My Golden Birthday!

I went back and forth for the last few months over whether or not I wanted to have a birthday party this year...  I wasn't sure because I don't have the 1,000 person friend base that all of us had in college, so obviously I was worried that I would have a party and no one would show up!  In the end I decided to have the party, because 1. When would my birthday be on a Saturday again?  2. I was turning 23 on the 23rd,  3. I wanted to make my own piñata, so a party sounded somewhat essential, and 4. If no one except Bryan showed up, I would have fun anyway!!  So I made the piñata... and it was awesome :D

We had a fiesta-style potluck, and my friends DID come!

Even Lynette drove all the way from Atascadero just for the party, and it made me so happy :)

The actual piñata destruction was a great success...

After everyone left, the rest of us climbed up the mountain to watch the sun set :)  It was gorgeous!  But a little bit awkward because we were on someone's property.  And then right after we took this picture, the lady got home and told us to scram!  Oops... oh well, totally worth it.  Best birthday ever!

Succulent Bird Cage

I've basically been dreaming of this extremely easy project for the last two years... I would see a cute bird cage in an antique shop on State St. and think about buying it for whatever ridiculous amount it was priced at, then say no fricken way and forget all about it.  Every time I saw a bird cage I thought about it, and I even looked on craigslist but all I could find were like... ACTUAL bird cages, which are not cute at all - more just big and square.  Anyway, I was at Ross about a month ago and I saw a bunch of bird cages (the cute kind) in the gardening section!  I thought I was going to have my usual look-at-the-price-tag-gag-at-the-price-and-walk-away moment, but the one I liked was only $6 - score!!  So I bought it and it's been sitting on the deck since then.  Finally, the other night I decided to stop thinking about it and get some succulents to actually put in it!  So then I did.  And that's how this project that took approximately seven minutes to assemble actually took years to accomplish.  Taadaaaaa!

I had to stand on my tippy toes to get this next picture. And so begins the search for a chain of some sort to lower the bird cage so we can actually enjoy looking at it... I'll report back in one year!

Halloween and Four Pumpkin Pies

Okay, I'm back in the blogging world!!  For the last two months before Halloween I pestered everyone in my office about dressing up, and it actually worked for some people!

We had a party at the office, and carved a bunch of pumpkins.

The next day, I baked the pumpkins and threw them in the Vitamix so that I could try to make pumpkin pie from scratch!  I'd only ever made it from the can, and I'm never too excited to pick up a rotten old Jack-O-Lantern that's been sitting outside for days, so this was the perfect solution :)

Turns out I had a lot of pumpkin, so I made four pies!  I did still use the Libby's can recipe... but whatever, it's a classic!!

And they turned out pretty darn good :)  But I think I'll stick with the can for Thanksgiving... no point adding extra work on an already hectic day.  I think I found a new post Halloween tradition!

Day 365

The REAL last day.  I wanted to come up with something clever, but I didn't.  I just drank this delicious tea :)

Day 364

Today was crown the town, beer version!  It was really fun.  We started at Corks and Crowns, then went to Figueroa Mountain and played Operation and Apples to Apples, then went to Bay Roadhouse, then Union Ale.  Then we were supposed to go to O'Malley's but I ran away early because, well, it's a Tuesday people!

Day 363

Today I went to Trader Joe's, and had a VERY exciting moment... THE PUMPKIN ICE CREAM HAD ARRIVED!  You might remember my post last year about my love for this ice cream... and if you're wondering, I love it just as much :)

Day 362

I went hiking with some coworkers today!  It was fun and extremely hot.  No shade.  Ever.  If I'm going to live here for the forseeable future I need to get one of those umbrella hats or something... none of the hikes have shade!  Anyway, we went to lunch at The Shop after and I got this really delicious fried chicken and beet sandwich... nom!