I'll Wait Till the Fall Comes

Fall is absolutely my favourite time of year.  There's so much that I love about it: the smell, the colours, the weather, the clothes... Just thinking of Fall gives me both a feeling of nostalgia and the fluttering excitement of things to come.  Which basically translates as: Fall makes me ridiculously happy.

This year, I'm particularly looking forward to the changing of the seasons.  I turned 29 this summer, and so far 29 hasn't been all that awesome.  For the first time in a very long time, I was not looking forward to my birthday, and while it ended up being nice, I just wasn't feeling it. And since then, I've been emotionally exhausted in many ways.  There have been many moments of frustration, where I have put myself out there, made myself available emotionally, only to be hurt.  And other moments of complete loss, both emotionally and physically, and moments of confusion and misdirection.  

That being said, there has also been a lot of joy in my life, and many adventures thus far in my 29th year (which I will hopefully get around to posting about in the near future).  But I'm pushing forward.  I'm eager for the next phase of my life to start, to move on from this constant feeling of transition. 

And for some reason, I feel like Fall will help me on my way.


Photo taken by endlessmeg
Fall 2010, Cupertino, CA

Adventures in SoCal

Boyfriend and I journeyed down to SoCal the weekend before his birthday to visit his Grandma and to check out the new Cars Land at Disneyland. 

The trip didn't go 100% as planned.  We were meant to go straight to his Grandma's house, but half way there, we had to change our plans and head to his Uncle's instead.  Then due to an unforeseen freeway problem, our normal 6ish hour drive turned into a 10+ hour drive.  But don't worry, Dear Readers, there is a silver lining here – while we were stuck in traffic it hit 115° outside!  So, if we had to be stuck somewhere better it be in a car with AC!

We were a bit wrecked from the drive, but we made it to Disney the next morning and found out that it was a black out day for SoCal residents and that the park was crazy empty.  In fact, we saw a lot of the same people in line and there were wide open spaces for us to walk, which was especially good since the heat did not let up and it got to 106° while we were there.  Aside from Splash Mountain, the longest line we had to wait in was for Cars Land (and then we FastPassed it the second time).  It was Finn McAwesome and a perfect place to play Yellow Car while waiting in line.

Two things to note from our awesome Cars Land pic above:
1. I didn't realize I was standing so sassy.
2. I'm wearing my Snitchwiches shirt and Boyfriend is wearing his "You're a Timelord Harry" shirt.  Clearly we are at the wrong theme park. 

Legendary Games of Awesome

 























 

My friends Jenny and Cristin host the most awesome events.  This weekend we participated in the 1st annual Legendary Games of Awesome!  And not only did they plan out a whole afternoon's worth of events, they got everyone team shirts and sweat bands!  They even had sliced oranges for half time!

The games opened with beer roulette to choose team captains.  One beer per team was shaken up, and who ever got the one that exploded got to be team captain.  This sounded a lot more awesome in theory; in reality, only 1 person got a really explody beer.

Games included: Synchronized Sipping, a beer-pong type game, a ring toss (which no one could successfully do), and something that involved getting an Oreo into your mouth without using your hands...

The trophies were dinosaurs.  And they were awesome.

In first place we had The Pickled Livers, who got the amazing golden dinosaur trophies.

Second place went to Team Dino-Might, who actually only had 3 participating members.  The other 3 were fashionably late to the event, but arrived in time for photos.

Third place went to the other 3 person team, Don't Let the Planes Crash, whose first names all started with the letter P and who did amazing airplane arms during Synchronized Sipping!
   

In the end my team, The Drunken Giraffes, came in dead last.  But for the record I'd like to point out that while everyone else was drinking Pabst, I was drinking wine.  Also for the record, we cheated proudly – and still lost.
But it's ok – we only came for the dancing.

Vicious & Wreck: Road Trip (Part 1)

Ten years ago, on 8 July 2002, I set out for a study abroad program that took place at University College Dublin in Ireland.  That experience in itself is a whole other story, but it was on that trip that I met one of my best friends, Vicious.

Dublin, Ireland – Summer 2002 – Vicious (20), Wreck (19)

The Vicious & I got our nicknames when she lived across the hall from me at UCD and one night, she and I and about 6 others in our building got very, very drunk and thought we were in a band.  While we were there we spent most of our time drinking, swearing at each other whilst playing Thirteens, harassing the French bartender at our favourite pub, listening to the Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack, and laying on the floor reading Trainspotting out loud to each other in Scottish accents (of varying accuracy).  We also apparently went to class once in a while, because both of us actually passed our courses.

When we returned state-side, despite not living across the hall from each other any more, and despite periods of large distances, various boyfriends, schools, and other crazy life stuff, she and I stayed in touch, unlike almost everyone else in our program.  And no matter how much time passed between hangouts and adventures, we've stayed close all this time – and even more so in the past few years once we were both back in the Bay Area on a permanent basis.

In April, this email arrived: I'm wondering if you bitches were free the days around July 2 to go on a trip.  I'm thinking maybe a weekend in Los Angeles? Or Las Vegas? Or somewhere new like Ukiah?  Portland?  Boise?  Klamath Falls?

I will be... the big three-oh.

So awful it cannot be comprehended fully.  

In other words, I wanna run away for my birthday, and I'd like you grrrls to be my accomplices (or kidnapped whores, your choice).

LOVE
[Vicious]

ps- Texarkana?  Montreal?  Orlando?  Milwauake? How do you spell that?  Carmel by the Sea?  Mendicino?  Reno?  The place where dreams go to die?

I immediaty wrote back with: EFF YES. I am totally in.

We hadn't traveled together in nearly 10 years, but I knew that wasn't going to make a difference.  I started working on a very specific road-trip mix for the occasion.  This was going to be epic.

Based on that first email Vicious sent, there was a lot of talk about where we could realistically drive to in the approximately 72 hours we had blocked off for this trip (leaving after work Friday afternoon and being back for work Tuesday morning).  We went a little google maps crazy and may have forgotten that we'd need to calculate in sleeping – at one point, I think we were talking about making it to Canada and back... But ultimately, we decided to drive Hwy 1 towards the Lost Coast, and see where we end up.

That Friday afternoon we loaded up my car, Kingsley, with way too much for a three day trip (since we had no idea where we would end up, we each brought about 4 pairs of shoes, swimsuits, a dress, jackets, shorts, jeans, and of course, a towel), and headed for our first and only real planned stop on our trip: Mill Valley.

Vicious and I had decided to spend the first night in the Bay Area's back yard for a couple of reasons:

• We didn't know how late we would be leaving or what the traffic would be like, and it would give us a fresh start in the morning.  
• We knew we would be able to eat there – she's a vegan and I'm gluten free! – and we ended up finding a Thai place that catered to both of our dietary needs.  
• We tentatively planned to start our adventures in Muir Woods the next morning, complete with references to Vertigo and 12 Monkeys.

So, that night we settled into our motel room over an Indian restaurant and giggled ourselves crazy late into the night.  It was just like old times, minus the booze and plus Avengers snap-bracelets.

DAY 1

It was quickly apparent that Muir Woods was not going to happen on the Saturday before 4th of July.  We were directed to the overflow parking where we were going to have to wait for a coach to bring us to the park.  As we scarfed down some nut bars, we were ushered into a queue of hikers, tourists, and families.  Now, Vicious and I are very good a queuing (owing, we think, to time spent in the UK and Disneyland), but as we looked around us, we realized that this was dumb. We had driving to do, the coast to see, and Muir Woods is so close, we could get to that later.  So, we hopped back in Kingsley and headed towards Stinson Beach.

Dear Readers, I'm not dead.

I'm trying to work on getting better at updating this more regularly again. But, don't worry, Dear Readers, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, instead I have been super busy and having tons of fun.  And as I learned last year during Awesome August, sometimes it isn't worth it to stop and blog when you are enjoying the moment so much.  And, hey, I am awesome at recap posts ;)

So, as I work on getting this back up to speed, you can be jealous of the amazing view I had this past weekend during my (unfortunately) short trip to Tahoe.

Feb Photo a Day: Days 26 – 29

Day 26: Night
You know those awesome/awful nights when you have no place to go, but your hair looks fantastic?  Yep, that was this night.  Thank god instagram was invented, or I would have no one to share my good hair days with!

Day 27: Something I Ate
I'm not gonna lie, popcorn (more specifically kettle corn) is my weakness (but to be fair, I only have the one).  Last year, I even gave up popcorn of all varieties for Lent! But, to me, an appropriate meal would be popcorn and a glass of wine.

Day 28: Money
I have all these random piles of euro coins in different drawers and boxes and pouches around my room from various visits to Ireland (mostly, tho other countries as well, I'm sure).  Stumbling across these collections a) gives me Travel Lust, and b) reminds me of all those nights in the apartments at UCD drinking with my flatmates and playing cards for 2 cent coins.

Day 29: Something I'm Listening to
Sum 41 is totally a guilty pleasure band of mine.  Actually, I take that back.  There is nothing guilty about the pleasure I get from Sum 41.  They are the Less Than Jake of the pop-punk world (and if you get what I mean by that, we are probably already best friends) and produce some damn fine music.  This came on shuffle in my car on the way home from work and you bet your ass I rocked out.

And Feb is done!!

Stay tuned for March and hopefully some other proper updates soon.

Feb Photo a Day: Days 20 – 25

Day 20: Handwriting
I have horrible handwriting.  More specifically, I feel like I have schizophrenic handwriting.  It will start out nice at the top of a page, but half way down it's as if someone else has taken over.  It's horrible – this is a short story draft and I can hardly read it!

Day 21: A Favourite Photo of Me
In college, as a gift to my boyfriend at the time, I worked with one of my photographer friends to create a series of pinup shots for the boyfriend's birthday.  This is one of my favourite of the set and one my favourite pictures of me ever.  It's the little things like the chipped nail polish that make it stand out to me.

Day 22: Where I Work
So, ironically, I had called out sick this day and couldn't take a pic of where I work.  But the next day, I took this somewhat lame picture of the words in the lobby of my building.  I planned to do something cooler, since I work someplace pretty cool, but oh well.

 

Day 23: My Shoes
Another lame picture.  I am on a roll with these bad ones after having so many good ones... Ah well.  This was at the Regency Ballroom in SF and we were waiting to see Sleigh Bells.  Regardless, I love these boots.

Day 24: Inside my Bathroom Cabinet
The final super lame picture of this set.  I don't really have a bathroom cabinet and I spend so much of my time getting ready at places other than my house, that I keep everything in two bags that I bring with me everywhere.  For the record, I use about 25% of these products on a daily basis.

Day 25: Green
This is one of my favourite jackets ever.  I bought it in Dublin, Ireland about 8 years ago and it is the warmest jacket that I have.  It had been missing for quite a while, tho I recently relocated it in my sister's closet.  And now we are reunited, happy, and warm!

Feb Photo a Day: Days 13 –19

Day 13: Blue
I had dinner with my friend Michael on Monday, and despite the fact that there was blue all around, I couldn't find anything interesting to me.  Then, at the end of the night, I spotted this on Michael's backpack from an Apple Store iMovie camp we did a few years back.

Day 14: Heart [take 1 & 2]
Valentines Day has never been that big of a deal to me, but Boyfriend always finds a way to surprise me regardless. I've had this necklace laying around for a while and haven't worn it much recently, so I thought I'd dust it off for the occasion.  Then, at the end of the day, I realized I had inadvertently been wearing a heart patterned bra!

Day 15: Phone
I took some liberties on this prompt, using my old ASL skills from college.  This is me, post-bikrim yoga class. Like what you see?  Gimme a call!

Day 16: Something New
After years of avoiding it and playing bass (both in real life and in Rock Band) because it has less strings, I've finally started to learn to play guitar.  Granted, I can really only play T.Rex's "20th Century Boy" along with a guide, but it's a start!

Day 17: Time
You don't know "Jungle Love?" That shit is the mad notes. Written by God herself and sent down to the greatest band in the world: The mother-fucking Time.

Day 18: Drink
My friend hosted a Speak Easy part last night, complete with a tub filled with 1920s era drinks.  The party was a blast and I finally got to wear a bunch of my great-great-aunt's jewelry and her fur coat!

Day 19: Something I hate to do
And now I'm sick. I hate getting sick.  So, I'm just chilling in bed, drinking broth, and watching Bones.

Feb Photo a Day: Days 8 – 12

Day 8: Sun
I had nearly forgotten to take a sun picture, and since it's still technically winter (despite what the California climate wants me to believe), the sun was fast setting as I was leaving for the day.  Luckily, as I walked out of the office, I caught this great shot through the window, capturing my reflection at the same time.  I'm oddly stoked on how this turned out.

Day 9: Front Door
I had dinner with an ex-student turned dear friend and she has this amazing door in her home as a decoration.  However, she once told me it's origin story and it was, at one time, the front door to a home.  I think it's stunning.

Day 10: Self Portrait
This pic is really no change from half of the things I post on instagram (I might be slightly narcissistic from time to time).  I did attempt to do something different and more creative, but in the end, I was out to dinner with friends and this was all I could manage.

Day 11: Makes Me Happy
My cousin Evan came into town for work, and he ended up staying with us on Saturday night – I hadn't seen him since his wedding last April and Boyfriend had never even met him!  What I didn't know was that my sister Bear was also going to be there for the night. As cliché as it sounds, I adore my family and I have so much fun with them.  Also, look how short I am compared to them (we are all barefoot or wearing flats)!

Day 12: Inside my Closet
My closet is rather insane.  The floor has laundry baskets that are overflowing with boots and door has hooks packed with scarves.  And due to the fact that I have slight OCD, I have spent way too much time colour-coordinating my sweaters and arranging my dresses and skirt by season (or, since we don't really have "seasons" in the traditional sense, by warm or cold weather dresses).  I might have a shopping problem...

2011 Recap

Welcome to 2012.

I haven’t updated this since Oct., mostly because I'm very easily distracted by other things, but maybe a little bit because I’m horrible at commitments that rely on only myself.  I suppose I should make some sort of resolution to keep my blog up to date – oh! Wait, I did that last year.  It sort of worked, at least I had a good run for a while.  

I have decided to make more of an effort.  I do miss blogging; it really did help me stay in the habit of writing.  So, to kick that off, here’s what you’ve been missing in my life!

Oct. 

I was going to attempt to do movie reviews while, ahem, altered and successfully did one.  I do have two more to post and will work on getting those edited so they are intelligible. 
 

I had also been training for The Warrior Dash, which took place on Oct 29th.  It was so much fun: a 3 mile fun-run with obstacles, mud, and fire.  I did it in just under 40 mins, which isn’t too much longer than my normal mile-pace (and that included all the obstacles) and I only ended up with some minor cuts and bruises.  I’m already excited for next year’s race. 

Then for Halloween, Boyfriend and I went as Lady Sherlock and Dr. Watson.  Really, it was an excuse to get Boyfriend to grow a mustache, wear a top hat and vest, and essentially dress like Jude Law’s Watson.  Luckily for me he was a good sport about it. AND lucky for the party we went to, Carmen San Diego showed up and tried to steal the Eiffel Tower – through my deductions I was able to prevent this horrible crime to the sounds of Rockapella. 

Nov. 

I had planned on devoting my November to figuring out ways that I could enjoy a satisfying Gluten Free Thanksgiving.  I had plans for pies and stuffing and biscuits and everything.  Needless to say, that did not happen. 

I went up to Oregon in early November to visit my Aunts and my cousins while all the Uncles went on a fishing trip. This involved a lot of card games and chocolate.  Oh, and worrying that there might be a bear wandering around the property.  It was fun.

Because we had a shutdown at work during the week of Thanksgiving, I zoomed down to visit one of my best friends in San Diego.  We watched an insane amount of Doctor Who, drank wine (at one point we went to the grocery store and both bought a jar of salsa and a bottle of wine. Each.), and ate chinese takeaway.  It was absolutely perfect. 

Dec. 

And then suddenly it was December.  Boyfriend and I went to Disneyland with two of our friends – it was a surprise for one of them as a late birthday present.  We did something absolutely crazy like 30 hours in parks over 2 days.  We were completely wrecked at the end of the trip, but it worth it. 

December also happens to be my sister Bear’s birthday and to celebrate, she hosted a Tour d’Franzia.  Let me explain: We had 4 teams of 4, each with a box of Franzia and tricycles, mini bikes, and razor scooters.  It’s a race to the end of the bag so, the first person drinks for 5 seconds then rides around the course (in this case, we were on a cul-du-sac, so we had to basically make a loop from further down the street), once they cross the finish line the next rider drinks and so on.  This lead to everyone being completely gone by about 2pm.  I ended up with a giant contusion on my head from a beer can and a broken toe, complete with bruises all over my body.  The fact that I’m my late twenties means I should know better, I suppose, but it was a blast. 

In contrast, we had a nice low key Christmas and New Years.  I spent the time off work recovering from the aforementioned party.  My foot is still messed up and until this week, I hadn’t been able to get it inside of shoe except an Ugg.  So, yes, I did go to a New Years party in a dress with Uggs on.  

So, yeah.  Those were the highlights of the remainder of 2011.  Here’s to 2012 and the hope that I can motivate myself to stay more on top of my own goals. 

Dresstember Weekend Recap Part 2

September happens to be the birth month of Boyfriend.  He doesn't make as big a deal of his birthday as I do, which is ok.  But we had an awesome party at his place an I had been saving my Kate Spade dress for the occasion.  I am so stoked on this dress – it looks like it was custom made and I never even tried it on!  I jumped a lot.  And I also discovered a zebra wine.

The next weekend Boyfriend, Michael, and I drove down to Ventura to go to our friend Nick's 33 1/3 birthday party.  About 4 hours of our drive down from the Bay Area was surrounded by a lightening storm, so naturally we blasted storm music and tried to take pictures (and ate our weight in tortilla chips, but that's neither here nor there).  And once we got there, my "cousin" Kate showed up and I got to meet the most amazing new friend, Ash.  Again, you're jealous of us.  I mean, just look (and not the lens flare. hott).

And that's a wrap on Dresstember.  Now we'll move on to October and I'll get the first few movie post up soon.  Huzza for October!

Dresstember Weekend Recap Part 1

So, strictly speaking this first part isn't from September, but it was right before when we went to Vegas.  I had been meaning to write about the trip anyway plus I wore this crazy skimpy Vegas dress.  I mean, the front was so low and slouchy that it's a good thing I don't have a big chest and the back was so short that I couldn't bend over.  So, it was pretty much perfect.

We ended up going out to a club inside/outside the Wynn.  It was kind of a mind-trip because it was like 90 º out at night, so whenever I was under the lights I thought I was under heat lamps.  Also, I spent way too much on gin & tonics.  It was an experience, but you know, not really for me.

Two weeks later my "cousin" and one of my best friends, Kate, came to visit.  Kate and I have a curse that whenever we try to go visit one another: "snow storms," cancelled flights, county wide power outages, you know...

ANYWAY, once she did make it here, we got our Karaoke on with Boyfriend on Friday, and then on Saturday we went to Alcatraz, hit up the Ghirardelli chocolate festival, and finally danced the night away at Bootie.  It was amazing. You're jealous of us.

Stay tuned for part 2 of the Weekend Recap – The Party Weekends!!

Catching Up with a Double Post

September was a crazy month, you guys.  Especially the last week – hence this getting posted so late.  But I did it!! I made it through Dresstember!! I just have to do the Weekend Recaps.

September 26 – 28

Monday – So, I wore this grey dress (Target - again) and this fantastic stripped blazer from Express to work.  Then, we had plans to go the Giants game so I came home and threw on tights and coat.  Of course I ended up putting on purple.  What are the odds that the one time I go to a Giants game we're playing the only purple team?  Yeah... I changed.

Tuesday – This is my first Kate Spade dress.  I was shopping with my best friend and "Our Mom" over Christmas and fell in love with this dress.  It was on sale, but it was still just too much... so "Our Mom" marches up to the sales lady and goes, "My daughter loves this dress but there's a loose string. What can you do?"  And you know what?  I got a discount.  It was a very Phyllis Nefler moment.

Wednesday – One of my favourite vintage inspired dresses from Banana Republic.  I love their jewel tones and they bring out my eyes... Also, this has like a flap that I can flip up and not have as much cleavage (as if I have boobs, right?!) at work.

September 29 & 30

Thursday – Boyfriend got me this Shabby Apple dress for Christmas last year.  I feel like a starlette when I wear it, but I don't wear it all that often.  Fabulous butons. 

Friday – A J. Crew strapless dress to celebrate the last day of Summer.  I love how it fades from dark pink at the bottom to white at the top and it reminds me of Gwen Stefani's wedding dress.  One last light and airy dress before the rain started this week.  Perfect timing. 

Stay tuned for the Weekend Recap and then my introduction for my October Theme!!

Belts, belts, and more belts

So, three belted dresses in one week and all for less than $20!  Yeah, that's how I roll.  Plus I'm getting into the last of the summer dresses since it's officially Autumn now... Oh, right.  Except for the crazy heat wave we're having right now.  So, yeah one more week of Dresstember and then all of my Dresstember Weekend recaps!  So, you've got that to look forward to, which is nice.

September 22, 23, and 25

Thursday – One of my favourite $4 Forever21 dresses.  It goes with tights or leggings, boots or sandals, and obviously really fun belts.  I love it.

Friday – I usually pair this Target dress with a teal sweater and earrings.  I love that it goes from casual to fancy.  And it's super comfy.

Sunday – Target again!  I swear that this was longer when I bought it.  But damn, I love striped dresses, especially ones that I can now add tights to and wear for the rest of the year!!

This feels kinda weak tonight. Meh.

Blocks of Colour

WTF, September?  Why is it suddenly 6 billion degrees?  I'm not really complaining because a) I prefer warm weather, and b) I get to keep wearing summer dresses a little bit longer.  Though, I won't lie – Autumn is my favourite season and I kinda can't wait for that change, too.

September 19 – 21

Monday – Back when I live in downtown Palo Alto, I used to walk past Anthropologie every day on my way to work.  Good news for my body, bad news for my wallet... their visuals are so awesome that I kept stopping to try things on.  Luckily, since I was there often enough, I managed to score quite a few sale items like this one.  Seriously, I would almost never buy anything there full price.

Tuesday – Another Target dress, great for laying around on a crazy hot day when you're dead from gluten poisoning.  Oh, yeah.  Good times.

Wednesday – Another sale Anthropologie dress.  I didn't even realize that until just now.  For some reason, I got a ton of compliments on this dress today.  And on my hair.  Huh, that's what happens when you skip the gym and have time to get ready at home in the morning.  Noted.

Also, can we just say how cute Boyfriend's set ups for these quick shots are?  I love the colours in the background and yeah, my house has a lot of colours.  We're festive.  Or indecisive.  Whatever.