Last week the lovely folks at Uncommon Goods sent me some goodies to review, including these nifty stoneware TV dinner trays (pictured above). It’s a grown-up twist to the good ol’ days when school lunch was served in paper trays and kids were scraping the side of prunes into the trash can. They sent me some other stuff, too, but I haven’t had a chance to review it yet at Craft in the City. Hopefully later this week when things settle down.

Buster naturally thought the box from Uncommon Goods was for her.

Since there were two trays, the cats thought it was for them.

No prunes here! Instead, Kimi cooked me a Korean BBQ feast. She even made the musubis look fancy!

If you’re interested in buying a set of your own, they have ‘em here for $20 at Uncommon Goods.

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Frankly, I’m glad that 2011 is over. I’m ready for 2012.

In January, I finally went back home to Hawaii. I hadn’t gone since I moved and my Dad timed it so it was the same time he was visiting as well. I got to visit my Grandmas, eat all the food I’ve been missing on the mainland, and hang out with my friends.

Probably the coolest thing of 2011 came in March when the It Gets Better Book came out.  I made my video late in 2010 and was surprised that they wanted to include me in their book. This book opened a lot of doors, but more importantly gave me the strength to be more active in the LGBT community. I met a lot of really amazing people through the It Gets Better project.

The beginning of summer meant the LA Times Book Festival (far left panel). It was my first and definitely something I plan on attending every year from now on.  I also attended my very first Unique LA and met TONS of cool people there!

I don’t want my photos to overlap with Kimi’s too much, but I was so happy that Caroline and Emily came to visit. We all had some much needed “family” time together. We even spent 14 hours at Disneyland, much to Caroline’s dismay.

Apparently I never get tired of Disneyland ’cause I went again when my mom, stepdad, and youngest sister came to visit.

You’re going to think I’m a nerd and I don’t care. I went to Comic Con this year. Although my car broke down on the way there (see left panel), I still had lots of fun.  Sat in on the Showtime panel (which included Dexter) and on Sunday I sat in on the Castle panel. By completely chance, I scored a pass to the exclusive signing they had that day so I got to meet the cast and they graciously signed this poster for me. Kimi also scored me an official Comic Con Castle notebook.

August is all about Buster. We adopted her from the spcaLA in Long Beach, CA. Chompers and Buster didn’t really get along at first, but slowly they found their rhythm.  We also saw Adele that month at the Greek. She was amazing.

Autumn was a hard couple of months. Chompers got sick twice, the most recent incident where she had to have surgery. I barely slept, I worried a lot, but she pulled through like the trooper that she is. Experienced fall in LA. Although I’m sure I experienced it last year too, I remembered it this year for some reason. Oh, and Disneyland for Christmas rocks.

2011 is almost over and I’m happy to see it go. Nobin took us to the Grove to experience Christmas-time there. They decorate it all fancy and you can sit on rich Santa’s lap. Before stuffing our faces at the Korean BBQ restaurant we love, Nobin took us to the LACMA for an impromptu photo session.

I started 2011 visiting home and I ended 2011 visiting my other home, Seattle. Had some much needed rest and home cooked meals. Gained like 10 lbs and got to hang out with my family. By the way, we always like to threaten my sister Alyssa that we’re going to buy her something from Dress Barn which is why we took a picture in front of there.

I don’t know what’s in store for 2012, but whatever it is, I’ll be ready for it.

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Last year came and went in a hazy blur, and now that it’s 2012 I can’t really remember what happened in 2011.  Luckily, I was able to capture some 2011 iPhone moments!  It’s fun to look back and see how far I’ve come since moving to LA.  (I’ve only been in LA for a little over a year after moving from Hawaii to go to cosmetology school.)  It’s been a fun adventure so far, and I feel like I’ve only just been introduced to this great city.  There are many things I have to look forward to in 2012 and can’t wait to share it here in blog form. 

Here is my 2011 in photo review:

 
January 2011- Rung in the new year with shrimp tempura and Aloha Maid Passion Orange Juice (right).  I went to my very first ISSE hair show in Long Beach!  I also hugged a tree. 

February 2011- This was a tough month for my family and me.  We lost my grandpa to ASL (Lou Gehrig’s disease).  He’s the handsome one on the far left.  I flew back to Hawaii for his funeral.  While I was home, I found these super cute old photos of my grandparents (left) and my parents (right).  My Mom is so pretty and my Dad is so handsome!  They were high school sweethearts! <3

March 2011- After spending about a month back in Hawaii, I came back ready to start my life in LA as a Cosmetology student at the Academy for Salon Professionals.  Kristel and I love doing touristy things, and as we are new to LA, that is what we did.  We went to the Santa Monica Pier (left and right).  And I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific (center) with my friend Nobin.

April 2011- Got my self a new hair cut (left), went to Disneyland with Kristel and her family.  That’s her little sis KelliAnn (center).

May 2011- May was a fun and busy month and I got to spend it with some of the most important people in my life.  Got to go to Disneyland once again (top left).  You’ll notice how often I go to Disneyland.  I also got the chance to peep the Art in the Streets exhibit at the MOCA with my friend, Justine.

June-July 2011- In July, Kristel and I went to Comic Con in San Diego.  It was a lot of fun and craaaaazy crowded!  On our way to San Diego, Kristel’s car broke down on the freeway and the picture on the left captures how we felt about missing the Twilight panel.  Okay, how I felt about it.

August 2011-  This was probably one of the highlights of the year: the day we adopted the newest edition to our family!  We picked up Buster from the SPCALA in Long Beach (far left) after stalking her on their website.  She was just as crazy and friendly as Chompers, so we knew we made the right decision.  What got me was the black spots on her nose and mouth.  <3

September 2011- Another month spent with my loves, Emily and Caroline.  Caroline flew in from Hawaii to spend her birthday with us and Emily came down from San Francisco.  My sister, Kyla, and her hubby, Greg, also visited (bottom middle).  Love them!

Oct-Nov 2011- I competed in my very first hair show competition in Long Beach!  This show was much smaller than the ISSE in January, but it was a fun experience.  Three of us from school got chosen to do hair, nails, and makeup on a model.  The compeition was for an overall evening look.

December 2011- It didn’t really feel like Christmas being so far away from my family.  I was lucky to have my parents with me for a few days in the beginning of the month, tho.  One of my favorite places to go now is to the Venice Canals.  It’s really quiet and peaceful and it’s fun to walk through and look at all the different houses.  I also found a place that has a really bomb acai bowl!  Nom nom.

So that is my 2011 year in review.  It was fun and adventurous and I think 2012 is going to be even better.  What were your favorite 2011 moments?  What do you have to look forward to in the new year?

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Kimi and I decided to start 2012 by de-cluttering our dressers (and our lives). The former took only an hour, but I’m guessing the latter will take most of the upcoming year. Between the both of us, we donated four bags of clothing to Goodwill. This should have occurred to us on December 31st 2011 before the year ended so we could have gotten a tax break. but oh well. It’ll come in handy for next year’s taxes.

One of my resolutions for this year is to be more financially responsible. This means being accountable for all my purchases and hopefully not wasting so much money on crap. You’ll see a bunch of my random, creative ways to save money here.  Anyway, here’s what I’m using:

• Lemon – Use your smart phone to take pictures and keep track of your receipts.
• Mint – A really cool (and free) way to manage your money. There’s even an app!

Let’s see how this goes. What are your resolutions for 2012?

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2012 ,new years resolutions

Or first blog, I should say.  I’m not quite sure which direction this will go in.  Lets just say it will be a combination of my life, my partner’s (Kristel’s) life, and a plethora of cat pictures.  I will do my best at making my updates as interesting as I can, but I won’t make any promises!  However one thing you can expect: lots and lots of kitty pictures.

As promised:

This is Chompers.  She is 4 years old going on 5 and is a feisty little bugger.  <3

And this is Buster, the newest edition to our little family.

Happy new year and happy viewing!

xoxo

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Hi, I’m Kristel. I’m thinking I’m the “hers” of She&Hers or whichever pronoun seems less girly, I suppose. My posts here on She&Hers will be a bit all over the place, much like myself. Not so girly vintage-y fashion, not so girly health and beauty tips, and even my photographic adventures (i.e. gratuitous photos of my two cats, Chompers and Buster).  I hope I am able to post things that are of interest to you all.

I also run a blog that features products from independent designers and crafty people, plus tons of nerdtastic goodies called Craft in the City.

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