We're The Beachy Kind

If you didn't already know, 

I'm the beachy type, and Nadav is too.

I think our mutual beachiness is one of the major things that has bonded us from the beginning of our relationship.

He surfs, I pretend to surf.

I lay on the beach and read, he surfs.

We snorkel (ok I snorkel & freak out a little bit anytime anything with fins goes by me, andd Nadav just snorkels).

We kayak (ok I kayak a little bit and then relax in the kayak and tan, anddd Nadav kayaks some more).

Basically, I like the way our beachy pieces fit together.

I guess you could even call the beach our happy place.

(Cue romantical corny music)

A few weeks ago we went on a little afternoon date in Encinitas, a sweet little hippyish beach town in Northern San Diego. It's one of my absolute favorite places.

A late afternoon lunch at Ki's complete with a cloudy ocean view

 

Just Us.

Trying my hand at a little outfit photo taking

T-shirt-Madewell, Lacey shirt-Free People, Jeans-Madewell, Boots-Old & from Bloomingdales, Purse-TheIt

Just another lovely San Diego sunset

Wishing you a happy day

And the winner of the ad space giveaway on Hayley's blog is Kaity from Adventures of an American Girl. Congrats Kaity

I Am An Occupational Therapist

Well, a pediatric school based occupational therapist that is.

When I first started blogging I was convinced that I should keep my "professional" life and my "blog" life separate, mainly for privacy. The truth is, very few people at my work know about my blog, and honestly.. that's how I'd like to keep it.  =P

Then I wrote this post and this post and began receiving a lot of emails from people asking me about my job and my educational background.

So I started thinking,

I really love being an occupational therapist (OT),

Work is, obviously, a huge part of my life..

My blog is a huge part of my life.. 

I guess I can merge the blog world and my work world a teensy bit to help spread the word about OT

I Give You..

A Little Bit About Me, and OT.

1) First things first, What the heck is occupational therapy?

- Let's just get this out there first. No, I don't help people find jobs. 

- Basically, occupational therapists help people participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. 

Ok, what the heck does that mean? Well, I work in a school for kids who have very severe disabilities. During therapy sessions I do anything from teaching a child how to color, play Twister, ride a bike, play Wii bowling, or use colored shaving cream as finger paints. Basically, I help our students learn how do fun kid stuff (that's where the everyday activities part comes in), all while working on their motor skills and sensory needs. 

(Soooo I play a lot, it's a good time)

That is not to say that I don't spend a lot of time writing reports, consulting with teachers, getting assaulted by kids (cough), and meeting with parents..... because I do =P

2) Do All Occupational Therapists Work In Schools?

- No way, I have friends who work in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, physical/occupational therapy clinics, and pediatric sensory clinics (remember going to Discovery Zone when you were kid? Ya, that's basically what those private clinics are like)

3) Where Did You Go To School? Do You Have A Masters Degree?

- I went to UCLA (yay Bruins!) for my undergraduate degree, and majored in psychology and minored in education. I then went to USC (boo Trojans..once a bruin always a bruin) and earned my masters degree in occupational therapy. Yes, I did take a lot of science-y classes, and they were tough but really worth it.

4) I'm Interested in OT, But I'm Not Sure...

- My advice? Go observe OTs in various settings (school, clinics, hospitals) and try to picture whether or not you could see yourself doing occupational therapy in the future. Then read some OT books like The Out Of Sync Child (by the way if you are a parent of a child with sensory needs this is a MUST READ!) and see if you're interested in the material and if you feel inspired

I first found occupational therapy while working at a preschool with a little boy who has autism. He would go see an OT twice a week. At first, I was so impressed with how much fun had at OT, and then I was amazed by his progress. Told you, OT is cool

5) But Will I Be Able To Find A Job

- Yes, Yes, andddd Yes

There is a huge need for occupational therapists right now. The truth is, very few people know about occupational therapy, and as a result very few people choose OT as a profession. There are lots and lots of jobs, and yes... they pay quite well =P

Circa 2009

So there ya go,

now you know a lot about what I do.

Have a happy day 

The Secret Spot

This weekend well...

it was just one of those weekends that makes me remember just how lucky I am. 

I spent Saturday night in downtown celebrating Amelia's birthday,

anddd today is her actual birthday...

Happy Happy Birthday Amelia

Amelia's in the red dress ;)

Sunday morning, Nadav, Gabey, and I dragged our hungover tired selves out of bed and drove down to Pacific Beach.

We then made our way over to JRDNs at the Tower 23 hotel for a late brunch, and let me tell you it was fabulous. (If you're looking for a fun place to stay in San Diego make sure you check out Tower 23. It's stylish, modern, and right on the boardwalk.)

Gabey and I saw this wall when we walked into JRDNs.. and well I will spare you the 500000 photos we took and instead just leave you with this treasure hehe 

and in case you're curious.. my top and pants are from Madewell

The pomegranate mimosa was niceeee

Check out these views

The food, well the food was just ridiculously good

These two boys make me so so happy, and I love that the 3 of us can hang out together and have a silly time

Like I always tell them... they make my heart feel full.

 We ended our afternoon at a shhhh "secret spot" in La Jolla. I would tell you where it was.... but then I'd have to kill you ;) Let's just say it takes my breath away

Yup this sums our friendship... and I kind of love it.

Hope you have a happy week =)

Way Too Cool For School

Well it's Saturday morning at 6:41am, and I just happened to fall asleep on the couch last night at 9pm. 

I know, I know I'm way too cool for... well school, ya just way too cool for school. ;)

In other cool news, I'm going to spend today going to boot camp on the beach (ahh San Diego I heart you so), doing laundry, grocery shopping, maybe trying my hand at a little baking.. and well, painting my nails because tonight I'll be heading to dooowwnnntoowwnn (said in sing songy voice) to partake in a good friend's birthday festivities

(Did my cool meter just raise up a little? hehe)

Anyway, I wanted to leave all of you with 3 lovely bloggers: Bekuh, Tabitha, and Whitney.

Check out their blogs, I know you will love them

I’m Bekuh and I am the rambling, all over the place, adventure seeking, creative type behind Secondhand Sundays. My dream for Secondhand Sundays is that it will become a treasure trove of wonderful food inspiration, fashion ideas, and crafty handmade goods that you can make and share. A random fact no one should know about me: The first thing I do in the morning (after wake up) is check for updates on instagram. Eep.

My Blog: http://secondhandsundays.blogspot.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/bekuhdoo

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/secondhandsundays

Hello! My name is Tabitha, and I blog over at My-Cliffnotes. Come on over and say hello!

I love meeting new blog friends, who hopefully become real friends. I'll share with you easy/quick and tasty recipes, my attempts at photo sharing, running triumphs and stories about my life. Throw a little reality TV, books aplenty, travels across a few oceans and my small obsession with all things sparkly and you'll find My-Cliffnotes. That's where you come in to tell me what you think. Clearly we have great taste, because we both have found the beautiful Tammy! Happy reading!

Hey guys! My name is Whitney. Like Whitney Huston. And no I wasn’t named after her. I blog over at “The Zufelt's ”…  Zufelt is our last name (it’s pronounced Zoo-felt… like you went to the petting ZOO and you FELT the animals). I know  I know -the title of our blog is super creative. I love pink. I honestly can’t help it. I have this preconceived notion that anything pink should belong to me (much to my husband’s dismay). I love anything sparkly. I believe that a good pair of shoes can help you take on the world. I love the beach although the freezing water here in Cali and I don’t get along. My husband is the most amazing person that I know. And he is way cooler than me (I’m not ashamed to admit it). He flies airplanes. Hot right? He climbs rocks and fixes stuff. He is also in the Air Force and I have not yet mastered the art of not missing him when he is away… and I don’t think I ever will.  I am girly but I can also go climb a mountain with my husband. I love meeting new friends (Like Tammy!) it’s so fun to see what we have in common. So come say “hi” over at my little corner of the internet. 

Hope you all have a really cool weekend

Oscar Style

To be honest,
I'm not the biggest movie buff. I enjoy movies, but I have a tendency to fall asleep while watching them unless I really really love a movie.

The truth is, it drives Nadav a little crazy because he really loves to watch movies. We've learned to compromise... I watch the movie and play on my laptop so I don't fall asleep, and he's happy because I'm still watching with him. =P

Anyway, I do love me some beautiful dresses and I will most definitely spend some time watching the beautifulness that will be parading down the Academy Award's Red Carpet.

 Yup, I'll be snuggling up on the couch with some frozen yogurt and wine,

 wearing something a lot like this...

watch the oscars by bayparkdream featuring leather handbags

Have I mentioned that I love me some cozy Lululemon yoga pants? Because well... I really do.

Now if I was attending the awards I would wear something simple, classy, and sexy. 

Just like this long and elegant dark blue dress.

oscar by bayparkdream featuring a silk gown

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

A Happy List

Back a long, long time ago

(ok not really, more like a few months ago),

but before the blogger meetups,

before BlogHer,

before I met the most wonderful people through blogging..

I used to post a weekly Happy List on my blog.
I'm not quite sure why I stopped making these lists, but somehow I think *blogging* got in the way. I guess you could say that I somehow forgot how happy making those Happy Lists made me, and ya know what?

I decided to bring that Happy List thing back. 

I give you,

A Happy List

1. Buying travel backpacks with my man for a hopefully upcoming summer trip to Europe! (Crossing fingers!)
2. Realizing that I am a pretty decent baker. Amazing what owning a Kitchenaid mixer will teach you

 3. Funny text messages from my dad. (Seriously, a few weeks ago he texted me a picture of my parents' new mirrored bathroom vanity. The next text said, "Now I can watch myself poop." oy)
4. Dinner dates with Kelsey, Stephanie, and Olivia. I am so incredibly lucky that this whole blogging this has brought such wonderful people into my life.

 5. Sharing occupational therapy strategies with the teachers I work with and watching them incorporate the strategies into their curriculum. Aahh team work
6. Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, it never ever gets old.. and it's pretty much my favorite thing to have for dinner, ever. (Nadav will never accept it, but I have informed him that if he wants to keep me around he needs to accept my Golden Spoon needs.)

7. Watching the avocados in our backyard grow =) There will be yummy guacamole in our near future

8. This kid (aka Farra's son). I am kind of in love with him. I mean really, just take in those curls and those bright blue eyes. LOVE.

9. Wearing my sunglasses over my eyeglasses. I say embrace the nerdy

10. A sunset dinner at the beach

Ahhh Happy Lists,

they just feel so good.

Wishing you a happy happy Thursday.

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win ad space on Hayley blog

It's A Shopping Party

Last week I dragged my very sick butt off the couch,

overdosed on Dayquil and made my way to South Coast Plaza for a Madewell and 31 Bits private shopping party.

Farra, Cheryl, and I had a great time...

even if I was flushed and dizzy the whole time. Eh what? 

(Have I mentioned that Dayquil might be one of the best inventions ever? tehe)

I'm not a huge soda drinker, but this might just be my new favorite soda. So so good

I even met up with Kirby from The Short and Sweet Of It. Woop woop for SoCal Bloggers hehe

Frosted Cupcakery provided cupcakes and they were deeelish

We all left with a free tote bag and 31 Bits bracelet. Hooray for free stuff hehe

Madewell didn't dissapoint, nothing new there.
I ended up leaving with some high rise skinny jeans and a V-neck tee.
The event was my first introduction to 31 bits jewelry, and I REALLY loved all their accessories. I also really respect that the jewelry is handmade by women in Uganda and the proceeds go towards helping the women gain independence and freedom.

A very special thank you to Randi and Caitlin from Madewell for the invitation and treating us so well

P.S. Have you entered the giveaway for an ad space on Hayley's blog The Weekend File because I think you shoullldddd ;)