Category: Uncategorized

Oh hi, here’s an update on my life in bullets. Because bullets are fun and I am lazy.

• I’m 1.5 months into treating my lifelong psoriasis with Enbrel. So far the side effects have been, on a scale from Fucking Miserable to YAY NOTHING, about a Not Fun. Nausea the day after each injection, weird itchy red spots where I inject and CRAZY oily skin. Oh yes, INJECT. I’ll have to write about the time I gave myself the first shot and I had to sit on the floor because I was scared I’d pass out. That was fun!
• Tonight I ate half a pecan pie for dinner.
• We got a new kitten named Agent Romanoff she is equal parts adorable and asshole. She’s adorable most of the time. She’s an asshole between the hours of 11:00PM and 5:00AM.
• I bought a Nest Cam so that I can spy on the dogs when we’re not home except it turns out that dogs are actually incredibly boring once you leave and just sleep on the couch all day. And when you use the Nest Cam’s speaker to tell them to get off the couch they look the camera straight on, lick their genitals, roll over, and fall back asleep. They are so boring that I’m seriously considering buying one of the outside cameras so that I can spy on my neighborhood instead.
• I bought a camera that takes really decent video and have been uploading more to my YouTube channel. I’m considering doing a weekly vlog type thing (I don’t get how people do that DAILY) but we’ll see. It’s more work than I thought it would be and most of it is Cassidy and I making fart jokes and singing gangster rap in my car or her rolling her eyes at my Mom Jokes.
• I finally started watching Poldark because so many of my friends loved it. I too loved it till the last episode and now I hate Ross. I might have to acquire the last episode to just get it over with before it’s release here in the US because I just want closure and for it to be over. I can’t remember the last time I was so disappointed in a fictional character. GODDAMMIT, ROSS.
• I really want to write more but there are video games to play and Ben just said there is still pie left.

The End.

Just kidding! I have another giveaway coming soon! That was fun and I’m excited to do one again! Stay tuned!

Now really, The End.

Hello, my name is Anna and I am a LUSH addict.

I had to order some new shampoo last week so I decided to order something extra to do a little giveaway. YAY FREE STUFF! I loved this Little Monster immediately so I got one for one of you.

I tried to add as many ways to enter as I could for free with the Gleam app. Contest goes till October 9th at midnight. Good luck!

LUSH Halloween Giveaway

Mandatory Disclaimer: I bought this Little Monster myself with my own money. It is not sponsored by anybody or any company.

I fell in love with Chihuly glass the day I walked into our medical group’s new building in Palo Alto and there was a three story glass sculpture installed in the lobby. I was running late to an appointment and I just stood there staring at it in absolute awe. I can’t express why I find his work so fascinating, before that day I had never even heard of Chihuly, I just knew that I had some kind of weird emotional response to this art hanging in front of me and I never wanted to move from that spot. After I learned who the artist was I read everything I could find about him online and where his work was in the Bay Area and made it a point to seek it out when ever possible. I once lost my family at the Monterey Bay Aquarium because I got so lost in my own head in his exhibit there.

When I decided to tag along with Ben on his work trip to Seattle, knowing I’d be on my own a lot, I did some research to see what all there was to do in the area. First thing I found was Chihuly Garden and Glass and I got irrationally excited. I asked Ben if he wanted me to wait for him to do it on a day he could go to and he wasn’t really interested so I decided right away it would be the FIRST thing I did.

And it was. And it was AMAZING.

I’m not going to get into the ridiculous range of feelings I had while walking through the exhibit but it was pretty powerful for me. Before then I never really understood people that had an emotional connection to art. It just didn’t make any sense to me. But it does now. I sat in one room in a corner and just stared at this HUGE room, full of glass pieces of all shapes and sizes and colors, soft angles and hard angles, long sweeping pieces, balls of different colors and sizes, huge pieces all intertwined and chaotic but somehow in complete harmony and I thought, this is my brain. All the time. A mess of fragile jumbled pieces that somehow all work together to make complete sense. I never wanted to leave that room. Ever.

I was really happy that I ended up doing it alone so that I could FEEL all this stuff. It was absolutely the highlight of the trip and I can’t wait to go back someday so that I can show it all to Ben. And I REALLY want to do it all again at night. I think the garden would be magical.

SO! Here are some of my favorite photos (you can see the whole album here) and I made a little video too. I really love the idea of having video reminders of awesome times so expect to see more of them in the future!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wearsafe for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

In just 3 short days Cassidy will walk onto campus and attend her first class as a college Freshman. It is so hard to wrap my mind around that fact that my baby is a college student! I am so proud of her and so excited to see where this new adventure leads her as she makes new friends, learns new skills and life lessons, and is faced with new challenges as she tries new experiences.

I’m not going to lie though, it’s a moment I’ve been equally excited about and dreading. Did we do all we need to do as parents to prepare her for this adult world? Sure she knows how to cook her own food and do her own laundry and she’s just started learning how to pay her own bills. But you still worry as a parent! Are they eating? I know she’ll do that! That kid LOVES food! Does she have clean clothes to wear? Of course! She’s been doing her own laundry for years! Is she paying her bills! I hope so but she has an emergency credit card if anything pops up she can’t handle on her own.

My biggest question as she leaves to live this new independent life is: Is she safe?

But now I don’t have to worry about that because we are equipping her with the new wearable device called WearSafe. It’s a small, inconspicuous device that can alert a set group of people about a possible dangerous situation without drawing any attention at all. With just the push of a button it sends your location and audio without anybody around you even realizing it, while vibrating when your trusted contact views your information to let you know that help is on the way.

So Cassidy can press a button and Ben and I, and whoever else she has in her trusted network, can HEAR what is going on and see exactly where she is. Then, from a group chat we can coordinate to get her whatever help she needs on the way immediately. So before a situation even has the chance to escalate, she’ll know that we are there with her and are sending help. This has brought me so much peace of mind as she enters what will be long nights of study sessions, work and, yes, even those popular college parties.

Here she is with is clipped to her leggings. You wouldn’t even know it’s there if I didn’t point it out. It also comes with an attachment to put it on your car keys.

After setting it up we tested it out and it was so easy to use. After Cassidy hit the button I received an email, which also sent to my Apple Watch, and a text message alerting me that she was in need of assistance. I was immediately able to access her location on a map and start playing an exceptionally clear audio file that recorded everything that we were saying. I was also easily able to chat with her. Here is a screenshot of the really intuitive user interface.

The very best part? The device is FREE! You pay a $5.00 per month subscription fee but right now you can try it free. If you have kids you are sending off to college, or any kids really, I highly suggest checking it out for your own peace of mind.

Hi all, hope your July was awesome! Mine started out pretty rough but ended with me in a pretty dang good place. If you do a favorites type blog post or vlog, definitely let me know in the comments because I love reading and/or watching them!

S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst: $22.47
Ben’s coworkers originally told him about this book when they were discussing 10 Cloverfield Lane at dinner one night. The book S. was conceived by J.J. Abrams and written by Doug Dorst and you can really feel J.J.’s influence on it. I don’t want to give too much away, Ben told me to not read anything about the book before reading it and I didn’t. So you shouldn’t either. Buy it, read the outside of the box, then dive into the book. I will admit a LITTLE bit of disappointment at the end but the journey to get there is well worth it!

Too Faced Primed & Poreless: $30.00
I’ve been battling super oily skin for about… 37 years now? My mom tells me that she was the same way and that when I go through menopause my skin and hair will dry out and I think I’m the only woman in the world that’s actually looking forward to going through that change! In one respect I’m lucky because I look younger than I am because the oil keeps my skin from wrinkling at all. In all other respects it SUCKS. I really hate how oily my face gets by the end of the day and the large pore look that’s common with oily skin so I picked up some of this Too Faced Primed & Poreless and I LOVE IT. There is a more matte version for sensitive skin that I’ve heard is supposed to be even better for oily skin so I might try and pick some of that up eventually but I have to use such a small amount I don’t think I’ll need any new primer for a good 6 months!

Best Internet Video: FREE! & Pokémon Go!: FREE!
I am a Pokémon Go fangirl. NO SHAME HERE #TeamMystic So when I came across this video the other day I watched it over and over and over. I LOVE it. When Jeanine, Julie and her boys and I were all Pokémon hunting this weekend we did this dance quite often. Nobody even looked at us like we were weird because the Pokémon family is awesome. Surrounded by other players, everybody interacting, talking, laughing, having fun and exploring. I know Niantic is taking a lot of heat but, honestly, videos like this one and the kind of awesome experience I had this weekend, TOTALLY WORTH IT. No app launches without some glitches and I’m excited to see how the game grows in the future.

I’d been trying since yesterday morning when I first saw the story about Dani Mathers to write a blog post about it but no matter how hard I tried I wasn’t able to properly convey just how I felt about it. On the way home today I figured I might as well just sit down and talk it out on video. So here you go. My take on this which TL;DR is Don’t Be Dani Mathers!

Also, I was two glasses of Moscato in at this point so. There’s that.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Celluwipes for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you know the amount of bacteria on an average cell phone is 10 times higher than the amount of bacteria on a toilet seat!? I wasn’t really aware till I watched this video from Celluwipes and promptly threw my phone across the room in disgust. I mean, let’s face it, we’re all sitting on the toilet playing Two Dots these days. Even if you wash your hands after doing the deed, there are airborne particulates galore floating around in there and they will land on everything.

*shudder*

Then I started thinking about all the times I’ve sneezed with my phone in my hand. Or spent time in the hospital. Or set it down on the counter at a store. All these scenarios running through my head was enough to sell me on a wipe that’s safe for electronics and also kills bacteria, germs and viral organisms! And according to all the Amazon reviews they aren’t super wet like other cleaning wipes you’ve come to know and love. So they clean electronics (not just cell phones but your PDA, MP3s, smart phones, digital cameras, or handheld gaming device) safely and quickly! Make sure to enter the Rock Your Phone Giveaway they are having right now too! They are offering up some awesome prizes like a Moment Lens & Case!

I’ve been in a low place. I’m struggling. It sucks. But I put on my brave face every day and carry on and try as hard as possible not to let it affect the people around me. Yesterday at the post office they lost a “certified letter” I received a notice for. Certified letters are generally pretty important so I was standing at the counter trying not to fall apart emotionally but I just kept smiling and telling them to take their time and be thorough. It took them about 25 minutes to figure out it was just a package of Shakeology and had been mislabeled. As I left the manager thanked me for being so patient and nice during the wait.

Then I sat in my car in the parking lot and cried for 10 minutes.

And this post isn’t about seeking comfort. If I thought you could do that I’d tell you how but I know better. What I do want to do is just to remind everybody to remember that everybody is going through something. Everybody.

Today on the way home from work I noticed a lot of SJPD bike cops and patrol cars heading North and I remembered that there was a funeral procession today for officer Michael Katherman and they must be heading back into town after the funeral which was in Gilroy. I decided to take the back way home because traffic was building up ahead and saw what must have been 50 or more guys on Harleys with American flags. Most of them had larger American flags rolled up and stored on their bikes.

And I had to pull over and take a second to breathe through the tears.

I know they weren’t there to support me. They don’t even know that I exist. But just the thought that these people all showed up to stand on the side of the road, flags waving, saluting this fallen hero as he passed made my heart swell. That there is so much love in the world was a little overwhelming. That there was so much love in this world out there directed at a COMPLETE STRANGER was I guess exactly what my heart needed right now in the wake of my personal problems, and mass shootings, and an annoyingly volatile campaign raging on.

So this is just your reminder to be nice. I know you have stuff happening in your life too. We all do. EVERYBODY.

But your simple smile. Your simple Thank You. Your simply holding the door for the person behind you. You have no idea how powerfully these tiny simple gestures can be to a stranger.

Somebody had a miscarriage today.
Somebody lost a pet today.
Somebody got laid off today.
Somebody’s car broke down today.
Somebody got devastating cancer news today.
Somebody lost their house in a fire today.
Somebody had to bury their fallen hero today.

Just be nice. It’s so easy to do.

All photos thanks to: Emilia Horta Designs and Photography

I’ve been going through some personal behind the scenes stuff so while Ben was out of town last week I decided make some time to get out in nature and took the dogs for some hikes. I left my ear phones at home so that I wouldn’t be tempted to tune out to podcasts. Just me and the dogs and the wind and the birds and my thoughts on a hike. It was awesome.

And in true Anna fashion, blonde moments were had. On Sunday I decided to do a favorite hike that I don’t do NEARLY enough and hit up the UVAS hike. It’s a challenging hike but shaded and beautiful and has waterfalls which is rare in California. Water that isn’t salty is a novelty.

Before I even left I had to go back up the stairs about 15 times. Forgot the bug spray is upstairs. Forgot my socks upstairs. Forgot my sunglass upstairs. Found my shoes finally upstairs, etc. For a second I was like HIKE DONE! But then just laughed it off and just a really good warmup.

The normal loop I do at UVAS is a 2.6 mile loop and when I got to a point where I would normally take a turn, I looked at the map and saw a trail I had never taken before called Triple Falls and decided to check it out. It was going to add about 2.5 miles but my legs were feeling great, the dogs were still full of energy and it was such a beautiful day outside so I went for it.

The last .2 mile was TOUGH, lots of short but very steep uphill climbs to the base of the falls and I was really happy to see the marker at the end of the trail. I’m glad I did though, it was a beautiful trail, the views from the hills were AMAZING and the falls at the end were fun for the dogs to splash around in to cool off and get a good drink.

I sat on the ground and ate a banana while the dogs chases each other around, splashing through the water. It was deserted and quiet and peaceful and cool and exactly what I needed.

On the way back down that .2 mile trail I felt energized and also very happy to be going DOWN now instead of UP. The dogs were jumping around and chasing each other back and forth and just being silly dogs. It wasn’t till I got to the end of that trail section that I thought I should put them back on leash because I had seen people before on that section of the trail… and that the leashes were not with me. They were .2 miles back UP the trail where I had been sitting to enjoy some quiet time.

Red is the line I normally take. The arrows are where I let my blonde out.

DAMMIT!

So I hiked back up, which the dogs thought was AWESOME because MORE WATER PLAYTIME. More time to think. More time to listen to the world around me. More time to enjoy life. More.

So here is the point of this post. This is why I hike. And also why I need adult supervision.

This is where I left the leashes:

Yesterday Ben and I pulled into a Starbucks drive through and I saw that they have S’mores frappuccinos.

S’MORES. FRAPPUCCINOS. YOU GUYS!

Me: Can they make frapps with soy milk?
Ben: I’m sure but you can ask.
Me: I want a grande soy caramel frappuccino with no whipped cream.

So Ben pulls up to the magic talking order box.

Ben: Can you do frappuccinos with soy milk?
Magical Talking Order Box: Yes!
Ben: Okay, I’ll have a venti s’mores frappuccino with soy and no whipped cream.
Me: *HOLY SHIT BEN IS ORDERING A FRAPPUCCINO! QUICK, LOOK AT ALL THE SNOW IN HELL!*
Magical Talking Order Box: There’s whipped cream on the bottom, that’s what makes it “s’mores”, so you don’t want that either right?
Ben: There can be NO DAIRY at all in the drink.
Me: Wait, are you ordering this for me!?
Ben: *The Look*
Me: I wanted a CARAMEL frap with no whipped cream.
Ben: I’m sorry, can I make that a CARAMEL frapp? My wife has said a lot of things.
Me: Grande.
Ben: *The Look. AGAIN.*

I got a venti soy caramel frap with no whipped cream. And a lot of looks.

Then as we were pulling up to the window I pulled up my app so that he could use it to pay and set it on the center console. Then he pulled almost PAST the window which I thought was odd but he joked with the barista about it and off she went to make our drink.

Then he got his debit card out to pay.

Me: Wait, no use the app.
Ben: *more of The Look*
Me: No REALLY. Use the app, it’s 11 points!
Ben: *smile*
Me: BEN! I NEED YOU TO USE THE APP. WE NEED THE POINTS FOR FREE COFFEE.
Ben: *still smiling*
Me: WHY AREN’T YOU SAYING ANYTHING! BEN! IT’S 11 POINTS! I JUST GOT A FREE COFFEE! YOU NEED TO USE THE APP!
Ben: *laughing hysterically*
Me: THIS IS NOT FUNNY! THIS IS VERY SERIOUS. BEN, I’M SERIOUS! YOU HAVE TO USE THE APP!
Barista: It will just be a second.
Me: DON’T TAKE THE CARD! I HAVE MY PHONE!
Ben: *laughing harder*
Me: OMG IS THIS WHY YOU PULLED UP SO FAR SO I COULDN’T SEE THE BARISTA AND TELL HER TO TAKE MY PHONE!
Ben: Yep!
Me: BEN I’M SERIOUS! YOU’RE MAKING ME CRY!
Ben: You’re crying because you are laughing so hard.
Me: BUT STILL! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?
Ben: Because you are predictable and I knew it would be funny.
Me: But you’re paying with my phone, right?
Ben: I was never going to use my card.
Me: I HATE YOU SO MUCH!
Ben: *grin*
Me: SO MUCH!

PS – I don’t really hate him. He teases my like this daily. DAILY.