i figured i may as well get the final december related post (other than christmas gift related) done today. well, let's back track a second. happy new years day everyone! today i officially determine whether i start another 365 project or not. i guess i have 15 more hours at this point to determine that... but anyways, here's to rounding off 2013 in one final post and kicking off 2014 strong. hit the year running (or blogging) strong.
so now back to december. in a month's time, i finished the semester will all As, completed my
catvent quilt top, and worked. has a few social affairs (i think?) and did some pretty hefty shopping with my business account. in that same month, i knccked out a large wedding present, started my yearly room cleaning overhaul, and celebrated the holiday with the family. pretty eventful, if i do say so myself. and here are the
instagram snippets that i have to go with it all. i had a hard time chopping it down to the usual 9, so i upped this time around, and made it 16. wowza. i went crazy with this one!
- december 2nd was erika's 25th birthday, and so i met up with her, matt & a few of her friends at benihana's for some food deliciousness. yeah, it was pricey, but it was GOOD. and it was so much fun welcoming in erika to the super awesome "ugh, are we really 25?" club... and i did it the same way i've been doing it since high school. a birthday card & a bag of peanut butter m&ms. some things will never change :)
- steve & i went to del oro together, but didn't really get to know each other until the sierra college years. i graduated from sac state in may of 2011 & he started that fall. we've done a lot of photography stuff here and there, and so when he asked if i would help him out with his senior portfolio i was game. he was doing wet plate glass negatives, which i had never seen done before. i may have drooled a little over his bathroom darkroom set up, and how cool the process was. ugh. i really want to shoot some film now. or my holga. or lots of both. one of the negatives turned out super sharp, and i cannot wait to see the final product!
- i broke my sunglasses that i've had forever... i bought these after i lost my blue & green ones in 2009... yeah, i managed to keep cheap sunglasses for that long. funny enough, these were the same sunglasses that "emily other" had at sac state with me, so it was very fitting to call them the emily glasses. alas, i snapped them by accident and had to retire them to the trash can. forever immortalized on instagram now.
- finals week. signed, sealed, delivered. all As for the first time in forever, and boy did it feel good. now let's hope i can pull that off next semester when i have a full 12 units, half of that being online classes... ugh.
- when we moved to loomis in 1999, my grandma myrna bought me a roll of address labels. it wasn't until sending out amy's invitations that i FINALLY ran out of them. clearly i wasn't sending enough snail mail. it will be sad to no longer see these little ladybugs next to my name on return labels, but i guess that means i can finally move out. haha.
- every year, my grandma gets us an ornament for the christmas tree from hallmark. of course, this was my choice for the year. well, it was between this and a buss lightyear one that made noise. but i have one from a few years ago that was buzz & the rc car, so i had to shake it up a little bit this time around.
- half as a joke, i got my dad a calendar of his cat. we've been taking the pictures the past few years just for entertainment, but finally got around to making the calender we always talked about. each month is "themed" for the holiday that associates with it. i.e. january is a "new years" buzz cat, april has an "easter bunny" buzz, october has buzz wearing a witch hat, and so on. it was very entertaining to put together and see in finished form.
- giant stack of invites! so far, only one got returned... and that was because i forgot to put a stamp on it. so now the party planning can officially begin once we start getting RSVPs for amy's wedding bash. super fun!
- oh sleepy mushu. i couldn't not include this picture.
- our cookie making has been slow, but at least they taste the same no matter whether they are made before or after christmas. we had a tube of premade dough that i blobbed in to sugar cookie balls... and a doughman. because it wasn't cold enough to roll out and cut into pigs.
- granted, i didn't become a cheesy youtube star with these, but we got our annual christmas pjs. mine had cameras all over them, which i helped pick out at the start of the year. so comfy and warm, as usual.
- we saw frozen this year, and it was super cute. lots of music like disney movies used to be, and a good story line. would totally see it again... and again... and i can see why there are loads of people doing so.
- my dad has talked about farrells over the years, and now that there is one back in sacramento, we decided to go there for josh/carol's birthday & early new years tradition celebration. i have to say, the ambiance of the place was very fun & lively, but the ice cream was sub par. joshua got sung a birthday version of the space jam song, which proved to be entertaining. it was fun, that's for certain. i wish i could have kept that cup though. that was pretty cool.
- yessss. this did happen. i have been saving pennies over the years in my business account, not spending any more than neccesary and was finally able to make this hefty of a purchase. finally going full frame, which i am certain will do wonders for my photography. i am super excited to start shooting with this camera (just bought it monday night) and see what it has in store for me & my business... which basically means it is back to saving pennies until i can get some new lenses :)
- the second movie in pretty much a week's span. i could get used to this. we went and saw catching fire, and it was pretty good. i couldn't remember much of what parts this book covered, but it was absolutely worth it. it should be interesting to see the third part when that comes out. i would reccomend it if you haven't seen it, but know the story line and such. ugh. so many other movies i want to see that are out right now too. gah!
- and lastly, we headed to leatherby's last night after the movie. well, because it wouldn't be new years without ice cream.
in conjunction with instagram photos, here are a few photos from our "daycation" to mysterious areas in the san jose/santa cruz area. we started the day off with the winchster mystery house tour in san jose. the house was crazy huge, and it was interesting to hear all the stories behind it, the construction, and everything. there was this GIANT set of drawers that the guide said she used to store fabric... and boy, was i envious of those. unfortunately, there is a movie being filmed in the house right now, so we weren't allowed to take any photos. because i'll have you know i would have taken quite a few.
after the tour & lunch at chipotle (shocker) we headed to santa cruz to the mystery spot. this was a much shorter tour, since it consisted mainly of bad jokes & the crooked, yet level, cabin. regardless, it was still interesting and worth it.
and there you officially have it for december, and 2013 as whole.
let 2014 begin!