Party at the Campbell's!

My brother just left for a semester abroad in Australia. He will be there for 5 months (maybe longer!) and lets be honest...I am jealous!


We had a going-away-slash-happy-early-21st-birthday-party at my parent's house for him before he took off on his adventure. This is how it usually goes at the Casa de Campbell (as my dad likes to call it).

TACOS. CHIPS. GUAC.

FAMILY. BEING. NORMAL.

COMPETITIVE GAME OF QUARTERS. GRANDMA HAVING HOMEMADE ICE CREAM.

COOKIES.

As far as I can see Brandon is having a great time is Aussie land already. He has made some new friends...

Have a great weekend everyone! 

And happy birthday to Mike! 24 years of greatness :)

Post about our birthday celebration coming next! 

Mama Said There Would be Days Like This...

Actually, she didn't. Not days like this one. Today is always the worst day of the year. It marks three years since the hardest, most surreal and life-changing day of my life {February 24, 2008}. That was the day that I watched my best and most loved friend be taken from this world. I can't get into the details of it all - I still really have not gotten to a place where I am comfortable talking about the details.

The friends of mine who supported me those following months and years got a glimpse of that darkness and I thank them a million times for helping me pull through and come out on the other side. I truly hope that this is an experience that none of you ever have to go through. Keep your friends close and don't be afraid to confront them if they are heading down the wrong path. An argument in a lot easier to work through than the alternative.

Kurty, I love and miss you so much. I am so grateful to have known you and I will never forget your smile or your girlish giggle and disregard for almost everything. You taught us all how to love with everything we had and to live each day without regret or hesitation. You know we all think about you everyday and even though my heart is still broken -  I can still feel you around. I hope you are enjoying the party in heaven - I'll see you there one day.

Anyway, that's my soap box about watching your friend's and family's backs. I don't want to leave this post as a downer so here are some pictures of my most amazing friend Kurt. This day is always hard but I know he is still around and watching over me and our friends. I will be listening to "Red Dirt Road" and "Our Song" today for him - his favorites! If you here a country song today - shout him a holler! :)

Also, so much thanks to all of your who have been commenting on my blog lately! It makes me so happy to hear what you have to say!! I look forward to even more! :) Have a great day everyone!!

Things I Live By

Two things I live by:


1.  Sweets like these Oreo cupcakes!

2. This quote, which I have no idea who said it or where it came from.

"Be kinder than necessary, everyone is fighting some kind of battle."

I try to live by this quote (and trust me sometimes it is almost impossible - especially working customer service!) but I always try to remind myself that if someone is mean to me or whatever it might be, that they are probably going through something too.


It might be small, it might be life-changing, but at any given point in time most people are struggling with something. 


So be nice. It's that simple :)

Have the best day and try to do or say something extra nice to someone today! 

RECIPE:

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon(outer yellow skin)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

15 oreos crushed up

Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2tablespoons milk or light cream

15-20 oreos crushed by food processor

Oven 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla extract.

Add lemon zest.

Add milk.

Combine dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients on low speed.

Place some crushed oreo in the bottom of the cupcake tins and pour the batter on top.

Bake 18 minutes until it springs back at you.

For the frosting cream butter and vanilla extract together until smooth.

On low speed, add confectioners' sugar until combine.

On high speed, slowly add the milk/cream and beat on high for 5 minutes.

Then fold in the oreo crumbs.

Frost and share with friends!

[3L's] SD Livin'

I've told you this before, but I am head over heels in love with Southern California. It is gorgeous, sunny and wonderful! My favorite thing about living in San Diego is that the days that I might be having an off day or something is not going so fabulous, I can walk a few blocks to the beach and sit and watch the water. It is so soothing, comforting and it puts me in my happy place.

I also love the weekend mornings when Mike and I get to walk to breakfast at the beach, lay out in the sun, relax and do whatever we want.

We can meet some friends to watch the Superbowl at Dirty Birds.

We can walk to Trader Joe's to make our own pizza for dinner.

We can walk with our coffees down the pier and watch waves.

Life here? It's good :)

What is good for you this week??? 

Boy meets Girl

In the spirit of Valentine's day here is the story of how this girl met her boy.


8 years and some days ago I was sitting in my high school science class wondering what in the world my teacher was talking about watching the clock tick until the bell rang. However; after a while I began to really look forward to Mr. Stark's science class and Ms. Keane's english class. Why you aak? Because of the boy.. It's always been about the boy.


It was my sophomore year that I met Mike.
He played football. I cheered.
We wore Catholic school uniforms.
Went to every dance together except the first one when we didn't know each other.
We were silly and awkward in young love.
I know, could we be more cliche?

Mike and I at our Senior Homecoming Dance

We graduated high school and went our seperate ways to take on the big bad "real world" of college. He went off to the snowy land of Boulder, Colorado and I came here to Sunny San Diego.


Lots of things have happened since then and we have weathered some troubled waters. Through it all we came out on top and after college graduation when he came back to California for real, we realized that we just didn't want to be apart anymore - plain and simple. So we got back together after 4 years of crazy ups, downs and other shenanigans (also some of the most fun years with our friends) and it has been just the best since then. 

We are now living in San Diego where the sun is shinning almost everyday of the year - it really is amazing. Who knows where we will end up or what we will do with our lives but what I do know is that we will stand by each other and there is no where else I would rather be than with him.

Happy (late) Valentine's Day to everyone!

 Remember to always tell your people that you love them as often as possible!

And maybe show your love by giving some sweet treats :)

[3Ls] Live the Life you Love

Everyone in the blog-o-sphere seems to have some type of special theme for certain days of the week like "Friday Fancies" and "Wednesday Wishes" and I think it's great! So I am totally going to be that girl to jump on the bandwagon.


I am going to make my own though.


It is not going to be for a specific day of the week because lets face it..there is no consistency in my blog posts and I would hate to disappoint if I can't blog it up on a Thursday when you might be expecting me. It would prove my habit of procrastination when my Thursday post comes on a Monday.


So my weekly post will be about the saying of "living the life you love and loving the life you live". I think it is SO important to cherish everyday and every memory-even if it is small and simple. What else is life about if not to enjoy it?

I will be sharing the things I love each week and what I am excited about in my life and try to find you a nice picture of something fun, enchanting or something else that makes life as good as it is.


This week I am excited about...
- some new opportunities that have popped up (can't tell you quite yet). 
- being home in Orange County this weekend to spend time with my brother Brandon. He means the world to me and is about to leave to study abroad in Australia for five months! Not to mention that he will be leaving me 4 days before his [would be epic] 21st birthday!
- watching more 24. I started the first season and am so hooked!! 
- that I have ice cream and cookie dough in the fridge.
- the sun is out and shining...it doesn't get better than that.

What are you doing to live the life you love?? 

Island Cupcakes

There is a new cupcake shop that opened up in my hometown in December. It is called Island Cupcakes (they don't have a website yet but you can get to know them here.)

They offer all these superlicous tropical flavors like mango, passionfruit and guava in cupcake form. I know, right? Amazing!

Naturally, I left with a box of six.

The tropical flavors were B-O-M-B. The cake had a sweet little surprise of real fruit in the middle and they were definitely unique. I would probably pass on their regular flavors (chocolate, peanut butter, etc) but definitely pick pick up a dozen mango and passion fruits. You will die in tropical heaven...and that is a good place to be.

Croissant + Cinnamon Roll = A-MAZ-ING!

Do you ever think how perfect it would be if you could combine two of your favorite things into one super awesome thing?

I asked around to see what people though about this genius idea and got some good responses...

"Angels and Lakers games" - Brother Brandon

"Edible chocolate books" - Mom
"Family and sleep" - Dad

"Pancakes and french toast" - Mike

"Elvis and High School Musical" - Sister Jenna

"French Fries and glitter" - Ashley

"Sex and napping" - Mandy

"Taylor Swift and golfing" - Brother Ryan

"Hot tubs and water slides" -Shea

"Peanut butter and pasta or Nordstroms and Target" - Brittany O

Why not a buttery, flakey croissant and a doughy-centered cinnamon roll? 

My thoughts exactly.

It was as scrumptious as you are imagining it right now. I am not gonna lie. And thank goodness they were because these puppies took 24 hours to prepare!

What would you combine together if you could?  How about a transporter and Yogurtland?