If I were a Simpsons character...

And just when you thought that my "Meez" was the coolest Avatar that you could ever make, the Simpsons Movie website lets you make a Simpson-esque character of your very own. Have fun, kids.

SYTYCD

My favorites from this week:

Bourbon & Branch

Ok so I found this awesome online Tour Guide site called Schmap. I love finding new things to do in San Francisco, so I decided to check it out and see what this site could tell me about my city by the bay. I don't drink and I don't really condone it, but if you do...I would check out Bourbon & Branch. It sounds like one of the neatest places in the city to go for cocktails. You have to make a reservation and go to a closed door with no signage, ring a doorbell and give the secret password to get in. Maybe its the MOS in me that makes me want to go check it out...

You think they'd serve me a Shirley Temple?

Meez

Have you made a Meez?

update: even though I'd love to say that I'm dong a great impersonation of a dinosaur here, I am doing the Thriller Dance. There...that should save some random emails.

Here's Some Advice

A while back I found Amalah's Advice Smackdown. Ladies, if you haven't checked it out, take some time to read her posts. Hilarious and great advice! I love the beauty advice that she offers on this blog and after hearing her recommendation for a facial cleanser, I decided to give it a try. My face has been breaking out a lot lately, so I didn't have much to lose.

I've been using it for only three days and so far I LOVE it. It isn't as "soapy" as I thought it might be, and my face is already clearing up. One of the most important things about it is that this stuff removes my mascara! You'd think that any old face wash would do this, but you'd also be wrong in that assumption. What? A face wash that actually removes the makeup on your face?! Gasp!!

I also had super chapped lips while walking around Sephora, so I decided to buy this:

I'm really really loving it and no, it doesn't make your lips yellow. Just enhances their natural color and makes them super glossy. Not sticky like these and half the cost!! I'm just waiting for someone to help me really try it out.
Any other really good recommendations?

Gift Bags

My coworker put fifty five of these bags together last week for the spouses at a board retreat and I thought they were beautiful. They had all sorts of goodies in them. Lucky for me, I got one of them. Good work, Stout. Do you have anymore of those cookies? ;)

Santa Cruz Fun-o-rama

During the day on Monday I was down in the South Bay to be with some friends. We went out to lunch and during the meal, I was told that it would be really fun if I stayed down there since their ward was going to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz that night for FHE. I have a really bad case of Missing Out Syndrome, so when my friends asked me to stay and acted like they wanted me there, I couldn't resist. I hadn't been to the boardwalk in a few years and it was high time that I go live it up with these friends of mine. From left to right in the picture we have: Trent, Me, Clay, Dan, Dave, and Heather. It was the perfect night to be in Santa Cruz. It wasn't too cold or windy, hardly anyone was there, and to top it all off, it was 75 cent night. Every ride is only 1 ticket and each ticket is only 75 cents. Seriously...its a deal that can't be beat.






Here is a picture of Jared with the tiger that he won by knocking over some metal milk containers. As far as stuffed tigers go, it wasn't bad. A few of the guys were trying to win tigers I guess since they were all trying to beat each other at the game. What they were all going to do with the tigers when they got home is their own business I guess.












Me and Clay. We were trying to figure out during the evening what it is about scary rides that makes you laugh. Do you do that too? Yeah, I scream a bit, but I mostly laugh so hard that I cry. Most of my enjoyment came from watching the look on Clay's face while we were getting thrown around by the Giant Dipper or being hung upside down. Good times.

And here's Dave & Dan. So cute. I spent most of the day with Dan...and she's one awesome girl. Really like her. And Dave, well...., he's the best little brother of a neighbor that I've ever had. ;)

Here I am with Josh, Ryan, and Jared. This is probably my favorite picture of the evening. We were all supposed to be making our "serious" face. I was so happy to be with everyone again. I wish that we didn't all live so far away from each other. Not that an hour is that far, but you know what I mean. I just think that I'm one lucky girl to be considered their friend. Yay.

Craziness

I haven't posted for a few days because life has been crazy. I have pics and good stories. I'll post soon, I hope. As for now, work is crazy with meetings and I'm hoping to get to bed by 8:30 tonight. Seriously.

For tommy

I love sunday afternoons.

Within the past two weeks eight of my friends have moved away. Last Saturday my parents left to live half-way around the world for three months and even though I haven't lived at home in years and I don't see them super often, its weird that they're SO far away and for so long. If I want to call them, it has to be while I'm on my way to work or else I'll wake them up. I guess you always want what you can't have. Last weekend was a little intense and I worked a ton this week. Next week at work isn't going to be any better, so just thinking about it is making me tired.
With that in mind, yay for the weekend.

My happy time so far today has been when I found a button on my keyboard that automatically brings up the calculator. I've had this keyboard for almost 2 years now. JUST found it today. Awesome.

The Universal Packing List

Since I travel a lot, I thought this website was awesome. I'm pretty good at packing appropriately, but sometimes I bring just a tad too much. I find that when I pack light, I don't miss the things that I didn't pack. You kinda just make due.

I'm going to Montreal for work in a month, followed by a trip to Illinois for my best friend's wedding, followed by a trip to Utah for the 2007 Wedding Marathon, which shall be posted about later. Luckily I'll be coming home for two days between my adventure to Canada and my wedding adventures, so I'll be able to repack a bit. Thank goodness. In all of my traveling madness, this little website will probably come in handy.

SYTYCD

I got chills watching this again...

work work work

So I kinda mentioned earlier today that I went into work at 5:30am this morning. I can't believe that I'm still awake to be honest, but I just wanted to check in before I go to bed. Good thing that I like those darn ophthalmologists so much. Lucky for me, I work with super pleasant people and when my coworker gave me these to munch on, it made my day. Holy. Moly. Seriously kids. Its like fudge poured over a cheesecake cookie. SO GOOD! I ate way too many of them today, but I more than made up for it in the time I spent at the gym watching SYTYCD. Hopefully in the morning there will be some good footage on Youtube so that I can share my favorite dances.

I know that many of you are wondering what the ending is to my story from this weekend and unfortunately there still isn't any type of ending. There is going to be a memorial service within the next couple days, so I'm glad that we'll be able to honor him in some way. Still nothing on the news, but I'm hoping that something will be said in the media concerning this great tragedy.

Hope you're all well. Out.

Butter...

http://view.break.com/297449 - Watch more free videos

To see more of this, click here. Please keep in mind that I watched this with the volume muted, so I have no idea if there is offensive language. Maybe its just because I've been at work since 5:30am, but I had tears I was laughing so hard this morning when I saw this.

Enjoy.

Communication Skills

This. is hilarious.

A lil' update for you.

I had a friend ask me tonight how well I knew Vince. Well, I met him on Saturday. I don't know him well and have never claimed to.

Its hard to explain how I feel so emotional about someone that I just met. All I know is that it was very surreal to me while I was there at Bass Lake. Some groups of us walked around and yelled his name for a while and the entire time, you just keep thinking that this person who has been missing for the past four hours is just going to walk out of the woods and say that he went on a little walk and he was sorry that he had everyone so worried.

When I got home, I went to my room and cried for a long time. I called a good friend and he came right over to give me a hug and make sure that I was ok. Yes, I'm fine. It's just that you never think that things like this will happen to you or your friends. To see my friends so upset really upset me. To date, this is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. Not so fun.

None of this has been on the news and even though this may not be seen as quite as tragic as a family of four being missing, it is equally as horrifying that something like this can happen when so many people are around.

I'm not going to apologize for being personal because...well, this is my blog and when haven't I been personal? It's Monday night as I'm writing this and the search will continue tomorrow.

I hope to be back to posting my usual crazy life soon.

Yikes.

Today I have a little story for you about a trip that I went on to Bass Lake.

It was the 2nd Annual Bass Lake hike that I went on with some friends. Last year I posted about it here. If you don't want to click there or find out more about where Bass Lake is, its up in the Marin Headlands about 5 or 6 miles outside of Bolinas. You hike 2.8 miles on a beautiful trail and at the end, you get to this beautiful lake out in the middle of nowhere. The morning had a slow start and it was a little foggy, but by the time we got all the way up to the lake, I was warm and ready to get into the water. Here's a picture of me and Ryan with a view of the lake behind us.

Here's part of the group looking out over the lake. We were ready to have fun on the rope swing and everyone was having a great time.

Of course I don't have any pictures from us swimming around in the lake, but here's me and Silvia after we got out of the water. It looked like it would be soooo cold, but once you got in, the water was really enjoyable.

I might add that before the following picture of me, Erica, and Sil was taken, one of the boys on the trip walked up behind me while I was changing back into my clothes...and since I wasn't really clothed(at all)..., he got a free show. Nice. At least we were friends before the trip. And it was at about this time that we started saying things like "Hey guys, where's Vince?"

If you don't like unhappy blog posts, stop reading here.

Ok well now that the rest of you are reading, I'm not really sure how to even write about this. Here's what I know.

We were all swimming around in the lake together and it was 1pm. There were about 20 of us. We didn't all go out at the same time for different reasons, so I wasn't really keeping track of who was out with us at the rope swing and who was coming/going. I got back to the shore and met up with Silvia. After getting out of the water, I talked to a few people and just walked back up to the picnic area to change into some warmer clothes. Then at about 2:30pm...we realized that Vince wasn't with us anymore. His shoes and belongings were though. Some people in our group started walking down all the trails around the lake that we could find and we yelled his name so loud that we could hear each other screaming on the other side of the lake. The last person to see Vince was my friend Dave. Unfortunately, he was seen in the lake swimming alone. We never found him. One of the guys in our group ran the 2.8 miles back to the parking lot and called 911. Helicopters circled the lake for about an hour. When I was watching scuba divers get into the water to look for a body, I lost it and I was glad when the park ranger asked that the women start back towards the parking lot. By about 8pm we were all together again back in the parking lot. Well, 19 of us were there. We had a group prayer and decided to go to dinner together before going home. We all cried.

This happened on Saturday. As of Sunday night when I'm writing this, he hasn't been found yet. Crews are going to continue searching tomorrow. The hardest part is just not knowing. Not knowing what happened; not knowing if he's dead or alive.

Keep Vince and his family in your prayers, ok?
Yikes.
update: Today is Friday June 22 and they found Vince's body this afternoon. Check the news if you'd like to know more. I don't have any details and I'd rather not post them here.

Pedicure

***I've been told to add a disclaimer to this post that Dan did this for the benefit of the children and that this has no reflection on his masculinity.**

A few months back at a Christmas service auction that was held at church, I bought a pedicure from Dan. Just so you know, I paid top dollar. This was no cheap pedicure. I forgot about it for a few months and then I realized the other day that Dan is moving this Saturday and I still hadn't gotten my pedicure. Tonight, that all changed.

Here's Dan doing some prepping my feet, a.ka. removing the existing nail polish.

Yeah...not sure what exactly is going on in this picture, but he must think that there's candy on the emory board. yummm


The caption for this photo is "just act natural." yeah...act like you do every time you paint toe nails, Dan.


Here's the amazing finished product. That's right. Those are polka dots and various colors on my toenails. The deal is that I have to keep it on for 2 weeks and wear flip flops as much as possible. Awesome. Done.


Nice job on the toenails Dan. By the way, SF won't be the same without you. I can't believe you're leaving. Sad day. Nade. ski.

Fold Your Shirt

Have you tried this???

I semi tried a few months ago and I just couldn't do it. Let me know if you can figure it out.

Musicovery

Ok I "stumbled" on this awesome website today and I think you should all check it out. Its called Musicovery and you set what kind of music you want to listen to: energetic, calm, positive, dark, oldies, contemporary, etc. Seriously awesome. I'm loving it.

So You Think You Can Dance

Did you see this last night? Amazing. Seriously.

Britain's Got Talent

I've heard of America's Got Talent before, but the past few days, I've seen several clips of Britain's Got Talent. My two favorites are the following:
Make sure to grab your kleenex.



Send me your favorite clips and maybe I'll start posting them every week. This show is great!

Like a long, lost friend.

I have a tendency to collect things. Not sure if I've ever really talked about it before. My dad collects quite a few things such as spoons, coins, Christmas Nativities, etc. Have I ever mentioned that I collect journals? I know that I've talked about it here a bit, but I guess I never really came out and said it.

Reader, I collect journals. there.

As most of you do know, I travel a fair amount. When I started traveling in college, I decided that I should start collecting journals from cool places that I go. I have some really cool journals from Europe that I haven't even written in yet. Since my stash has gotten pretty extensive over the years I've started collecting these, but I digress.

One of my favorite things to do is read old journal entries. I find that when I go back, I'm super emotional in my journal writing. In that way, its a huge outlet for me. If I'm having a hard day and I write about it in my journal, the pages just suck the bad emotion right into them and it goes out of me. Hallelujah for journal writing.

In May of 2002, I went to Italy for two weeks with Matt and Beverly. I knew that what I really wanted to buy for myself on that trip was an awesome journal. The second or third day of our trip we were in Florence. I found an awesome journal. I thought to myself: "Self, you are going to so many amazing cities in the next two weeks that I bet you could find one that is even more awesome than this." We continued on to cities like Pisa, Venice, Napoli, Palermo, Rome, and Assisi. Did I even see another journal on the entire trip? Of course not. I could have cried when I knew that I would be leaving Italy without a cool journal in my paws. The journal that I coulda-shoulda-woulda bought was sitting on the shelf of a cute little shop in Florence without me.
Years went by and I thought about it often. In fact, I even mentioned it in some of my blog posts here and here. Someone tried to buy me a leather journal once in Florence in the summer of 2003 and while I was grateful for the effort, it wasn't exactly what I wanted.

What a coincidence that my home teacher is from Florence, Italy. Last month he went home for a few weeks, so I sat him down before he left and even drew a picture of the journal that I saw five years ago. Obsessed, yes; but...I know what I want.

Boy was I happy when Andrea sent me this picture. A few days after he got home from Italy, he brought me the most beautifully wrapped present and inside, I found this:
That's my thumb, by the way. I LOVE it. Almost as much as I love this one. I know, I know...I've been wanting the Italian one for years...but the other one is hand-made by one of my BFFs. Thank you Andrea! You're a nade.

The ABFC

Last night when I finally got home I had an awesome piece of mail waiting for me. It was from the President of the Adrian Brown Fan Club, a.k.a, the PABFC. Seriously funny.The person who sent this to me owed me a few dollars, so this is how it was sent...And now its up on my wall at work because it makes me laugh every time I see it. Thank you, PABFC. Just so you know, I'm joining. I hope there isn't a fee.

I'm not a lesbian

but I am a lesbian music supporter...

Last night I went to see the Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile at The Fillmore here in San Francisco. I've posted about my affection for Brandi Carlile before so I won't say too much, but she rocked. The Indigo Girls were great and it was fun to see them live. The highlight of the evening for sure was the contact high that I got from the many people who were smoking pot all around me. By the end of the evening I was feeling very relaxed and luckily, I went to bed before I got the munchies. :)

I'm not sure what it is about the Indigo Girl's music, but they're some of the only artists with songs that make me cry. Of course, last night was no exception. One of the last songs they played was called "Last Tears" off their new album and you can click here to listen to it if you'd like. I'll admit that I got a little teary eyed. Beautiful song.

I found these photos on flickr.

Thanks y'all.

Love her like usual.

Nephews & Nieces

My Dad sent me the following pictures yesterday of my three nephews and my little baby niece. Oh. My. Gosh. I miss them so bad. I want to go home tomorrow and just play with them. I absolutely love the picture of Sammy who is going to be three in a few days, but since I love them all, here are all of the pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Hannah

Sam

WillRiley

Rick-a-licious

This video was taken last year in Monterrey when a group of us went to the Aquarium there. If you've never really had the pleasure of getting to know Rick Buck, this is one of the reasons that he's so much fun to be around. Notice the guy in the video who looks at him while he walks by.

I had to say goodbye to Buck last night as he graduates from dental school today and is moving to Southern California. I'm getting all teary-eyed just thinking about it. I know that I'll see him again, but its just hard when a huge part of your life is suddenly a void. I hate goodbyes.

Bucky, I miss you already.

These dreams...

Man...after seeing Oceans 13 last night, this guy was in my dream. I'm thinking about going to see it again tonight.

Back to jail she goes...

If this is my happy time today, so be it. I hooped and hollered.

Crazy

I've been told recently that I say mean things about people. More specifically, I've been told that when I say people are "Crazy," that it is offensive and it makes me seem like a mean person. I have a few thoughts about this.

1. If someone ever told you that I'm the nicest girl in town, they were lying. At times when people ask me to describe how my sister and I are polar opposites, I usually say "Well, my sister is just really really nice." Not that I'm a mean person. I'm more friendly whereas my sister is more kind. I could go on and on about how my sister and I are different, but I'll keep you in suspense for another day.

2. Lets see dictionary.com's definitions for the word crazy:

cra·zy /ˈkreɪzi/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[krey-zee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation adjective, -zi·er, -zi·est, noun, plural -zies. –adjective

1.	mentally deranged; demented; insane.

2.	senseless; impractical; totally unsound: a crazy scheme.

3.	Informal. intensely enthusiastic; passionately excited: crazy about baseball.

4.	Informal. very enamored or infatuated (usually fol. by about): He was crazy about her.

5.	Informal. intensely anxious or eager; impatient: I'm crazy to try those new skis.

6.	Informal. unusual; bizarre; singular: She always wears a crazy hat.

7.	Slang. wonderful; excellent; perfect: That's crazy, man, crazy.

8.	likely to break or fall to pieces.

9.	weak, infirm, or sickly.

10.	having an unusual, unexpected, or random quality, behavior, result, pattern, etc.: a crazy reel that spins in either direction.

–noun

11.	Slang. an unpredictable, nonconforming person; oddball: a house full of crazies who wear weird clothes and come in at all hours.

Is the connotation of this word necessarily bad? Basically, when I call someone crazy, its because I think that they're weird and totally unpredictable. This brings me to...

3. If you ask my friend Melissa the names of my grandmothers are, this is what she'd say:
Normal Grandma and Crazy Grandma. Now, now. I have a few cousins who read this blog who are related to my Grandmother who I lovingly call "Crazy." Do I really call her crazy? Yes. Do I mean it? Yes. Do I love her? Yes. I tell her this often. Just because I think she's nuts doesn't mean that I love her any less. She has done amazing things for me and I'm grateful to be her granddaughter even if she is crazy.

4. A few years ago I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. I spent a lot of time with my friend's family and by the end of the trip, I was nicknamed "Crazy Steph." When I started dating that friend's brother a year or so later, he called me "Stephanie La Loca." I loved it.

So basically, here's what I'm trying to say. The word "crazy" is almost a term of endearment in my book. I don't use it unless its warranted and I won't use it unless I have real concern for the said "crazy" person. If I didn't care and I truly thought you were unstable, I would use a word more like this. If I call someone crazy in front of you, don't get offended. If you do, its a personal problem, so get over it.

Funk

Do you ever get in those moods where you're just plain pissed off? I've been in one of them for a few days.

I just want to be left alone.

Maybe I need one of these.

ok maybe this cheered me up a little. if you're having a bad day or in a bad mood, this might help. check out the girl at 1:40ish. Sanjaya isn't the only guy to ever have a girl weep over him, I guess.

When To Take Advice

I've always been an independent person. I do what I want to regardless of what I think other people will think of me. I'm not too proud to say that I'm wrong if it turns out to be that way, but I'd rather find out for myself. I'm just like my dad in that way. I've done a lot of things in my life that have surprised me and people close to me. Looking back though, I've done what's been right for me. Making those choices hasn't always been easy, but only you really know what the right choice is for you, not matter what anyone else thinks.

This is my problem: before I do something, I usually tell someone that I'm going to do it. Then some wise-guy says: "Not a good idea." Now that I'm noticing this pattern, I think I'm going to stop. Who the hell cares what someone else thinks about a decision that I'm going to make? My life, my consequences. Now that it sounds like I'm mad, let me tell you that I'm not. I'm just tired of being made to feel like an idiot by people who don't agree with things I'm going to do.

I've learned that good friends are those who support you no matter what you decide to do. When I was at Utah State a few years back, I decided to drop out of school for. a. guy. Seems just the type of thing that I NEVER would have done before I actually did it. At the ripe old age of 21, I packed up my bags, moved in with Mom & Dad, and started working late into the night doing telephone surveys. Did you hear me? Telephone Surveys. Oh...and I worked as a substitute teacher during the day for Middle Schoolers. All in the name of saving money for me and my sweetheart for when we got married. Oh, wait. Yeah...didn't quite close the deal on that one. You know what though? It's OK. I had amazing friends at Utah State. In fact, three of them are some of my closest friends still. They thought I was crazy at the time and still make fun of me for leaving like I did. BUT...they never told me once that I shouldn't do it. They said that I was crazy, but that if I really felt like it was what I needed to do, then I should go for it. In fact, they're still telling me the same thing today.

Some of the best advice I've ever heard is: "Don't listen to anyone else." How ironic.

Happy Time

Once and a while while walking around San Francisco, I see something and I think: "Self, you live in a beautiful city. Don't be jealous of where other people live. You are one lucky girl."

After the Duskbuster's 5k race tonight, I walked past this on the way back to my car. The sun was setting and the little pond looked so peaceful! I wish I would have time to sit and ponder on the bench...

I find it very interesting to see who reads my blog. Sometimes people are a little sly about it, but then friends confess to me that they've been reading it for a while. Why keep it a secret? Might as well know who my audience is, right?

Based on the location referrals that have been popping up on my sitemeter for some time now, I wonder....

Scott Peterson, are you checking my blog?

Celebrity Look-alike

maybe its just because i see my roommate's profile every day when i'm in the kitchen....but there is an uncanny similarity here....

Concussion Wating to Happen

The other night I went to Target to buy a few things and like usual, I spent way more than I was expecting to. One of my favorite purchases was a nice black shelf...and I put it over my bed.

Roommate helped me put it up and an hour or so later, I was arranging some picture frames on it and everything started sliding off. If I would have been sleeping underneath it when this happened, I may have been unconscious. The shelf itself didn't fall off the wall; just the mirror and frames. Is it worth taking the risk? Keep in mind that if I put it any lower, I can't sit up in bed and read. Granted...this may be a good thing since I have a reading chair...