California Girl

How do you decide where you’re from? Is it where you live the longest? Is it where you were born? Is it where you enjoyed most of your formative years? Is it where most of your family lives?

I’ve lived in Arizona 17 years now. It feels like home for now, but one day I know I’ll be back in the state in which I was born - California. I say I’m from Arizona, but when I step foot in California it always feels like I was meant to be there. Do you have a place that feels like that to you?

So, that’s why I bought this Top Shop t-shirt. I’m a California girl at heart. Born there and will be back one day. I think this little Arizona girl just might feel the same way. She keeps talking about going back to the ocean. =) Time to start planning our family trip.

Get the look:
T-shirt from Top Shop at Nordstrom
Skirt by Reformation (similar)

L.A. Vacation with Airbnb

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School is out and summer vacation season is upon us. Where are you going this summer? If you live in Arizona there's a good chance that you are planning a weekend getaway to the California coast. A six hour drive from Phoenix to L.A. is easy as pie, but what happens when you get there?

In years past we have gotten an inexpensive stay at a hotel, but then we spend the rest of our trip completely relying on Yelp and Google to find the top eats and things to do. Though we have always had fun, the places that are usually recommended to us are tourist spots.

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I would consider Ryan and I foodies. He loves craft beers and I love locally roasted coffee. He loves good bourbon and I love obscure food pairings. We also enjoy modern architecture and interiors and we have never been able to afford a hotel that meets our design taste. With the help of Airbnb we have found some seriously awesome modern homes to stay for families of all sizes, and with the help of Pinterest, I've put together a one-stop-shop experience of places to eat, shop and stay with a click of a button. Check it out, click here. I've also included some of my favorite travel bags, snack recipes and travel tips.

I hope you enjoy, and definitely let me know if there are other L.A. spots I should add.

L.A. photo by Super Duper Brick, Laguna Beach, Alfred Coffee,

FIDM Update

Welp, yesterday was a sad disappointing day for a lot of reasons, but one of them was FIDM. I got a bill for tuition in the mail for fall semester, which led me to email my adviser saying that there was no way that we were going to start paying tuition w/o having jobs secured in California. So, she officially unrolled me from FIDM for Fall 2009. I have up to one year to reinstate until I have to re-apply to the design program. We knew that this was probably going to be the case earlier this summer and decided to book a trip to San Fran in October to get a better feel of the FIDM SF campus and city, but nonetheless, it just really sucks to see an email from your adviser saying, "Keep in touch." Don't know if school will ever happen for me at this point. The reality of Ryan finding a job that pays enough for me to work only part-time at the most and paying tuition of $27,000 a year is pretty out there.

So, my action plan now is taking sewing lessons with a local lady from Joy Studio and applying to marketing, communications, and public relations jobs fashion and beauty companies across the United States. So, if you see or hear of anything, let me know.

Click here for Alex's resume.

Status Update

For those that I see on a regular basis, this may not be new. However, for all of the rest of you...here's an Evjen update. Ryan had his last day at Arizona State University on Tuesday. He recently accepted a job at meltmedia as a junior project manager. This is going to be a great place for him to grow professionally within the tech industry. We feel so blessed that God has given Ryan a job in a huge recession, and I'm so excited for the relationships that he'll create in his new workplace. Ryan will also continue his work with Visdom, LLC.

This obviously begs the question as to whether or not I still plan on attending FIDM...Abso -freakin'-lutely! Ryan took this new job with the company being aware that I had applied to this school. Due to the fact that we were unsure of when we'd be able to go, he accepted this job. While in limbo, this will give him a great skill set! Ryan and I are still on the hunt for employment in California, but because Cali has the highest rate of unemployment in the nation we're not going to hold our breath. So, this means that I may have to defer my acceptance to a later date unless we find something within the next two months (fingers crossed). There is a possibility that Ryan may be able to move to San Francisco with meltmedia, but that's a very small chance.

So, how am I feeling with all of this? It's a mixture of emotions...As a wife, I couldn't be happier! I have a husband that's over the moon happy! When he's happy, I'm happy. As a professional, I feel frustrated, hopeless, envious and impatient. I want to be able to go to school and work at my dream job right now too. (Oh, this intricacies of marriage! Wouldn't trade it for a second though.) In the end, I'm just thankful that God is alive and knows me better than I know myself. That's just a hard truth to swallow when I've finally taken a huge leap of faith in myself and abilities, applied to FIDM and got accepted. Ya know? On the bright side, I'm extremely thankful I have a great job when so many don't in these hard times. I'm also glad to have a fantastic husband that is VERY supportive of my endeavors and wants to see me succeed too.

Well, please continue to pray for us, and I'll keep you all posted!

FIDM & Project Runway

I don't know what this is going to look like, but FIDM has chosen to be Project Runway's west coast location!

I guess there's going to be a new season broadcasted from California! Pretty crazy, huh!? Well, this definitely makes me even more excited to apply! Click here to see the announcement.