Happy Birthday Baby Sis!

My baby sister turns 17 today.  By the time I get done with work today and make it back to the city, Brigi and my family will be here to celebrate.  It's going to be a magical weekend in honor of the little girl (ok, young lady now!) that made our family complete.

I love thinking about the night that my baby sister was born.  Maggie and I were worried that she'd be born on the fourth of July, and that we'd have to miss the fireworks.  Six year olds have different priorities, clearly.  But we were so excited to have another sister.  Someone else to play dolls with, share clothes with, tell secrets to.  There was a void in our family that she instantly filled.  I was so blessed to have one sister, but two?  We'll still be holding hands, gossiping, and rescuing tiny kittens when we're old ladies.  She keeps our family laughing constantly, and I cannot even count the number of times tears have rolled down my cheeks from one of her jokes or shenanigans.  Her heart is so big, and she makes me want to be a better, kinder person every day.  I am so lucky to have you baby sis.

Circa 1995.  Baby Brigi in the bow.  Matching outfits for all.

Our little papoose.

2010.

I love you Brigid!

Snapshots

Goodness, this has been a fun week!  Quality boyfriend time, sunshine and shenanigans; I cannot get enough of these little moments that make me happy.  Oh and work?  I am loving you too.

Here are a few sweet moments I captured.

Yummy dinner with my favorite boy.

I cannot get enough of the dogs that are everywhere in SF.

Someday I will have some antlers in my apartment.

This guy.

Hope you are having a great week too!

Equality for All

As if I don't say it enough on this blog, I love living in San Francisco.  This weekend was PRIDE, and I had a blast being part of it and celebrating equality with my friends, my sissy and my city.  Similar to Bay to Breakers, this was an experience that felt so SF, so real and so much like I was part of something much bigger than myself.  Everyone was happy, the floats were awesome, and the costumes even better.  It feels so right to live in a place that wholeheartedly embraces diversity and celebrates how similar everyone is, in spite of (or perhaps because of) our differences.

Freedom beers. I love America!

So much pride.

Sissy.  Such a treat to live so close to her.

Cheers to Friday!

This week at work, we played an icebreaker where we had to describe our mood in two words.  I'm pretty sure mine were happy and excited.  Seeing my family, having a best friend from college in SF, and date nights are just a few of the things adding a little something extra to life right now.  Here are a few other thoughts on the week!

Counting the days until we can do this again.

Dear new desk space at work, I had way too much fun decorating you.  I think I'd put up even more pictures if I could.  Freshman year of college, I literally covered both of my closet doors with pics.  Having happy faces and precious memories all over the place makes me smile.  Dear Nicoley, I cannot wait until you are back in America.  Sometimes it feels like yesterday that we were college students getting into lots of shenanigans and having the time of our lives, and sometimes it feels like we've done a lot of growing up this last year.  I like this time of our lives, and I love you!   Dear Summer, all of my plans make me so excited for you.  I cannot wait to spend more time with my family, my friends, my boyfriend and the sunshine! Dear True Life: I'm Addicted to Caffeine, you scared me so much.  I thought I was bad with my coffee habits, but I didn't realize folks drank up to 30 caffeinated beverages a day.  I'll get my energy from life, thank you very much.  Dear San Francisco, Pride is going to be off the chain.  The city is going to be alive this weekend.

Check out other sweet letters on Ashley's blog.

Sign of the Times

Baskets of fresh, local strawberries were always a sign that summer was near when I was growing up.  When I was home this weekend, we celebrated our bounty of delicious strawberries and made a pie.  This is one of the easiest pies to make, really refreshing on a hot summer afternoon, and even better as a leftover for breakfast.

Recipe found here.  I always add an extra half cup of sugar to the cream cheese mixture.  Yum!

Family Time

What did I do this weekend at home?  Spent a lot of time with family, family and more "family."  It's safe to say between shopping, dinner, brunch, random adventures and baking, I got to spend a lot of quality time with the people that mean the most to me. 

Nothing like a cow holding up traffic to welcome us back to the Central Valley.

New favorite bracelet from sissy.

Ball watch exhibit with dad and the sisters.  The history nerd in me died a little.  Sidenote: the older gentleman to the left is totally my dad in 40 years.

Webb Ball helped standardize time zones across the country in the 1800's, and he was huge in the train watch biz.  Learn something new every day!

SO excited to be home.  Mags is clearly stoked too.

Love of my life.

Bestest friends.

Favorites. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend too!

Happy Dad's Day!

Dad, I know you don't like to be present on the internet.  I know how silly you thought mom's Facebook post about your latest half marathon was.  Heck, I know you will actually never see this.  But I am so thankful I got to spend this weekend with you.  Sitting around the dining room table, our entire immediate family present, was a rare treat.  If you don't know how much I love you, hopefully the fact that I couldn't even share a favorite recent memory of you without crying is evidence enough.

Then.

Now. 

What would we do without dads?

Late Night Thoughts

Between a trip to Michigan, busy days at work, and so many fun things to squeeze in, it's been a busy couple weeks.  I'm home in Fresno for the weekend, and finally have a few moments to collect my thoughts.

Sunshine and summetime captured in a picture. Circa 2009.

Dear sissy, thanks for picking me up at work today and driving home with me.  Three hours in the car with you is priceless.  You make me so happy.  And to top it off, finding old treasure at home (and laughing until we cried) made tonight even more perfect. You were such a precious first grader.  Dear Hans, Freckles, Pookie and Gracie, thank you for being your sweet selves.  I am so grateful for your furry love.  And Hans and Freckles, your summer haircuts are too cute.  I just want to snuggle with you all weekend.  Dear boyfriend, I wish it was your birthday all the time!  You make me feel so happy and so special, so it was a treat to be able to do the same for you.  Dear Marky Mark, I am so excited to see you tomorrow.  My hair needs some love!  To dye or not to dye is the question right now :)  Dear dad, happy father's day!  I am so lucky to have a dad like you. I could hardly pick out a Father's Day card without crying.  All your support, encouragement, silliness, patience, and unconditional love is such a gift.  Even though you don't like being paraded around the internets, this is your (little) shout-out.  You are the best, no doubt about it.  Dear wine, don't ever change.  White, red or dessert, it seems you have my back.  Espesh when there are fun friends (or a special someone) to share you with!

Go link up with Ashley!

The Little Things

My grandma knows how much I love to read.

She knows how much I love to read Reader's Digest.

She knows how much I like to get sweet notes in the mail.

Her messages are like hugs on a post-it.

Every month, she always sends me Reader's Digest and a sweet note.

Without fail.

She's the best! 

Happy Birthday!

With the help of two of Greg's good friends, we managed to throw him a surprise birthday on Saturday night! I am the worst at keeping surprises a surprise (mainly just because I have a hard time containing my excitement), but was enough of a sneaky sneakster to throw my boy for a loop.  Let's just say he was shocked to see a group of his friends in his kitchen so soon after we got off the plane from Michigan.  Got you!

If this picture isn't any indication, the night was filled with cheesy smiles, silliness and really great people.  And karaoke!

High Five for Michigan!

Oh boy does it feel good to get out of California for a bit! I had the chance to go to Ann Arbor, Michigan last week for work, and hardly took any pictures I was having such a good time.  It felt so good to slow down for a bit, soak up the sunshine, and see new fun faces.  We definitely worked a ton, but it was awesome trying new restaurants every night, checking out the University of Michigan campus, and actually feeling present in Ann Arbor.  Thank you work for these incredible opportunities - I am such a lucky gal!

Happened to be in A2 during Taste of Ann Arbor.  Here is Greg grabbing some delish pie! I ate soooo much this trip.

Broccolini on pizza at The Jolly Pumpkin.

Yum.

Oh hey, Ashley, I didn't know you owned an awesome bar in A2.  Great beer selection btw.

Awesome street art.

Who knew that Michigan would have such awesome fish tacos? These are at The Black Pearl.

One of the best sandwiches I've ever had in my life at Zingerman's.  Also, garlic pickles are my new favorite kind of pickle.

Saying buh bye to Michigan with a few Blue Moons.  That little nugget is my newest snuggle buddy.

I think it is safe to say that most of my free time in Ann Arbor was spent eating, based on the few pics I snapped.  What a great week!

Bloggy Vacation!

I'm in Michigan this week for work, and fully intend on soaking up every single moment here.  See you when I return! 

Via.