Category: Friends

Categories
Being a girl Friends Memoir Self improvement Work

My life, realistically

This weekend I visited Davis, along with 2 of my girlfriends from college, and amidst the hours of nonstop talking (we had a lot to catch up on) I admitted having feelings of jealousy as of late. They reacted as I expected: much “Are you crazy??” and trying to explain to me why I was being irrational, but you know, sometimes jealousy isn’t rational.

We eventually decided the problem is Facebook – isn’t it always? – and then hatched a plan for a 14-day photo project.

The theory behind this is that people post all kinds of pictures of their awesome vacations, and their awesome dinners, and their awesome new outfits, and their awesome houses, and their awesome everything. And then you get jealous of them. But of course they’re not posting pictures of their dirty laundry pile, or the traffic they commute through, or the fact that for dinner they just made Hamburger Helper but they didn’t actually have hamburger so they used hot dogs and it was kind of gross.

So for the next 2 weeks I’m going to post realistic pictures of my every day life. Sounds like fun, right? Well, you’re welcome.

Day 1 – Here’s my getting-full recycling box at work, which I then had to take downstairs to the big recycling dumpster. Three cheers for mundane tasks that need to get done!

I just love recycling.
Categories
Drew Friends Nature Sports

Memorial Day Weekend, Part Deux

I mentioned recently that Drew and I sort of let the weekends go by us, while we spend them relaxing and generally not doing very much. Well, we wanted to make the most of this weekend, so we’ve been doing our best to remain entertained and engaged in this second half of the long weekend.

Yesterday our friends Sam and Shawn came up from Redwood City and we went to Sea Bowl.

Here’s what I learned: I am way worse at bowling than I thought I was. I thought I was like, eh, okay. But really I am like, a 40-point-game type of bowler. Surprising, and slightly embarrassing. If I knew how bad I was, I would have, like, pretended to never have bowled before or something.

At least the shoes were cool…in a hipster sort of way. (Non-matching shoelaces and all.)

I think I probably just needed to get back into the swing of things. But we got through only 1 1/2 games. I guess I could just say I was going to hustle them, and I just didn’t have time to get into the second part of the hustle.

Today it’s semi-nice out, and we went for a walk. Milagra Ridge is a nice place to walk, it’s got great views, it’s not super difficult but it’s also not totally flat. There is also a WW II bunker (or maybe more than one?) and that’s interesting. Today we climbed over the “fence” that separates the walking paths from the wilderness part, and climbed all over the bunker.

Obviously, people have broken in and spent some time hanging out in there. You can stick your head in the part they broke into (although it makes me super nervous to stick my head very close), and check out what they chose to graffiti on the walls. (Things like ’91 and “KKK Sucks!”)

Here’s the makeshift entrance to the bunker:

Here’s the real door to the bunker (well-hidden!).

Then we had to make our way back down to the path.

Now that I got my fresh air and my Vitamin D, I don’t have to feel guilty if all I want to do the rest of the day is sit around reading Kristin Cashore’s Fire, or watching Modern Family, and waiting for the maintenance guy to come out and fix the balcony door.

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Exercise Friends Nature

The Mountain Lion Plan

I went hiking after work today with Scotty’s mom. The last time we went, we just took the path that is currently being worked on, even though the signs and road blocks said not to. We planned to do the same today but there was a ranger driving around, so we walked past it to take the other loop.

Sam said she thought that loop was harder, but it actually wasn’t too bad. The only drawback is that it’s not a loop, because so many trails are under construction, so it’s just a walk-to-the-top-and-then-turn-around type of trail.

On our way up she filled me in on the mountain lion plan.

“If we see a mountain lion, you know what to do, right?”

“Sure I do,” I said, because I remember my mountain lion lessons. “We make ourselves as big as possible and yell.”

“And if it attacks one of us, the other one has to beat it with a stick. You can’t run away. Okay?”

Jeez.

Then she told me that when she hiked this mountain with her husband, he said that if a mountain lion attacked him, he was going to “throw the baby” to her and her job was to run away with him. I’m not sure of the validity of that plan. She said she told him no way, that she would stay and try to drive off the mountain lion with him. But I’m wondering what the new mother’s instinct actually would be…I suspect that under pressure a new mother might actually instinctively save her baby.

I hope they don’t ever have to test that theory, though.

Anyway, we saw no mountain lions. Just birds.

And it turns out that the construction they’re doing is to totally pave over the trails. I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I like walking a dirt trail. The asphalt kind of changes the whole trail feel. On the other hand, it does get super muddy after it rains, so an asphalt trail would be nice. On the other hand, it’s clearly a horse trail (there are all kinds of hints and clues leading me to detect that) and I’m not sure what horses prefer…

Categories
Being a girl Friends Nature Self improvement Sports

Giants v Diamondbacks, Tues May 10

For this post, I have officially introduced a new category: sports. (I predict this will be the smallest category in the category cloud.)

Also, pretend I posted this yesterday on May 11th.

On Tuesday Drew and I and 5 other friends went to see the SF Giants play the Arizona Diamondbacks. We got the tickets mainly to support one of the teacher friend’s all-girls science club – of the ticket price, something like half of it went to the club. The teacher friend said she’s going to use the money to buy consumables: meaning containers that need to be replaced, things like vinegar and baking soda, food coloring, etc. A good cause.

We set out early to get to AT&T park, because we were going during rush hour, and the freeways can get crazy. Like, really crazy. Seriously. I’ve seen it. So four of us left around 5:00, to give us enough time for traffic, parking, and then walking up to the park. We intended to meet up with everyone at 6:30 by the Willie Mays statue.

This is what we were trying to do:

It’s also basically what we ended up doing. We found ourselves standing outside AT&T Park at about 5:30. Luckily the other friends are equally as conscious of traffic, and so we were all there at relatively the same time.

We stood outside for awhile, admiring the commentors doing their thing, and the line for the bobbleheads (?).

It was a very nice day, albeit windy. I was wearing my Wicked sweatshirt, as it’s the softest and warmest thing I own, even if it’s slightly embarrassing.

Here’s Willie Mays from another angle.

When we went into the park, we found that we had the BEST SEATS IN THE PARK. Because we were so far up. The higher up your seats are, the better they are, right? Because you can see everything without having to turn your head, plus they bring hot chocolate and churros right up to you.

You also get the best view of the fog rolling in, as it’s wont to do.

Soon the pharmacist friend wanted to go get a crab sandwich. Legend has it Tyler Florence himself comes to AT&T Park and makes them. So we went off in search of crab sandwiches. We found the booth, and Tyler Florence. We also found a place where I could get a Sprite for $5.25…the best kind of Sprite. We were somewhere behind the giant screen.

At the sounds of the National Anthem being played, we headed back to our seats. This is when I discovered that the giant Coke bottle is a slide! Before then, I believed that was just one of the things my dad said to be funny. Imagine my shock and awe when I saw that it’s not only one slide, it’s SEVERAL slides, and children were all up in it. Pharmacist friend asked if I wanted to go down the slide, and I did, but unfortunately I’m nearly 27 years old.

My dad also says that there are places in the park wall where you can watch the game from outside, without having to buy a ticket. Here is proof of that.

See? Little windows for cheap people.

Well, the game went on. Aside from the crab sandwich, among us we also consumed many Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi, smuggled in from outside), something like 5 hot chocolates, my Sprite, parmesan and herb Sun-chips and jalapeno Cheetos (also from outside). I guess that’s all. One thing I learned is, I will bring my own snacks next time.

And the game went on. Eight and a half innings with the score still tied zero to zero. Around the sixth inning I started thinking I would rather lose the game after such a fight, than have to go into extra innings. But you have to understand, it was cold, and getting later, and it was only Tuesday night. Early in the week.

In the bottom of the ninth, everything came up roses when Cody Ross RBI’ed Darren Ford, and the game was over! Thank God! Plus, we won, and Colorado lost, and I think that means we might be number one now? Not sure, because I’m kind of a part-time baseball fan. Someone will correct me, surely.

So then we began the night exodus out of the stadium and back to the car.

Even though I wouldn’t like to go every game (or even every other game), I still had a great time, and it was even sweeter since we won. Nothing like a sense of totally unearned smugness.

Categories
"Other people" Awesome Dreams Friends Memoir

Dinusoars

One amazing thing about the internet is that you can put yourself out there for all to see. Then they all can look at you and pass you on to their friends. Their friends can also like you and pass you on. This is all free. The internet provides great opportunities for marketing and promoting yourself. However, when it comes time to get paid for things…not so easy.

For instance, I have started submitting these “guest commentary” pieces to the Lake County Record-Bee. Fun for me, fun for my family to see those words in print, and convenient to submit online. Hopefully some people – even strangers maybe! – will read that, enjoy it, and smile. Then maybe they’ll stop by here to see what else is up. But I’m not making any money off of this, and I’m also not really concerned about tracking where this stuff ends up.

The people who post the giant, bolded “copyright” text at the bottom of all of their blog columns…it just makes me roll my eyes. If someone wants to steal something from here and post it elsewhere, well, then I’ll deal with that when it happens. Until then, I can only dream of my biggest problem being that too many people are interested in what I’m saying.

The now-infamous Jonathan Amores is, in fact, dealing with too many people liking his work. When Jonathan took his hipstamatic photo at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, he never dreamed that one day, hipsters and yuppies all over the internet would be enjoying it…teal wash and all.

Jonathan’s photo somehow made it onto Reddit, Sad and Useless, and also The Daily What. All without his knowledge or effort. Also, unfortunately, without his name attached to any of it. The glories and the pitfalls of the internet.

But I’m here to set the record straight.

PS. This is a really great photo, I totally see how it spread all over the internet. Props, jamores!

Categories
Being a girl Dollars Drew Friends Nonfiction

Cute shoes; good husband

Recently my BFF Megan was visiting California from her now-hometown of Washington, DC. Megan and I have a complicated history (not bad, just detailed): we were dorm roommates our first year at UC Davis, the only two English majors in a building filled with 70 computer science, physics, math, biology, and engineering students.

We lost touch after that, and while I was doing theatre stuff and moving to New York, she was going to law school and spending time in Africa. In the winter of 08/09 she wrote a Facebook note about Prop 8 and I read it, and realized that the Megan I remembered had changed a lot. She talked about being on the “No on 8” side of a protest and looking across at the people on the “Yes on 8” side. It was a very personal, fascinating note. And very long. I emailed her a response regarding the religious implications of Prop 8 – and then didn’t hear anything for a couple months.

When she wrote back, we started talking again, and shortly after that Drew and I got engaged. Then Megan said she’d be coming to New York (from Sacramento) for a visit and we should get together. I was nervous (maybe she was too) but it ended up being the greatest idea ever. We started out at Vynl on 9th Avenue for dinner and drinks, and ended up at Juniors for cosmos and cheesecake.

She moved to New York and we spent the summer of 09 walking around Manhattan, presumably for exercise, but it often included lots of gossip, girltalk, and ended with shopping, either for groceries at a chic store (no ghetto Key Foods here) or for clothes…more often for clothes.

So when Megan came out for a visit this month, we had to shop. And shop we did. The week before she came, I told Drew I didn’t have extra money this month for things like lunches out and buying shoes. He said (and I quote), “Please promise me you’ll use credit cards so you can have a good time with her. Just use them responsibly.”

It turns out we may have different definitions of “responsible” credit card use – this became apparent when I came through the door on Friday loaded down with shopping bags. “They’re not all mine!” I said before he could say anything.

But I needed everything I bought. The work clothes – for work! – I mean, I only had so much stuff I could wear to work without feeling shamed. And with summer coming on I definitely needed some warm weather clothes. And the Bare Escentuals stuff – I mean, come on, I had been saying for weeks that I wanted to buy moisturizer and eye shadow. So that’s all fair. And the shoes? Well, the flat sandals are obvious, I’ll wear them all the time when it’s warm enough. The platform heels? I love them! Where will I wear them? I’ll figure it out.

At some point during the day, when I was throwing down my credit card yet again, I did stop to think that maybe this wasn’t what he had in mind by “use them responsibly.” Maybe he meant to say “sparingly.” Oh well.

That he didn’t even give me a hard time about any of this is a testament to how nice he is. I mean, ultimately I was still medium-responsible. And the weekend was so fun that it was totally worth it. But I am grateful that he didn’t grill me about my purchase choices or the final cost of the weekend…he’s a nice guy. So here’s to Drew! And to his understanding nature, and his strong sense of the importance of friendship.

And seriously, these shoes are so cute.

Categories
Drew Fashion Friends Sleep talking

Sleep Talking, 8

At about 4:30 this morning:

Drew: What? Why did you do that?
Me: ?
Drew: Buy a hot air balloon?
Me: Don’t worry, I didn’t actually.
Drew: Oh okay. *goes back to sleep*
Me: *thinks about how cool it’d be to own a hot air balloon*

In other news, Megan is here and today we’re heading out on the town to shop for party dresses, shoes, and restrictive undergarments to wear with our party dresses and shoes.  Other things I have expressed an interest in: new jeans, summery type shirts, and 3/4-sleeve cardigan sweaters to wear over sleeveless shirts at work.  So it’s gonna be a busy day.

I couldn’t decide between posting the video for “Shoes” or “Friday,” so you get this instead (it’s totally worth watching):

Categories
Awesome Beginnings Being a girl Children Friends Work

Children and art

CHILDREN

I got a call this evening from my 10-months-pregnant friend, and our conversation went like this:

Me: Hey there!
Her: Hey, sorry I missed lunch today.
Me: That’s okay.  Did you have a very good reason?
Her: Yup!
Me: What is it?
Her: A baaaaybeeee!
Me: OMG!
Her: It’s so weird!
Me: AND?
Her: It’s crazy!
Me: AAAAND??
Her: It’s a boy!

I am so stoked for her.  She’s still at the hospital but once she gets home it will be all I can do to not bother her constantly to let me come over…especially as I now drive RIGHT past her house to get to work.

Hopefully she won’t make me wait too long before I meet him.  I want to see him when he’s still very small.  (Not that he was THAT small – almost 9 lbs apparently, yikes.)

I might have teared up a little when she told me.  I wasn’t there throughout her entire pregnancy but the last three months (is that all it’s been? doesn’t seem like it) have been all about this moment.  When I didn’t see her on Facebook or gchat for a couple days I figured that’s what was going on.  Weird that I couldn’t just text her and be like “Are you pushing right now?”  Weird when you have to take some time off from instant gratification.

& ART

On the job front…I can’t believe I’m so happy.  I didn’t expect to be SO. HAPPY.  I love it, I’m just having the best time.  It helps that I remember most stuff so I’m not training from scratch.  But I love the team there now, I love the space we’re in, I love the work I’m doing.  The work days are flying by and everything is interesting.  And I don’t think that’s going to disappear, I think it’ll just get better as I get more situated.

Today I spent large amounts of time on a storyboard for an “audio slideshow” – which we use as a show “trailer” on the website.  So I storyboarded the images and text that will go up there to sell the next show in the season.  It’s great having some creative parts of the job to go along with the sales parts.

I’m not sure what’s different about the job this time around, that I’m a trillion times happier there.  (I have a couple theories though.)  I’m just uber grateful that this worked out the way it did, and that I’m now in this position.  It’s a far better situation than I figured I’d be in, back in the beginning of February as I looked ahead.

Because I don’t start until 10, I’ve been getting up when Drew leaves (at 7:00) and going to the gym.  Because there is no way I’m going to come home at 6:00 and then go to the gym.  No freaking way.  I think I’m going to try going every day next week, and then I could take the weekends off.

So happy today – everything is great!  Makes it easy to be thankful.  All color and light.

Categories
Awesome Friends

Dangers of 20-something drinking

A series of texts from my inebriated friend:

She: Consider yourself drunk dialed.
Me: Thanks, I will save the message forever.
She: I wish you were here like Incubus.
Me: What does that even mean?
She: The sekrit is in the vine.
Me: So you’re feeling pretty good?
She: I love u en la biblioteca con un gato.

❤

Categories
Awesome Being a girl Friends

Photo documentation: Davis, and apple pie

Last Saturday Liz and I met up in Davis and hung out for the day.  “The day” included lunch, Borders browsing, cheapie manicures, visits to our senior year college apartments, and cupcakes.

 

The best thing we saw was this guy advertising…ice cream?…and putting his dog to good use.  The dog is dressed as a banana split, and his name is Hudson. 

Yeah, we talked to the banana guy while we were stuck at the light turning left, so we could take pictures of him.

(Banana guy, if you stumble across this, you made our day.)

***

Tonight I made an apple pie.  I think it’s the first time I’ve ever made an apple pie.  I did not make the crust, because I thought that might be a little too ambitious.  But other than that serious mark against me…I think it’s a pretty good pie.