Things I Love: Half Birthdays

Today I turned 29 & a half.

AND A HALF.

And let me tell you, that half matters. The past 6 months have been a whirlwind (Tornado? HURRICANE?).

And I've gone through probably the biggest life change I have had thus far. My 29th birthday on June 14th marked a year since I sick with pneumonia.

During the two months that I spent in & out of the hospital, I began to reflect on why I was so unhappy with my life and I began to make some changes.

I decided I didn't want to be a teacher anymore. And I took a leap of faith that I could propel my blog into something more then a hobby.

I grew a pair (Mom, just Urban dictionary it) and started going to every party, event and meet up I heard about.

It might look easy, but it's hard to do. Going blindly into an event, party or situation is scary, and I'll be the first to tell you that.

{You don't even know how many times I got back in my car, drove away, and FORCED myself to go back and go inside}.

But I did it, and it paid off.

A year later I go to parties and events several times a week, and I couldn't be more gracious and excited about EVERY single one I attend.

And I am MORE then grateful & blessed with all the new friendships I've made, all the reconnecting I've done with old friends & all the relationships that have grown stronger these past months.

I have met some AMAZING people these past six months, and it's been unreal.

I'm looking forward to my next 6 months and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be celebrating every SINGLE last day that I have in my Twenties.

It was a decade in my life that shaped and changed me into the woman (a Grown Ass one, obvi) that I am today.

I hope you're living the life you love, and if you're not, try to make some changes.

Big & small.

Loving your life is an amazing way to feel, trust me, I haven't always felt this way.

Don't be afraid.

Time to start party planning, my birthday party is going to be a doozy!!

Photobooth's are going to be necessary, duh.

Weekend Recap: Sundress Sunday

After being out of town the past couple weekends it was nice to have a weekend at home with my friends and family. I started my weekend on Friday with a walk on the bay with Vanessa and her Mom and their dog Buster. Vanessa's mom then treated us to lunch at Burma Superstar (thanks Sue!) I think I could eat their Tea leaf Salad everyday for the rest of my if I had to. It's a must try for sure!

After Vanessa and I headed to San Francisco and enjoyed some park time out there and then kicked I with our old friends Steph and Mandy. It's always nice to reconnect with old friends.
I ended Friday by celebrating my Friday TGIF Katy Perry style with friends out on the Town. Sometimes you just need to let loose.

Burma Super star tea leaf salad.

On Saturday I hiked, caught up on some work and enjoyed an after noon glass of wine with my Mom and Gma. Those two ladies always crack me up and I love spending quality time with them.

There was a black fly in my Mom's chardonnay...

In the evening Courtney, V and I took their dogs on a hike and watched the sunset. The sun might set everyday but it never ceases to amaze me.

I started my Sunday watching Jen play soccer. She was a soccer star in high school and it's so fun to see back on the field again! After the game I headed over see my Dad and Rena show their car in a local car show.
Then it was festival time! Jen, Vanessa, Nay Nay (Renee) and I put on our maxi dresses and got funky festival freaky. Kind of our favorite thing. The day was declared Sun Dress Sunday and we rocked it out.
I wrapped up the weekend with some quality friend time in V's backyard telling stories and just chilling. Simple friend time like that can be kind of amazing sometimes.



It was just the kind of weekend I needed.
I am so blessed to have such amazing friends and family in my life, LOVE YOU ALL!

Things I Love: Peeps

I'm just coming down from my jelly bean induced sugar high that occurred this weekend. Seriously, I ate a ton of them. I had a fabulous weekend spent with old friends, new friends, and my family. On Sunday I hosted my annual Easter party which is heavy on spending fun and quality time with my family and friends. The glitter was plentiful and so were the laughs. And of course, as always, I found the most eggs during our hunt -- even with plots against me to knock me from my throne!

My sister's dog Sawyer made the trip up too, he's a cutie!

At my house, you can never have too much glitter.

And glitter eggs, we did.

Glitter + Jelly Beans = 10 year old Amber

When the sun comes out, so do my sandals.

Both the jelly beans and glitter fueled my winning hunt.

Undefeated.

Nay nay and I.

And two of my best friends in the world, Matt Johnson and Jen.

wearing: parker cami dress
All in all it was a fabulous time.
And yes, I'm in my twenties and still proudly hunt for Easter eggs.

Amber's {friendship} Notebook: BFF

I can only hope that everyone has a friendship in their lifetime like the one I share with Jen. It's not a friendship that makes often sense, or one without bumps in the road. Jen's a single girl, who writes her own rules. I, on the other hand, have been married for almost five years. Jen is an athletic party animal. If she's not out and about causing scene, she's OTG and no one can locate her. While I'm a skiddish kitten who prefers nights alone ruling the internet. If I'm hiding out, it's in my girly room or kitchen. But we aren't opposites either. We both love to throw on party dresses, get weird and silly and share a connection that sometimes doesn't even require words -- although we may or may not developed our own language. If there's a ying to my yang it's Jen. And I'm very lucky to have the best freaking friend ever. Story of how Jen and I met here.

Happy Birthday Jen!
I Love you!!

“A best friend is like a four leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have”

Things I Love: I Pity the Fool Who Puts On My Jewlery

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Look of The Day: I've Got to Do Something About the Way I Look!

I mean a girl just can't go to Sing Sing with a green face.

On Friday night Casey was out of town so I hosted an all girls Breakfast at Tiffany's party and it was a blast. Let's just say I took over 500 pictures of the night, quite the success considering it was a last minute get- together. But we still managed to pull out all the stops, including dressing up thematically for our party.
I always like to have a variety of things for people to grab and put on, to get them in the party mood. Our outfits were complete with cat eye sunglasses, over the top necklaces, cigarette holders, and little black dresses and heels à la Holly. I just love getting festive and I don't think dressing up ever gets old.

Just call me Amber Golightly.
Did you hear that the LBD got added the the Oxford Dictionary?

Dinner Party!

My Gma's fur coats provided the perfect aesthetic to our photo-shoots.

The bloggers, Annie and I, rocking our glam jackets and cat eye sunnies.

You know it's a good night when the heels have to come off.

Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway.
The cocktail ring would be perfect for a girls night!

Look of the Day: Friends For Life

I went to Happy Hour with some old high school friends last night. It fun for a bit but WOW we have drifted apart. Anyways, my favorite accessory was my new gloves that my GOOD friend Jen gave me. They are made from vintage cashmere sweaters with vintage buttons! I so love them! Reminds me why friends like Jen stick around after all these years =)

Blog Award: Confessions of a Shopaholic

LC from Let them Eat lentils (how CUTE is that blog name!?) nominated me for A Beautiful Blog Award over on her blog. THANK YOU LC! =) LC and I meet back in October at Kath's Kerf meetup, love that girl, we need to meetup again soon! I am so grateful to have meet so many great blog friends. Anyways I am supposed to list 7 random facts about me and then pass it on to 7 more amazing bloggers.

I could NOT think of anything but here it goes!

1.My Mom was born and raised in Prague but shamefully I have never been and can't speak a lick. But we plan to go this summer and I cannot wait!!Image from http://www.incoczech.com
2.I am not a "beauty" person. I can't do makeup or hair at all, headbands are my friend. Good thing my good friend Jen helps me out it in that department.

3.Most of the new friends I have made over the past 4 years have been online ones and I have become extremely close with them. #iknowsomeonelikethat

4.For a high school project my Parents arranged for me to fly down to the Roxy Quicksilver headquarters so I could meet their clothes designers and job shadow them. Pretty much awesome since 15 year old Amber was obsessed with Roxy at the time, case in point...WOW! ....Dad that was for you ;)

5.I love Seinfeld, HIMYM,The Big Bang Theory, SNL, Friends, and most recently Tosh.0. Basically I love comedies and comedians, and I feel like I kind of missed the boat on the whole Reality TV thing.

6. I am a complete and total Star Wars Geek. Definitely expect a Princess Leia and Senator Padmé Amidala/Queen of Naboo Style Icon post one of these days......seriously, they have LEGEN- wait for it -DARY style. Bigger Nerd could I be?

7. I am a huge baseball fan. And I mean HUGE! Go GIANTS! 102 days until Opening Day =)

Ok now my turn to pass the torch. I nominate some of my favorite ladies
*participation not required =)

1. Kara from Fashionably inspired, love this girl! One of my online friends turned real friends.

2. Chelsea, I meet Chelsea at Kath's KERF meetup and became fast blog friends, I*heart* her!

3. Nicole we have been online friends for awhile now, and face it that chick has STYLE!

4.Lynn who I need to meet-up with soon. She is my future best blog friend.

5.Brittany from It's Exhausting Being This Juicy! Such a sweetie, with a closet that I want to raid.

6. J from the Look for less because she is just straight up rad.

7. Andrea from Faded Plains. Because her store rocks and we share a love of ruffles.

May the Force be with you =)

Look of the Day: 3 Strikes and You're Out

Thanksgiving weekend is fun because lots of good friends come into town and it's a great time to catch up. Yesterday we met some friends for a good old bowling match. I am not the best bowler but I sure am competitive! We had fun throwing some strikes and dancing to some rocking tunes.

A great way to ruin any outfit.
Strike One!
Strike Two!
You're outta here! Actually we Brought down the house with our Turkeys!
My look of the day, obviously I had not known bowling was in my future.
And a sneak peak to my Christmas tree that will reside in my girly craft room!!!

Look of the Day: The Plant - Partie Deux

Yesterday I headed out to San Francisco to celebrate my friend Johnny's birthday and to grab a healthy dinner with fellow blogger's Lindsey and Jenna. Jenna was working the Green Festival in San Fran and brought us samples of Amazing Grass, which I can't wait to try! Thanks Jenna!
Thank goodness I met up with the girls to eat because my only other option for food last night would have been a greasy birthday "cake" pizza. The girls and I dined at The Plant and once again it was amazing. There were so many amazing options on the menu I had a hard deciding what to order. While deciding we were given a sample of the soup of the day, a black bean soup which was so good but I knew I needed to eat more food than that. So I ordered the California Plant burger, which many of the bloggers ordered on Monday night. It did not disappoint, it was pretty much the best veggie burger I had ever had. It missed the camera's eye but it was almost creepy how much it looked like a rare hamburger, check out Jenna's blog for pictures of her burger. After dinner we checked out the most adorable candy shop, I only wished I liked candy because the store was darling. I couldn't help but snap pictures of it, not to mention ohh and ahhing over all the adorable displays. After I said good bye to the bloggers, I met up with my crew of friends who were finally assembling down in North Beach, which is where we spent the rest of night celebrating Johnny's birthday.

My look of the day. Urban dress, Joie Jacket and necklace made by moi.


Amazing grass samples from Jenna. I have been reading about these for months and can't wait to finally test them out!Pictures inside Miette the adorable candy store.


The birthday "cake" pizza I was happy NOT to call my dinner.
Staint Peter and Paul's church. So stunning to see at night.