I'm a Lucky Duck

 See this guy above? That's my brother Ammon. 

He surprised me this year for Christmas with a trip

to NYC to go to fashion shows & to play in the city with him. 

I was beyond excited! 

I LOVE NYC!!

Ammon, Carlo, & I had the best four days! 

We always laugh, spaz out, and create a million memories when we are together. Ammon went out of his way to make me feel special & spoiled all week long. We went to the Broadway Billy Eliot, ate at the most fabulous restaurants in the city, ate Carlo's famous ribs, shopped, went to the Guggenheim museum, I met more of Ammon's friends & most importantly I was finally able to meet Carlo's brother! Although half of the time I was freezing to death, we never stopped having fun.

The highlight of the trip was, of course, the fashion. 

I know people think I'm bizarre for how interested I am in all things fashion related, but I can't help it.

So, from people watching in the street---to models & fashion shows--to after parties--

I had my fill of fashion!

Marc Jacobs has always been one of my absolute favorite designers. He is so talented & so inspiring. 

When we were at his show I got chills, as cheesy as it sounds, I totally did. 

It was amazing, like a dream. Being surrounded by it consumed me.

After the fashion show we went to the private after party. 

A sit down dinner with Marc Jacobs & Robert Duffy, their closest friends,

& key people on their teams and in the industry.

The party was amazing. Beautiful. The Scissor Sisters played live. 

All was perfect & I was still pinching myself. 

Then...

I had the opportunity to meet the designer himself.

"Marc, I'd like to introduce you to one of my good friends...this is Mari"

I practically passed out! 

SERIOUSLY!?! AM I MEETING MARC JACOBS?!

Luckily, I kept calm & had a short but amazing conversation with 

MARC FREAKING JACOBS!

Are you dying? Cuz I am still dying over it!!!

It was, without a doubt, one of the best nights of my entire life.

That's the condensed version of the trip. It was wonderful & I still can't believe it happened.

I feel so LUCKY!!

Thanks to my big brother Ammon, I was able to have one of my life-long dreams come true. I love you Amms, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Amms doing my hair for the fashion shows...I love the expression on his face! Such concentration!

The Marc Jacobs after party

shopping in SoHo

Look at his cute Bow-tie!

After Party Dinner

Guggenheim Museam

We take a pic in Times Square every time I come to visit, it's a tradition!

More of the after party

a place pretty to rest our heads

 This year for Valentines Day Chris & I are giving each other a gift that keeps on giving. A new bed! We are overdue for a new mattress & since the one we want is a bit pricey, we decided to have no gifts this Vday and instead get a bed. 

Call us old & boring, but we are pretty excited about it. 

I have been trying to decide what new bedding to get! Below are the ones I've narrowed it down to, I like all of them. I like them by themselves, I like them mixed together (all of those lovely sheets mixed with the solid quilts!).

Give me your vote, tell me what you think would be cute together. 

I want your help! 

I love the idea of an all ivory bed, I also love throwing in color & mix 'n matching.

Decisions, decisions.

 This one can be found here for more photos/detail

 This one can be found here for more photos/detail

 

  click here for more photos/details of this style

 click here for more photos/details of this style

and the sheets.....

I heart my job

The best part about my job? The people. Hands down. They are talented, funny, creative, and inspiring. I love how everyone is unique & brings something completely different to the team. Outside of work they are a second family.  Last week the Irvine Anthro Team & the Newport Team joined forces and threw a big bash. We had reps of AG fly in from NYC (AG....you know, the most amazing denim brand out there?)  & 160 RSVP's...a fashion show full of spring looks and key AG pieces, a champagne bar, waiters carrying trays of lovely goodies, and a DJ. The event was a blast & it was so great spending time with all of the lovely ladies from both stores. I have had the privilege of working at both stores & getting to know the girls (and guys!) at both. I LOVE them all. (Of course I forgot my camera, so these are pics from others & my cell. ) The night was great & the event was a huge success. What can I say? I love my job.

These are photos of the current anthro window display, inspired by fashion & art.

They are made from paper & hangers, that's it. Amazing, right?

Seeking New Music!

I am tired of my current playlists. I

love it if you would comment with 5 or 15 of your favorite songs to work out to! 

(you may also add non-work out music if you so wish:) ) 

I am trying to keep my goal of working out a minimum of 3x per week & music is what gets me through it! 

Please help! Share your tunes!

Dreams Do Come True Ya Know!

A boy once said that to me in Jr High, actually, he shouted it...but that's beside the point. Sometimes dreams DO in fact, come true.

Rewind one year ago today. I was on my couch, drugged, most likely texting something crazy to one of you, and still under the delusion that I would be recovered in 6 to 8 weeks. 

I also thought I'd be flying to NYC to live a lifelong dream of going to Fashion Week. (insert heart breaking sound here) And I thought I'd be healthy enough to run the Ragnar Relay, a race I'd been dying to run, that coming April. (insert you-really-thought-that?! here). ...I was oh so very wrong to believe these things would happen so soon after my surgery.

 BUT...

MY DREAM IS STILL COMING TRUE!!!!

Thanks to the good graces and gosh-darn-good-freaking-lucky-life of my brother Ammon I will be attending Fashion Week in just two short weeks! Will I cry? Possibly...Will I pee my pants because I'm so excited? Wouldn't surprise me...Will I be so cold I will want to die? Definitely.

New York, I love you. I can't wait to be together again. I'm just so excited!!

As for the Ragnar Relay...well, I wouldn't go as far as calling it a dream...more like something I really wanted to do....hmmm, for lack of a better word let's just call it a goal. I have signed up with a team of ladies here in SoCal to run this crazy 180mile relay race this coming April. I am TERRIFIED!! I am excited too. I can barely run a mile, obviously I have got some major work to do.
I am so happy to feel like I'm finally going to DO IT! 

So....Here I am, a year later, in the same place but with a totally different view. 

(and hopefully a totally different outcome!)

Ba-nanas!!

Squeeeee!!!

These ladies arrived on my porch today! Aren't they just lovely? 

And they don't hurt my feet. 

GASP!

I know right?

It was fate.

Worst Blogger...Ever?

Hi, my name is Mari. I'm married to a wonderful man, his name is Chris. 

Have we met?

Oh that's right,  I have this blog, I am supposed to use it as a journal...you know, because keeping a journal is good. (I really wanted to type journaling right there, btw) Keeping a journal is great for so many reasons. We keep a blog because it's easier than whipping out a pen and paper, also because pictures are cool.

So this journal blog it's mostly for us....you're (our friends and family) just icing on the cake.

So, why am I such a slacker? 

"Only the shadow-man knows" (that's what Chris would say, betcha ten bucks)

It's 2011, January in fact, seems to me like a great time to re-commit and repent.

So here it is...my quick, condensed, catch-up-to-date post. 

I sky dived, it was awesome and equally terrifying.  One of the best experiences of my life. We went for Ash's bday, and let me tell you...it was a MEMORABLE experience. The entire time you're asking yourself why in the world you are doing this...and then after you think...oh my gosh, that was awesome, but also very very scary. haha.

 Christmas came & went. We spent this lovely holiday season with the Spiker side. Christmas Eve was filled with Spiker fun at Grandma Rita's. Christmas Day was spent with Peterson fun, we made cookies and everyone gushed over sweet Lucy.

 Apparently living at the beach doesn't mean you shouldn't travel away to a different beach. Which is what we did. Dec 26th came and we were off to the sunshine in Cancun, Mexico. We spent one lovely week there. Chris didn't work (gasp!) and it was relaxing and fun. Chris' parents and Luke were there, and we missed the rest of the bunch :( Luke was hilarious the entire time. Linda & Steve were as sweet and fun as always. Chris and I actually got to hang out. Amazing. It went by far too quickly, we had a ton of fun, and ate way too much food. Do I even need to say that packing up was difficult? We didn't ever want to leave! We celebrated the New Year and came home the 2nd of January to a very rainy CA.  It was a perfect setting for our "back to work & back to reality", boo!