching him play on!  This season will be the last that there are players on the team HH played with, so it is a little sad for him, the end of an era, if you will.

 

We had one busy Saturday in mid-October!  We started the day off with a kickball game (okay, I watched a kickball game) with some of HH's newer friends from law school, were hosted to a lovely BBQ at Best Cousin's new place, and ended the evening with a viewing of Captain Phillips after being invited by Aunt Fancy Chef to join her and some family at the luxury movie theater!

 

 

We got to support some fundraising Kindergarten Teacher was doing for her chosen charity by attending an evening at a local wine bar.  Though my glass was longing for wine instead of water, the conversation with some of my favorite ladies made up that.

 

Handsome Husband and I set sail on a Tiki Cruise around Newport Harbor with some law school students. 

 

Gardening Mom and I got a start on our Christmas Shopping at Citadel Outlets' annual Shopping Extravaganza!  This year, MIL Red and Grandma Beach Bum decided to join also, so it was fun to meet up for lunch and a break from the shops.

 

Aunt Fancy Chef invited us to a lovely charity event for South County Outreach called Empty Bowls, where we got to try lots of yummy soups from local restaurants, bid on some silent auction items (though we didn't win, boo!) and listen to some lovely speakers.

HH and I at Empty Bowls

 

Handsome Husband attended a Boot Camp for New Dads!  Though he said he didn't find it all that informative, I still think it's cute!

 

I was showered with love and some pretty awesome gifts for our little New Years Baby at my family baby shower!

 



 

We celebrated Cousin Halloween's 7th (he's getting way too old these days!) with pizza and cupcakes during a mid-week birthday party!

 

Halloween ended the month, and we were content with eating fajitas and handing out candy to our whopping two trick-or-treaters!  We also spent some time thinking about how fun it will be when our baby girl is here for next Halloween!

 

In November ... We've got a lot going on!  There's a few birthdays coming up, some holiday events, our maternity photos, a second baby shower for this little lady, and lots and lots of prepping for her impending arrival! 





A Scary Revelation

Want to know something scary I just realized?  (Though, sadly, it's been true since March 16, 2013.)

I am now closer to 30-years-old than I am to 20-years-old.

 

I often feel conflicted over aging.  Sometimes I feel excited about what life has brought me and continues to bring, and no where near worried or anxious about my age.  And then, sometimes...not so much.  Sometimes I feel worried that the years are going by too fast.  Worried that I won't have the time to do everything I want to.

I feel ashamed that I'm 25 (and a half) and don't have a Bachelor's Degree yet.  I feel anxious that in less than 5 years I'll be 30 and I don't want that to be true anymore.

I feel like I have lots (okay lots might be an overstatement) more babies to have, and I just want to be done before 35.  (Side note: No judgement for those who choose otherwise, whether voluntarily or due to health, financial or any other reasons.  My own Gardening Momma had kids in her late 30s.  'Tis a personal preference.)

 

Might be morbid, but every year I age is a year everyone else ages, and losing people that are important to me scares the living daylights out of me.  I don't want to know what that part of being a grown up feels like.

 

On the other hand, I'm so excited to be in the current stage of my life.  Blissfully and happily married to a man I love and can't get enough of.  Starting a family right around the time I always imagined.  Making memories in the home we worked so hard to buy.  Watching my younger sisters grow into young adults.  Witnessing the youngest generation of HH's family get bigger and bigger - with us adding a little lady to the mix now, too!  Working for an organization I respect, one where I feel valued, compensated appropriately, and important.  Having my relationship with my parents settle into a happy adult stage, something I never knew I wanted until it happened.

 

Here's hoping my 30s will be even better than my 20s. 

But the next 4 1/2 years don't need to fly by or anything.

Is it Fall Yet?

Here we are, jumping into September!  This year is flying by, and I can't believe we will have a baby here in just four short months.

In August...

 

The beginning of August started super fun for me, as we were on our Girls Trip in Seattle!  You can see tons of photos and read all about the girl time in my recaps HERE.

 

We made some big changes with the vehicles in our life - more details to come on that soon!

 

Handsome Husband and I started a baby registry, and the next day I enlisted the opinion of non-Mom but great friend, Cute Apartment to round out the registries with necessities, and of course some cute frilly pink items for our little Princess.

 

We helped warm the new home of our some of our newer friends that HH has met through law school.  The Chicago transplants are loving their new place in Orange County - they are close enough to see Disneyland's fireworks and walk to Angels Stadium!

 

Hat Dad and Gardening Momma invited us over for dinner, and it ended up being just the four of us.  A rare occurance, and though we love big family dinners with Sisters Singer and Swimmer, it's nice to get some one-on-one (or two-on-two, I should say) time with the 'rents.

 

We officially hit the half-way mark in this pregnancy!  20 more weeks (less now!) and this little girl better be on her way!  You can read weekly Bumpdates HERE.



 

Handsome Husband is officially back in school - a bittersweet time, for sure.  Sad for the summer to be over, happy to be inching closer to that finish line.

 

Cute Apartment and I took after the Real Housewives of Orange County when we took a painting class at a local restaurant.  We both walked away with some pretty pictures, and it was a fun middle-of-the-week night out!

 

We had a big birthday party weekend, with MIL Red's fiance, Mr. Bear's, 50th birthday and Cousin Ronomon's 30th birthday parties squeezed into one fun weekend!

 

And tomorrow we will end the month spending the day with some of our very favorite people, watching one of our HH's very favorite sports - we're heading to a Galaxy Game with our friends, Twin Oh Yeah and Future Dr. Babies.

With our friends all the way back in October 2011



Aloha August!

Double month recap time!  Oh yeah oh yeah!

In June...

We started off the month with birthday celebrations - dinner at Goofy's Kitchen for Sisters Singer and Swimmer, and a local Italian restaurant for Gardening Mom.

 

I had a long overdue meeting with an old friend, filled with catching up and apologies, forgiveness and moving forward.

 

We headed to the San Clemente pier to one of our favorite restaurants for a perfect Saturday lunch with Cute Apartment and her Boyfriend Number Cruncher.

 

Arizona was calling our names, and we finally got back out on the boat!  The whole family went out for Father's Day and it was so nice to spend some time in one of our favorite places (especially with the addition of brand new air conditioning!).

There was lots more family fun to be had when Uncle Firefighter, Nurse Auntie, and Cousin Snapshot and her darling kiddos came to visit!  We had two lovely dinners, and it was nice to see family that we don't get to see as often as we'd like.

We finally revealed to family that there was a little BABY in our future!  It was so fun to tell all of our family, and a relief to have the secret OUT!

I got to get some more practice in with my camera when I took some photos of Mother-in-Law Red, and Mr. Bear.

I graduated from 1st trimester to the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy - time is flying!

In July...

Handsome Husband spent some time at the International Negotiation Conference, negotiating with law students from all over the world!

We celebrated the 4th of July by hosting our friends for beers, bbq and a big surprise!

 

Best Cousin and I headed to the fair to see Colbie Callait, and I was inspired to write my first letter to our little baby on the way.

We got to see all of our favorite future lawyers at a Vegas-themed birthday bash!

HH and I spent the day with Cousin Study Buddy and company - breakfast followed by a fun-filled day at our neighborhood water park and pool!

Handsome Husband's family finally got together for another Poker Tournament!  It had been long overdue, and I was so happy (almost as happy as I would have been had I won again) that Tutor Girl took home the prize!

We got another little peak our our sweet New Years baby on the way, and a few days later held a Gender Reveal party to find out whether we are expecting a baby boy or a baby girl!  I can't wait to share with all of you in just a few days!

In August? The ladies in my family head to Seattle for a long weekend, there are lots of birthdays to celebrate, HH goes back to school, and we'll get to see our little Baby M again!



HBD, GM.

Today is one of my favorite people in the entire world's birthdays: My Gardening Momma.

 

That's her as little cutie in front, sitting with my Bubby (Yiddish for Grandmother) and my Great Grandmother in the back.  All such pretty ladies - right?

 

My Gardening Mom is one of the hardest working women I've ever known, and she totally deserves to have a day to herself just lounging, relaxing and doing whatever it is that she most enjoys (which would probably be gardening, a hobby I just can't get on board with) for her birthday.  But because of her aforementioned work ethic, she will probably be busting her butt at work and barely acknowledging that today is her special day! 

 

But I acknowledge it, and can't wait to see her this evening for a lovely family dinner over Italian food! 

 

HBD, GM!

(Happy Birthday, Gardening Mom - if you don't happen to speak Handsome Husband lingo.)

No April Showers Here

In April...

 

I got to spend a lot of time with Cousins Halloween and Teeny Girl, as their mama Cousin Study Buddy studied into the late hours with my very own Handsome Husband.  Law School final time is a real joy, lemme tell ya.  But the only saving grace has been hanging out with my two little friends so much!

 

We had a long overdue dinner with Baker Girl and her husband, The Esquire, over for dinner.  We got to catch up with them, and we loved hearing about their new home plans, their exciting jobs and just catching up with an all-around wonderful couple.

 

We celebrated Lucky P's arrival and Tutor Girl's second time becoming a mommy with a Sip and See at Grandma Beach Bum's house.  I put together a super (in my never to be humble opinion) adorable and useful gift that you can see HERE.

We had a fun morning at the Farmer's Market at Orange County's Great Park with Mother-in-Law Red and Mr. Bear.

To celebrate two years of smiles for Sister Swimmer and her BF YOLO, and for me to get some camera practice, we headed to San Juan for some cutesie photos of the happy couple!

Handsome Husband's family got together at Lucille's BBQ to celebrate two special birthdays!  Grandpa Backgammon and Uncle Lighting!

Another HH Family event - the Annual Family Golf Tournament!  For the past few years, I've enjoyed attending the tournament and taking photos, as this girl is no golfer.

We had a fun night out in LA to celebrate the birthday of my dear friend, Best Friend Swagger!

I had a fun day with Gardening Mom, hopping around our community garage sale, hitting up a garden show or two, and doing some craft area organization!  May sound boring to some, but we live for some good sorting of craft supplies!

HH got deep into studymode for his upcoming finals, which start May 1st!

 

Linking up with Jennifer.



Kiss Me, It's April

In March...

We returned home from our East Coast Vacation, which you can read about HERE.  Look out for another vacation recap coming this week!

I hosted a birthday dinner for Hat Daddy-o, and made the most adorable miniature desserts, also coming to a Stress Case blog post near you soon!

Gardening Mom and I made it all the way to Pasadena to check out the famous Rose Bowl Flea Market, and walked away with two wooden ducks (Mom, not me).  It was at the same time slightly overhyped and completely overwhelming.

I turned the big 2-5 and my generous parents took me and Handsome Hubs to a wonderful surf and turf dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse in Newport Beach to celebrate.

Handsome Hubs and I hosted a birthday party to celebrate our 25th birthdays (we are a week apart!).  The theme was Tacky Las Vegas, which you can read more about HERE.

San Diego friends!

Me and Twin Unicorn on the L, Best Friend Swagger and I on the R

St. Patrick's Day came, and with it came Tutor Girl and Cousin Ronomon's new bundle of joy, Lucky P.

HH and I with P on St. Patty's

A week after me, HH turned 25, and we had a fancy date night at the movies.  Have y'all heard of Cinepolis?  It's amazeballs, gotta check it out.

The super comfy seats at Cinepolis

Mother-in-Law Red and Mr. Bear hosted a yummy Italian birthday dinner for us to celebrate our big days with HH's fam.

Cousin Study Buddy turned a year older, and we got together over Mexican food and Coors Lights (and funfetti cake!) to celebrate!

We had a little belated dinner with my family at our place to celebrate HH's birthday with his all-time favorite dinner - Salsa Chicken.

We ended the month with a family fun day at Grandpa Beach Bum's to celebrate two awesome things: Easter, and Cousin Teeny Girl's 5th birthday!  

R: Cousin Teeny Girl aka The Birthday Girl! L top: The Heartfelt Family, R bottom: Me and Lucky P

The Greatest Day

25 years ago today, Mother-in-Law Red bravely suffered through 22 long hours of labor to deliver a late little leprechaun (just six days after St. Patties) weighing in at 8 lb 7 oz and 21" long.

Because the stars aligned and God looked out for me, twelve years later, he met me, and quite a few years after that, he became my best friend, and even a little while after that, he became my husband.

Thanks for taking one for the team, MIL, and thanks for picking me to celebrate all the rest of your birthdays with, HH.

PS.  He's totally gunna kick my ass for the leprechaun joke.

Adventures in Pinterest: Tacky Las Vegas Party

It's been mentioned on the blog here and there, but for those of you who don't know - my sweet Handsome Husband and I are a week apart in age.  My birthday is exactly one week before his (I know, I'm a total cradle robber!).  So, most often, we combine our birthdays and celebrate with a big ole group of special friends!

This year was no different as we turned super old a quarter of a century this month (actually, HH's birthday is TOMORROW!), and I was itching to throw a theme party.  After lots of ideas, and many debates, we settled on a theme I had never actually heard of before.  Color me original.

Tacky Las Vegas

Tacky is really in the eye of the beholder, but to me?  Tacky Las Vegas begs for cocktail waitresses, tacky tourists, Hawaiian shirts, and lots and lots of sequins (though I love a good sequin piece of clothing, don't get me wrong).

Of course, I headed to Pinterest for inspiration and walked away with these two projects to copy make my own.

Source: entirelyeventfulday.com viaCasey on Pinterest

Source: Casey on Pinterest

With some Dollar Tree playing cards, some old white ribbon I had lying around, and a glue gun - I came up with my Playing card garland:

And while I was fresh out of adorably chic apothecary jars, but I added a little pizzaz to a vase and candle holder:

There were a few other little details here or there, and some adorable outfits from the night.  The best part about the night though?  Cheesy as it were, it was spending another birthday with some wonderful friends, and it was especially sweet that it was in our home that we found just before our last birthdays.

Something all of these ladies have in common?  We went to high school together.  What can I say, I love a good longterm friendship.

Definitely the winners of best costume: Twin Oh Yeah as a magician and his girlfriend, Future Dr. Babies as his assistant.

My very Handsome dealer, and me as a tacky cocktail waitress.  You can't quite see it in the photo, but my "name tag" says "Bill's Gambling Hall & Saloon: Trixie", my code name for the evening.

Linking up with: The Vintage Apple, Something Swanky, Vintage Wanna Bee, Ginger Snap Crafts, Lil Luna, I {Heart} Nap Time, A Diamond in the Stuff, Live Laugh Rowe, 504 Main, Tatertots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Six Sisters' Stuff, C.R.A.F.T., Delightful Order, House of Hepworths, Positively Splendid, BEAUtiful Mess/Keep Calm and Carry On, Southern Lovely, Someday Crafts, Chic on a Shoestring Budget, A Night Owl, Creations by Kara

The Proposal: A Guest Post by Handsome Husband!

First, I’d like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CASEY!!! I can’t believe it’s already the fourth anniversary of your 21^st birthday; time flies! Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful day!!

 So…the proposal. Where do I begin?

 I bought the engagement ring at Robbins Bros about a week before I planned to propose. I had driven up to Orange County for the day (somehow without Casey) and had a great alibi already planned out for the inevitable “what did you do today?” question that I was so sure Casey would ask (and she did. And she believed my answer).

Anyways, some of you might be thinking “why did you buy the ring at Robbins Bros, HH?” or “their rings are overpriced!” Well, at the time, we had a friend by the name of Twin Unicorn who was working at Robbins Bros. Not only did she make the ring buying process was less stressful but she was also able to hook me up with a discount!! Side note: Casey had already went in to Robbins Bros a few months before to check out some different ring styles so as to make sure that when I did buy her an engagement ring, it was one that she would like. Based on how well you know her from reading this blog, are you surprised?

Neither was I.

Back to the story. I got the ring. I drove over to my grandparents house and said “hey guys! Here’s an engagement ring I just bought because I’m proposing to Casey soon so can you hide it for me until I need it? Kthanksbye!” No, it was actually a little nicer than that, plus they were expecting me so it wasn’t SHOCKING news to them. After the ring was in its hiding spot, I returned to sunny San Diego.

The date was Saturday, April 4, 2009 and Casey and I were at a park celebrating my cousin’s daughter’s first birthday (Cousin Teeny Girl!) with my whole family. The only thing I remember from that party is being a bit anxious because my proposal plan was already set in motion.

I tried to time our departure from the party to coincide with that of my grandparents because they had the engagement ring with them in their car (as I had instructed them to do, not because they chose their car to hide my ring in). When we were walking to my car, I gave Casey the keys and told her to go start the car and that I have to go help out my grandma with something. According to Casey, this was a very weird request because apparently my grandma didn’t appear to need much help with anything but she got over it and got in the car. I went over to my grandma’s car, got the ring, put it in my pocket, got in my car, and started driving to the place where I had chosen to propose to Casey.

I knew it was going to be tough to get Casey to agree to go to the place I had chosen to propose, not because it was some disgusting, horrible place, but because she’s not a very “go with the flow” kind of girl. As soon as something gets off-track, she has a mild panic attack (love you, babe!).

So I asked her if she wanted to go check out our old junior high school, which as most of you may know, is where we met for the first time. Of course, and as I anticipated, my question was met with a very less than favorable response but alas, I was the one driving so therefore she had to do what I wanted to do (little did I know, that would be the last time we ever did anything I wanted to do that Casey didn’t want to do #marriedlife #justkidding #butseriously…).

We arrived at the school and parked in the mini parking lot. I think it is so funny how much smaller a school seems to get once you graduate from it and get older. I remember thinking that our junior high was SO big! Then, we went to the high school right down the hill and then I though the high school was SO big. Now, after going to college at a large university, both schools are ridiculously small, but I digress.

 

The Junior High we attended

 

This part was another part where I anticipated some more difficulties. I told Casey that I wanted to get out of the car and go walk around the quad of the school. She, of course, was saying things like “this is so dumb!” and “why are we doing this?” I just ignored all of that and began walking onto the campus because I knew she would follow me anyways.

First, we walked over to where we used to hang out in 8^th grade. There were these blue benches that we used to sit at, so we went and sat on them (you know, be able to really feel the memories better). My plan was to get Casey to stand in the spot where we took the famous (at least in our world) picture of us together in 8^th grade. I thought it would be very romantic to ask her to marry me in that very same spot (awwwwww!). But that’s not what happened.

 

 

We got to that spot and I gave her the whole “omg this is totes where we took that picture of us in 8^th grade!” thing and she was naturally surprisingly unimpressed. Not really caring about her lack of enthusiasm moments before I was about to change both our lives with a serious question, I was determined to still do it right there. She turned around for a second so I got down on bended knee and had the ring in my hand and then…………………

…………………she didn’t turn back around! So, I did what anyone would’ve done. I quickly got back up and put the ring back in my pocket before she could turn around and see the disaster that had just been averted and just. Acted. Natural.

From that failed moment on, I was wingin’ it. We walked over to the blue benches where we used to hang out in 7^th grade and sat there for a little bit, reminiscing ‘n such. I stood up (Casey was still sitting on the blue bench) and noticed that there was a mural painted on the wall to her right that I had never seen before so I very smoothly said “hey, I think that mural is relatively new.” Just as I had masterfully planned, Casey took the bait and turned her head to the right to look at the mural. When she looked back, I was down (again) on bended knee with the ring in my hand. Of course, she was extremely surprised to see me in that position and to see the ring. I started to say my piece, which was basically something along the lines of “hey. You’s cute. Let’s get married ‘n sh*t. Aight?” “Casey, you’re the love of my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

She said yes (she was excited about that!) and the rest is history!

At Mother-in-Law Red's House hours after we got engaged, with Cousin Ronomon and Tutor Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

CASEY!

For My Daddy

Today, I am:

Busting my ass cleaning my messy house.

Cooking ribs for the very first time ever (and by cooking, I mean I bought them and handed them to Handsome Hubs).

Making miniature desserts, because everything is cuter in miniature form.

Putting together a fabulous present.

Roasting some veggies, browning some rolls, and all around making a kick ass meal.

Picking the most perfect Pandora station with the perfect mix of classic rock for background music.

And celebrating.

Why?

 For my Daddy, whose birthday is today.

Without my Daddy,

1. There would be no me, a travesty for the world of course.

2. There would be no my Sisters Singer and Swimmer, also a sad fate for today's society.

3. I wouldn't know what it's like to have a Daddy-o who loves you for who you are, and all that you are, no matter what.

Things Thursday: Things Currently On My Mind

For a blog named Stress Case, there hasn't been a whole lot of stress mentioned on the blog as of late.  Partially because I am getting slightly more relaxed in more old age (this next birthday is going to kill me), and partially because I have just really sucked it up as a blogger as of late (see below for more on that).

I digress.

1. The fact that I have approximately 10% of my wardrobe in my car and need to bring it inside, wash most of it, and pack tonight for our East Coast Vacation.

2. All of the crazy violence that has been going on lately.  We're talking ex-cops gone nutso, a murder followed by shooting rampage that started a fourth mile from my home, and the horrific but less recent school shooting and movie theater shooting that still weigh heavily on my mind and heart.  I thought about writing an entire post about these (most recently about the shooting in Ladera Ranch, California), but thought it would come across as both inappropriate (I was not affected by any of these personally, who am I to be freaking out about it), and depressing.

3. Our joint birthday party (Hubs and I are just a week apart) that is fast approaching.  PS Is it totally inapprop to throw yourself a birthday party?  I figure I can get away with it since it is for both of us.  Thoughts?

4. On the same note - turning 25, in general.  Lots of mixed feelings about this one, y'all.

5. How inspiring Sister Swimmer is with her ongoing and expanding dreams of helping others - sister is on her way to Peru in the next few weeks for a mission trip.

Sister Singer (in blue) on her 2011 trip to Haiti.

6. Our San Diego friends and how much I miss them.  Here's to hoping we'll be seeing them at our upcoming birthday!

With our SD friends in SD, May 2011

7. How happy I am to be still completely and totally in love with my very Handsome Husband after almost two years of wedded bliss.

Our Wedding, February 26, 2011

8. The awesome things HH is doing in law school: kicking butt in classes, securing externships for the summer, and my favorite - meeting some really wonderful new friends!

A bunch of future lawyers...and me.

9. Friends, family, and the funny way dynamics change over time.  This one's vague, I know, but some things gotta stay private.

10. How insanely excited I am to see Aunt Delaware and company out on the east coast in less than 48 hours!

The last time I saw my Aunt Delaware - 2 years ago at our wedding!

5 on Friday

1. I have been super nasty sick this week, and it has been no fun!  Every once in a while, I think "wow it's been a long time since I've gotten sick" and inevitably, days later, I am hit with a nasty bug. 

2. Tutor Girl and I have got something fun planned for you coming next month - spoiler alert: we've done it once before, and it was sweet!

3. I can't believe this time next week I will be running around like a chicken with her head cut off to finish packing and head out for our week long East Coast Vacation!

4. I have a super awesome giveaway coming up (that was actually supposed to happen this week, but this little sickness of mine threw a wrench in my plans), that involves the following: chevron, hot pink, and fabulousness.

5. Can we just talk about how I am turning 21 for the fourth time in exactly one month?  Depressing.

Being sassy on my 21st birthday. 

My actual 21st, that is.

2012: A Year In Review

Check out 2011's review HERE.

January

We rang in the New Year  at our local Dueling Piano Bar, with my dearest friend, Cute Apartment.

Cute Apartment hosted a Very Merry Taco Tuesday Club Belated Christmas Party, which sadly was one of our last outings as the group sort of splintered in the coming months.

I managed to spell my own last name wrong, and document it at that.

Handsome Husband's family spent a Day at the Races in Santa Anita, and we made some moola by betting on horsies with cute names.

My favorite girlfriends and I took off the Arizona for Girls Weekend 2012, a tradition started the year prior in Palm Springs for my Bachelorette Party.

I got together with my blogging buddies, Neely and Amber, and co-hosted the Fabulous Valentines Challenge here on this little blog.

I started my Lots of Link Love series, and have loved spending the year recapping my favorite posts around the blogosphere.

February

Cute Apartment, Tutor Girl and myself headed to San Diego for my first-ever (and sadly, so far the only) Blogger Meet-up!  You can read about it on their blogs HERE and HERE.

HH's fam hosted another quarterly Poker Tournament, and Handsome Hubs himself took home the trophy this time!

We celebrated our first married Valentine's Day together, which truthfully was quite uneventful, but for some very sweet surprise gifts in my car after class from HH.

Tutor Girl and I hosted a Springs Sweets Swap on our blogs!

I had a friendship end unexpectedly, that truth be told still leaves me quite confused and hurt (10 months later).

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary, and I surprised HH with a dinner full of friends in San Diego.

March

As always, March was filled with birthdays - my Hat Daddy-o's, mine and HH's to name a few.

We officially started our Hunt to Homeownership on March 3rd - the day that we saw our home for the first time.

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day at a local pub, but not before being super social (as seen below) at a house party.

HH and I headed to Vegas for the weekend with Cousin Ronomon and Tutor Girl to celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries, and anything else we could think of at the time!

I celebrated my 1-year Blogaversary with a week of guest posts about Why We Blog.

 

April

We celebrated Easter with a brunch at Aunt Fancy Chef's House, and a dinner with Cute Apartment and her new boyfriend, Number Cruncher.

The fam, HH and myself headed to the little town of Blythe to celebrate some family anniversaries and birthdays - and spend some time with my favorite cousins.

Grandpa Backgammon celebrated a birthday in fun way with a night of wine tasting, lovingly planned by Gma Beach Bum!

The Family Golf Tournament came and went, and again I served my purpose as non-golfer, but super great photographer.

Twin Unicorn and I marched along with Grandma Beach Bum in the annual March for Babies Walk in Newport Beach.

 

May

Sister Singer performed in her last musical in high school, and we cheered her on like always.

We celebrated Mother's Day with a brunch in Newport Beach, followed by a fabulous Potluck at Grandma Beach Bum's.

I chopped off my super long hair to donate to Locks of Love.

HH and I headed to Palm Springs for the weekend with some of our closest friends to celebrate Memorial Day!

Felt like a real grown-up when I had to take a day off work to serve at Jury Duty for the first time.

June

Another month full of birthdays - Sisters Singer and Swimmer turned 18, and Gardening Mom celebrated one too (and y'all know I know better than to share a grown ass woman's age on this blog!).

We got together to celebrate Mr. Boot Camp's college graduation - fajitas, Patron and beer made for quite the little shindig.

Handsome Husband had a stomach ache one night that ended up being appendicitis and resulted in him having an emergency appendectomy - this was scary and I wrote about my minor parking lot breakdown HERE.

We watched Sisters Singer and Swimmer walk across the stage and throw their hats in the air as they graduated high school.

To round out their big graduation weekend, we headed to Arizona to celebrate their accomplishment and Fathers Day with Best Cousin and company.  Best Cousin wrote about it HERE.

We got together with some of our dear friends from San Diego to wish Twin Navy well on his adventure to Boot Camp (and incidentally, we will be seeing him again for the first time since next weekend!).

We jetted off to Florida for our long-awaited Disney World trip with my Sisters!

While I was in Florida, I had some fantastic bloggers share their stories about life When They Were 18.

July

We had a low-key 4th of July with multiple barbeques and some fireworks at our beloved local lake.

We were finally knee-deep into escrow for our first home, and we had an inspection near the end of the month.

The fair came to town, and we enjoyed a day with our friends.

I planned a fun Family Girls' Night Out at The Melting Pot, and we enjoyed martinis and fondue on a lovely Tuesday night.

August

The month started off extreme with our annual Arizona trip.

HH and I celebrated four years of being an us by going to an All American Rejects concert at the Fair!

My amazing Handsome Husband had orientation for Law School, and attended his first official day as a Law Student!

We headed up to Los Angeles to celebrate BF Fashionista's birthday at a fun sushi restaurant.

Cousin Ronomon had a birthday and we spent a day at the park celebrating.

Right before the month ended, we closed escrow and officially became homeowners!

September

We moved into our new home, and rejoiced that we had finally made it there!

Grandma Beach Bum celebrated a milestone birthday, and we had a lovely night out at the St. Regis to celebrate.

Our incredible friends helped us over one long weekend to paint the majority of our house, and we were insanely grateful.

October

I celebrated my one year anniversary at my big girl nursing job, and even got a little raise!

We got to head to San Diego for Alumni Weekend at HH's Alma Mater and spend some time with our old friends.

Gardening Mom and I headed to a family Halloween Party, where I rocked my Honey Boo Boo costume all night long!

Handsome Hubster was the coolest guy around when he brought my Halloween Layer Dip to work for a potluck.

 

November

We finally got to celebrate our newfound homeownership with friends and family when we hosted our Housewarming Party at the beginning of the month.

Tutor Girl did us a total solid and took some photos for our Holiday Cards this year.  See some hilarious outtakes HERE.

Best Cousin came for a visit and we had some wonderful girl talk.

Mother-in-Law Red celebrated a milestone birthday and we had a wonderful brunch at Grandma Beach Bum's in her honor.

We got to attend the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony for HH's (and Gardening Momma's) company again, and enjoyed some music, food and friends as always!

I spent a weekend in LA visiting with three of my favorite girls ever: Sister Swimmer, and Best Friends Fashionita and Swagger.

Cousin Ronomon hosted a fantastic birthday dinner for Tutor Girl in their home fit with amazing homemade Italian food.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with dinner at Gardening Momma's and dessert at Grandma Beach Bum's.

HH's family had their annual Ladies' Baking Day where we got to make tons of holiday goodies together!

The family weekend for HH's family continued, as we got together to take portraits as a group.

 

December

I hosted a little girls' night in when I had a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Viewing Party at our house.

We were very multicultural when we attended our town's Christmas Tree Lighting and Menorah Lighting all in one weekend.

HH and I got to pick out our first ever real tree together for our first Christmas in our new home!

Handsome Husband, Cousin Study Buddy and I hit the road up to Orange for a little shindig to celebrate the end of finals for our law students (first semester, that is) - all dressed to the nines in ugly Christmas sweaters of course.

Aunt Fancy Chef hosted another wonderful Ladies' Tea for us to celebrate the holidays together.

Gardening Mom has a beautiful Hanukkah Dinner, and I didn't consume nearly enough latkes to tide me over all year.

I hosted my first big holiday at our home: Christmas Eve.  With beef tenderloin, Christmas music, and a trip to see the lights around the neighborhood - the night was a wonderful success.

Handsome Husband and I had our first ever alone Christmas morning together, and it was glorious.

Christmas Day was long but lovely - presents at Gardening Mom and Hat Dad's, brunch at a local golf course with a gorg view, and an afternoon and evening of family fun at Grandma Beach Bum's.

We had a fabulous night out with some of my oldest friends at our very favorite dive bar.

And funny enough, tonight the year will end just how it started: at our local Dueling Piano bar with friends, booze and lots of laughs.