A Corgi & A Cat Fight

Hey y’allll! I am hardcore putting on the “y’all” draaaawwwwn out in a southernly manner because I have Southern Charm on in the background and it only seems appropriate. I have finally jumped onto the bandwagon. Man, this drama just cracks me up. But I do love the peek into the Southern way of life! Any other watchers?

So let us begin this riveting recap, starting with Saturday July 7th. I woke up early and ran a breezy four miles before driving to San Jose to meet up with my sweet friend Julie from church.

We decided on Academic Coffee, and it’s maybe some of the best local coffee I have tried yet!

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It’s such a cute little unassuming place, but is bright, clean, and welcoming!

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Over some great conversation, Julie and I shared the matcha muffin and the mochi muffin that they sell from Third Culture Bakery in Oakland.

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The matcha muffin was just aiiight, but the Mochi muffin was out. of. this. world. It is the yummiest, most satisfying muffin I have had with coffee. I am on a real mochi kick, and I don’t see it settling down any time soon! (thanks for that, Tam!).

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The rest of the day Saturday I did some deep cleaning in the apartment, finished up some laundry (I feel like every day is laundry day), and then started a new book- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. It’s fascinating so far, but pretty dark, so I have had to be in the mood to read it, ya know? And noooo, I still haven’t finished the fourth book in the HP series (1.5 years later….). Next week I will finish it- hold me to it!

On Sunday morning, the 8th, DJ had a little bit of time before work to grab breakfast, but not quite enough time to go to Church. We decided to scarf some grub down together since we hadn’t seen each other in over a week since Ohio. I figured I could catch the sermon next day on the podcast at least!

We tried out a new spot in SJ called The Breakfast Club at Midtown. We have heard tremendous things about this place, and it certainly lived up to the hype.

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I was craving (and I mean CRAVING) lemon ricotta pancakes, and thankfully they had them. I started salivating like a dog when they placed them in front of me. These are my favorite pancakes we have tried in the Bay Area so far. Not even a question. (DJ’s favorite are from Sweet Maple SF).

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Deej had their famous chicken and waffles. Isn’t it so cute how they serve it with a little watermelon wedge? It’s the little things. And I guess it’s the big things- because if they didn’t have those cakes…….

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I did Insanity in the afternoon and had plans with a friend to hike in the afternoon that fell through. Oh well! I ended up just resting, reading, and stocking up on groceries for the week (Trader Joe’s! Trader Joe’s!).

On Monday the 9th, I went on a nice long run in the AM and continued to blog in the morning while enjoying a poached egg over avocado toast.

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I worked on stuff for grad school scheduling the rest of the day then DJ came home right on time to view Bachelorette since they didn’t have a game! Woot woot! Naturally I whipped up our cookies (and one Mega cookie) to enjoy with the show. I prefer Mega, DJ goes with the smaller ones. (peep the pronoun because Mega is a member of the family).

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We so severely undercook our cookies, it’s a surprise we haven’t gotten salmonella yet.

After throwing a fit about Becca’s reaction to Colton’s “news” (What the heck, Becca?!?!), we called it a night. Other Bachelorette watchers- let us discuss.

Tuesday the 10th, DJ had the day off!!! WOOOHOO! We had a nice lazy morning, I made breakfast for us and then did Insanity. I read on the couch while he played video games for a couple hours, and it was so nice… we haven’t had just a lounge day together in SO LONG. In the evening, we met up with Amy, his twin sister to get in some bowling. We haven’t been bowling in forever, but it was wayy too hot outside to do anything out in the wild, so we decided to go with something a bit cooler.

This bowling alley is within walking distance from our house, and we have never been! Time to finally try it out!

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This was the COOLEST bowling alley we have ever been to. It was super nice, clean, did not reek of cigarettes (I feel like most usually do?), had a huge arcade, and even had a gorgeous full bar. I couldn’t get over the decor!

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We concluded that bowling is not our sport, hung up the bowling shoes, and headed to dinner.

We went to San Pedro Square as I mentioned in my Friday Favorites. Gosh, I love love loved this place!

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I’d briefly been to B2 Coffee which is connected to the Public Market, but have never explored. This place is like one massive food court, with everything you can imagine. Italian? You got it! Chinese? You bet! Good burgers? Mmmhmm! Indian? Always! Mexican? Sushi? Potato Bar? The darn sky is the limit!

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I decided on some sashimi from Blush Ice Bar. It took me way too long to decide on what to order, and honestly this whole place is just one big black hole for the indecisive.

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We grabbed our grub and headed outside. That sashimi hit the spot on the hot hot summer day, and I could seriously eat seaweed salad for days on end. Never gets old.

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DJ had the chicken tikka masala from Urban Momo…. I tried some of the sauce, and we both agreed it is the best masala we have ever tried. It was sooo dang creamy.

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After dinner, we decided to grab a glass of wine at Rootstock on Main Street Cupertino. Amy brought her Instagram famous corgi, Pool Noodle, along. He is such a hoot– if you like Corgi’s, or you’re a normal human being that likes furry things and witty captions, his handle is poolnoodlethecorgi .

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On Wednesday the morning of the 11th, I received a nice surprise in the mail— A replacement pair of Brooks Ghost 10s. It’s Christmas I tell ya, Christmas! I haven’t replaced my shoes since February and am loooong overdue. My knees have been aching and my shin splints are coming back- tell tale sign that I needed new ones. Feels like running on a cloud.

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I have also been going on a ton of walks lately in the evenings after dinner. With DJ being at work most nights, it gives me a way to preoccupy my time. I turn up a podcast and take in the beautiful views of the sun setting!

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This one took my breath away.

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Thursday the 12th, I worked on grad school prep. I tell ya what- I have discovered I am bad bad bad at technology (well I’ve already known this, but now it is reaffirmed). This whole online thing is definitely gonna be a learning curve!

In the evening I worked on my Friday Favorites post so I could have it posted in a timely manner (‘magine that!).

Friday the 13th (wooooooooOOOooOOooo), I did a master clean out of the rest of our clothes, and I took some to Plato’s Closet and then posted the rest on Poshmark.

In the evening, I made a giant veggie salad for myself and bison tacos for DJ for when he came home. He usually gets home around 10:45/11 (sometimes later), but he’s always starving for dinner. I try to have something in the fridge waiting for him- it’s sometimes a makeshift meal, but he said these were “Soooo goood”. His words, not mine 😉

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Yesterday, Saturday the 14th, was a pretty great day! All my friends were booked for the day, but I was itching to get out and about. I decided to try out the Los Altos Food and Wine Festival. Sometimes solo dates can be so enjoyable!

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This was the most sprawling arts festival I think I’ve ever been to! The energy was tremendous, and I was perfectly content just bouncing from tent to tent seeing the unique creations.

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If you did opt to try the wine, all you had to do was pay a flat rate for the glass, then go to each different winery tent to sample.

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I decided instead to try Garrett’s Lemonade and it hit the spot on this sweltering summer day.

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To occasionally seek respite from the heat, I would pop into the side stores. DJ is ADAMANT that we will never ever get a cat (he genuinely hates them, hahah).

But when I saw this little face in a pet store I almost forgot the loud resounding “NO” to bringing a kitty home. hehe.

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I couldn’t convince him, but I gave it my best shot! (I have his permission to post this)

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Womp Woooomp. Ya win some, ya lose some in marriage y’all! Once we have stable enough schedules we WILL be getting a pup 🙂 Now that we can agree on!

After the festival, I came home and had a giant veggie salad with half a mushroom burger. Then, I went to DJ’s bowling work event. I will recap last night and today (Sunday) in my next post.

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Do you guys ever go on solo dates?!

Are you a cat or a dog person? Both?

xo <3

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Los Angeles- WEHO Part One

To say this past weekend was fun would be a tremendous understatement. It was truly one for the books, and I can’t wait until the chance to go back to LA! I went down with a couple girlfriends super last minute. DJ and I were planning on maybe going to Napa for President’s Day Weekend, but he had to work (or thought he would have to), so this trip worked out super well! He knew I had been dying to go to LA ever since we’ve moved out here and encouraged me to go especially before the job starts. I have never been (neither has one of my friends, Dani- dark hair). SO, Tammy (blonde hair), lived in the OC for a good part of her life and offered to show us around West Hollywood (WEHO). Best tour guide ever!!!!!!!!!

I definitely have to make this post into two parts (maybe even three), because there are SO many pictures and SO many good memories to share! I didn’t think I’d get a chance to blog this yet, but I came down with something bad last night and am stuck in bed. Hence, time to blog. Also- I think this is the fifth time I’ve gotten sick in three months. I’m guessing it’s just all the stress, little sleep, change in climate, and insane amount of activity going on!

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Anywho, on our way down Friday the weather was rough. We were getting texts from just about everyone we knew to be careful or to just turn around. BUT us girls are from the midwest (and Washington), so a little rain didn’t deter us.

When we were about an hour into the trip, my tire pressure light flashed on. Of course, because what is a road trip without a little needed car maintenance? We pulled off the next exit and gave the wheels some air. When Tammy was running back inside the gas station to return the tire pressure gauge, I spotted a flash of color out of the corner of my eye. I whipped the car away from view and Dani said, “What the heck are you doing?” I said, “I just saw a Peacock!!!”. She didn’t believe me for a second until the big feathery creature trotted on it’s way in our eye’s view. Sure enough, it was a peacock. So far I have seen wild zebras and peacocks in California, so I’m not sure what to expect next!

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When Tammy came out of the gas station she didn’t see us (we had drove around the corner to chase our pretty little friend). I said to Dani, “That’s okay, she’ll call us.” Then we both noticed her phone was still sitting in the passenger seat. We quickly drove back around and she was standing there with the most bewildered look on her face. We had some explaining to do, but we were both laughing so hard it was all we could do to spit out the word “peacock”.

In the evening we arrived at our Air B n’ B! I will say I was a touch skeptical about this service as I’ve never used it before, but it was AMAZING. We were located in the heart of Beverly Hills, walking distance from Rodeo Drive and within short miles from anywhere we wanted to go. The house itself was adorable, clean, and the hostess was easy to communicate with. She left us clear, amicable instructions about keys, the parking pass, and even said we could help ourselves to tangerines on her table. Hospitality is apparently not dead! This was a steal too. It was about $140 for the entire weekend per girl. (I know it’s taboo to talk prices, but I really wanted to emphasize how great this is!). If you have never used Air B n’ B, I highly recommend. But do a ton of research and look at MANY places to make sure you are getting the best/most safe/accessible place around! Traveling is becoming easier and cheaper by the day!
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For dinner we went to a place called Saddle Ranch Chop House. I tried to grab pictures, but it was quite dark inside and none of them were showing up. We had snacked a bit on the way and weren’t starving, so we spit their famous jalapeño mac and cheese and cotton candy.

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I rode their mechanical bull and since I didn’t fall off I was awarded a second gargantuan cotton candy. I don’t even like cotton candy, but how can you resist this?!

After, we headed to a place called Hyde Sunset Kitchen & Cocktails. Someone had recommended this place as we were on our way out as a good place to go to just hangout. Ready for the most epic part? Where are my bachelor fans at? We saw Chase McNary, Luke Pell, Jasmine G., Christian Bishop, Lace Morris, and ready for the kicker? Amanda and Josh- together. Yep we knew they were back together before TMZ! There were all these articles coming out Monday about them being seen Sunday night together. Haha- we were freaking out when we read this.

In the morning I woke up at 7:30 to go for a run. I got in about 9 miles just running around Rodeo Drive, different neighborhoods, and Winchester Blvd. I LOVED these morning runs, although I was going on little sleep every time I did one.

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Once we were ready for an epic Saturday, we headed to the legendary Urth Caffe. If this was close to me, it could be dangerous. They not only have the BEST matcha green tea lattes on planet earth, but their food is phenomenal.

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I ordered their salmon scramble which included toasted ancient sprout bread (YUM), roma tomatoes, and chives and then added capers and red onion with egg whites.

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Tammy ordered the rustic poached which included two poached eggs over toasted whole wheat bread garnished with capers, basil oil, heirloom tomato, and red onion. Isn’t it pretty?!

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Dani ordered the Mexican Omelet which included three organic eggs, roma tomatoes, green chilies, red onions, monterey jack cheese and cilantro, served with salsa. Unfortunately I didn’t get a pic of this for you to salivate with your eyes, but I’ll take her word for it and she said it was delish!

They serve their coffee in a BIG cup. Their coffee is super strong, as is their espresso. If you go here, get the matcha latte!

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After breakfast we walked around to check out all the shopping on Rodeo Drive! These stores astounded me. WOW- just the pure wealth is mind-blowing. We were wide-eyed at the price tags on everything 99% 100% of the time! We were waiting in line for the restroom somewhere and one woman said, “I love your shoes! Who are they?”to a girl standing next to me. Lol. “Who”. Glad she didn’t ask me because I’d be like, “Uh, my boy Target”.

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So the thing that sparked this trip initially was our bonding over Vanderpump Rules and Housewives of Beverly Hills. I’m honestly so embarrassed to admit that, but we all have our guilty pleasures, right?! Pure entertainment. I consider them more comedies than anything 😉

Anyway, stopping by and seeing Kyle’s store was essential for us. The clothes were crazy expensive like everything else, but ridiculously soft. I don’t know if I have ever felt such soft clothing in my life.

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Don’t mind us, we’re just casually drooling over these dresses.

There were also some gorgeous hotels we popped into to check out!
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After walking around there for a while we went to get the classic Hollywood sign landmark!!!! I was ecstatic when the renowned block letters came into view. I’m such a sucker for the touristy attractions.

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The Boomerangs were our favorite!

And, of course, we made our way to the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

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Our last stop was the Bel-Air House, but we needed some coffee from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to give us a pick-me-up. (Peet’s still takes the cake 😉 ).

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We then headed back to our Air BnB to get ready!

The excitement could not be contained. We were finally going to SUR!!!! If you watch the show, you know this is a huge deal. If you don’t, then just don’t mind me while I lose my cool a bit.

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When we arrived we didn’t have reservations, and there were only three tables that were “First come, first serve”. It looked like a group of married couples was about to leave, so we asked them if they were. They said they might leave soon, but weren’t committing. However, they said we could sit with them if we wanted to to order food! It was incredibly kind of them to offer. We finally were able to get some grub- we were STARVING.

We all agreed we had to try the famous goat cheese balls. I’ve got to say, they were even better than I had anticipated. If you are ever in WEHO, you MUST stop in SUR for an order of goat cheese balls. We also tried the ahi tuna and Dani & Tammy tried the sliders. It was all insanely delicious.

Now, I know many of you are wondering, “Well did you see any of them (the cast)?”. The answer is a big ole’ YES! We didn’t see many waiters or waitresses, but we saw Peter, Ken, Lisa, and Giggy! We were all fan-girling so hard.

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Here is Lisa walking out of SUR…


WEHO is popping in the evening. We walked around the strip, stopped in a few different places, and then were hungry once again since we hadn’t had a huge dinner. We stopped by Mel’s Drive In for one of the best veggie burgers/milkshakes/and sweet potato fry meals before heading home! I had wanted to try Mel’s for a while, and it certainly lived up to the hype. I can’t wait to take DJ there.

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^This picture above was taken at Mel’s and was basically me the entire trip- on the lookout for celebs.

I am going to work on part 2 tomorrow! There is way more to come, way more celebrity sightings, and wayyyy more fun to record! See you then!

Blog Birthdays:

Susie @ SusieOpinions on February 14th- I’m so sorry I’m so late, but I hope your birthday was absolutely spectacular!!

xo <3

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