5 on Friday

1. Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all are enjoying your day of love! I saw this and thought all of the cards were seriously amazing!

2. Were any of you, out there in cyberspace, an RA? Well, I was, and this article made me laugh out loud! Seriously, #14. This was amazingly true in my case! // This article is so interesting! // This is gross...and I will now be driving to work...

3. I said last week that my great aunt passed away. This week, we buried her. While it is always sad/hard to say good-bye, I have found that death can bring the living closer together, which in this case, it has brought some of our family much closer together. On Sunday, we had family in town and we took them to Napa. It was a fun day reminiscing and planning a girls trip for 2015! 

On Monday, I went to work and then met up with my family for lunch and then some touring around. It was so lovely!

 On Tuesday, we buried my aunt and then went to a lovely champagne lunch. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful celebration of her life.

4. Yesterday I had my "Finally Fit Forever" Coaching Session with the lovely Melissa from Real Nutrition Living. Since the start of my current job, I have been struggling a bit with my routine. My call with Melissa was enlightening and inspiring and has definitely gotten me excited to take better care of myself! More to come next week!

5. Is it just me, or is everyone super excited for the long weekend?! Tonight we are celebrating Valentine's Day IN with wine, cheese and more wine! I am seeing one of my best friends, we are going on a triple date, we are going to make a quick trip to the beach, I am going to catch up on my book and my shows and I plan to relax and gym at least once!

Happy Friday and Happy long weekend!

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5 on Friday

1. I am looking to order one of my very best friend's bridal shower invitations. I want to go with a local spot or with a shop on Etsy. Does anyone out there recommend a card maker?? Please help a girl out! ;-)

2. I am loving the 90s pop Pandora station. Like, seriously. // Who doesn't love wine?! This is awesome! My company is its own country!

3. Superbowl Sunday was my littlest brother's 13th birthday. The little guy is finally a teenager and I am pretty sure my parents are elated sad to not have any kids in the house anymore. #heartbreakersince2001

 4. Honestly, I haven't been much in the mood for blogging this week. Sadly, my family experienced a great loss last week and we are still recovering and celebrating the long life that was lived. Likely, there will be more to come sometime in the future. Always with death comes celebrations of life. I have been able to spend a little bit of time with my family, which has been a blessing.

5.Rich's classmate and fellow Marine has worked so hard to help his interpreter from Afghanistan get an American Visa and it finally happened! Read the article here. Mohammad has an incredible story and he is a kind and gentle man. Just a few days after he arrived in the US, I had the privileged of meeting him, sharing a glass of wine and listening to him speak. His story is one of perseverance and I know that his loved ones will join him here some day very soon!

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Five on Friday

1. Loved this TED talk. I have never dated on-line, unless you count that Rich and I like to joke that we met on myspace... anywhoooo. We have a dating portion to our site and one of our engineers shared this with us. And this article, too!

2. I walked across the Bay Bridge again this past weekend with one of my best friends from childhood! It was awesome to catch up while getting our hearts pumping!

3. I got to play tour guide, in my own city, over the weekend to a friend Rich and I met on our Trek to Machupicchu! We got to spend some time with her when we were in Phoenix and tried to convince her to visit us in San Francisco. And she did!! (more on her trip next week)

4. Last Friday was the Bay Area Blogger Soiree hosted by the lovely Jamie & Latrina at Brit & Co. It was so much fun! I left my phone in my purse and spent my time mingling and chatting - I know how very 'unblogger' of me! ;-) There were some awesome women there and it was fun to finally put faces to the blogs! I even won a real-life rafflecopter: A cute purse!

5. I would like to give a shout out to my sweet husband. He is wonderful and I love him and I am more than proud of him. He is rocking Law School and I could not be more excited to spend this summer with him! He is going to internship in San Francisco, which means that we can act like a real married couple for 10 weeks - no studying at night and on the weekends - and I cannot be more excited!

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Cinco on Friday!

uno. I finally finished Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. It was an emotional, inspiring, true, awesome book! I definitely recommend it! Now moving on to Gone Girl. Yes, I know, totally different - but so far it has me hooked! Seriously though, who has read Gone Girl?! I need someone to talk to about it, and no I can't wait to for our book club to meet!

dos. I am a huge TED fan. Check out TEDyouth. It is so powerful! // And Rich and I are adding this to our bucket list! Gorgeous. Scary. Rush. Totally awesome! // This article. Amen to number 4! :-) I mean, I love me some babies, but I am so not ready for one of my own.. // BOOM My company made yet another Awesome place to work list! I mean, duh! // O.M.G. This is amazing! I think we need to go on a road trip just to eat everything on this list! // On my personal bucket list: Make Ricotta Cheese // This is totally true! Emails are the WORST // It looks like I am adding this burrito to my SF Bucket List! // This Article #3 - this is totally my siblings & #9 - I know, say what?!

tres.
Last weekend, Rich and I finally walked across the new Bay Bridge. It was a seriously beautiful winter day in the Bay and our last hoorah before Semester Numero Dos of Law School started. The trail across the bridge is about 6 miles round trip and doesn't quite make it to Treasure Island. (The path is projected to extend all the way to the island in the summer of 2015. Not there is much to do there anyway...) They have already started taking down the old bridge which was really neat to see. We reminisced about having driven over the old bridge for our entire life and how surreal the change has been. I must say, the new bridge is pretty spiffy!

cuatro.

This is a bit r-rated but totally hilarious. It's crude, and I.Don't.Even.Care.

cinco.
My celebration beer. "Celebrating what?" you ask? I have been offered permanent employment at my current job! I signed on, initially, as a contractor for 90 days. And that 90 days is about to expire and I was offered a permanent job here! WooHoo!

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5 on Friday

1. Dare I say that I am glad that the holidays are over? I don't mean any disrespect to the holiday season, but, I am exhausted (!) and so ready to be back to my regular routine: sleeping in my own bed, cooking and eating healthfully, the daily grind of typical work, less stimulation and all around calm. *Phew* Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with family and friends from near and far, there is really nothing better, but I definitely need a vacation from our vacations!

2. Surprise! Rich and I went to Arizona for 5 days to celebrate my FIL's 60th birthday! It was a great trip! We got lots of family time in, experienced some Arizona sites, ate and drank to our hearts content, saw a few friends and met one of my best girlfriends new baby!

Tonto National Park, Arizona

3. I am not big into making New Years Resolutions. I hardly ever keep them and then I beat myself up for breaking them. So, for the past few years, as I reflect on the previous year I think about the aspects of my life where I want to improve. Every year, judge less and love more is on my list. This year, I wan to volunteer once per month. Alone. Only Me. Yup, I want to do this for myself, I don't want it to be a social get together, I want to use the time to focus on the organization I choose and live, love, reflect and make a difference.

4. 2014 is going to be a great year. There will be a lot of unknown, living, friends, healing, frustration, excitement, change, love, exercising, family and hopefully travel. I can't wait to see what the year has in store for me and for my family!

5. And last but certainly not least: mid January, a friend of mine is hosting a Bay Area Blogger Meetup! Check it out here and definitely come if you can! It will be tons of fun....! I am caking on the peer pressure, cantcha tell?!

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5 on Friday

1.

I had to work yesterday and today. Fortunately, it is pretty low key at work, so it's not too stressful. Christmas was amazing! We had such a great time visiting with all of our family and some of our close friends over delicious food and yummy bubbles and wine! We are definitely celebrating hard, we will be closing 2013 with a bang and ringing in the New Year with great celebrations!

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5 on Friday

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1. I cannot believe that Christmas is on Wednesday! Oh my goodness! I still need to get over to the store and pick up some wrapping paper and wrap all of our gifts...who has time for that? Anyone want to do it for me??

2. I always love me some Google Doodles, check out the top 10 of the year here

3. I feel so much love from my Alpha Gam family. I work with some amazing woman at an awesome collegiate chapter, as well as working with a great Alumnae Chapter. I am feeling so blessed.

4. This is extremely powerful, and not for the faint of heart. Beauty corporations testing on animals is something that we should all be aware of. Think about it. Do something about it. Stop buying products that are tested on animals. I know that this is something that I will, absolutely, consider when making my purchases.

5. This is so powerful!

Five on Friday

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1. Rich is finally done with the semester! I am more than excited to spend this weekend with my sweet hubby! I have missed him. We celebrated the end of his first semester at our holiday party last night - yes, it was amazing! More to come, soon!

2. This is a long, but totally worth it, read /// Oh, how I love San Francisco /// Talk about talent /// The US is full of such beauty these spots /// the video on number 2 is just too good, actually, this whole article /// Planet Money explains how t-shirts are made - fascinating (all alpha gams should buy a shirt!


3. This is fascinating! Nothing we don't already know...

"In a widely-read study, Harvard Business School students were given a case assignment on Heidi, a real-life successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. But there was a catch. Half of the class randomly received their case with one teensy tiny change made: The name "Heidi" was changed to "Howard." Afterward, the students were surveyed, and though Heidi and Howard were found equally competent (as they should have been because they are the same person), the students found Howard much more likeable. The following ad pretty much sums up why." ~Upworthy

And here is a TED talk that talks about this topic too! Wow, it is amazing!



4. Miracles really do come true!

 5. This type of message has been all over the internet for several months now, if not years, and every time I see a different rendition, I am compelled to take a look. Maybe it is because I want to see what the models in the magazines and the adds actually look like.

5 on Friday

1. I would like to take a minute to honor Nelson Mandela, and anti-apartheid icon and the first black president of South Africa. He passed away yesterday; his vision and his life work will live on forever. What an incredible role model he is. His passion and world work meant that he had to sacrifice his family and his freedom for the freedom of his fellow black Africans. I am currently a little over half way through his book, A Long Walk to Freedom, and what he did and how he dedicated his life to fighting for freedom for black citizens in South Africa is truly inspiring.What an inspiration to us all to fight for what we believe in and to fight for what is right for this world.
Read more here.

Breaking News from ABC | ABC Sports News

2. This video

Take a few minutes to watch it. It will make you think. This is beautiful.

3. This artwork is amazing!

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How in the heck?!

4. Good thing I already got married! And at 23! Wow, these kids really know a lot! Kids sure say the darndest things! Read here!

5. If this doesn't get you into the holiday spirit, I don't know what will!

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Happy Friday!

1. We, officially, live in the most beautiful place in the entire world!

I love, love love this place!

2. *update: I can't wait to meet this sweet bundle of joy after the holidays!!

photo from facebook

Isn't that little month sticker precious?! I bought them on Etsy from the Belly to Baby Designs! Brittani was awesome to work with, very quick to answer my questions and quick to ship once I made my order!

3. We finally bought outdoor furniture for our balcony and I strung lights through the railing. It looks just like a little bistro! We love it!

4. I am loving that I live so close to some awesome Alpha Gam Sisters! We celebrated the newest class of sisters into the chapter where I was initiated. 

5. I love my job! Like, seriously! It is so much fun, everyone is so wonderful and I am just so happy to get up every morning! Let's just say that I work for a company that is on this list... yeah, it's pretty awesome! 

And earlier this week they brought Cronuts in! It was life changing!

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5 on Friday

1. I am grateful to live in such a beautiful city. Since the seasons are changing, the air feels more crisp and the sky is such a beautiful blue!

2. My Alpha Gam Little Sister-Daughter was in town this weekend from New York and had dinner with me! It was such a fun night where we were able to catch up and eat delicious food!

3. I am starting to get settled in my new job and I am loving it. It is nice that I am starting to get the hang of things. And I am getting more responsibilities and project to work on - yay! I am loving my coworkers, my commute isn't my favorite, but I love walking through the Financial District to get to work, it is about a mile walk!

4. I am more than excited to have Monday off to observe Veterans Day! I think I may be coming down with a little cold and having an extra day to sleep in is more than necessary! I am spending this weekend with my mom! I am excited!


5. Last, but not least, Rich and I are getting all gussied up this weekend and attending a Law School Gala! Yippee! I love getting dressed up and going out!

I wish everyone a fun and safe holiday weekend!! And don't remember to hug/kiss/snuggle/thank a Veteran!

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