happy sunday!

love,

levi and jasmine

xo

straight ahead

i have recently realized that not having that much in terms of money and possessions just means that you have soooo much to look forward to. levi and i recently went to rodger's gardens. it's this really amazing garden "store" in newport beach. i say "store" because the place is gigantic and beautifully landscaped. it's like being in an enchanted garden...where you can buy stuff. anyway, it got me thinking of all the things i have to look forward to. i may not have the means or space for a beautiful fountain or a huge, lush garden right now, but i am able to look forward to it one day.

with all the good news that has been coming our way lately, i have SO many things to look forward to right now. especially with summer coming. and i just love looking forward to things. it's almost as nice as the "things" actually happening.

here are some things that i am looking forward to:

- moving into and decorating our new apartment (duh!)

- finally having a patch of dirt at our new home where i can plant a little garden! ranunculus are first on the list.

- arguing over paint colors with levi

- my birthday!!! it's on june 17. i don't know what we're doing yet, but i loove my birthday and count down to it every single year. kinda like an eight year old. my family and friends are kind enough to humor me.

- the new harry potter movie!!! i am a harry potter fanatic. i was clinically obsessed when i was reading the books.

- new books and creating a little reading nook in our new home

- summer clothes

- the fourth of july. i have this thing for fireworks. i love them. i've cried tears of inspired joy at every single fireworks display i've ever seen.

- so you think you can dance. the first three episodes have me thinking that it will be a good season.

- swimming in our new swimming pool

- having people over now that we have the space

- long walks and leisurely bike rides

- ice cold lemonade and lots and lots of barbeque sauce

what are you looking forward to in your life right now? and what are looking forward to in your future?

(**update: i am LOVING reading about what you're looking forward to! it makes me all excited! i guess i'm good at vicarious living. keep em comin!)

cupcakeyness

don't you wish we could do a cupcake swap??

i am dying to try all your yummy looking homemade cupcakes.

but there's that whole freshness factor.

not to mention the whole eating cupcakes made by strangers and delivered in the MAIL factor.

p.s. can anyone please tell me what is going on with the google reading list? my posts aren't updating until hours after i publish them (everrrry day). and, by that time, they're at the bottom of the list you've already gone through! it's very frustrating, and i have no idea how to fix it. any technological geniuses out there? :/

***UPDATE: check this out. do you think we could do it??***

wooooah.

we are coming down from all the excitement of the last few days.

it feels like it's been nonstop good news since i got my first paycheck (it was lot bigger than i expected) on saturday.

oh, and get this, levi got a raise yesterday.

WHAT is going on here??

i mean it's fantastic, and we are sooooo happy, but i'm kind of exhausted now! i kinda feel like sleeping for a week!

have you ever had an insanely crazy long streak of good news and good things?

tell me about it. i think i might be in the mood for even more good news.

guess what?

these are some of the last photos we'll be taking as residents of downtown long beach.

'cause.....

WE GOT THE APARTMENT! 

we're moving to belmont shore on june 15 (two days before my birthday)!

we already gave them our deposit and everything.

belmont shore is a really nice area of long beach full of amazing homes, great restaurants, and shopping. (not to mention, my favorite candy store and cupcake shop!)

it's a really great neighborhood and a close knit community that we are so excited to become a part of.

our new one bedroom  (oh my goshness no more studio apartment living for us!!) apartment is suuuper cute, and our complex has a pool! just in time for summer!

we always feel pretty lucky because we have each other, but right now we feel like THE LUCKIEST people on the planet!

thanks for all the finger crossing! we 'preciate it!

***p.s. levi and i are featured on smitten this morning. be sure to check us out!

instamatic!!

we used up the rest of our film yesterday. i looooove this little camera. it is SO much fun.

this couple (behind us) saw us taking our picture and thought the camera was so neat that they smiled too.

we got their autographs. :)

levi and this tree were discussing the current economic crisis.

i sleep in trees.

i can't WAIT to get more film.

p.s. levi and i applied for an apartment we LOVE (and can actually afford!!) in our favorite neighborhood yesterday. it's seriously perfect. we're really hoping we get it, but whatever is meant to be, will happen.

still.

fingers crossed!

happy sunday!

love,

levi & jasmine

xo

i love Y-O-U

good morning fellow bloggers, readers, commenters, lurkers, human beings, etcetera!

i just need to tell you today how much i LOVE you all!

first of all, reading your comments to yesterday's pb+j post had me smiling all day. i enjoyed reading all about your random memory connections. erin (find her here and here), for example, told me the sweetest story about her grandparents. it was so cute that i had to read it out loud to levi during the lakers-nuggets game. i also loved hearing about how you make your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! i guess i'm not the only particular person out there! see, levi???

and secondly, i received the sweetest, most thoughtful gift in the mail yesterday from adele (and aramis) of poptart. she sent me a fujifilm instax mini camera and the most beautiful little handmade note!! let me tell you, i was skipping when i left my mailbox. i'm really excited to start using this thing, but, more than anything, i am blown away by her kindness and generosity.

adele, thank you so much for thinking of me and going through all the trouble of sending me a gift. you made more than just my day. your thoughtfulness filled me up with love, joy, inspiration, and happiness. thank you so much!

(in case you can't tell - this is a scanned photo from my new camera!)

let's all make it our mission this weekend to be full of love and kindness towards each other. let's keep making each other's days!

p.s. sometimes i sound like a hippie. :)

pb+j

do you ever recall a specific memory every single time you complete a certain task or see something?

i do this all the time.

this is what made me think of it:

i was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich last night, and i realized that every single time i make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, i think about my first real job interview.

i was 15, and i was interviewing at jamba juice. the interviewer went through all the questions, and i did a really good job answering them. then he got to the end and told me he had one more question.

he asked, "how do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

i gave him this insanely long answer about how i always get out two slices of bread, line them up so that the tops of the slices match, put this on that and that on this, blah, blah, blah, cut it diagonally, leave the crust on, get out the milk, shake the milk (i like my milk with foam), blah, blah, blah. you get the idea.

so this is what i think about every time i make and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. i think about that interview and how i could have answered that question soooooo much more simply. and how i always take things a step further, give some extra details, and maybe make things a bit more complicated than necessary. this post = perfect example

what kind of random tasks, smells, tastes, etc. always make you recall a very specific memory?

and, more importantly, how do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

(btw, i got the job at jamba juice. it was one fun and fruity summer!)

new friends

we had a great "weekend," and now levi goes back to work. 

a friend is coming in from out of town today, and i'm picking her up at the airport then taking her to levi's salon to get her hair done. yay! i'm really excited to spend some time with her. 

almost all of my closest friends have moved away in the last year. it makes me really sad sometimes, but i need to look at it as a great opportunity to make new friends!

take this "weekend" for example. i hung out with some really cool shadow people!

and then i decided to try my hand at being a shadow person.

it was cool, but i would miss levi way too much if i was a shadow person all the time.

p.s. silly post, i know. i just really like these pictures that levi and i took over our weekend, and i really do miss my friends.

stuff for your walls

remember this post? and this painting hanging over our tremendous stacks of dvds?

well, it has been replaced with this painting.

because.....

the beautiful jessica from [under construction] bought it! 

seriously, she's so pretty. and so sweet. she saw the painting here (on my blog!) and contacted me about buying it. this was my first ever blog in real life meeting. it was really cool meeting a reader (i read her blog too, btw) in person. 

and it's always really cool when levi sells a painting. this is so much more than a money thing. i love seeing levi validated as an artist. it makes me so proud when people like levi's art enough to pay good money for it and then hang it in their house for all to see. i mean, that's a big commitment. you really have to like something a lot to be willing to look at it every single day. 

i can't wait to see where jessica and her fiance hang the painting!

a tale of two ice creams

by me!

yikes

we just had an earthquake. 

it wasn't a big deal,

but it kinda scared me.

and i might have cried a little.

happy sunday!

love,

levi and jasmine

xo

out with the old...kinda

levi hates my pajama pants.

he's made it no secret that he thinks they're the ugliest things he's ever seen.

i don't blame him. they're awful. one pair i've had since i was 15. they're worn thin, full of holes, and just about the dumpiest things i've ever seen. the crotch goes down to my knees. my mom actually threw them away once.

i dug them out of the trash.

call me crazy, but i like when levi's attracted to me. so my mission for today was to find a new pair of pajama pants.

i was successful! i found a pair of cute, fitted, comfy pj pants on sale at anthropologie.

here are some before and afters.

exhibit one: ugly

exhibit two: ugliest

exhibit three: much much better

p.s. i found a skirt on sale at anthropologie today that i really really wanted to buy, and i didn't. please be proud of me for exhibiting restraint and being responsible. it was hard.

p.p.s. i am toootally NOT getting rid of my old pj pants. i had to hide them from levi because he wanted to throw them out.

p.p.p.s. sorry for my lack of blog interaction for the past couple days. i've been busy with the new job, sort of foggy brained, and dealing with a very slow internet connection. but i have read all your lovely emails and comments (gosh, i love hearing from you. it just makes my day), and i will be responding to them very soon. i promise.

levi thinks i'm super

soooo super that he turned me into a superhero! 

i am theeeeeee 

INCREDIBLE MOOD-CHANGING GIRL. 

i blast my enemies with an angry glance, a powerful kick, or a cranky word.

they never know that it's coming. one minute they're won over by my sweetness and charm, the next they're flat on their backs from a swift switch in moods.

my powers come from my ovaries, and my superhero sidekick is a little elephant called clementine. she always comes when i need her because i wear a charm around my neck that summons her at just the right moment.

it's pretty great being super. 

an experiment in spending

we had such an excellent "weekend"! and now levi's back to work. i don't go back until tomorrow. speaking of my job, it's still great! some of you have expressed some curiosity as to how it's going (thank you for caring!!), and i am very pleased to inform you that is going very well indeed. i made a lot in tips this week. it was amazing. levi actually had a really great week in tips too. we had so much money by the end of the weekend (the real weekend that most of you get to enjoy - the saturday/sunday weekend) that we were a little nervous.

we really had no idea what to do with all this extra money! my instinct was to just horde it and not spend a cent, but that's completely impractical. we have bills to pay and needs to meet. we can't be afraid to spend money.

so we spent our weekend buying essentials, paying bills, and just having an all around amazing time in each other's company.

our first stop was target. ohhhh how i love target! we bought:

toothpaste

toothbrushes

lint roller

kitty litter

mascara

a shirt for me to wear to work

and guess what??? we still had (a lot of) money afterwards!! it has been soooo long since we have been able to buy things we need and still have money after! imagine that?!?

next on the list: macarons!

after that, we went shoe shopping so i could get some shoes for work.

i think these men's size 20 nikes look rather nice, don't you?

we also stopped by see's candies. yummmmm.

said hi to this little guy.

and levi bought me a yellow (!!!) cutting board that was on sale at crate and barrel!

i don't have any fun pictures of us paying bills 'cause, really, that's just not much fun.

the rest of our weekend was spent laughing, talking, planning, watching the lakers, hanging out with my family, and just bein all in love and stuff. it was plain old fantastic, and i can't wait for next weekend!

oh so romantic!

levi and i have a monday/tuesday weekend,

so we're off to enjoy the rest of it.

but i will leave you with this sweet and romantic tidbit:

yesterday, levi said that i was his soulmate because

i burp loud.

for a girl.

we're classy.

what i like about you (and me), the first edition

do you remember the nighttime ritual that levi and i practice? mara, from in so many words, was inspired by us to do her own little blogified version of it on a weekly basis. she modified it so that she says something she likes about herself and a different friend once every week. i think this is a brilliant idea and would like to try it out here at an experiment in poverty. 

for my first edition, i chose a fellow blogger. her name is kathleen, and she writes a blog called just a small town girl. kathleen and i have never met, but i just know she's a kindred spirit. i love this girl. she has the most beautiful heart and truly delights in the joys of others. a girl like her will never fail to be happy because she is able to experience happiness through and for everyone around her. every time i read her blog, i am inspired to be more like her. 

i am going to direct you to two posts in particular that i just love.

this one made me cry,

and this one made me laugh.

now for the hard part! i have to tell you something i like about myself! i like my curiosity. i want to be an expert on everything. i enjoy studying the most random things. for example, one week i was really into the history of chocolate. i read everything i could find about its origins and its entrance into western civilization. and once in a history class, i wrote a 10 page paper on the history of tulips. tulips! they actually have an incredibly interesting history just so you know. anyway, this curiosity that i possess has given me the opportunity to learn and try so many different things, and i really like that about myself. 

so that's it for this week's edition of what i like about you (and me). now go out and enjoy your monday!

happy sunday!

{some pictures of me & my little mama}

as we all know this sunday is a special one,

so i am dedicating this post to my mom.

mom,

thank you for being my friend

and for taking such good care of me,

zachary, and ivy pretty much all on your own.

you are beautiful, sooo generous, selfless, fun-loving,

hardworking, and you're always on my side.

i really appreciate you, mom.

happy mother's day!

i love you!

love,

jasi