happy birthday, eli !

you make my heart skip beats

will you marry us?

 Last night over an amazing Vietnamese meal at Andy Nguyen's, Eli and I popped the big question.  We asked our dear friend, Justin, if he would marry us... he said yes!  Justin is an ordained minister and one of the oldest friends I have.  We met in the 5th grade and have been good buds ever since...   And now years later, we share the same city! Love it, love him!  Thanks Justin for saying YES ! Woohoo!

As usual, the food was amazing! 

!!!

there's so much going on right now, i could burst!  it's all good and exciting.  i love it when life feels this full and exhilirating.  i've got so many rad projects i'm in the midst of, i'm swamped, and loving it.  and so many rad things going on around me.  there's a good energy in the air...

first of all - my favorite dude in the whole wide world has an end of august birthday... and we are celebrating tomorrow!

second of all - my dear darling amazing friend, lacadia, arrives home from a month vacation.  her and her beau ran off to his homeland of australia for the month of august and they return home early next week. i absolutely cannot wait to see her face and catch up in person! she's coming home with a shiny ring on her finger.  yowza.  it really is the summer of ♥.

congratulations boo!  now, hurry home so we can toast!

third - all my creative rad friends doing amazingly rad things to better this city of ours and i get goosebumps just thinking about all the good to come!!!  i'm not sure i can blog about some of it just yet - but as soon as i get the ok - i will!  but here is one thing i can pass along... if you live in sacramento, come to this:

local musicians + local ballet + good cause

plus i'm really excited that fall is right around the corner.  as much as i love summer, i ADORE fall in sacramento - plus, i'm tired of jean cut-offs and tank tops... i want to drown myself in fall fashion...

the next american dream

The Next American Dream is being shown at the Crest theatre in Sacramento tomorrow evening.

In short - it sounds like a documentary around the need to redevelop and rebuild the downtown locations that were once deserted during the time of the former American dream to dwell in suburbia...

Sounds interesting to me.  I tried to find ticket prices with no luck, and read something that alluded to it maybe being a free event?  Apparently, the group who is bringing this viewing to Sacramento would like to remain unknown, which has triggered a bit of skepticism.  See comments here.

Either way, I'm intrigued and plan to check it out.

sneak peek

been quite busy working on multiple projects.  more to come. 

thao ♥

it's a thao nguyen kind of monday morning...

saturday morning bliss

coffee

+

september issue

♥

bon week-end

garden growth

It's been so fun watching our garden fill out.  And we are finally getting some serious eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers.  

chuck close self portrait study

jennazee

the weekend.

Went to the Arabic market on Friday afternoon - took a million pictures of all the products that remind me of living overseas.  Felt overly nostalgic.

In the spirit of Friday the 13th, E and I watched El Orfanato. It's produced by Guillermo Del Toro (director of Pan's Labyrinth).  Intense, creepy, beautiful, and quite a twist at the end.  

We took a nice Saturday morning stroll to the new farmer's market at McKinley.  I love that we can walk there!  I read somewhere recently (wish I could remember where) that driving to a farmer's market is like taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back!  I love that. 

Hunted for old picture frames for some projects

Successfully made Za'atar bread 

2nd Saturday stroll with E

Sunday night dinner at Mom and Dad's

Figs from my parent's garden.  So delicious!

  

no place better than here...

My incredibly talented friend, Jesse Vasquez, is having an art opening this weekend in Sacramento.  If you are around, check it out!  Sea of Bees is playing, which I am majorly looking forward to seeing.  I have not seen her live... but I do know that this city of ours is in mad love with her, and I am excited to see for myself!

fancy popsicles & floating swimming pools...

oh new york!  you've got it all.

popbar

plus pool

loon lake

Last weekend we camped at Loon Lake.  Our campsite was so far removed that we had to canoe across the lake to get there.  It was incredibly beautiful.  Apparently, I have a reputation for being the most "uncampy" one of the group, which really isn't a shocker...  But I enjoy camping more than I get credit for.  

Eli and I cooked up some serious veggie kabobs 

Beautiful sunset...

The water was the PERFECT temperature for swimming.  We did some night swimming as well, which may be the best swimming I've ever done in my life !

And in true Clay form, we were presented with a few different performances throughout the trip.  Luckily this one here was caught on video and formally approved for your viewing pleasure.    Enjoy!!

and... I also enjoy camping.  

avocado + strawberry grilled cheese heaven

Last night's dinner...

SO EASY

SO TASTEY

  

4 ingredients:

Strawberries + Avocado + Cheese of choice + Bread of choice

Pretty self explanatory 

I brushed the bread with a little olive oil and grilled these up on a skillet

so delish !

recipe credit here.

i'm gay for gay marriage !

so incredibly overjoyed about yesterday's ruling of PROP 8 being unconstitutional ( like we didn't already know that! )  but now it's official.  big giant step forward.  yay for equality!! 

below is a link to a fantastic breakdown of the ruling by sacramento's very own, kel munger:

 Marriage equality wins in Perry v. Schwarzenegger

well la di da ...

Do you have that one "go-to" film that you turn to in times when you need a pick me up?  A film you can rely on to escape from your world, from stress, from a bad mood?  Mine happens to be Annie Hall.  I think I've watched it a trillion times.  Sometimes before a meeting or big presentation (like this morning!) that I'm feeling overly nervous or stressed out about - I hop over to youtube and watch some Annie Hall clips, and I am instantly calmed, and any anxiety seems to feel less severe.  Her style in this movie is killer - and well, has made Annie Hall a bit of a style icon through the years. At least for myself and my wardrobe.

Oh Annie, I lurve you...

And here's a link to Diane Keaton winning an Oscar for her performance.  youtube would not allow me to embed it here, so follow the link and check this out!!  SOO cute.  Love her.