this weekend was my 26th birthday. I feel old and feel like i look old too so it wasn't that thrilling haha.

On Friday I went to an exhibit at chapman U with my parents and afterwards finally got to taste the new place in the circle, Linx.  It was good & a very cute place!

after coming home we relaxed while watching argo & eating cookies:)

Saturday I went to DTD with my sister to do some makeup shopping to try and cover up our old wrinkly faces!! I got more than I went for but doesn't it always work like that?

Afterwards we ate at whats becoming one of my favorite places, the story teller cafe at the grand californian hotel.  It was freezing that day so I had some DELICIOUS corn chowder & hot coffee-btw, they have the best coffee there!

Sunday was my birthdy & Magno delivered me breakfast in bed & the number one thing i asked for....a card !  he delivered big time:)  Then he sent me off to get a manicure......just to let you know how long its been, I got my first ever gel manicure even though those have been all the rage for about a year now!

After my lovely manicure, we headed over to my parents house for the premiere of the walking dead.  Even though that in itself was an amazing gift, my mom threw us our traditional valentines day themed party and even threw in some walking dead touches...doesn't get better than that!  We ate delicious pizza, snacks, and cake...thats my idea of a great bday!

here we are in our new comfy sweats that my older sister got us.  we had to get in them immediately to watch the show and give our guts some room to breathe.

it was a perfect birthday & I still will tell people I'm 23 years old for as long as I possibly can.

Monday night my sweet mother in law brought me my favorite meal-pupusas!  Whenever she brings food she brings it for the whole week...so not cooking tonight is the reason I'm blogging!! She brought me a sweet valentines themed gift as well & did more than she needed to do, as always! Im such a lucky gal!!

Today for the first time in my adult life, I saw hail! and lots of it.  It came out of nowhere and scared the crap out of kramer..he barked the entire time it hailed.  Then came rain and thunder....such rare things in CA!

little baby hail balls

the tent in our backyard...it got ripped from the last windy day and the heavy hail didn't help it.  needless to say we will need a new one before summer!

hail on the rooftops, looks like snow!

our backyard covered in hail! 

The last time I saw hail I must have been around 10 years old and the only reason I even remember that is because I had a migraine that day and when I woke up it was hailing & my sisters were outside playing in it and I was so mad that I couldn't do that too!

well, vacation is over just like that=( the second week of magnos glorious vacation was spent mostly in bed with a headache.  In my last post I mentioned how much worse they are getting and that I was seeing the dr. again.  Well, I went & was told that my increase of headaches is probably due to the fact that the birth control they put me on for my skin issues has estrogen in it and can cause headaches.  So she prescribed me another form of the pill for my skin with a lower dose of estrogen, and that one wasn't covered by insurance so it would be $100 a month!!  No thank you.  I was so mad that she even put me on that pill when I've seen her in the past month or so FOUR times for headaches.....and since shes a dr. I'm sure she knew the side effects of that pill was HEADACHES!! this is the reason i don't trust doctors! I'm convinced they are only there to sell pills and that those pills always cause something else.  I simply went on birth control for my skin and left with a bottle of anti depressants because of the headaches that pill caused.  DISGUSTING!! So instead of taking any of the pills she gave me, I'm just gunna try to fix myself.  I bought a ton of vitamins that im now taking 4x daily, and im juicing every week.  I made two batches of juice already and that's definitely a  lot more nutrients than id get daily without juicing.

I'm gunna give it 1 month on this routine of adding in all these things to my diet.  If that doesn't work, i might be forced to take some of the headache meds she gave me because as it stands right now, i have about 3 days per week where i can't function because my head hurts so bad.  NOT. COOL.

as much as it feels like headaches have taken over my life, there are some times when Im able to function (just barely!) This last week we didn't do a thing at all. We stayed home & ate a lot;)

we went to a car show with my parents, my dad painted this car

we did a lot of this..

apparently its spring already because our walkway looks like this!

we walked kramer to a book sale at the local library & i got all this for $3!

superbowl sunday was spent....you guessed it...EATING!

 and sun bathing

 and barking at the puppy bowl

and heres us soaking up our last hours of vacation watching movies in be, depressed!

this week magno is training at his new job so its actually not too bad, he gets out at 5 which seems like a breeze compared to his normal working hours!! We aren't sure what his new schedule will be until the 2 week training period is over, but his brother just recently started there as well and his schedule is 9:30am-8:00pm.  So if that happens, I may or may not spend my days crying and pouting in bed all day.  We'll see!

I've really fallen behind on blogging, but i have a good reason.  Magno's on a 2 week vacation so im soaking it all up.  But today, he's at the movies with some friends so i decided to take the time to blog!  He got a 2 week vacation because he quit his job because he was offered a better one at green light financial and their training periods are only one a month.  So I lucked out and got him for a whole 2 weeks until he starts his new job.  YAY!!!

so going back to a few weeks ago, it was my mother in laws birthday.  I was siiiickkkk that day(and the 2 weeks before it too!)  So while at cvs getting some medicine I ran over to smart and final and bought some cupcakes, some frozen food, and some candles.  Luckily I hoard party supplies so I set up a little table we could eat at.

 we also watched the golden globes while relaxing

 i also finally found the perfect rug! gotta love target. Had it almost a month now and still love it just as much.

 and we finally updated the knobs on our free dresser we found on the curb!

 it was so warm and nice out that we walked kramer to the circle for lunch almost every day.

while at my moms, we made boo bears memorial stepping stone. miss him SO much.

 on another pretty day, the show parks and rec was being filmed in the circle, so we walked down there and watched a bit of it.  caught a few glimpses of the awesome amy poehler!

with the nice weather continuing, we just had to go to the beach.

the next day, we went and got disneyland passes! so  much fun and im so glad we can go back, we LOVE dland!!

 and i finally did a little vday decorating!

and we've been having movie days now that its cold and rainy again.

Magno still has one week left of vacation, too!  Even though we've been having fun, my headaches have gotten worse than ever.  I've had to take headache medicine every single day for the past month almost and im feeling really defeated by them.  I am going to the dr for the 4th time this month on monday and am hoping for some relief, somehow!!

Ever since we've moved in, theres been a ceiling fan in the kitchen.  Only thing more awful than that is a ceiling fan that doesnt even work...so the hideous-ness doesn't even serve a purpse.  Its big and bulky and makes our low ceilings feel even lower.  So I finally decided I had enough.  Magno said he could try to fix it, but when I thought about it....who wants dog hair and dust circulating in the kitchen?? GROSS.  So I went shopping.  I wanted a simple shade fixture like this.

But Home Depot wanted $70.  So instead, I got a mini pendant kit for $15 and just made my own with a plain white lampshade!

Heres the hideous before...

and the less hideous after...

Of course my cheap DIY fixture isn't as nice as the home depot one, but its DEFINITELY better than the old dirty broken ceiling fan!!

p.s. We painted the walls in the kitchen about 2 years ago and still haven't replaced the light switch covers.  Talk about procrastination!

I recently saw a post on one of my favorite blogs where she listed all her favorite things from 2012.  I LOVED that idea because I love seeing what other people use and like. Helps me not waste money down the line & gives me a good idea of what the product is before buying.  Plus, I'm a true believer that if you find something you love to share it.  So here goes.  My favorite things, a la Oprah....just less expensive items & no middle aged women screaming bloody murder.

1. Bar keepers friend-This is a cleaning solution that I use all the time because its unlike any that I've ever used.  It cleans and de-stains my pots, pans, and kitchen sink.  Its cheap.  It's easy to find (home depot)......I always make sure to have at least one bottle on hand.  When you burn rice onto the bottom of your pan, you will thank me for telling you about this!

2.Vaseline Lip Therapy- This stuff if the BEST chapstick EVER! It's completely tasteless and the perfect consistency.  I'll never use the cheap tubes of chapstick ever again, this stuff is about the same price (about $2) & works WAY better.

3. Sephora Makeup Brush #45- I just recently got this after the girl at Sephora used it to try new makeup on me.  She used it for both the foundation and the powder and it really helps pack the makeup in (which girls who need lots of coverage like me would love!) Its really durable and well made and it makes putting on my makeup so quick and easy.  It was about $25 well spent.

4. Bear Paws- For Christmas, Magno got me a pair of UGG boots ($189).  As nice as they were, I couldn't bare the price. Especially for something that would be walking through mud & rain!  So I returned them and for only $39.99 (on sale at nordstrom rack!!) Got bear paws instead.  They were the same exact color as the uggs, they feel like the exact same material, and they are just as comfy and warm.  I think with uggs you pay for the label but these are my everyday go to shoes now that its so cold out.  Couldn't love them more!

5.Downy Infusions- Before Christmas I went to Target and it was a total frenzy.  The lines were a mile long and nothing was where it was supposed to be.  I ran in only for Laundry Detergent, saw this, and grabbed it to go check out. It wasn't until I got home that I realized it wasn't even detergent but laundry softener.  I usually just use the cheap sheets in the dryer, but since I already had this I figured I might as well try it.  I'm glad I did because the smell is amazing!  Everything I put some in the wash my whole house smells delicious.  And I also used some to make DIY fabreze which works amazing!!

1/8 Cup of Your Favorite Fabric Softener 2 Tablespoons Baking Soda Hot Tap Water - To Fill the Bottle to the Top 32oz bottle Shake it up in your Spray Bottle and you're ready to go!

The smell is so fresh and girly and clean.  And the bottle is cute. Win win:)

6. Loreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black-This has been my go-to mascara forever.  Its consistenly good and everytime I switch, i regret it.  It works better than anything I've ever used and it should be in every girls makeup bag.

7. Aztec Healing Clay-I got this at wholefoods a while ago for about $7.  I use it for weekly masks and also for zit spot treatment (I actually leave a dab of it on overnight for a zit and usually it reduces by half the next day).  It's the best mask I've ever used and a unique/cheap product.

So there's my recent favorite things.  Pretty random, I know...but these are all things I couldn't live without=)