There are lots of things I love in this life. Photography (obviously!), good food, great friends, handwritten notes, dancing, traveling, eating unhealthy snacks at 1:00 in the morning, etc.

But sometimes I think that all these loves that I have in my life are eclipsed by the singular love for my beautiful dogs.

It really doesn’t make any sense. My Lizzie, a gorgeous 2 year old Korean Jindo spends most of her day chewing up phone cords and paperback books and when she’s not wrecking havoc she just sleeps. And sleeps. And sleeps some more. But I can’t help it! I love that lazy, chew-happy dog to pieces. And my male Jindo, Charles has learned to vertically scale walls and climb trees like a cat and in this way, regularly escapes from the back yard to go roaming around the neighborhood. Many hours have been spent with me tearing through the streets of Suburbia, leash in hand as I try and corner Charlie as he runs through the neighbor’s front lawns. But again, I can’t help but love the crazy dog. What can I say, the cuteness just melts my heart.

So here’s to my beautiful babies. If nothing else, they sure make my life more interesting.

There’s just too much to be said about the beauty of Spain, it’s just such a gorgeous country. So different from what I’m used to here in the States. My trip to Spain was riddled with things like getting lost (so many many times!), accidentally losing souvenir I had bought, and clutching at my purse for fear of pickpockets, jetlag, etc. But none of those little annoyances of travel really amount to anything in the face of the overwhelming beauty that is Spain.

One of my favorite parts of the entire trip were the night time strolls taken along the beautifully lit Spanish streets. There are gardens everywhere, beautiful ornate statues on street corners, the sound of trickeling fountains following you while you walk along at 1 in the morning with tons of people still out and about. So lovely.

I could probably ramble on for days about just how PRETTY everything was, but I’ll let the photos do the talking.

I’m gearing up for my big move up to San Francisco and I have to admit that I’ve been stalling a bit. I made up my mind that I would stay in Southern California to celebrate one more birthday here, before leaving everything behind for a exciting new adventure up north. And I’m so glad I made that decision, because this past weekend was an explosion of birthday fun.

It’s hard to describe just how good it feels to be surrounded by people you love and who love you back. This weekend was like one long enveloping bear hug, made all the more special because of my imminent departure from this cocoon of warm familiarity. A night out in LA was the bestest of friends, an adventure at Disneyland with the most incredible Boyfriend, a homey dinner with my big quirky Korean family, what more could a girl ask for?

I always see birthdays as a time to take stock of one’s life. And I can happily say that I have bucketloads of loving nostalgia for my past and ambitious dreams for my future. I’m so glad that I got to have one huge reminder before I leave, that as much change as these next few weeks and months might have in store for me, some things, like good friends and a loving family never change.