AND YOUR MIND IS BLOWN AND SUDDENLY YOU FEEL CRAZY OLD.

But here’s the deal…35 is not old. I’m still young…at least I feel that way most of the time!

Biologically, I’m still fertile (please Jesus, at least for a few more years!) and I have no major physical maladies. Sure, I’ve got loads of grey hair and bags under my eyes, but most of the time, I forget that I’m not a gal in her 20s.

Just as it’s hard to notice how much time has passed here in CA, due to the lack of seasons and the ever-constant weather, I think I’ve missed the passing of time, due in large part to the lack of changing seasons in my own life (i.e. marriage, children).

I’ve spent enough of my life lamenting about my single and childless status, but in this case, I think it has kept me young.

Does that sound crazy?

PS – if you look at me and see a wrinkled old hag, please do not ask me to remove the rose-colored glasses. ; )

While they were running late, I had my sister snap a few shots of my outfit. As you know, I’ve been struggling with my wardrobe lately. My first instinct is always to grab dark colors and/or denim…and accessories aren’t even a part of my wardrobe vocabulary. But on Sunday, I really feel like I pushed myself and did alright!

I’ve had this tank for a while now and it’s a favorite. I love jewel tones and green really just pops – my great big secret is that I bought it in the Nordstrom Brass Plumb department and it was super cheap. DOUBLE SCORE. I have no idea where I got the cable knit circle scarf, but it just seemed to be the perfect addition. The white skinnies are from Banana Republic and I love the way they fit!
The tank is a favorite because of the racer back. I feel cool and hip in it! (Photo tip: if your photographer is taller than you, have them squat down and take the photo from hip level…otherwise, your legs will look squatty like mine do below!)
Mom and Dad finally arrived. Not a bad way to travel!!!

It was a hot day in wine country, but my light outfit felt cool! My mom is wearing heels, while I’m in flats. Usually, I tower above her. : )

I randomly blended the accessories together. I see this done all the time and think it looks cool, but didn’t know if I could pull it off. No one said I looked weird that day, so I’ll take that as a positive! The wrap around bracelet is from Stella & Dot, the spike bracelet is from Noir Jewelry. Earrings were from Silpada; sunnies are Dior.

Clearly, I’m on a wardrobe journey, and that involves shoes, too. I’ve never been much of a purses and shoes gal. But I was determined last season to find cute flats that weren’t flips. I love these Steve Madden’s. I just saw them at Marsall’s! (PS – pardon the foot shot…at least I had a pedi!)

No matter how good you think you look or how much you like your outfit, your little sister still might get up close and say, “DUDE, YOU HAVE A LOT OF GRAY HAIR.” Should that happen to you, your only option is to have another glass of sparkling wine.

Linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday! Hi all!

I’m sure you’re no different…when a friend comes to town, you consider your favorite things to do. Finding a way to entertain and show off your hometown should be an easy choice, but all too often, we overthink it.

I knew we’d have time for lunch, so I knew I had to take her to Crystal Cove and The Beachcomber for lunch.

Going to Crystal Cove is like going back in time. Think of Beach Blanket Bingo or the original Gidget and you can almost place yourself there. Now a California State Beach, the cottages are available for rent (but get online at midnight two years before you’d like to go, otherwise you’re chances are better seeking cancellations). It’s hidden away and has no car traffic, but the one restaurant is open to the public and thriving – it also is known for CRAZY long waits.

Kate and I had a wonderful time there catching up after an hour or so window shopping in Newport Coast. It’s my favorite spot in the OC and I’m so glad I had the chance to take her there. And if YOU come to the OC, I’d be happy to take you there, too.

It's risky handing your camera off to total strangers...never know what they're going to snap!

There are 13 cottages available for rent, and 17 in a restoration program.

It was a GORGEOUS day at the beach. The ocean was captivating!

I seriously need to get on the waiting list...I'd have no problem commuting to work from here!

Do you have a go to spot in your hometown that you like to take visitors to?

It’s so awesome that I can spend whatever I want, go wherever I want, and live in absolutely squalor without having to check in with anyone! I can eat ice cream for three meals a day, watch terrible chick flicks, and drink rosé* straight out of the bottle. I can decorate my house in pink frilly froufrou decor and have dance parties to the 80s station without judgement! Life is AWESOME!

And sometimes it’s all:

Just an FYI.

*For illustrative purposes only. I wouldn’t be caught dead drinking rosé straight out of the bottle…now chardonnay, that is a totally plausible scenario.

When I began reading blogs, I was drawn to people who were just like me. I loved reading all about home projects and renovations. I was working on my house diligently and I loved seeing the guts of other people’s projects, too. I was also learning to cook and finding new step-by-step recipes was very helpful. But then my house was finished and I had built a solid degree of confidence in the kitchen.

I found myself stumbling upon bloggers I had never heard of before…not because they weren’t popular (in some cases, they were exceedingly so), but because they were focused on life stages that I was not presently in. In other cases, it was because of the gabillions of blogs on the interwebs, I had only come across a minuscule handful of them. And I’m so glad I broadened my horizons because I have read things that have made me laugh and cry and have flat out blown me away.

Here’s a few blogs that are inspiring me lately!

Emily, The Pilot’s Wife, challenged herself to learn to fly and she just nailed her first solo flight yesterday! She posts videos from inside the plane and even when her landings aren’t perfect, she keeps practicing and going back for more. PERSISTENCE

Arianne (To Think Is To Create) recently moved across the country, and between organizing her new home, raising her children, settling into a new town and way of life for her family, she’s helped launch and runs Simple Design (one of the Simple Living Media sites). Oh ya, and she’s blogging consistently! TENACITY

Megan from Sorta Crunchy, wrote and released a book on parenting. She received advice from all over, read countless books, and still felt the calling of her heart to do things a little differently – so she did, and birthed a manual for Spirit Led Parenting. VISION

Leigh (HopefulLeigh) left a job she knew and excelled at to move states away from her comfort zone because she had a novel her soul was waiting to write. She’s finished the novel and is in the process of finding a publisher. FEARLESSNESS

Which blogs do you find inspiring? What draws you back time after time? Do you prefer niche blogs, humor, lifestyle, or good old fashioned writing???

]]> http://www.theblahblahblahger.com/2012/05/inspired-reading/feed/ 6 http://www.theblahblahblahger.com/2012/05/spontaneity/ http://www.theblahblahblahger.com/2012/05/spontaneity/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 10:00:38 +0000 JJ http://www.theblahblahblahger.com/?p=1819 I brunched in West Hollywood with the Hollywood Housewife and Kelly (Love Well) on Saturday. It would have been very posh had we not talked each other’s ears off like a pack of hyenas.

We shared a pitcher of spiked lemonade…but I may have had more than my share. Don’t tell my mom…

On Sunday afternoon, I called up two friends and told them to get their butts in gear; I had wine to pick up in Temecula and it was a BEAUTIFUL day.

I love that my friends are suckers and susceptible to peer pressure when trips to wineries are involved.

At one point this weekend, I looked around my living room and realized I have a slight problem. I bought a statue of a peacock and it’s kinda creepy.

Are there 12 step programs for One Kings Lane and Joss & Main addictions?

I’ve mentioned drinking a few times in this post so far, but in all fairness, I was stone cold sober when I bought the dang peacock.

And speaking of drinking, the green smoothies are rocking my world – but I’m not gonna lie, they look like a diaper blowout.

An interested side effect of the green drink is how superior I feel to the rest of the world.

I’m convinced my skin is glowing and that I have more energy than everyone else.

I’ve realized that my blog posts on my European adventure (here, here, and here) were interesting only to me.

I’m pretty sure they’re akin to making you sit in my living room and look at slides while serving you cocktail wieners and pigs in a blanket.

But fear not, I’m still happy I posted them and will look at them and reminisce over a glass of wine at some point in the future.

The people in Stockholm are BEAUTIFUL and fit. The city itself is VERY clean and safe. I didn’t see any ruffians, homeless people, or vandalism. It’s wasn’t a cheap place to visit, but honestly, it wasn’t as expensive as I expected, either! Switzerland was pricier, but Stockholm was more metropolitan. With that said, the city was interspersed with amazing history, as well!

Our cousins told us we HAD to visit the Vasa Museum and we were so glad we did. The Vasa is the oldest shipwreck ever to be raised from the ocean floor. It was restored and made into a museum in the early 60s and it was the perfect place to visit on a cold day.

After the Vasa, we walked across the street to the Nordic History Museum. With a headset and a magic wand, we were able to learn all about our Swedish heritage and the history of our people. The building itself was absolutely incredible…completely exquisite architecture! 

I can't wait for my next dinner party after seeing how the old Swedes did it! : )

We met up for a traditional dinner with a friend of our cousin. We had a nice time visiting with Frederick and learning more about Stockholm. After dinner, he took us for a walk through the city and we even rode the metro. Stockholm is a very clean and safe city. We were out until at least 11:30pm and never felt concerned at all!

Mmmmmm...meatballs.

While walking through Old Town (Gamla Stan), my sister was thrilled to find a paper store!

The next day, we ventured out for a tour of the city. Stockholm is made up of 8 islands and we really enjoyed going through the canals. Gamla Stan is in the background of this photo taken from city hall.

After the canal tour, we went to tea, then walked through Gamla Stan in the daylight. We saw the Royal Palace and beautiful old world Swedish buildings. It was just gorgeous!!!

Prince Carl lives here. I waited in the town square to find him...he IS single, after all!!!

I was so sad to leave Sweden the next day. It truly was the trip of a lifetime and it felt like I was there for far too short of a time. I learned the importance of connecting with my roots, how to be a truly gracious hostess, and that pedestrian travel in the city is a great way to get around!

I absolutely cannot wait to go back and I’m forever grateful to have had this opportunity.

If you have the chance to retrace your roots, please please please grasp it for all it’s worth!!!

I mentioned this conversation to a coworker who is all into juicing. She makes green drinks for her family almost every day. Twice now, she’s brought in extra to give me a try and I’ve liked the flavor of her concoction. I’d considered giving juicing a try in order to get more veggies into my diet and she finally convinced me.

On Wednesday night, I took a handy dandy 20% off coupon into the BBB and got myself a Ninja. I tried making a green drink and I LOVED it!

I can’t wait to try more recipes and see how I feel after a couple of weeks!

Ingredients: spinach, an apple (skin and all), a banana, frozen peaches, 2/3 cup of water, and 2 tablespoons of flax seed.

The Ninja totally pureed everything together!

I transfered the green drink into a water bottle, refrigerated it, and drank it on the way to work the next morning!

You may now start referring to me as Juicy McJuicerstein!

We were greeted at the train station with hugs galore and headed to dinner at Bertil and Katerina’s house. They live in an old converted water tower which is totally modern and amazing. My sister and I stayed with Sture and Inga in their 1925 building that’s been converted into flats, too. Both places were TOO cool. And our relatives went WAY out of their way to ensure we had an amazing trip. They created a “program” for us and took us to all of the places we didn’t know we wanted to go to. ; )

Now the really cool thing about our relatives in Sweden is, we’re not really that closely related, but years ago, another random relative started working on a family tree that goes back to 1755 and somehow even followed the relatives that moved to America. Through them, my grandma and her sister became very close with them and voila, we had new “cousins.” They’ve visited us many times, lived in the OC for a couple of years, and even sent one son out to be an exchange student for a year. And for the last couple of years, his brother and wife have been living near us, so we’ve had them for all holidays, etc. But this was our first time to visit them and Sweden. 

Our first excursion was to Gamla Linköping, which just means “old town.” We did a little shopping, walked around cobblestone streets, and had a traditional Swedish lunch (potato pancakes with bacon and lingonberries). It was pretty good!

This is my sister...you'll see a lot of her!

Traditional wooden butter knives, etc. I got myself a present here!

A darling old general store.

After lunch, we did a little more shopping in the new part of town, then headed to the Linköping  Cathedral where we met up with my dad and Bertil. It was incredibly beautiful and is still used for daily services. The church has been there since the 11th Century!

Dad, Sture, and Bertil...just three Swedish guys hanging around.

Linköping Castle - it's now a museum, but if the royals are ever there, they have a suite of apartments they use!

That night, we headed to my cousin Marcus’ house for dinner. He’s the one who went to HS with me for a year. He’s married now and has two boys. It was fun to be in his home!

The next day, we were on our way to the old family farmhouse (Karsebo; pronouced car-suh-boo), but first we stopped for fika – the Swedish coffee break that everyone takes! After we had our snack, we stopped in Gränna, a cute town that they said my grandmother had loved visiting years ago!

And then we were in Ramkvilla…the town where my family originated. After having lunch and doing a little shopping in an amazing craft store, we hit the old church and graveyard. This is the last headstone from my branch of the family (before they emigrated to CA). And this goes back to when we were all closely related…my great great grandparents Peter and Stina-Maria Haakonson were buried here.

This is Bertil, my dad, and Inga (Bertil and Inga are brother and sister).

And then we made it to Karsebo. I wrote about how being there felt like home…the connection to my ancestors was powerful and really touching. The house and barn are literally older than California…you just can’t feel this degree of history and connection to the land here at home.

Ya, I totally took a time out for portraits of my family. ; )

"Cousin" Stieg owns Karsebo now and has said that his two kids aren't interested in buying it...we've been pretending like we'll come back and buy it. It would be a total shame to have the farm leave the family after more than 200 years!

There's a big lake with a dock and places to swim and fish there, too! Here's Inga and Sture being silly!

And my sister and I being silly, too!

The next day, we went for a short drive out of the city to my cousin Henrik’s house. He and Linda have a new baby named Kajsa and were visiting their families the same time we were there. They live in Pasadena now, so it was fun to see them in their hometown and they invited us out to their farm to see where they lived, too!

Inga with her new granddaughter!

Henrik and Linda's property has three tiny houses on it. They didn't have electricity of running water. They've only renovated the one house so far, but have big plans!

This is the second building. I'd love to renovate a home someday...but perhaps not to this degree.

Even my dad was blown away!

The neighbors all help each other out. They have chickens and sheep!

They also have their own lake, too. Here's Missie and Linda.

Henrik made bread in his stone oven for us.

In the reno, they kept everything to the era of the house...including the short ceilings!

Back in town, we went to Bertil and Katerina’s for one last dinner. They live in a converted water tower. It’s really a cool way to do infill housing!

Some of my favorite moments on this portion of the trip were sitting around at dinner looking through old photos or the family tree. I think they understood how precious this connection to our ancestors is to us and honored it by pouring over old papers and letters.

The little girl in the middle here is my great grandmother, Olive. This wedding photo must have been taken in CA and sent back to relatives. So sweet!

And that concluded our trip to Linköping. That night, we headed back to the train for a few days in Stockholm. I loved being there with my family and can’t wait to go back!

I subscribe to a couple of style blogs for inspiration and many of my friends do weekly wardrobe posts and sometimes after reading them, I scratch my head. I honestly don’t know how to get where I want to be…or if I can even explain it.

First of all, I think I’m afraid of color. I told my friend Julie once that I’d bought something new and she said, “let me guess, it’s black.” This conversation took place about a year ago and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I also have a coworker who compliments me every time I wear a certain green top or a pink sweater and I’ve begun to think it’s because I wear color so rarely that it really makes an impact.

When we were in Sweden, I was very limited to my clothing options. It was cold, I didn’t want to bring a huge suitcase, and I wanted layers that were versatile. I was pretty happy with how I packed, but then I glanced over at my sister one day and realized that I liked what she was wearing WAY more than what I had on; my mom even sported more color than me.

Now  in all fairness, my sister and I have pretty dramatically different coloring, but she had on a wide array of color for most of the trip…and I had on a wide array of black. The day we hit the Stockholm Grand Hotel for tea, the only color I had on was a royal blue tunic. I still like that outfit, but wonder if I could have styled myself a little differently.

But maybe all my black isn’t really a problem. Maybe I tend to like a more conservative and sophisticated color pallet. I’m just not sure. But what I do know is that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about fashion lately and I feel like my next renovation project might not be on my house, but on my wardrobe.

What are your thoughts on fashion? How do you choose your wardrobe and what are some of your FAVORITE outfits?