It's almost a new year...

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! I hope you all have fantastic celebrations tonight while you ring in 2009. I am thrilled to be saying goodbye to 2008 and am hopeful for a brighter new year.

My friend Brenda from Phydeaux tagged me to take part in a little walk down memory lane...

10 years ago I was finishing my first semester of college. I was completely up in the air about what I wanted to major in, but I was leaning towards fine art. Most of all, I was thrilled to be finished with high school.

8 years ago I was looking at art schools in San Francisco and New York. I was dying to get out of San Diego.

6 years ago I was living in New York, making my art school dreams come true. I was really home sick and missed my family and sweet boyfriend (who diligently visited me every semester).

2 years ago I was living with my (still) sweet boyfriend and our cute little yellow cockatiel Diego.

5 yummy things

1. Vegetarian Pho
2. Tiramisu
3. Persian Cucumbers
4. Margarita Pizza - basil, tomato, mozzarella cheese. What could be better?
5. Tadiq - there are many amazing things about Persian rice, but my absolute favorite is the browned crunchy cracker-like rice that cooks at the bottom of the pot. If you ever find yourself in a Persian restaurant you should be able to find tadiq on the menu (it will usually be under the appetizers). YUM!

5 places I would like to escape to

1. Italy (never been)
2. Ireland (never been)
3. DC (the BF and I went last year and LOVED it)
4. New York (I haven't been since school)
5. Chicago (never been)

5 things I would never wear

1. The Skort - Just ewww
2. a uniform
3. Flesh colored nylons
4. Real fur
5. Stiletto heals - they look hot, but I would be on the floor

5 fave TV shows

1. Big Love
2. True Blood
3. Entourage
4. The Office
5. Arrested Development

5 things I enjoy doing

1. Cooking
2. Making jewelry
3. Hiking
4. Making art
5. Drinking wine

5 favorite toys

1. My MacBook
2. Holga Cameras
3. Nintendo Wii
4. My car
5. My awesome butane blow torch (for silver smithing)

Feel free to play along and let me know so I can link to your list.

Merry Christmas

Merry (almost) Christmas everyone!
My gift to all of my friends in blog-land is a fantastic "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe. They have crispy edges and chewy centers. YUM!

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup butter, softened
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat white flour)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts
* 1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, cranberries and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto non-greased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Anniversary

The BF and I celebrated our 7 years of togetherness yesterday. 7 whole years! We spent the day together in Julian, the historical town/community known for it's apple pie.

I love visiting Julian around the holidays. The air is cold and crisp - sometimes there is even snow. Yes, snow in San Diego. All the shops are decorated for Christmas, the streets are filled with people drinking hot apple cider and your filled with the feeling that you have somehow stepped back in time.

We weren't quite prepared for just how cold it was, but we braved the elements and had a romantic lunch and shared a piece of amazing pie. We also did a little window shopping and took a bunch of pictures.

Some New Pretty Pieces

Really Gorgeous Golden Rutilated Quartz Pendant on Multi Colored Spinel Necklace



Chic and Modern Amazonite and Sterling Silver Bracelet

Check them out in the shop!

Ahhh, it's Friday again

My BF is very smart and catalogs all of our digital pictures in very neat and organized folders on the computer. He even used some fancy-schmancy numeric dating system that I don't completely understand for all of the folders so we have an exact date of when the pictures were uploaded.

I'm sure that if it were up to me, the pictures would be all over the place with no rhyme or reason and I would have to neurotically click all over to find that one pictures I was looking for. That is why I am the artist and he is the smarty pants web developer. (Can you tell I'm proud?)

As luck would have it (or a very methodical and organized system) I found this picture that I love so much!

The very smart BF is great about documenting all of our exciting adventures and this scrumptious fruit plate was from his birthday extravaganza in Palm Desert. We also had some tasty mimosas too.

But most importantly, when I see this picture I can still feel the hot sun beating on my toes, taste the sweet fruit we ate and remember how thankful I am for my BF's heightened analytical skills.

Bahhhh! I love SNL

I swear that even though it would appear that I have completely forgotten how to write and only use my blog to post videos, I promise that really isn't the case. I have very important things to blog about which I will get to at a later date. Right after this awesome SNL video.

Happy Birthday

Oh to turn 6 years old. Too cute!

Prop 8 - The Musical

Not only is this video completely hilarious, entertaining and full of recognizable celebrities, the point it makes is beyond true.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

I scream

You scream

We all scream for ice cream!!

Ah, it doesn't take much to make me happy. All I need is a cute picture of a cat licking an ice cream cone to brighten my day.