Monday Inspiration Mayhem

I've been figuring out things with this blog. All positive but I've been neglecting the normal posts which makes me feel a tad guilty. I have been enjoying life though, so at least there is that. I came down with a cold and it was a brutal one at that. But today is the start of a new week and here are some of my favorite finds from pinterest and my bloglovin blog list...

I have been meaning to give my hair some more attention lately. I'm lucky enough to have it look decent pretty much all the time (because of the color and weight due to length keeps it pretty straight) but I would like to put a bit more effort in every once in a while... I want my curls to look like this soon!

learn how!

best I could do

I have tattoo fever and no money to help it die down. There are so many things I want and not enough money to make them come true. This tattoo below is one I have wanted for years now. I like the placement this lady picked. Going to have to think of a creative place when I get mine!

as close as I could get

As if she doesn't inspire me enough, Elsie's new dress line is to die for. These are my favorites from her Spring line which goes on sale tomorrow! Do I have money for these, no. Am I really sad about that. Well, yes. Very. But I can dream about them.

Lastly, my dear friend Nicole mentioned wanting a scarf she had posted a picture of on her blog. She asked if I could possibly create something like it. I just saw the picture today and indeed I can! The uniformity of the squares and the tightness of the stitch is going to be hard to come as close to but I'm going to give it my best effort and hopefully we'll get a great piece!

It's so rainy and gray here but it makes the colors of painted things pop so I'm not upset. Tonight is a trip to the bins with the aforementioned Nicole. I LOVE me some bins scavenging. There will be posts about thrifting soon!

xoxo

Soked! (So stoked, just made it up!)

So I was just perusing my bloglobin (mcglubbin... eh eh... sorry, apparently I'm prone to pun at 3:05am) and I came across a post from one of my favorites Kyla. I sent her a postcard a while back and she got it! Not only did she get it, she posted a picture of it!

go have a look see and write her too!

That just made my life that much brighter. I scrolled over it and was like waiiiiit, that's MINE! I thought my tax return put me on cloud 9 but nope, this did too!

In other news it's been real busy for this girl. Job shopping, living with friends, loving Portland... figuring life out. You know, the usual. :) I can honestly say I am really happy right now though. I have had moments of "how am I going to pull this off" thoughts but they leave just as quick as they wash over me. It's all good here.

gnight for now

xoxo

100 flicker worthy pictures: SET 10!!!

This picture set is not what I originally planned for the last one but I couldn't pass it up because there was no way I was going to fit all of them into my Day 2 post from My Trip to Portland. So here are some of my favorites from Hearst Castle!

I think this is a regal way to tie up the ends of #6.

Saving grace

Even in the corners

two glorious paintings

filled to the brim

at the edges

best room in the house

color of light

stairs so small

no e-z bake

regal

WOOO! Now I have some time to relax and figure out my 100 things project starting in March. OOP! Looks like that gave away one of my 25 before 26's!

xoxo

Another Sunday Share

For grins and giggles, and possible a couple aweee's.

Sunday Share Circle

Now that my posts about my trip are done I'm back on schedule! Today, share circle. Just like in kindergarten when you would bring things into share with the class.

I recently just scanned a whole load of pictures from my younger years which is a feat in and of itself, then I put the ones that were really special to me into ONE, yes one, album! There were so many pictures I wanted to share here for one reason or another. Usually I just wanted to share a laugh. So this month is blast from the past sharing month!

Today I am sharing: Christmas and my absolutely enormous head.

I always knew I had a slightly large head considering many hats just do not fit me but it wasn't until I recently came upon this picture that I realized how very large (long?) my head really is. Crazy right? If that's not embarrassing enough, I'm kidding an ornament. I think it's because there was a bear on it and I really liked it but my memory is a little hazy. :)

Honestly I am not embarrassed about my large skull. I like it think it's because I house so much brain OR my brain is so special my skull is extra thick to protect it. Either way I'm a winner!

It's like Natalie Portman's character said in No Strings Attached:
AK (ashton kutcher): you're really smart.
NP: Yeah, sometimes my neck hurts.
AK: why?
NP: From holding a brain this big.

Don't quote me word for word on that but that was the gist. Made me laugh. I definitely want to use that in a conversation one day.

Welp, time to plan out the next week! Feel free to share a blast from the past moment

xoxo

Trip to Portland: Last day of Driving

This post is all pictures of the road. I didn't get out of the car much on my last day because I had 11+ hours and I didn't feel like dilly dallying. Also, I didn't have any places I really wanted to stop except this one diner like place that is delicious but unfortunately I got too hungry before I got there and stopped in Medford instead at a mall I had been to before. 

I started the morning leaving San Francisco. I made a wrong turn and ended up right on the coast which was a nice treat.

Stopped at Taco Bell for some healthy (haha) lunch. Needed to stay fueled for the rest of the day.

There was a lot of driving, got excited as I would pass each city I remembered like Weed and Yreka (pronounced Y-reeka, not ur-eeka). I knew after Yreka the border was soon. I had a friend from Southern California see if I wanted to hang out, I said sure if I wasn't just crossing the Oregon border.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. Just music from Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, A Day To Remember, Mumford and Sons and more. I was so ready to get to Portland that I didn't stop to see many things. The good news was the drive was really pretty and I didn't get lulled to sleep by the road. Big plus. 

I finally got to Portland at about 9pm and said hi to Tiffany and then went to a bar with Bryan. 

I came home and crashed at 12, so exhausted from everything but so excited to be in Portland again.

So there you have it! My trip from San Diego to Portland in 5 days.

xoxo

Trip to Portland: Weekend in San Francisco

Saturday

After a night of dancing Chels Dogg and I didn't wake up until 12. Well, I didn't wake up til 12, her and Knife Fight Ruby woke up a bit earlier. After putsing around and talking for a good long bit Chels and I started our Saturday at All You Knead. I wanted to go here for brunch (well, it was more like a late lunch considering we didn't get there til 2...). I was so stoked for their veggie buscuits and gravy I about died. So good. After our food I took some time walking around The Haight while Chels met up with a friend from the past. 

yum yum entrance

Chels

I went into my favorite bookstore, The Booksmith, there and found some gorgeous cover art. I was so in love I HAD to buy one. Jane Eyre welcome to my book collection! (As I was typing this my sister text me saying her english teacher chose the same book for her to read!)

pretty Wuthering Heights covers, I really want the one on the left

my new book

After The Booksmith I walked around some more, stopped in the Bettie Page store to drool over gorgeous dresses, looked in Cheap Thrills for little knick knacks and perused the merch at Giant Robot. Surprisingly I couldn't find anything I really wanted anywhere but The Booksmith which was good (for me). I had way less than normal to talk myself out of.

liberty

art store yarn

chess mural on high school

I finally made my way to the cafe Chels was at with our friend from high school and chatted with them for a bit. After Chels and I went home to bake a cake (well she baked it, man that was good) for her roommate's birthday party. Alas I have no more pictures of that night but I will say it was a great party filled with craft talk and possible suggestions for my future! Absolutely lovely. After everyone left I tucked myself into bed and finished Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions. Wooo, book #1 for February! 

Sunday

I had big plans for Sunday which started with a George's Zoo sandwich (so frickin delicious, I HAVE to have George's Zoo every time I'm in SF. No joke.) and a drive to San Jose. I had decided on my way up to San Francisco that I wanted to see the Winchester Mystery House and was pleased to learn that it was only an hour south of where I was staying. So I devoured my lunch and made a quick stop at a shop Chels had mentioned the night before.

oh my fav

Daiso is a glorious store. It's similar to a dollar store but almost everything is $1.50. I wandered the rows looking at so many different things that were so cute (and some really gaudy). 

wonders abound

cute boxes

love

I was so very happy to happen upon a section filled with stationary that I have been looking for. Tons and tons of cute cute stuff with sayings that don't really make much sense at all. I stocked up so I would have super cute things to send my pen pals!

After I tore myself away from Daiso I sped toward Winchester to make the 3pm tour. I made it, and found out there was also a 3:30 tour that did the same thing... oh well. 

The Winchester Mystery house wasn't what I expected. At all. In fact, I was a tad disappointed. I was really glad I did the estate tour with the "behind the scenes" addition because that definitely added a lot more. 

When they started the tour they said something that made me pout for the whole first leg, "no pictures are allowed in the house."

WHAT?! I paid $35 and am not allowed to take pictures?! Hearst let me take pictures and they charged $27. AND Hearst is bigger! Sigh. 

While the Mystery House was a big mysterious and strange it wasn't as creepy as I expected it to be. On the second tour I was able to get some outside shots which calmed my pout to a half pout.

one of the only pictures I took inside

Beginning of second tour

Sign

weather vane

what is that small hole to the side for?

gardens

the front

another lady statue

All in all I would say it's worth it to see if you are at all curious but I did wish they had more information on the house and everything about it. It has a great partial story but I wanted more. The only book I could find was tiny. Oh well. The positive was: I was curious and not bored. It was beautiful and had lots of detail I loved and wished I could take pictures of. It was a strange house, so while I wasn't creeped out I was definitely intrigued. If you're in the area go see it, but definitely get the full estate tour with the behind the scenes addition. You'll leave feeling let down if you only do the first part.

The night ended with Chels and I getting greek food and watching an episode of Bones. So great. We went to sleep semi early because I knew I had an 11+ hour drive ahead of me and she had work the next day. 

Every time I visit San Francisco I fall in love again. This time though I did realize some things that would make it hard for me personally to live there. I love it but I'm not sure I could call it my home. It made me feel even better about my decision to relocate to Portland. 

xoxo

Trip to Portland: LA to San Francisco

The morning started off at dear old starbucks. I have a gift card so I had free breakfast. Sweet. I had a bagel, posted a blog :) and started on my journey toward Hearst Castle about 4 hours away.

mmmm breakfast

oh yay a tunnel!

I made a pit stop at Pismo Beach to stretch my legs and take some pictures. I don't know why I often feel compelled to stop here on my way up to Portland, but this is the second time I've done it. 

Pier

underneath it all

Rad hotel

The thinker

A rad sign for a lame store

After my ever so brief stop in Pismo Beach I continued on my way to Hearst. I think I took a long cut and went on Highway 1 waaaay before I should have but oh well, it was a pretty view. Right before I came to the entrance of my destination I pulled over at a view point to take some more pictures.

 part of your wooooorld

So windy

Not going to lie, I froze with those pictures. The wind coming off the ocean was quite chilly to say the least. I guess I was getting ready for colder climates stop by stop. 

I got back in my car and headed toward the castle parking lot.

The next tour didn't start for an hour an a half so I ate some semi edible pizza (maybe I'll choose macaroni next time) and read my book Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. Then the tour was getting ready to start so off I went to wait in my line. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the tour:

enter

I wish for a castle like this

the drive up the mountain

The beginning

Roman pool

Favorite little detail, this was in between stone steps outside.

The library.

Favorite Painting

yuuum yum, plastic cake

you are here

I took way more pictures than that but I didn't think fitting 100+ pictures of the castle on here would be worth anybodies time. 

Right before our bus took us back down the mountain my camera gave me a low battery warning which didn't surprise me. 

I quickly left the castle and started the second leg of my long drive. I stopped once to take a picture of the view from a spot on the highway that was incredible. I wish this picture did it justice but alas the view points weren't the prime spots. The places that were prime viewing spots would have caused accidents however so I took what I could get.

I guess there are some green parts of California.

I then drove the rest of the way to San Francisco to meet with C-dogg and Knife Fight Ruby so we could dance the night away. And let me just tell you, that is exactly what we did.

xoxo