but I DO want it...

Absolutely LOVE this video! The end was such a surprise for me, but I thought it was so clever and cute!

forget your court date

Yet another day of work over and done with. I don't know if work is the cause, but I have a serious kink going on in my back right now. I need a back massage! Maybe one of our exchange students will be good at giving back rubs and I can convince them to give me one...

Look who showed up! Can you tell that I absolutely adore my dogs? They're the greatest! I'm definitely a dog person!

So I'm seeing a trend with my clothes lately. Forever 21, Forever 21, Forever 21... A lot of the pieces I have from Forever 21 are a couple years old and have been in my wardrobe as actively rotated pieces. But I've also been buying a lot of newer pieces recently as well. I don't really mind - it's affordable and there's a fairly good variety to choose from. But I think I might have to shop at other stores this summer just to mix things up a bit. It's totally doable now that I have a steady job for the whole summer too. I saw a lot of really nice things at Urban Outfitters the last time I was there...

Yea Yeah - Matt & Kim

gray flats from Target

everything else from Forever 21

Oh what classy, good-looking men in suits and well-tailored clothing...

it only shines as bright as we are

So this is one of my new skirts! It's made out of a light denim fabric and it has pockets! I kind of have an affinity towards all different shades of blue. So it's kind of perfect! (The other skirt I got is also blue... but it's navy and more of a pencil skirt) The sweater might've been a little unnecessary because it's in the lower 80s today, but it was cooler this morning. It definitely warmed up though! Yay! I love SoCal!

As you can probably tell, I dyed my hair yesterday (like I said I would). I think it was mostly successful for my first solo dying, but I don't think it was as complete as if someone else did it. Oh well. I'm probably going to dye it a darker brown before school starts anyway.
We're taking the annual "family pictures" today in the front yard. So that means my older brother is home and playing video games with our younger brother on the main TV. And will be doing so until he leaves... I don't mind video games. I just don't enjoy watching my brothers play video games because there's nothing else to do and they're hogging the TV. It's not fun unless you're playing. And there's a TV in my brother's room that is just as good as the main TV. (Okay, it's old and not a big screen, but it's still a TV. There's no TV in the room I share with my sister.)

I'll probably go read outside in the hammock or something until it's time to take pictures while they play violent video games. I did buy a new book today after church. I'm gonna try and get a lot of reading done when we're at my grandparents' house this weekend. They don't have wireless internet, so it's a good idea to bring a book or two. We're definitely going to see Toy Story 3 at some point in time. And we'll probably show the foreign exchange students around and take them to the beach or something. But I'm looking forward to sitting on the patio under the canopy and reading for hours and hours.

High Horses - The Swell Season

Forever 21 skirt, necklace & sandals

Alloy cardigan

Target tank top

find me some motivation to make it through these lonely nights

I made strawberry bread today! Well, strawberry bread muffins and a strawberry bread bundt cake. And they taste AWESOME! Although, I forgot to grease the bundt pan so that'll be an awesome time getting it out of the pan later...

This is my dog Tessa in her natural element:

I think I'm going to re-dye my hair later too. I want to do it this weekend and before tomorrow, because we're taking "family pictures" tomorrow. I'm just not feeling very motivated to do it at the moment. Whatever. Ghostbusters is on TV right now and I have to order a pizza for dinner (not really motivated to do that either...).

you can never get enough of this stuff

So can I just say that I love where I live? The weather's been awesome for the past month!

I got some new clothes in the mail this past week! I've definitely worn them, but have just been too lazy to document my outfits this week. And kind of too busy. Both yesterday and the day before I went from work directly to other functions and didn't get back until after nine o'clock.

I think I'm going to make strawberry bread tomorrow. I need to bake something.

I was supposed to go to lunch with my dad today. And I was kinda excited about it because I don't go to meetings with him for all the organizations that he's a part of (he's such a popular guy!). But then I woke up this morning with a terrible headache and just not feeling well. I even threw up for the first time in about 6-7 years (sorry about gross details...). So I didn't end up going with my dad. Or to the party one of my co-workers was having tonight either. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow.

In other news! Our foreign exchange students are coming this week! And we're going to my grandparents' house for the 4th! And I finally get to see Toy Story 3 when we're down there too! Exciting things coming up!

Friday I'm In Love - The Cure

weekends with the family

I still had pictures left over from Fathers' Day and since I didn't have time to take pictures of what I wore to work today (or anything else for that matter), I figured I'd share some more of them. It's all food! Well.... except the flowers. But that's beside the point. We always have great food whenever the family gets together. Like my grandma's Texas chocolate sheet cake (the last picture). I ate the last piece that we saved today. It's so delicious. Seriously.

We always have cheese and crackers and other snack-y/hors devours things before the main meal. My mum grilled some artichokes too that were really good. And then the main meal was just delicious! Salad, fruit salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob (I cut mine off because it's cleaner and because I had braces a few years ago and that was the only way I could eat it), and grilled chicken. How can you go wrong? And the colors were beautiful.

It was a very good family get together. And I get to see them all tomorrow too! My cousin graduates from high school tomorrow so we're going to her graduation party after work. And there's a possibility that I might be staying down at the beach with my family (maybe my grandparents...?) for the weekend because I don't have work until Monday (the office is closed on Fridays).

After spending most of the year away from home and my family, I don't think I could ever get tired of spending time with my cousins and grandparents. I'll probably be spending a lot more time with them this summer too because they're not traveling so much for sports this year. And spending more time with my cousins means spending more time at the beach. Win-win situation for me!

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkle

dog walkers at dusk

My sister and I took the dogs on a walk today. They love people, but cars and other dogs means lots of barking and freaking out puppies. Of course, we encountered both... That's why there's some pictures of us holding them. We "met" another dog and they couldn't be trusted not to "go for the jugular" so to speak. But they calmed down and were really adorable and lovable when the dog's owner pet them. And then she recognized me from when my house got broken into about a month ago while I was home and it was mentioned in the newspaper. Which was weird, because it was a really vague mention and very brief. And anonymous....

Butterfly - Crazy Town

top & sweater from Forever 21

skirt & flats from Target

life could be a dream

Just a few moments captured by the pool yesterday with my family on the last day of spring.

Sh-Boom - The Chords

I'd look psychotic in a balaclava

So it was Fathers' Day today (er. yesterday...), so this is my dad. And he's holding a pint and three ounces of beer in his hands... I think he got it as a gift from my older brother. I'm pretty sure that's all my family gets each other anymore: cards and booze. At least for the older ones, like the parents and grandparents. I personally can't buy alcohol, so I cannot give it as a gift. But whatever. They seem to enjoy giving each other alcohol-based beverages for holidays and birthday, so who am I to stop them?

This picture of my dad is really only a taste of the awesomeness that was this afternoon. We had my dad's side over for our annual Fathers' Day celebration. I'm pretty sure it's happened at our house for the past few years. So I guess it's a bit of a tradition. There was lots of food, plenty of alcohol (we're not alcoholics, my family just enjoys their beer and wine while getting together), an incredible amount of laughter, and even some swimming. I took a ton of pictures and got to see my grandparents for the second time this weekend! Woo!

I love my family. They're so great. And I get to see them all again on Thursday for my cousin's graduation, and yet again for Fourth of July! My dad's side of the family is amazing and we get along really well. It's always lots of fun when we get together.

I spent all day with my dad though. He and I went to a pancake breakfast at church (my brother left for camp this morning and my mum had things to do to get ready for the afternoon while my sister slept in...) and went to service. And then the family came over. After that, Dad and I watched Inglourious Basterds. I love that movie! It's so funny and clever. I saw it with my dad in theatres when it came out and we just rented it this past week. It's kind of our thing, to watch movies like that. We generally just go by ourselves, but as my younger siblings are getting older it's getting harder to keep them from going. My brother will be seventeen next year, so we won't be able to say he's too young for rated R movies anymore... Oh darnnit.

Anyway, here's too my dad! I love him to bits and am so thankful for him and all he does for us, even when he makes me pull weeds in the backyard... haha!

song of the day: Horchata - Vampire Weekend

lunch with the fam-damily

my parents

my sister the "graduate"

my grandma!

Austin's an attractive eater...

my grandpa

We went to this restaurant called Sakura today for my sister's promotion from middle school with my grandparents. We ate good food and had a really funny chef preparing it in front of us. And there was a lot of fire involved, so it was really fun. And of course, there's never a dull moment when you get my family together with food. Case in point, the above picture and the one of my brother eating noodles and the one of him, our sister, and me together. When we're not beating each other up, we can be really entertaining/weird, apparently... who'd've thought?

There were quite a few really awesome pictures too that I didn't include. We all have a penchant for making weird/funny/awkward faces... on purpose and not. Haha! I feel like we're the most interesting and rambunctious family at restaurants sometimes. But I don't think I'd have it any other way!

song of the day: Bigger Than My Body - John Mayer