Things I Love: The Path I've Chosen To Go

I arrived home from Vegas last week, but I've spent the past week trying to find my heart & my inner strength. After leaving a high intensity place with so much energy, it's hard for me to come back to my life in the Bay Area and feel the same.

Things these days things just feel odd and like I've mentioned before no place feels like "home" to me anymore. So when I come back to the town where I used to live. In a house. With a husband.Working as a teacher. It's hard to come back as the new Amber. An Amber still trying to find her way on this new path. The things I used to take for granted are all peppered with reminders of my old life. My friendships, trips to the dentist, and grocery store are anything but easy these days. And that's hard pill to swallow.

Going to the dentist isn't exactly everyone's favorite activity; and when you throw in having to explain to the technician, dentist and then again to the receptionist that you are divorced makes it just that much more enjoyable. It's the little things that are the hardest and, well, hurt the most. It's the big things that I get to put big band-aids on, in the forms of trips to Vegas and LA.

Life changes AREN'T easy.

I do hurt.

Loneliness is the hardest thing to deal with, for myself. But I believe I am a much stronger person now and have a newfound clarity on how I would like to live my life. I'm all but certain that my life will continue to be vagabond-ish in the meantime.

While coming back to "reality" made me sad, no lies, Vegas was a BLAST. Um I'm pretty much IN LOVE with Cosmopolitan Hotel, Kaskade and Calvin Harris. Sara & I lived it UP and danced like crazy.

I love the high I get from dancing, sometimes I get a good feeling...

And you know I love a place where I get to rock a party dress every night. LOVE!

We danced at Marquee to Kaskade and at XS to Calvin Harris, both places were very cool and Umm the DJ's? I am in love.

Dancing is something I never did when I was married and now I cannot get ENOUGH.

And coincidentally, my LONG-TIME online friend Wendy, was in town. It was so nice to see her, catch up and introduce her to Sara. Wendy is an awesome person and has been an amazing support and inspiration to me. We had two unforgettable trips to LA together over the years (I mean we met Britney together!! ) and I'm so glad I have someone like her in my life.

And you know I did a little shopping. I mean it is Vegas!! I hit up the All Saints 70% off sale and grabbed this, and this sweater. I love the funky unique details of All Saints pieces.

We also ate at some amazing restaurants. Our favorites were La Cave at The Wynn (Bacon wrapped dates and the Crab Lump salad were AMAZE) and Jaleo at Marquee (amazing cocktails, small plates and paella - the endives are a must get). I love to eat good, quality food and Vegas brought it.

And after dinner go head down to Vesper at The Cosmopolitan, find Rodger and have him teach you a thing or two about quality cocktails. Dude knows his drinks, and they are MIGHTY tasty.

It was a good, good time. And I rolled solo. Thank you Suzy for giving my trip an anthem!!

Wishing you all the strength to get through any hard times you may be facing.

Big or small.

And if someone you know is going through a hard time or a life chance, make an effort to reach out to them. They'll appreciate it and it'll make you feel good.

I like two for ones.

Things I love: The Internet

The Internet is my voice. The internet is my escape, my entertainment, my information source, my means of earning money as of right now. The internet has allowed myself and so many others to become self starting entrepreneurs. It has had the power to help people in this hard economic time find a new path.

It has also changed the way we find information and news. And it has changed the way the world connects. If you are a blogger, tweeter, tumblr, or avid fan of the internet and it's content PLEASE educate yourself and sign the Google Petition and take the time to contact your Congress Representatives.

THIS WILL EFFECT US ALL. #savetheinternet

Just one example of why this SOPA is so scary, according to Mashable:

"For example, if you upload a video to YouTube of you singing a popular song, and that song might sell for $1, and your video gets 2,500 views, you are guilty of felony copyright infringement. Furthermore, you can tack on “willful infringement for commercial gain or valued at more than $1,000.”

Felons, huh? Just for posting NOT for making money off it. Now that's scary. Keep Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Arts & Entertainment ALIVE!!

And keep my voice and the voices of many other's (YOUR FAVORITES!) alive!

More information here & here.

Thank you for your support and I'll be back tomorrow with my Vegas recap.

Missed you guys!!

Places I Love: Viva Las Vegas!!

I'm up & outta here for a weekend in Vegas. My first trip there not as a married lady!! Should be fun. Our plan is to dance to Kaskade, AfroJAck & Calvin Harris. And course dine the heck out of the town. Don't forget to get to follow me on Twitter & Instagram (Ambersnotebook) for up to date, live posts.

Including mirror outfit posts (I'm bringing it back old school). Love you all!!

some of the goodies I'll be ROCKING!!

GO NINERS!!!

Blog Events: QSW Spring 2012 Water Dancer

Last night I went to my first blog event in LA and for me it was a BIG deal. Exactly one year ago marks the date when I really began to hit blog events hard, and on the regular. Going to blog events has opened so many doors for me. Plus they are confidence builders and I've met so many amazing people at them. Is it absurd to say partying on the weekly changed my life in the best way possible?
Well you all knew I was a party animal. So that can't REALLY surprise you.
You know I had to make new friends to join me in the Photobooth.

And beyond being an anniversary for myself, last night felt full circle for me. The event last night was hosted by Quiksilver Women, a line designed for "women" like myself who wore Roxy as teenagers but are now all grown up.
As a teenager was a huge Roxy Quiksilver fan. So much so, that for my senior project my Mom contacted Roxy and arranged to have me flown down to Huntington Beach to job shadow one of their fashion designers. I came home with stars in my eyes and bags & bags of swag. I was hooked on dreaming after that experience.
Meeting the Quiksilver Women Team & designer John Moore was an absolute thrill and I was honored to be in attendance with some of best and most stylish bloggers out there (Emily from cupcakes & cashmere & Liz of Late Afternoon to name a couple). And I just adored Quiksilver's Water Dancer video & concept, which compared the beauty of ballet & surfing; two of my favorite things to watch but can only clumsily attempt. It was an amazing night to say the least and I'm counting my blessing, all of them.
These LA girls sure know how to rock the heck out a photobooth!

The amazing spread at Everleigh on Sunset. It was such an awesome venue and I love farm to table restaurant concepts.

There was a craft table at the event where you could make friendship bracelets out of the Quiksilver Women fabric scraps.
It was such a cute idea & a great way to meet new friends.

Oh and for good measure, I just wanted to share that I submitted my survivor application & video. Because when I say I'll do something, I do it, far fetched as it may seem. Let's just say Tom's founder Blake Mycoskie and his book Start Some That Matters has really inspired me.

Happy Wednesday y'all. I'm almost ready to pack up & head north, almost.

Things I Love: Little Vegas Dress

It may be Friday (did this weekend sneak up on anyone else!?) but I'm already thinking about NEXT weekend. Next Saturday (after I watch the Niners kick some ashh) I am headed off to Vegas with my friend Sara and I'm SO EXCITED!!
This trip to Vegas will mark the first time I have ever been to Vegas when I'm single & I look forward to a very classy (but DANCEY) trip to Vegas sans a husband. I'm sorta looking at the trip as my un-Bachlorette party. And let me tell you, nothing is going to stay in Vegas, I don't participate in that kind of shenanigans, and you know I can't hide anything from y'all. I love you too much for that.
In preparation for the trip I plan on using some of my Christmas SWAG to purchase myself a LVD (Little Vegas Dress) to rock with my new new Michael Kors Clutch that my mom gifted me for Christmas (LOVE & MISS YOU MOM!).
You know this party animal loves her a PARTY dress. So I'm spending my Friday morning mulling over my LVD options and I'd love your opinion. I am DYING over the Pierre Balmain's asymetical twist on the LBD. You know I love me a funky accent, and I would also love to add an Alexander Wang dress to my collection. I can never have enough dresses, that's for sure.
Click on pictures to linked.




So whatcha think? Only 8 days to go & I couldn't be more excited!!
Y'all have a FUNky & FUN Friday!! Love you all!!

Places I Love: Home is Where the Heart Is

Let's talk about homes. What makes a home? A happy home?
For seven years I had house. I helped pay the mortgage and the bills. I made dinners there every night. I decorated it for every holiday. I hosted dinner parties there. And, well, I bought fresh flowers for it on the weekly. I even had my own girly room to store all my party dresses & Louboutins. All my goodies sat around looking pretty but waiting for the day they would leave their home & enter the real world.

Then the real world set in and my home was no longer a happy one. While I currently do not have my own place to call my home, I have begun to realize that home really is where your heart is.
And my heart is in California, north & south and most definitely at the beach.

I have my place at my mom's where I watch Jeopardy with my mom, sleep on a futon (on the floor nonetheless) store my belongings at, hang with my family and it's where I get ready for blog events. I feel very "Amber" being in my childhood room and my Mom takes great care of me, but I can't help but feel a bit lonely when I am there.

I have my sister's place in LA where I stay with my sister, her boyfriend Dustin, their roomate Taylor and her cat (Gus) & dog (Sawyer). They feel like my little LA family when I stay there and I love them all to pieces.


And I have Hermosa Beach where I stay with Sara. We spend our time watching romantic comedies, eating dinners in & out and dancing our pants off to DJ Dik at Ocean Bar.


My readers have been asking me when I plan on writing daily posts again and posting my outfits daily again. And to be honest I don't have a plan right now. I live blog constantly (Twitter, Facebook & Instagram) so make sure to follow me there. But for now I plan on soaking up this new found freedom I have, learning about myself and evaluating the friendships & relationships that benefit me in a positive way.
LOVE Kim!!

And let's be honest the Internet is totally where my heart is. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and my blog ALL make me feel that no matter where I am, no matter what time it is, I am not alone. You all make me feel like this little heart of mine IS loved and I can't thank you all enough for that.

PS if you have a couch, I'm always down for a new place to call home. ;)

LA Time: Beachy Keen

I am having an amazing time here in LA. Yesterday my sister & I headed up to Malibu to enjoy our old favorite stomping grounds. Back when Andrea went to Pepperdine she lived in a 4 bedroom place with 3 roomates, so pretty much I had own room and it was amazing. Yesterday we headed back to all our old favorite places (Coffee Bean, Planet Blue, M Fedric) people watched, shopped all the post-Christmas sales and window shopped at stores we had no business being in. Then we walked the beach & pier and enjoyed drinks and snacks. We couldn't have asked for the amazing weather that we enjoyed.

I couldn't stop staring at the ocean, it hypnotizes me.

A cocktail ocean side is the second best thing to being in the ocean.
I freaking love beach time.

I love the heck outta LA, and I plan on enjoying every minute I have down here.

Today I am playing with Sara in Hermosa, I wish I could share this amazing 70 degree weather with you all. I hope you get some playtime in this Thursday as well.

Things I love: Hearts & Sparkles

I hope you all are having an amazing Holiday season. My Christmas was filled with some Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga and Audrey Hepburn goodies. I love having inspirational TALENTED ladies as my heroes and idols. My Christmas was also filled with toys, gadgets and games because I believe you should always remain a kid at heart (however, emotionally you should ALWAYS be growing!!).

I love this time year because all my favorites come back to town and all my high school friends hang out just like they used to. I managed to squeeze in time with my high school clique, neighborhood gang, and reconnect with my guy friend crew.

They all make me feel young again, and there's a reason I've kept them around & so close for so long.

Being around those whom I love & respect shined a light on as to why I was keeping people close to me that were only bringing me down.

Never be afraid to remove people from your life that truly don't deserve your time, energy or love. It's not easy and it's a hard pill to swallow but sometimes it's just necessary.

Angie is my favorite Britney Spears fan and she's a LOV-ar & I heart the sparkles out of her!!

Today I'm off to LA to spend time with all my SoCal faves. I have very little planned besides an amazing white party on New Years Eve (my first time out celebrating since I was 20!!).

So excited to rock this hot little thing:

So seriously, if you're in LA and have some time I'm ALWAYS down for a coffee (or cocktail) you should hit me up.

And in the meantime watch me live blog from LA on Facebook (Amber Lane - friend/subscribe me or fan me Ambersnotebook) Twitter and on Instagram (Ambersnotebook).

I hope you use this time to think about what goals you would like to accomplish this year, BIG & SMALL.

My Goals, you ask?

-apply for Survivor

-continue my mission of spreading positive energy around

-attend as many parties as possible

-learn a new photobooth pose

-start making more money

-find a more permanent living situation

-hop back in the dating pool (SCARY!!)

-continue to ROCK MY THANG OUT!!

Things I Love: Half Birthdays

Today I turned 29 & a half.

AND A HALF.

And let me tell you, that half matters. The past 6 months have been a whirlwind (Tornado? HURRICANE?).

And I've gone through probably the biggest life change I have had thus far. My 29th birthday on June 14th marked a year since I sick with pneumonia.

During the two months that I spent in & out of the hospital, I began to reflect on why I was so unhappy with my life and I began to make some changes.

I decided I didn't want to be a teacher anymore. And I took a leap of faith that I could propel my blog into something more then a hobby.

I grew a pair (Mom, just Urban dictionary it) and started going to every party, event and meet up I heard about.

It might look easy, but it's hard to do. Going blindly into an event, party or situation is scary, and I'll be the first to tell you that.

{You don't even know how many times I got back in my car, drove away, and FORCED myself to go back and go inside}.

But I did it, and it paid off.

A year later I go to parties and events several times a week, and I couldn't be more gracious and excited about EVERY single one I attend.

And I am MORE then grateful & blessed with all the new friendships I've made, all the reconnecting I've done with old friends & all the relationships that have grown stronger these past months.

I have met some AMAZING people these past six months, and it's been unreal.

I'm looking forward to my next 6 months and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be celebrating every SINGLE last day that I have in my Twenties.

It was a decade in my life that shaped and changed me into the woman (a Grown Ass one, obvi) that I am today.

I hope you're living the life you love, and if you're not, try to make some changes.

Big & small.

Loving your life is an amazing way to feel, trust me, I haven't always felt this way.

Don't be afraid.

Time to start party planning, my birthday party is going to be a doozy!!

Photobooth's are going to be necessary, duh.