Filed under: a few of my favorite things, bestest friends, family first, journalicious, party star | Tags: bestest friends, california knows how to party, chelsea lately, conan o'brien, drink drank drunkity drunk drunk, los angeles, mac and cheese should be its own food group, post vacation blues, san diego, vacation mode
the grass is greener in california. the sky is bluer, the sun is brighter, the mac and cheese is cheesier, the people are happier, the activities are morer (copyright: me*). all i really need to say is — my vacation was fabulous, and i want to go back.
in no particular order, this is what i did:
spent time with some of my favorite college friends.
reminisced a LOT with said college friends.
ate sushi.
almost got kicked out of a bar for taking my shoes off.
went to conan and chelsea.
rewatched and tried to find myself on both conan and chelsea.
drank beer.
drank wine.
drank sake.
drank champagne.
drank tequila. at disneyland.
got lost looking for an entrance to a secret in-n-out.
finally ate in-n-out (animal style, with a neopolitan shake**)
drove in tons of LA traffic.
navigated LA traffic without a map.
almost left my mom on the side of an LA freeway because she was driving me crazy.
took a ferry to coronodo island.
saw the grey’s anatomy set.
went to a 21-and-older movie theater and drank blue moon.
didn’t exercise.
didn’t think about work.
there’s more.
but i think this list is too long.
and no one even reads lists.
*actually, copyright urban dictionary. who knew?
** you are welcome.
Filed under: bestest friends, family first, fear and loathing | Tags: bellingham, flip flops, flooding, river, seattle, severe weather, snoqualmie falls, snoqualmie valley, washington state, whatcom county
In case you haven’t figured it out, I seriously hate rain — but reading about the Washington state floods is making me sick to my stomach. This video shows the devastation that my hometown has suffered in the past 48 hours. Is it weird that I feel guilty for not being home right now? To all my Valley Rats, Seattleites, Bellinghamsters and Ferndaliens, please be safe and stay dry.
picture stolen from my friend erika, who risked her life to play stormwatcher with her family yesterday. and to think i’m the one who majored in journalism.
Filed under: a few of my favorite things, family first, obscure pop culture references, party star, the cat's meow, work and play | Tags: aunt, bizzi, christmas time, christmas tree, dyyyying, even my cat loves gossip girl, gifts, presents, ugly sweater party
i just opened the last box on my advent calendar…. yea for Christmas!
it took me a while to get in the spirit this year, mostly because i didn’t realize it was december until we were already two weeks in. then, just as i was geared up for the holidays — including creating this nifty lil number for our ugly sweater party (my roommate calls it “The Lil’ Orphan That Tried”) — i was knocked out with the vicious stomach plague that seems to be making the rounds. Once I recovered from that, I was blessed with a death cold, which is now gracing me with its presence.
However, what’s a shortage of breath and a plethora of earaches and snot when it’s finally Christmas Eve?! i thought i’d be depressed today since this is my first Christmas away from my family, but i’m surprisingly pretty jolly. my nieces unfortunately will have to miss out on their annual holiday activities with Auntie Claus, but they should be receiving their Christmas cash just in the nick of time for me to keep wearing my Cool Aunt badge. i’m also pleased to say that i finished all of my shopping yesterday on my lunch break — after starting it yesterday on my lunch break… (ahem, except of course for those of you who have been randomly selected to be a part of my inaugural New Year’s Gifts from Flippy Program. you can expect to see your gifts sometime before Dec. 31, 2009. and they might not be gifts at all. they might just be hugs. or beer. i’ve found that the two are pretty interchangeable.)
we’ve got free food covering every inch of the office until 3:01 p.m., when free booze magically appears in my hands and my belly. i love Christmas.
and now, a present to all of you, using my newly found talent for quickly and sloppily using Microsoft Paint:
my cat wishes you a very "Meowy Christmas. Hope it's PURRRRRRfect!" (don't worry -- in real life, she has legs.)
Filed under: family first, geek chic, sporty spice, work and play | Tags: completely confused, drag races, nhra, sexy cars, twitter musings, VIP biatch, virginia motorways
my first drag racing experience went much better than i expected. my dad is a starter for NHRA, so i had the luxury of watching the races as a Very Important (But Totally Confused) Person. i attempted to capture the excitement of being down at the starting line by constantly updating, but for the most part, i was caught up by the very, very loud intensity of the sport.
Tweet!: The race car edition*
- getting stoked to see my dad tomorrow
- Oil change blah. 05:46 PM October 09, 2008
- Successfully avoided packing for the weekend trip. 10:41 PM October 09, 2008
- only a few hours till a beautiful, redneck weekend in Southern Virginnie. 10:04 AM October 10, 2008
- in my next life, i will have superpowers that prevent me from ever having to sit in a car for two hours at a time. 03:13 PM October 10, 2008
- Time for the road trip after a delicious outback dinner. 07:55 PM October 10, 2008
- Car died. But I think we’re fine now. 08:49 PM October 10, 2008
- Pretty sure robin loves my voice 09:37 PM October 10, 2008
- We made it… and apparently I’m overdressed in my unlaundered jeans. 10:28 PM October 10, 2008
- Drag racing 101 12:15 AM October 11, 2008
- For some reason no one believes we’re part of the race car staff. 11:52 AM October 11, 2008
- Standing on a stool to see like the rest of the kids. 12:19 PM October 11, 2008
- Its cool, we’re VIP. 12:32 PM October 11, 2008
- Had no idea what we were signing up for–just signed a waiver form. Hmm… 01:11 PM October 11, 2008
- Holy mackerel, holy cow! 01:19 PM October 11, 2008
- Ear plugs are sooo underrated. 02:24 PM October 11, 2008
- Apparently just cuz I’m VIP doesn’t mean I’m above leaving my fly down. 02:55 PM October 11, 2008
- I’ve injected so many fumes, I might be high. 03:16 PM October 11, 2008
- Uh that would actually be, I’ve inhaled too many fumes. Brain. Functioning. Slowly. 03:21 PM October 11, 2008
- I think we were just on TV! 03:31 PM October 11, 2008
- I will trade anyone one dead robin for a tall latte. 04:43 PM October 11, 2008
- Done for the day. Bring me to my hoodie and flips, Jeeves. 05:46 PM October 11, 2008
- Hilary duff and bitch brew is the perfect break from drag racing. 06:58 PM October 11, 2008
- Break’s over. Watching for my dad on espn now. 07:16 PM October 11, 2008
- Completely lost in smelly Petersburg. 09:11 PM October 11, 2008
- Bacon wrapped steak and booze… Mmmmmmmmmmmm. 10:34 PM October 11, 2008
- Just did the midget dance during the pre race espn show. 09:10 AM October 12, 2008
- Just witnessed a funny car record win. 11:32 AM October 12, 2008
- Who wears red pumps to a sporting event? 12:14 PM October 12, 2008
- I think we’re finally getting it today… 12:18 PM October 12, 2008
- I want a new car now. Or maybe just a vespa. 12:42 PM October 12, 2008
- Finally made it to the suite w the free food and drinks. Gah! about 23 hours ago
- Watching the finals. about 21 hours ago
- My weekend of drag racing is over. Here’s hoping I don’t get a speeding ticket on the drive home. about 18 hours ago
and that concludes my whirlwind race weekend. who knew that after 25 years of trying to understand my dad’s fascination with cars, i would finally have an appreciation for them? can’t wait to go back!
* pretty sure my dad didn’t appreciate my “geeking out” on my blackberry while standing two feet away from professional racers.
Filed under: a few of my favorite things, bestest friends, celebrity worship, family first, fear and loathing, geek chic, obscure pop culture references, party star, sporty spice, work and play | Tags: beach, blackberry, bootcamp, boxing, bridesmaid, chuck klosterman, dad, dreams, dress, facebook, fast food, gym, office space, phobia, raccoons, ridiculous, sauna, summer, vacation, weight, wine, workout
i’m in the office on a saturday, and it’s not the worst thing in the world (although visions of bill lumberg are dancing in my head). in fact, i finally have time for some bloggy TLC.
i worked out five times this week. it’s become less of a chore and more of a way to unwind. (i think i’m addicted to my gym’s sauna.) with that said, i’m not losing any weight after nine solid weeks of quitting chik fil a and co. this wouldn’t be such a bad thing (i’m only a lil round), but i have to squeeze into an already-too-snug bridesmaid dress in less than a month. said dress is 3,000 miles away from me, so I don’t exactly have time to get it altered before the big day. (is it sad that i’m this stressed about a big day that’s not even *my* big day? the bride thinks it’s pretty sad…)
anyway, long story short, i’m not giving up on this workout kick no matter what kind of bad news mr. scale wants to throw my way. i feel better, right? (insert eye roll here.)
i did have to give up my dreams of becoming a championship boxer, though. after my free class (which was awesome), i would’ve had to purchase a membership to continue. unfortunately for my wallet, a membership costs $75/month with a minimum 12-month commitment — excluding the additional costs for equipment. sigh. guess i’ll have to stick to less conventional means of drunkenly wrestling with my friends (yes, plural. sorry, wools — you’re no longer the last person i beat up).
non-related somewhat noteworthy topics:
last weekend, i went to the beach. next weekend, i’m going to the beach. next year, i think i’ll move to the beach. in the meantime, i’m looking past the scattered thunderstorms to a summer filled with enjoying this.
i got a crackberry. picture me mobile blogging.
i heart chuck klosterman. i just started “IV: a decade of curious people and dangerous minds,” which begins with an essay about britney circa 2003 — how could i not heart him? seriously, though, his books are hilarious. (yes, i’m the creepy girl laughing out loud while she reads in public.) do yourself a favor and go buy “killing yourself to live” right this instant.
i just found out my dad reads my blog. (hi, daddy!) this is still nowhere near as bad as when he and my mom joined facebook. or as bad as the last family vacation we all took together, but that’s an entirely different story that i’ll probably never tell.
my phobia of raccoons has become ridiculously exploited. i guess this is what i get for having ridiculous phobias.
speaking of ridiculous, i’ve been ridiculously boring in my weeks of silence, and i think that’s all the updates i’ve got for ya. i’ve even toned down my drinking in the wake of my bridesmaid bootcamp activities, so the embarrassing stories that i usually don’t publicly write about are pretty much nil. (seriously, pithy — that bucket o wine was a myth.)
Filed under: family first, fear and loathing, perfectly impossible | Tags: death, family, friend, memories
it’s probably not politically correct to say i feel like i’ve been hit by a truck after hearing about the death of a family friend. but i’m not feeling great, that’s for sure, so words of sensitivity and delicacy are not exactly flowing right now. words of nonsense are really all i’ve got.
i feel distracted and drained. physically and emotionally exhausted after 12 hours of sleep. confused as to why i’m taking things so hard.
death is a funny thing. not funny-haha, of course, but funny-irrational-interesting-insane. you feel guilty for laughing. you feel ashamed for bursting into tears in public. you feel like you need to change your ways so you “get the most out of life.” you feel completely displaced from reality. memories that you didn’t even know you had start flashing in front of you. a montage of clips cloud your vision — the murder mystery party, the horrible dancing at the horrible hick bars, the broken cell phone, the whispered neighborhood gossip, the bursts of laughter — and all of a sudden, that person is more a part of your life than she ever was when she was alive.
my sister’s friend and neighbor passed away in her sleep yesterday — causes unknown. she was too young, too fun and too pretty. she found me adorable and hysterical. her stories were always too elaborate, but entertaining nonetheless. her house was beautifully decorated, her husband was still in love with her, and her dog was the sweetest lil thing. she wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but i’d like to remember her as if she were.
and that’s why death is so funny. because the imperfections of people evaporate overnight and you only remember the good. because you suddenly realize the amazing impact these people have had on your life. because you wish you’d appreciated them more while they were still here.
Filed under: 24 words, family first, fear and loathing, party star | Tags: dance, death, friend, gossip, play, sister
as kim’s partner-in-crime, you’ve been like a second big sister to gossip and play with these past couple years.
i can’t believe you’re gone.
Filed under: 24 words, family first, journalicious | Tags: baby, family, happiness, marriage
you and joemack remind me how happy two people can truly be. Can’t wait to meet the baby boy you’re bringing into this world!
Filed under: family first, perfectly impossible, the cat's meow | Tags: colonial williamsburg, family, grandma, knitting, painting, reading, vacation, visiting, wine tasting
my grams is in town.
every time i say that, people around me groan. but the thing is, my grams is pretty effing fabulous. she travels the world regularly and forces me to eat ice cream. she’s the first in line for wine tasting at whole foods and doesn’t seem to sleep. truth be told, she’s wearing me out a lil.
but having her here allows me to embrace my less conventional and mildly nerdy side. i was in bed by 10 on saturday, i’m dying to start knitting again and i’m already halfway finished with ‘love in the time of cholera,’ a book i was just about to shelve. she reminds me that it’s okay to slow down and admire the scenery. she reminds it’s okay that i’m the only one of her grandkids who’s still single (and that it’s okay to admit that was even a concern for that itty bitty millisecond). she reminds me i still have time to learn to cook and paint and write the World’s Greatest Novel That’s Only Slightly Based on Real Events. she reminds me of the woman that i hope to some day be.
it’s almost 8:30. time to curl into bed, lose myself in a tragic love story, sob all over my cat and hopefully be asleep by 9. i have to finish this book before the weekend — grams and i are headed to Colonial Williamsburg for a brief history lesson Saturday.
