Big Bear, Recent Randoms, and Stepping Out of My Box

Two weeks ago our Labor Day was a 4 day weekend!!
Yahoo!!
Except Mr. H had to work on Monday, so only a 3 day weekend for him. 
But we made the most of it!
Friday morning we packed a few things in a bag and drove up to Big Bear.
The weather has been so hot and humid and gross here and we were so excited to get up to the fresh crisp mountain air!

This particular trip was a little bit sad though because my Grandma's cabin sold and this was our last time staying the night.  Womp womp womp. :(  
Mr. H and I sure would love to buy our own place up there some day.  
Regardless of that being a little sad, we still had a great time.
We took the girls to the Discovery Center, on the other side of the lake from where the cabin and my Dad's boat are.  It was fun to explore on that side a bit and the girls loved the Discovery Center.
We did a short little hike they have there, and picked up some information on some longer hikes that we want to check out our next trip up.

After that we scoped out a Mexican restaurant we thought we'd try for dinner.  BB isn't known for the best resaurants so I was a little nervous but it was pretty good.  We ate at Azteca, but first we went to Vons for a few grocery items, and also had our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season!!!  So very Fall.  

 I posted this picture on instagram with the quote "The bad news is time flies.  The good news is you're the pilot." -Michael Althsuler

The next day my parents were heading up to spend the weekend too.  While we waited for them to arrive, we went to Snow Summit and took the girls up to the top of the ski lifts.  What a view.  I've never done that in the Summer time and it was fun and the girls quickly got over their fear of the lift!

By the time we got back, my parents were at the cabin and we spent the rest of the day out on the lake with them.  Did a lil fishin', motorboatin' and might have even done some day drinkin'. ;)

 Clairey was the only one to catch a fish all day!

 We drove down the mountain that night because we had a lot of stuff we wanted to do around the house the next day.  Starting with our front porch.

 It needed some curb appeal.

 Big time.
The spot by the door has been empty since we ripped the bushes out that used to be there and I've been anxious to find something to plant there.

 We bought two jasmine plants but haven't put them in the ground yet because I'm not sure if they'll get enough sun in this spot.  So we are waiting it out to see.  Mr. H replaced our old dingy doorbell with a new bright shiny light up one.  Such a small little doorbell but what a difference.

 Hannah spotted the Welcome Fall flag at Lowe's so we got that, and a few hydrangeas to add to the front too.

Sundays I'm trying to get back into meal planning for the week.  The girls have homework that they can start over the weekend so it's nice to get a head start on that on Sundays too.

 Clairey and me waiting to pick up Hannah one day.  She recently earned 10 bengal paws and got to shop the teacher's treasure chest.  She was so proud of this bouncy ball and pink kazoo she picked out.

 Hannah's got such a great soccer coach this season.  Her practices are Mon and Wed, and since I'm at work every Wed evening, I am really glad I get to make it to her Mon night practices.  The girl above in the purple stripes is our neighbor and Hannah loves that they're on the same team.  

 Our first games were last Saturday.  Unfortunately Mr. H and I both work every other weekend.  So this day I was off to take the girls.  Although... both their games were at 10am!!! Bummer!  My parents helped me out big time and took Hannah to her game, and I took Claire to hers at a different field.  It was HOT HOT HOT but they were troopers and played their hearts out.  

Recently I stepped way out of my comfort zone to try something new.
I put together a resume and a cover letter, and I applied for a job to work from home as a part time stylist for Stitch Fix.  From the moment I heard about this company I was intrigued.  It is a women's online styling service and once a month you get a personal hand selected Fix with 5 items picked just for you by a stylist (the position I was interested in).  It's really fun and I've loved getting my first two Fixes so far.  

I sent in my resume the end of July and started to think I wouldn't hear back and that was ok because I already work part time in the salon, and plan to up my days very soon, and with school, soccer, and Girl Scouts, I thought maybe adding to my plate right now wouldn't be a good idea anyway.  

But the job sounded fun.  So fun that for me, if I got it, I think I'd like it so much that it wouldn't feel like "work".  Shoot I spend time daily pinning different outfit ideas for every season for myself on Pinterest anyway.  The idea of going over other women's Pinterest boards to see what they would like to receive in their Fix sounded like a blast.  

And last week I received an email asking me to do a video interview.
I was SO excited.
And SO nervous.
And SO unsure about what to wear!!!!!!!!
So I did what any girl would do,
after work one night I tried on just about every shirt in my closet...

 and then finally decided on the outfit in the bottom right.

 The interview was only three questions, and you had 1 minute to answer.  The good thing was you could re record your answers until you were satisfied with it.  I thought about my answers to each question, and I was satisfied with my responses given the limited time I had to reply.  Of course I could have gone on but I didn't want to talk too much.  

A few days later I got an email that I did not get the job.
Womp womp womp.
Big sigh.
I didn't realize how excited I would start to get about the possibility of the job, and I was more let down than I thought I would be.
Of course I spent days analyzing my responses, and wishing I had said something more so maybe they got a better idea of who I am.
I thought that I could do a really great job as a stylist.
But, C'est La Vie I guess.
All things happen for a reason and I'm still trying to remember that.

It's like Tina Fey says, "Do your thing.  And don't care if they like it."

It's been a long time since I applied for a job.  I've already been doing hair for 15 years!!!  That sounds crazy, but I was 18 when I started.  I learned a few things by doing this, and I was proud of myself for pushing my comfort limits and stepping outside of my introverted box I love so much.

And today I read Gina's blog at The Fitnessista, and her I Will What I Want video really struck a chord with me.  And so did ballerina Misty Copeland's.  I've watched Misty's several times. So inspiring.

Anyway, I better run.
We've got soccer practice tonight.
But first, have you guys heard of this nail polish yet???

 I got it at Target and it is Ahhhhhhh-MAZ-ing!  It's a fast drying top coat but I swear it makes your polish feel like gel polish!!! My polish stays for days with this stuff on!!!  I love it.  Already on my second bottle.

I've got a WIWW post in the works too so hopefully I'll have that up on Wednesday.

Go do your thang my friends.
And don't care if they like it.  ;)

Some Random Tidbits...

I always feel the need to document the day when I actually get dressed and blow dry my hair on a day that I am not working...

 I think Mr. H took Hannah to school for some reason this day, which is most likely the only reason I was dressed.
It's so much easier to get ready by 9am when Claire has to be at school than by 7:30am when Hannah has to be there.  

 Claire practicing some counting and homework.

 A pink hat that Claire made in school.  She was oh so proud of this pink hat.  

 Mr. H recently painted our bathroom and the cabinets under the vanity.  At first I hated the color, but once the whole room was done it grew on me.

 Hannah's kinder promotion is coming up at the end of May.
I can't  believe how much she has changed this year.  

I bought a chambray shirt a while back and I finally wore it.
It took me a while to get past the whole "denim shirts are back" thing.  But I like it now.  I'm on board.  ;)

Mr. H and I went to RA for sushi a couple weekends ago and we saw Tina Fey's movie Admissions.  We had heard it was just so so, but we both enjoyed it.

 Hannah really has improved a lot this season in soccer.

 She had a great team, and some great coaches this season too.
One of her coaches and I went to high school together.  Small world.

 Her last game was last Saturday and she had so much fun at the pizza pary on Sunday.

Accepting her bauble head trophy from Coach Joey.


And a few more pics before I end this randomness...
Hanging out at Dos Lagos last weekend...

 We just discovered Pinkberry...and I am a FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We might become their best customers this summer!!!

Oh yeah and one more thing,
Hannah lost another tooth!

 I know, there's that fake smile.
Here's a better one, but not a fantastic picture... iphone is my friend.

I was at work last Wednesday when Hannah lost this one.  She pulled it out herself!

And in case you wanted an update on Crazy Claire...

 She's still crazy!!!!

The toothfairy left Hannah $5 and it was on her nightstand.  During naptime, Claire pocketed the money and put it in her purse!
I found it and took it back.  And in more recent news, Claire whispered the other night to Mr. Hass, "I did a really bad thing." So he said, "What did you do Claire???" And she said, "I broke Hannah's new bauble head soccer trophy."  Mr. H ran up to check it out, and sure enough, she snapped the head off.  No more baubble.  See, she's still crazy.  But we love her! 

Hi

Hi.

It's me.

Remember me?

I'm the one who writes this old blog.

It's been a while.

Sorry about that.

Life just seems to be throwing this old blog into the backseat.

But I'm trying to keep it up.

I'm trying to keep up with it all.

I've been saying to Mr. Hass a lot lately things like,

"Hey remember when the girls were babies and we thought life was so hard? And so busy? And we were so tired? And I couldn't wait until they were a little bit older so that they could do things like wipe their own butts, and use their words to tell me what they wanted, and things like that?  And now they are older, and they can do those things, but somehow life has become even busier and crazier."

Yup, funny how that works I guess.

Here's just a tidbit of what has been going on around here...

 The weather has been warming up, and we've been spending more and more time outside.
(I also have not picked up my big camera lately so once again, it's a post full of iphone pics.)
Sorry about that too.

 Both girls are enjoying soccer quite a bit.
I realized that I went to high school with Hannah's coach.
Small world isn't it.

 I saw The Duggar Family on Dr. Oz recently and they were sharing some of their financial secrets.  Of course they make quite a bit of their own foods and household goods like wet wipes.  I have been so sad to realize all the extra crap that is put into pickles recently, so I knew I wanted to try their pickle recipe.  It was so easy and they really are so good!! Way better than store bought pickles!! Just get over the fact that they do still look a bit more like cucumbers than the type of "pickles" that you might be used to.  But we all loved em.  Will be making those all summer for sure.  In fact we want to plant cucumbers in our garden this weekend and then all we have to do is pick em and pickle em!

 Here's a crappy screen shot of the Duggar Family recipe.  It says:
2 cups of vinegar
4 cups of water
4 cucumbers
salt and spices to taste
(I cut the recipe in half.  And used not quite 1 tsp of salt, and about 2 tsp of dried dill)
Let sit for three days.  Then eat!!!  (I also stuck mine in fridge on day three.)

 A favorite snack lately; sliced banana, almond butter, coconut, and some granola.  

 Mr. H watching the NCAA tournament while at soccer one night this last week.  Thank goodness for iphones right?  ;)

Cabernet Monday happened again.  ;)

I sat outside reading my new book while Mr. H grilled some mahi marinated in soyaki for us. 

It was so good.  With asparagus from the Farmer's Market, and this quinoa recipe that was delicious!

 Last Saturday in between the girls soccer games we ran to the market.
I love all the spring produce that we are starting to see.
After Hannah's game my mom and dad told me they were going out to Dana Point to see my Uncle David's new boat and did I want to go...
I was so happy for my Uncle and we said of course we want to go!

 This next pic is not a favorite, but I'm sharing it anyway.  Like my Dad always says "this is what we look like people"... :)

 It was a gorgeous day for a harbor cruise.

 Just gorgeous.

 My Dad and Uncle Dave.  

 The girls had to have their sperrys aka "boat shoes", on the boat!

 Mr. H had to work that day and missed the soccer games, but he got off a little early and met us at the beach.

 For dinner we wound up at Harpoon Henry's.
We realized after we were seated, that we were in the exact same booth, in the same restaurant that Mr. H and I had dinner in one night when we spent our babymoon in Dana Point, almost 7 years ago, right before Hannah Faith was born.
It was pretty crazy to realize that and be sitting in the same place with our now family of four.

It was a fun time.

That night Mr. H and I were supposed to be picking up a sitter to catch a movie date, but we had a feeling we'd be home late from the beach, so we rescheduled our movie date for the next night on Sunday.
We had intentions to go see Olympus Has Fallen,
but I was seriously so tired,
didn't even want to leave the house,
and then by 7pm I realized I was starving,
so we found ourselves at this neat little Gastropub by our house instead.

It was just what we needed.

And we loved it.

It's a husband and wife that own and operate, and their daughter works the bar.

He came over and chatted with us for a bit, and then he sent over a free slider for us to try.

It was so fun. 

I think this might be our new favorite date night spot.

Here's what we ate...

I had an organic extra pale ale, and Mr. H started with a flight of beers to sample.  We loooooved the Bootlegger's Knucklesandwhich IPA.  Sooooo good.  Then for food we had the olive medley, a roasted veggie salad with cous cous, pork belly tacos with a chipotle lime sauce, flatbread with goat cheese and grilled onion and basil, and flatbread with sliced pear, balsamic and gruyere.  We really wanted to try the "Sticky Pig" for dessert but they were out.  It is a maple bar with a bevarian cream filling and bacon!  Next time for sure.  Neat place.  Fun night.

This week the girls are on Spring Break.

And man have I needed it!!!

Since they are off school, and Mr. H is off work on Wednesdays, 

I took yesterday off work and we had a fun day adventuring at the beach. 

It was just what we all needed.
A little sun, surf, and sand sure does do the body good.

Tonight we are having family over for dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday which is actually tomorrow.
I better go prepare!

Peace Out...