Date-iversary

Ta-da!  It's our dating anniversary today! It's also our 5-month wedding anniversary. xoxo

Hot Trends

Remember chain letters?  I once did one in highschool for a panty exchange where you had to buy one pair of underpants and mail it to the first person on the list and then you'd get hundreds of panties in return.  That was weird and I never got any panties.

Isn't the word panties gross?

It's not exactly like a chain letter but my real-life far away friend, Danielle, is doing a blog challenge type thing where you write about 7 things that are currently "trending" in your life.  I don't think I've ever been very trendy because I buy, read, eat, drink and think about things that I like and am interested in and don't worry too much about what other people are into.  Although there were those really sparkly shoes that I returned last year because too many people thought they were ugly.  I guess a little bit of influence is a good thing.

1. Pocket sunscreen stick

I picked this up last week at a grocery store (along with mint and limes to make birthday mojotos for V).  As an older lady, I have a couple of sunspots that I want to keep covered up when I'm out in the sun.  Along with my regular sunscreen I put this zinc sunscreen stick on the larger spots and keep it in my purse for touch ups.

2. Red pants.

Ok, fine.  Coloured pants are a serious trend that I wasn't sure I could pull off but I do like my red pants because they are actual pants and not stretchy leggings like a lot of the ones out there.  I got them on insane clearance at Macy's (75% off).  They were the last ones on the rack and in my size.  I couldn't pass them up for 35$.

3. Movies at the Drive In/ Horror movies

I love horror movies and I love the drive in.  Those 2 things together are perfect!  Last night we saw Cabin in the Woods.  I need to see it again because some of the movie scenes were too dark for the brightness of the Drive In so I couldn't really see what was going on at very key moments.  Also, screen three at the Sacramento 6 Drive In has bright white lights behind it from what seems to be a parking lot beyond the theatre which was really distracting and made it harder to see.  (Also, trending now : me whining about screen 3 at the Drive In).

4. Organised paperwork

In the past year I've had a lot of different paperwork floating around that I need to keep organized.  I use coloured folders, pretty folders, fancy paperclips and post it notes to keep organised.  Last week I was getting my health insurance sorted out and this week I'm working on car insurance and changing my name.  I have a bunch of these coloured folders in different sizes.  They're great for keeping everything sealed and together.  I keep my passport and birth certificate in a half sized one.

5. Party Jams

Essential mix on BBC Radio 1,
Radio 1's dance and hip hop shows.
Bay Area hip hop station KMEL
Gotta Dance Dirty music blog
Fact music mixes
Dublab mixes

6. Ladies night/ Friends with cable

My ladies and I have have a weekly TV night.  We've been watching AMC's MadMen and HBO's Girls.  When season 2 of American Horror Story starts up we'll watch that too.

7. Inside jokes, cute love notes and mini vacations with the Mr.

If any of my blogger pals linked on the right feel like writing about their 7 favourite trends, let me know and I'll link to your posts.

Birthday party

We went up to the North Coast for some birthday celebratin' this weekend.  It was so sunny and warm on the deck of our rental but super windy at the beach.  We ate some fancy cheeses, drank mojitos and stopped at a handful of beaches.  You know, the usual.

Self timer high five in Mendocino (3,2,1, AWWW MAN!)

Point Arena.

Mendocino waves

Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.  

There is a gift shop housed in here now and you have to pay 5$ to look in the gift shop.  Lame.

Noisy visitor

On the way home from a day visit in Fort Bragg we stopped in at a bar called Beacon Light by the Sea that a friend recommended.  I didn't take any photos because I was too afraid.  The bar is only open Fridays and Saturdays from 5-11pm and you can tell that it's open by a bright red flashing light at the top of a hill in Elk, CA.  The drive up the hill was really dark and the parking lot was filled with emergency vehicles and run down trucks.  I wanted to leave but sucked it up because it wasn't my birthday.

We went inside and there was a HUGE great Dane snoozing at the entrance.  We'd heard that the owner makes fun of people who order lame drinks but he seemed happy to have new visitors to talk to and didn't say anything when we ordered cheap beers.  He told us he was born on the property 71 years ago and worked as a firefighter and is a self taught vet.  He told us stories of deer, dogs and men that he fixed and that all the work he did was top notch because he sterilized his instruments with the autoclave in the back room.  He also claimed to have a dentist chair back there.

He didn't stop telling stories the whole time!  His 4 exes (wives and girlfriends) are all on the property and he later told us that nobody messes with him because he has an excavator that goes so deep that nobody would ever find the person again.  Made me wonder if his ex ladies were actually alive. The NY Times reviewed it as a place to go in Mendocino.

It was late and really dark when we went but the owner said the view was great during the day.  We'll have to go back! 

Windy Gualala

Have you been to the Sea Ranch Chapel?  I heard about it a few weeks ago when a featured instagrammer had a photo of it.  We've been going to the North Coast twice a year for 2 years and I'd never seen it, even though it's on the main highway.  Sea Ranch is that fancy place where all the houses are built to blend into the landscape.  We've driven through some of the streets and the houses are all huge and amazing with large windows looking out to the ocean.  Dreamy.

This chapel was designed by James Hubbell and is made mostly with local redwood and stone.  The roof is cedar and copper and that cool spire is made of bronze.  I think it was completed in 1985. You can rent it out too.  Wouldn't this be a cute place for a small relaxed wedding?

Sea Ranch Chapel

Teak entrance doors with stained glass

Tiny chapel

One of my favourite things about going to this part of the coast is that we have no cell reception so there are no distractions.  Pay phones are hard to come by too.

Webby

This was at a corner store on the way home where I tried this dry lavender soda.  I liked it.  V thought is tasted like a cleaning product.  Kind of pricey for a soda but nice for a treat.  I have this soda stream at home and I mainly drink soda water with lemon.  I wonder if there is a lavender syrup out there.   They must. I'll have to look it up.

Timber Cove totem

Happy birthday V!

Pups and privacy

I was in a mood for about 2 seconds until I saw this.

Image source

That photo is from piccsy.  I don't know what piccsy is and I don't like typing the word but I like browsing the site.  It looks like it's all photos and similar to pinterest (my sad pinterest is here) in some ways.  I did a search for "husky" and found these great photos below.  Recently, I was (am?) obsessed with huskies.  I say was because I really, really wanted to get a husky pup up until I found out that in the past month my parents have spent 2 handfuls of money on unexpected vet bills and the only handfuls of money I have left to spend are going towards all my immigration fees.  My parents two pups are fine but the cost of having another pet in our household is just too much right now.  I can wait.  Until then...

Image source

Image source

I hadn't heard about piccsy until last night.  It's still in beta and they aren't currently accepting new members.  Do you use it?  What about pinterest?  

Earlier this month a friend and I were having a chat about how we love the idea of making boards and remembering ideas with pinterest but don't necessarily want to share those favourites and ideas with everyone. She is an interior designer so I can totally understand that feeling of wanting to keep special finds to herself.  I feel that way too.  Right now everything you "pin" on pinterest is public whereas on a site like etsy you can make your favourites private, which I like.

Cat post. Sorry.

I bought a bag of cat food this afternoon because we were out.  It's the same kind they've been eating for a year but anytime I open a new bag it's just as exciting as the first time.  So exciting that Llorca starts eating it as soon as I pour it into the plastic tub even though the same food is in his bowl.

Social D!

After we finished the last few details of our taxes and mailed off the immigration paperwork on Monday we set off on our Valentine adventure to Chico!

We checked in to our hotel and went to the Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant.  It was really busy for a Monday night but that may have been because it was a big night in Chico.  When we were leaving the hotel a bro yelled at V, "You going to Social D?!!!" and did some sort of fist pump while his girlfriend looked down at the ground.

At the Restaurant we sat at the bar and waited for our table.  I've upgraded from Bud Light. V ordered me a light beer that I actually enjoyed.  They offer 4 beer tastings for 3$ so we did that and waited for our appetizer and then we ordered another 4 while we waited for our dinner.

Guess which beers are mine?

There are a lot of beers that you can only get at the actual Brewery and some others that you can only get in Chico.   The food at the restaurant was really tasty too.  We want to go back!  After dinner we wandered around town and had a drink at two bars.  Duffy's was not so good with 6 people in it and professional poker on the TV but the Banshee was fun.  There, one guy sang purple rain really, really loudly trying to impress a lady who wasn't interested and later two girls were getting into an argument near the bathroom about who they wanted to go home with that night.  Monday night in Chico.  Exciting!

V always goes nuts for holidays.  As if the surprise getaway, the tasty meals and cozy hotel weren't enough, he gave me gifts.  Plural!  Some fancy lotion that I recently ran out of and this set of glitterific polish.  I think I might try the gold first.

I love diners, and serious breakfasts once in a while.  On Valentine's Day morning we ate at this place that was decorated with red and silver tinsel hearts. All the employees were wearing red and there were two red cars parked out front, and one old pink Cadillac too.

It was cheaper to get two giant plates of food than to order the bacon, sausage, and hash browns which is all I wanted.  It's all about being economical, even if that means pigging out on something you don't want to eat.

Chico has so many great signs in town.  Most businesses have those old timey painted windows with the deals and specials painted right on the window. I'd like to go back just to take photos of all the different window art and fancy fonts on the old signs.

After our brunch we drove South to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in Willows.  The Refuge has a  Wetland walking trail that takes about an hour.  We saw coots, a jackrabbit, buffleheads, hawks, herons and other birds that I can't remember but V knows all the names of by heart.

How not to look at birds

How to look at birds

There's also an auto trail for cars only where you slowly drive around a giant loop to check out the wildlife.  We saw so many different birds!  If you get out of your car at an undesignated spot you can be fined up to 275$.  We saw some nerd doing just that trying to get a photo of an egret.

A stop at one of the sections where you can get out of your car. So sunny and pretty out!

See the Sutter Buttes in the distance?  This is the viewing station where I impressed V by spotting the hooting owl without binoculars.

Looking for the elusive owl

zoom zoom

Cute egret with its feathers blowing in the wind

We left the Wildlife Refuge a little after 5 and went home to make dinner together.  We had shrimp, tofu and veggie kabobs that we roasted in the oven.  Definitely healthier than brunch.

Hubba hubba

V surprised me yesterday when he showed up with a latte for me around 11 o'clock.  He took a couple of days off work as a Valentine's surprise so we could go on a little getaway together.  Excited!

If you don't have any Valentine's plans, maybe this photo will cheer you up.

photo from celebdirtylaundry.com

What?  You don't like Justin Bieber?

If not sooner

In June we started looking online and locally for our wedding bands.  We visited shops that had security at the door and shops where the sales people had bright white teeth and plastic surgery - shops where the rings cost over $10,000 dollars.  There was nothing out there that was unique enough without being over the top gaudy (a look I am guilty of, occasionally).  I was starting to stress that I wouldn't find anything I liked.  Poor me.

Harry Winston, price upon request.  No.

No.

Etsy had some very pretty designs but nothing that I was sold on.  V would come home to find me with my eyes semi-glazed, clicking through page after page of internet websites looking for the one.  

One afternoon I visited a local jewelry shop where the owner has been a goldsmith for over 30 years.  The selection in the shop was a little old fashioned but the owner told me that if I brought in a design, any design, he would make it for me.

After getting design ideas from library books V and I went back to the local jeweler on  October 18th with the design I had (crudely) drawn for my wedding band.  The shop owner and master goldsmith (that's what it says on his card!) said he could make the design and the ring would be ready by December 18th, if not sooner.  We've learned that "if not sooner" is his catch phrase because I have called every two weeks to see how the process is going and after some very friendly chit chat, my ring is always promised by Tuesday, or Thursday, or Saturday of next week, if not sooner.  Every single time. 

V and I visited the shop last Friday to give some final input on the ring before he puts it all together and he said it would be ready either Saturday or Tuesday, if not sooner.  

Today is Wednesday.  

Until the ring arrives I've been wearing my Grandma Smith's thin gold band as a place holder.  It has small rubies and diamonds and was my "something old" and the ring we exchanged on our wedding day.  I usually don't wear dainty rings but I'm starting to get used to wearing it.  If the ring isn't ready soon I may have to get one of these beauties below.  

1. Sara Westermark 2. Jen Lawler Designs 3.Nangijala Jewelry 4. Monica Branstrom 5. Monkeys Always Look 6. Danielle Jewelry 7. Jen Lawler Designs 8.  Izzie's Tales 9. Unknown 10. About Jewelery

V's ring is very similar to #5 with the date of our first date on the exterior and our wedding date on the interior.  It was an etsy find and needs to be resized, which seems to be a common problem when purchasing rings online.

Unique, masculine ring by Lyuve for the medical professional in your life.

A ring etched with your or a loved ones fingerprint by Chris Parry

Are you engaged, married?  Did you partner pick out the ring themselves?  V and I had some discussions about this.  He wanted to pick the ring out himself and I wanted to be able to give my input.  In the end we looked at designs together and agreed on a style that would work.  I feel like the ring (once we get it) will be something we both put a lot of thought into.  I can't wait!

Overstay

I received notice that my bio metrics exam has been scheduled for February 3rd (at 8 am!  Whaaa!) where they'll take my fingerprints and photos.  After that I believe the next step will be vaccinations of some sort and a possible a medical exam to make sure I'm not bringing any new diseases to the U.S.... all the way from Canada.

Gulp.  Homeland Security, this is serious!

I decided to file all the immigration paperwork myself to save what I imagine could be a lot of money instead of hiring a lawyer.  The first portion of the application was submitted on January 9th.  I sent it overnight to the USCIS department in Chicago.  You can sign up for text and email alerts for updates on your case, which I did, and was notified on January 11th that my application had been received.  Things seem to be moving along fairly quickly so far.  I included as much information as possible to prove that our marriage is "bona fide" (their words, not mine.) I sent copies of photos with dates and locations of where they were taken, hotel receipts of our trips to the coast, flight receipts from when we visited Miami and copies of our joint bank accounts with the date I was added to them.

The fun part!  Getting married!

Vann is excited about our potential interview.  I am a little nervous.  There are discussions on immigration websites where people share some of the questions they were asked.  Most of them seem easy; questions about birthdays, family members, jobs, activities.  If anyone remembers how V and I met, let us know.  We've narrowed it down to sometime between December 2006 and March 2007.  It's all very romantic.

Would a woman dress like this in front of anyone but her husband?  I think this is enough proof of a bona fide marriage.

Cinderella Masvidal