TIME Magazine covers

Do you know what was happening in the world when you were born? TIME Magazine's archives allow you to search by your birthdate to see the cover of the magazine for that week when you first entered the world. (See the search bar on the right hand side). The archives go back to the first issue in 1923. It's fascinating to see what was new and hip, controversial or newsy back then, from Charlie Chapman and my favorite TV gal Lucy to the rise of the computer and the demise of the Challenger space shuttle. 

My birth week cover from June 1988 (shown below) rants about Russia's under-appreciated women! Interesting comparison to this week's European cover. 

Love and country

I have many shining examples of love and great marriage in my life...mom and dad, my grandparents, Miranda and Blake... ;)

Congrats to both of them on their ACM wins last night. I loved the part right after Miranda delivered her speech for receiving Female Vocalist of the Year. She left the microphone still in tears and the camera cut to Blake, who was hosting the show. He was clearly touched by her emotion and kept shaking his head and going "Phew! Phew!" before he could talk. For such a power couple, they seem so completely down to earth. Like Tim and Faith. Those hotties...

Other highlights from the awards show: 
Crazy dancers, AMAZING song. 
And this has been stuck in my head all day. 

Ok, this is about as "celebrity gossip" as I get. :)

Wedding colors

Let's talk about color! Our palette for the wedding is pretty simple: Seafoam for the nearby ocean. Pale yellow for the wildflowers like those that grow on the hills in Bodega. Ivory for classic lace. Coming up with wedding colors wasn't hard, but finding bridesmaids dresses, decor and stationary to coincide can be. Thankfully, I've never been too matchy-matchy...and we're being creative. More DIY projects and planning to come in the next few months! We're off to Bodega in the morning, in fact. Excited to see that beautiful sea.

Thanks for checking in! Life has been crazy. Same ol' story. But Tori has plenty of stories, so I'll be back and blogging more regularly again soon. :)

California love

Felt an earthquake today. Around 4 p.m. in downtown Sacramento, our office on the 9th floor of one of the city's oldest buildings started swaying. Yikes! But I'm thankful earthquakes are just about the only thing we have to worry about here in California...no crazy blizzards or hurricanes or tsunamis (only in those awful "the-world-is-ending-in-L.A." movies). It's our land of milk and honey, movie stars and sunshine and yoga fanatics and the freshest produce in the West. It's the only place I know where you can drive to a beach, a snow-capped mountain, a desert and a forest of the tallest trees in the country within a day. It's home. I didn't even have to move away for more than a year to realize that. Here's one of my favorite songs about California. And another classic. There are plenty. :)

Do you read books twice?

Right now I'm reading Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd, who also wrote The Secret Life of Bees. In the former book she talks about her experience leading up to writing her best-selling novel about young Lily Melissa Owens.

It made me remember how much I loved that story when I read it several ago, and I thought, why not read it again? It's been so long since I've picked it up that it would feel almost new once more. And I'd probably view it differently at a new stage of my life. Then I started thinking--have I ever read a book multiple times? For as much as I love stories, I couldn't recall a time that I had. 

So, do you read books twice? Three times? More?

Here's my list of stories to re-read some day soon:

The Secret Life of Bees
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 
The Hours
Pride and Prejudice
Wuthering Heights
The Great Gatsby
Their Eyes Were Watching God 
The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You (college requirement shout out. If you've never heard of this book, go check it out!)

Ode to cats

There's something wonderful about a cat that can make you feel warm and fuzzy and relaxed (just like they are), smiling and rolling your eyes at their sense of entitlement and invasion of your personal space, wondering what they're chasing, chewing, staring at on the wall or out the window like they've just seen a ghost. If curiosity killed the cat, it surely created the cat as well. Yup, there's something wonderful about a cat. As Charles Dickens once said, "what greater gift than the love of a cat?"

Thanks for keeping me company on this rainy winter night, little Solly. :)

Vintage opera posters

Aren't these old opera posters pretty? They would make some great wall art for a kitchen or bedroom. 

Did you know that the word "opera" means "work" in Italian?

That is all. Happy New Year!

Years that ask questions

This quote has been one of my favorites ever since reading Their Eyes Were Watching God in high school (gosh, I miss those classics sometimes...)

I truly can't believe 2013 is upon us. I've always felt that time was rushing forward -- that the days and weeks and months and years were lunging past me uncontrollably -- and this year especially seemed to fly right on by. But time did stop on a few occasions for a few brief moments. Like this one. :) And those moments I cherish. 2012 taught me many things about myself, about life, about love, about starting a career. 2011 was a year of questions, but this year gave me some clarity, some definitive answers. Maybe that was true for you as well, or maybe your year was more uncertain. I have a feeling 2013 will bring many more challenges, questions, answers and great memories. 

How are you celebrating the close of 2012? We're going to watch the fireworks over Tower Bridge in Old Town Sac tonight. Happy New Year, everyone! See ya next year. ;)


*Photo from that dubious summer 2011 in Torrington, WY 

On kindness and Christmas

There's a nice man who works at the ticket booth in our parking garage. Whenever I swing by to leave work for the evening, he's there with a smile, a nod and a "have a good night!" It's a simple gesture, but it's become something familiar and pleasant. Sometimes I'll pick his line of cars at the exit just to wish him well and have him send me on my journey home. I don't know much about him. All I know is that his simple kindness makes a big difference... 

And speaking of kindness, our mantel (well, cabinet) with cards from family and friends reminds me how blessed we are. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Andrew and I spent the weekend before Christmas in Los Angeles, visiting my aunt MaryAnn and her boyfriend Dominick and cruising through the crowded streets of Hollywood and Beverly Hills in her new car. We held a party (Kim came over!), went on a hike near Dodgers stadium, ate Mexican food on Olvera Street, browsed the Redondo Pier fish market and went on a long walk in Marina Del Rey with Andrew's brother Tony and his wife Jana. It was my first time meeting them and I couldn't have been happier to have an afternoon together! We spent Christmas in Grass Valley, opening presents, eating way too much as usual and watching "The Christmas Story" -- my favorite. :)

Life of Pi

I once read that you judge whether or not you'll like a movie within the first three minutes of watching. But even after the first 30 seconds of Life of Pi, with it's simple yet creative opening credits, I was spellbound. Andrew and I stopped to see it in 3D in Davis over the weekend.

Based on the novel by Yann Martel (which I now want to read), the story follows a young boy named Pi and a tiger named Richard Parker. And that’s all I’m going to say.

Other than the fact that it’s so visually scintillating, it kept me intrigued for the entire 126 minutes. This time, paying the few bucks more for a 3D experience was worth it.  Ann Hornaday from The Washington Post put it well when she said, “In a year when 3-D has added little or nothing to the films it nominally enhanced…'Life of Pi' arrives just in time to breathe life and possibility into an otherwise moribund marketing gimmick.”

And get this – a make-shift movie theater (above) was created inside an indoor swimming pool in Paris called the Piscine Pailleron, which was featured in the film. People watched from lifeboats swaying in the water. Leave it to the French!