breakfast at the cream pot.

i mean, seriously, how cute is this little breakfast cottage??  on saturday morning we went out for a girl’s breakfast at the cream pot for my friend ashley’s birthday.  oh my goodness, this place is hands down the cutest place i’ve ever been to and the food was amazing!  i love discovering new gems in the town i live.  i got the strawberry belgian waffle and it was out. of. control.  oh, and their coffee was bomb too.  and the decor of the place was so cozy and homey with long farmwood tables, a big wooden door to the kitchen, and old copper pots and pans on the walls.  will be taking reis back here ASAP.

busy bee.

today marks the start of tax season.  eeeeks!  for the next 4 months i will be working late nights and 6 day weeks.  and in my “free” time doing homework for my two online classes that i started last week (so i can finally get the last 8 units i need to get my cpa license!).  i’m not exactly excited about the next few months (read: i’m kinda sorta dreading it) but i’m really going to try and focus on being thankful i have a job.  plus be excited about my new bag i scored at urban outfitters when i was in santa barbara (thanks for letting me copy you sarah!) that serves as my new book bag, laptop bag, and carry-on.

also, i don’t think i will be blogging much so if i go missing for days or weeks at a time, this is why.  but i for sure will be instagramming (@jayadores).  because i am seriously obsessed (like this girl).

family new year’s card.

these are the new year’s cards i designed these for my mama and i had fun making it a little bit different than a typical group shot christmas card!

and for the record, no, reis and i did not break up …mom just says you can’t go on the front of the fam christmas card until you are an “official” part of the fam :)

day trip to santa barbara: part II.

after our lunch and a successful shopping trip down state street (i scored a sweet bag and some sunglasses at urban outfitters.  i miss that store!  hawaii reallyyy needs to get an urban and an anthropologie. those online shipping fees just aren’t cutting it for me.), we met up with scottee and her sparkly tom’s for ice cream at the famed mcconnell’s!  love that girl.  and that ice cream.  call me a creature of habit, but i’m pretty sure this trip mirrored all the same stops as my last trip there in may.  before we got ice cream though, reis and i walked across the street to the daily grind, quite possibly my ALL-TIME favorite coffeeshop in california.  the coffee is to die for, their scones are out of this world, the shop is in a super cute area downtown, and it’s across the street from an ice cream shop.  what more could you want?

this day pretty much rocked.  i loved every second.  being back in santa barbara just makes me a happy girl.  plus reis.  plus my whole family.  plus good food and shopping.  yeah, can’t go wrong with that combo.

day trip to santa barbara: part I.

oh hey remember when reis and i went to california over new years?  yeah, let’s rewind a week or so.  i’m a littleeee behind on my photo posting.

on new year’s eve, my whole family took a trip up to santa barbara for the day.  i’ve said it before, but i L-O-V-E santa barbara.  like, LOVEEEE it.  it’s so quaint and charming and beachy and perfect.  reis and i met going to school there so it was so fun to be back there together!  we ate lunch at paradise cafe (the restaurant i used to work at in college!) and roamed state street for some shopping.  and since in the few hours we were there i managed to take a billion photos, part II to come tomorrow!

late to the party.

oh dang.  its been a whirlwind of a week.  of a month, actually!  with all of my visitors and travels, i have been a busy bee but loving every minute.  reis and i had the best time in california with all of my favorite people and i have a whole slew of posts for next week showing you guys all of the photos from our trip!  for now, it’s back to the grind.  back to work.  back to the gym.  back to eating healthy.  and i know i’m 5 days late to the party (better late than never, right?), but here are my 2012 resolutions.

oh and see that pic above?  that’s an instagram.  i’ve had one for months but decided to join yet ANOTHER form of social media and go public with it in 2012.  so if you want to see random pics of my daily life (as if you don’t get your fill from my photo-heavy blog), you can follow me at there @ jayadores!