stayin classy in san diego

over the weekend, my mom & i went down to san diego to not only see my brother, but to help furnish our new condo we bought downtown. we had hardly a minute to rest, but we did end up on the roof to soak in some sun (and some burns...) even though our time may have been short, we made the most of it! here are some of my favorite shots:
(i was having fun with instagram if you were unaware.....)

 on my way!

 the view from the top -- SO beautiful.

birthday cake - a little late, but so so so worth it. it somehow lasted me two more nights!

siblings.

 view from the condo balcony at night

view in the day time....incredible

a man who likes his meat....he's a meatatarian.

at j.wok for lunch!

underground speak-easy....so cool!

martini, anyone?

i got to be squished in the back of a zipcar! 

 before dinner.

the results of 45 minutes in the sun w/no sunscreen...

happy happy birthday.....

to my brother chase! you are 26 now. i am so glad you are my brother! i love you. 

enjoy this photo montage.

20 candles.

today, i turned the big 2-0. twenty. two decades. 
how crazy right?! ....as my brother said, "i can't believe you're freakin 20. that makes me feel so old."


the older i get, the more appreciative i am of what i have and who i have to share it with. yes, presents are nice, and it's good to treat yourself, but at the end of the day, i am overwhelmed with all the blessings in my life. i have such sweet, thoughtful, generous friends and a loving and supporting family. one of my favorite parts of the day was the laughter....i laughed so hard tears were coming down.
enough with the sap though ;)
i started the day at my sister's and then went to brunch at the original house of pancakes with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nieces. soooo good. later on i claimed my free birthday drink at starbucks and then went shopping. around 6, jourdan picked me up to go to dinner at the old spaghetti factory in tacoma! it was so yummy. they even sang happy birthday to me with spumoni....i also realize the older i get, the more i don't like everyone's attention on me. i guess i just had to take it with a grain of salt - i mean how often do people sing to you in public, right? we did get offered a wine/cocktail menu even though only one of us was 21. so that made me feel older. we finished off the night with dessert at BJ's....a pizooki to be exact (warm red velvet cake with ice cream on top) seriously the BEST dessert i've ever had. if only i would have gotten a picture of that....all i can say is that i'm going back.

my venti caramel macchiato. 

had to get the shoes in!

my beautiful flowers from jourdan :)

 jour & me!

 with my birthday spumoni!

 tori, sheldyn, me, jourdan, taylor

my hat was so big it covered tay!

today was everything i could have wanted - and more. and while i want it to last much longer, it simply won't! but i will enjoy the last 32 minutes....

these are my confessions....

now that song will be stuck in your head......oh usher. that song takes me back. to 7th grade. 

well, here we are. time for some confessions. they are in no particular order and may be pretty random. 

so here goes.....

-i don't understand all the hype/fascination with superhero/comic movies. in fact, i think it's dumb. 

-last night i stood on a chair to kill a bug on the wall. i broke the chair and the bug flew away. 

-i bought myself two birthday presents and wrapped them. pathetic? maybe. did it stop me? absolutely not. 

-when i'm in the car, i think i'm mariah carey. 

-i thought i broke the laundry machine because i forgot how to use it. i'm hereby publicly outing myself on how long it's been since i've done my own laundry. 

-i get more zits on my limbs than my face. 

-i think ryan lochte from the olympics is a major babe. 

-not even the sun will stop me from wearing black. 

-i haven't shaved my legs in a week. 

-going to 'the price is right' show taping is on my bucket list. firing drew carey from it is also on there.
-i eat trader joe's cookie butter straight out of the jar....trust me, if you tried it, you would do the same.

-i laugh at my own statuses on facebook. i figure if you're going to take the time to post something, it might as well be funny.

-i wish i was in seattle right now to see/hear the thunderstorms.

-i still can't believe i'm turning 20 in two days.

my brother

is one funny guy. just like this post, i'm dedicating this post to my brother and the funny slash ridiculous things he says.


chase (while watching keeping up with the kardashians) :"gotta love Bruce Jenner moments of reflection. cue the montage."


me: "burger king needs to ditch their 'trendy' nonsense advertisements and go back to the king. BRING BACK THE KING!!"
chase:"yeah! let's go king. vamos el rey! they changed from king-centric to food-centric. big mistake. the king doesn't easily forgive."


me: "are you going to any more short shorts conventions?"
chase: "haha. you like?"
me: "no. one question: why?"
chase: "answer: suns out, guns out."
me: "wow. this is when i pretend i don't know you...."
chase: "you may not acknowledge me, but you can't ignore Jack Johnson and Tom O'Leary."


me: "would you judge me if i told you i was watching 'diners, drive-ins, and dives' with guy fieri right now?"
chase: "only if you were wearing wrist bands on your forearms, a watch on one wrist, 3 bracelets on the other, wearing a bowling short with flames, sunglasses on the back of your head and a visor with bleach blonde hair.
then i would judge you."


me: "chase i shot a gun yesterday! AMERICA!"
chase: "USA, USA, USA! back to back world war champs."


chase: "'call me maybe' is stuck in my effing head."
me: "HEY I JUST MET YOU.....
        ....AND THIS IS CRAZY....
        ....BUT HERE'S MY NUMBER"
chase: "i appreciate the caps."
me: "i'm having trouble CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!"
chase: "text modulation."


chase: "what is your number one jam these days?"


chase: "of course, i called Pea on her birthday."
me: "aw i bet she loved that!"
chase: "yep, discussed the merits and attributes of zoo animals."


chase: "I think joey greco produced the lipozene commercials."
me: "haha what makes you say that?"
chase: "it's creepy in the same way."

kayaking

Since today was (is...) a beautiful day at a lovely 80 degrees, my dad and i decided to go kayaking. we first went to boston harbor, but they were all booked. we decided to go to tugboat annie's (which is one of my parent's favorite restaurants) on budd bay where you can rent a kayak or canoe. we got the last double! i definitely underestimated the rowing -- my arms got tired way faster than i was expecting. 

it was definitely worth the experience - and helped the tan i am currently working on :)

 ready to go.

 practicing form.

 budd bay!

 lifejacket - prepared for tipping.

 cheesin

 pops!

 logs

 seal on the log.

 crusin back in.

 boats on the left and right.

a view of where we started from!

his shorts got a little wet.....

five.

wishing the happiest of birthdays to my oldest niece -- pearson chase.

you are five.

i can't believe it! 

i'm so happy we not only share the same birthday month, but a family as well.

happy america's birthday.

to sum it up:

i shot a gun (two, to be exact.)
i roasted a hot dog over the fire.
i watched fireworks.
i got muddy.
i met new people.

USA, USA, USA!