Amazing trip, wonderful adventure…even with the dysentery/food poisoning/im-gonna-die experience. You might remember Flora from last summer’s nicest-wedding-i-will-ever-go-to in the South of France. She lives full-time in France (speaks English maybe once a week, can you imagine?) and I never get to see her, and I’ve always wanted to go to Bali, and all the stars aligned because Flora is maybe the most adventurous person I know and was ready to go as soon as I mentioned the idea. Just hopped on a plane from Nice to Dubai to Jakarta to Bali and 24 hours of flying time later there she was.
We had an awesome trip, thanks to Flora’s detailed planning – saw the beach, rainforest, rice fields, climbed an active volcano, snorkeled (for like one min. until i hyperventilated after seeing a barracuda), enjoyed many a banana-smoothie (possibly the dysentery culprit), and had lots and lots of time to catch up.
And now I’m fully recovered from jet-lag (ohmygosh, crossing the date line did me IN) and *hopefully* bacteria/parasite-free – so even if it’s only 59 degrees in San Francisco every single day of August, I can look back at these pictures and remember that yes, I did, see the sun this summer (during Bali’s winter).
I just watched this YouTube video (watch it. It’s so good) and my favorite line is near the end, ‘if you have an art that needs a practice stop neglecting it.’
Well. Does it count that I WISH I had an art that needs a practice? Top of my list – singing. Please let me be a singer. Next – piano star. Maybe I should buy a keyboard. But since I’m VERY musically-challenged, I will just practice my arts that are my own – cooking (ohmygosh, it has been a forever), running (ow), and getting back to my blog (sup!). Which brings me to here. If this is what I call art, that is pathetic. But it’s better than nothing, right? And I still remain in the market for a real art, like one that sounds good or looks like a painting.
Anywho, since it has been a forever, I will not dwell on the past month that was a combination of highs in the 50s and fog (my dad suggested I rename my blog 18 weeks of summer), but will remember instead the amazing weather we had on 4th of July for Jingie’s 90th birthday extravaganza, and the beautiful adventure that was Bali before I got dysentery and wanted to commit suicide in the Hong Kong airport.
Ahh the good days. Dinner at Murray Circle on July 4th. So fun. No food poisoning.
Palace of the Legion of Honor, and more important sunshine in San Francisco. A true birthday miracle.
Kids sporting stylish primary colors, except for Jordan and Sarina, because they live in New York and got the memo.
Okay, I lied. No Bali pics yet. Gotta save something for next time. I do not have a lot going on, people, so this is the only way to ensure I have something else to write about. Have a wonderful, lovely 50-degree-weather-filled weekend!
Kate wanted to post this in the comments, but you can’t attach a pic there, so she emailed me instead. Subject of the email ‘Made for Each Other’ and attached was this work of photoshop genius (our night classes at Stanford were totally worth it, KP). And now I’m at my desk cracking UP. FYI, that is MY face he is copying. Kate confirmed.
I have one friend who is unemployed and one friend who reads my blog on a regular basis. And guess what. SAME PERSON. I think I’ve found my niche! Blog for people with wayyy too much free time (and obvs, this includes ME, although you’d be surprised how little free time you have when you go to bed at 9:30pm). Anyways, this same person who reads my blog and doesn’t have a job also sends me messages every time I don’t write a new post, which is every day, so in honor of this anonymous friend, here is a very long, picture- and tangent-filled post.
Starting with my favorite new song. Have you heard my new favorite song? Listen. You won’t be sorry.
Ohmygosh. If that’s not worth $0.99 cents on iTunes then I don’t know what is.
Anywho, I played that song a lot this weekend. On repeat. Might have scared some people. But it is such a great country song and we were IN the country. With real life cowboys!
I wish I had more pics, but most were on Lisa’s camera – including zoomed-in shots of Cowboy Ryan, the real life cowboy I mentioned earlier. He took us horseback riding and invited us to his RANCH. I had never been to a ranch before! It’s something I’ve only read about on the blogosphere. This ranch visit 110% reconfirmed that I am ready to permanently move to and start MY new life on a ranch. Stat.
It also confirmed that I was a country girl in another life. Dan thinks I was a conservative evangelical christian in another life (I don’t know what he means by that, raises a red flag…),but I’m leaning towards pop country singer. Even my parents agree that I have some unidentifiable country-ness in me. And you know who else would agree? Pionner Woman. Duh.
Anywho, until I get those cowboy pics, here is a weekend of Android photos (please pretend there are horses in the background until I follow up with photographic evidence).
Buggy got a lot of attention from everyone, starting with Lisa. Lisa even admitted to wanting a Golden Doodle – a perfect project for an over-extended law school student.
Lots of other important stuff happened, like Dan and Buggy working on their relationship. They are now very good friends and even spent some time watching World Cup highlights together on Sunday morning!
We hung out on the deck lots and lots. It was warm and I loved every minute of it.
Cozette decided she likes Dan, too.
And Dan wore his Chicago Bulls jersey. It’s my favorite thing he owns. Don’t know why, I just love it
This weekend is my grandma’s 90th birthday extravaganza in San Francisco and the whole family is gettin excited. Now it’s 9pm and I’m tired and I feel like the 90-year-old. Gonna be an easy adjustment when the day comes. G’night from your geriatric re-incarnated country singer!
Let me vent. Puhleeze. That’s what blogs are for. Today. According to me. (ugh, I know they are not, but if I don’t vent I will take it out on another comcast customer service rep and feel terrible).
Over the past two weeks…
1. My car battery died, involving a visit from AAA plus 8 hours in the dealership plus a substantial credit card payment
2. I lost my brand new iPod (don’t worry, the one I got in 2001 is still totally findable)
3. Cold/flu/100 degree fever invaded my life
4. Comcast disconnected my phone and internet ‘by error’ – four 1800comcast phone calls + me hanging up on one service rep + 2-hour wait window + 1-hour apartment visit later, it’s back.
Combine all this with a new job/boss, and I look like the world’s biggest flake. Can you please visualize what my emails have looked like over the last two weeks? If not – here’s a hint:
AUTO RESPONSE: Jill Away From Desk – I’m out of the office dealing with car troubles, but am available on my mobile phone for urgent issues.
AUTO RESPONSE: Jill OOO – I’m OOO sick today, but please email me for urgent issues.
AUTO RESPONSE: Jill Away From Desk – Comcast has effing screwed me over for the billionth time and I was in tears while on the phone with their customer service reps. I’m unavailable via email because THEY DISCONNECTED ME FROM INTERNET SERVICES. If you’d like to reach me, guess what, you can’t.
Oh my gosh. What a two weeks it has been. But now it’s Friday, my internet is back on, my Prius is alive and kickin, I bit the bullet and bought a new iPod, I’m back down to 98.6 degrees and things are lookin up. Up!
And with all the madness and frustration and comcast-induced tears, some things are not so bad.
Some things are really good. I think I look pretty happy for all the annoyances of the past two weeks. Whew. Thanks for letting me vent. I feel much better.
The creators of the Squid Squad trailer just released their full-length video – You’ve got to be Squidding Me. I haven’t laughed so hard at work in a long time! I especially like the scene at 3:45 when Dan is trying his best to protect me from a pelican. Dan is definitely the star of the video, but luckily the camera crew didn’t pick up any of his seasick over the side debut!
WARNING: this video seriously made me seasick. I am a huge wimp. (have you seen my fav movie?) So watch at your own risk.
This is sad because she’s one of my best Piedmont friends still in the Bay Area. And she’s friends with my mom, too. They even hang out and talk on the phone without ME. But now she’s Chicago-bound! And moving in with a real-life boy named Russel. Like in Up! Hey Mr. Fredrickson….
I digress.
Luckily, I also happen to be Chicago-bound this weekend, so Catie and I are flyin togetha! Southwest isn’t gonna know what hit em!
Catie’s departure also means I will have even MORE reasons to visit Chicago: Amy, Amy + Matt newlyweds, Catie, Dan’s new wfIllinois status, and the joy of freezing my @$$ off in mid march, walking around with numb toes, refusing to take off my ski hat, constantly searching for a tissue, all the while listening to everyone talk about how warm and sunny it is for a March afternoon. The life of a sheltered wimp from the bay area, my friends.
Put that t-shirt in storage and get yourself a ski hat, girlfriend!
These could also be called Ina’s 5,000 ingredient chocolate cupcakes. Coffee, sour cream, sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, butter, eggs…..BAH.
Thank goodness I have a grocery store a half a block away from my apartment with the nicest people who work there and don’t laugh at me when I’m in line for the fourth time in one morning. They’re very nice over at BiRite, probs has something to do with the fact that I keep that place alive, with every 5,000 ingredient cupcake I make!
So. I made these for Eli’s b-day party #2 and they were great. Not my best cupcakes ever, but still good. I really need to get my act together on the cream cheese frosting. Following instructions would be one place to start. But let me shift the responsibility to external factors and say that my main problemo with BiRite is that they only have these new-age organic cream cheeses, and I’m pretty convinced Philadelphia’s is the only way to go when it comes to frosting. But maybe if I actually followed instructions I’d feel differently.
I found the recipe online, so if you can make your way through the loong list of ingredients, you should def give these a try next time your cousin turns 30. I used Ina’s recipe for cream cheese frosting instead of the peanut butter icing. I’m still on a search for the best cupcake recipe ever….so if you have one, let me know!
I can’t believe I haven’t posted since Eli’s cinco-de-mayo fiesta, but then again, I’ve never posted on a regular basis so I kinda can believe it. May has been a super busy month. There was Eli’s b-day, a trip to Houston, mother’s day, Amy C. wedding prep, and finally the long-awaited farm dinner that my bank account knows all too well – the Outstanding in the Field dinner at County Line Harvest.
Oh my gosh.
It was so fun. The farm was so beautiful. It only furthered my life-long goal to become Pioneer Woman.
We got to pick strawberries (or harvest them, as my new farmer bffs said), and take home baskets full of the little berries and lots of sweet pea flowers.
I couldn’t stop thinking how picturesque it was. I was having a hard time paying attention to the strawberry picking, but luckily I befriended Zoe, the County Line Harvest office manager, and she hooked me up with a basket of good ones.
One thing though. You may notice I’m carrying a very large bag and wearing a winter coat. It was friggin freezin. That huge bag contains a huge blanket which by some sort of miracle was in my car otherwise the event would have quickly spiraled downward into Squid Hunting round 2, Jill complains for four hours straight. But I was okay, thanks to the blanket.
Despite the cold, the whole event was gorgeous and special and totally worth every penny. All 60,000 of em! Just kidding. The food was amaazing. With three a’s. Everything was so fresh and delicious.
We got to meet the farmers from Bellweather farms, along with the County Line Harvest McDreamy farmer, stage left.
He’s the tan one, drinking out of a Saint Benoit yogurt jar, wearing a north face puffy vest. Can ya get any more marin country farmer? I think not.
This dinner made me realize I need to spend more time in the farmland, and away from the internets and computerlands. So signing off for now, and gonna dream about living on a big farm tonight.
