Day 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309 & 310: 365 Project

Autumn has arrived. The trees at church have turned beautiful shades of red, orange, pink and yellow. I really have nothing else to say so just enjoy the pictures! ... And the season.

Yes, for the next month I am going to go picture crazy to meet my 365 goal.

Day 302 & 303: 365 Project

Today, I met my first nephew. He was small, white, fuzzy and closely resembled a puppy. Ok -- he was a puppy. He's Steve and Krista's new little bundle of joy.

Meet Rory:

(Obviously, my phone pictures does not do this pup justice)
This is Rory with Uncle Sam...

Then Krista took out her iPad and put on a couple of cat games that were on there and Rory went crazy trying to catch the fish or pop the balls (or whatever they were)... it was hilarious. 

Other than the puppy fun, thanksgiving was filled with family, food and fun. How cheesy am I to use alliteration?

Tomorrow I get to "give thanks" with my Fresno family. Heading over to Angelica and Stacie's for dinner. Then going to Porterville for Saturday and Sunday. Probably have a Thanksgiving-esque dinner with my family.

Three dinners with family and friends? What's not to thankful for?

I know I am thankful for so many things this year:

My job, even if it is only part time right now. That said job pays really well for entry level. My husband who is so good to me. My family (both Lopez and Furnier). Dark Chocolate. My wonderful friends all over the world (U.S., Brasil, Canada, etc). My church family. Dr Pepper. That I'm finally doing something for my church by doing the bulletin each week and creating various flyers. That I have an affordable roof over my head. Netflix. Potatoes.

What are you thankful for?

Day 301: 365 Project

My day of birth was today, well, in 1987 ... 11:40 a..m. to be exact.
It was a fantastic day.

I worked until noon like I always do. I received three cards and a Regal gift card. Everyone at work is so generous!

Then I drove to Visalia to meet my mom, sister and grandma for lunch. Well, it was a late lunch at Mimi's Cafe. While I waited for them to arrive, I went to Hobby Lobby. I was in there for about an hour and still only managed to look at a fourth of the store. I love that place.

Lunch was tasty. Got some sort of turkey, bacon, avocado and pesto sandwich. Toward the end of our lunch, Stacie was telling us some crazy stories about what people want to return to Kohl's (underwear, used memory foams, etc). It was awful, we were laughing so hard. That's when some lady (60s or 70s) decided that she would inform us that what we were discussing was "not suitable dinner conversation," but she didn't want to ruin our fun. I really wanted to say, "Well then stop eavesdropping on our conversation." I've heard worse in restaurants!

Anyway, I made my way back to Fresno and Sam came home from work. Then we went to Dennys to get me my free birthday Grand Slam.

I got pumpkin pancakes (AMAZING!), hash browns, eggs and sausage. All of it was so very good.

After dinner, we ran a couple errands then came home and are watching Storage Wars on Netflix.

I was also overwhelmingly blessed by everyone's Happy Birthday wishes. Thank you so much!
Overall, it's been a fantastic start to my 24th year.

Day 300: 365 Project

How appropriate that I hit my final project milestone (300) with the picture I am about to share with you.

Today's lunch was of epic proportions. Yes, that's right, I said epic.
Our teaching pastor's family invited Sam and I over for lunch (Christina joined us as well).

Wil made his finest delicacy: Spaghetti Tacos
I'm pretty sure there's nothing greater when it comes to cooking than your pastor making you spaghetti to fill the flat-bottomed taco shells that were specifically bought for this meal.

If you don't know what Spaghetti Tacos are then you need to watch the following video from iCarly:

Verdict? They were actually tasty! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but whoever came up with the idea was onto something. I'd gladly eat them again.

It was such a blessing to get to talk and get to know the Owens family better. It was fun playing around with their two kiddos as they brought out their random toys like American Girl dolls, Legos, animal figurines and a paper hat.

I think whenever we go to Old Spaghetti Factory again  I'm going to order some spaghetti tacos. Well, probably not, but I think the look on the waitresses face would be priceless. Maybe I'll just bring my own taco shells.

Day 299: 365 Project

If I was asked to count the reasons why I love Target, I could not.
Reason?
There are just too many.

I periodically check samples.target.com to see if there are any neat things I can get in the mail. I love getting mail that isn't a bill or credit card offers.

A couple months ago, I requested a sample of beauty products. It never came in, so I assumed it got lost in the mail or something. Today, I went to get the mail, and I saw a box with bullseye all over it, and I knew it had to be my goodie bag.

I'm mostly just excited about the cute bag it all came in. I'll probably use it in my purse. It was such a fun surprise.

I've also decided that in the month of November, I am going to keep every credit card offer I get (Discover, Chase, Capital One). I have a feeling a may have thrown one away since I didn't decide to do this until Thursday, but I think it'll be interesting. Stay tuned on December 1 for the result in that... Not that you care, but I just get a ridiculous amount of credit card offers.

Anyway, if you feel so inclined, check out Target's Sample Section every once in a while. It takes a while for it to come in, but life is always little better when it does.

Day 298 & 299: 365 Project

 Happy Friday!!


Oh who is this little guy peeking his head out... 

oh... just me! Today I wore my new penguin hat that I love so much. I went to Starbucks this morning before work and got a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Oatmeal. Their Oatmeal is very good. It comes with brown sugar, dried fruit and nuts. Amazing.

After work, I went to Target for some things and every time this little girl saw me, she giggled. Now I'm either extremely funny looking with the hat, or she enjoyed that I was wearing my penguin cap. I'd like to think it's the second one there, but it totally made my day! Adorable! 


Happy Weekending.

Day 292, 293, 294, 295, 296 & 297: 365 Project

Men in suits, women in dresses, everyone smoking candy cigarettes and drinking cocktails just cuts the surface in describing this Mad Men themed birthday party. I've never had more fun dressing up for a party than I did for my friend Kristin's birthday party.

Not only was it so much fun to see what these ladies and gents decided to wear to their office party at Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City, but it was wonderfully decorated and well-thought out as well.

First thing I noticed when I walked in was the floor to wall (well, pretty close to being that big) wooden slab with cut out letters reading Sterling Cooper. It was amazing and just like the one on the show.

Kristin's husband, Jeremy, played bartender for the evening making martinis, pomegranate martinis and Old Fashioned. Nothing is more Mad Men-ish than an Old Fashioned, but it's too strong for my taste buds so I enjoyed a pomegranate martini. 

And these are the green olives that complement the regular martinis.

There were even Coke in bottles. Coke always tastes better in a glass bottle.

And my favorite touch was the typewriter. Both the pictures I took turned out blurry, but I'm a firm believer that throwing on a 70s filter can make nearly any picture look good, especially if it's a vintage photograph.

Now, obviously I didn't take the picture below since I'm in it (from left to right these fabulous people are: Stacie, myself, Kristin (birthday girl) and Angelica), but I figured I could take some creative credit on it. I edited it like whoa. I cut off our legs, threw my infamous 1970s on it, and added some smoke to the candy cigarettes. That has to be one of my favorite parts because it looks far too real. 

This is just snapshot of a few of the creative items around their house. Be jealous you weren't there.

Doggie Day 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290 & 291: 365 Project

On Saturday, Angelica, her momma and I went Fresno's fifth annual Pooch Parade in The Tower District. It was so much fun! Now, I don't have a furry friends at home, so it's a lot of fun seeing the cuties run around all dressed up for Halloween.

People got really creative!

 One of the best parts of the entire thing was that they decided to put the dog grass next to the Porta Potty. Pure brilliance!

We walked around and scoped out the cutest doggies. We found Beethoven! Not only just one, but two!

And here we have the ever so angry-looking, and always lovely Pocahontas. 

This next one was my favorite. He was so very cute! Not sure why they put a boy puppy in a yellow dress and butterfly wings though. Either way, I wanted to take him home with me.

There was even a float contest! This person won first place last year and was to try to win again with a really creepy float and an adorable wienie dog.

There was even Mario, Luigi, and Mushroom!

 Then we came across more wienie dogs! Angelica was in Dachshund Heaven! I was going to say she was in wienie heaven, but figured that would be inappropriate.  Let's see, here we have a cowboy, an Indian and an Egyptian Princess.

This little guy was a Raider's player and couldn't even see it seemed. Still cute!

Then we went to Irene's before the Parade to get get some lunch. The lady there actually recognized us. Guess we go there too often. Still home to the best cheese burger I've ever had.

After lunch, we went to see where to stand to get the best view of those in the parade.

I loved the bad witch and Dorothy!

The Flower Float with a Bumble Bee and Lady Bug.

And I'm pretty sure this puppy must have been some unique breed because I've never seen a dog with a cuter face.

We didn't stay to see who won or anything, but it was such a fun afternoon. I loved seeing all the dressed up doggies and their families. So many got so creative, and I look forward to going next year.

Day 279: 365 Project

I can't even believe that it's November 1. It feels like I was just celebrating the New Year with great friends. This little cow calendar friend of mine sits on my desk at work and reminds me what day it is.

I am so happy it's November! Not only is it the month give thanks, spend time with family and friends, and eats a ton of turkey and mashed potatoes, but it's also my birthday month! I've already received coupons from both Hallmark and TGI Fridays. I love getting stuff in the mail that isn't junk or bills. I also cannot wait for my Boy Band Birthday Bash. Yes, I'm reverting back to 14-year-old Michelle, embracing my love of NSYNC, and celebrating my 24th year with some friends. If you're reading this, and didn't receive a Facebook invite, but want to come, let me know. I'm sure I overlooked people because it's just really easy to do on Facebook.

I'm also very behind on my 365 Project, and I officially have two months to complete it. I have blog posts lined up, just have to actually do it.

Topics to look forward to:

1. Pooch Parade
2. Mad Men themed Birthday Party
3. Halloween
4. Work

I'm sure I have some more pictures floating around on my laptop, those are just the ones that come to mind.