last minute

been a little busy with all the travels as of late. soooo....here is our impromptu christmas card. merry christmas to all!

Christmas Spirit

b&h

provided its wonderful services to let us purchase this (for approx $100 dollars more for carrying it out of the store that day and not taking advantage of the "NO tax" policy if shipping outside of new york). whatever. we have it! and we are stoked on it. new york and boston were amazing. w is still there. i miss him way more than i thought i would (is that bad to say?). guess its love :-) anyway, pics from our trip will have to wait until the w gets home with the new slr. stay on the edge of your seats...

going under the knife.

well - technically laser, not knife. getting lasik on friday. trying not to think about it too much so i dont get scared. and fyi - google-ing images of "lasik" is NOT a good idea. pretty stoked to see perfectly though! i have been wearing glasses since age three, and contacts since i was eleven. its time. wish me luck :-)

overwhelmed.

why on earth did i think that hot-glue-gunning/cutting/printing/stuffing/tying and distributing 100 jars of cranberry sauce was a good idea for the thanksgiving gift to my contacts at coventry court this year? (and no - this is not a pic of what mine look like). the harder i try, the more crafty i become? or is that a folklore....

has anyone???

been following my sis-in-laws photog blog (link on side bar - always)?? she gets better and better and i am constantly amazed at the images she is producing! need a little sneak to peak your interest...check these out (oh and maybe my nieces are just too darling to not love).

better shot.

per request - here is a "closer up" shot of my new color. i am OBSESSED with it. :-)

pismo halloween

we opted out of costumes this year and headed to pismo with a few friends for the weekend. the boys rented atv's and the girls headed up to hearst castle.

when we arrived at 12:30am friday night, my little honda civic tried to combat the rain while driving on the beach sand RIGHT next to the ocean. ya, you heard right. you can drive right on the sand next to the water in order to camp. it was POURING. and i was slightly terrified. warren and a friend tried to assemble the tent only to become soaking wet like he just showered. so we stayed in oceano motel for the night - quite a classy establishment (not).

of course i didnt ride on it, this was only for photo op.

check out how white trash we camp (see back left)

used my new sleeping bag, and it was heaven (the second night didnt rain - no need for oceano motel). warren took good care of me on this camp trip. i think bc he wanted me to have a good experience so i would go again.



hearst castle:
i wouldnt mind staying in the guest house. yes, this is the "guest house".

750 dollar fine for jumping in the pool.

the entire bottom of the pool is made of marble. must be nice...

the dining room

main house.

view from the top.

long winded....

i have been riding lisa's bike around hb for about...well 2 years now? well, since i started riding a bike again. and maybe it is stored in my garage, so it has been very convenient NOT to purchase my own bike (thanks lis). but we knew the day would have to come. and when john and shelly came to town this weekend, we thought it would be the perfect saturday morning activity - followed by a bike ride of course! please dont judge my hideousness in these pics.


and then warren and i danced on the beach. (thanks to john hawley for taking the pics. we made him and shelly pose on the beach to snap a few kissing/dipping shots, but somehow he didnt email those to me - weird.)


we also saw this on friday night:

yes, that is matthew morrison, but we didnt exactly see him. we saw south pacific, and mm used to play lieutenant cable back in the day on broadway. i am liking him more and more - well glee in general that is. ever since the brit episode.

we also ate a lot with the parents this weekend. some great suggestions if you live locally: habana (cuban food - the lab, costa mesa), luigis (italian - main st, hb), melting pot (fondue - off jamboree, irvine).

oh - and i made crepes. with my new crepe maker from williams sonoma that i am obsessed with. this recipe is the BEST. and the pan is heaven.

and my newest book (checked out from the hb library):

dont judge me.

petah.

are my eyes playing tricks on me? or is this is a mj cross-dressed peter pan? you decide. the purpose of this post is for two things: 1. we really need to purchase a camera. 2. we went to peter pan, the stage play at orange county performing arts last night (how cultured are we?). ok - so camera denoted as number 1? bc we dont have anything to document the things we do together, therefore the cross-dressed mj peter image is used for this blog post, instead of some cute posed picture of w and i in front of the theater acting out peter pan stances. any suggestions for a awesome point and shoot? oh - and the play was good. entertaining at least. but i wouldnt see it again.

i read good.

i know. i am sooo late on this. but i cant put it down. i am in the second book now. and loving it (and peeta). i like sar's picks for the movie. well, except for haymitch. is it weird that i have been imagining kramer from seinfeld? ya - probably. one other thought. i really hope that it doesnt play out like another sick love twilight triangle. although, if it is required, i would be wearing a "team peeta" shirt for sure. ok - i digress.

60 years. and all eternity.

this is a picture of my grandma and grandpa hawley on their wedding day (the only pic taken that day). they were married for 60 years when my grandpa passed away this past summer. so grateful for temple marriage and for my knowledge of eternal families that i will see my grandpa again.



makes me also grateful to have found this one:



this is us in the canyon in utah this past weekend when we visited my grandma. it was so beautiful there, and i was so happy to see my mountain man in his element.


thats me. dont mind my pose - just look at the mountain. this photo is mainly for john hawley.

mormon bachelorette

yo peeps. you have a single awesome male friend? send him this link! aubrey messick is one of my dearest friends. any man to end up with her sure would be lucky!

check it out: http://themormonbachelorette.blogspot.com/

best surprise.

warren g is my bff. he also is the most selfless person i know. a couple weekends ago he had his second step of boards (aka a 9 hour test to determine the rest of our lives). i was trying to be a supportive wife and have the house cleaned with dinner waiting when he got home. but, as soon as he got out of his test he called me and told me to be ready to run out the door when he arrived. i didnt know what was going on, but i put dinner in the fridge, frantically put my make up on and we were out the door in 2.5 seconds after he arrived home.

he told me we were meeting some of his classmates in LA for a dead perez concert at 8. but he was unusually stressed about getting there in time. about halfway to LA i asked him if that is where we were really going and he just kinda smiled and handed me an envelope. inside were two tickets to this:



it was playing at the pantages theater and i had been talking for WEEKS how i wanted to see it! i seriously almost starting crying. a. bc i was so excited. b. bc he surprised me with something that he knows i LOVE. c. bc his gesture was just so kind and selfless. here he had had undoubtedly a stressful day with his test and wanted that night to be good for ME.



i couldnt be luckier.

remember when...

i posted this??

well....the tables have turned. instead of a "weight gain" program, i am now on a "work out" program. what a novel idea right?

together with my friend (and now personal trainer) austin - we coordinated a beach work out class for ladies. it is perfect because i am at least looking over the tranquil ocean while wanting to throw-up.

but seriously...it is amazing how much better i feel just after 4 weeks of this:


so much in fact, i am now blogging about it to tell all you local bloggers about it! come!! every Tuesday night 6-7pm (meet at 17th and pch). message me for the unbelievably cheap pricing (ahem...$25 for 4 sessions!)


how life has changed. but i sure am loving it :-)

cant believe i never posted this...

here is a link to our short wedding film by ryan southwell. i am pretty much obsessed with it, and you will be too (if you havent seen it yet on fb like 4 months ago). anyway - ENJOY!!

what happens when...

you combine this:



and this:



AMAZING-NESS:

as of late...

apparently i have not been updating my blog with the things w and i have been doing lately (brought to my attention by the newly prego kate hawkley on saturday). so here you have it. oh - and how sad is it that these are literally the only three pics i have taken of us together since we have been married...


this was at the point in corona del mar. we picked up some cafe rio (yes there is one here now) and had a sunset picnic and walked around the ridiculous houses that i wished i lived in. must be nice.


angel stadium - holler! everyone in orange county has such angel pride - i like it. this has been my second game of the season so far. we had fantastic seats thanks to coventry court. no balls caught yet.


and here we are with lisa and wee man at the magic castle in hollywood. it is a private club for magicians, in which you must be a member or receive a guest pass from a member to enter. how did i obtain this you ask? baller status. anyway - the night is literally at a castle and watching a variety of magic shows (while everyone gets wasted) and a super (expensive) nice dinner. quite the experience. especially watching the fellow magicians interact. but i am glad those weird boys wearing capes and ponytails in 7th grade found their niche years later here at the castle. good for them. cheerio.

melt your popsicle?

does she? i mean really. i was a little disappointed with Maxim's Hot 100 list (yes, i know i am like 2 weeks late with these thoughts, but am still having them nonetheless). but then ms. katy and snoop d-o-double-g put out this. and with "bikini on top" i have a new found "like" for her. check it out (if you havent heard it already on kiss every 7 minutes), i cant seem to get it out of my head. oh - and might i just add that i have a love for snoop comparable to luda. just sayin...

thoughts.

sooo...this is my niece bella:

how amazing is she?! she will be 4 this may. i absolutely love this pic. and for being only 3 years old, her technique is uncanny. the moment i saw this pic earlier today it took me back. many of you may not know that i danced. and by "danced" i mean i was a dancer - ballet, contemporary and jazz. it was my WHOLE life. it was who i was. and still feel that it is who i am inside; although i may not be "practicing" these days.
i came home from work finding myself scrounging through my old chest for ANY dance pictures that i have here at our apt in hb. this is the only one i found:

when i found it warren said, "your head looks weird." and yes, it does. but how ancient does this picture look? it was before digital cameras (how crazy is that?) my senior year of high school. and me taking a picture of the picture with my sub-par digital camera probably didnt help with the quality. but anyway, i miss this.

when i am driving i listen to LOTS of different music. britney, fiona, legally blonde, christian pop, luda - you know, the essentials. and i cant help but MOVE to ALL of this music. i imagine myself dancing. and it looks pretty good in my head, but i doubt it would translate that well if i physically tried to execute my choreography. in fact, it may scare people.
will i ever dance again? i dont know. but i DO know that i would DIE to see little bella in her dance class. her arabesque looks a heck of a lot better than mine did at four...

conflicted.

i got eyelash extensions. yes, this pic is really me. arent they beautiful?! they were a bday gift to myself. i loved how they looked. but at what cost is beauty? i must have sensitive eyes or something bc they drive me crazy!! i have only had them on for a week and i have started plucking them off one by one. the girl who did them is amazing and was highly recommended, so i know it has nothing to do with her! but why?? why me? why would they bother ME so much? this seems soooo up my alley right? now i just cant wait until they all fall off. anyone ever tried latisse? that may be my next attempt at luscious lashes...

wedding video!

check it out...

http://www.vimeo.com/10603489

where we be