Hello, Cali

We are enjoying the second day of our summer adventure. So far we have finished last minute Burning Man shopping, seen the view of San Francisco from Coit Tower, driven over the Golden Gate bridge, eaten Thai food with our cousin, practiced early morning yoga and driven to South Bay to hang out with out besties. Loving every minute so far!

project life | week 33

{Aug 12-18}

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How are we already 33 weeks into the year?


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When I typically work Mon-Fri (as opposed to Tues-Sat), the week usually seems particularly long, but this week we had lots of things going on which made it a fun one.


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Spent lots of time with the fam this week. Mom came back from Taiwan and the boys are so happy to see her.


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I enlarged a photo I took during our dinner party on Wednesday night. Love the 8x8 size.


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More pics from the party.


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I shot looking down for my 12 photos on Aug 12th.


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Again, keeping the project simple makes it easy to keep up but adding random touches satisfies my creative side.

weekend update | not goodbye but see you later

This Saturday we attended not one but 2 going away parties for 2 boys that are moving away for their jobs. Both kept saying that they would be back sooner rather than later but we were still a bit sad about it.


The only photos I took were with my new Instax to give to our friend, and, of course, a photo of that Instax so I could keep a copy of it! {I have been severely lacking in taking pics this week; I wonder if that is why I have been in a melancholic mood lately}


dress: Banana / shoes: Gap / belt: J.Crew / bag: Gucci / earrings: gift'd / bangles: Alexis Bittar
I did try to brighten things up with my 39th birthday dress. Joe asked why I was so dressed up and I replied, "I am wearing flip flops, so this is casual :)!"

The weekend just reminded me that the important things in life aren't things but the relationships you keep with friends and family. I hope you were able to do something fun with the loved ones in your life!

packing...

...a peek at some of the outfits we are putting together for Burning Man next week. 

finally Friday

top&skirt: J.Crew / shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

We are going on vacation next week and it can't come soon enough. Just gotta make it through this working weekend! 

heavy hearted

One of our dear friends lost her furry baby to kidney failure yesterday. The hug committee went over last night to be with her. P was devastated but knows Chitty is in a better place now.

old favorites

top: Anthro / skirt: Old Navy / shoes: Tory Burch / earrings: gift'd

I am not quite at the point where I can just blindly grab and wear anything in my closet and look put together, but I am slowly but surely getting there. This is especially good on days when I am in a mood and not wanting to think about what to wear. What do you go to when you are just not in the mood?

project life | week 32

{Aug 5-11}

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I have been actually keeping up with this album in real time, but posting a week behind so that when I am too busy to  keep up I have a back log :)


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These days I seem to be adding more pics from some days and none from others and I am ok with that.


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Also still keeping it super simple, focusing on words and photos and less on embellishing each little pocket. As much as I love seeing all the creative Project Lifers out there, especially on Instagram, right now for me keeping it simple is the best way to get it documented and done.

weekend casual

top: F21 / shorts: J.Crew / shoes: Gap / bag: LV / necklace: gift'd / bracelet: Chan Luu

How is it that the hours during the weekend seem to speed by so much faster than the week? I am just happy Monday is an extra day off! Hope you had a great weekend!

the brown dress

dress: ABS / shoes: Payless / sunnies: Gucci / necklace: gift'd
Over the course of my  outfit documentation these past few years, I have noticed one trend in my closet - I love pretty dresses and tend to keep them for long periods of time.


I bought this one specifically to wear to our rehearsal dinner, many moons ago.


And it's made it to many other special occasions.


I am happy to have found a way to make it work in my everyday life wardrobe these days. 

sister (and hubby) style

her: top: Mango for JCP / skirt: from Maine / shoes: 9West
me: dress: Old Navy / shoes: Sam Edelman
These days I rarely see my sis without the boys and not in a tee and shorts so I like to capture moments when she is dressed up. We attended a ballet young professional happy hour with her. She cleans up nicely, although the iPhone is notorious for taking blurry photos in lower lighting.


him: top: Ben Sherman / pants: Club Monaco / belt: Zara / shoes(unseen) : Jack Purcell
The hubs is as cute as ever as well

a bit lost

dress: Banana / shoes: Tory Burch / sunnies: Gucci / necklace: Anthro

Now that the Olympics are over we're not sure what to do with our time. Granted, we didn't watch this past week as religiously as we did when swimming was on, but we didn't watch to miss this event:

{photo courtesy of earthlingorgeous

}One of my friends wondered how much $$ and convincing she needed to return as Posh and I've heard it is their last reunion, but I thought they looked better than when they were popular!

project life | week 31

{July 29-Aug 4}

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Still just focusing on photos + words these days.


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I added lots of photos from Marc's birthday party on Saturday night.


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One of the other highlights of the week was that my sister and her boys returned from their month-long trip to New England. I was in definitely baby withdrawal!


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Marc's bday party photos


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The OCD in me loves that major events in our get documented chronologically and quickly.


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Funny story - Joe and I attended an art event a couple months back and had our photo taken. When our local "social" newspaper came out, they cut Joe out of the picture! Another friend also made the paper so I added his pic too.


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And another week down in the books.

weekend update | date night

We had a quiet Saturday night this weekend - just used our Groupon to Quattro, the restaurant inside the Four Seasons next door.


Their menu was not completely veggie-friendly (we shared a main dish of eggplant Parmesan and sides of mushroom and truffled mashed potatoes, which were delicious!) but the signature dessert was yummy and pretty.


dress&necklace: Calypso for Target / shoes: Gap
And, really, I will use any excuse to wear this dress.

{All photos taken with iPhone Camera+ app, edited with Snapseed&Camera+ apps and uploaded directly to Flickr from the phone. I love it!}

on the mat | grounded

In almost every yoga practice (at least that I have attended), one of the first things the teacher will say is to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground (i.e. your mat). And when your hands touch the mat, they should be firmly planted as well. This helps stabilize your body for the pose, keeps your aware of your limbs and connects you to the earth.

For me, the practice of keeping my feet and hands firmly planted on my mat not only keeps me more aware during my yoga practice, but also keeps me grounded when I am off the mat as well. A friend recently mentioned to me that I seem quite level-headed and calm and my response was yoga. Something about the practice keeps me grounded and more accepting of things that life throws my way.

Happy weekend to you. Namaste.

A good combination

top: Theory / skirt: J. Crew / shoes: Payless / earrings: gift'd

This outfit made me happy. The combination of old (top, which I've had forever) with new (skirt, this year) and high (Theory) with low (Payless) proves to me that style not where you buy your clothes but how you wear them. And a little lot of pink is always a good thing.

Accessorizing

top: LoL for Target / skirt: Old Navy / shoes: Tory Burch / sunnies: Gucci / belt: J.Crew

I love updating old closet favorites like this obnoxiously colorful top with new accessories, like this neon orange belt. After all, isn't "what separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize"? (Steel Magnolias).

project life | week 30

{July 22-28}

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Still keeping it simple and still loving every little bit.


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Since I count my week from Sunday to Saturday, the weekend gets broken up, so some "events" may seem repetitive. What I am learning to do is remember specific moments about our days, rather than  sweeping generalizations. And some days may have more memorable moments than others. (Like 2 big photos from our Project Runway night - one documenting everyone there and one because we also celebrated a friend's birthday that night.)


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Taking photos everyday is pretty much just something I do now. I'm so happy I have a vehicle in which to showcase those everyday moments!

weekend update | another one bites the dust

We celebrated the 40th birthday of one of my dearest friends this weekend.


Marc is really one of our favorite people ever - just someone who makes your life better by being in it.


He is well-loved by everyone!


dress: Trina Turk for Banana / shoes: Gucci / earrings: gift'd
And my outfit was a hit. I can't tell you how much I love this dress - it's comfortable, flattering and so easy to wear. {I will confess that I changed my shoes halfway through the party. I can only sacrifice so much for fashion these days!}