Mammoth Skiing and Don't Forget...

By the time you read this we'll be well on our way to another ski trip. The final one of the season.

We're driving up to Mammoth Mountain, CA.


I'm really itching to get up there because:
a) I didn't get to ski Mt. Hood. :(
b) I haven't been to Mammoth in almost a decade! And the Mr. has never been.
c) Mammoth Mt. has had an epic amount of snow this year! The base over 16 feet!


Also don't forget that you have a few more days to enter to win a $100 Visa Gift Card from BlogHer on my reviews and giveaways blog! It's so so easy to enter to win. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post about Stouffer's Sautes telling me how you make an ordinary night extraordinary. So go enter now!

My Work Quirks: Shoes and Hair

In my job at "Large Consulting Firm" we have a strict business casual dress code (at our firm this means button-ups or cardigans, professional skirts or trousers, no strappy shoes, and no denim).

But there are two other things that aren't in the dress code that I won't (or should I say, very rarely) do at work in terms of attire.

Flats.

And ponytails.

Yep you can call me crazy. You can try to convince me of the benefits of these fashion choices (time! comfort!). But it's a rare day in the office that you'll catch me in flats or a ponytail.

Why no flats?

Personally, I feel dumpy and unprofessional in flat. Maybe it's because I work in a male-dominated field, or maybe it's just a personal quirk, but I have a deep seeded belief that this:

Looks a lot more "put together" with a business outfit than this:

Last week since my toe was hurt I wore flats to the office all week. It was my first time wearing flats to work almost two years. I felt so short (even though I am 5'8") and sloppy. And I felt like my presence is the room was less commanding.

Outside of work, I'll wear flats and sandals all day long. But in the office it's 100% pumps for me.

So, why no ponytails?

I think this one is more about how my hair looks in a ponytail than how people's hair looks in a ponytail in general.

I'd love my hair to look like this when I wear it in a ponytail:

But on me it just doesn't work in an office setting. I think it makes me look young and sloppy. Plus my hair gets little flyaways part way through the day that makes the ponytail look disheveled. I wear my hair in a ponytail to work less than five days a year. I just think my hair looks it's best and most professional when it's down or 1/2 up.

Note: When googling about these topics to see if I'm alone in my quirks, I found a fabulous working-woman fashion blog called Corporette. They've discussed both flats and ponytails at work and it seems that I am definitely not alone.

So I'm interested to hear what you other professional women think. Do you like to wear flats in a corporate environment? What about ponytails? Is there a right or wrong way to do either in a corporate setting?

Wedding Recap: Being Attendants Together

Last weekend the Mr. and I got to be in his younger brother's wedding.

This is probably one of the only (if not the only) time we'll be in a wedding together. It was so much fun!


It was a black and pink wedding. Didn't the Mr. and all his brothers look handsome in their tuxes?


Here's the beautiful blushing bride and gorgeous bouquet.


We actually got a little bit of sun between the rain! Made for some great pictures!

So you can see my whole dress and hair here's a picture of me with my mother-in-law. I can't say I loved the bubble hem, but it looked pretty good overall.


I didn't get any pictures of the ceremony because we were in it. But it was beautiful. They did a Sand Ceremony like we did.

I loved walking down the aisle with the Mr!

The reception was in the gorgeous wedding tent at the Oregon Golf Club.

Their centerpieces had submerged flowers with a goldfish! So fun!


We dined and danced together and enjoyed being an integral part of wedding that wasn't our own.


Have you and your significant other ever been a wedding together?

Newlywed Survival Kit & Surviving the Portland ER

I'm still working on getting together the wedding recap post from my Brother-in-Law's wedding. But I wanted to share a couple of things first...

1st - The gift!

Thanks for all of your advice on what to add to the Newlywed Survival Kit wedding gif!

I ended up adding a couple of games that I knew they wanted to add a little more fun to gift! I wanted to add a bottle of wine too, but I know she's not a big drinker so I skipped that.

Here's the final contents of the gift:

Cookbook, devotional, Dave Ramsey book, Bar Keeper's Friend, Skip-Bo, Phase 10, and Calphalon dish towel.

And here's how it looked all packaged up in a very functional gift bag (a cleaning bucket!)


I wrote out a explanation of the gift that you can read here. I hope they loved this gift as much as I did.


2nd - My trip to the ER.

As luck would have it, it turned out that a friend of the Mr's from High School was also getting married on the same night in Portland as his brother! Since Brother-in-Law's wedding ended early we had time to visit the other wedding, which was so much fun!

Well, toward the end of the night my feet were really hurting, so I decided to take off my shoes to dance (dumb!). I guess someone had broken a glass and I ended up cutting my foot really bad on the broken glass. It just kept bleeding and bleeding (so gross), so we decided to go to the ER to see if I needed stitches.

So two hours and several hundred dollars later, I left the Downtown Portland ER with seven stitches in my big toe. :(

The worst part was that I didn't get to go skiing on Mt. Hood because my foot hurt too bad and I didn't want to injure it more. Giant bummer!

The moral of the story -- always bring sandals to change into!

Off to Wedding and Ski Weekend! (and a giveway while we're gone)

We're off!

We've packed our Bridesmaid/Groomsmen clothes, we've got the the gift all ready, and we've got our ski/snowboard gear! (That's a lot of luggage)

We're on our way to Oregon to see this wonderful couple get tie the knot!

That's the Mr.'s brother and his soon-to-be bride!

And after the wedding we're hitting the slopes here.

That's Mt. Hood.


By the way check out the Portland weather forecast for our whole trip up there...


Good thing rain on your wedding is good luck. I love the Pacific Northwest weather {heavy sarcasm}.

I'll back with lots of pictures and stories next week!


And while we're gone be sure to check out my Stouffer's Sautes for Two review and enter to win $100 Visa Gift Card from BlogHer on my reviews and giveaways blog! That's my little gift to you all while I'm gone :)

Too Much Tracking?

I'm worried that I'm accidently becoming obsessive about tracking my life and everything in it.

As you know I track every dollar we spend and all of our finances in a giant spreadsheet.

And you know that I use natural family planning and track my fertility.



Well, recently I discovered Fertility Friend online and mobile. It's amazing! So much easier than the paper charts I'd always forget to write on. Now I'm a little bit obsessed. I can't stop looking at my charts and entering data pieces.


And recently I rejoined Weight Watchers online (girlfriend needs to loose 15 lbs) and I'm tracking everything I eat and drink.

I love the new points system and I love Weight Watcher Mobile because I eat out a lot and can check the points values on my phone.

But I wonder if this is all too much? I mean every day there is record of every food I eat, every dollar I spend, and everything my body does. It's a bit insane.

But I love it.

Bridesmaid Hair?

I love being a bridesmaid.

Yeah, you have to buy an expensive (and often ugly) dress that you'll never wear again, but isn't it amazing to be an integral part of a couple's big day?

As you know, I'm a Bridesmaid in my brother-in-law's wedding next weekend. I'm so excited!

I have my dress...

Yup, it's David's Bridal.

I got my shoes...

$18 at DSW! I {heart} DWS!


The only thing left is to figure out is how to do my hair.

Since the dress is pretty "poofy" on the bottom (that's the Mr.'s description, not mine), I want my hair to have some volume to it balance things out.

I loved my half-up hair that I had done for my friend's wedding in 2009. But this time I was thinking of getting a full up-do to mix things up a little.

I put together a little inspiration board for the hair-do that I'm thinking (I tried to find examples with bangs since I have bangs)...

(That's me as bridesmaid in 2009 in the lower left corner to show how my hair looks with volume on the crown)

Basically I want volume on the crown with a lowish, curly, side bun/chignon.

Do you think that will look good? Any other suggestions?

My Weekend in San Diego: Rattlesnake and SDSU Basketball

This weekend I went to San Diego to spend some quality time with my Dad and see the SDSU Aztec Men's Basketball play their last home game of the season.

On Saturday morning my Dad and I did a 4-mile hike on the mountain behind his house. About 1/2 mile into the hike I was chatting away, not paying attention, which all I sudden I looked down at the trail and saw this guy a couple of feet in front of me:

(not an actual photo of the snake I saw, photo is from here)


I quickly realized it was a 4 ft. long rattlesnake laying completely across the trail and I was about to step on him!

I let out a blood-curdling scream and bolted down the trail away from snake. Well I think my scream scared the snake as much as he scared me because he quickly slithered off the trail and into the bushes.

My heart was pounding out of my chest (I took my pulse and it was 190 bpm) but I finished the hike, making my Dad lead the way from then on out of course. :)

Welcome to springtime in east county San Diego!


Saturday night I joined my Dad in his season ticket seats to watch the San Diego State Men's Basketball Team win their final home game and become co-champions of the Mountain West Conference!


It was so much fun to be in a sold-out arena cheering on Aztecs! (I didn't go to SDSU but I grew up rooting for the Aztecs, so I'm still a big fan). After the game we all rushed the court. Crazy fun!

SDSU is now ranked 9th and is in a good position to make it pretty far in March Madness! Aztecs Fight!

We Are Family!

You may have seen a lot of my pictures of my family on this blog, but you probably don't know much about them. So I though I'd tell you a little bit more about some of the most important people in my life.

My Dad, "The Professor"

As his nickname suggests, he's been a professor of Communication in San Diego for over 30 years. He's published tons of articles (both academic journals and in popular press like, Cosmopolitan Magazine) and several books, and on top of that is an amazing teacher. His students always tell him how much his classes changed thier lives. The Professor is also a marathon runner, a wine connoisseur, and an avid skier. He has always encouraged me to be athletic and even coached my basketball teams when I was growing up. He's an amazing person. I love my Dad.

My Mom, "The Dean"

As her nickname suggest, my Mom is a University Dean in Boston (Yes, she and my Dad are still married, they fly back and forth all the time). She is the ultimate role model of a working Mom. She's had an amazing career but still took time to help me with my homework and watch all my tennis matches. She and my Dad took me on so many amazing trips when I was young and she is still one of my favorite "travel buddies." My Mom is my hero.

I'm an only child so I'm super close to both of my parents. It's hard to say if I'm a "Daddy's Girl" or a "Mama's Girl" because I have a wonderful, close, and unique relationship with both of them.


Since I have a tiiiiny family, I thought I'd tell you a bit about the Mr.'s family too...


His Parents, "The In-Laws"

The In-Laws have their quirks, but overall they are great. I actually think I really lucked out in the in-law department. They are very loving and kind people but also tend to "stay out of our business." I have to really admire my Mother-in-Law for letting me have her first born baby (my husband) and being so chill about that transition. I always enjoy visiting The In-Laws in Portland and going on our annual camping trip together.

His Brothers, "The Nearly-Wed", "The Runner", and "The Student"

The Nearly-Wed is a year younger than me and is getting married in two weeks! He lives and works in Portland and reminds me SO much of The Mr. personality-wise.

The Runner is Sophomore at the University of Oregon and is a star track runner. Currently he holds the fastest 800 meter time of any collegiate runner in the USA! He really could be an Olympic hopeful in 2012 or 2016!

The Student is about to get his Master's degree in Finance in Portland. He's also an fantastic pianist. And he is single. :)

And there's one more person that I didn't want to forget. The only living grandparent that the Mr. or I still have...

My Grandma, "The Scandinavian"

The Scandinavian lived in Sweden until she was two years old and then moved to Chicago. She is now 92 years old and still lives independently in her historic home in Chicago. She is one of the kindest, smartest, most wonderful people that I know. She stays up-to-date on politics and news and always has an interesting opinion to share. And I love her stories from the Great Depression, WWII, and beyond. She has an amazing memory! I'm so lucky that she's lived to be so old so that I've gotten to know her so well.


So that's my lil family! The older I get the more I appreciate my family and see how important they are to me.

Head over to Kelly's Korner to read more about families and share yours!