Christmas glitter.

Away we go.... day three. I give you the Christmas Eve ensemble. I was completely and merrily in love with this outfit. I felt like a little Christmas ornament myself between the bright red tights, and the sequin skirt. I was also sporting my brand new coach sequin purse! Usually I opt for the bigger, funkier purses, but I adore this one. Its tiny, and shiny, and oh so adorable. Unfortunately, it really does not fit all of my stuff. Well, sometimes fashion takes precedence. Christmas Eve is always our big night in my family. We eat a HUGE Italian meal and make my mom's famous Italian cookies after dinner. It was such a fun night, and by the end everyone was exhausted, including the dogs!







merry christmas! one month late :) happy almost weekend! xoxo

hair sneak peak

So, in honor of a few of you lovely ladies (heres looking at you Kyla *wink wink*) I am posting a small, teeny, little preview of the new do'. Now, for me it was a pretty big change. However, I have had it pointed out to me by close friends and family that it really isn't AS drastic as it seems to me. So before the preview picture I have posted some photos of what my hair looked like going into the trip home.... you have to remember it was WHITE BLONDE!

so, as you can see it was pretty bright, and long... though I usually wore it up like in the below photos. Anyways, I love it a little darker, and in the sun light you can really see the reds and the auburns streaked throughout it now...


ta-da. shorter, and darker. well to me anyways! Since the majority of my posts for the next few weeks still feature the bright hair, I thought I would show you what it looks like so you wouldn't have to wait! xoxo

a day in sonoma

Hello again, and thank you for all of the welcome back love yesterday. I have missed catching up with you immensely! It is wonderful to be back and to be sharing all of my adventures the past month with you. Away we go... Day two. And I apologize for my gratuitous use of the phrase "away we go", but really have you seen that movie? phenomenal. and saying it makes me feel ever so artsy, so just go with it. Anyways, my mom was incredibly anxious and excited to have me staying with her for so long. She has an empty nest, and a husband (hey dad) that is constantly traveling for international business (are you in Germany this week?). While sometimes she gets to tag along (hello Barcelona in two weeks!), mostly she ends up having a ton of time alone. When I used to live in the bay area it was a quick one hour jaunt to get up to wine country to visit her, or a short bart ride to the city to meet up for some theater or shopping. Now that I am a state and a plane ride away, we no longer have our coveted "mother-daughter" time. While I was anxious to see my mom, I was equally anxious to see all of my long lost friends (you know, back from when I had a social life). However, I knew a mom day was in order right off the bat. So after day one (hair escapades), day two consisted of a little wine tasting day.

these were taken in front of our house. how cute is my mom with the giant Christmas ornaments hanging in our front trees? love her holiday spirit. I was also loving my purple ensemble topped with my black, faux fur vest. It has been far too hot to wear this baby in Arizona, so I wasted no time in busting it out of the suit case immediately. rest assured, you will see this vest in many of the photos to come from this trip. you will also be seeing these little boots. I brought 3 pairs of boots with me and kind of set them on a rotation. remember people, only two suitcases to work with here!

we headed over to one of my favorite wineries, Jacuzzi. Its right smack in the middle of the carneros wine strip and its fantastic. seriously, if you are in town don't miss it. It has the most beautiful Italian architecture and it reminds me of sitting at a chateau up at Lago di Garda and sipping prosecco.

my new ride.
HA. gotcha. I wish it was my new ride. that is my mama's hot, little ride. my dad upgraded her to the new audi for Christmas. dear dad, I'm still waiting for mine. is it being shipped to Tucson? I'm hoping that one magical day my mother will tire of this joyous car and hand me the keys in thanks for being such a wonderful daughter. a girl can dream.

oh, another bonus of visiting Jacuzzi? My auntie marie works there, and hooks us up with free olio tasting. whats olio, you ask? olive oil! they make the most delicious oil there and you must go try some. Tell auntie who sent you. :)
now this was a new one for me. they had little, chocolate cups that they poured port into! De-lish! we ended up buying some cups and doing this Christmas eve back at the house.
oh him? yeah, that's my new boyfriend. the ever so hot Christmas butler. don't be jealous.

this is the back of the vineyard. just in case the front wasn't gorgeous enough, right?


we ended the day by driving up the hill to gloria ferrer to sip some champagne. they have one of the best views of the valley and their champagne is killer. hope you enjoyed my day two escapades. ciao ladies and happy tuesday! xoxo

lets take it back

Helllooooo blog land. After a much needed, and much enjoyed hiatus I am happy to be back. :) As you know, I have been at home in San Francisco attempting to see everyone and do everything in the the 35 days that I had there. It was a wild and crazy ride that I needed a few sleepy days in rainy Arizona to recover from. Despite being lonely this past autumn, I had gotten quite used to the quiet, and the solitary schedule. Being back home was wonderful, but it was like being on sensory overload. By the last week I was incredibly tired and had run out of clothes! I ended up bringing only two suitcases in order to challenge myself to be more creative with my outfits. You will notice that for the next few posts of the trip, that my outfits are not as intricate as usual, but fun none the less. I opted to bring lots of solid colors, lots of black, and ALL of my warm clothes that I have been missing with the warm Arizona weather. So with out further ado, I take you back to a month ago when I first arrived in Sonoma. After a 16 hour drive I was ready to get going. My first day back I took a well needed trip to the Spa to visit my girl Carly. She was the genius behind my wedding day hair and she is a stylist extraordinaire. I haven't trusted anyone in Tucson to touch my hair as of yet, so if anyone has a suggestion it would be much appreciated. So, my hair was in fairly dire condition and in desperate need of a cut and color. I had my hair done a few times over the trip and gradually went shorter and darker. On this particular visit I chopped 3 inches off! It was still pretty blonde here, and after just sneaking a look in my mirror, looking at this picture it was still bright blonde. Its much darker now! Some browns, and yes even reds and I'm loving it! Stay tuned for a few weeks and you will get a peak yourselves... So away we go... Day One....






happy monday ladies! xoxo

away we go. to tucson.

I'm back! well, sort of. I have returned from a glorious 35 days back in the bay area and am currently editing a TON of photos to start posting on Monday so that you can all hear about my crazy, Californian adventure. It was beyond helpful to be home, and I have made some life changes over the break that I will share with you soon. :) For now, I am going to share a link with you to my girl, Rene's blog. We cooked up a storm over break and here are our tasty chicken enchiladas. Enjoy! until Monday.... xoxo