Loving Love.

My sister is currently on route to New Zealand (because of this). I am so incredibly excited for her and proud of her for taking such a chance for love. Still, everyone who knows Jen and Ed are pretty positive it's a safe bet.

I did really well yesterday saying good-bye to her. I barely cried and only left her with two minutes of older sister advice. And then I was on Facebook and saw this message from Ed:

Farewell my friends, I gotta go see about a girl...

Instant tears. And I'm crying again just typing this. Once a sap, always a sap.

Feliz Navidad.

Just found this photo that I had to share of my brother and I visiting Santa when we were kids...before the younger sister entered the scene (I think). Holy long hair! What does a 6 year old do with all that? And seriously, are we wearing matching overalls? Yes, overalls!?! (I'm totally going to avoid the discussion of the creepiness of this Santa, his gargantuan hands and that doll on the right.)

Happy Holidays!

This year, there are no presents under our tree (there are no ornaments on it either...we are simply excited that we found time to put up a tree at all...although it's artificial and hardly the same). Chris and I opted not to give gifts...it's amazing how much holiday stress that relieves. Instead, we donated our present money to a local family that needed it way more than I needed new shoes or Chris needed an Xbox.

We are headed to Phoenix tomorrow to spend the holidays with my family and hang out with my sister before she embarks on her next big adventure. I'm bringing the camera and the laptop so I hope to regal you with some silly stories while I'm away.

Hope you all have a lovely holiday and get to spend it with people you adore!

Bon Jour Paris.

The Hidden Hotel via Remodelista.

Recently, I've been itching to go to Paris...the fashion, the romance, the bread, cheese and wine, the macarons, the shopping (you get the idea)! I suppose it'll have to wait til after my spring trip to New York City and Thanksgiving trip to New Zealand (fingers tightly crossed). But once Chris and I finally make it to the "City of Light," I hope to stay here. Something about staying in a comfortable and calming hotel after long days and evenings exploring the city seems to call my name. And the fact that it's on the rue de l’Arc de Triomphe doesn't hurt either.

Maybe Jen and Ed will move to Paris next?!? I take that back...I want them in San Franciso with me!

Cheers!

Four years ago...ah, young love.

I was looking through recent posts and realized the majority of them involve me basically bragging about my husband's art career. I hope that's not what it's perceived as because it's really truly sheer pride and excitement. This is all very new to us and I'm just incredibly proud of him.

I met Chris in San Diego about five years ago. Now, San Diego is a near perfect place to live...lovely weather, beautiful people and gorgeous beaches. But because of this, it's easy to become complacent. I mean, what more do you need when you can work and then head to the beach and surf til the sun sets. Still, I wanted more for myself and Chris wanted more, too. His passion for his art and self-assurance that one day he would make it really drew me to him. Granted, it's also been known to drive me nuts, but that's another post ;)

So here we are, five years after we met and a short six months after he received his MFA and he's truly making it. Chris finally feels like he can say that he is indeed an artist. I mean, just yesterday he was featured in a New York Times article and last week he found out he's taking part in San Jose's ZERO1 Biennial next fall. And I'm telling you all this because Chris wants to make sure everyone (meaning my family, especially my brother) knows that he will be able to take care of me and support me one day doing what he loves. Translation: Don't worry...she's not wasting her time married to a slacker wannabe artist.

Anyway, thanks for reading about my journey these past few months. It's been quite a whirlwind adventure and having this online source of support has been pretty amazing. So much has been happening and I'm slowly learning how to balance it all (it all being two posts a day at AT). My posts here will most likely be a little less frequent int he new year, but I won't disappear again like these past two weeks (pinkie swear!).

This has been a pretty amazing year! I can't wait to see what 2010 holds! And I am so excited to read what great things all of you out in the blogosphere do!

xoxo,
Jess