The Greek Festival

All Labor Day weekend, the Greek Festival in Belmont was happening. Somehow Saturday and Sunday just slipped by so on Monday Brett & I made sure to carve out some time to check out the festival.

There were tents set up outside with all kinds of meats being cooked and sold, Gyros and lamb kebabs had the longest lines. There were various jewelery, clothes and souvenirs being sold as well as traditional Greek dancers performing.

We also were able to get inside the church and learn about the history of Greek Orthodox and admire the beautiful ceiling and wall decor that has recently been done.

There was a theater set up behind the church with plays happening throughout the day, performed by children & teens on Ancient Greek history.

A lot of what we saw and smelled reminded us of our travels last year to the Greek Islands {read about it; here, here, here and here} and how we wished we were back there soaking up the sun, lying on the sand and swimming in crystal clear waters.

X x

come fly with me

If you remember my last post, it was a pretty lengthy essay about how adventurous and amazing my stretched out birthday weekend was, I talked about my time in the sky. 

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to film most of my weekend, including the entire flight I went on with Brett. Below is the video I captured and edited using GoPro & GoPro Studio to create it. 

Come fly with me!

X x

my quarter century birthday

I decided to make the absolute most of my birthday as it fell on a Friday. My one day turned into a 4 day long weekend as I signed up to do different activities I had not done before. I reached for the land, air and sea, all in one weekend.

Let's rewind to Thursday, the start of it all...

Thursday, my birthday eve, I celebrated it with my family. A nice dinner followed by what can only be described as the most amazing cake to ever grace my presence. This is saying a lot, because I am not exactly a "cake person." I generally would prefer something along the lines of ice cream, cookies, or sweets for dessert. However, I saw this post on Pinterest a few months ago; Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake. Yes, you read that right.. cookie dough inside a cake. Never in my wildest dreams could I have guessed that I would be getting that cake for my birthday. {and I certainty was not going to attempt to make it!} This cake was hands down, the most delicious cake I have ever had, with little bits of cookie dough, running through the middle.

Friday, was a typical day of work for me. Although I did get a free birthday drink from Starbucks! A great way to start any day, if you ask me. After I was done for the day, I raced home because Brett had a couple presents left for me that I was ready to open. Yay for presents! Tissues paper and wrapping paper covered the floor but it was time to leave! We quickly fixed ourselves up a bit and went to grab a bite to eat before tearing up the track on Go-karts! I have been twice before and it is a really fun experience to just let loose and race your friends. My parents even came and my dad was brave enough to get on the track with us. It was a great Friday night.

Saturday morning, we drove down to Monterey, as we booked a 4 hour rental for Stand Up Paddle-boards. {or SUP} We figured 4 hours would be a sufficient amount of time as neither of us had done this before. We were expecting a little more trial and error, that's for sure. We got the hang of it in about 15 minutes and off we went. We had such a good time paddling through the "slough" as the tide was helping to carry us. We thought we had plenty of time to get back to the dock to return the boards, with 2 1/2 hours to fight the tide and return. Little did we know just how difficult it was going to be to paddle against the tide. It was really hard going and for a good portion of the time, as hard as I paddled, I just stayed in place. We eventually made it back to our dock and returned the boards. As soon as I got in the car, I immediately fell asleep {sorry, Brett!} I was so exhausted.

Sunday morning involved sleeping in, past 10, I might add! Which is something I haven't done for a very long time. We had a lazy morning as we were gearing up for a big activity, a flight tour and lesson. We arrived to the airport early and filled out some paperwork and waited in the lounge for the pilot and plane. I was expecting an air tour around the bay area and a short in flight lesson, that's what it seemed like would happen on their website. As soon as we got in the plane and went down the check list, the pilot showed me the controls for the plane and off we went! I was flying a plane the entire time we were up in the air. Of course he helped assist in take off and landing and through a patch of turbulence we had. Otherwise he was explaining the gauges and talking about the area we were flying over. The 45 minutes went by so fast and before I knew it, the wheels hit the runway and it was all over! I loved every minute being up in the air and is something I would definitely do again. After we left we went home to make dinner together and fell asleep really early after such an amazingly long weekend.

My 24th year was a pretty big one looking back on it. It took me to far away lands, local new discoveries, new job, new apartment just to name a few. Really looking forward to see what my 25th year will bring me.

Cheers!

X x

a quarter life crisis birthday present to myself

I am about to have my quarter life crisis {on Friday, ahhh!} I decided I wanted to get myself something big. What to get, what to get I kept thinking. Nothing came to mind, I have a great computer, car, tech toys, etc.

Here's how the story of my quarter-life-crisis-birthday-present-to-myself went down.

REI has a "garage sale" twice a year, where they sell their products that were returned due to a manufactures error for an extremely low price. Mind you, most of these items have been worn, tried, and used so you get what you pay for. Brett and I just decided to swing by on our way to something else and only planned to be there for a few minutes.

Not long after I got there, I laid my eyes on this beautiful blue bike. I called for Brett as I was walking {jogging} over to this bike. I looked it over, up and down, all around I tell you! It was perfect. The only thing that was wrong was the handle bars were bent. No problem, easy enough to swap. The bike doesn't come with pedals, so it was hard to get a feel for the bike. It seemed a size too big for me, but I loved the bike so much. I was afraid I would never find a deal like this again. We made a lose decision that it was too big for me and that it wouldn't work. As we started to walk away from it, I started to panic and miss this bike already. I told Brett "we can make this work, right? RIGHT?" 

Best impulse buy I have ever made. I am so in love with my new road bike, and since have named her Tiffany.

She was exactly what I was looking for as my "quarter life birthday present to myself." I have not had a bike since I was probably about 12 years old and have been riding my dad's old 1970's bike and a couple of Brett's extras, but it's not the same.

I would highly recommend this bike to any lady out there who is looking for a light, fast, comfortable road bike. The gears shift perfectly, it has a really nice click to it and with my new Easton handlebars, I have numerous comfortable hand positions. Here is the link to REI's website, with more information about this amazing bike.

I have only gone for a couple rides so far with this bike, and I am really looking forward into going the distance with Tiffany.

If love {or maybe hate} your bike, I would love to hear your stories.. leave a comment below!

X x

H-Cat's Bridal Shower

This past weekend, I went to a bridal shower for a good friend, Heather. It was a very hot but beautiful Saturday afternoon. The festivities began round 2.30pm as beautiful ladies in dresses arrived.

Everything was beautifully decorated at the house, right down to last detail.  There were mason jars with lace and pink paper straws, a wide array of drinks and mixers to create your own cocktail and enough hors d'oeuvres to last the party well into the evening.

The cake was to die for! The outside frosting had a shimmer to it, while inside the cake flavor hinted at banana strawberry filling.

The girls talked, giggled and munched our way through the afternoon. Of course, we couldn't get enough of the beautiful bride to be. With the wedding less than 2 months away, there is definitely a buzz around this upcoming ceremony.

I was so happy to be a part of this special day and I am looking forward to your wedding, Heather!

X x