New Purple Things

Yesterday I went shopping and bought two of my favorite things: pens and a sweatshirt. I'm so excited because they're both my favorite color - purple!
I really like how purple is so popular this season. There are so many good purple options! This sweatshirt, from H&M, is reversible. One side is fuzzy like a teddy bear and the other has butterflies. I think I'm going to wear the fuzzy side out. I love it and it's really cuddly. :) I'm wearing it today. Of course I always love office supplies and having them in purple makes them even more fun. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Birthday Cake

I was very lucky this year because Mom and Rafael surprised me with two birthday cakes! They're both from Coldstone and they're both super extra delicious! I love everything from Coldstone, don't you?
They got me two because I gave them two flavors to choose from, I think. They are Cake Batter Confetti (left) and Strawberry Passion (right). I really like how my name is written in chocolate. I still have about half of each left, so I'm happy to say I'll be eating them for awhile! (Don't worry - Raf is helping.)

Here is everyone who came to celebrate my birthday with me:
Thanks for coming dudes! And thanks for the cakes Mom and Raf!

String of Pearls

I love succulents and I think this string of pearls plant is really cool. Do you remember this picture from this post? It's been doing a lot of growing which is so exciting to me! Look at how long it is now!Unfortunately, I'm never home at the time of day with the nice sunlight like the first picture this time of year, but I really wanted to show you how much it grew! So cool!

Sad Day/Cozy Outfit

Yesterday was a very sad day at work. Six people were laid off or transferred to other divisions including everyone else who worked for my boss and my friend Katie. It was really sad saying goodbye and I'm going to miss them all very much. I put this outfit on before I knew what was going to happen, but it did make me feel a little better during the day. I think that if I like my outfit it always makes my day a little better.
My cozy sweatshirt (jcrew) is fuzzy inside and I love my lavender scarf (h&m). I like my new dark jeans (express) too, they're very comfortable. I love my skull and butterfly sneakers too. I forgot I had them for awhile. I love wearing cute sneakers. I think I'm going to wear these all weekend. :)
Raf and I ate comfort food at Bukowski in Inman Square last night. The macaroni and cheese was delicious. I had too many margaritas... ugh. I hope everyone from work who had to leave will find new things to do that they're excited about. I hope I'll be able to stay, but I really don't know. :(

Dunkin Green Tea and Mochi

I think I would like Dunkin Donuts in Asia. I read about their new stores in China on Boston.com today.
They sell green tea lattes...

...And a variety of green tea donuts, one of which is mochi! I love green tea flavored foods and I love mochi (a rice paste). I think there are other flavors of "mochi rings" like black sesame and red bean too.

Wouldn't you love to eat this donut?

Los Enanitos Verdes

Rafael and I went to see Los Enanitos Verdes at the Paradise in Allston last night. It was super fun!
They are a band from Argentina that Raf has liked for a long time. I like them a lot too. Everyone was really excited!

We had fun waiting for the show to start too. I had fun with my straight hair. :)
They played lots of songs everyone knew. Raf has videos that he's going to put on his blog.

Aquarium

Raf and I went to the aquarium yesterday to check out the cuties. Just look at these jelly fish!We saw lots of cool animals. I felt like fish paparazzi!I thought Sarah would like these lovey penguins:We got to hold starfish in the tide pool section. The water was really cold!Mom loves this eel. We saw 3 of them!This picture was inspired by Susie, only she got to hold the real octopus!Raf was cute with the penguins.He really liked the sharks!

Border Cafe

Raf and I went to the Border Cafe in Harvard Square Friday night.
They have Cajun and Mexican food. We had enchiladas and fajitas.
They also have delicious margaritas! Yum.
I like how it's decorated inside. Kind of cheesy, but cool. I love color Christmas lights.
After we went home and played Smooth Moves!

Badger Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

Badger Cocoa Butter Lip Balm is by far my favorite. They taste and feel great. The best part is how big they are -- much larger than regular lip balm sticks which makes them really fun to use (at least for me.) :)I have Sweet Orange and Creamy Cocoa. I want to get Cool Mint too. I bought mine at the Portsmouth Health Food Store but I've seen them other places like Whole Foods. I bet the best grocery store ever, Wegmans, would have them. If only there was one in the Boston area. :(

Btw, if your lips are really chapped I recommend Blistex Lip Medex, which I also love.

I hope everyone is having a great week! xo

Curly Spider Plants

I'm very happy that my curly spider plants are growing up! You may remember their baby pictures from here and here. I hope they continue to grow and get big and curly. I love it when my plants are happy! :)

Spain... On the Road Again

Spain... On the Road Again is my favorite TV show right now (Dancing With the Stars is my second.... I think). It follows Mario Batali, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Bittman (a food columnist for the New York Times), and Claudia Bassols (a Spanish actor) as they travel through Spain. I love it because it shows lots of beautiful and interesting scenery, people, and of course, food!
Some of my favorite moments were when they ate at a floating restaurant, grilled veggies outdoors near windmills, met Frank Gehry, traveled with Michael Stipe (from REM), and visited a Dali museum. They eat lots of seafood, veggies, and ham. It's a really fun show to watch.

PS I learned about Mark Bittman from this show and decided to look for his column, The Minimalist, on the New York Times website. I then discovered his blog, Bitten and I love it! It has so many interesting food articles and recipes.

PPS I love the New York Times website! I could read it all day. There are so many interesting articles.

Snowflake Dress

I had so much fun wearing my new snowflake dress today. It was cozy and comfortable. I need more outfits like this! Here is me this morning before work:And when I got home tonight!
And here is a variation I wore to make my commute a little warmer (don't worry I wore a jacket too). It's a little matchy matchy, but I liked it.

I wore my snowflake dress (charlotte russe), black turtleneck (target), black tights (express), bossy sneaks (forever 21), black cardigan (old navy), and white scarf.

Snacks and Clips

This is one of my favorite after work snacks: sea salt pita chips from Whole Foods and hot pepper jelly. So much flavor -- hot, sweet, and salty! I loooove hot pepper jelly. :)I don't have any bag clips so I started using binder clips to keep things closed. I realized I like them much better! As many of you probably know, I LOVE office supplies. I was so excited when I thought of using these cool clips Sarah gave me in the kitchen.

I need to find more cool office supplies. :)

Bossy Sneakers

I love my new black shiny Bossy Sneakers for Forever 21. I like to wear them with tights and skirts and dresses. I might wear them with pants too. They're really comfortable and fun to wear.