genius mysterius.

m'girl susan is uber crafty and uber fabulous. true story. i'm obsessed with these mysterious moustache wallets she's crafted. genius! at only $15, you NEED one...or maybe two or maybe five. email the lady at suezpetersen@gmail.com.

bring it on.

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can't get enough.

i'll admit, i wasn't crazy about fidelity but regina spektor finally won me over when she teamed up with ben folds for you don't know me. this week (i'd like to think in honor of my birthday), npr's all songs considered offered up a first listen of her new album. i'm obsessed. it's too early to pick a favorite but it might be folding chair or blue lips or human of the year. jury's still out but i'll keep you posted.

give it a listen.

the joy of baking.

after last week's burnt marshmallow topping fiasco (which was in no way related to the fabulous dash of sass recipe and directly related to my ADD tendencies), i was ready for something new. enter joy the baker.


red velvet black and white cookies. yes, that's right. all light and cakey and sweet and delicious. make them. now. do it. your friends will love you more than they ever thought possible.

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el. ooh. vee. ee.

.
i picked these up at the vans outlet during our weekend o' santa barbara. aren't they fabulous?! i heart them.

travelin' fool.

last weekend, i was in santa barbara with these guys:


this weekend, i'll be in costa mesa with these guys (or gals, rather):


next weekend, i'll be in denver with this guy:


and the weekend after that, i'll be in georgia with these guys:


i'm just a travelin' fool.

there ain't nothin' like a dame.

i want to get good enough at singing that people will start calling me "dame paula peralta" in my day to day interactions. how cool would that be? somethin' to work toward, i reckon.



dame janet baker is the boom. the way she wraps her lips around every word is incredible. and that voice...oh, that voice! so gloriously beautiful.

happy best friends day.

i have many many GREAT friends. they are all huge blessings in my life and i lean on them all at different times. each of them has incredible qualities that make me a better person just for knowing them. but i only have one best best BEST friend.


much like mary poppins, my friendship with miss martha ostergar is practically perfect in every way. true story. i mean, besides the fact that she left me for the mountains of provo, utah and that i now have abandonment issues. yes, all that aside, our friendship is perfect.


we're not together and that's hard for me to deal with sometimes. i miss her. i also i take a huge amount of solace in knowing that she's as desperate for me as i am for her (i mean, EVERYONE knows that people in provo are NOT funny). absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder but every time i see m'peanut, i discover that our friendship is so much more fabulously fulfilling than i remembered. it's good to have that with a friend.


i'm a lucky, lucky girl.

zack attack.

seth was JUST telling me about the jimmy fallon show. if this tidbit is any indication of what's in store, pretty sure i'm settin' my dvr to record. hee-larious!

no business like show business.

so i missed the tony awards last night (i know, i know, how COULD i?!), only to find out that m'good friend, santino fontana, as part of the cast of billy elliot, won the 2009 tony award for best musical! how cool is that?!

confession: i'll probably see new moon.

i don't love twilight. the book was okay for what it was. the movie was HORRIBLE. and yet somehow, i ended up seeing it twice in the theater and once at a movie night with my girlfriends who hadn't seen it yet. meh. but, as i'm sure you know, the series has a cult following.

so after much anticipation, mtv premiered the new moon trailer on sunday. it sucks.



but this little beauty almost makes me want to watch it again. almost.



there's something about fanaticism that i love. i just love being surrounded by people that are SO passionate about silly things. well, i guess silly is relative, right? anyway, i've got girlfriends that are OBSESSED with edward, twilight, etc. so, all hatin' aside, i'm sure i'll be seeing the movie. opening night. with a handmade t-shirt.

see you there.

white out.

the peeps of south county pulled out their brightest whites and boarded a yacht in celebration of mr. jonathan moffat's birthday this weekend.


with a lakers lounge and plenty of dance floor, there was no place i'd rather be! we danced the night away like never before! all in honor of the moff.


the ladies were in their element. all white ensembles are most delicous, don't you agree? hotter friends i'd be hard pressed to find!


i'm sure glad i didn't miss out on this little soiree! i don't think i've ever danced so hard in my life! can't you see the sweat stains on m'hat?! ew.


a shoutout to craig, ryan and monti for making this last pic possible. those boys and their hats. gotta love it.

UPwards of awesome.

leggings are not pants.

i hate leggings. yes, leggings. that stretchy little fashion faux pas (sorry, american apparel) that seems to be running the streets these days. ew.

i have, on occasion, been found shrieking, "those are not pants!" to many a legging wearing friend. i have photos, but i'll refrain.

granted, there was a time when i was willing to accept that sometimes a dress/tunic/legging combination could be cute. but then girls started abusing the privilege. hemlines got shorter (at CHURCH!), leggings got sparklier and metallic-y. and now all hell's done gone and broke loose. to this i say: leggings as pants? unacceptable. if i wanna see lady bits...wait, that's the whole point. i DON'T wanna see your lady bits. so put some pants on, sister!

i will forever be grateful to my beloved peanut for sending this tidbit of interweb my way: http://leggingsarenotpants.wordpress.com.

sometimes it's just good to know you're not alone.

***it has come to my attention that this post may be offensive to some. if that is the case, i'll say once and for all, it's not personal. i hate ALL leggings...not just yours. oh and if you're THAT upset about it, you might want to rethink your wardrobe choices. that is all.

just when i think i can't love where i live anymore.

i find out that a cafe rio is opening up near my house. steak salads and the dreamiest, creamiest cilantro dressing ever? yes, please.

hello, lover.

my peanut came to visit. it was fab.

b-b-b-benny and friends.

last week, before the visit from my little peanut, a few of the peeps headed up to hollywood for the ben folds concert. it was...UH-mazing! seriously, oh so ridiculous. with guest appearance by sara bareilles and josh groban (yes, that's right...josh groban), it was an evening to remember. all i can say is: ben folds has MAJOR skills. like ridiculous skills. amen.

coloradie.

last weekend, miss angel and i saddled up for a quick jaunt to denver. it was our first time in the mile-high city and we packed the schedule with lots o' fun. flight of the conchords, together time with tyler and shopping galore!


it was so fun to catch up with tyler! he's an old friend from the washington days. he moved to nashville for a bit and then ended up in coloradie with his darling shiloh. he's a funny dude with some serious musical skills. check him out HERE.


this pic of angel and tyler is my favorite of the weekend! i'm not even sure what the heck is going on in this picture...but i like it. i'm pretty sure i said something ridiculous and it all went downhill from there. ah well!


all in all, the mile high city gets two thumbs up. from the promenade at 16th street to the cutest little shops you ever did see, i'll be makin' a return trip. viva le coloradie!

plink plink on the piano.

yesterday, i bought a piano. it's being picked up, delivered and tuned today. i'm not gonna lie, i'm pretty excited about turning the loft into my very own music studio. okay, maybe that's a pipe dream. but in the meantime, i'm already scheming.

i wanna turn this:


into something like this:


maybe not green. or maybe green. who knows? all i know is i've added it to the list of things i'll never have time to do.

in the meantime, know any good piano teachers?

no more strangers.

so there's been a teensie-weensie (yes, weensie) bit o' buzz about this state-wide ysa conference, but not enough for me to know what it's really about or why it's happening. what i DO know is that you have to register for it. oh, and there's a video.



so even after that, we still don't know much, but it's lookin' like this little shindig is kind of a big deal. there's a kickoff fireside may 31, but you don't have to wait for that to get started! go ahead and commit already. go to the website and register NOW!

gold stars as a metaphor for greatness.

last night was the pilot episode for FOX's new show: GLEE. um, it's fantastic. the season doesn't actually start until the fall but it's got potential. for sure, for sure.

MENu.

i'm not a fan of the bachelor/bachelorette show. like, not at all. but i will say that i had a LOT of fun at miss messick's bachelorette shindig last night. from the MENu showcasing headshots and names of each of the 30 (THIRTY?!) bachelors miss jillian has to choose from to the delicious hot dogs and cookies our hostess prepared, it was some seriously good times.


i'll probably never watch the show for the rest of the season, but it was fun while it lasted. oh AND...my vote is for kiptyn. he's smokin' hot and such a great conversationalist.

although, from what i hear, there's not much talkin' going on...if you get my drift.

blocks of ice.

tristen organized an ice blocking extravaganza for miss katie hatch's birthday. um, yeah. i hadn't been ice blocking in YEARS. luckily, ice blocking is like riding a bicycle. and homegirl's got skills.


this is basically the most amazing picture of the evening. yes, it's a threesome. and yes, that's me suffocating at the bottom of the pile. laughs a-plenty, to be sure. good times, good times.

winner winner chicken dinner.

i'm back from a wonderful mini-vacation to beautiful denver, colorado (more on that later) and, as promised, i have selected a winner for the "commenter of the month" award. well "selected" is kind of a broad term. i basically just wrote everyone's names down, put them in a bowl and pulled one out!

and the lucky winner of the $15 itunes gift card is...vicki davis! oh, the irony! for those of you that don't know, miss vicki is also affectionately known as my mother. that's right, my mama.

for the rest of you losers (sorry, couldn't resist), better luck next time. either way, i want you to know that it's okay to take a minute to send some lovin' and let me know you're out there. happy commenting!

earthshake!

i hadn't even been back in california for an hour before mother nature decided to shake her tailfeather. man oh man. welcome back, indeed.

did you feel it? what's your disaster plan?

happy friday. thanks for reading.

when i started this blog in 2005 (eek!), it was mostly to keep my closest family and friends caught up on what i was doing in california. additionally, it ended up being an online journal of sorts. looking back, this here blog chronicles the past 4 years pretty well. there are plenty of highs and the lowest of lows. good times. if anyone's benefited, it's been me.

that said, i can't tell you how many times i've talked to people and had conversations that went a little something like this:

friend: so how was (insert blogged activity here)?
me: how did you know about that?
friend: oh, i read your blog.
me: really? huh.

and that's just the people i know. several blogger friends linked me on their own blogs (thanks, guys!) and i get some random traffic (aka blog stalkers) that way. which is fine. the more, the merrier. if my adventures, however lame, bring you a smile, happy reading!

i have a point. thanks for reading. mostly, thanks for lettin' me know you're reading. as a sign of my gratitude, i have decided that i am going to reward those readers that actually take a minute to comment and let me know they're out there! in true blogger fashion, i'm doing a GIVEAWAY! everyone that has commented within the past month will get their name entered to win a little somethin' fun.

winner announced monday!

summer lovin'.

the ting tings aren't new. but they are fabulous. this pop-y little bit o' music is most delightful. so delightful, in fact, that i'm pretty sure it's gonna be a summer staple.

mmmm, summer. almost here!

obsessed.

i never vote on american idol. EVER. all that changed last night. i may or may not have voted for kris allen more than 100 times last night. his arrangement of kanye's heartless was nothing short of genius.

here's to the final two!

off to the races.

last weekend, dusty monroe, social organizer extraordinaire, rallied the peeps for a trip to coronado to watch the red bull air race. from the packed beaches to paula's bag o' goodies, we had a most fantastic time!


you'll notice i posted two group pics here. one is missing tristen and the other is missing miss julie monroe. i didn't want anyone to feel left out! mostly, my favorite part of both pics is the expression on brad's face. his delight with that pb&honey sandwich (courtesy of paula's bag o' goodies) is clear.


we followed up a most delightful day at the beach with a trip to some off the grid pub with most fabulous hamburgers! yes, it was at a pub and yes, i got carded. believe you me, the burgers were worth the trip back to the car to get my driver's license. yum yum, dee-lish!


good work, dusty! when's the next field trip?!

mi mamacita.

this lady is UH-mazing! better than that in fact. even the most well-developed vocabularian wouldn't have the words to describe the incredulifficness that is miss vicki davis. everything that is good in me, is 'cause of my mama. true story.

live long and prosper.

sometimes i do really irresponsible things. going to a midnight showing of star trek on opening night may or may not fall into this category. and today, while i am very VERY tired, i'm also very VERY glad i went.


i wouldn't consider myself a trekkie by any stretch of the imagination, but i am a HUGE fan of this movie. it may or may not have something to do with the general beefcake-ness of the principle cast. no seriously. just when i think sylar couldn't get any hotter, he slaps on a pair of pointy hears and sets my heart racing. okay, maybe that last bit isn't entirely true. sylar is hot. but the ears i could do without.

go see the movie.

happy may day!

winter is over and summer is on it's way! if that's not cause for celebration, i don't know what is! most people associate may day with nothing more than maypoles and raucous celebrations.


my favorite may day tradition involves some good ol' fashioned doorbell ditching. some may day celebrators (is that a word?) secretly deliver baskets of flowers or treats to loved ones. but beware: if the receiver catches the fleeing giver, a kiss is to be exchanged!

confession: i didn't hate the hannah montana movie.

swine flu: how it all started.

i recognize that this might be inappropriate but i also recognize that it is a hilarious picture. i hope it gives you at least a little bit of a chuckle. if it offends you, i give you permission to never read my blog again.

my name is paula and i'm a fb-aholic.

i saw an article today, which ironically enough was posted by a fellow facebook-er, that talked about an epidemic of facebook addictions sweeping the globe. how pathetic are we?! seriously. granted, i'm better than i have been in days of yore (the recession's been good for something...keeping me on task for fear of losing my job. it all started when the ceo of my company added me as a friend.), but i'm still on facebook (or 'fb' as i like to affectionally call it) more than the average individual.

and in case you're too busy facebooking (yes, it's a verb now), here are the five ways to determine if you're a fb addict. granted, if you're a fb addict, you're probably on facebook instead of reading my blog. but just in case, here they are:

1. you lose sleep over facebook.
2. you spend more than an hour a day on facebook.
3. you become obsessed with old loves.
4. you ignore work in favor of facebook.
5. the thought of getting off facebook leaves you in a cold sweat.

cold sweats? seriously?! then again, who am i to judge? i blog incessantly. AND i rejoined twitter. seriously, it's time for a social media detox. maybe i'll start tomorrow.

for the indie rocker in all of us.

okay, i admit. there's a bit of the indie rocker/hipster in me. i love the vibe and ADORE the music. it's okay, you don't have to like it. i can respect that. but for those of you that are obsessed with vampire weekend and ra ra riot, look what i found!


rostam batmanglij from vampire weekend has teamed up with wes miles from ra ra riot and an ep is in the works. it's called discovery and so far, so good. click HERE to have a listen.

vampire weekend's been around for a bit but i didn't discover (har-har) them until late last spring. lemme tell ya, these boys got me through the summer. love it! as for ra ra riot, i'd heard 'em here and there but wasn't converted until i saw them play at the detroit bar in costa mesa last month. good times, good times.

pack-a-thon.

those of you that know me, know that i have a REALLY hard time focusing. you also know that the lure of a social engagement is often simply too much to resist. these days, this flaw has created a heightened level of stress in my life. pretty much, for weeks i've been playing instead of packing. and now, the rubber has hit the proverbial road. i'm in trouble.


i packed and packed and packed last night. and this morning when i woke up, i took a look at my surroundings and realized that i've still got a LOT of packing to do. oh man. here's the thing: i have NO TIME between now and saturday morning. okay, i have SOME time but i'll be very busy with choir practice and concert attending and general frolicking.

don't judge me. i TOLD you i had a problem. and i would consider going to therapy for it, but i can't find the time. i have packing to do.

i like to move it, move it.

it's movin' on time...again. i keep telling myself this is the LAST time! granted, i've told myself that every year for the past 6 years. but this time, i mean it.


at any rate, the next few days are certain to be a flurry of packing tape and tears as i wade through all the junk - erm, precious posessions - i've acquired over the past several years. wish me luck!

a special day for earth.

dearest darlingest earth, in your honor, i plan on seeing the following movie. oh and i promise to start reusing my water bottles. and i'll always use trash receptacles. and i'll plant a garden...eventually. oh and i'll take shorter showers. and, if i'm feelin' extra earthy, i might even consider skippin' a day...just for you.



no no, don't thank me. it's the least i can do. after all this time? seriously. i mean, you've provided years of joy and entertainment. and, let's be honest, i simply couldn't live without you. really, without you, i'd cease to exist.
so, thanks. you're beautiful. i love you.

a picture is worth a thousand words.

okay, maybe not...lemme 'splain. pretty much, the LAST place i wanted to be was in that circle. it doesn't take a body language expert to figure that little tidbit out. more than not wanting to be there, i'm almost certain i was TERRIFIED of catching the bouquet (sorry, mom).

to all my girlfriends that will be single when i get married: i promise i won't make you stand in a huddle and watch me chuck floral arrangments at you. promise.

divalicious.

love me. hate me.

i've been offered two free tickets to see miss spears at the honda center in anaheim next week. pretty much, britney spears is a dirty tramp train wreck (sorry, mama - it's the truef) but i'm thinkin' the girl can put on a good show.

don't hate.

oh how i love this lady.

my mama's in town this weekend. to say i'm excited would be the understatement of the century. i'm BESIDE myself with jubilation and anticipation. usually, my type-A-ness has the weekend all planned out to the last detail but this weekend's going to be a little different. we have plans here and there but mostly this weekend is all about chillaxin' and livin' the dream.

stay tuned.

i want you, i need you.

if anyone wants to fly me home to washington for this year's sasquatch! festival at the gorge, i'm totally down. oh, and go ahead and buy me tickets to the show while you're at it.

i'm homesick.

me too, please!

i met up with miss allie and katie at the ward activity this weekend and was introduced to sally the scooter. i've been obsessing over getting one for many moons and after our scooting adventure - and by adventure i mean that i just rode around the parking lot a bit - i just can't stop thinking about it.


so, mom and dad, if you're reading this, can i PLEASE have a scooter for my birthday? i promise i'll always wear my helmet and let you ride it whenever you want.