much-to-celebrate-monday.

If its possible to have too much to celebrate, in this {new} week, I am frolicking in some major POSSIBILITY + a mega-major celebration is in order around here.

I'm celebrating the fact that I will be spending the next thirteen weeks in the {guaranteed} sunshine. My heart = so happy! I hope I don't OD on Vitamin D... scratch that, I hope I do!

I'm celebrating the fact that an old roommate is my {NEW} roommate again! Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think the genie lamp of life would grant me the opportunity to be roommates with Kara, Megan, Jess, or Carly ever again... but the way this year is looking, before 2012 arrives, I will get to have not three but FOUR wishes come true!

I'm celebrating the fact that my {new} job amazingly combines my two passions in life {traveling + nursing}. If that's not reason enough to be oh-my-golly-giddy, I am celebrating the fact that the two roads that I take to work are named Bay-to-Bay Boulevard + Bayshore Drive! =) I was beaming as I watched the sun rise over the water in the Bay on my way to work this morning.

I'm celebrating the fact that my {new} job is technically on an island. Although it's only a teeny bridge from the mainland, I can see the Gulf of Mexico + the Tampa Bay skyline from every window in the hospital.

Life is glittery + grand but I can't help but wish my little darling niece was here to celebrate with me. Auntie Awesome misses you, Reesey Peesey Puddin' Pie!

SYTYCD: Season Finale

Already feeling like a lottery this week when an advisory angel at UF's Registrar informed me that as nurse, I am eligible for loan forgiveness (in which the $7700 of my student loans is just written off for my good service!) I felt like I had won the lottery again when I received 2 tickets to attend the taping of So You Think You Can Dance: the Finale last night at the Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held)!!! The two hour finale airs tonight and while you will never be able to pick me out in a crowd of 3000, I definitely recommend you watch .... the final dances are incredible and it looks like Brandon or Jeannine is going to win!! =)

desert destination.

For two fabulous days between working five shifts one week and four shifts the following week before flying to Canada for two wonderful weeks, Carly, Lindsay and I roadtripped through the desert for a relaxing getaway at the most incredible resort in Scottsdale. We had the best time sipping pina coladas and relaxing by the pool during the day (soaking up the scorching hot 105 degrees sun), drinking sangria and listening to the live Spanish music in the evening, shopping at all the cute (closed) boutiques and dancing the night away at one of my favorite bars at night! It was so wonderful getting to spend quality time with Megan and David who work for the Hyatt and got us VIP service complete with champagne in our room; thanks for letting us crash ya'll's holiday! I had almost forgotten to post about the trip because I was so busy before I left (and have worked everyday since I've been back in LA) but I had a reminder of the trip waiting for me in the mail when I got home - a $181 speeding ticket - so thank you, Arizona Department of Public Safety, for reminding me to post some pictures from our fantastic desert destination! 

Megan and David

Sangria and Flamenco

Enjoying our complimentary champagne on our balcony

poolside.

cooling off in the grottos.

life of riley.

I learned a new phrase doing the crossword puzzle today: "Life of Riley". When the answer was "easy", I became curious of who this Riley was and why his life was easy. Turns out he was a radio comedian whose life was later made into a feature film and tv series in the 1950's. The expression suggests an ideal life of prosperity and contentment. Pictured here with Jay Leno and Jess, this is just one of the many ways in which I am happy to say I live a life of riley. What a revoltin' development this is! =)

laugh.dance.dream.

Kara, Carly, Sydney and I did a lot of laughing, dancing and dreaming last week attending a taping of the Ellen Show! Acquiring tickets to ELLEN show is quite difficult and required Kara stalking the website the weeks before they were available to obtain 4 coveted seats (in the front row, might I add) but it was definitely worth it! Ellen is hilarious and her amazing studio is practically in my backyard (if backyards existed in LA). We laughed with Ellen (you may have seen our laughs on TV), danced with Ellen (before the show, between every commercial break and even all the way off the lot back to the car) and dreamed with Ellen (working the night before and spending all day at the taping before returning to work that very same night, I was quite delusional at the taping and could have fallen asleep standing up if I wasn't laughing and dancing so hard!) Hardly ever sleeping these days, I feel like I now have 14 day weeks being awake all day and working all night.. I have adopted the new life motto of "awake is the new sleep" for I never stop. Take today for instance: Woke up at 10:30, did 3 loads of laundry, swiffered the apt, mailed my Easter packages at the post office, ran thru runyon canyon, ran to Target, played Easter bunny, packed, cleaned my room, repacked so I am only bringing one suitcase, updated my IPOD for the plane, blogged, unpainted my nails (I can't have nail polish on at work), packed my lunch box and now I am off to work tonight and then catching a flight to Washington, DC in the morning after my 12-hour shift for 6 fabulous days with Megan and Danny (and the Gallos!) where I am sure we will do lots more laughing, dancing and dreaming. Thank goodness I don't have a boyfriend... where would I find the time to be in love?

beach bum.

Living on the pacific coast makes it incredibly tempting to abandon reality and become a beach bum ....

huntington beach

venice beach

laguna beach.

botanical.

Phoenix Botanical Gardens.

direct correlation.

      There is a direct correlation between the level of happiness in one's life and the amount of silliness they allow into it.

starting line of the rest of my life.

the first time my toes touched the Pacific Ocean...

art of relaxation.

If there is one thing I have mastered this summer, it is the art of relaxation. I have never operated well under conditions that left much room to relax so I must admit when I first arrived, I was absolutely terrible at it. At the end of the day (which consisted of sleeping in, playing around the lake, squeezing in a round a golf, and maybe watching an episode of So You Think You Can Dance, before heading back to bed for a solid 11 hours of sleep) I was feeling quite worthless. I would wake up (halfway through the day) and attempt to write a to-do list, which is habit for me as much as it is for some to scratch an itch. When the only bullet the list would consist of is study for my boards, I quickly kicked this habit, replacing it with a much less productive one- embracing the fact that I am unofficially retired and therefore I didn’t actually have a damn thing to do that day, except relax of course! It was very unlike me to spend an entire day stagnant. I felt oddly selfish relishing in all the things that I loved to do day in and out - read, run, and ruminate with Grams. But 6 weeks later of nothing but rest and relaxation, I am a natural at it. I proudly wake up quarter past noon looking forward to the day filled of nothingness that awaits me. I now feel incredibly accomplished at the end of the day having read an entire book, ran an entire four miles and reminisced for an entire twelve hours with Grams. As the end of summer (and consequently my mini retirement) draws near, I’m beginning to wonder if it will be easy to transition back into a bussling routine at the start of my career when I arrive in Los Angeles?

life's a beach.

Thunder From Down Under

Body English

2008 Walt Disney World Marathon

16 hours out...

A Relaxing Day at the Willow Stream Spa