Our Nation's Capital...

The week I started my new job here in San Diego I was notified I'd have to travel to Washington, DC for orientation.. Basically a meet and greet with the people who head our organization with the audit service. It was a little soon to be traveling to the east coast considering I had just moved 2500 miles across the Pacific ocean to my new state about 2 days prior.. And I already had planned for my San Francisco trip.. Turned out that I had to leave Monday, the day after I got back from SF.. Talk about not sitting still! I have actually been to DC a bunch of times for work before so it's nice to revisit the area. I always stay in Old Town in Alexandria, VA because it feels like a quaint little town lined with boutique shops, antique stores, Irish pubs, and restaurants for everyone's appetite. This area lights up when the holidays near because they decorate the streets.. It's also a convenient walk to the metro which is the public transportation that will take you everywhere you'll need to go in the vicinity which is perfect because I hate driving there. Work did have me driving to the Washington Naval Yard everyday which wasn't terrible because I got a perfect view of the Capitol and Washington monument.. Those monuments always make me smile and somehow feel great about being an American..

Pics for your viewing pleasure..







An absolute fabulous thrift store is Current Boutique.. I found a ruffley Calvin Klein jacket in white at this little gem of a place for about $30... best find ever!


One of my favorite restaurants I like to stop at is Le Pain Quotidien.. Yummy goodness in the Salmon Tartine form:



Hummus anyone?


I didn't take any new monument pictures, mostly because I have already done that a couple of times.. so here's old ones of my favorites, but they pretty much stay the same in case you were wondering..





...Proud to be an American...

Thankful...

I just got back from Korea to celebrate Thanksgiving so I'll have tons of blogging to do on that international destination vacation full of fun later... so for now, I just wanted to write a quick post on what I'm thankful for since Thanksgiving did pass.. I'm thankful for my family, friends, the opportunities I've been given in life, the love I feel from everyone and everything.. But I'm also thankful for beautiful sunsets..

Cabrillo National Park in San Diego (this is my view on my drive to work near the office.. DBJ)



...thankful for each and every beautiful day.. rain or shine, sunny or cloudy... just keep the days rolling in...

...We Left Our Hearts in San Francisco...

So I mentioned that me and a couple of my girlfriends, Heidi and Giselle, were headed north to the bay area.. San Francisco to be exact.. I was happy that after only a week of being away from Hawaii, I was able to have a Heidi fix!! We stayed in the Union Square area at Hotel Abri.. a fascinating boutique hotel that was close quarters but absolutely perfect for what we needed.. I loved the decor of the place, right down to the Chuck Taylor's all the hotel staff wore... Not to mention the fab little italian restaurant with happy hour every night that seemed to never end that was connected to the hotel.. We walked up and down the hilly streets of SF and used practically every method of public transportation available to get where we were going to...

Welcome to San Francisco!!










On our first night we headed to the marina area and ate at Osha for some tastey thai food... It was technically party weekend number 3 for my Birthday too!





THEN we went to Bar None.. here's a helpful tip.. if you check out the back of the bar you can find Beer Pong tables set up.. not even kidding.. not even a little bit..




The next day was an adventure.. it rained pretty much the whole day.. My hair started out nice and poofy, by the end, we all looked like wet dogs.. BUT we still had so much fun on that overcasted day..




Haight Ashbury...







Fisherman's Wharf..




We trekked back to our hotel soaking wet and had to get ready for night number 2!! Stop number 1 was located conveniently right across the street from our hotel, Infusion Lounge... we wanted a change of scenery, so we took a short cab ride to Sloane to finish off the night.. We never let a good photo op go by...


For some reason we love making sure hotel beds are up to par as far as comfort levels go... So we jump on them to give it the ultimate test...


We didn't get to go everywhere because by the end of the trip we were exhausted and our little feet needed some rest, so our last day was spent pretty much in that little italian restaurant next door drinking champagne and downing cheese.. *the life* I have the best girlfriends ever and super sad not everyone could make it out but that's just another excuse to make another vacation in another destination!



Did someone say video montage??? Oh yes I think I heard...


...Goodbye for now San Francisco.. you'll hold a piece of our hearts forever...

Romantic Wishes... Decor..

So I'm moving into my new apartment here in San Diego and I have this blank palette to decorate. I'm slightly overwhelmed by the new space because I can do whatever I want and there's so much to do that I don't know where to start. I'm still waiting for my household goods to arrive from Hawaii (whenever that will be) and until then I'm picturing where things will go as I sit on my empty living room carpeted floor staring at the walls. I know I want to stick with romanticism, vintage, rustic, yet all modernized. I've been collecting pictures for inspiration for awhile now and I only have a few on my computer that I actually saved (the others are packed away on a disk). But to give you an idea of what I'm trying to go for, take a gander:

Living room...



Bedroom...





Although I do have a walk in closet now (big deciding factor when deciding on where to live), these are some dream closets to swoon over...



Dining room area (I've never had a dining room area and my brain is swirling with ideas but this one is my favorite by far)...


These are some other random ideas I thought were pretty for those "empty" areas of the apartment:



I've been making myself not buy everything I love and making sure I'm picking pieces that are nothing less than perfect to put in my new home. I've already hit up Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, Anthropologie, and Target, but it's taking real strength to wait to make some purchases... Can't wait to get into full decoration mode!!

...living in my own dreamy space..


*I honestly can't remember where all these pictures came from because I originally wanted to save them as inspirations, so if you see a pic of yours and want credit, let me know!