Geek in Heels - Guest Post

Today I'm guest posting for my friend Jenny at Geek In Heels, on the topic of writing.



As a blogger I often get stuck writing - and I'm always looking for ways to improve. I share some thoughts and some helpful quotes from good writers.

Please check out the post and leave your thoughts!

Marriage is For Life

Have you seen this article on The Huffington Post by Iris Krasnow on the permanency of marriage?

'I Do' means 'I Will' not 'I May'

I found myself audibly affirming almost every sentence of this article; I think everyone should read it. Here is just a taste.

And so we make that choice every day, every fight, every disappointment, to keep our promise to be loyal and forgiving, to be a couple that lasts. We remember those words we exchanged, clutching each other's hands, in front of God and family and friends. A wedding is not a theatrical performance: it's the real thing, an adult decision that is supposed to determine the direction and integrity of the rest of our lives.

Amen.

Obviously, this written in the wake of celebrity divorce announcements from the likes of Kim Kardashian, but I can't get over the way media often portrays divorce - as a necessary evil to keep one happy in life, instead of the emotional wreckage that it usually is.

A dear friend of mine recently finalized a divorce after ten years of marriage and two young kids. It has devastated their family. While she had more than enough grounds for it, it still surprised me (and maybe others) with the emotional wreckage it left behind. It's ugly, it's painful, and the damage is permanent.

That said, healthy marriage - and I'm blessed to be around a few of them in my life (my parents' especially) -can be a deeply meaningful and beautiful thing, even if it seems boring to others.

Pastor Tim Keller recently came out with a book on marriage, written with his wife, which E and I added to our Christmas wishlist. We both really appreciate the way Pastor Tim Keller teaches and preaches and we visited his church when we were in New York in June.

Here is an interview Dr. Keller gave about the book on MSNBC and much more extensive Q&A with Tim and his wife Kathy on the book that I found really helpful.

"[when you get married] you fall in love with the person they are, as well as the person they will become."
Tim Keller

"Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate.”

W.H. Auden

Thanksgiving at Disneyland

Mickey & Minnie were great company on Thursday.

Disneyland was a lot more packed than we hoped, but as always, we went in with a strategy and didn't have a long wait in more than two lines. We missed Pirates of the Caribbean because they were re-opening it that day so the lines were insane and fast-passes sold out quickly. The new Star Tours update was really good - we had no idea they changed it! Much better graphics and story.

It was my first time going to Disneyland around the holidays so I especially enjoyed seeing all the holiday decor - the castle was beautiful! It was actually E's mom's idea. [She's not a fan of photos of herself so I didn't include any here]. Then, on Friday we went shopping in Old Pasadena and had fun starting our Christmas shopping (surprisingly it wasn't very busy!).  Sunday I made a thanksgiving dinner to make up for the missed holiday. It wasn't terribly creative, but I considered it a success!

Holiday weekends. So much of everything I love.















1. Captain EO (Michael Jackson circa 1986) and our favorite lunchtime show, Billy Hill & the Hillbillies
2. Spotted: The Mad Hatter and Alice, near the Teacups
3. Enormous Christmas tree, and E double-fisting and dominating his favorite game, Buzz Lightyear
4. The Christmas parade
5. Storybook land
6. Main Street USA at twilight
7. Mr. Toad, and the castle
8. I wore a Tshirt I bought four years ago and still fits! Breakfast at the Anaheim Hilton - YUM
9. E in his element at a used/vintage bookstore and coffee at Intelligentsia
10. Our belated Thanksgiving festivities - I did the entire dinner! so happy it turned out.


I hope you all had wonderful weekends with food, family and fellowship!


p.s.I couldn't resist digging up a picture from my very first trip to Disneyland - a few months before E and I started dating - and comparing it to one we took this week. What a different four years makes...

Giving Thanks

It's hard to believe it was a year ago that my whole family was out here visiting us over Thanksgiving. We're taking a little bit of a non-traditional approach to the day this year and going with E's parents to Disneyland. I'm hoping the crowds are light and it doesn't rain, but mostly I'm so excited to go back to one of our happiest places ever.

We weren't planning to celebrate Thanksgiving with a big dinner at all,but shopping last night I found a hormone-free organic turkey and it was small enough for E's family of four. So I'm going to be cooking a belated Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, for nostalgia's sake.

I hope you all have a wonderful time of reflecting on your blessings and spending time with family and friends tomorrow.

I'm thankful for:

My Savior

My husband

Many opportunities for the future, even though ours is currently unknown

Three computers, two bedrooms, one king-sized bed. All the comforts of home

Closets and dressers full to overflowing and an abundantly stocked kitchen

A beloved family

A good job - that is relatively low-stress, pays the bills, has great insurance and allows me to see E for lunch almost every day

Simple pleasures - books, funny tv shows, crafts, makeup, coffee

A lovely community of friends on the internets that continually surprise me with their warmth, genuineness, intelligence, creativity and care.

Happy Thanksgiving!

iphone dump

My new iPhone is becoming such a photo crutch. I've only taken my camera out lately to take pictures of my outfits. Instagram is the soup of the month and I'm still not sick of it. Here's a round up of the past couple weeks.

















1. Spokane, Washington from 14 floors up.
2. My parents visit and we go to Julian on the rainiest day of the decade. Pie and bear hats kept us occupied.
3. The end of San Diego Beer Week. YUM.
4. hail. hail! hail? In San Diego of all places
5. Sweets in a stressful week. Apple Boysenberry pie a la mode, and oreos and milk
6. Pho! (still not sure how I convinced E to try it again - but happy I did)
7. I picked up knitting again. This deserves its own post.
8. the cutest babe growing up way to fast

ps. if you're on instagram, comment with profile name so I can add you!

Design*Sponge in San Diego!

(video by the talented Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room)

The weekend before last, on the way from picking up my parents from the airport, I arranged to make a quick pit stop at West Elm in Mission Valley so I could get an autograph on my copy of Grace Bonney's gorgeous new tome. I'm sure none of you need an introduction to Design*Sponge, but it's easily the most inspiring site on simple, doable DIY, beautiful decor and classy living spaces (I especially love tvheir "Living in ..." features - style inspiration from great movies)

Even though I was only there for a few minutes towards the end of the event, it was still lovely to meet Grace and thank her for all her inspiration. She's lovely and gracious. I'm so glad the book tour stopped in San Diego!

(wasn't the photo booth background so cute! Courtesy of Amorology)

I snapped a few photos of my outfit after I got home.

top: Thrifted and remade
blazer: Kenneth Cole, thrifted
jeans: Express
pumps Target