Hey Mister

Tell me you guys have seen this website? 

Ryan Gosling is my BIGGEST celebrity crush and I get such a kick out of these. I'm always sending them to Brandon. Last night while we were eating dinner, Brandon says, "We should start a Hey Dude website with a really hot girl." And I kindly let him know that there isn't a girl as hot as Ryan Gosling to which he replied, "Oh really? What about Rachel McAdams?" My SECOND biggest celebrity crush. He got me. And thus, Hey Mister was born. Here are the ones we've come up with so far:  

So what do you think? She really is so gorgeous. I could look for pictures of her all day.

xo,

The Dige Argos Wedding

Going to weddings might possibly be one of my favorite events. The appreciation one gains for all of the small details {after planning a wedding} is tremendous. The most recent wedding we attended was no exception! Brandon met Jason his first year of law school, so we saw him and his girlfriend Erica quite a bit over the three years that followed. The "girlfriends" had to stick together, and were a good support system for one another, as we knew how truly difficult it could be to date someone in law school. 

Eventually the boys graduated, and Jason got a job in Los Angeles. We hadn't seen them in at least six months and I was so excited to see everything that they Erica had planned for their special day. 

Cocktail hour on the golf course

 Erica's dress was absolutely stunning!

 

Speeches

 The father-of-the-bride speech. Always emotional for me!

Thank you Katie for snapping a picture of all four of us!

The night went by entirely too fast but we've vowed to meet for dinner soon. Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Argos for a wonderful evening :-)

Visiting Arizona

So our overall consensus is that we really liked Scottsdale! We stayed at the Double Tree Inn and it was a really cute area. Since we were in town for Jason & Erica's wedding - we knew we had to get in touch with Paul & Bailey who you might remember from Brandon's swearing-in ceremony. They took us to an adorable wine bar/restaurant named Postino that is famous for their Bruschetta.

 Twinkle lights will win me over every time.

I was not kidding about the bruschetta. We each chose a different kind and then shared them. There was prosciutto with figs, apple & brie, caprese and one with bacon. I am so glad that we shared or I never would have tried some of these! Figs? Do I even like figs? I'm such a creature of habit. It turns out I do like figs on bruschetta! There is a reason this place has such a good reputation. They were all delicious.

Afterwards we walked to a little gift shop/bakery/coffee shop next door and had some fun looking at all the trinkets. Then it was back to our hotel room to hang out. Every time we get together with Paul & Bailey, Brandon and I throw a pity party about how we don't live closer to them.

 I wanted to buy this sweet doggy wall art...

Oh, and P.S., as some of you might have seen on Facebook, Brandon announced there would be a surprise during our trip home. It turned out to be a place called Date Shakes, where they are famous for their date flavored shakes. I know, right? I was slightly mortified when I realized he intended for us to order one, and even more mortified when he said he was ordering the Cactus flavored milkshake and I was ordering the date shake. He coerced me by mentioning it would be "blog material" if nothing else. True.

 There was a line out the door at this place, which is usually a good sign.

 So my overall opinion would be this: the date shake was decent. It tasted like an artificial chocolate shake.

 The cactus shake was sweet with a kick...and it was pink, which was alarming.

I'm glad we tried it, mainly so I can tell people I've had a cactus shake. 

How very Arizona of us, right? 

Fridays Letters

Dear Brandon - last week before bedtime I chased you around the house calling you "My dearest Chonchito" in my best Spanish accent (think Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite). You are used to my normal bed time antics, but this time you genuinely looked at me like I was a crazy person. "Little chonchito, please don't be afraid," I exclaimed as I chased you down the hall. I'm not sure what chonchito actually means but eventually you laughed very hard and got me the glass of water I initially started pestering you for. Thank you for loving me. Sincerely, Chonchita.

Dear lower back- are you getting old? You've been aching since I wrestled Brandon on New Years Eve. I'm going to need you for the next 70 years or so, so toughen up. 

Dear crock pot- I wish there was a way to express love to inanimate objects. Ummmm, let me try that again. I would hug you if I could because you make my life so much easier. Coming home from work to the house smelling divine and seeing that you've made a dinner out of the ingredients I gave you 8 hours ago makes me smile.

Dear husband- last night I saw you stare at my arm while I was talking to you and accused you of staring because you thought they were fat. You were speechless. I almost burst into tears and was paranoid the rest of the night, self-consciously stealing glances at my jiggly arm. Whaaat? It must be that time of the month.

Happy Friday everyone!

The girl who drowned in books

I sometimes wonder if professors think that the only thing students have to do ALL day long is whatever they require for their class. I picked up these bad boys at the library yesterday. The final project for my Young Adult Literature class is a collection of 50 book reviews. Yes, 50.

Part of this is awesome because I get to read so many fantastic books (and re-read some old favorites as well). The problem is that I do not have enough hours in the day to finish one book every evening, AFTER I've worked for 8 hours, AFTER Lucy has been walked, and AFTER dinner has been made we've gone out to eat. If I didn't work, this class would basically be a dream. I would have an excuse to curl up on the couch for hours upon end and escape into the fictional world of all things teenager. "Sorry Brandon, I don't have time for laundry, I'm required to read ALL day." Okay, who am I kidding, I don't have time for laundry now either. Man, I think I'm cranky today.

On the bright side, "what are those adorable legs sticking out of the books," you might ask. Oh that? That's a bookmark my mom found on Etsy and mailed to me when she saw it pinned on my "I want" Pinterest board. I've seen Wicked twice and love the Wizard of Oz. Could it be any cuter?

I really should go read something.

Free Crappy Portraits

So what feels like a jillion years ago, I submitted a picture of me, Brandon and Lucy to this fabulous website. Have you heard of it? Basically you send in a photograph and if they like it, they'll draw you a picture and send it back to you. In my submission, I told them that I was studying to become a librarian, and that Brandon played in an 80's cover band and surfed prior to crossing over into the legal world. I sent in two photos, one of our engagement pics with Lucy in it, and this old picture from one of Brandon's shows:

I never heard back and assumed we didn't get picked. Much to my surprise I received this gem in my email inbox a couple of days ago. 

What do you guys think? Too funny right!? I love that they gave Brandon a tan. If they only knew that he is capable of achieving only two shades, "white" and "off white". I also love how Lucy is perched on his hand, and I'm holding a book. This is clearly fridge material, so that's where it proudly resides: 

Librarians Love To Rock

Check out Free Crappy Portraits to get your own! 

Mish Lovin' Life

Today, I want to introduce you to Michelle (or Mish) from Mish Lovin' Life.
There are a couple of things that you need to know. First and foremost, the girl is GORGEOUS. 
See?

So automatically you want to hate her,
but then as you get to know her you realize she's incredibly funny AND sweet.

UGH, one of those.

Also, her boyfriend may or may not be a male model. I'm still not sure.

Mish lives in downtown San Diego,

which automatically scores her at least seventeen cool points in my book.

She has a Korean father who she lovingly refers to as Fasha. 

You can read about the boyfriend meeting Fasha for the first time,

or Fasha's hysterical voice mail.

I think I find this so amusing because my own father has a middle eastern accent.

She openly admits that the extent of her cooking skills are opening and closing the microwave

which I can relate with.

The bottom line is that you will visit her blog 

and her charming, self-deprecating stories will suck you right in. 

You'll end up thanking me, I just know it.

Go ahead. 

In other news, I think you should probably follow me on Bloglovin AND Facebook so I don't lose touch with those of you that aren't with blogger once they discontinue Google Friend Connect next month. And I also feel a little lame with 7 followers.


xo,

Off to AZ

We're on our way to Arizona so I will talk to you all again on Monday.
"But Amira, how will we make it through the weekend without hearing from you?"
Alright, alright, settle down.
You can find me on Adventures of Newlyweds.

I just might propose to Ashley if we both didn't have husbands.

You will want to too.

xoxo,

Marriage

Brandon and I are heading to Arizona for a wedding this weekend.
One of his buddies from Law School is finally tying the knot and we can't wait to be there.
It's been awhile since I've been to a wedding and it got me thinking about our own.
I can't believe it's already been a year (and almost a half).
I wanted to share something I guest-wrote for Karla's blog a couple of months ago.

Ten Things I've Learned in my 1 Year of Marriage:

1. Marriage is fun! You get to have slumber parties with your best-friend every.single.night. 

although he will not tickle your back or play with your hair nearly as much as you want him to 

{and there will be more slumbering than partying on most nights.}

2. Never stop pursuing each other. My parents are such a wonderful example of this. They've been married for 32 years and I still find them making out, dancing in the kitchen and holding hands. It's so unfortunate to see some couples, over time, who simply stop making an effort to make each other feel special.

3. That clearing my throat while rubbing my neck and telling him how parched I am will almost always guarantee I get a cold glass of water...even if it's just after he's climbed into bed {in fact this seems to be when I am thirstiest.} 

4. Choose your battles. He's going to fart. He's going to leave the toilet seat up. Are these the most important things in the world? No. (Although in our house it's more like "She's going to leave her shoes all over the house" and "he's going to continue to turn off the heater when you aren't looking.") 

5. Having a great marriage can be hard work. Like anything you want to excel at, it takes patience, dedication and a lot of TLC. I think it's easy to get lazy and comfortable and start taking each other for granted. You have to make a choice every day to put your marriage before your own wants and desires a lot of the time. We feel lucky enough to share a lot of those wants and desires so it makes it easier :-)

6. Forgive. You've made a promise for life. You're also human which means you are going to make lots of mistakes over the course of forever. Forgive, learn, and keep on keepin' on. 

7. COMMUNICATE. Brandon and I dated for about 3 years before we got married and something that I learned very early on was just to tell him how I'm feeling as straightforwardly as possible. Guys don't seem to get hints. If he said something that bummed me out, I don't want to mope about it all day until he realizes what's happened and can come groveling after me {well maybe I do sometimes.} Just be as upfront and honest as possible. 

8. Brandon is my partner in life and someone that I always want to be around but he cannot be my absolute everything, nor I his. I would lose it without my girl friends. We think it's important to have guys' nights or girls' nights, and have separate hobbies. I do NOT want to go out into the garage and work on cars with him. He does NOT want to wear facial masks and paint his toe nails with me. And that's okay :-) 

9. Compromise. Being right is NOT the most important thing. This is something that Brandon and I are still working on, haha. We're both super competitive, and stubborn and sometimes in the heat of the moment being right about something so insignificant can seem like the most important thing in the world. It's not. And I think this attitude can take it's toll on a relationship. So if you're reading this Brandon, let's just admit that I'm usually right and move on ;-) 

10. Accept and embrace your partner for who they are. At the end of the day isn't that what we all want? Someone who loves us just the way we are -- peanut bladder and all. Someone we feel safe with, someone who just "gets" us. Learn to love someone for who they are and forgive them for who they are not. 

What makes your partnership unique?

We are complete opposites and somehow we work. I'm talking bleeding heart liberal meet your conservative, gun-toting husband. I'm always cold, he's always hot. He has the patience of a saint, I have the patience of a two year old sans a nap. I'm passionate and fiery -- and he's cool, calm and collected. But I'd like to think I add quite a bit of spunk to his life (maybe more than he initially bargained for) and he absolutely calms the lunatic worry wart I can so quickly turn into.

When you think about your future what gets you super excited?

Little Grays!!! You guys, I went to SEVEN baby showers in 2011 and it's given me a slight case of baby fever. We aren't quite ready yet but the thought of seeing Brandon with his tiny son or daughter makes my heart feel so full. I know he'll be as incredible of a father as he is a husband.

Your favorite quote(s) in regards to Marriage?

"Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut,
 and a woman who can't sleep with the window open."
George Bernard Shaw

"The best way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost."

 true dat.

Stay Classy San Diego

I was driving home from work last week and suddenly felt overwhelmingly lucky to live where I do. My whole commute is about 10 minutes long but if there's traffic it triples the amount of time it takes to get home. I was particularly cranky about this (as I've mentioned before I suffer from a teensy bit of road rage) and I peeled off the 5 at the first exit available. "Ugh, this is just what I need at the end of my day. How is this fair? Why is this person riding on their brakes? I'll just take the coast. Expletive. Expletive." As the view of the ocean came in to focus, it put into perspective how lucky I really am. I wondered what my rush was, rolled down the windows and took a deep breath.

Encinitas, CA

I thought my San Diego County friends might get a kick out of some of these:

You know you're from San Diego when...

-There are four distinct seasons: Summer, Not Quite Summer, Almost Summer, and Oh Hey Look Its Summer Again

-You know what MB, OB, and PB stand for

-You still call it the Del Mar Fair

{Am I missing something? Does it have a different name now?}

-You know what "The Merge" is, and will plan your entire day around not being on it during rush hour

-You've taken the Coaster and laughed at people sitting in traffic on the 5

-Your house doesn't have air conditioning

and most importantly:

-If the menu doesn't have California burritos on it, forget it, its not real Mexican food