a smashing holiday...

oh yes... i shall say it yet again, it's been too long my friends. it feels as if it was just christmas and yet here we are approaching valentine's day. woo wee! so a wee bit of an overview of what has been happening with miss emily. christmas was fantastic. it was so great to be home with friends and family and christmas morning was definitely the cream of the crop.

^ Cinderella and Auntie Em!


^ Ava and the new pooch, Boots.


^ With Kev kev at the mall...paying a visit to Mr. S. Clause.


^ Went with the Harry Potter theme this year, surprised?

christmas was a whirlwind and when it was done, oh boy i was ready for it.
last month, after returning to school i met up with shayne in malibu for a great night off campus. we had talapia at the gilberg's house...might i add here that the only fish i have ever eaten has been salmon and i absolutely HATED it. out of mere politeness i kept my mouth shut when i was told what would be on the menu. tried it...and i loved it! crazy? yes, indeed. it tasted nothing like fish, much to my surprise, and i am dying to try it again. after dinner we headed down to a shopping center and had cupcakes and coffee from crumbs bake shop. i can not begin to describe the amount of sugar that was in one of those things. let me just say i am very happy that i am not a diabetic...i most likely would have died. we went back to the gilberg's and had some more coffee and chatted then i headed home for the evening. it was really great to see shayne and i'm glad that we can still keep in touch even though he is now broken up with alicia.

^ A malibu sunset

Later on in the month a group us went to pasadena for some shopping and cheese cake factor-ing. delsih, might i add :)
A few days later we went to a free iron and wine concert in hollywood..which was pretty good for a free show... then that weekend we went to the huntington gardens and library and spent a lazy saturday strolling through the estate and taking pictures, which i unfortunately did not do, much to my chagrin!

So now in february and things are picking up very quickly. i've started my new job and i love it! did i just say that? why yes i did :) definitely puts me in a time crunch for all my school work but nonetheless i'm so lucky to have a job and one that i enjoy as well. i've read some really great books lately and i would love to share them with you. these include:
- the distant hours by kate morton
- alice i have been by melanie benjamin
- major pettigrew's last stand by helen simonson

all english, what else did you expect? :)

this upcoming week is going to be very very busy. three tests and a quiz :/ BUT on the bright-side next thursday night i will be home :) my flight is all booked and i am very very excited! and to top that off, we got the news last week that my sister amy is pregnant again! such good news and we are all looking forward to the due date, in the middle of september!

i have also been brainstorming ideas for a possible headband business this summer...i have some ideas i would love to try once time and money decide to no longer hang over my head!

now to the grindstone..homework or bust!

cheers and je t'aime

cold toes and a runny nose

CHRISTMAS IS HERE! one more week and the highlight of my year will be here. oh so very excited. yes, yes of course. what have i been up to you may ask? truthfully, nothing at all. i've finished my fall semester down at school and i'm back home in the bay area for the holidays. it's only going to be two and half weeks for me this year but i'll take what i can get :) it's quite cold up here which i absolutely love because that means pea coats, knit socks, and lots and lots of rain. i haven't been reading too many books lately so no updates there. however, i am feeling rather crafty this holiday season, so perhaps you will hear more information on that as it arises. and of course i am constantly thinking about england. surprised? no, i think not. my roommate will be studying abroad in oxford this next semester and oh how i wish i could collapse into her suitcase to the size of a toothbrush and hop the pond with her. i really would love it if i could be in england for next christmas. that would be the highlight of my life...but would also like to visit egypt as well...perhaps both? na, not unless i win the lotto asap. oh, and my computer broke, not good. well kind of. i dropped it and it won't charge now..opps :) speaking of pricey things i love, just bought the most adorable pair of boots today. they're black, knee-height, pretty flat, english riding-looking boots. got them for $60 at kohls. pretty darn good if you ask me :) pictures will be put up soon i hope. so many things to do this holiday and too little time. must sew, bake, and make merry as often as possible. we're headed off the tahoe after christmas...you will most likely be seeing some posts from me then...until next time chaps. cheers :)

second star to the right and straight on till morning!

it's been way too long. yet again...and i do apologize. i am now moved back in at school and have been for nearly a month and a half. i love all my classes i am taking and have made some truly wonderful new friends, as well as keeping the old (because one is silver and the other is gold:) not a day goes by that i don't think about our amazing trip to england, and i've been itching like crazy to get over there again sometime soon. my parents just got back about two weeks ago from a wee holiday with their golfing chaps and poor mummy felt so bad that i couldn't come along but there is something brewing in the back of my mind...the local community college down the street has a fall semester in london, with three classes that i could take! however, these classes are what they are offering this fall semester and i don't know if it will be the same next fall semester. but if so, then cheers yankees..i'm out of here! they said they should know by november, but i still can't help but check their website every other day just in case :) it would be a miracle if i was able to go...it would make me oh so happy! in other recent news i will not be going home until thanksgiving :( my weekends are booked until then and taking time off from classes might very well be out of the question. but absence makes the heart grow stronger, right? and when i do go home it will be fall and everything will look oh so beautiful! speaking of which it is raining quite a bit here and i am very happy :)

p.s. went and saw the peter pan play last night at the orange county performing arts center...AMAZING! blew me away it was so good! would definitely recommend it, and bring kiddies with you too, they will love it even more :)

my goodness, has it been awhile?

why, yes it has! it feels like it was just yesterday that i was packing up and heading home from school. now three months later i find myself doing quite the reverse...packing up to head back down to school. i had probably one of the most busiest summers ever this year. the last two weeks in may were occupied by the trip of a lifetime to england. oh man, i want to go back so bad, words cannot even describe! we did so much yet there was still so much more to do. looking back on our jaunt i wish i wasn't sick because when i am sick i am pissed and i feel like my phlem was a ominous cloud constantly hanging over our holiday. ew. so next time, i vow to not get sick because it's england....and the motherland deserves the best! next time i hop the pond i want to go during christmas time...and have myself an authentic english christmas in the countryside! i have yet to explore the west and the north so maybe those will be in my future itinerary. i really could talk about our trip for hours although i do believe that my family is getting sick of me saying "remember when we did this? i want to go again next time. i realllllllyyyyy want to go to england again!" upside of this obsession...my percentage of day dreaming jaunts daily has significantly increased. don't want to think of how this will affect me in school just yet. so between then and now i have been keeping myself busy at home. i took a nanny job for two kids, 6 and 7 who were classmates of my nephew kyle. man am i burnt out now. i will try not to speak ill of them but they do not listen and they do not care. i have seen some nasty kiddos but these take the cake. i've tried and nothing seems to work so i guess what i have taken out of this job is that it's ok to throw your hands up and say "oh well!" back to school is around the corner for them as well as the nieces and nephews. i've made them little goodie bags for their first day of school, being one of my favorite holidays....if it really is a holiday. i'm excited for fall even though southern california's version of fall is the dropping of temperatures to what? five degrees cooler than in the summer? i really miss northern california falls when i'm at school. maybe i'll just have to fly up and visit :) as a final sendoff to some of the school-goers in our family, we took a wee trip up to tahoe for a very long weekend. we arrived last thursday night mum, dad, carrie, alicia, adam, myself, and my brand spanking new mac book (which i love, like a lot!). we did archery, horseback riding, swims, walks, hikes, bbq, smores, and one of the most memorable bits was church on sunday. we've always seen a sign for this episcopalian church but have never stopped by until this past sunday. the service was very unique, complete with kilt-clad women, goodies in the forest, and porcupines in the front pew, no joke. made my day, heck well even my year! it's been awhile since we've spent this long up there, especially in the summer so it was a real treat. i would love to post some pictures but i can't figure out how to upload pictures on this iphoto thing. will soon though, promise. been reading a lot this summer too. finished a hefty portion of books some great some not so great. i just hope i can keep this up during the school year. ok my fingers hurt and i have british things to google. until next time, redcoats....cheers :)

me and my six best friends :)

so i've realized that i have yet to properly introduce all six of my nieces and nephews....SO here they are! for ten years i have been blessed with these wonderful yet utterly crazy nieces and nephews! i love them so much and can't wait to see what these next twenty or so years have in store! from oldest to youngest...

adam thomas haise
26.03.00




i've known this saucy fellow since i was ten and my goodness! he'll be going into fifth grade in the fall...can't believe it..wow! he's more like my little brother because we're so close in age so i pick on him all the time :) he's just starting to get into harry potter and i couldn't be anymore happier! we love watching the movies together and i've promised him that i'll take him to the harry potter theme park in florida sometime soon, if a can muster up a couple of thousands!


kyle william franck
31.01.04






the oldest of the franck clan, kyle has been a joy to watch grow up. sometimes he is very serious and other times he is just a plain ole' hooligan! he loves sports and at such a young age and he's quite good at them too! currently he's obsessed with reptiles and amphibians and his eyes get huge when he get to hold one. he just finished his first year in kindergarten and is now onto first!


kevin michael franck
09.07.06





kev kev is such a character. he is so entertaining to watch and he always has us on the floor laughing. since he was born kev has had bad allergies and asthma but this has never held him back! he has so much spunk and personality and his facial expressions are to die for! he adores kyle but loves to look after his little sister too which is quite adorable. he's always so smiley and when he gets nervous in big crowds he clings on like no other! he's going into his second year of preschool in the fall and the teachers all love him!


joseph edward vargas "jr"
07.15.06





jr is quite the active little monkey. he gets into everything and is always caught with a cheeky little smirk! i get to spend my thursdays with him and his sister (we watch them while their mum works)and at the end of the day we're all exhausted! he's very bright for only three (almost four!) and he can chat up a storm about almost anything! he loves healthy foods, i wish i could say the same about me! and the other day he pitted an avocado and ate the whole thing! he's also going into his second year of preschool out in discovery bay..i wish he could stay this age forever!


kalee samantha franck
04.05.08





kalee is the only girl in franck family so it's no surprise that she's the little princess of the family! she's two now and hilarious to watch. she repeats everything in a high-pitched little birdie voice and she absolutely loves to be held (always says, "holdja baby??") apparently when i was her age we looked a lot alike...i guess you can tell we're related eh? she loves her dollies and are very protective over them when her big brothers are near. her mum, becky always dresses her up so cute and there's never a time when she doesn't have a bow in her hair!


ava leigh vargas
07.08.08






ava is our little gymnist/elf/cabbage patch kid in the family. like her older brother jr., we also get to spend thursdays with her. her hair is always wild and she is always on the go, most of the time barefoot...sounds like me! she too is active like her brother and loves to follow the big kids around. she rarely walks, so instead she runs which is hilarious because she bobs up and down when she is on the move! the face she makes when she has to make poopies is priceless and she always goes off in a corner to do so!



they make me so proud! i love them x344567859876767!!

WE'RE BACK!

and my goodness....what a trip! sorry it has taken so long to finally post these pictures, i guess i am just a horrible person! i'm not going to go into immense detail here because i've been telling so many people about it, and i don't have the patience to type it all over again..sorry! but i will show some pictures of our fantastic trip. first of y'all should know that it was nothing like i expected. i was blown away and the whole time i just could'nt wrap my mind around the fact that we were actually in england. i got some weird dejavu moments seeing the sights because i felt like i had already been there before! but all in all we had a great trip...so much so that i'm ready to go back again. this time i'm thinking around christmas time when it's FREEZING and you can't feel your toes, i like that kind of weather :) our trip went like this:
1. Bath
2. Exton
3. London

on our first 1/3 of the trip we went to the georgian city of bath which was beautiful. after a longggg flight we were picked up at heathrow by a co-worker of my father's who drove us to our bed and breakfast. we explored for the next few days and were fortunate enough to spend a full day in the cotswolds, oh how i loved it....SO BEAUTIFUL! we did a TON of walked and i'm surprised my feet didn't get any flatter than they already are! We then headed off to petersborough via london to visit our neighbor's mother in the small village of exton. the village is situated just of rutland waters which is a huge man-made reservoir placed in the smallest county in england! this part of england was stunning. very cotswolds-y without the tourists. our host, terry took us around everywhere including historic market towns, an earl's house and the always charming cambridge! this part of the trip was a blast because we were able to stay in a english woman's house, got to eat the traditional dishes, and really get to know the local people...few can say they've done that! after that part we headed into london were we spent our last bit of the trip. we hit all the tourist spots including big ben and the houses of parliament, the river thames, picadilly circus and soho, the millennium bridge, double decker bus tours, kew gardens, windsor castle and so much more! we fit a lot in for only a few days in london. whilst on our trip we did keep a blog but failed after a few days. hopefully we will get it up and running sometime soon, so HERE it is! england was truly very beautiful and charming and we definitely had a blast! i think this trip has made us all catch the travel bug and were dying to get out there and see the world!


heathrow!


our adorable room in bath:)


fields and fields of dandelions!


a beautiful bath sunset on our first night


mummys driving and on the other side of the road, WHAT!?


stonehenge


salisbury abbey/cathedral/whatever it was called!


our friends the trims!


arlington row in bibury, quite possibly my favorite place in the cotswolds and in all of england!


morris men!


alicia and aunt sandi at snowshill manor


some ole' spot


cambridge and evensong at christ church


rutland barn in exton


our new friend, dan :)


platform 9 3/4...off to hogwarts we gooooooo!


the girls at BUCK HOUSE!


price albert. my favorite prince, yes very much so


a bit murky by day but beautiful by night!


trafalgar square, YES!


windsor, the queen was there, but we didn't see her!


tea at kensington palace:)

lucky number twenty-one

you've guessed it...they day is almost here! exactly twenty-one more hours until our rather large aircraft leaves for london town! i can't describe how great it feels to have waited for so long and to finally be able to hop across that pond!we'll be gone for two weeks but expect a fatty post once we get back :) must keep calm and carry on....
CHEERS