South Island Nov. 2011 (part five)

Continuing on from my South Island updates...
After our drive through Otago, we finally made it to our destination of beautiful resort town Queenstown, New Zealand! If you ever come to this part of the world, it's a MUST SEE place. Don't skip Queenstown in the South Island! It's absolutely lush, majestic and everything you'd expect it to be from the movies. (Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Avatar etc.)


November 2011

These are the views from the lodge we stayed at!

Frolicking around town, enjoying the beauty...


I tried to channel my inner adventurer spirit settling into a new land.

It rained on and off, so we stayed inside our cozy room drinking wine listening to old punk music. It was so relaxing not having to be anywhere. When we left for the night, we ate some AMAZING pizza at Winnie's!

I WISH WE COULD EAT FOOD LIKE THIS AND NEVER GAIN WEIGHT. SIGH* I love pizza and Queenstown. :)

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Much Love Monday: February 20, 2012

Happy Monday!

Here's a few of my favourite Pinterest finds this week:


Baked Parmesan Tomatoes Recipe
Copycat Chipotle Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe
Roasted Baby Potatoes Indian Style Recipe

I am loving all these delicious recipes. Chris and I are planning on catering a big party when we get back home, and my mind is running wild with all these ideas!


This bathroom! I can't wait to decorate our new place.

Small Rooms Tumblr


This outfit is the perfect combination of retro classic with a modern feel.

Fancy Fine

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Happy birthday to my love!

We've had an awesome weekend celebrating Chris' birthday. I planned a surprise dinner with our close friends and drinks at DOC. The next day we went to Waitomo to look at the glorious caves. Later we relaxed at home and ate burritos! Today we went out to brunch, bought a suitcase and started packing in prepartion for our new life.





Mannnnnnn, I'm gonna miss these sweet faces!

All photos taken with Android phone, Vignette Demo App- Toy Camera, Colour Highlight filters

Happy birthday sweetie! I love you <3

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Big News: WE'RE MOVING TO SEATTLE!!!

WELL, I have some big news to announce! :)

After three and a half years of living in Auckland, New Zealand, my husband and I are moving to Seattle in two-months time! When I first moved here, I had no idea how long I would be staying and the future of my relationship. Well, well, well! We are absolutely thrilled to start a new life in the Pac NW. I've been dying to get back home to the USA, closer to my family and friends who are basically my LIFE. (They are mostly scattered across the west coast aka. best coast) :P

I have been keeping this secret for a while, and now I feel like I can actually write in my blog without being so reserved. (I don't publicly divulge that much info. about my personal life on the Internet even if it does appear to be that way.)

For the last three and a half years, it's been an unforgettable adventure filled with joy and heartbreak. I have changed so much and am so grateful for the good people I have met along this journey.

There were times when I felt like this:



Add one dose of culture shock, an isolated island 12-hours-direct-flight away from home! Round trip tickets cost anywhere from $1,500-$2000, heaps of homesickness and there it is. It's time for me to move on. I've met some wonderful people along the way; you know who you are. And have learned SOOO much about my husband's country that he calls home.

You may be thinking, "Why Seattle????" We've discussed and debated over this many times, and Seattle was winning out of all the places on the west coast. We wanted to to be closer to my family. Great economy, lots of industries and opportunity, my closest friends already live there, the great outdoors, the beach, good coffee, great music scene, affordable living, public transportation, progressive green-thinking culture, close proximity to Portland/Vancouver, BC...the list goes on. Win win win! If you're thinking about the rain and lack of sunshine. Would you believe that it actually rains MORE in Auckland than in Seattle? And Seattle actually has a few more hours of sunshine than Auckland! Basically, we're moving to a place with the same sort of climate. I'll make sure to visit Vegas and LA frequently where I can rely on heavy doses of sunshine.

I cannot wait to get back and have a fresh new start. New home, new city to explore w/ old friendly faces. Also, I would love to connect with any Seattle or Portland area friends/bloggers. :)

This is us when we first visited Seattle together back in 2008.



And as we wrap up this Auckland life, I will be posting a series of blog posts titled, "Best of Auckland and New Zealand" showing our favourite places to hang out. Watch this space.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! It's one of my favourite holidays (real or not). Even though this day was mostly spent single in my younger days, I always had a great time hanging out with friends. (True story: A girl I once knew seriously thought I stole her Valentine's date back in 2002! But the truth was the dood flaked because he didn't keep her number on him; he was visiting from out of state. This was also a time when people didn't really use cellphones yet. I, of course didn't have the number because we weren't friends anymore! This Valentine's flake ended up going to a basketball game and then dinner with LARGE group of friends that included 4 of my girl friends and 2 guy pals. Sadly, I knew this girl would blame me, but what can you do right?! I felt terrible her night was ruined, and it's probably gone down in history as her worst Valentine's Day ever. Sigh* with me to blame, even though I swear on my life I didn't have any part in it. Ahhhhh, if she ever reads this...)


Well now that I've gotten that off my chest... I had an amazing Valentine's Day with my husband! He ordered fancy pizza from Toto's, bought white wine and set up a picnic in our apartment. It's the second time we've done this and could become a Valentine's Day tradition that I'll happily celebrate.

Afterward, we walked to a favourite local bar! On the way there, we saw so many cute couples snuggling up on benches.

We enjoyed a few drinks watching iconic MTV 90s videos and one-hit wonders including Dee-Lite, Bjork and Big Audio Dynamite. The 90s were such a great time for music, and MTV was actually very enjoyable back then. I am clinging to my youth.

I have some news to share with you later!

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xo
jv

Freedom Summer!

Hello, I'm back! Here's an attempt at a self portrait. I'm wearing a vintage dress from Etsy.

The last few weeks have become a blur. We introduced Jonah to Wellington. We caught up with Ryler and watched a Kiwi-Chinese garage band from Shanghai. Our accommodation reminded me of old Soviet style buildings painted over with primary Crayola colours. I didn't run into Nik from Junica. I am still bummed about that. We went to Laneway Music fest. I met John Campbell and saw my favourite band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, we went coffee hopping on K-road. We walked Jonah up Mt. Eden, took angel photos at Bastion Point before he left. We went to Karapiro Lake and drove around the Waikato countryside. We have lots to plan for the next few months!