Navy Wife Diary

Fresh Produce

2012-04-26T06:00:00.002-07:00

If case you haven't heard of Fresh Produce, it is a great company co-founded and still run by a mom entrepreneur, Mary Ellen Veron and is primarily made in the USA. You can find their clothing sold in Fresh Produce stores’ and more than 500 specialty retailers throughout the US and Caribbean.

I was lucky enough to have them contact me to see if I wanted to try out of of their new spring styles. {Spring Dresses}Umm, yes of course I do! The funny part is that a day earlier I had been eyeing some of there clothing in a store in Sanibel, Florida {see my trip to Sanibel here}. Which is also the name of one of their colors. Everything is named after a tropical locale, from the clothing to the colors. It makes it so fun to pick stuff out.

I swear I went back and forth between the Maxi dress in Catalina and the Impromptu dress in Fiji like a hundred times! {I mean how could I ever decide there were so many options basic dresses: http://freshproduceclothes.com/fp/basic-dresses}

The names of all their clothing is so perfect for the locals. I can see my self with a tropical drink with a pineapple in it on some fabulous beach in Fiji in the Fiji dress! Unfortunately a trip like that is not in the budget, so I went with the choice that better fit my life. Catalina is after all just off the coast of California. I think this means we will just have to take a little trip off the coast to Catalina soon!

I just love my Catalina Maxi Dress in oyster. I paired it with my J Crew Cardigan and flip flops and my favorite Stella and Dot necklace.

Can I say another thing, I love being a medium! I hate the trend that seems to be plaguing the lower end stores where I can barely fit into an XL. I mean I'm not that big ;) There size chart was right on and the dress fits me perfect. {size chart} Another great thing is that they also have plus sizes that actually look like they would be flattering. I will have to get my mom into one of their stores next time she visits. {FYI They sell it at the exchange! There is also a fresh produce store in La Jolla and they sell it at many retailers throughout the county, see here}

In case your not lucky enough to be near a store like I am, don't despair. Fresh Produce now ships to over 200 countries, so women outside the US can enjoy the colorful styles, too.

If your taking a fabulous vacation this summer you should check out there clothes, they would be perfect for any summer getaway! {awesome beach & summer favorites}

Seriously though I love this dress it fits great and is super flattering {I'm not just saying it because they sent it to me!} My next purchase is one of their great scarves or this awesome cardigan- and it's on sale!

Do you love Fresh Produce too?

How would you pair the Fresh Produce spring styles?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Julian, California- Apple Pies and Buffalo Burgers

2012-04-18T12:22:00.001-07:00

Julian is a cute little town about an hour east of San Diego. This historic and charming town is full of bakeries with apple pies, antique stores and cute shops. They also have great buffalo burgers and some wineries around the area.

We stopped at a little antique shop just outside of Julian

I really wanted one of these old sinks to use as a planter

These old crates would also make amazing planters

The town of Julian

The hardware store sold Minnetonka boots, so cute and comfy! I want some!

Do you have a cute little antique town near you?

XOXO,

Annie

Furniture Revamp: Goodwill Dresser

2012-04-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

Most of my furniture is painted in the same way {similar to my nightstands here and trunk here}. I usually strip, sand, add two coats of primer and two coats of paint. If I am being lazy {like I was here} or it's a piece that isn't wooden, I won't strip it. I still have to sand it to get the old paint off and make the new paint stick.

First I sanded the entire piece, I used a little bit of paint thinner to get the gold paint out of the creases. Somewhere between Goodwill and my house the dresser got a large deep scratch down the top of it. For step by step instruction head over to Our Military Home and see my guest post{here} on how to fix blemished wood furniture.

The Before

It was a pretty easy fix, basically you just fill the crack with wood putty and wipe it smooth. You may have to do this several times. Once dry you sand it smooth with sandpaper or a small sander {like the Black & Decker Mouse, which is what I used}.

Recently I have been using my Rustoleum 2x cover spray primer even on furniture, though I painted it on this particular piece. I rolled on the primer then a few days later the paint. It took a couple of hours, but I think the dresser turned out wonderfully.

For the handles I spray primed them with one coat of Rustoleum 2x primer than two coats of Rustoleum glossy black spray paint. The middle drawers were missing two of the draws pulls, but luckily for me the Alameda Flea Market always has drawer pulls in every color so I bought three small black crystal nobs {$5 each}.

The dresser was $40 and everything else besides the drawer pulls I already had in my shed. So I have a great wooden white dresser and it only cost $55!

What do you think?

How to you re-finish furniture?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Sanibel, Florida

2012-04-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

We headed to Sanibel for some beach time and a little shopping. We collected shells for my cousins daughters girl scout troop and walked along the water.

We walked to the lighthouse. On the way to the lighthouse we spotted an osprey nest with a momma osprey and her little birdie.

We got super hot and hungry so we were on to our next adventure. lunch at the purple giraffe and a bit of shopping.There are so many amazing birds in Florida, while shopping we came across this one.

On the way back to the house we spotted these Sandhill Whooping Crane in the neighbors yard.

What's your favorite thing about the beach?

XOXO,

Annie

Happy Easter!

2012-04-08T23:28:00.001-07:00

We had my cousin, her husband and their three kids at our house for Easter and had an wonderful day {you may remember them from our trip to Salt Lake City, here & here}. It was my first holiday meal that I made on my own {well, without my mom, my husband is actually pretty helpful! He would like me to state that he cooked the Ham, with a little help from princess Abby}

As with any holiday I love to decorate, pretty much anywhere in the house that I can. This probably has a bit to do with my compulsive shopping and need to craft! A few weeks ago I went to the La Mesa Antique Street Faire. It was great, not amazing like Alameda {see here} but it was worth the drive. La Mesa village is a quant little street with cute shops and tons of antiques stores, including an antique mall. I had no idea and I will definitely be checking out the area again soon. My husband and I had a great little breakfast at Por Favor Restaurant before he headed off to golf and I walked around for about four hours... yup I really enjoyed the day there! I got some really great holiday decorations for not very much.

The lambs and little basket are from La Mesa

The blue mason jars are from Alameda

The spring sign is from Dollar Tree

Glitter eggs I made {see tutorial here}

The big blue egg is from TJ Maxx

I made the giant bunny, it was the Valentine's Day card from my husband and our Doghter {yes, he got me an Easter card for Valentine's day and signed our dogs name!} I just painted some cheap Walmart canvas and Mod Podged it on.

Aren't the little $5 lambs so cute?!?

I printed out this great banner over at Cakes Like A Party, check her out here!

Even my front porch needed some Easter cheer {see tutorial here}

We had such a great day, there were Easter baskets

and yummy treats

{for colored rice krispies, just add food coloring to the marshmallows before you add the krispies}

BB had so much fun running around with the kids that she is passed out

How cute is she? Just like my lil lambs

Hope you had a wonderful Easter like we did!

We're off to Sea World tomorrow.

XOXO,

Annie

iStuff for Dummies... like me!

2012-03-31T06:00:00.002-07:00

This week I did the much dreaded upgrade and move to iCloud, it went smoother than I expected on my computer, but not so well on my noniphone phone. As soon as the upgrade was done the email on my android evo shift went down, and if you are like me are you are all too reliant on your email so this was a disaster of epic proportion ;)

So I did what I always do when I cant figure out how to do something I googled it. Normally this works like a charm, but this time all I found were people with the same problem and no idea how to fix it. Some had even been to their phone providers stores with no luck. Finally after searching and searching I found a link to apples response, if it had been worded better google would have pooped it up, you can find that here. However this didn't work on my phone so back to google I went, I finally found this brilliant blogger and he had a tutorial on how to make my phone work again. Thanks so much, Santosh! You are a life saver! (find his tutorial here).

Of course this didn't work at first for me either so after several tries and combinations I decided to go thru the comments. He was nice enough to respond helpfully to all of his comments {something I am guilty of not doing!}. About half way down I found a great tip, for some reason if you sign into your apple account and change your password and then set it up, following his instructions, it works. So I thought what the hell it can't hurt so I changed my password and viola it worked!!!!! Thanks so much Santosh you rock!

For some reason like having to upgrade to iCloud wasn't stressful enough the night before my cross country trip to Florida, I decided to buy and set up an iPad. I figured hey the iPad 3 was just released so the iPad 2 should be on sale as cheap as its going to get and sure enough the exchange and them $100 off plus I had a 5% off coupon and a $100 gift card.

So far I really like my iPad. I do suggest buying the 3G one if you can afford it. You don't have to have To set it up and the data plans start at $14.99 and their is no contract, it's month to month. (disclaimer- please read or ask when you sign up to make sure yours works the same way.) My only problems so far was that the contacts and twitter will not open, when I try to open them they pop up for half a second and close back down. (yes I tried the basic reset) I also googled this problem, many were experiencing the same problem but no one seemed to know how to fix it.

I thought I would have to head to the Mac store when I got back to Cali, but luckily Google saved me again. I found this helpful apple discussion here. I plugged my iPad into my computer and backed it up in iTunes, then I hit the reset button on iTunes to completely wipe clean my iPad. This would have been more nerve racking, but I'd only had it a week so not much to loose. I had to erase all the data, apps and settings on the iPad and then set it up like a new iPad, do not use the automatic backup or it will not fix it. Trust me I tried that first! I then reinstalled all the apps and movies from iTunes on my computer and my iPad works great and I didn't loose anything that as on there!

Do you have a iPad? Have you had any problems?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Ringling Museum of Art; Sarasota, Florida

2012-03-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

Last week I went to visit my Grandpa in Florida. I absolutely love Florida, from the beautiful beaches to cheap stuff I just love my trips there. On Monday we headed to the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota. Mondays was not the ideal day for us to go since the art museum is free and very crowded. We wanted to see the Ca' d'Zan Mansion and circus museums as well so we didn't really get anything free and it meant more people were there. But if you want to see the art museum for free Monday is your day! They do offer a military discount, but only to active duty.

The grounds were huge, there are two restauraunts, the mansion, the Ringling museum, the miniature circus model, an art museum and several gardens. It would be easy to spend all day there and we spent several hours exploring the property.

The Ca' d'Zan Mansion was certainly lavish for its time, built in the 20s, well any time really, it had 50+ rooms and was 5 stories. The outside was beautiful, but the inside was a a bit garish. Definitely not the decorations I would have gone with! The upstairs has a bathroom made completely of marble that I wouldn't mind having.

My favorite part was the back patio, really patio isn't the right word since it was probably more square feet than most peoples homes. The view of the water was phenomenal and I could have lounged there all day, especially if I had someone to bring me cocktails! Even the floor was amazing, it was all made of different colors of marble in a chevron pattern. We would have lounged their longer if it weren't for some rude people who came and loudly interrupted our shady solitude.

The Circus museum was by far my favorite part of the day, I always loved the circus when I was a girl. My parents would take me every year when the circus rolled into town. I still remember being in awe of it all, I loved it all! At the museum they have tons of memorabilia, from the sideshow banners, circus posters and wagons, there is a little bit of everything that makes the circus grand.

Also on display in the museum is the Wisconsin, built in 1905, the private rail car of Johns and Mable Ringling. It was beautiful and even I would have loved to live in this train car. It was reminiscent of Water for Elephants.

Next stop was the world's largest miniature circus, it was ginormous and so detailed. You really could imagine how wonderful it would have been to see the old time circus pull into tow. The main tent was

600 by 200 and only took 2 hours to set up the city without a zipocde. The lines began at dawn for the greatest show on earth.

Their was a band and magical performers, you could see people flying through the air and animals walk on two legs. I can see why it was called the greatest show on earth! The circus was such a big deal that in many towns the schools and factories would close so that everyone in town could enjoy it.

The Sideshow- was the smallest of the tents and entry required a separate ticket. Men shouted "ballyhoo" from outside the tents to describe the strange and wonderful things inside.

The Menagerie- was the tent where the common an exotic animals were kept. For many it was the first time they saw animals from other continents. Along with your usual circus animals like the elephants and lions, there were also hippos, giraffes and even kangaroos. Many of the animals were kept in beautiful caged wagons, like the ones on display in the museum.

The miniature circus had everything, even a bathroom!

The Big Top- The largest of all the tents is where the performances were. It was raised in just a few hours and had over 500 stakes and 20,000 yards of canvas. The big top was the center of the circus experience. In 1926 the performance included 800 performers and lasted two and a half hours.

I always wanted to be one of the ladies who was all dressed up and doing tricks on horseback. I sort of got to experience this at the museum.

I bought a book of old circus poster and I can't wait to decoupage the photos onto canvas and paint the edges black. I plan to hang them in my bathroom something like how these old poster were hung in the museum. Hopefully I can get it together and do it soon ;)

We headed downtown for some shopping and a snack and then headed to the beach for a little walk and to collect some shells. All in all it was a great day spent in Sarasota.

What was your favorite circus performance?

Did you ever want to run away and join the circus?

XOXO,

Annie

Home Decor: Strike a Match, Light the Chandelier

2012-03-24T09:00:00.002-07:00

I bought the cutest Hot Pink Vintage Chandelier from the Alameda Antique Faire a few months ago and I finally got around to re-vamping it. You may be thinking, it was so cute pink why would you paint it. I know I liked it pink too, I just figured my husband wouldn't think it was quite as awesome as I was in our bedroom!

The Before (Amazingly I remembered to take one)

My moms ingenious way to paint it, I hung it with a bungee cord from our basketball hoop.

I painters taped everything that I didn't want sprayed

Then I used my favorite Rustoleum 2x primer, almost 2 cans. then I used Rustoleum black glossy paint- 2 full cans and then a little bit. I could have done it with 2, but later realized I'd missed a spot! Now I just need to put the crystals back on and wire it up!

I originally wanted this for our bedroom, but since we didn't have an overhead light I put it in our closet. It actually provides a lot of light and looks great!

BEFORE

AFTER

Chandelier- $99 (I think I haggled her down a bit, but honestly can't remember what I paid)

Rustoleum Primer- $6.80

Rustoleum Black Spray Paint- $ 12.00

TOTAL: $ 117.80

I have some other neat projects from my closet, I'll share those soon.

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Florida

2012-03-21T09:00:00.014-07:00

I am currently in Florida! So for this weeks Wish You Were Here, I really do wish you were here! We are having a fabulous time and I will tell you all about it in next weeks post, but for now I will just post a few pics from my last trip here. I would post new ones, but well I'm staying at my Grandpa's and I'm pretty sure they don't have wifi so I didn't bother to pack my computer and I'm not cool enough to have an iPad yet ;)

Have you been to Florida?

XOXO,

Annie

My Pinterest Projects Come to Life

2012-03-18T09:00:00.009-07:00

FRONT DOOR WREATH

I love having a holiday wreath and doormat for everything! I just didn't have a wreath for everyday use so when I found this one on Pinterest I knew it was perfect! Dara Marie over at Teach. Craft. Love. has made a couple of really great wreath for herself and her friends and I just had to recreate one for my front door!

PINTEREST
Wreath from Teach. Craft. Love.

MINE

Total $32.30 = wreath $4.99 {18inch} + Flowers $12.99 + berries $2.99 + numbers $1.99 each + ribbon $2.09+ Craft smart acryllic paint $.59 + foam brush $.69 {reusable just was it out good immediately after use}

Shamrock

I got this idea from Pinterest and will be trying the original project sometime soon, but here is my shamrock twist on the luminous path at Remodelista. All you do is take rocks from your yard, paint green, glitter and spray with Krylon UV Resistant Clear Acrylic Coating. {see my tutorial here}

PINTEREST

Luminous Pathway

MINE

Love and Glitter Letters
Just letters, paint, glitter and Krylon spray. {there wasn't a link with this picture, please let me know if you know its origin.} Just craft store letter, craft paint and Martha glitter an easy and tested method! The tray was $2 at an estate sale and I just sprayed it with my fav Rustoleum 2x spray paint from my shed. Then I took some scrapbook paper I had, cut to size and laid laminate over the top of the paper. My first thought was to Mod Podge it down, but this was I can change it for each holiday.

PINTEREST

Valentine's Day Decor from Rewaj

MINE

TOTAL $11.96 = Letters $2.99 each + craft paint .59 {already had} + glitter $4.99 {but I had a $5 coupon for Michaels so it was free!}

Printable Banner

Just print, use Martha glitter pens and hang. This project didn't cost me anything, I just used things I already had around the house.

PINTEREST

Banner from Catch My Party

MINE

Flower Display
Super cute and easy for any holiday, I will be using the eggs for my Easter arrangement. {there are some more great flower arranging tips at B-Movie Star.com.} I went to the Dollar Store and bought 4 bags of candy heart for my arrangement. The big vase was $5 from Marshall's and the small one is from the Dollar Store, the bottom of the big vase isn't quite flat so the inside vase won't sit in the middle. Ideally I need a taller inner vase, but hey it was only a dollar!

PINTEREST

Flower Arrangement from B-Movie Star

MINE

Staircase photo gallery
I recreated this just before Christmas, Christmas Eve in fact, but never got around to posting it. Caro Thrift Adventures has a tutorial from her staircase here, pictured below. All of my frames were from Ikea or Walmart, except the biggest one on the bottom {see tutorial here}.

PINTEREST

MINE

I used my laser level and then used painters tape to make the bottom for my line of frames.Then I laid out all the frames I wanted to use in the order I wanted to hang them in. As they were going up I had to move things around, but having them laid out still helped. It is an awkward angle and impossible to get a good picture of the entire hallway, especially since it is rather dark. I just had to give up, these were the best shots I could get. It looks great in person and I have gotten tons of compliments.

Then we began to hang the frames, with the bottom edge on the painters tape. A few hours later we were done, it took awhile, but we wanted it perfect!

AFTER

Frame with lined paper- so you can use dry erase marker to write notes to each other. The blog this was linked to said the post was unavailable and although I couldn't find this project there is some other super cute stuff at Blue Cricket Design. I bought a super cheap $2 pink frame from T.J. Max and spray painted it black. I love Rustoleum Ultra Cover 2x spray paint.

PINTEREST

MINE

My projects may not have turned out exactly like my Pinterest pins,

but I am happy with the way they all came out!

Have you made anything of your pin boards?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: Palm Springs

2012-03-14T09:00:00.032-07:00

The Husband and I headed to Palm Springs at the end of October. The weather was beautiful and perfect for some golf and shopping. Not a whole lot to look at on the drive, but when almost to Palm Springs there are some neat mountains and wind turbines. There is also a pretty great outlet mall between Palm Springs and San Diego in Cabazon {see here}.

We stayed at the the Palm Springs Tennis Club, like almost everything in Palm Springs it had a 70's vibe. We booked online and it was still pretty expensive, I think it was like $80 a night. An OK hotel, it was clean and had a kitchenette and free coffee and popcorn 24 hours a day.

As always I found a coupon book for the area and looked for discounted things to do. I found a 2 for 1 for a local winery and we headed out. It turned out that it was quite far away from our hotel and located in a mall, but we tried it out anyways. The wine was pretty good and we bought a bottle for later.

Then we were off to the pool and then onto the restaurant for a drink. The restaurant had an open roof and was super cute, expensive food, but the drinks were reasonable and good.

Then we walked from our hotel to the downtown area. We walked around for a bit trying to decide where to eat, when this kid offered us a free sample of their pizza. It was amazing and we thought, hey yummy pizza and cheap drinks, perfect!!

They also had cheap T-shirts, at $4 each we just had to buy two of them.

The downtown area was also seventiesesque, but there was some great shops and restaurants. Husband loved the PGA courses and I loved the shopping and spas. I think we will be back for another visit soon. Next time we will definitely head out to the date farms in Indio for some ice cream.

Have you been to Palm Springs? What did you think?

XOXO,

Annie

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St Patrick's Day Projects on a Budget

2012-03-11T09:00:00.003-07:00

I love decorating and making projects for the holidays, but with the new house I have to be a little more frugal with my Michaels purchases! So here are some cheap and easy tips for your holiday decor.

I get almost everything that I don't make to decorate my house from estate sales and flea markets. Stuff is usually pretty inexpensive and better quality than your newer items. I love antiques and going to estate sales is a great place to find them inexpensively. Often when I buy a lot and have a random item {like the green bottles below} people will throw them in for free or super cheap. Especially if they don't see what anyone would do with them! I got both green bottles free and the bowl was $2. The little shamrock saucer which was missing the cup so it was only $2. My splurges were the little Lenox Leprechaun {see here, although I got mine quite a bit cheaper on Ebay} and the horseshoe shamrock. I love the horseshoe shamrock idea, now only if I could weld!

GLITTER SHAMROCK

Total $.59= Rock free from my parents backyard + Paint $.59 + Glitter from my craft room {Martha pack $29.99 + 50% coupon from Martha Stewart Magazine} + Krylon coating $4.99 {I already had this and only used a few sprays for the rock}

PINTEREST

Luminous Pathway

MINE- Before

& After

Typically the glitter continues to get everywhere, but thanks to Jessica over at My World Made By Hand hopefully that won't happen again. She recommends using Krylon UV Resistant Clear Acrylic Coating over your glitter to keep it in place and so far it works like a charm, a lucky charm!

LUCKY BANNER
At HGTV.com I found a great St. Patty's Day printable banner. My banner was super easy to make. I just printed it on brochure paper, cut it out and used small clothes pins to clip it to my green ribbon. I added a few glitter shamrocks, well, just because I love glitter!

TOTAL$2.98 = 2 pieces of brochure paper $.20 {I already had a package $15 for 150 sheets} + Ribbon $1.79 {original $2.99, but 40% off Michaels} + glitter shamrocks $.99 {on clearance at Michaels}, mini clothespins were free from my mom.

SUBWAY ART ON CANVAS
I also got this idea on Pinterest, but added my own twist. I found this subway art and immediately pinned it. It is from Eighteen25, a cute blog with tons of holiday decor ideas. I love how she framed hers and put it on a shelf. {check hers out here}. I of course had to add glitter so I printed it out on brochure paper, Mod Podged it to the canvas. After it was dry I took my Martha glitter pens and glittered a few of the letters. I know it is hard to see in the picture, but it looks really cool on my mantle.

Total= $1.30
Brochure paper $.10
+ Canvas $1.20 {originally $19.99 for a pack of 10, but had 40% off coupon}
+ Mod Podge already in the craft closet {$4 for 8 ounces & it lasts forever if you don't glue the lid shut!}
+ Glitter Pens, present form my mom. Thanks mom ;) {I used the Iridescent Variety Pack of 12, I also have the big pack. They were $8.50 originally $16.99 - 50%off coupon form Martha Stewart Magazine}

FLOWERS
I think flowers add so much to my holiday decor and usually you can get pretty and long lasting flowers for not very much. I like to get mine from Trader Joe's, they usually have cool holiday specific flowers for not too much. I hosted book club last weekend so I went a little overboard with the amount of flowers I bought. I was able to have enough for three pitchers, the three small vases on the mantle, the vintage bottles from my kitchen table, and two more vases. All the vases were thrifted or from antique faires. I bought 5 packs for $3.99 each.

Did you decorate for St. Patrick's Day?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: West Hollywood

2012-03-07T09:00:00.005-08:00

It's time for another Wish You Were Here Wednesday! This is another trip I took forever ago and just never got around to writing about. My trip with Amber, from Amber's Notebook and Kimmy, my Aussie friend, from The Plastic Diaries and The Style-less Diaries. You may remember my crazy and amazing Aussie friend Kimmy from our adventures at Blogher, seen here and here.

The day after Blogher, Amber and I decided to crash Kimmy's West Hollywood vacation and we had a very memorable trip. So we packed up all our swag into my car and headed for WeHo, I don't know if people really call it that, but I like it and it stuck! Five hours later we were there, if you know southern california at all you may be thinking, huh it's only 120 miles to LA from San Diego... well, that's if you don't get stuck in dead stopped traffic the minute you hit the LA county line like we did.

Once we hit the city we stopped at Kitson for some shopping and the Ivy for lunch, oh so very LA. Or what my idea of LA is anyways, I find that locals never really have the same feeling on things as us tourists ;)

The London was an amazing and sparkly hotel, it shined. In fact I hadn't been their five minutes when I was riding the elevator in style with Kayne West! Our room was beautiful so was our view of the city, not a word I use very often when referring to LA. Not to hate, but LA has never been one of my favorite places. Like most San Diegans I have always kinda hated LA and avoided it at all costs. Amber however loves LA and is very persuasive ;) This trip gave me a new appreciation for the area, even if it did take twice as long as it should have to get there.

The Room

The View

{I took the picture on my phone and it just doesn't do it justice}

We then ventured out to see what WeHo had to offer. Our first stop was the Sunset Marquis. A cute little boutique hotel with gardens and places to relax all over the property. We grabbed a drink by the pool and the found a quiet spot to drink and gossip.

Then it was off to the Mondrain for Mojitos, they were delicious and I highly recommend trying one.

Then it was back to our hotel for a rooftop Gordan Ramsey Hamburger and Bloody Mary's. A prefect end to the perfect day and my $20 burger was amazing!

All of the hotels we visited were amazing, but I like the London best.

Do you have a favorite spot in LA?

XOXO,

Annie

Wish You Were Here Wednesday: San Francisco

2012-02-29T13:08:00.002-08:00

We love to travel and in an effort to finally post about all of our fabulous... and some not so fabulous trips I have decided to start Wish You Were Here Wednesdays. I'm sure someone has already come up with this catchy little title, but I couldn't find it so here I go!

I thought I would start with my last trip, San Francisco California. In all honesty it is not an exotic or even new location for me, I grew up about 20 miles east, but it is still one of my favorite travel destinations. There is so much to do and see in this ever changing city that I still find new things to do every time I visit. This time I discovered Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel located in Union Square. It is just one of the many hidden gems that San Francisco holds.

I couldn't believe there was a hotel in Union Square for $89 a night! It is exclusively for military and to get this rate you must become a member, which is free for active duty. {Although through their website it says it is $35, I filled out the membership paperwork at the front desk and it was free. I also found that the rates on the website are higher so I would call to book}

It is not only a beautiful hotel with a great view, but your room also comes with a 2 hour complimentary happy hour and buffet breakfast. I mean you could eat and drink your eighty nine dollars!

The View from The Leatherneck restaurant

You can see the Transamerica building {the Pyramid} and you can even see Alcatraz if you know where to look!

GETTING THERE:

Amber, from Ambers Notebook and I took BART {our version of the subway} from the east bay and then walked the few blocks to the hotel. Not too far if you don't have too much luggage, but as with almost any walk in San Francisco there will be some hills! It would be incredibly easy to take BART right from SFO and then a short taxi ride to the hotel. {side note: none of the taxi drivers had heard of the hotel so know the address or that it is across form the Academy of Art on Sutter Street. }San Francisco is one of those cities where you don't need to rent a car, in fact it would probably cost you more to rent and park one than to take taxis everywhere. In case you've never been hotels do not offer free or even reasonably priced parking. Average overnight parking in SF is $50, even if you went to a public pay lot it would be $40+! Marine Memorial actually has reasonable parking at $28 a night.

The Hotel

View from our room

Since it was Valentine's Day Amber and I went to the free Happy hour and then to Chambers for a nice, but small and pricey dinner then back to the hotel for The Muppet Movie and dessert!

The next day we took the bus to The Marina, a cute area with some great boutiques and restaurants. We had lunch and drinks at Tacoliscous and then walked the few blocks to LF and Ambiance, my two favorite shops in San Francisco. {LF is super expensive, but they were and are still having their only sale of the season and everything is 60% off}

I highly recommend the butternut squash taco and the pasión margarita, it is a little spicy, but oh so delicious!

Even the view from the bus is amazing!

Then we headed over to Neiman Marcus for a private beauty event. It was so much fun, their were drinks, aps and of course swag bags! Everything you need for an amazing party. A special thanks to Neiman Marcus and Tom Ford for a great event and my new perfume, it smells divine and I always get compliments when I wear it! Get your very own bottle of Tom Ford Neroli Portofino Limited Eau de Parfum here. {If you purchase by March 4th you can take advantage of Neiman Marcus's The Beauty Event, if you buy $100 or more of cosmetics or fragrances you get a great tote full of beauty samples! More details here, I am in love with the yellow tote!}

Amber and I had an amazing trip and a great girly Valentine's Day!

Did you go anywhere special with your Valentine?

XOXO,

Annie

Facts and Questions

2012-02-14T14:50:00.001-08:00

I was tagged by MRS. MONKEY over at A Monkey in the Navy. She's a "Designer by day. Dancer by night. Proud Navy wife 24/7." with a great blog, go check her out. Thanks for the tag!

Rules:

1.) Post the rules and the person who tagged you!

2.) Post eleven facts about yourself.

3.) Answer the questions the tagger set for you, and make eleven new questions for those you tag.

4.) Tag however many people you want.

5.) Let your taggers know you tagged them!

Eleven Facts About Me

1) I am an Attorney- well I went to law school and passed the bar, but I don't actually practice.

2) I joke a lot- my husband says I'm not in his top ten of his funniest friends, but he's wrong.

3) I am a horrible at spelling, even with spell check. If you've been reading long, you probably already know this.

4) I have never spent Valentine's Day with my husband. If your a military family you probably have a holiday that your husband always or almost always misses. For us it's Valentine's Day and for my cousin it seems to be her birthday.

5) I'm scared of sharks, even when I'm in a pool or lake- unlikely one will be there I know. Until recently I had never met anyone with this same fear, well who admitted it anyways, then in the last month I have a friend and now a girl on the bachelor confess this fear. Glad it's not just me ;)

6) I love my dog BB more than anything, yup anything. She is adorable, have you seen her yet?

8) Everything in my home has it's place, everything and if you move it I will know.

9) I like a clean bathroom and kitchen, nothing is more disgusting to me than a dirty kitchen or bathroom. If there are port-a-potties cleaner than your bathroom we have a problem, especially if you are a business. Crazy OCD rant {Also employees must wash their hands, I know you have seen the signs, hey I can even say it in spanish, Lavarse Las Manos. So when I was at a restaurant and bar this weekend and saw several female employees try to wash their hands only to realize their was no soap and then just go back to work I was concerned. I told 5 different employees, hey guys health code violation.... no one cared or got more soap. Do you really think they went in the back and washed their hands? some maybe but bottom line don't eat anything at Masses in Pleasant Hill. }

10) Finding 11 interesting things about myself is hard. See now I'm down to only 10 ;)

11) My cousin is my best friend and the closest thing I have to a sister, I am proud and happy to be a milspouse like she is <3 and I can't wait for our vacation to Florida!!

My Questions

1. If you could have any talent, what would it be and why?

Time travel, no seriously I would love a photographic memory. I think it would come in handy in lots of situations, especially when fighting with my husband ;)

2. If you could do anything and you knew you couldn't be harmed in any way, what would you do?

Skydive, but alas my fear of diving head first into the ground out of a plane stops me ;)

3. What law would you make if could write any law.

I would write a law to make it easier for military spouses to transfer their professional careers when PCS'd. The American Bar Association has recently adopted a resolution to try and urge state and local bar associations to accommodate milspouse attorneys to enter into practice in different jurisdictions, including admitting them without examination and reduced fees. I would like to see this done for all professional careers that require certification. If you don't know much about the bar exam, here is my experience. They are very expensive to take and study for, I had to take 5 months off. Then you must wait several more months to see if you passed and then pay more to be sworn in. In will likely take at least a year and cost thousands of dollars if you pass the first try. California has about a 50% pass rate. It also didn't really help much practice wise, if you're worried about attorneys being competent in other jurisdictions.

Did you know that there is a 42% wage gap between military and civilian spouses, even though the milspouses were more qualified? (see here, At TroopSwap, Military Spouses Lead the Way and here, University of Maryland study) Sorry, that will teach you to never ask a lawyer what law they would make!

4. What is your least favorite animal?

Birds, any and all. I am seriously afraid of them, they creep me out! On one of our first dates I was attacked by a seagull at Seaworld, husband thought I handled it well... I didn't ;)

5. Tell us about your first car?

A white 1996 Honda Civic and no it was no used, I'm just that old! Not a great car, honda may have once made a good car, but this one fell apart easily and was also broken into easily. I know how, but I think it best not to share.

6. What is your favorite thing about your hubby?

His positive attitude, I am kinda {ok totally} a pessimist and he is an eternal optimist. I think it is important to have that balance in a relationship it keeps things grounded. Two pessimists and no one is ever happy to optimists and no one is realistic.

7. What is one thing you would NEVER change about yourself?

That is a tough one and I honestly have no idea, I am constantly changing and evolving. I would like to say my location, but that's not going to happen! #milspouse ;)

8. What Disney princess do you relate with the most? (Anastasia is not actually a Disney movie, but I will accept her anyway.)

I am Belle, because I'm beautiful and married to a beast.. joking, see I'm funny ;)

9. What would you invent if you could make anything for any purpose?

A cure for cancer.... you did say anything for any purpose.

10. What would you choose as a profession if money didn't matter?

I really love my involvement in the military community, I like feeling like I am helping people. {hence the no longer practicing as an attorney!} I think our military families are so important and love the community outreach I am involved in. I love being an Ombudsman and am so excited and honored to say I am the new Blue Star Families Chapter Director for NAS North Island. So excited to work with them! {check them out here} Now if only someone would pay me for it ;)

11. What little thing makes you the most happy?

My dog BB, she is little and makes me happy.

Questions for my taggers

1) Why do you blog/ write?

2) How many pairs of shoes do you own?

3) What makes you happiest?

4) Dog or cat person?

5) Biggest fear?

6) What was the best part of your wedding day?

7) What is the one stereotype about military spouses that annoys you the most?

8) Who is your best friend and why?

9) If you were stranded on a desert island- what 3 things do you wish you'd packed?

10) Are you on Pinterest? if so put your link so I can follow you ;)

11) Do you love or hate Valentine's Day?

Tag your it!

Kristina @ My Traveling Troop

April @ Marine Parents, A blog & a shop {check out her shop here, it's awesome!}

Elizabeth @ The Young Retiree

and a new follower and blogger Pollyanna @Sew Fatty

There you go ladies, I can't wait to read your answers and hey if it's not your thing no big deal!

XOXO,

Annie

Alameda Naval Weapons Station

2012-02-10T00:36:00.000-08:00

I know, I know you've heard it a million times from me, but the Alameda Antique Faire is amazing!!!It is at the old Naval Weapons Station in Alameda {am I the only one who read that in Chekov's Russian accent?!? I may have seen the Star Trek: The Voyage Home movie one too many times!}.

My parents and I had a great time and got some good deals and some yummy food. For some reason Superbowl weekend the place is always packed, the vendors will tell you that it is one of the best weekends.

As usual we were there before the sun came up

You can't beat the view of San Francisco from the old flight line

All the amazing and one of a kind items make me wish I had a bigger house and more money!

I also got some great project ideas

Wouldn't these doors make a great table?

And I need a lime green tea cart, don't I?

I spent my usual $100 and got some great treasures

A trunk to use as a coffee table in my husbands study and it doubles as storage!

Some blue mason jars to put in my kitchen

I think flowers and knickknacks will look great in them

I also got a few books and great black necklace and a Sailor Valentine, which I will be using for a project this week. Check back later to see what I come up with, hopefully it will turn out as I imagined.

Where do you get your antique treasures from?

XOXO,

Annie

Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines

2012-02-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

My very first golf tournament, call me a nerd, but I actually really enjoy golf and I just loved the tournament. Which is good because my husband loves golf, he would play every day if he could and is constantly annoyed that the driving ranges by our house have lights, but still close at dusk. My dad is also a golf nut, he plays three times a week and if golf is on he is watching it. I'm sure my love of golf comes from growing up at the country club. Don't envision some fancy smancy place, it is actually a pretty nice facility now, but it wasn't always. When I was younger it was a small two room clubhouse and a tiny pool with some very dirty changing rooms , but I still loved it! You would think with a husband and dad who are good at golf I would be at least be decent, but no I am awful ;)

Just a little rant about golf etiquette. Golf is a quiet sport and if you can't be quiet then you should probably just stay home. Harsh maybe, but remember this is the golfers livelihood, do you like it when someone comes to your work and shouts while you are busy? nope, me neither ;) When a golfer is ready to play it is time to stop talking, this was a given and even if you didn't know then the guys holding up quite please signs would have given you a clue. Something I didn't know is that when the signs come up it is not only time to be quiet but also to stop moving and I mean completely. If you can't see or you didn't make it to the spot you wanted, to bad quit moving and stop fidgeting or the old guys with the signs will quietly yell at you.

Just like when you are at the movies, turn the ringer off on your phone. Also cameras are not allowed inside of the tournament and since most phones have cameras you can't have them out around the players. They did have designated areas away from the holes where you could use your phone.

We arrived just in time to see my favorite golfer tee off. Yup, I have a favorite golfer, I totally love Dustin Johnson. Here is me with my favorite golfer ;)

He was playing with two more young players, Bubba Watson and someone else whose name I can not for the life of me remember! Bubba is pretty popular and there was a huge group following them from hole to hole. Ginormous doesn't do the group justice, I have never seen so many people! It was not a very polite group either, they were loud and didn't stop talking or moving when the signs went up and I hope you don't like your personal space in a group that size... yes you can see some of my pet peeves coming out! I try to be a polite rule follower ;)

At the 14th hole was the USO tent sponsored by the Padres, they had awesome free food from Donovan's and plenty of soda, water and Popchips. It had a great view of the 14th green and the ocean. I even saw a two star Air Force general, a padre or two and The Swinging Friar {the Padres mascot, who by the way has red and white polls dot underoos!}.

My husband and I ended up spending quite a long time at the end of the 11th green. It was a great spot, not only were we in a prime location, but we got to see all of the golfers. We even got on TV for a brief second!

Then we headed over to the 18th green bleachers. We got to see most of the groups and got a primo view of the leader 24 year old Kyle Stanley blow the tournament. I really felt bad for him, he lead for all four days of the tournament only to blow his lead and tie on the 18th hole. To me it was reminiscent of Tin Cup, one of my favorite movies. {which my TV guide says should be on the golf channel right now, but isn't!!!) He tried to hit the ball over the water and then it rolled and then it rolled some more and then it was in the water! I though to myself didn't he see Tin Cup? when you have the lead you don't go for the risky shot over the water. {understand I am not a golfer and really he knows better than I do. Later I saw the replay on TV and his caddy changed out his club and told him to go for it. A shot that cost the caddy about 40k and the golfer 800k} Then he three putted and his three stroke lead that he started the hole with was gone... it was devastating to watch.

My View

Kyle Stanley

The Tie

Then there was a playoff for both of them on the 18th where they tied again! Then onto the 16th where Stanley lost, a bunch of us snuck into the press box to watch them play the 16th on the TV. Then some lady complained and we all got kicked out as the final put went in for the win. In a truly amazing finish Brandt Snedeker, who started the day seven strokes behind had won the tournament.

The Rematch

We watched the winners ceremony and the headed to the Lodge at Torrey Pines for some drinks while we watched the sunset. A perfect end to a perfect day!

I got a lot of pictures for an event where no pictures were allowed huh? We also ended up with a quiet please sign, shush don't tell ;)

XOXO,

Annie

MOAA & Blue Star Families Spouse Symposium

2012-01-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

This past week I attended the MOAA & Blue Star Families Spouse Symposium and Career Fair. It was an amazing day and I made some great contacts and hopefully some new friends. {You can see the full days schedule and participating employers here.}

There was also an employment panel moderated by my friend and fellow Blogger Stephanie, AKA Lawyer Mama (you may remember her for my post on Blogher, here). It was a great panel of hiring specialists and I gained a lot of insight into what employers are actually thinking when they interview someone. My biggest take away from the panel was that being a milspouse isn't a weakness, it is part of our strength. Be honest with the interviewer and build a relationship with them. Let's face it ,being a milspouse means our employment history is all over the map and we likely have large gaps, but use this to show your strength. Address the gaps and let them know how you will make a contribution to their organization. For instance,how your constant moving has made it easy for you to assimilate to new environments and work with a variety of people, and let them know they will always get the best from you. Also, by attempting to hide the gaps, employers may think you are hiding something worse.

Another great tip was one I have been struggling with on my own resume and have gotten mixed reviews on. Do I put my volunteering on my resume? The answer was a resounding yes, that it doesn't matter if it is paid or not, what you did was an accomplishment. And of course, keep your resume to one page!!! No one wants to read that second page and some just won't.

Something I had not thought of was writing a handwritten thank you note after the interview. I would send a thank you email, but some said that seemed lazy. That is going to depend on the type of organization and I think the age of your interviewer. Most said it was a must, but Sara Sperling from Facebook said it was not necessary and that a cute e-mail is just fine for her.

All in all, the employment panel was extremely helpful and gave me some great tips for my resume, as well as interview.s, I haven't even gotten that far yet but hopefully after a resume revamp I will!

Monique Rizer, the Deputy Director of the MOAA Spouse Program, gave a great seminar on building your brand and discovering your strengths. {A worksheet can be found here} The seminar was originally designed to help World War II veterans transition back into the work force, but is just as applicable to milspouses today. Basically we all have a unique skill set and strengths and we just need to clarify and figure out what they are. Now if you know me you know I'm not a big fan of "activities" or sharing in a classroom or seminar setting, but this was actually an exception.

We used our good experiences, something we enjoyed and are proud of, to learn about ourselves. The first was one from before you were ten years old and then two from the past 3 years. You know I love to talk and meet people and the symposium was no exception. I met a great navy wife as we were getting out of the elevator from the parking garage. I spent most of the day getting to know her and like most milspouses she was great. She was my partner for these exercises.

She took strength from her experience as a mom, she learned a lot about herself while being pregnant and delivering her daughter. She learned how strong she was and what she could do. She definitely was a responsible and strong women who learned how to communicate and integrate from her recent moves, she has had 3 in the last 2 years!

From talking about my good experiences, I choose starting my blog and passing the bar (I know, not the "best" experience but one I am incredibly proud of!). Studying for the bar taught me a lot about myself. I needed to have faith in myself that I could accomplish it, but at the same time not be too cocky. That there was a delicate balance between the two. I needed to study and learn and being too cocky does not get you there. This can be hard to do when half the people fail the California bar, but keeping faith in myself and my studying got me through. This is absolutely true when interviewing as well, you need to be energized and motivated but don't want to be too cocky, no one likes that guy.. or girl! It is important to show yourself and how you are right for the position.

My organization and constantly writing outlines and going over them not only helped me to pass the bar but also made me a better writer and gave me confidence in myself, which unfortunately was taken back my first year of practice. Hopefully, this will help me get some of it back.

In finding your good experiences you find your strengths. This will help show your value to an employer and the good examples are your proof to them of your strengths.

The luncheon in honor of 2011 Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry was amazing and inspiring. I was fortunate enough to get to meet him and was honored and humbled by his presence.

The luncheon was the highlight of the day for me. Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry has an amazing and inspiring story and if you haven't heard it yet, I urge
you to.

The luncheon started by presenting some local sailors and soldiers with awards. Then SFC Leroy Petry 2011 Medal of Honor recipient took to the stage and had a conversation with David Hartman, former host of Good Morning America.

Evan after Army Ranger SFC Petry's injuries and experience and, 9 deployments he re-enlisted for another 6 years. He is what a true American hero looks like.

He said that any day could be your last. He thinks this when he walks out the door and he really knows how true it is. This really resonated with me.

When asked how he found the courage to grab a live grenade he replied "love", the love for his brothers and sisters. SFC Petry said he was normal, just like any American family; he was very humble and seemed like someone you could talk to.

He recognized the positive acts of other soldiers and has a plaque on his prosthetic arm of all of the men in his unit who were lost, as a reminder that they made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thanks to MOAA and Blue Star Families for a truly incredible and inspiring day!

XOXO,

Annie

Book Club Reads

2012-01-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

So I know I haven't been writing much lately, but I have been reading a lot. One of the best parts of unemployment is that you have time for the simple things in life, like curling up in bed with a good book and a cup of tea... that makes me sound like an old maid, but trust me it is relaxing and enjoyable!

I will admit I went a little crazy when borders was going out of business and left their several times with an arm full of books which I thought I would never finish. I was so very wrong and I am down to my last book!

My monthly book club is so much fun, if you aren't part of one I recommend you start one. Even if you don't like reading it is a great way to get together with friends for drinks and good conversations. Not everyone finishes the book and some don't even pretend that they tried to read it, but we all have a good time. If it is your turn to host and you don't have a place to host then just do what we do and meet at a restaurant.

I hate to read reviews that give away the whole plot to a book or a trailer that gives away all the best parts of the movie so in the interest of keeping the good parts to myself I'll just tell you if and why I liked the book. If you want to read more about the plot I will leave that to you and you can google it.

THE CLAIMING OF SLEEPING BEAUTY- Anne Rice

This was the first book I read when I joined my book club and what an introduction it was! It is an erotic novel about sleeping beauty to say the least. Anne Rice, who wrote Interview With a Vampire, is an amazing author and this book was no exception. I will warn you there is lots of sex... well actually nothing but sex! It is the first book in a series of three and I will say that more than one of the ladies in book club started reading the other two. I read the entire book in one sitting in about three hours, I just couldn't put it down ;)

CUTTING FOR STONE- Abraham Verghese

Honestly I hate to say bad things about a book, but this was a real snooze fest. It is long and wordy... I will say that I have never been a fan of literature that everyone else raves about and this was no exception for me. If you are thinking of reading this for book club I will warn you that it is rather long and hard to get through and not just for me. We had to drag this book out for another month because the first month only one person made it past page 200. I will say that the 3 ladies in our group that finished the book {FYI there are about 14 of us} really enjoyed it and would recommend it. I however would not, I can honestly say that even after three months of trying to get through it I barely made it half way through and I can't remember the last time I didn't finish a book. I hate not finishing something, even if it is a terrible book or movie {my husband hates this}. I gave it to the Goodwill and I'm not even sorry about it! This may be a great read for you, but as you can tell from the other books on this list that I loved, this was not the one for me.

THESE THINGS HIDDEN- Heather Gudenkauf

This months book was much better, it's all about secrets and how they can alter your life. Like any good suspense novel there were some great twists and turns. I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it for your book club. I won't know how everyone else liked it until next weekend, but I finished this book in two days. It was another book that I couldn't put down and couldn't wait to finish.

YOU'LL NEVER BLUE BALLS IN THIS TOWN AGAIN- Heather McDonald

The story of a 30 year old virgin blue-balling her way though LA. Love it! I mean who doesn't love to hear those kind of stories, no wonder she is friends with Chelsea Handler! If you love Chelsea Handler's books you should give this one a read. Which brings me to my next recommendation...

ANYTHING BY CHELSEA HANDLER

One word- Amazing! she is clearly the most amazing and hilarious person alive... you know besides me ;) I read all of her books on our last vacation and I wish she would write more! I have no doubt that if we ever meet we would become best friends and she would want me to help her write more witty novels about our escapades. { Chelsea- in the unlikely event that you are reading this, I'm not another one of your crazy stalkers {although if you're into that I can be!}I have had some crazy adventures as well and we should totally swap stories some time.}

SKINNY DIP & SKIN TIGHT- Carl Hiassen

I love anything by Carl Hiassen, these books are a little bit murder mystery a little bit comedy and a lot of fun! Set in the sunshine state these books follow the crazy adventures of ex-cop Mick Stranahan. His books are hard to put down and will definitely make you smile.

Next month is my turn to play hostess and I need to pick a book. Since I have exhausted my supply of Borders books I'm headed to wander around Barnes & Noble for a few hours. If you don't love the book store never accompany me on one of my trips!

The Great Gatsby is my all time favorite book and since I have never read The Beautiful and Damned I'm leaning towards choosing it. I am also dying to read World War Z, but I don't know if my book club would appreciate it!

What are you reading?

Do you have any good recommendations for my book club?

XOXO,

Annie

The Milspouse Quiz

2012-01-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

I've seen this a few times and well, I've been to ~~lazy~~ busy to come up with something original and I really enjoyed reading Chambanachik's answers so I thought I'd share mine. She grabbed hers from Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life, who also had some great answers.

The Milspouse Quiz

1. How did you and your spouse meet? We meet at my favorite bar, In Cahoots,

a country bar here in San Diego. Every Wednesday they had $2 you call its {now their

$2.50!} and hubby's best friend Logan dragged him there with the promise of pool,

cheap drinks and women. Not cheap women, just the drinks! Although I doubt he

thought he would meet his future wife there!

2. How old were you when you two met? I was 25 and he was 24. He is always

teasing me that I'm old and he is still in his 20s.

3. How long have you been together? We met four years ago on March 12th and

we've be married two years as of January 2 this year. We dated for about 9 months

before he was stationed in Japan and we married about a year later while he was still

stationed there. It may seem fast, but I have always been a believer in if it's right you

know it and of course if it's not right you know it too!

4. Where are you and your spouse originally from? I was born and raised in

Walnut Creek, near Berkeley California. I lived in the same house until I was 19

and moved to San Diego, my parents still live there. He was born and raised in

Mariposa and lived their until he joined the Navy.

5. How did you feel about him joining the military? Well I didn't have a choice, he

had joined the Navy long before we met, but I come from a big military family. My

cousin is an Air Force Wife and my Grandma and Great Grandmother were Army

wives and my other Grandma was an Air Force Wife. I support him staying in

until retirement after all I love a man in uniform ;)

6. Where did your spouse go to Basic Training? Like everyone who joined the

Navy he went to Boot Camp at RTC, Great Lakes and I'm not sure where he went

to A school {right now he is thinking WOW, I can't believe she doesn't

remember!} but he did something in Camp Lejune, NC and in Pensacola, FL.

7. Has your spouse ever been deployed? Yes, too many times to count. He had just

returned from Iraq the week we meet. He also did relief work after the tsunami in

Indonesia and was stationed in Japan during the quake and tsunami last year. He did

two 6 month carrier deployments aboard the George Washington and several more

deployments when he was stationed in Guam for 5 and a half years. I think there have

been 7 in the 10 years he has been in the Navy and we expect a few more in the not so

distant future.

8. Ever been to his promotion ceremony? Yes, thanks to all of his hard work he

recently made Chief and had a great pinning ceremony where I got to pin him! See here.

9. How long have you been a military wife? "Basically as long as I've been his wife-

2 years!" {same answer as Chambanachik, their anniversary is actually the day after

ours!}

10. Did you marry him before or after he joined? After, long after.

11. How did your husband propose? Everyone always wants some big elaborate

romantic story, but well that's just not us. Not to say that we can't be romantic, but

extravagant displays of affection aren't us. I was a few weeks away from graduating

Law School and studying for the bar and he called me in the middle of the night.

Since he was in Japan and I was here in San Diego, there was a huge time gap

between us and we mostly spoke at inconvenient times for me. He wanted to video

chat, but well I was too lazy to get up and turn on the computer. After a fairly long

story about a conversation he had a work that day he asked me to marry him...

I immediately sat up and asked him to say it again... you know in case I was

hallucinating, it was after all the middle of the night. I got up turned on the computer

and made him ask me again! The next day he called my parents to ask their

permission <3

12. Where did you get married? We planned on a small, simple ceremony, but once

I found my perfect dress there was no stopping me! We got married January 2nd in

South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It was just perfect! See here.

13. How old were you two when you got married? I was 28, and he was 27.

14. Did he wear his uniform on his wedding day? Absolutely, I wouldn't have it

any other way. He wore his dress blues, which are actually black, I will never

understand that!

15. Where are you and your spouse currently stationed? Sunny San Diego,

California. Just in case you weren't jealous enough it was 78 and sunny today ;)

16. Do you live on base? Nope, we just bought our first home!! {see here}

17. How long were you married when you had to go through your first

separation? About a week, he could only get 2 weeks of leave to get married

before he had to return to Japan.

18. What is your favorite base so far? San Diego obviously!

19. Do you think your spouse looks good in his uniform? He looks amazing!

20. Do you think military life is more advanced than civilian life? Like

Chambanachik I guess I don't really understand the question either... I guess

this question is more advanced than I am!

21. Do you like the benefits you receive as a military dependent? Yes, I love

our health care and their are so many places in San Diego that give a military discount,

not to mention all of the great resources available to us. I know it has been publicized a

lot that we get too many benefits, such as health care and retirement, but with what our

base pay is these are things we could not otherwise afford. As far as retirement goes,

yes it is a great deal, but my husband has put his life on the line for his country; doesn't

he deserve a retirement plan? As spouses we are dragged all over the world and often

are not at a job long enough to get great benefits or retirement plans since we move

every 3 years, is this fair to us? I wish people would look at the big picture and really

who would join the military if they didn't have great benefits! {sorry for my rant}

22. Do you have a lot of military wife friends? I wouldn't say that I have a lot of

friends in general, are most of my friends military wives, no. Since I began blogging

I have been fortunate enough to meet some amazing milspouses {yes, I met them in

real life!] their are also some amazing milspouses I know through their blogs and

hope one day to meet {like Chambanachik!}

23. What is the hardest part of the military life? Constantly not knowing where

my husband will be and when and if he will deploy. It makes planning and the stress

of everyday life that much harder.

24. Do you own military wife stuff? A few things, I have an awesome make-up bag

from Marine Parents {see here} and of course a Navy sweatshirt. I also have a T and

bag with my blog logo and website.

25. Do you support your spouse as a member of the military? Of Course, I am

so proud of my husband and stand behind him.

Thanks Chambanachik that was fun!

IF YOU’RE A MILITARY SPOUSE-TAG YOU’RE IT!

XOXO,

Annie

My Party Planning 101

2011-12-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

I just love a good party. I love to decorate, get dressed up and socialize. The cooking and cleaning part I could do without! This years instead of ~~fighting about~~ trying to decide whose family we would visit for Christmas we decided to invite them all to our house for our very first party in our new home for Christmas Eve dinner. The added bonus of that is my mom is a great party planner. Since it was not only our first party, but we would also be hosting for 12 their was a lot to do and a lot of stuff we didn't have... Like for instance 2 days before when we realized we only had 8 plates! Luckily Target was close by and melamine plates are cheap ;) I also didn't have enough servingware or dishes, but Mom on the other hand has enough for a party of 50. She brought down casserole dishes and serving pieces and was also nice enough to take me to the Macy's 2 day sale to buy me a few pieces of my own. I love all things Martha Stewart and while most of her Whiteware collection was sold out, I was able to get some great pieces at a great price.

I've helped my mom with many parties over the years and with her help and some serious planning everyone has gone off without a hitch!

Maybe my OCD or my need to make things perfect, but I plan every detail ahead. Yes, and I do mean everything I like itineraries, menus and incessant planning.

There is nothing worse to me than wishy washy people who can't ever plan ahead of time!! They drive me crazy and if your planning goes awry it will be because of someone like that. If you are hiring people to help, make sure they are organized and that you are too.

Step 1- Pick a theme. Also figure out how many people are coming. Obviously this party was Christmas. I don't necessarily mean a theme party, but knowing what kind of party you are having and who your guests will be will help with the next steps.

Step 2- Plan your menu. I pull out my cook books, recipes and my MacBook.

Step 3- Make a shopping list. Once my recipes are together I write my shopping list, I group my items by where they are located in the store. This also helps keep your budget in check so you aren't aimlessly wandering around the store grabbing things. Also a great idea can be to ask your guests to bring their favorite drink and/or appetizer, helps alleviate cost and everyone gets what they want to drink.

Step 4- Plan your serving pieces. This is often overlooked and can leave you with nothing to serve your food on. We always got our menu out and made a sticky note for each dish we would be serving. Then you lay all of the serving pieces out with the sticky note inside them. This will insure that you have enough. Depending on what I'm making I also try to make sure I have the proper thing to cook my dish in as well... Which is how we realized I didn't have a roasting pan ;)

Step 5- Clean and decorate. At the very least make sure the places people will be are clean { like your living room, dining room, and the bathroom}. While it can be hard to keep the kitchen clean while preparing a dirty bathroom is unacceptable! Even if your the type of person who can tolerate a little grim (which I think you know by now I'm not) your guests may not be and will not appreciate using a dirty bathroom. Here is how my crazy brain works... ... If you can't clean your bathroom when you know people are coming over, did you clean your kitchen, is it dirty and disgusting, should I even eat here... Irrational? ~~maybe~~ probably, but I know I'm a little crazy!

Step 6- Prep. this is an important step, but not always possible with your busy schedule. Anything that can be prepared the day ahead, do. It will make day of so much easier and your party more enjoyable for yourself.

Our Christmas Eve Party

My Family

The Dinner Table

Drink and Appetizers

I like to set up an area that is easy to access and people can congregate around

The Dinner

Homemade green bean casserole was delicious!

I know I have some OCD* issues so I am not sure this will be helpful to anyone else, but this is how I plan a party and I generally don't have to many issues... except getting people there on time!

{* Just a side note- I recently read an article from someone with what they called severe OCD and they were hurt at how people use the term so loosely. I do not mean to offend anyone with my usage of the term. I have not been clinically diagnosed with OCD and gave never been to the doctor for that or my anxiety... maybe not a bad idea though. The way I look at it is as of now my cleanliness, everything having it's place, my compulsion to add things to the number 28 and anxiety are not too bad and they help me stay uber organized! I do have family members who have OCD and I especially do not mean to offend them. }

Are you a planner or do you throw it together at the last minute?

What is your best party advice?

XOXO,

Annie

My New Year's Resolution

2011-12-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

My New Year's Resolution: to find a career that I love or don't hate... and pays!

We are very blessed and have had a lucky and wonderful year, but not being employed since we moved here has been frustrating. I really want to do some good and want a job that doesn't make me hate myself.... as an attorney it might not be an easy thing to find! Now I just need to implement a plan to find myself a job I enjoy and spread some good.

Kristina from My Traveling Troop asked me to participate in an article she was writing for Blue Star Families where she would share the New Year's resolutions of military spouse's across the nation. It is a great article and I hope you can check it out, also be sure to stop by her great blog. Every Monday she does Moving Monday where she features a duty station.

Check out Kristina's Blue Star Families article here.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful 2011 as well, enjoy what is left!

What's your New Year's resolution?

XOXO,

Annie

Left over turkey soup

2011-12-27T14:15:00.000-08:00

INGREDIENTS
Carrots
Onions
Green Onions
Shallots
Peas {frozen}
Potatoes
Celery
Chopped Garlic
Seasoned Salt
Butter
Turkey Stock
Noodles
Turkey

Add celery, shallots, green onions, onion, chopped garlic, butter, poultry seasoning and season salt to pot. Saute for a few minutes until they become clear.

Then add carrots and potatoes for a few minutes. Then add stock {see below} and cook for 45 minutes.

Finely chop turkey and add to mix.

Turkey stock- so I went the lazy route this year and used William Sonoma turkey stock instead of making my own.

You can make your own by removing all usable turkey meat from the bone. Break up leftover bones a bit, so they fit into the pot. Put bones, skin, any leftover droppings and giblets (optional and don't use the liver) into pot. Add cold water enough t cover everything. Add onion, green onion ,celery, poultry seasoning, season salt, and salt and pepper.

Bring to boil then immediately reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Skim off any foamy stuff that floats to the surface.

Cook at least 4 hours, occasionally skimming off foam on the surface.

Remove bones and veggies and strain the stock, ideally through a small mesh strainer.

If want to store or freeze for later cook longer so it is more concentrated and easier to store.

Veggie option- for my picky pants father, we added all the veggies plus mushrooms to veggie broth and cooked.

Noodles- I got this tip from Nordstroms cafe, cook noodles separately and add to bottom of individual soup bowls before you pour in the soup. This keeps them from getting soggy.

Do you have a great way to make your leftovers into another meal?
if so I'd love the recipe!

XOXO,

Annie

Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T17:47:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

This year we are very blessed, my husband is home and we had our first Christmas in our new home. Christmas day was just perfect. We slept in and then hubby made our traditional Christmas omelets, we spent the rest of the day in our Christmas PJ's on our couch watching all four national lampoons vacation movies. To me this is the perfect Christmas day and I hope we have many more like this in years to come, unfortunately as a Navy wife I know that probably won't happen. But as long as we are happy, healthy and safe I will be ecstatic and grateful.

Our families Christmas tradition; my husbands Christmas omelets. No matter where we are in the world we can make Christmas omelets, whether microwaved or made on a hot plate they are always delicious. Since this is our first Christmas at home we can actually use a stove this year.

This year we decided we weren't going to do presents, we already had everything that we wanted and with the new house money is flying out of our wallets! However I couldn't resist putting some stocking together for us. Stockings were always one of my favorite parts of Christmas and while I could give up presents I couldn't part with the stockings.

BB loved he stocking and all of the goodies inside! She didn't even remember that most of the toys are the same ones I gave her last year ;)

This week has been crazy, from last minute shopping and getting our house ready to preparing a Christmas eve dinner for 12. {More to come on that later}

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas as well!

What does your family do for Christmas?

XOXO,

Annie

SLC Punk!

2011-12-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

I may have been the only person I knew in Utah to have ever watched SLC Punk, but I can't possibly be the only one who loved that movie and saw it a million times! I still love anything with Matthew Lillard and Jason Segel and who wouldn't love a movie with Devon Sawa, yup the kid from Casper.

"And this city was still the same...

I mean, look at it! There's nothing going

on. That's what I saw when I looked out

over the city: nothing. How the Mormon

settlers looked upon this valley, and felt

that it was the promised land, is beyond

me. I don't know, maybe it looked

different back then.:

Since I have never actually had to live in Utah, I don't know how the kid in the movie felt, but I know I felt the same way about my hometown... you know minus the mormon part! I definitely don't feel the same way about Utah. I thought it was absolutely beautiful, maybe it's just the California girl that I am, but I think the snowy peaks, trees and of course the lake are absolutely amazing!

On Black Friday after some more shopping, we drove over the great Salt Lake to Antelope Island. Driving over the lake onto the island was an experience, Abby my cousins kid did not think it was awesome. She did not want to drive over the lake!

Although I have visited my cousin several times over the years in SLC, this was my first trip to Antelope Island. I wasn't able to see any of its name sake animals, but we did get a close up view of some Buffalo. This is my view of them from the car with no zoom.

The Great Salt Lake is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi, during the ice age it cover over 20,000 square miles. Today the lake covers 1,700 square miles, which is 28 miles wide and 75 miles long. {yes I am the nerd who thinks the brochures are interesting and I love reading them!}

I thought it was especially interesting that while water flows into the lake from four different rivers it has no outlet, water only leaves through evaporation. The salinity in the lake is so high that the only living organisms in the lake are brine shrimp and algae {I think there was one other thing too, but I can't remember everything ;) }

We also visited the ranch on the property, it is one of the oldest building in Utah. Some of the rocks on the island are some of the oldest rocks found on earth.

That's princess Abby photobombing us!

I really enjoyed our visit and learned a lot! I just wish it hadn't been so windy and cold {I know I'm a wimpy California girl!}

Am I the only nerd who reads the brochures and plaques in museums?

XOXO,

Annie