well, another birthday has come and gone and the biggest difference is that i am no longer a twentysomething. it’s ok, though. i’m not freaking out. everyone says their 30s were some of the best years of their lives, so i’m actually kind of excited to have entered this period. i’m anticipating things to come, and it feels really good <3

being celebrated also feels really good! which is why i’m still basking in the glow of the weekend on monday morning. so much time and effort was put forth by so many people to ensure i had a wonderful, memorable weekend. i would be remiss if i didn’t mention shirley and the two days she took off work to prep for the big party on saturday. hours and hours of cooking and cleaning and errand-running, all for me. do i have a wonderful mother-in-law or what?

not to mention the other amazing women in my family (my mom, rodi, tai, auntie margie and auntie loretta) who brought all kinds of homemade deliciousness for my guests to enjoy. and antonella, a wonderful friend with a talent for baking, who made 70 of the most adorable cupcakes i’ve ever seen.

and, of course, my parents. not only did they CREATE me (haha), but they also treated us to a very enjoyable birthday dinner on friday night at quinn’s lighthouse, a restaurant of my choice. in addition to all that, my mom took ellie for a walk during my party when i needed a break, and my dad manned the video camera all night. i cannot wait to see the ridiculousness he caught on tape :)

thank you, also, to brianne for wiping my tears and calming my nerves during a moment of extreme stress (and for taking pictures when i realized i hadn’t been taking any – oops!), and to alyssa’s dear husband matt for lighting my candles when ryan was off dealing with ellie <3

and to all the other friends and family who joined in the celebration on saturday, especially josh who made the eight-hour drive from san diego just to be there; flo & brian, who are surely the busiest couple of all with their wedding coming up in less than a WEEK; and all the rest of you amazing people. each one of you made it an event i will always remember, one of the best nights of my life.

and finally, to ryan, the love of my life, the single most selfless person i know, the one who makes everything possible. thank you for my party, thank you for my daughter, thank you for giving me all that i could ever want. i love you so much.

“happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
.aristotle.

on sunday i took my mom to one of the greatest places in the world, color me mine, for a few hours of ceramics painting and mother/daughter bonding.

i was really looking forward to it because my mom had no idea where i was taking her, but i knew she was going to love it. at first she seemed a little skeptical when we pulled into the parking lot and i said, “we’re painting pottery, ta-da!” … but once we got inside and she picked the piece she was going to transform into a work of art, she was all about it.

i decided on an oval platter and she picked a small plate she will instead use as a candle holder. we sat together by the window for three hours, painting, talking and listening to the low hum of people talking around us. we had nowhere to be and nothing to think about other than which shade of blue we were going to use next. truly, it was as relaxing as a day at the spa.

my mom and i don’t get to spend much of time together one-on-one, so our therapeutic day of painting was extra special. i’ll edit this post with a picture of the finished products when i pick them up next weekend :) happy, happy belated birthday, mom!

[matt + alyssa = love]

this week is a whirlwind of appointments and errands and preparations for the events of this coming friday and saturday … and i’m not even the bride, ha! turns out it’s a lot more work being a bridesmaid AND the mother of a flower girl.

i spent sunday and monday at the mall in search of something to wear to the rehearsal dinner. today i went looking for a new pair of dress shoes for ellie (no luck, so i’ll have to go again on wednesday), and tomorrow i need to get a mani/pedi and my eyebrows done before i swing by matt’s mom’s house to pick up ellie’s dress. add all that to the usual mix of gymboree, naps and mealtimes, and you’ve got one busy momma.

the festivities commence friday afternoon at 4:15 when we meet at st. mary’s chapel in moraga for the rehearsal. then matt’s parents are hosting what is sure to be a lovely dinner at an italian restaurant in danville called piatti. ellie will be joining us at the chapel, but grandma shirley will be picking her up from the restaurant because her bedtime is promptly at 7 p.m. (thank you, grandma)!

saturday will be an early morning for me, as i need to be at victoria’s salon at 8:00 for my hair appointment. alyssa wants the bridesmaids to meet at her house and leave for the chapel by 10:15, but i might opt to finish getting ready at home and meet them there with ellie and ryan at 11.

i’m a little anxious (ok, VERY anxious) about how ellie might behave during the ceremony because it’s scheduled to begin at 12:30, the exact time she typically goes down for her nap. but i have faith in ryan that once she makes it down the aisle, he can appease her with snacks (and possibly a new toy) until matt and alyssa’s big kiss seals the deal :) and then, assuming she sleeps in the car on the way to the reception, she should be good to go until the end … or … almost the end … i hope. please?

and there will be photographs aplenty!

happy wedding week, matt & alyssa <3 we’re so excited for what’s to come!

the central reason for the timing of our big texas trip, our wonderful friends eric and tessa got married on march 6, 2010. when they first chose a date last year, it felt like it was soooo far away. but 100 days quickly turned into two weeks and all of a sudden there we were, just hours before the ceremony, watching tessa come down the stairs wearing her beautiful ivory dress, carrying a lavender bouquet.

the ceremony was held at a small park in houston and the reception at an old firehouse nearby. leave it to eric and tessa to have a wedding full of character and charm <3 it was beautiful! the weather was perfect and the ceremony went off without a hitch. even the KIDS did what they were supposed to do! ok, ellie wouldn't hold her pretty basket and jaden walked at a much faster pace, but if it weren't for such a gorgeous bride, they would have stolen the show :)

the reception was fun, too. lots of dancing and good times continued. we all decided we’d stay as long as the kids’ behavior allowed us, since it was an evening reception scheduled to go past their bedtimes. i think we managed to keep them pretty happy until around 8:30 or 9, and they fell asleep in the car on the way home.

congratulations, eric and tessa, and thank you for letting us all be a part of your special day. we love you!

as my lovely friend and style advisor kat knows all too well, i’ve spent the last few weeks struggling with what i’m going wear to eric and tessa’s houston wedding coming up on march 6th. after several nights and countless hours spent looking at dresses online, i came across the perfect LBD during an impromptu trip to nordstrom rack.

part of my struggle included what shoes and accessories i would pair with said LBD. i knew i wanted to go with a color – preferably a bright one – to bring something more to the outfit than simple black. stylistic kat suggested going with metallic heels if i couldn’t decide on a color, like a silver, pewter or even gold. i thought that was a great idea because, hello, how easy is it to pair silver jewelry with silver heels? and it’s an evening wedding, so metallics would have worked.

but then ellie and i took an afternoon trip to our (ok, my) faaaaavorite store, anthropolgie, and it was there that i found this necklace. it’s a bit chunkier than the jewelry i normally wear and i knew it would be a challenge to find shoes to match, but i decided i was up for the challenge and i bought the necklace anyway.

luckily, i have SEVERAL very style-conscious friends, and another one of them directed me to a website called asos where she searched and found these shoes … just PERFECT to go with my necklace! alas, the company is located in the UK and we leave for texas in less than a week. wah wah. the perfect shoes were no longer within my grasp. out of reach. a no-go.

OR SO I THOUGHT.

you may have heard that ryan is in london on business this week – he comes back thursday – and a few days ago i had a lightbulb moment … have you figured out yet where this is going?

that’s right. my wonderful husband placed an order for those perfect shoes today, and they will be delivered to his hotel tomorrow. the timing couldn’t be more perfect. it’s like it was meant to be :)

welp, we bought our new car last weekend and booooy, do we love it! it’s so quiet and such a smooth ride; ryan and i both commented on how it almost seems to drive itself. maybe it’s the four-wheel drive? whatever it is, it’s WONDERFUL. i’m so glad we held out for the color we really wanted, too, because it’s the shiniest, most beautiful color ever :)

honda owners for life!