I've been running around in this super soft coat for the past couple of days and it puts me in such a fabulous mood.  It not only keeps me warm but feels like a soft hug, I will always be a free spirit and I feel so me in this soft and comfortable coat.  It reminds me of something Carrie would wear from Sex and the City or the Betsy Johnson boutique back in the early 2000s bursting with dresses in colorful fabric and fabulous design.

In some way, all I want in life is to be free and happy and today I feel just like that.

The holidays are in full swing and there are quite a few parties to go to between now and the new year, I'm really enjoying this festive time catching up with friends and decorating my Christmas tree.  The year no doubt has been filled with ups and downs, and some days and weeks are harder than others, but at the end of day I'm always looking for that happy place in my heart where I can genuinely smile and feel the joy within myself.  I think that's really the ultimate goal for myself, to just be happy.

I've been working on my new year business and life plans for the last week or so, but I've also worked hard on my mind set.  It's not always easy and doesn't come naturally to me and some days I feel pretty overwhelmed by life's demands, but just by telling myself to be strong and cancel out the negative thoughts in my mind helps a ton and I always end up feeling energized and ready to work.  In some way, the past few years I've learned a few things about myself and discovered where my inner strength can take me, and I am thankful for life's circumstances that allowed me these personal growth.  I want to be able to take these lessons with me into the new year and so looking forward for more personal and professional growth!

Even without much change in temperature in Southern California, signs of Fall is still everywhere, showing colors in sunlight and falling leaves, and I can already smell the fresh autumn air!

I always say when the temperature cools down it will be a happy change but still sad to see the last bit of summer go.

It's been two weekends in a row that I took the pups to the dog park.  We go after the sun is down so I don't have to bake under the sunlight and get a tan.  They just ran around and barked and played with other pups, I want Bella to be a little more socialized with the other pups and everybody else just plain had fun!  It's kind of hard to believe that a few months ago Kelly was so sick and I had such a stressful time trying to take care of her, and yet here she is again, living a normal healthy life!

I spent the weekend catching up on lots of sleep and taking care of my puppies.  Sometimes doing nothing is a real luxury in life, all I did was cleaning the house, watering the garden and cooking for myself and my puppies, I think they are happy that I'm home with them because they got extra walks and a lot more treats during the day!

I also made my way back to the gym again, it's been such a hectic month and I barely used my gym card at all and I can really feel the difference in my energy level.  I like to set goals for myself at the beginning of every week because otherwise a week would fly by without much being accomplished.  My goal for this week is to at least hit the gym every other day and take a class.  A couple of weeks ago I got this pretty pink Reebok gym bag from Marshall's for $14, it's too cute and too cheap to pass up and now I get to enjoy working out in pink!

Who's got a case of Mondays?  Not me after being supercharged from a weekend of rest and relaxation!

An ordinary week with no notable problems or emergencies feel like such a blessing... aside from the side bumper of my car got messed up by someone in the parking lot, but it wasn't something that urgently required fixing like a flat tire and so I decided to just not worry about it.  

With summer here I try to take everyone out on a big long walk at least once a day.  They have a nice backyard to run around but it's almost a crime not to walk your dogs because they love it so much and think it's so much fun.  It's also great exercise for me as well!  I always try to tell myself that time is there to do everything you want to do, so it's really important to manage it well!

Sometimes during the walk I pick flowers off the bushes by the side walk, these pretty flowers fit perfect in my tiny vintage crystal vase and there are endless supply of flowers during summer time.  I really have to say even with the heat I do love California summer, something about seasonal fresh fruit, glistering sea, warm sunshine and BBQ parties that just makes it so absolutely amazing!

Typical day...

I wore this 1960s vintage pendant to work yesterday and everyone seemed to like it.  It's a beautifully made piece and has very pretty pink cabochons.  I'm really having a moment with 60s fashion, and I wonder why they haven't made a strong come back like the 50s fashion.  

For dinner last night I made steak with peas and macaroni salad.  I'm so clumsy at cooking, now that I hardly cook it gets even worse, but at least I try!

Entertainment in the evening came from amazon prime.  I've just discovered Goldie Hawn's early movies and they are absolutely delightful.  I don't know about other people, but just having some peace and quiet at the end of a long work day is heaven for me!  

Well, it certainly has been a while since I checked in here, but today feels like the right time to pick it up again!  Mostly I miss writing down tidbits of my life without causing a big deal on social media. 

Kelly had a major health scare recently.  It started with me coming home late one night and noticing that her belly was bloated and she wasn't moving at all.  I decided to check her into an emergency vet clinic in case something was wrong and to my shock the vet told me to put her down.  Either that or I had the option for surgery but she might not survive the surgery.  She ended up being operated on around mid night to have her uterus removed, and she stayed hospitalized for three days and three nights.  Since the emergency clinic closes at 7:30 am, for several days I was responsible for transferring her between two different clinics day and night so she could be monitored.  

The first night she came home with me I honestly thought she wasn't going to make it and just to my luck the power was out in my neighborhood for hours so I sat in the dark with a dying puppy making scary noises I'd never heard before with her tongue stretched out under a little flicker of candle light.  The next morning I found Kelly sleeping next to me and was actually making some movements and she seemed to be gaining a bit of energy.  She's still got 22 staples on her little belly and we are going to get another vet check in a week or so, but she is slowly making some progress.

In any case, after a whole lot of that going on it just seemed like a good idea to deep clean the house to get all that stressful energy out.  I was up at the crack of dawn this morning and it was drizzling rain outside, and I just started going from room to room changing off beddings and curtains and throwing away medical syringes and pill bottles and whatever stuff that came home with Kelly from the vet.  It seems like home is a great place to start if you want to shift the energy in your life.  

Can't complain on a day when you get delicious coffee and a casual card reading.  I saw a large flock of hummingbird while sitting outside, it was a particularly beautiful morning to just relax and hang out with friends. 

Something weight heavily on my mind the past few weeks.  I found two pin sized lump under Kelly's nipple and decided to take her in to get it checked out.  After taking her to two veterinarians for different opinions, both recommended surgical removal.  One vet also very firmly said she should get spayed at the same time, which to me just seemed way too aggressive to have surgical procedures at two different locations at the same time.  I eventually opted for removal of the lumps and having her teeth cleaned at the same time with the second vet.  

Leading up to the day of her surgery I was a nervous wreck.  She couldn't eat anything the night before and we had to get to the vet first thing in the morning to get prepped.  I waited an hour and half until her blood work and x rates are looked at by the vet and made sure she was ok to proceed.  Turned out she had to have one of her nipple carved out completely, and the cut was almost two inches.  When I picked her up after the surgery it really hit me hard because the large cut was so scary looking and she was totally spaced out.

After I got her home I cooked some chicken mixed with oatmeal and veggie and she was a good little eater and gobbled it all up. We just sort of watched movies and hangout on the couch without doing much.  Honestly by early evening I was pretty exhausted too.

Yesterday the lab results came out and the two tiny tumors were benign, so I just breathed a long sigh of relief.  We all got a bit shaken up this week and with both me and my pups in pretty poor shape lately, it's really got me to think about how I can maybe improve the quality of our health a bit.

Took this picture as I was walking out of late dinner at a local Italian restaurant couple nights ago.  I had just finished work late and whenever I'm tired and hungry I have no willpower to cook something healthy.  I ordered a plate of spaghetti and a glass of wine and finished my dinner just as the restaurant was closing up and all the guests were leaving.  It was very nice to step into the cool breeze of the night and the streets were sleepy and quiet.  Moments like this make everyday life feel like a bit of adventure. 

Summer is approaching, though I have no time to do any of the fun summer activities.  It's come to the point that life has no more stories except work, work and work.  I would love to go on a couple of road trips this year and just improve my overall quality of life and be more active and healthy, in fact, I think that will be my resolution for the second half of the year.

Sunday was spent watching chick flicks with my puppies, went for some vintage shopping and ate delicious cuban food.  I really feel recharged and refreshed after some good rest.

And of course, when you have puppies you find silly things like bunnies and pink tennis balls on the couch, it's like a little kiss right on my heart!  

I got knocked out by a cold for the whole weekend, so I canceled all the work appointments and slept pretty much two days and two nights.  It seemed that I just completely lost time, waking up at weird hours like 1pm or 9pm for some food and water and then headed straight back to bed! Apparently that was what I needed, after some solid good rest and actual nutritional food, I felt so much better.

Eating healthy really does it for me, I mean, one or two meals of healthy leafy greens and I immediately feel it in my system, and sometimes I go by for weeks without freshly prepared food, perhaps I should take this as a warning and start taking better care of myself.  After all, what do we have if we don't have health?

Can't get over how beautiful these flowers are!

Day dreaming a little bit with Kelly. I rescued a little dog today, his owner will come pick him up later this afternoon!

As much as I complained about having to drive around and make time when there's no time when my father is here, it is nice to have family around after all. I eat three meals a day like a normal person instead of sipping on a latte all day long, I got some tips on cooking stir fried vegetables, and my dog pee stained carpet was deep cleaned, plastic spoons were replaced by real cooking utensils, and dirt that was piling up in all corners of the house magically disappeared like they all of a sudden decided to take a hike.
Tonight my father cooked some pretty damn authentic Chinese dinner and invited my boyfriend to eat with us. This was a pretty big deal, I'd never eaten a dinner with my boyfriend cooked by my parents before, it was real nice, and I don't just mean the food.

Working from home too much makes me grumpy! Does anyone else ever feel like there are things missing in life but you can't quite pin down what it is? I have been thinking about doing a totally different type of job from music for a long time now, eh, not happening for the next few months though, as I've got to get a few unfinished things out of my hands first. Maybe it's the nature of people thinking grass is always greener on the other side, I'm really begin to feel like giving music lessons from home is not my true calling for the rest of life. Considering of having a full on career change from something you've grown so accustomed to is scary, kind of like facing a black hole and have no idea what's going to come out at the other end. But since I'm in my late 20's, if something is going to happen it will have to be pretty soon, isn't it?

Happy Friday, I can't believe it's here already.