Through Hubert's Eyes #5

I am really slacking on these types of posts! Here is a picture from when Ryan and I made it up to the North Shore at Split Rock Lighthouse a few weeks ago.

Happy Wednesday!

Spontaneous

Last Thursday, my brother randomly text me to ask if I wanted to go to a Sia concert. Some background -- ever since I heard Sia's haunting voice on the song, "Breathe Me", I've been hooked on her music. I've always wanted to see her perform live because I love her voice, and of course because I just absolutely love concerts.

So there was one problem, it was a week night and typically I don't like to stay out too late since I have to work at 7am (I know, I know....another sign of me in my 30s...this was not a problem in my teens and twenties...well, early twenties for sure lol).

After lots of texting back and forth with my brother to get all the details, I asked my husband if he wanted to go too and we figured, why not!

Then it hit me -- I was going to see Sia live! I was absolutely ecstatic!!!

The show did not disappoint at all. The opening band was Oh Land and I had only heard one of the band's songs before, but after their show I'm definitely now a fan.

So now I just have to gloat -- I was right in front of the stage for Sia's performance! The show was in a smaller venue (which I actually love by the way, it's so much more intimate), so before Sia got on stage I found my way to the front. When I got to the spot, I figured out why it was open - it was right in front of the speakers. My brother laughed at me and said my ears would get blown out, but we three stayed there anyways. When Sia came out I couldn't believe how close we were, it was awesome! And, my ears didn't get blown out luckily.

Like I said, Sia didn't disappoint. I loved her voice already and hearing her live made me love it more. Her voice was impeccable and beautiful and made me love all her songs all over again. I also loved that she interacted with the audience and joked around between songs.

Sometime during the night my brother told me he was so happy I came out, but he was also surprised that I decided to go out since it was a week night. I told him I know, me too, but I was being spontaneous :)

crappy picture, but look at how close we were! EEEE!  Still makes me so happy :)

It's the humidity...

IT'S SO HOT.....I'm melting and my hair is expanding....

Time to go out for some ice cream to beat the heat...Happy Monday!

(image from weheartit.com)

Caving in

Well, my obsession with nail polish continues...

Last week I went out to buy more of my shampoo/conditioner and finally caved (I knew it was coming).

I bought my first Butter London nail polish.

In case you haven't heard of this brand/company, Butter London has an array of beautiful nail polishes that are free of harmful ingredients like Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, and Parabens. This is what initially drew me to the brand. As I get older and hear/read more about the harmful effects chemicals, parabens, and sulfates have on the human body, the more I try to find products that don't contain them.

You'd think that it'd be a no brainer and I'd just buy these products more often, but the reason I've been calmly and coolly walking by the display of their nail polishes at the store -- even though they scream out my name as I walk by -- is because they are $14 a pop. I know. For a nail polish.

This time, I casually looked at the nail polishes again...the pretty...pretty...nail polishes and was about to walk away when I saw a "deal". A nail polish in "No More Waity Katie" (named after what tabloids called Kate Middleton once she and William got engaged -- I know, how cute, how much more could I take?) and a nail polish remover for $15. So, I was basically getting a free nail polish remover, right? The color was a beautiful, glittery purple/taupe color (that of course, wasn't sold separately) and I snatched it up. Maybe I just needed an excuse?

Another reason I got it was because as much as it was, I did want to try to veer towards these types of products that didn't contain harmful ingredients. I feel like companies like this right now are so few and far between and these companies need to be supported if we want to see more of them.  I will say, besides the peace of mind of the non-toxic formulation, the nail polish was lovely -- opaque color and glitter in 2 coats and lasted a week without chipping. Well worth it to me :) I wish I still had it on my nails, but I decided to switch it up today without even thinking that I might make this post. And, the nail polish remover worked really well!

Wow. This was a really long post about nail polish. Here's a picture of the first (of what I'm assuming will be more to come) of my Butter nail polishes. Yay for the upcoming weekend!

Wedding Bells and Fish Tales

My last post was somewhat morbid, so I thought this one could be geared towards other events that happened before Ryan's hernia surgery -- a wedding and fishing! I also haven't been posting much lately either, so I'm trying!

I love weddings. I love seeing the happy couple in wedded bliss. I love watching them as they say their vows to each other and the looks in their eyes. I love the whole celebration aspect of it.  Ryan's stepbrother got married and it was an absolutely beautiful wedding. It was a very hot and humid outdoor wedding, but a beautiful wedding indeed. I wish I would've taken more pictures during the wedding, but it was a very intimate setting and I didn't feel like taking pictures during it. Luckily Ryan's mom took some after wedding pics of all her kids and so I have that to share...

The following day after the wedding, we were off to go up north for Ryan's family's annual fishing trip! Unfortunately we weren't able to stay a full week like everyone else due to Ryan's surgery, but hopefully next year we'll be there for the whole week. It was such a great time and so relaxing. Like I've said before, I love seeing Ryan in his fishing element. I've really never seen anything like it. As relaxed and laid back of a person he is already, he is even more relaxed fishing. It's a beautiful sight to me.

my teeniest catch! I swear, the other fish were bigger ;)

Hello, Mr. Teeny Tiny Turtle!

not bad for the first day :)

A little piece of heaven

My man got some major sunburn (hence the very fashionable hat the 2nd day), but he was still happy!

In Sickness and In Health

This post may be a little morbid or sound crazy, but what the heck...

I've had a very busy few weeks lately, especially this past week. Ryan and I had a family wedding, then his families' annual fishing trip, and then Ryan had hernia surgery yesterday. We were so tempted not to leave the fishing trip because it's his absolute favorite thing to do. I mean, seeing him, watching him in that element is something so precious to me, I can't even explain it. We were both sad that we had to leave in the middle of the trip for his surgery, but unfortunately he doesn't get much time off work, so what can you do?

Leading up to his surgery and even during the fishing trip when his mom would bring it up every once in a while, Ryan and I would both respond with something to the extent of "oh, it will be fine". And honestly, that's how we thought it would be. Then, yesterday morning as I was sitting next to him in his hospital bed, seeing him for the first time in a hospital gown, and then watching the nurses wheel him into the OR, for a split second, I thought, what if he's not?

Tears came to my eyes once he was out of view since I didn't want to look like a baby in front of the nurses and I said a quick prayer that everything really would be fine.  It was pretty morbid to think, what if something went wrong and by some freak accident a minor, same day surgery, would not go as planned? These thoughts all of a sudden flooded into my mind. What if all of a sudden, this man I've spent almost half my life with was gone -- just like that.

I know, I know, hernia surgery does not equal a quadruple bypass, but still. I guess I panicked in a way for a second, but only because I never want to lose this man I love so much.

In the end though, my pager the hospital gave me went off (FINALLY), and the surgeon met me in a room to shake my hand, give me some post op instructions, and most importantly, tell me: "Everything went fine." Music to my ears.

And as my "patient" for a few days is downstairs napping with his new penguin pillow pet we named "Hank" (he's going to get me back me for saying that, haha), I'm up here thanking God again for the thousandth time for getting him back to me safe. He's sore, has a huge shaved patch on his stomach, and a little smiley-face looking incision under his belly button, but he's fine.
And his inny that turned into an outy, is an inny once again. :)

Through Hubert's Eyes #4

It has been quite a long time since I had a Hubert post...well, it's just been a long time since I've posted anything, period.

Last week, Ryan and I went to one of my favorite places in MN -- the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It's one of the things I've missed most since we moved (that and the Original Pancake House :) ). We wanted to check it out and see if the crabapple trees had blossomed yet since this spring has been so cold. It ended up being perfect timing because we had some bad storms and wind this past weekend, so I'm sure the crabapple tree blossoms aren't the same anymore. We got lucky I guess and saw the pretty blooms of the crabapple trees and the thousands of tulips that have blossomed.

The arboretum is such a magical place to me. I love going for walks there and love the peacefulness that comes with it. With the blossoms of the trees and flowers and all the bright shades of colors, it almost feels like a fairyland.

Like I said, it's been a while since I had a Hubert post, so instead of just one or two pictures this time, here's a "bunch" from the arboretum (pun intended, hehe). Hope you enjoy!

next year, I want to have a picnic under this tree...

silly husband :)

An Event

A long awaited event occurred today -- the Royal wedding of William and Kate. Today, Kate Middleton made every girl in the world wish she was a Princess. Well, at least that's how I felt :)

I have today off of work and was planning on doing so much, but ended up glued to the TV since this morning, waiting for the live first kiss from the couple. I didn't wake up early enough to watch the actual ceremony (that was way too early!), but it's being replayed all day so I'm not too worried about it. When I saw Kate's dress, I fell in love with it. It was very classy, lace, and so Grace Kelly. Her makeup - flawless. She looked absolutely radiant.

Watching their wedding made me think of my own. And unfortunately, when I think of my own, some negative thoughts come pouring back. Not of my actual wedding - that was the most magical time of my life so far - but because of some other circumstances I won't bother getting into right now.

As I saw the crowds and crowds of people both inside and outside Westminster Abbey for William and Kate's wedding, I thought again about how weddings can sometimes get so out of hand. Dozens of people surround a couple and sometimes that day becomes about pleasing others, making sure family is happy, that details are taken care of, that you're not going to disappoint anyone...when in the end, that day is really about two people - the Bride and the Groom. Whether they are the possible future King and Queen or every day people, that day is about them. Sometimes that gets lost.

Watching the wedding made me smile. The people gathering, the stunning yet simple decorations, the gorgeous Church combined with nature's foliage, the outrageous hats! It did seem like a magical event and I hope the new husband and wife have a lifetime of happiness.

I probably don't have anything in common with Kate, but I like to think that as she walked down the aisle next to her new husband, she thought the same thing I did when I was walking down the aisle...


I just married the man of my dreams. Love is not a fairytale.

Officially

Another year has flown by and here I am...officially in my 30s. I should probably change my "30 and Thriving" to "30s and Thriving".

I have been 31 for 5 days now. What does that mean now? I really don't know. Doesn't feel much different from 30 honestly...or 29...or 28. I am taking that as a good thing. I do feel like I need to do some re-evaluation and soul searching though, but I feel like that's a normal thing when you realize another year has gone by, right?

I am not one to make that big of a deal about my birthday. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I don't like to be the center of attention. I've never really liked big parties either. I just get uncomfortable when people stare at me expecting me to be uber happy that there is a party going on for me. I get embarrassed. I get sweaty (surprise, surprise). It's just awkward for me. Is that a bad thing? I've always felt bad about feeling this way because I don't want to seem ungrateful or something, but in all honesty, I would much prefer something low key over something that resembles a party.

And, of course my husband knows that and planned for the perfect way to celebrate my birthday. A staycation. If you don't know, a "staycation" is like going on vacation close to home. Call it a poor man's vacation or a fancy sleepover, whichever way you want to look at it. You know I won't turn down any form of a vacation! Ryan got a hotel for a couple nights and we had a wonderful time lounging, relaxing, pretty much not doing much at all. It was wonderful.

The hotel was actually pretty cool. We had our own bathrobes and slippers, an awesome bathroom with a sunken tub, a flat screen TV (which Ryan now wants to put in our bedroom), and pretty decent room service. Birthday dinner in bed? Yes, please! What cracked me up about the hotel was that they delivered ice to your room. Rich people must be lazy! We were also downtown so it was fun to walk around and explore shops and of course restaurants too.

The rest of my birthday weekend was celebrated with family. Saturday, my brother wanted to eat lunch at a chinese food place, which turned out to be an impromptu birthday celebration with my parents and aunt too, cake and flowers included. It was a good time.  Sunday was spent with Ryan's family for April birthdays (which I share with his sister and grandpa), which meant even more cake!

One thing I've always thought about getting older is that it's a privilege. It's not something to dread. So, here I am, 31, alive, healthy (albeit overweight lol, but hey, I'm working on that part), employed, loved, with people that I truly love in my life. Life is good!

Here's my photo diary of part of my birthday weekend (sadly, none taken with Hubert).

Bathrobes and slippers?! YES!

View from our hotel. The deflated white blob on the left side is supposed to be the Metrodome :(

me and more views from the room

Ryan being silly and attempting to steal the flatscreen

me showing off my birthday present from my hubby - my colored gemstone Paloma Picasso bead bracelet from Tiffany :) 

I don't know why, but I loved this apple painting. And I like how you can see mine and Ryan's shadows for each of the apples. It's fitting cuz he's the apple of my eye. Awwww -- puke!

Birthday dinner in bed! Sounds lazy, but seriously, just what I needed!

the cutest birthday cake that I've ever had

I don't know why I tried to pose like Mary Tyler Moore. I had no hat, and I ended up looking like I was grabbing her boob.

Even the newspaper had a home. I don't know why I thought this was cute.

Last morning on our staycation. These pastries were yummy!

An Adult Ago

A crazy thing happened to me today. Okay, not quite "crazy" as funny I guess, but to me it's still crazy.

I was watching Oprah after work as usual and the show featured some female artists from the past. I kind of laughed to myself when Salt-N-Pepa took the stage with a mix of some of their famous songs. As they performed "Whatta Man", I thought to myself:

"Oh geez, I remember when that came out...I must've been in 8th grade..."

And BAM. It hit me. 8th grade?????!!!! So then I was around 13?? 13???? 

And then...wait for it...I realized...that that was 18 years ago. That is the age of an adult person. A whole adult person! That was an adult ago!

I guess instead of "crazy" it would be more "ironic" maybe? Ironic because the day before I turn 31, a song takes me back to a time when I thought 30 was old.  I had no problem turning 30, but after this, maybe turning 31 will be harder than 30?

Happy Tuesday

I'm not really quite sure why Tuesdays are so happy for me. Early on in my relationship with Ryan, we would go on random dates during the week or he would bring me flowers or something like that, and it seemed like they'd fall on a lot of Tuesdays. I even have notes from him saying just "Happy Tuesday". I  guess it's just one of those things where you're together for so long you forget how a tradition started?

Today has definitely been a happy Tuesday, but not because of a date night or flowers lol. It's because The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide was finally released! I say finally because it has been years since this book was first mentioned. Finally!

Ahhh...hopefully this fix will keep me occupied until Breaking Dawn comes out in November...probably not, but it is still exciting! I'm off to go read it and ooooh and ahhh at the entire book.

Happy Tuesday!

I'm a dork

It's the humidity!

Spring is in the air...and so is the humidity...womp womp...

Today was the first day I, or rather, my hair, felt the humidity in the air. I definitely didn't miss the humidity or the spring cleaning that comes with winter going away. Oh, the things we sacrifice for nicer weather. I think I may need to make a trip to the salon soon for a relaxer appointment before I start getting confused for Ryan's new pet!

Happy Sunday!

I heart...

I've noticed that I've been typing/saying "I heart..." or "I <3" a LOT lately in emails/texts/conversations. This is something I used to think was annoying and somehow I've adopted the habit of doing it myself. So, to further annoy myself (and possibly you too), I thought this post would be about the things I currently heart a lot.

I also wanted to mention that what I heart the most lately, is the manual settings on my camera, Hubert. Some of the pictures below were taken by him, and were purely manual. What is in focus or blurry was set up that way by yours truly, no automatic settings for me! I am slowly, but surely learning more and more each day.

So...I heart...

...Nail polish. I am obsessed with nail polishes in general. I change my nail color probably once a week, depending on how lazy I am. I have WAY too many nail polishes in my collection. I just had to get the Hello Kitty ones below though because the bottles are just too adorable. I love the pink one for spring, but yellow unfortunately, is not my color :( I will just have to admire that bottle. Maybe I'll do a post about all the nail polishes I have sometime.

...Trying out new recipes. To me, nothing beats a tasty, home-cooked meal. Don't get me wrong, I love going out to eat, but there is just something special about cooking at home and sharing a meal with your loved ones. The newest recipe I tried was inspired by my recent trip to San Francisco. We all ate well and I loved that there were so many Filipino restaurants. So, I decided this week I'd try to make Bistek/Beef Steak. It turned out pretty yummy!

...Fresh flowers. I think I've mentioned before that I love having fresh flowers around the house, especially during the winter. Grocery stores always have cute little bunches of flowers for an affordable price and they really help lift my spirits. It's now April and spring is in the air, but there's still lots of snow on the ground...melting away slowly. These sunflowers in my dining room make me think of the fields of sunflowers I saw in Italy way too long ago. They make me smile whenever I see them.

...Kung Fu, my panda pillow pet. I was lucky enough to get this little guy this past Christmas from Ryan and not a day has gone by without hanging out with him. Whether it's on the couch, in my home office, or watching TV in bed, he is becoming a member of the family! I dare you to try to look at this precious face and not smile!

...Date nights. I have a husband who still asks me out on dates. I am so blessed! This week, we went to try out happy hour sushi near our house. It was delicious! Ryan even ordered from the sushi menu, I was impressed!

...my evil eye bracelet. I bought this in San Francisco at Jest Jewels and love it. It's simple enough to wear every day. The "evil eye" is a look that is believed to be able to cause injury/harm/bad luck towards a person and these charms/beads/talismans were created to protect wearers from the evil eye and any curses/bad luck/negativity it may bring. There's a lot more info on these but I think that's the gist of it, and apparently these are getting very popular.

...Wii. Ryan and I have had our Wii for a while now, but recently I've really been making an attempt to use it. I love dancing to the MJ Experience game and working out to the Wii Fit and Zumba games. On the flip side, it's also becoming a hazard because I've discovered Netflix on it, which instantly streams movies and TV shows...dangerous!

...Victoria's Secret PINK Body Lotion in Cucumber & Water Lily.  I recently got this from my friend Karen and absolutely love it...the lotion is not greasy at all and I LOVE the scent. Oh my gosh, I just can't get enough of it!

What do you heart?