By the Numbers: 2014

Sunset at Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

This past year was certainly not as travel-heavy as 2013, but Jonathan and I were still able to visit a few states and travel abroad once for our honeymoon. We also traveled quite a bit within the state of California throughout the year, including weekend trips to San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, and multiple trips to the Central Valley for wedding-planning shenanigans.

Winter 2014 Book Challenge: Month 2

Happy New Year and welcome to the second Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Book Challenge check-in! If you're new to the challenge, feel free to review the rules for the winter challenge here. Remember, all books you've read back to November 1 count, even if you join the challenge today! Continue reading after the jump to see the current scoreboard and learn how to check in with your progress.

More & Less in 2015 {Plus $150 in Paypal Cash!}

I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions. (Except this one, of course, but that's more of a daily resolution.) But as I look ahead to 2015, there are some things I am hoping for. In the upcoming year, I want to:

see more sunrises

spend less time watching television
spend less evenings at home and more time exploring the Bay Area

read more nonfiction

make more phone calls and send less text messages

write more cards and send less emails

spend less money on myself and more on supporting causes I admire
sweat more
floss more
drink more water
accept more and judge less
love more and argue less
practice more random acts of kindness
be more patient and more forgiving

And if one of your New Year's Resolutions is to be more fiscally responsible, maybe this giveaway can start you off on the right foot! :) Check out the other 11 lovely bloggers below and enter to win $150 using the Rafflecopter after the jump. The giveaway ends next week. Happy New Year!

The Best of 2014: Written

I'll most likely be absent from this blog until after the New Year as I celebrate the holidays (except for the second Semi-Charmed Winter 2014 Book Challenge check-in on January 1 of course; I promise I won't be late this time!), but I wanted to publish one last post of 2014 to share some of my favorites from the year. These are not necessarily the most popular posts of the year (I'll share those in my annual By the Numbers recap), but instead these are the posts I personally enjoyed writing the most. I hope you enjoy reading them as well!

5 Must-Have iPhone Apps

Just one day before leaving on my honeymoon, I upgraded to an iPhone 5S. Woohoo! My previous phone was an iPhone 4, and though it worked fine (if fine = randomly shutting off, the battery icon being stuck at 19 percent, and all the apps wonking out because of the iPhone 6 updates), I was excited to finally get a phone with a nicer camera (8 megapixels vs. 5, if you were wondering) right before my big trip. Anyway, the point is: obviously I had to download some apps the minute I walked out of the store. I have been making a conscious effort not to clog up my phone with unnecessary apps to help preserve its efficiency, but here are five apps I would rather not live without. (And the best part is: They're all free! I don't pay for apps. Pssh....)



Instagram | Duh. I am addicted to Instagram, as my almost-daily posts probably illustrate. And the only reason I don't post more is because I don't want to scare away potential followers (and because I like to think I hold my Instagram photos to a pretty high standard). If you like photos of beautiful books, cozy coffee cups and pretty places, you should definitely follow me! :)

The Only Wedding Checklist You'll Ever Need

I'm planning a short series of posts with helpful tips I learned while planning my own wedding over the past year, but before I begin posting any monthly checklists or what to look for in a wedding dress or how to narrow down your guest list, I thought it was important to start with the only things you really need to know before you get married:

The Best of 2014: Read

I'm a little nervous to post my top 10 books of the year today because I just picked up Leaving Time from the library yesterday, and we all know how much I love Jodi Picoult. But, The Broke and the Bookish is hosting a Top Ten Tuesday about the best books we read in 2014, and I just had to join in on the fun! So, pending any amazing books I may read in the next two weeks, here are my ten favorite books I read this year (all title links go to my Goodreads review):



My Name is Memory, Ann Brashares | This is my go-to book when people ask me for recommendations now. A must-read for anyone who enjoys time travel books and/or is looking for a good love story.

Weekly Wishes: End-of-Year Edition

What better time than the end of the year to set some organization goals for myself, amiright? Why wait until January when I have 23 days of this month left at my disposal?! That being said, here are five things I hope to accomplish this week. (Because after this week, I'll be visiting San Diego and then my brother will be visiting and then it will be Christmas and then it will be New Year's and then my family will be visiting for a belated Christmas ... sheesh! Basically, I need to get shiz done this week or it's not happening at all haha.)

1. Address, stamp and send all holiday cards and wedding thank you notes! We're sending them together in one envelope to save on postage, but I'm still sending separate cards for each occasion because I just love writing cards. :)

5 Fun Things We Did on our Honeymoon

My spanking-new husband and I just returned from our honeymoon on Monday evening, and though I definitely plan to share more photos and stories in upcoming posts, I wanted to give you a little sneak peek to enjoy this weekend. :) We decided to visit Asia for the first time for our honeymoon and split our time between Cambodia (Siem Reap) and Thailand (Chiang Mai, Railay Beach and briefly Bangkok). Here are five fun things we did during our adventure:

Best of November: A Month in Review

Woo November! Last month marked my first trip to Asia ... for my honeymoon! Expect lots of travel recaps over the next few weeks (or months, knowing me haha). We spent a little more than a week in Thailand and Cambodia to celebrate; let me know if you have any specific questions about traveling in Southeast Asia that you would like me to address in my travel posts!

Most Popular on Instagram & Notable Events

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It looks like my Instagram followers also preferred Cambodia to Thailand; the two pictures on the right are from our time exploring temples and relaxing at our hotel (which is how we spent almost all our time in Siem Reap). November also marked another important travel "first" for me: I finally rode a cable car in San Francisco (pictured at lower left)! I know, I know; I've lived within driving distance of the city for nearly 12 years and had never done this before. It's a shame how much we take for granted the things we have nearby (which reminds me—I really need to write a Bay Area bucket list! This strategy helped me get a lot of cool stuff done when I was living in Santa Fe.) And, of course, as I mentioned last month, I think any wedding pictures are automatically going to skyrocket to the top of my "like" spectrum from now on. ;) Personally, though, I think this Instagram photo should have been the most popular last month. Seriously; how gorgeous is that?! (#unhumblebrag)