6 years.

I love you. ♥ 

Glass Beach Revisited

One of the big draws for me to move to Fort Bragg was Glass Beach. I thought it was so beautiful when I visited last year and I couldn't wait to see it again. This time couldn't have been more different than the first. The first time we came here it was a sunny (but cold!) Spring day. This time it was a (chilly..) Summer day and it was foggy as hell! I loved it even more this second time. The fog gave it a really eerie look and I almost felt like I was in some sort of horror movie.

I didn't take any shots of the actual glass on the beach this time. Sadly there is a lot less glass there, even in the cove we went to which was only recently made accessible. I know the locals are not too happy about that. From what I hear, people will leave with bags of the stuff.

Even so, the beach is worth a visit. The view is gorgeous, even in the fog! I still can't believe I live within walking distance of this place. I look forward to many more visits in the future. :)

What I've Been Up To Since May

This is just a smallish photo dump of some stuff I've been up to for the last couple of months that I haven't been posting. It makes me pretty sad that since I've been filming my days I haven't been taking very many photos. I'm going to try and be better about that. Especially now that I'm doing weekly videos rather than daily.

// I went to the National Orange Show fair with Adrian and his little brother at the end of April. We spent way too much money on snacks (that were pretty disappointing, tbh) but it was a really fun night. I'm glad we got to do something fun with Adrian's youngest brother before leaving town.

// Adrian and I got really into scrapbooking in our Smash books. That died down once we started going through all of our stuff and packing. I'm hoping to continue working on mine once we get more settled and unpacked here.

// On Mother's Day we went to an Angels game with Adrian's mom and brother, Gabriel. It was the first baseball game I've been to since I was a kid (the Frederick Keys!! ha.) and I had so much fun even if I wasn't following the game the whole time.

// I made teriyaki Spam musubi for Adrian and his brother. I can't eat any type of sushi (is musubi considered sushi?) because I hate the taste of nori. I just ate teriyaki and rice which is a favorite of mine anyway. I documented the process of me making the musubi here.

// On Adrian's birthday we went to the casino that's nearby. Pretty much only because he received a free spin voucher and a coupon for dinner. We had a really great time and ate a ton of food at the buffet. I wore lipstick for pretty much the first time ever! Which was kind of weird...ha. I also can't believe how much my hair has grown out since this picture was taken. It's not super long but it's definitely significantly longer that it looks here.

// A goodbye card from one of my co-workers. My last day was pretty sad for me. It almost didn't feel real that I would no longer be working for Target. While there were definitely a lot of lows working for that company, there were also a lot of highs and I'm going to miss (and continue to miss) a lot of the people I met working there.

// We were originally supposed to move on the 15th which meant we were going to be leaving just before a friend of ours was in town. We were really bummed out that we wouldn't get to see him. But as luck (fate?) would have it we had a whole slew of car issues and we had to postpone our trip by a week. We met up with our friend at Downtown Disney for a few drinks. It was really great catching up with him. We miss our VA friends greatly and we think about them all the time. 

Goodbye Southern California!

About two and a half weeks ago my fiance Adrian and I moved from Southern California to Northern California. I meant to post about us moving much sooner but the weeks leading up to us moving were busy (and stressful). You may remember last April we visited my sister and her boyfriend in the small town where they live (1,2,3). Ever since then we've talked about moving there. However, we wanted to stay where we were for at least one more year. I don't think his parents would have been too happy with us coming back for just one year and then leaving again.

Moving to the city where we were living wasn't what we expected it to be and we were becoming very unhappy in our current situation. So in April of this year (almost exactly to the day when we visited) we started talking to my sister about us moving in with them. The time felt right to move on, so here we are! Leaving Adrian's family behind was very sad, and I miss them more than I expected to. Obviously he does too! I was also a lot more sad to be leaving my job than I thought I would be. The closest Target to where I now live is over two hours away, so I had to leave the company completely. I spent 4 years of my life working for Target and, while I didn't have the same attachment to my second store as I did my first, I still felt at home there. My last day was pretty emotional.

I'm still looking for a job and I hope to find one soon. I've applied to a few places, and interviewed at one, but so far nothing has panned out. Wish me luck!

If you'd like to see our trip up North and our first couple of weeks in town, I've posted a couple of videos documenting it (here and here).

Recipe; Bacon Wrapped Chicken

If you haven't seen my last post, I started making daily youtube videos. Kind of a day in my life type of thing. In my latest video I made bacon wrapped chicken and scalloped potatoes for dinner. I decided to share the recipe over here in case anyone would like to try it.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken
5 Chicken Breasts (or 10 chicken tenders)
1 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
2 handfuls of cilantro, seperated
2 tsps of cayenne, seperated and chopped
1 package of bacon
salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken, lemon juice, water, half the cilantro, 1 tsp of cayenne, salt, and pepper into a ziplock bag. Let the chicken marinate for at least 2 hours.

Once you're ready to start cooking preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drain liquid from bag of chicken. If you're using chicken breasts cut them all in half. Next, wrap all of the pieces of chicken in a single slice of bacon and line up the pieces in a pan with sides.

Once all of the chicken is wrapped and lined up in the pan, sprinkle salt, pepper, 1 tsp of cayenne, and remaining cilantro. You can also pour some extra lemon on top of the chicken if you'd like more of a lemon flavor. You're now ready to bake!

Bake the chicken at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes and enjoy!*

*If the bacon doesn't look like it's cooking as fast as the chicken you can turn up the heat or finish cooking in a frying pan. When I make this sometimes it finishes just fine in the oven and other times I have to finish in a pan. I'm assuming it depends on the type of bacon I buy, but I'm not really sure. Just make sure to keep an eye on it.

I Made a YouTube Channel!!

This week I did something I never really thought I would do. I made a youtube channel. Adrian and I have been talking about the possibility of making you tube videos (again for him and for the first time for me). We have some big changes coming up in the near future and I decided that I want to film the process. I decided to start now so that I can learn how to edit, etc.

Like I've said before, I really love daily vloggers and those are the only type of videos I've ever been interested in making. So far I've only uploaded two days of vlogs and I'm in the process of editing a third. I'm not really comfortable talking to the camera yet (it's awkward for me and feels kind of fake) so until I'm able to do that I'm doing a more montage type style. Below are my first two videos. Check them out and if you like them I would love it if you'd subscribe! Enjoy.

Dream Closet; Room Decor

Recently Adrian and I did a complete clean out of our room. We opened every drawer and cabinet and sorted everything into three piles. Keep, donate/sell, and throw away. The biggest project of them all was my closet. I was holding onto way too many clothes that either didn't fit anymore or I had never, and would never, wear. Since then we've realized there's still a lot of stuff we want to get for our room and change about our room. For example, I really want to paint the walls a light grey. If not grey then at least white. The color right now is an ugly yellowish tan color that the previous owners painted while trying to sell the house.

The color scheme we kind of have going on right now is navy blue, teal green, and white. It's kind of weird, because it wasn't intentional, but everything in our room goes along with those three colors. Our bed spread and pillows are navy and white, our sheets are teal green, we have a cabinet that is all three colors, etc. Those just seem to be the colors we liked best when purchasing stuff for our room

Cleaning our room got me thinking of a few things we need/want to make the room feel complete. Here are a few random things I've been looking at to decorate and/or furnish our room.

1. // Locust Angled Wood Headboard. At the moment we don't have a headboard on our bed. While I don't think it's necessary, it would be nice to have one. Especially after we paint the walls. I know we'll want to protect the wall a little better since we mostly use our laptops on our bed and lean against it. I really like the simplicity of the wood headboard and I really like the lighter wood color. I think it would look really nice with our navy comforter.
2. // Sterling Table Lamp. I just really like the look and color of this lamp. However, I would probably go with something a little more affordable seeing as we'll need to buy two.
3. // Regissor Bookshelf. I've wanted to replace our current bookshelf for a while now. It's also an ikea bookshelf, but it's pretty old (Adrian had it before we met) and it doesn't really go with the other stuff in our room.
4. // Picture Frame Set. I really want to do something with the wall behind our bed. Right now we have two really nice Guardians of the Galaxy posters, but I think I'd prefer to do a photo wall. We both have a lot of really good photos that we love of us and our families and friends. It would be nice to display some.
5. // Triangle Trim Jewelry Stand. Before we cleaned our room I had my necklaces hanging from two hooks next to my mirror, but we removed them. So at the moment I don't have anywhere to hang them. I like this stand because it also has spots to hang earrings (I don't really like having my dangly earrings in my jewelry box). It also has spots for bracelets, which at the moment I have in a drawer in my jewelry box but they don't all fit into it very well.
6. // Roland Nightstand. I've been having trouble finding the exact nightstand I want. This one is pretty close to it. I just want something simple with at least one drawer.
7. // Jada Mini Planter. I just thought this planter was cute and I still would like to have plants in my room. Maybe even a fake one... I somehow killed my last succulent, even though I was told they're nearly impossible to kill. -_-
8. // Flatweave Sweater Wool Area Rug. We have hardwood floors in the entire house, which I do like. It would just be nice to have a rug under our bed so that when I step off in the morning my feet aren't hitting a cold floor. I also never realized how hard it is to keep hard wood floors clean.
9. // Printed Tin Candle (Cactus Flower). I actually received this candle as a gift from my sister last year and I really love it. It's almost gone now so I want to get another one. The smell is so good.

Goodreads Reading Challenge | Five

My goal this year is to finish 50 books. After each five books I finish I will be posting a list and short review of each. I will try not to reveal any spoilers in these short reviews.

1. People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman by Richard Lloyd Parry
Plot synopsis: People Who Eat Darkness tells the true story of Lucie Blackman's disappearance while working as a hostess in Japan in the Roppongi district. The book covers Lucie's disappearance, the eight month long search, her remains being found, and all through the trial that follows. 

I came across this book on Goodreads. It was recommended to me as being similar to another book I read, but I can't remember which book. Gone Girl, probably. I enjoyed this book but it certainly had it's problems. But first, I'm going to be honest here and tell you that I actually had no idea this was a true story until after I finished the book. Kind of embarassing... I was 11 years old when Lucie Blackman disappeared and I don't really remember hearing about her story at all. That meant that, once I finished and found out it was a true story, I was even more crushed by it.

Really my only problem with the book was that I felt it should have been much shorter. It really started to drag on once we went into pretty much every characters background. Especially once it got to the suspects story. Hearing the fates of not only Lucie, but what her family went through was absolutely depressing. I'm not sure if you were necessarily supposed to take either of her parents 'sides', but if so I was definitely on the side of her dad and sister. The most fascinating part of the story was when he went into all the craziness of the how and why of what happened to Lucie.

2. The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence by Stan Lee
Plot synopsis: When twelve magical superpowers are unleashed on the world, a Chinese-American teenager named Steven will be thrown into the middle of an epic global chase. He'll have to master strange powers, outrun super-powered mercenaries, and unlock the mysterious powers of the Zodiac.

I feel bad saying this, but I actually had to force myself to finish this book. It's not that it was necessarily bad, far from it, it was just written for a much younger audience than me. And I've read kids books in the past, like I'm pretty sure the All The Wrong Questions series by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) was not written with a 26 year old in mind, but this one was just too young. I almost felt like I was being talked down to. The art was really nice, though. I gave my copy to Adrian's little brother so hopefully he enjoys it more than I did.

3. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Plot synopsis: Calamity Physics: The resulting explosion of energy, light, heartbreak, and wonder as Blue van Meer enters a small, elite school in a sleepy mountain town. Blue's highly unusual past draws her to a charismatic group of friends a St. Gallaway and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. A sudden drownig, a series of inexplicable events, and finally a shocking death lead to a confluence of mysteries. And Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instinct and cultural lexicon to guide her.

I read Night Film last year after it was suggested to me by my sister Nicole. After I was finished with it I immediately wanted to read another book by Marisha Pessl. Lo and behold, I opened up my gift from my sister on Christmas morning and she had given me Special Topics!

This is by far my favorite book I've read so far this year. It reminded me a lot of The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler, which I read last year and also loved. It was a little hard to get through at times, with all the movie and literary references in the footnotes (real and fictional), but other than that I found the story to be very engaging; especially near the end. I really liked Blue as a character, but she made me so sad at times. Though she had a great relationship with her dad, she also had such a lonely life. I won't get into the mystery part of the plot in this post. I don't want to spoil anyone and I plan to write a full review at a later date. After two books, Marisha Pessl has definitely become one of my favorite authors.

4. Veronica Mars #1: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Plot synopsis: Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She's traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.
Now it's spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is not a simple missing person's case. The house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica's past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

5. Veronica Mars #2: Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Plot synopsis: The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town’s ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove—or prove—the woman's story.

I'm not going to get too much into the story of these books, since they're both mysteries (because duh..) and I don't want to spoil anything.

As a fan of the Veronica Mars tv series (and movie!) reading these books was such a wonderful experience. I read them back to back over a couple of days because I couldn't stop! Every characters 'voice' sounded just like did on the show and it really felt like another episode. While both mysteries weren't very hard to figure out, especially the first one, they were still fun to read. I only wish there was more Logan, but I can kind of see why they kept him mostly out of the books.

Alright, so that's the first five books I've finished this year. As I'm posting this I've only finished 6 books which means I'm 4 behind schedule. At the moment I'm trying to read a book that is over 700 pages and it's also a little hard for me to get into, for some reason. I've been taking breaks from it to read other books, like both Veronica Mars books, so it's going to take me a while to finish. Hopefully my reading picks up over the next couple of months or it's going to be very hard for me to finish this challenge.

My Favorite Youtube Channels.

I'm not sure why, but in the last few months I've really gotten into watching youtube videos. You would think that, since I never would have met my fiance had it not been for YT, that I would have been more into it in the past, but alas I wasn't. My favorite types of channels right now are daily vloggers(!) and booktube vloggers. Here is a list of my current faves:

CulpFiction

You've probably seen Caty's bra fitting video (from her lifestyle/beauty channel) that got shared all over the internet last year, which is how I found her. While I also like that channel, what I really love is Caty and her husband Blake's vlogging channel. Blake is currently serving in the military and they're stationed in Las Vegas, originally from WA. I just love watching their daily lives even when nothing in particular is going on. They are such a sweet couple and their dog is adorable.

Frannerd

I actually first found Fran on instagram where she posts daily illustrations if herself (and her cat). I started following her because I love her illustrations. It wasn't until much later that I found out she had a youtube channel. She mostly makes videos about art and art supplies, but she also uploads some daily vlogs and random videos. She is super adorable and I looove her accent.

HeyItsPriguel

Now this is kind of a weird one for me to be posting. HeyItsPriguel is a daily vlog channel by a couple who lives in San Diego...and it's all in Spanish. Despite my fiance being Mexican I can't speak Spanish at all! But that's where he comes in. We always watch their videos together. Sometimes he will translate the whole video for me and sometimes just the important parts. They're not super consistent with their uploads but their videos are always fun and the editing is different than most daily vloggers I've seen. So if you speak Spanish (or don't..) you should check them out. Priscila also has a lifestyle channel.

I should really learn Spanish one day...

KristinaHorner

You may or may not already know about Kristina as she's been on youtube forever. She makes videos about a lot of different things, but lately she mostly does book videos. She also does a lot of subscription box and clothing hauls. I absolutely love her book reviews. I feel like she and I have very similar taste in books so she's always great to get book recommendations from.

Other notable mentions (vloggers I've very recently subscribed to so I don't have a whole lot to say about them yet):

JesseTheReader (booktube), PeruseProject (booktube), SaidTheStory (booktube), SavannahAndStuff (beauty/lifestyle..ish).

I would love some more channel rec's, especially daily vloggers as I seem to have a very hard time finding them. Also, if you have a channel let me know and I'll check it out!

The Salted Pig

I apologize in advance for the dark pictures. There wasn't a whole lot of lighting in the restaurant and I don't like to use the flash.

My fiance, Adrian, read about The Salted Pig almost two years ago and we've been wanting to try it out ever since. We actually almost ate there once when we happened to be near Riverside for some other reason. Unfortunately when we realized that we were close enough to eat there it was between their lunch and dinner hours and it was closed. Alas, it would take another 11 months before we would get the chance again. It was well worth the wait.

When we arrived on a Saturday night we were told there would be an hour wait, but we didn't end waiting her long. Maybe 25 minutes. We were fortunate enough to be seated on the kitchen side of the dining room at a table across from the kitchen. Adrian and I don't drink very often when we go out to eat. But this was a (somewhat) special occasion and Adrian's dad was driving, so what the hell! Adrian and I had their pilsner and his dad had the blonde ale.

I had a very hard time choosing which meal to get as I had their pork belly sandwich in mind on the way to the restaurant (I didn't realize it was only served at lunch). We started with the 'octopus baby' which is whole baby octopus served with paprika aioli, chopped up pepperoni, and topped with home made potato chips. Adrian and his dad loved it. I'm not really a big fan of calamari so, while I thought it was good for what it was, I was sort of indifferent to the whole thing. Adrian's dad and I both agreed that we would have liked it better if it was more crispy.

As for the entrees I had the Herbed Gnocchi, Adrian had The Pig 2.2, and his dad had the Wild Boar Tamale. This was my first time trying gnocchi and now I know what all the fuss is about. It was topped with fresh ricotta, browned butter, and oyster mushrooms. It had crispy edges and a soft center with just the right amount of herbs. 

I didn't try it, but Adrian was in love with his burger. I did try the fries and the tamale. The fries were incredible and the tamale was really good too. I loved the mole sauce. Overall we had a really great time and enjoyed our food immensely. It's kinda pricey, so while I don't think we'll eat there very often, it's definitely somewhere we'll go for special occasions. I still really want to try the pork belly sandwich, so maybe we'll stop in for lunch one day soon.