four-twenty

Today's post is dedicated to my good friend Sarah, who today celebrates another year of life. Thousands and thousands of miles away from me. See, Sarah is one of those superhero people who not only know what they believe in, but stands up for it, too. I won't go into too much detail, but she's trying to end slavery. 
You know, trying to save the world.
To commemorate her birthday, here's a cake I made her:

I kid, I kid. (via)
Actually, there is a story behind this "virtual cake". A few years ago, Sarah celebrated her birthday while studying abroad in Thailand, and those of us back home made her a cake and video-recorded us eating it for her. The sound didn't work, though, so we ended up "dubbing" the video. (Do you still have that somewhere?).
But I didn't get my act together fast enough to bake her a cake this year. Next best thing? 
Anyway, Happy Birthday, friend. And I expect that as SOON as you get home, you get your buns over to our house for a giant bottle of wine and an entire season of Master Chef (which starts on May 29 yee!)

It's Thursday. And that is awesome.

So, today is normally the day that I dedicate a blog post to the things both awkward and awesome in my work week. But, for the first time in thirteen weeks (holy cow that's nuts), I just don't want to focus on all the crappy crap that happened this week. I'm in just such a good mood. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and life is good.
SAD is real, people.
But because I can't really break a habit that easily, I'll list a couple of really fantastic things that happened this week. 
Our house is spotless. It's a new era. I might even start decorating {we'll see}. 

Husband's "two weeks" are up tomorrow. He gets a full week off, and then will start his new {and hopefully fantastic} job the week after that.
I was given a killer "pop quiz" in statistics and experimental design {to pilot the test before it was given to the class}, and I somehow remembered all the stuff I learned in college. Tuition = not wasted.
I read a book. An actual paper book. As much as I love my Kindle, there's something to be said about knocking a good thick book back. {prompted by a missing Kindle charger, but by the time I found it I was already halfway though the book. How do I always lose my stuff??!}
Despite having a perfectly good dining room table and chairs, and despite having a perfectly comfortable couch, husband and I have enjoyed meals sitting on pillows in the living room. I think we both have a screw loose {or five}.
Also, hubby's taking care of dinner tonight. I'm stoked.
Speaking of which, I think it's lunchtime. Seeya.

Whoo hoo hoo, we went to the Zoo.

This past Saturday arrived with the sun shining and the birds singing. It was absolutely not the kind of day you could spend indoors, even if you have lots of things on your to-do list.
So we went to the Zoo.
Husband and I have a long history with the Zoo. Our college held its Halloween dance there, and we went together in that awkward "pre-dating" phase. It was the first stop of many on our first actual date. Before we got married, we could hear the elephants and the monkeys and the little train from both of our apartments. Actually, we even {briefly} considered holding our wedding reception there. It was absolutely gorgeous but a little too stinky ;)
But we hadn't visited in three years. We had to fix that.
HIghlight: we both got to feed the giraffes. I now want one as a pet.

Hunger Games fandemonium // Taking a break // Getting ready to feed the giraffes!

We decided to walk there, since it was so nice (it's just over a three miles, round trip), and then visited a coffee shop in town afterwards. In all, we walked about eight miles without really realizing it, not including the walking we did inside the Zoo. We went to bed early that night.

Little notes

Dear husband:
Congratulations on landing your new job!! I am so proud of you, and the sales team won't know what hit it. Just one week more of the call center and you're FREE!

Dear Mad Men; Why are you only in my life once a week?! I miss the times we used to share; you and me and Netflix. It would be great if you could fix this.
Dear little 'ol apartment: I am sorry for saying all those mean things behind your back. You really are pretty great, and we're blessed to have found you. I have decided to stop being so awful to you, and start appreciating you more. Let's be friends, mmkay?
Dear Southern California: You have been so lovely lately, and the husband and I are really grateful. Although the sunburn was a bit much.
Dear Zoo; Thank you for being within walking distance from our house. We had a lot of fun on Saturday. And the  "giraffe feeding program"? Pretty awesome. We'll be back soon.

Dear Trader Joes: We need to talk. You can't keep making new and yummy products, because I'm powerless to resist you. It does, however, make for great picnics. Although could you please stop offering samples of your cheese? It's becoming a problem.
Dear papers sitting in my inbox: I love you. I love you. I love you (maybe if I'll say it enough, I'll start to believe it).
Dear Sunday afternoon: I have decided that you should be twice as long as a regular afternoon. We have such fun together.
Dear refrigerator: please don't die. I hear your poor old self struggling for breath all day long, but I'm really not sure what I would do if I came home and you were dead. Ugh.
Dear Ferrari:Way to make me look bad.

Snapshots of this week

Holy cow. It's friday! (when did that happen?)Sure, it's dumping rain  like a fire hose outside, and I'm a teensy bit afraid I'll get hit by lightning if I leave the building (it's already hit a car on campus today!), but it's FRIDAY.
On the horizon, I see lazy mornings, a shopping trip, two glorious episodes of Mad Men, and maybe a date with my sewing machine? We'll see. Don't want to be too ambitious. ;)
Here are some "little moments" from this past week, as captured via instagram.

Crusty whole-wheat bread fresh from the oven // Bobby-pin curls

"Little House on the Prairie" dress I can't wait to refashion // Blurry bubblegum and bling nails

An after-work surprise*: Macaroons and wine // Flooding outside my office patio has begun!

*I have to tell more about this story. I hadn't had a very good day at work, and so husband commanded me to go upstairs and leave the cooking to him. He made us turkey and goat cheese paninis with tomato soup, which was delicious, but something was a little.... off... with the soup. It was really rich and incredibly thick. I find out later that he didn't see the "condensed soup" label on the can.
Love him.