HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I myself have never been much of a New Years fan.  It always seems like a let down, and I never really get into the New Year resolution spirit.  HOWEVER this year was fantastic!  We went out with our best friends to this Japanese steakhouse where they cook the food in front of you..so much fun!  Then we went to our friend's house and played kinect games and apples to apples until about 3 in the morning! Also, this is the first year that I have actually made a resolution that I plan to stick to.  My goal for 2012 is to be a healthier, more productive person.  I would like my house to stay cleaner, I would like to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year, and I'd like to eat more vegetables!  I made myself a handy little star chart (we actually bought it several months ago, just stopped going through with it) - it has things like wake up before 9, eat 2 servings of fruit, vegetables, laundry, cook dinner, tidy up, etc! Also, I have my eye on this food processor (it's fantastic, even has a setting for pie dough!) - it costs about 180 dollars.  20 stars equals 10 dollars (I get a star for each task)..and I figure that I'll probably average about 20 stars a week. So, in about 18 weeks I should have earned my food processor :).  Next week I'll be starting my zumba/yoga routine during the day.  I'm pretty excited about what this year has to offer!  In about 2 weeks I'll be doing my doula workshop, and I've been doing my reading for that as well!  I'll be getting certified this year, and it is going to be great!  Sorry that this post has been kind of scattered, it's been a while!

The Curly Girl goes Straight

I recently had my hair done (cut, color, the works!).  What I love about getting hair done is it totally freshens the way you look and feel.  Before I had blonde highlights, and for the life of me I can't remember why I thought they would look good!  This time I went all over color, a brownish red and it really brightens up my skin and looks totally great.  The best part of getting hair done is they oftentimes offer to straighten my hair! I of course accepted, and it looked AMAZING! For one day. Until I showered. Here's a picture of it all straight and pretty!

I do love my curls (high maintenance as hell - but cute) but to me there is nothing like silky straight hair. It's so easy! And shiny!

I also love my new rounded layers...I wore my hair down all day yesterday without getting the fro!

Thanksgiving

Today was long. It was stressful. It was exhausting!  BUT it was also incredibly rewarding.  More people showed up than I had originally planned, so we had a full house! 10 people, total, all squished around 2 folding tables, sitting in folding chairs and on the couch. It was so noisy that I bet our neighbors felt like coming over and telling us to STFU, but in the spirit of the holidays, they didn't :).  The Turkey was yummy...but it was a little disastrous!  The first time I flipped it (after the first hour) it was so dark already!  The second time, all of the liquid in the bottom of the pan burned off, so the pan was scorching!  But, in the end, you couldn't tell that the turkey almost burned!  Brining really does make it cook A LOT faster!  Everybody stayed hours after dinner, just drinking, telling stories and laughing.  It was actually a magical night, and it will be a wonderful memory as our first Thanksgiving as a married couple :).

Kitchen Gadgets

A little bit ago Jake and I purchased a new blender.  Well, not a new blender, but a used one that's new to us.  It's a Ninja, so it's got blades all up the inside!  Super cool, and not a bad deal at 40 bucks!  Anyways, since we've purchased said blender, we've gone smoothie crazy!  We're drinking some right now!  Plus, working at a shop that sells smoothies all the time, I've learned how to make a wicked smoothie!  My new favorite combo is strawberry/blueberry/cherry with peach nectar!  Nom nom nom

Chronicle of our Camping Trip

This weekend we went camping at Big Sur.  We decided it would be the best weekend to try because of the holiday. However, things went a little bit awry.  Big Sur has several different camping sites, and we decided on Limekiln (because they allowed walk-ins and they had showers).  Thursday I reserved the camping gear, Thursday evening we went shopping.  Friday morning I worked, and then when I got back, we packed up and went and picked up the gear at about 3:20.  We (Jake, Krystal, Andy, and myself) got everything packed into the 2 cars and we got on the road.  First we couldn't find ice for the coolers, then by the time we found ice it was already getting kind of late.  We FINALLY got on the road at about 4:50.  The gps estimated that we'd get to Limekiln by 6:05.  With traffic, and us stopping once to take pictures, we arrived at about 6:35.  I REALLY HAD TO PEE. But, the campsite was full and so we were locked out!  Now, all of the other Big Sur campsites were 45 minutes back the other way!  Somehow we had managed to pick the last one!  We found a small shop on the side of the road where I could pee, and there we re-grouped.  We decided to stop at all of the campsites on the way back, but everybody was already full!  We planned to go on home and try again the next day, but then by chance decided to stop at the very last camping ground, just to see if they had room!  And, they did! They had only a couple of spaces left, so we stopped.  By that time it was almost 8:00, and it was dark.  And cold. But, the boys found us a spot, and we set up camp.  We had to carry all of our shit quite a ways, and it was exhausting!  Also, we didn't have any firewood so it was coooooold!  It was past 9 at that point, we hadn't had any dinner, we had very little heat (just some charcoal in the pit with whatever little sticks the boys could find that weren't wet) and we were exhausted!  But, once we warmed up some stew that Andy had made and made up all the beds and stuff, it was so much more fun!  We roasted some marshmellows and went to bed! Andy read us a fairytale and we fell asleep.  In the night I heard coyotes around us twice, and it was kind of scary.  We awoke just past 7, made breakfast, and started adventuring!  We went to the river, and then to the beach, and it was awesome!  We had to cross really cold water to get to the beach, but it was worth it.  The waves were so huge, and there were cliffs and mountains around.

Since the campsite that we chose was more like a field with spots to camp in and not very secluded, we left the camp in search of a new one!  However every other single camping site was full!  So, we just came home!  Camping FAIL!

Next time, we decided to make reservations, be more organized, and execute the plan better. But, it was a beautiful drive, and it was fun while it lasted.   Here are some pictures from our trip!

October!

I just have to say - October is the best month of the whole year.  It's the quintessential fall month!  The air just smells better.  I think that it's the most magical month of the whole year, and I'm determined to enjoy it to my fullest capacity!  I'm going to miss the leaves changing in NC, and that makes me sad!  But, I still love CA!

Employed!

I finally have a job!  I never actually applied there, I just gave them my number and they hired me!  It's at a place called DLI Cafe, and it's on the Post, so it's super convenient.  I already worked my first day, and I work again Thursday.  The pay is higher than what I got at home, but the cost of living out here is higher than at home.  I'll probably only work 3-4 days a week, which is perfect because it still gives me plenty of time at home!  I actually really enjoy being home now, and I like the solitude as well.  The kitties and I play and hang out all day, and it's really wonderful.  Today I have to get a TB test for work, which I'm a little worried about.  I had it 2 years ago, and it was fast, so I think it shouldn't be too bad.

I'm going to create another facet of my blog called 'Robin Cooks' which will photo document/share recipes that I'm trying.  I have become a more adventurous cook, and keep trying and adding recipes to my repertoire.