Christmas Present, Sedative Not Included

I wanted to share one of the coolest gifts I've ever received with y'all.

This year, the very creative boyfriend gave me a hot air balloon ride in Temecula, CA...overlooking the vineyards. When he presented this gift (verbally) to me on Christmas morning, I thought, "he's got to be kidding me, right?" He quickly made several disclaimers about how I could trade in the gift for a weekend at Disneyland, or Sea World ("Or both!", he adds in a last ditch effort)..I said I would think about it and one hour later committed to one of the most awesome experiences I've ever had.

We had to wake up at 4 AM on the Saturday of New Year's Eve to head out to wine country. You would have thought I had already been hittin' the champagne by the quality of my early morning jokes and antics.

Anyone else been on a hot air balloon? We want to try the Del Mar one next!

Here are some pictures from our adventure! Enjoy.

New Year New Me

So, I almost decided to throw in the towel on this thing when I realized that I just don't have the time or energy to fit in a regular compelling article. I actually even asked my poor sweet boyfriend to help motivate me to write over the past few months and then in true girl fashion would sneer at him when he reminded me I hadn't written in a while. However, I've come to the conclusion, I'm okay with mediocrity if you are! Thanks for hangin' in there boyfriend and readers....if you are still out there? Hello?

Happy New Year All! How many resolutions have you made and broken already? :) I had some tried and true ones this year like shed 10 pounds, eat healthier and walk the dog more frequently, among other more unique ones such as repair the heater in my car and stop procrastinating writing my patients' progress notes.

I'm actually feeling pretty motivated in the physical fitness department (this is something worthy of writing home about for me, FYI). I EVEN got myself a personal trainer and signed a contract for a year with them. Laugh it up, I'm a sucker for a good marketing ploy and another monthly charge on my credit card, apparently.

I also dyed my hair brunette for the probably tenth consecutive winter in a row. (I'll be blonde again by February, you can put your babysitting money on it folks.)

Anyone else have a resolution they are particularly enthused about?

Until next time, I leave you with a new favorite song of mine. The boyfriend and I had the pleasure of seeing Florence and the Machine along with some other awesome bands like The Naked and the Famous and Cage the Elephant over the holidays. Happy listening lovely ladies!

Let My Favorite Season Begin

The boyfriend and I had a lovely afternoon today that consisted of taking Brooklyn to the pumpkin patch and then a visit to the Meditation Gardens at the Self Realization Fellowship Temple in Encinitas (A gorgeous and serene must see if you are in the area).

The pumpkin patch, a necessity for me every October, was abound with small children adorned in orange and black with funky spiderweb and ghost clad socks, sparkley-painted faces and I think I even saw a Halloween tutu. Boyfriend made the astute observation that we were the only people that brought the DOG and not the kid to the patch to take pictures. But, he humored me nonetheless and posed with that rockstar smile. Here are some photos from our afternoon!

And here's a little tune to get y'all in the spirit:) Happy Halloween!

Girls' Nights

Today, I am looking forward to spending a lovely evening with a great friend and the author of the fabulous blog The Lonely Wife Project. We plan to drink lots of wine, watch lots of OC reruns, eat lots of yummy food (thank goodness one of us is a good chef, I cheated and got my dessert contribution from the local bakery, shhh) and just enjoy the company of another estrogen fueled beautiful being. Girls' nights are so important for our sanity and well being. Sometimes it's tough to remember to take time out from our busy work schedules, significant others, kids, pets, families etc. to just relax in the company of the ladies, but I'm sure glad we get to do it occasionally! What do y'all like to do with your gal pals?

Here's what's new on my Ipod this week that screams CHICK MUSIC to me!! I love it!

I've Been a Very Bad Blogger/ Check Out My New Kicks!

So I went and did exactly what I swore I would not do and got all gung-ho about my blog for the first couple weeks and then fell off the face of the earth. Shame on me. I must admit, finding the comments on the below article featuring my beautiful baby made my night (Thank you ladies!)

So in my defense.. this blog is about Saturn Return, and I DID turn 29 last week..so my life must be in complete chaos now officially and I was totally distracted by all the cosmic unrest I was subjected to, right?....You are not buying this, clearly.

Actually, I had a fabulous birthday thanks to wonderful family, friends and my adorable boyfriend. There was food a' plenty, thoughtful gifts, beautifully written cards and several glasses (cough, bottles) of wine drunk over the course of the celebration. I am truly blessed with a great life right now and I really can't complain...Who am I kidding, I'm a girl, I'm sure I can find SOMETHING to complain about!

In lieu of my birthday, I bit the bullet and finally made a purchase that I have been wanting to make for several years now and bought the elusive and over-priced Tory Burch ballet flats (thanks Mom and Dad for the Nordie's gift card)!

These are the ones I bought...Nothing too crazy.


And here are some other new ones from this season:







How do we feel about Tory Burch? Hot and you have to have'em? Over-priced and your pinky toe is squished and uncomfortable? Thoughts, ladies?

And thank you for your patience with me as I get this blog a'rollin!

Good Morning, Brooklyn

Meet Marley. Okay, her name is Brooklyn but the nickname has been thrown around upon occasion. I love waking up to my ever faithful Labradors' wet black nose peering over the side of my bed every morning. It's the same routine every day. Whenever she hears me begin to rustle around in my sheets, check emails on the Blackberry, send the morning text to the boyfriend, she unfailing reports for duty at the side of my nightstand. Even when I attempt to feign being asleep to avoid the getting up process this little canine is on to me. Brooklyn will be five this January, which will also mark our four and a half year courtship. She is the product of an impulse trip to the pound after convincing an ex that I could never feel fulfilled by a fish or a guinea pig. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Even when she pees on my pillow when she's angry. Anyone else have that problem?

Mindful Lovin'

Relationships. The hardest and most rewarding aspect of life. They make us laugh, cry, melt, throw stuff, write sappy notes (emails), eat too much ice cream, spend too much time daydreaming, drink too much wine, send mean text messages, send schmaltzy text messages, say things we don't mean, mean things we're scared to say, do sweeter acts than we thought we were capable of, and compromise our girl time to cheer on a touch down, home run, or swoosh(?)

Let's be honest though, they take a hell of a lot of work and no one ever told us that when we were plopped down on the papasan sippin a Capri Sun watching Sleeping Beauty and her handsome prince. As I have previously mentioned, I am big into self help----don't worry, not like Dr. Phil or anything embarrassing like that. This is by far one of the best relationship books I have ever read on applying mindfulness to your relationship. And while there are SO many quotable quotes in this book on mindfulness, ego, trust, acceptance, conflict etc., here's a little exert that I chose to share with a dear friend of mine this morning:


"So many frayed strands of disappointment, some barely noticeable, dangle from our hearts in the complex tapestry of a lifetime. We may experience a great and crushing disappointment about our partner or our relationship at one time or another, or many little ones along the way. Disappointment is a kind of loss, the loss of what we had hoped something was or could be. At bottom is the loss of an illusion to which we were clinging or relied on. The only thing that can be lost, after all, is illusion. Disappointment can lead to despair, the illusion that there is no alternative. But to experience disappointment consciously is to embrace it, learn from it, and go on loving, to accept that all humans are a combination of contradictions. Anyone can please and displease, come through and fail, satisfy and disappoint. No one pleases all the time, yet we do not give up on others. Projections about another person's perfection or trustworthiness collapse as we grow up and arrive at realism."
~David Richo.