birthday fun!

Last night was a ton of fun, celebrating the birth of my dear friend and fellow English teacher, Robyn! We began the night at her place, where she served a bunch of yummy appetizers and provided drinks for the party goers. I am still abstaining from alcohol, and I've actually decided to do so all the way through the holidays and into the new year. I love waking up after a night with friends and feeling so great- no headache, no tummy ache, just perfect. I have just as much fun when I don't drink, so I'm not really sure why I choose to do it in the first place. It's also very easy to abstain when you have a husband who is straight edge, like I do. He doesn't care if I drink, but he knows that I am happier with myself when I don't, and he encourages me to be my best self all of the time. So anyway, after the cocktail hour at Robyn's house we all made our way over to the Taj Mahal, a fantastic Indian restaurant right downtown. The night was full of laughter and fun, and delicious food! Everyone really enjoyed the cake I made and the entire dinner party was a huge success. After dinner a few of the girls and I headed downtown for some dancing and ended the night on a great note! Happy birthday Robyn!

Here are some pictures, of course. If you'd like to see more, simply click on any of these photos to be transported to my Flickr!





crown of toys! :)


beautiful birthday girl!


Robyn's house- print by Cory! <333


handsome Hank


Crystal's still cute even when SCAARY


I am so, so happy he is home. :)


presented the cake to the bday girl










heading out into the COLD! brrrrr


my sweet dance moves, apparently


me smooshing Crystal!


this is a weird drunk smile I tend to make, although now apparently I do it sober too. hmmmm

Lovely Sunday

Today was Dogtober Fest, so once we were up and at 'em, we headed downtown with Madeline. My old friend Tim was in town with the Raw Spirit Vegan festival that took place this weekend, so Hank and I got to spend the afternoon with him, which was awesome. I've been friends with Tim for many, many years and it's always good to reconnect with him and catch up. I first met him when his band played in Phoenix about 5 years ago maybe and we've kept in touch, on and off, ever since. He's a great guy.

So anyway, downtown was super crowded, but the best kind of crowded- puppies and dogs everywhere! Big dogs, small dogs, fluffy dogs, dogs with hats, dogs with boots, seriously millions of dogs! Madeline loves people and pups, so she was in heaven.

Since Tim was working at the vegan fest he brought some awesome, delicious food with him to share with us, and I have to make note of the raw, vegan chocolate mousse pie he brought. It was one of the best pieces of pie I've ever had in my life and I was completely blown away by it. It came from a raw "bakery" in Sedona and I can't wait to take a weekend trip with Hank over there and enjoy some more.

While downtown we ran into various friends and their dogs, so it was a very fun day and the weather was to die for! Seriously perfection.

Here are some photos:

walking down our street


my feet in the green, green grass in our front yard


happy Madeline!


Robyn and Bodhi


downtown






beautiful, beautiful day


Tim and Hank


Tim and Ashley's dog, Nipper - "his name makes me nervous..."






Greyhounds that need rescuing, they were so beautiful!


THE pie!


Amazing pie, happy me!


Tim and me :) :)




a little closer, I can't decide which one I like better :)


family photo


Afterward we came back home and Robyn and I hit the gym, I did some grocery shopping, edited HOTW's new album's lyrics, and now I am here in bed, thinking about going to sleep! I'm very excited for this week, for no reason in particular but I feel it will be a good one!

Happy Sunday night everyone! And don't forget to enter my nail polish giveaway below. xoxo

Friday night

After we opened our amazing presents from Alex, Hank had two shows to play downtown. He is now playing bass in Hot Skin, so they played an all-ages show at Calavera (I love that venue so much) and then a 21+ show at Sundance's.

But let me rewind for a moment since I haven't really posted very much this week! The past few days have been a treat. The weather has been to die for, my students have been in the best moods (two weeks until Fall Break, so of course they are!), and I've spent quite a bit of time with both Hank and friends. I posted about Thursday two entries back, but after work I went and had a peel on my face and I am currently paying for it with the entire first layer of my facial skin peeling off. It's so gross but it really does wonders for my skin. I love my dermatologist, he's more of a cosmetic derm so everything he does is on the spa side, but is covered by insurance. I get peels because I have some scarring on my face from past breakouts. Nothing major at all, but since I'm so pale if I ever get a zit it will leave a faint red dot, which I hate. The peels are totally getting rid of them and I couldn't be happier. Plus, they make my skin feel really nice and glowy. So that was Thursday. On Friday after work Robyn and I took a horribly/wonderfully hard spin class called TGISpin. It's really, really cheesy and they put on party music and disco lights the whole time. Let me tell you, nothing can make that class fun. It's torture, but in a good way I guess. Following class I went over to Calavera to watch Hank play his first show with Hot Skin, then home for a bit, then over to Sundance's. The rest of the night was spent running around downtown, being silly with friends, singing along to Billy Joel songs at the piano bar, running into a million people we knew, and just having a grand ole time. I woke up this morning and headed down to Phoenix so Rhonda could do my hair and I was so happy to spend time with her catching up. It was the highlight of my day! I was going to stay down in Mesa for the evening and go out with my sister, Suki, and friends, but I started to feel a little blah when I got home and decided it would probably be best if I just came back up here and laid low. I'm already feeling better and I'm so, so glad I decided to take it easy. Right now Hank and Matt are having a little sleepover, which is hilarious. I'm talking PJ pants, candy in bowls, and SNL-watching. It's cracking me up. So that's today. And tomorrow, wonderful Sunday, will either be a jam-packed day, or a relaxing day, depending on how I feel. Ideally Hank and I will take Madeline down to Dogtober Fest, which is a big party for dogs down on the Square. Then my friend Tim from CA, who is working the Raw Spirit Vegan Festival that's touring through town this weekend will be coming over to hang out for an hour or two. I'm really looking forward to catching up with him. Then gym, classroom time, and sleep! If I feel shitty though, I'll just see rest all day. Here's to feeling well! I'll leave you with some photos -

my nails are STILL perfect, a week later! I love this polish...and stay posted for a giveaway that I'll post tomorrow that has soooomething to do with this! ;)


Madeline suckling her bed as she naps, it's very weird and very cute!


Hank tuning his bass at Calavera


playing at Sundance's later in the evening


Robyn (she teaches across the hall from me!) and her friend Jordan


Addy




Scott


downtown banjo player


Robyn and the piano man


end of the night...