happy birthday mom!

today is my beautiful mother's birthday.

i wish my internet connection were stronger at home so that i could post some pictures.

but those will have to wait until i'm back in berkeley!

the most special part of today is remembering my grandpa.

he used to send my aunt and my mom flowers on their birthdays every year,

and today my uncle and my dad both sent my mom flowers in my grandpa's honor.

grieving never gets better, but it gets easier everyday that goes by

especially when you have people you love around you.

happy birthday mom!

i am so glad to be home sharing it with you.

my mom is the cutest.

last week my mom came up for lunch.

we had delicious sushi and went shopping

and chatted about life.

my mom gives the best advice ever

and always provides me with rational insight about things going on in my life.

last week i got a card in the mail thanking me for having her for lunch.

even though she's the one who drove 1.5 hours to see me for just 2 hours.

once again, she's the best.

the card was especially poignant for me at this point in my life.

the front reads:

peace.

it does not mean to be in a place

where there is no noise, trouble

or hard work. it means to be in

the midst of those things and still

be calm in your heart.

-unknown

such powerful words.

rarely am i in a place where nothing is going wrong,

but that doesn't mean i can't be happy.

i love my mom.

thank you so much for coming up last week!

i love you.

ps shout out to my very best friend on earth MORGAN who just started her own blog and is now reading mine :)

just can't get enough

As I've gotten older, I've taken more and more style guidance from my mama.

I'm not quite old enough to be rockin' these flipflops yet (sorry mom),

but I do appreciate her devotion to J.Crew, Nordstrom, and Banana.

My favorite store of all now has to be Anthropologie.

I love that it so flawlessly combines older styles with younger, hip ones.

And I DIE over their home goods section.

when will i have my own apartment???

Lil' Mama and I are headed to Anthro today, so I was perusing their website in preparation.

Here are a few of my favorite things!

Adelaide Dress

Love how versatile this could be! You could wear it with sandals for a day of shopping or pair it with heels for a date night or drinks with girlfriends.

Well Spotted Blazer

No words for this one. My two favorite things combined.

Citrus Twist Necklace

I love bold necklaces! This one could liven up a plain work outfit.

Lake & Land Heels

The freakin' cutest.

Love shopping with Mama...she pays :)

I got it from my mama

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!

and especially to my mommy. People say they have the best mom in the world, but for me it's really true.

I love my mom because...

• she puts up with all my crazy (and there's a lot of it)
• she's hilarious
• she's the most resilient person I know. I wouldn't be half as strong as I am without her
• she is my biggest fan, always
• I can call her at anytime of day, crying or laughing, and she'll listen to what I have to say
• she's sacrificed so much for my sisters and me to have a great life
• she's really really cute.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy! So glad I got to spend part of the day with you. I can't wait to move home on Saturday and spend a month with you! I love you!

Scenes from Easter Weekend

This weekend was wonderful (aside from the still-going-strong sugar coma). Sometimes all I need is a little family time to get myself back on track. It was the perfect time to get some rest, refocus, and remember what's important. And it gave me a little time to work on my 15 page research paper with peace and quiet. This weekend, I...

...ate my favorite breakfast every day. Oatmeal with bananas and whole almonds and almond milk, and a cup of coffee with almond milk instead of cream. Perfection, and healthy too.

...played around with Cujo, aka my dog Riley. Doesn't she look insane in this picture?! I promise she's not! This picture is currently the background on my phone, and it makes me laugh literally every time I see it.

...went out to dinner with my cute parents. (Seriously, isn't my mom a knock out?) We went to Kristina's, my favorite Mexican restaurant in Hollister. I had a cheese enchilada, which I've been ordering there since I was probably about 7 years old. Old habits die hard, my friends.

Used Sally Hansen's awesome nail stickers. I cannot stop raving about them. They're so great that they deserve their own post. Watch for that later this week :)

I just got back to Berkeley about a half hour ago, so that means it's about time to get back to work on my paper (though I'm almost done!!!!). I'm glad I just had this time at home to keep me happy and optimistic through the next two weeks of finals madness.

Hope you all had wonderful Easter Sundays (if you celebrate) and were able to soak up some sun this weekend. :)

be well!

"kinda azkaban-ish"

Remember yesterday when I said I wasn't going to post until Thursday when all my midterms were over? Oops.

I just had to post this photo. My mom texted me saying that she spent 15 minutes in line at Walmart but got out of line because it was so awful. This is a screen shot of the conversation. The part that killed me: "Walmart is a horrible place kinda azkaban-ish"

I couldn't breathe for about 13 minutes. I hope it brought a smile to your face as well. And now, readers, you understand where I get my comedic timing and inspired sense of humor.