Nine Cities I Love

My Top 9 Cities:

1. San Diego, CA - where I fell in love with my husband and met some really amazing friends

2. San Francisco, CA - I love SF with a burning passion...every time I visit, I love it more.

3. Cape Town, South Africa - beautiful city! I loved visiting the botanical gardens and climbing Table Mountain. The view from the top was spectacular!

4. Tokyo, Japan - vibrant, fast-paced, clean, safe, wonderful

5. Paris, France - I love/hate Paris....but I learned a lot from this city and always dream about returning and perfecting my French

6. Modesto, CA - I grew up here. The people make the place: my family <3

7. Amsterdam, The Netherlands - the bikes, the Dutch, the canals--this city is a dream

8. Suncheon, South Korea - my new home for the next year

9. Melbourne, Australia - a place I would love to visit!! the only one on the list I haven't been to

I first saw this picture on my friend Robin's blog. Go check out her top nine cities.

Coat Rack

Is this not the most amazing coat rack you have ever seen???! It's brilliant!

I love it. I want it. I need it.

first seen here

Asia Travel Bucket List

We are moving to South Korea today!!!
It seems so surreal right now. I can't wait to get there and see our new home for the next year! Living in South Korea will give us a great jumping off point to explore the wonderful continent of Asia. Here are my top choices for places to see and things to do in Asia over the next couple of years.

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam - source

Terracotta Army in Xi'an, China - source

Thailand beaches - source

 Thailand temples - source

Thailand culture - source

anywhere & everywhere in Japan - source

Chocolate Hills, The Philippines - source

Bali, Indonesia - source

visit the Ganges River in India - source

Taj Mahal, India - source

Friday Flower - Zinnia

I used to grow zinnias with my mom growing up. :) As you can see, butterflies love them, as well as hummingbirds and bees. They are also good to cut and make arrangements with.

photo sources: 1, 2, 3

My Bridal Shower Ensemble

photo by my dear friend Laura

I've been thinking about doing posts about outfits I've compiled that I really like but I've always been too shy to really post anything. After some encouragement from my friend Jackie (thanks Jack!), I decided to go for it! 

I really loved this outfit that I wore to my bridal shower. I like the trend of mixing different patterns and this is my first attempt to do so. What do you think?? 

Dress: Zara 

Tights: Target

Belt: H&M

Shoes: Nine West

Necklace: can't remember...but probably Target

Sunglasses: promotional (free!), knock-off Ray Bans

p.s. The little girl is Madison Grace, my cousin's daughter and one of my flower girls. Isn't she a cutie!??

An Afternoon in San Francisco

I love San Francisco. 

I love it so much that I will definitely live there some time in my life. Every time I visit, I fall more and more in love with it. I think I might go as far as to say it is my favorite city in the world. I love everything about it. I love the people, the adorable little specialty shops, the bay with the sail boats, the hippies, the trend setters, the abundance of different types of foods, my lovely girlfriends who live there, the Golden Gate in all it's glory, the hills, the bikers, the rainbows, the Wells Fargo ATMs everywhere (very helpful), the fresh air right off the ocean, the museums....I could go on and on!!! 

So, when we found out we had to go into the City to have an interview at the Korean Consulate, I was stoked. We had to be at the consulate after one in the afternoon and in Santa Clara, for my in-law's anniversary celebration, by dinner time. We had one afternoon left in the beautiful city by the bay before moving half way around the world...just one (or so I thought at the time--we are going back this weekend!). We went to the Ferry Building.

 mmm, cheeeese

 orchids, herbs, and a rustic waterfall

 herbs

 bee's wax candles

 wine shop

 enjoying a glass of wine

 enjoying a pint

 It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect!

 Spencer with some heads

 mini daisies in the grass

 the fountain across the street

It was a very fun day!! I'm so excited to go back to visit some friends this weekend before we leave on Monday for South Korea!

Friday Flower - Poppy

I love poppies. It's amazing something so delicate can thrive in such a hectic world.

Jumbo Outdoor Scrabble

source

How fun is this!?? What a great idea for all these warm summer nights we've been having. This is my favorite time of year--right around the summer solstice when the days are the longest of the year. The days are warm and the nights are warm. I know I am going to miss this about Northern California. I just love the way it smells on a warm summer night in the country; it reminds me of being a kid.   

Fun with Harry Potter

I love Harry Potter. (Feel free to call me a dork now!) I don't care if I'm a dork, I think the Harry Potter series is amazing! It is a staple in every kid's library and will be for a very long time. It's legendary.

There have been a lot of fun extras to come along with the HP series. I have two "textbooks." I quote them because those are the thinnest textbooks I've ever read. However, they are also the most interesting text books I've ever read! I also recently spotted a series of books based on the immortal life of Nicolas Flamel, which I need to buy on my Kindle ASAP.

 The witty book covers above were designed by Amy Sly. I wish they were real so badly. I would sooo love to know to obtain resources simply by saying a spell and waving a wand! Plus, my mom used to tell me to "kill him with kindness" whenever I got angry at my brother...I still haven't really mastered that one.

first seen here



Back from the Honeymoon!!

We made it back from Belize! We had an amazing time relaxing, swimming in the warm blue waters, discovering Mayan culture, and relaxing. I'm so grateful we were able to spend a leisurely two and half weeks with the Caribbean on one side of the country and the Central American jungle on the other. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and exploration. Spencer and I are both blogging over at our shiny, brand new travel blog, Destination Exploration. Please go check it out and let us know what you think. We would love some feedback!

We are back in the States and enjoying the comforts of home for the next week or so. As some of you know, we will be moving to South Korea to teach English and we're not sure exactly when we will be leaving but we know it's before July so very, very soon! We are so excited to be embarking on a new life adventure and experience all the craziness that comes with moving abroad. 

We are currently trying to organize all our belongings into four piles: pack and store, sell or donate, trash, and things to take with us to Korea. It's not too difficult since we are keeping only the things we absolutely love and absolutely no furniture. However, we do have a LOT of stuff so it takes a lot of time to go through everything. I'm hoping to be up and blogging on the reg again soon but I hope you understand if I don't post as often as before the wedding. I'm planning on making a couple of wedding posts as well. I want to show you how everything I've been blabbering about for the past 10 months turned out! 

Much love, 

           Maggie