Sometimes, I Guess Cool Things Happen to Me

So, early last year, I wrote a post about a book which I absolutely love called "London is the Best City in America." You can read all about how much I loved it if you click on that link. Well, in April of last year, I received an email from the author, Laura Dave, which I also posted about. Moving ahead a year... about two weeks ago, I received an email from Laura saying that she'd be doing a reading of her latest novel "The Divorce Party" on Chestnut street. I knew that the email was generic, but I thought it would be cool to go and meet her and see what her next book is about.

Right after she walked into the bookstore, she walked over to me and when I told her my name, she said "Oh! You're the girl who blogged about my book!" Seriously?? She told me several times tonight how much it meant to her that I blogged about her book since I was one of the first who did. So of course I bought her new book and I can't wait to finish "David Copperfield" and dive in. I'm still in shock that I was rubbing elbows with such a fantastic author last night.

I didn't want to disappoint any of you, so I took a picture with her as my proof. Doesn't this pretty much make me a celebrity?

Fun Day at the Beach

Monday was by far one of the most fun days I've ever had at the beach. I'm just lucky that a few friends took these pictures for me! Out of the multitude of fun things that we did that day, one of them was chicken fighting in the ocean.

If you click on the picture below and enlarge it, you can see all the guys getting pounded by a wave. Awesome. I love it when men are willing to sacrifice their lives to have the girls on their shoulders wrestling each other.

What happens after a series of chicken fights? Beach pyramid building, of course.

Huzzah!

...and they all fell down.

I blew this picture up for you at the risk of my modesty so that you can see what an awesome face I'm making while throwing sand at Scott's face. Kristine is also about to get sand down her britches. Ouch!

Apparently, in the end, its better to say too much, than to never say what you need to say again.

I'm pretty much obsessed with the following songs, so I thought I'd share:

With You by Chris Brown and Say by John Mayer

I think I've listened to both of them on repeat for the past 3 days. Enjoy.

On a different note, have you ever had a friend tell you something about yourself that has completely rocked your world? I can't stop thinking about a conversation I had on Tuesday while I was riding around Corolla, NC on a beach cruiser. I really love having friends who aren't scared to tell you things that you need to hear. The problem is, that once you know that you need to make a change in your life, you are also responsible for acting on it. And that is the scary part.

Here's a few Duck pictures for you while I'm at it:

The above picture was taken while Scott and I were doing the cha cha around the kitchen on Saturday and the one below was taken while Rustin and I were dancing in the living room just moments before I left my beloved Duck Beach.

Check Me Out

I have no particular reason for posting this except that I know that some of you will love it. When I was about 4, some friends from across the pond came to stay with us for a few weeks here in San Francisco. It's always weird for me to see pictures like this, knowing that I used to live here but don't really remember it.

I'm the one down in front with the curly blonde hair. My sister is next to me on the right and then my Mom is behind her. Oh how times have changed!

The First of Many

Here's Zach, me, and Scott standing on the back porch of our house at Duck. Seriously, it doesn't get any better than this. Well maybe it does, but for me, this is as good as it gets. I didn't take very many pictures this weekend because I was busy doing the flamenco, jumping in a pool to find a spoon, playing chicken in the ocean, or chilling in the hammock with Kristine. More details to come when I get more pictures.

Back

I will have more pictures of Duck Beach over the next few days, but this video basically sums up my trip:

Duck Beach Here I Come!

The last few days I've been totally away from a computer due to work related stuff - and now I'm packing up my suitcases so that I can head to the east coast late tonight. I know it seems like I go on vacation all the time, but travel is definitely not the same as vacation. And this girl needs a vacation. I might get a lot of grief for that comment, but too late. I already said it.

So I'm going to the airport in an hour and I'm not done packing - maybe I should stop blogging and actually finish this important task. Have a great Memorial Day weekend. Lots of fun pictures to come for sure.

PS - Congratulations to my friend Kim who got engaged a few days ago. Love ya girl.

It's Just That

I've been having a hard time thinking of things to say lately on here. Today I opened up a new blog post to write and then it just sat there staring at me for a few hours. Nothing ever was written and no topics were coming to mind. But don't you worry - I have thought of a few things. In fact, they are apologies.

I'm sorry:

1. To Jane who has heard TMI lately.
2. To Andrea who got a ticket tonight when I invited her over to have birthday cake - for her own birthday. I'm a lazy friend. I suck big time.
3. To everyone who saw me last Tuesday. I saw a picture of me tonight from last week and I thought "I wonder why she cropped the picture??" and then I thought "yeah maybe I was accidentally having a wardrobe malfunction." woops.

I leave for Duck Beach tomorrow night. The only things that I have left to do are get a mani/pedi and do my laundry/pack. I can't wait for the good times at Duck to begin. Oh - and by the way, who do you think is going to win American Idol tonight???? I've definitely got my suspicions. Not that it was obvious or anything tonight who Simon wants to win...ha!

I Wish I Would Have Gotten A Hot Dog Too

This weekend was full of good things. On Friday, I went to my friend's art exhibit at Herbst Pavillion over at Fort Mason. He just received his MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. If you want to check out his website click here. I really loved his work - and maybe one of you out there will love it so much that you will want to buy it. Way to go, my friend.

On Saturday I went hiking with some girlfriends. This picture is pretty unflattering, but I'm willing to put it up here for you. The hike was great - the weather was perfect and the company was fantastic too. On Sunday the weather FINALLY cooled off in the city, and I headed down south for dinner with some friends - we even played a little badminton before it got dark out. It was a great way to end a great weekend. Only 4 more days until I leave for the Outer Banks - I can't wait!

I really do like Texas, I swear.

A few months ago, I got this email from a coworker that had pictures of what celebrities would look like if they were from Texas. Since I can't think of much to say today because the AC in my office isn't working too well - and I can't figure out what type of insect left this awesome welt on my bicep, here you go.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

two word thursday...

things on my mind these days:

what i'm craving:

tutti melon

what i want to do tonight:

urban camping

first step completed in the duck beach beauty regimen:

straight hair

duck beach beauty regimen that i'm dreading:

hair removal

show i'm sad i missed last night:

american idol

show i'm NOT missing tonight:

the office

what i'm loving:

warm weather!!

who i'm loving:

scott speedman

May Day Flower Baskets

Last night was May's Ladies' Activity Club meeting. Tracy and Pepper taught us how to make May Day flower baskets - here are pictures of the two that I made.

This one is hanging on the front door of our house - I am thinking that I want to hang it on the kitchen door though so I can see it when I'm home. Aren't they beautiful??

LAC was lots of fun as usual - thanks for the good time, ladies!

Fun in the Sun

This post could also be entitled: Some of my favorite friends in the world.

When I met Missy in the summer of 2001, she was in a really bad car accident involving a moose. She survived the crash with only a few stitches and for the next few weeks after the incident, she was even called "The Moose." Ever since then, I've given her a moose Christmas ornament every year - and my parents tend to gift her every now and then with random moose items - such as magnets and earrings. She didn't think it was very funny that I made her pose with the Moose pillow that we found at Target. I mean - it would have matched her new living room perfectly, but she wasn't taking too fondly of the idea.

Paul, Missy, and I have a new tradition that we started a few years ago that I make them try a new ethnic food every time I'm with them. This time, it was Thai. I'm not sure if they are going to start eating pad thai every night, but aren't they cute?

And the following three pictures are of their super adorable children. A long time ago I dated Missy's brother quite seriously. I told her this past weekend that I'm no longer upset that it didn't work out between us - I'm just bitter that he took away my nieces and nephew!! ha.

The main reason for my trip to Arizona was to surprise my friend Kim who just graduated from ASU with her masters degree in vocal performance. I've known her since I was 11 and though I've heard her sing a million times, I hadn't ever seen her perform professionally. She was the lead in Purcell's "Dido and Aenaes" in her last performance with ASU, so I snuck in, sat next to her boyfriend and enjoyed the performance. I have to say that I was really nervous that she'd see me and stop singing in the middle of her solo or something - luckily, she didn't! I surprised her pretty good when I showed up backstage. We both cried and hugged and cried and hugged.

And last but not least, I was able to see Josh. Doesn't he look amazing? It was so great to see him and spend some time with him - even though it was only for a few hours.

Dear Arizona,
Can I please come back and visit my friends again soon?
I miss them already.

Love,
Stephanie in San Francisco

In the Sun

This past Friday I flew down to surprise a good friend of mine. She also happens to be a regular reader of my blog, so I couldn't say anything about going down there here on the blog. I had a FABULOUS weekend - the friends I have down there are so great - really, they are some of my most amazing friends and I really wish I could be there more often. Pics will come tomorrow - I tried to upload them here last night, but my computer wasn't having it.

Yesterday after church it was over 95 degrees outside and I have to say that I didn't mind it one bit. This week it is supposed to reach 82 here in San Francisco. Heat Wave!! I can't wait!

Good times.

Yesterday I was driving down Hyde Street on my way home from work when suddenly I remembered something really funny. As I've blogged about before, I have a tradition with my Dad that on Christmas Eve, we go skiing. There is the standard set of 4 people who go - Me, Dad, Matt, and Scott. Well, most years, there are others who end up going with us. Here are some pictures of the past few years for your reference:

2007

2006

2005

A lot of funny things have happened over the years. This last year for example, Scott and my Dad got stuck on the lift for about an hour, so Matt and I spent the entire day going down the bunny hill. Seriously, we went down it about 20 times with intermittent hot chocolate breaks. There was also the time that Scott tried to ski between my legs but missed.

What really made me laugh though yesterday was something that happened in 2006. Uzi, Matt and I were on our first run down the mountain. Matt decided to follow my dad and for some reason, me and Uzi were not far behind (My #1 rule of skiing is to NEVER follow my Dad because he'll take you down a black diamond and then laugh while you're sliding headfirst down the side of a mountain). Of course this lead us to a path through the woods. I'm not a very brave skiier so I had been lagging behind a bit. I saw Uzi and Matt in the middle of the woods but they were stopped - apparently trying to ski over a huge log that was in their way. I started heading towards them down a hill and quickly realized that my skis were in an icy rut of sorts. I was gaining speed and Kristy was about 20 feet in front of me. I knew that I couldn't stop so I started yelling "woah woah woah!!!!" as loud as I could in my panicked state, but Kristy was in the middle of figuring out how to get her and her skis over a log and had no idea that I was coming full speed from behind. Seriously, I ran into her so hard that it knocked us both off our skis into several feet of snow. (Just the visual of this is making me laugh really hard) I was sure that I had killed her but soon realized that she was laughing as hard as I was and the only thing that I could muster to say through my laughter was "Holy crap I think I'm going to wet my pants!".

Ah yes. Good times, good times.

Hulk Fists

Tonight after watching 3 episodes of Felicity with my girl gang, we sat around and chatted for a bit. All of a sudden, Jane was running for the back door to get something out of the cabinet and before I knew it, this was happening.

What you're really missing out on by just seeing pictures is the sound that these fists make when you hit them against something.

And just when you thought that they were going to make up...

WHAM!
Thanks girls - hulk fist sales are now going to go through the roof.

Someone Stole My Idea

This really made me smile today.

Son of Rambow

Tonight I met up with Jane to see a screening of Son of Ranbow. Pretty good movie, I'd say. If you're into movies about boys being boys, this is a good one for you.

I feel like I have no friends in SF, part 5,000

In my search lately for something to blog about, I was doing a little blog browsing. I mean...everyone these days has a blog so its not too hard to find people from your past and do a little stalking. That's exactly what I did this evening I found some long lost friends- and it is always so great to see that the people you used to know so well are still doing great and of course now my mind has been flooded with a million memories of some fun times from my past.

Facebook has the same functionality for me - it brings the past back into reality which can sometimes be a scary thing. Often I've found myself looking up friends that I had in elementary school and it isn't unusual that I find that they are still hanging out with the same people that they/we were friends with in high school. I guess I still have some friends in my life today that I've known since high school (or before high school) but they aren't a part of my every day life - even though I keep in touch with most of them fairly well.

I guess being a single mormon molds you into the type of person who is okay with a series of goodbyes and new hellos. If you have friends who get married, you/they are automatically moved into another social group - which I totally understand, but doesn't mean that I necessarily like it. Also, I'm not sure if it is the pioneer stock in a lot of us, or if it is due to the stage of life I'm in, but everyone moves. And often. Just yesterday I was sitting in church looking around, thinking that there aren't many people left who have been there longer than I have been. I definitely enjoy meeting new people but it sure would be nice to live close to some really close friends. I do have close friends here in San Francisco, but it sure seems like the numbers are dwindling. And I'm not complaining - just making an observation.

It seems like I blog about this a lot - about how I feel like I have no friends. ha. Not the case. So I just wanted to give a little shout out to my girl, Stout, who has been my most constant bff the whole time I've lived here. This is an old picture, but a goodie, nonetheless.

Love ya, girl. You're the bomb.

All is quiet on the western front. My roommates are currently both out of town and I've enjoyed a very nice and quiet weekend here at home - not that I was home a whole lot, but you know what I mean. On Friday night I stayed home and scrubbed the house to my heart's content before settling in on the couch and watching the end of Season 2 of Felicity with Jane. Not gonna lie. I cried at the end. I know, I'm pathetic. Yeah, maybe I need to get a real crush and not an imaginary one, ok?

On Saturday morning I participated in an MS walk down in San Jose with some friends. Our team came in first - who cares that it wasn't a race...but it was great to support a great cause for a great friend. Being in San Jose when the weather in San Francisco isn't fabulous is always a fabulous cure for the weekend "blahs." A sunny day can fix any mood! The night ended with good friends and a fabulous meal at Foreign Cinema. Afterwards some of the girls came over to my place and we watched 'A River Runs Through It' with my other imaginary crush, Brad Pitt.

Sunday was low-key. It involved sleeping in and eating dinner and spending time with friends. A group of us went to visit Bob at the hospital this evening - and if you know who I'm talking about, maybe you should go visit him too. He's been in the hospital now for 4 months and he'd seriously love for you to stop by.

I've got vacation on the brain again - I'm working on the details of a few right now - but if everything works out like I'm hoping it will, some good things are in store this year.

Have a great week everyone.

So Far, I Am A Loser

While I haven't been working out as hard as I should be, I have been super strict with myself about what I've been eating. Oh my dear chocolate cake, I miss you so. The good news is that I've lost 10 pounds so far - hooray!

Last night I went to the ballet with some girlfriends. $15 is not a whole lot of money to go to the ballet, so if you're in the area, check it out.

I'm going through a bit of a writer's block, but hang in there with me. I'll be back soon.