Kristin's Bridal Shower

Two weekends ago I had the super rad honor of flying out to California for my friend's bridal shower. 

The maid of honor and her mom decorated the back yard and patio super cute 

and served us various forms of mini poppyseed muffins, cinnamon rolls, champagne cocktails, 

quiches, cheesy potatos, cheesecake, and peanut butter balls (and probably more that I am forgetting). 

I've known the MOH since 5th grade and let me tell you, her momma knows how to host a party. 

"Movie Night" was never just simple popcorn, it was always a 5 course meal (but I'm not complaining).

 We played all the basic bridal shower games, ate lots of food and found a secret midget door.

Potter?! Are in you in there??

I won a super cute scarf during the "who knows the couple the best" game... but I think living with the couple out in Arizona may have given me an unfair advantage.

Me and Ashley also almost won the toilet paper wedding dress game (everyone agreed ours was the best) but the bride had to get all sappy and pick her mom's team. I guess I can live with that ;)

After the Bridal shower we cleaned up and went out for a night on the town. Margaritas at the fabulous Mission Inn and then wandering the dive bars that are Downtown Riverside.

I adore hanging out with these ladies and when we go on our cruise for the bachelorette party in October... its gonna be AWESOME.

baby, i'm back...

it's been months since my last post...
but i'm coming back outta retirement
(or at least going to make a serious effort)


since the last time we spoke i have:
- visited friends and hosted visitors
- moved apartments
- watched far too much Storage Wars and Bar Rescue
- survived another tax deadline (aka "overtime city")
- changed relationship status
- gone back to school
- discovered the best sandwich known to mankind

so... you see i have decent reasons for my absence
but i hope to see you all around much more from now on :)

A small slice of heaven...

today i was a little late leaving my office
which means i missed my bus by approximately 30 seconds
i literally saw it pulling away as i waited at the crosswalk
boo. 

so i figured, i might as well walk. i've done it before and it would have taken just as long to wait for the next bus. i headed down the street and the sky started to look a little eerie.

i don't know if you all know, but we have this thing out here in arizona called a haboob which is essentially a big dust storm / wall of dust / scene from the mummy. and after saturday's splendid display of haboobiness, i got a little worried for my face.

saturday's haboob - as taken by my friend

i decided to run away take shelter in a small strip mall on the way home and happened to find myself in a cute little pizzeria. i was unsure how intense the dust would end up being, but figured might as well order a slice and wait out the bulk of it.

turns out there was no haboob... just dusty sky. BUT the fact that i delayed my walk home meant that i got to see a stupendous sunset! if you follow me on instagram, you already know i'm a bit obsessed with clouds, but the clouds tonight were legit. 2 legit 2 quit, if ya know what i mean.

please enjoy a small slice of heaven, courtesy of arizona. (all of these were taken with my iphone, no filter... and even more glorious in person).

(not my house... just FYI to you stalkers)

Santa Monica Instadump

as promised yesterday, here's some pics from my santa monica adventure
this adventure was fairly last minute
but when someone says "hey, do you want to stay in my beach condo for the weekend?"
you don't say no... am i right?

shirt my brother got me - seemed appropriate for the roadtrip 

saying good bye to arizona and the sun

not a shabby view

frank the turtle who resides in the courtyard

santa monica pier at night

(taken by @okfnjesse)

santa monica pier during the day

the dinos in cabazon - i have to stop every. single. time.

windmills remind me of going to my gma's as a kiddo

the weather was lovely, i spent most of the day reading and soakin in the scenery
sat night we went to sushi with my good friend tijana and her man
(known that lady since 5th grade, whaaat?)
and then we all walked down to the beach for some night time wave watching
after returning to the condo, my friend nicole from college came over with her man
and i realized we had a lil ucla party going on
(2 ucla undergrad students, 1 ucla masters student... go bruins!)
we chatted into the wee hours of the night (aka midnight... i'm old now)
then sunday was more book reading and sight seeing as we drove home

not gonna lie, all this traveling is fun. but its great to be home.
sleep in my own bed. use my own shower.
unpack my suitcase (two loads of laundry done!)
and it'll last a whoooole weekend.
because i'm road tripping out to san diego in two weekends.
somebody stop me.
or dont. i like the adventures.
so i better rest/catch up while i can ;)

have you guys been traveling lately?
anyone gonna be in sd in two weekends?
anyone else love those dinos?!?

I don't even know where to start.....

...i feel like i haven't stopped running full speed since a month ago.
i spent a weekend in california,
then two weeks in iowa,
then the next weekend back in california.
4 weekends in a row outta town.
17 out of the past 24 days either traveling or in another state. sheesh!

and to top it all off, i didn't unpack my suitcase the whole month. 

sure i did a few loads of laundry, 

but the clothes went from the suitcase to the washer back in the suitcase.

everything else stayed packed up.

i suppose it made traveling easier for the month, 

but living out of a suitcase for a month added a lil bit of stress. 

since i am still in the process of returning to a normal life (unpack, laundry, groceries, etc) 

i will leave you all with an insta-dump of my iowa adventures. 

iowa 

 mexican food at the airport before take off

 the barn "with character" at his parents farm

 view from the back porch at his brother's

my first time at the races - waiting for "the biggest fireworks display in the state" to begin

old courthouse and town square, complete with brick streets

getting malts at the pharmacy in the town square

the bridges of madison county

they may be weeds, but the thistle fields were so purty!

the swinging bridge (much scarier, and less sturdy than it looks)

i'll dump some santa monica on you tomorrow, 

then hopefully have some real stories to tell you. 

if i ever get caught up with my life. 

what have you all been up to??

27 on the 27th

as some of you may have seen/read/heard Wednesday was my birthday 

my golden birthday

27 on the 27th 

i'm golden y'all 

i think this means i'm finally allowed to hang out with my favorite ladies 

woohoo!! 

anyways, my birthday was a blast

aside from partying with my absolute best friends in california last weekend

i was treated to cheesecake, flowers and sushi on my actual bday

way to make a girl feel loved ;) 

now i'm here to tell you that i will be off for a week 

i'm headed out to the great state of iowa for some good ol' fashioned midwest fun 

i see a fish fry, 4th of july bbq and river float in my future

along with farmer's markets, visiting THE bar in town (yes, only one bar in his tiny tiny town) and bonfires

i'm a little nervous since i've never been out there before, but i know it will be a blast 

i didn't rope in any guest bloggers, so you probably won't hear from me for a week or two 

unless ashley decides to step it up 

::cough cough:: ashley, you could post stuff ::cough cough:: 

otherwise follow me on twitter (@lebonk) or instagram (@lebonk) for up to the minute updates

i KNOW you want to see the goodness that iowa brings

otherwise, i'll share my adventures on my return 

til then, here's a few pics from my birthday :) 

work friends decorated :) 

I got to keep the leftovers.... yummmmm

"Have a great birthday - Here's an Iowa tshirt to help you get familiar with the state :)
You'll have so much fun when you get here!!"
His mom is too cute (ps i did NOT expect a gift in the mail from his mom, so sweet)

hehe

first time i've ever received "romantic" flowers
(sad that i'm 27 and it's the first time... but it's kinda  my fault... i always ask for food instead of flowers...
im a simple chick)

ahhh yes... the true way to my heart...
veggie tempura roll, shrimp tempura roll, crab tempura roll, philidelphia roll
fushi at its finest
fatties at their finest
mmmmm... happy birthday to meeeeeeeee!!

See you in July!!!

Weekend Recap: California Edition

this weekend was one for the books
i mean...
best. weekend. ever.

me and the boyfriend headed out to california
to hang out with ashley and her man
and a bazillion other friends

we spent the weekend lounging by the pool
giggling about nonsense,
watching workaholics,
and eating our weight in mexican food.

time well spent. 

of course, in true "robin fashion" 
i forgot my camera at home
so all of my pics are stolen from ashley, justin and sisterface.

Double date :) 

Pool time

This is how we BBQ at the ranch. Green for the win!

Party time

Mini Robin, Brother Robin, Second Robin and Robin.
(Family time... we kinda look alike haha)

It's nice to see my brother loves Ashley and Justin as much as I do. 

seriously.
i can't not think of a better way to spend my bday weekend.
approximately 25 people came to hang out,
many of which i haven't seen since i moved.
i cannot get over the fun and pure happiness that was shared by all.
friends, you rock.

Fat Dog in a Litte Coat

my roommate is currently in indonesia for two weeks

on a business trip, expenses paid, in a five star hotel

must be rough 

so me and her fiance have been sharing the dog-sitting duties 

for this little furball 

hi! my name is indie

don't you wanna rub my belly??

and because we both have such random schedules

we made a checklist for feeding to make sure she didn't miss a meal

and we've been having too much fun with it 

apparently i don't know how to spell coat 

but i DO know how to draw (shoulda been an artist)

and i DO know how to quote awesome movies 

now i'm just counting down the hours til it's 4:30pm

because i'm off to lovely california 

to visit miss ashley (pool, st germain's, mexican food, #bdwong)

to have a joint birthday lunch with my momma (june babies! woot woot!) 

and to meet up with olivia, kristin and maybe even kelsey!! 

holy schnikes!! 

this weekend could not get any radder

what are your plans for this weekend??

Easy Recipe: Gouda and Avocado Salad

i saw this recipe today and i had to have it 

i had all the ingredients already in my fridge

it was a match made in heaven

kinda

in truth, i had all the ingredients to make the lazy easy version

i didn't want to make the dressing 

and the dressing looked kinda like caeser to me

but what do i know? i have no clue what's in caesar dressing

either way, i decided to use some lite caesar dressing i already had

i also added some tomatoes, because who doesn't like tomatoes?

ingredients

• romaine lettuce
• smoked gouda 
• 1/2 of the worlds smallest avocado 
• 1 roma tomato
• caesar dressing

lets get real for a second. 
lets talk about this avocado. 

really?!?!? 

maybe i'm spoiled, being from california

but come on! 

you should also know that i have freakishly small baby hands

so while it fills my palm, that doesn't mean nothing

anyways

instructions

combine into salad form: wash and cut lettuce, cube gouda, slice the worlds smallest avocado, slice the tomato, drizzle with dressing. eat.

easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

size of the avocado aside, this salad was bomb.com

loved the flavor combo 

perfect for a night of packing and harry potter watching 

what do you do with your gouda? 

if its something with fruit, i don't wanna hear about it 

ok fine, i want to hear about it, but i won't make it 

i think i missed the fruit+savory gene when god was handing it out
but i'd love to hear any gouda suggestions!