Friday, August 29, 2008

Ramblings on a Friday

I've been really bad lately about updating my blog. I hope you'll forgive me. I feel like the past two weeks have flown by and its a miracle that my head is still above water. I made a few calls to make an attempt at some visiting teaching tonight - and I have a question. Does yelling out the window at one of your teachees while you're driving through Russian Hill count as visiting teaching? What if I asked her if she wanted a ride to wherever it was that she was going? Hmmm. At least I made contact, right? And can we talk about leaving voicemails?

To ease my stress pangs, I'm going to tell you all the things that I'm excited about which are in the semi-near future.

I made plans the other day to go to New York for the day - while I'm in DC over a weekend in September. I'm rather excited about driving up to the Big Apple and although I'm not excited about driving for 4 hours after a red eye to DC, I AM excited about spending some time with my friend who lives in Brooklyn. Seriously - if you live up there, give me a shout. Maybe I can see you too!

In about 6 weeks, I'm going to Utah to visit my parents, sister, nephews (if I spoke Spanish, Hannah would totally be included in the word 'nephews' so let's just pretend, shall we?), and Matt. Oh yeah - and if you live in Utah, give me a shout so that maybe I can see you too. I'm excited to be there in the fall - maybe I'll even go for a drive through the Alpine Loop. Good memories, that Alpine Loop.

I'm really looking forward to my Thanksgiving in Costa Rica. I went salsa dancing last weekend and it got me all excited to go to Central America. Too bad I'll be there with my parents - no offense Mom, but you aren't exactly going to go dancing with me while we're there. ha - just the mental image of it makes me shudder. haha!

Christmas Eve - oh yes. I can't wait. The other night, I was in a gchat group talking with Matt, Melissa, and Scott. It felt like old times when we were sitting in Matt's living room, eating brownies or cupcakes, or some other food that Matt compared me to, just laughing and laughing. It made me miss them even more. Too bad we all live hundreds of miles away from each other. Having Christmas Eve with all of them can't come fast enough.

Paris. Hooray! Now if only I can find a man to give me French lessons. oui oui!

And in other things totally unrelated to this post, here's a picture for Kristy.

I'm off to the beach with 48 of my closest friends for the weekend. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Mine will be full of dance parties and pranks and laughing.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Nie Nie Day

Soon after I started blogging, I found Stephanie Nielsen's blog through a mutual friend's blog. I can honestly say that I've checked it nearly every day since the first day I read it. I think that it was this post about making valentines in the nude that really won me over. Nie and her husband Christian continue to be in the hospital in Arizona while her family is taking care of their 4 children. Full recovery for them both is still months away and it is hard to imagine what their medical bills will be like in the coming years. Gabrielle from Design Mom has designated today, August 28 as NieNie Day and so I'd like to ask that if some of you feel so inclined, to donate towards their recovery by clicking on the button below.





And if you want to read updates from Steph's sister Courtney, click here. And I do want you all to know that I'm donating to this worthy cause right now. Have a fabulous day everyone!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Patty Griffin

Last night I saw Patty Griffin down at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. What a beautiful venue! Here's a picture of the stage for those of you who haven't been:

I guess Patty Griffin has been around for a long time, but I was only introduced to her last summer by Scott {thanks, Scott!} while on a roadtrip through Illinois. Her music is so beautiful and heartfelt. I tried to find a link to my favorite song of hers called "Mil Besos" but I couldn't find anything on the web. How is that possible?! So here is a link to the lyrics if you'd like to check them out - the song is in Spanish but the translation is at the bottom. I also really like this picture of Patty - I love that it is real - you can see wrinkles and imperfections, but that is what is so great about her music. It isn't about the music being perfect as much as her beautiful voice and lyrics.


Here's one of her more popular songs, called "Rain." Enjoy!


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Is it Saturday yet?

I realize that I am the only one who causes me stress, but that doesn't change that it is there. Between getting everything ready for this upcoming Labor Day weekend, random work stuff, going to concerts in Saratoga, and fulfilling church obligations, I haven't found much time to sleep. Be assured though that I have been finding some time to work out. Sorry for being MIA. I wish that I had more time to tell you about last weekend. Maybe tomorrow.

Until then,

heart.

steph

Monday, August 25, 2008

Weekend at HOME!

This weekend I enjoyed San Francisco, which is something that I haven't done in a while. I really fell in love with this city all over again. More details to come tomorrow.

{via flickr}

Friday, August 22, 2008

Joshua Radin Concert

Last night I went with some girlfriends to see Joshua Radin at the Fillmore. I saw him a few years ago at the Independent and he still puts on a great show, as I expected. These are the pictures that my lame phone took for your enjoyment. I think that the Twilight books had too much of an effect on me because I swear that the bass player on the left could be a vampire. I'm just sayin'.



To end the show, Josh walked out into the audience to play a Bob Dylan song. He was so close I could have pinched his bum. As as he hardly turned around while he was singing, it would have been that much easier.

If you don't know who Joshua Radin is, check out his video of "Closer" here.
He's pretty much amazing.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

This morning I felt like I was off to a good start. I got to work early, chatted with a friend on my way to work, had breakfast, etc. I was even having a good hair day!

My friend, Red Pants, got in the elevator in the garage. He looked me up and down and then said "Yesterday you looked so nice and then today you're back to your old standard." {I have a black turtleneck on with jeans and my new patent leather sandals on with my new fancy shmancy purse. }

"Thanks Red Pants"

....happy friggin' Thursday.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

August LAC

Last night was the Ladies Activity Club meeting for August. We met at Emily's house and made party banners. The company was delightful and it was great to meet some of the new girls who came. Here's a picture of the banner that I made. I think I'm going to hang it in my room whenever I leave town so that I can welcome myself back home when I get back! On the back it says "Bon Voyage" but I'm not quite finished with that part yet.

{thanks Emily for the pic!}

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday Randomness

I have a lot on my mind today. I just need to get it out. For real. Here we go:
  • Last night. Finished Breaking Dawn. That deserves another post. Hang tight for a few days.
  • Please keep the Nielsens in your prayers. I've been reading NieNie dialogues for years and the news of them being involved in a plane crash over the weekend just overwhelms me. For updates, check C Jane's blog.
  • While in Vegas I saw some wonderful shows and I totally forgot to mention them in my post yesterday. Holy cow I got to see Jerry Seinfeld. How could he not be great? Some of his jokes still make me smile when I think about them. I also saw LOVE at the Mirage. Seriously - both were awesome.
  • While on my way to work today I couldn't stop thinking about how happy I am for Kim and Bud.
  • And not just for Kim and Bud - for all my friends who are so happily married. There are a lot of you who check this blog who that pertains to. Seeing you so happy makes me happy.
  • I never blogged about my weekend almost a month ago when I went down to Orange County for Kim's bridal shower. It was great to see Kim and most especially, it was so wonderful to spend time with her family - really, I feel like we just picked up where we left off. I feel so at home when I am with them and I will forever be grateful for my relationship with the Badgers. Kim and I became best friends when I was only 11. Mike and I went to seminary and high school together every day. Shelley was also a great friend all through growing up and it is so great to see how happy everyone is now. Really and truly. You guys are the best!
Ok everyone. Thanks for putting up with me for another day. I'm slowly getting my life back together so that I can pack up for my next trip. Ha. (and you think I'm kidding, right?)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Let's Play Catch-Up

On Thursday of last week, I felt like I was running away from a pending tidal wave. Good news - no tidal wave ever came and everything worked out perfectly. Not that I had time to rest though from the stress and endless list of things to do. I feel like I've been gone for so long. Where have I been? Well, lets play catch-up, shall we?

My trip to Vegas was a blast. Here I am with Rebekah making $13.00 out of the $5.00 I originally had at a penny slot machine at some casino in Las Vegas. I went to so many casinos over the course of 4 days that I sure can't remember where I was when this picture was taken. About two minutes later, my $5.00 was gone. Big surprise. Oh, the things I could have done with $13.00! Blast! :)

Later on in the evening, Rebekah and I were walking through Planet Hollywood - I do remember where I was then - where they happened to be filming Prison Break. Dominic Purcell was standing right in front of us - so we tried to get a picture with him in the background. That worked out just about as well as my picture of the Rock of Gibraltar.

Our last night in Vegas was spent at a Styx concert. We stood in a pool and watched the entire thing - trying to sing along with as much as we could, even with our limited knowledge of their songs. When their guitarist talked about how he wrote a song about his brother coming home from Vietnam, I knew I was a bit young to fully appreciate the awesomeness of this concert.

And to prove to you that the picture above was not zoomed in at all, here is me and Rebekah standing in the pool in front of the stage with our nerd lanyards on.

On Wednesday I flew home and read Eclipse- and when I say that I read it, I mean that I read all of it. Obsessed with vampires much? Sheesh! My only day in the office all week was Thursday, so most of that day was a blur. I had to finish my CMP application (Certified Meeting Professional), go to a bunch of meetings, go through a gazillion emails, etc. By midnight, I was packed and ready to be on bridesmaid duty for the weekend. On Friday morning, I flew down to Orange County to go to my best friend Kim's wedding. Doesn't she look incredible? Everything about it was wonderful - I've never seen her so happy in her entire life. And I've known the girl for more than 15 years.

Being on bridsmaids duty with these lovely ladies was a blast. We had so much fun together. And I really love how the wedding colors turned out - all of the family was wearing white and turquoise and it looked awesome. Great color choices if you ask me.

Of course we were up to no good while at the reception. Kim's husband comes from a family of 10 children (!) where they give each other totally racey things at bridal showers and bachelor parties, but we somehow ended up in charge of decorating the getaway car and putting honeymoon appropriate things in their car and luggage. If I ever ask you for the keys to your car at your wedding and I say "You can trust me", I am totally lying to you. I'm just saying.

And yesterday before coming home, I was able to enjoy the nice weather for one more day and spend some time with Jeff in Huntington Beach. Yesterday, the name Jeffanie was born (or you can spell it Jephanie if you prefer) and it makes me laugh every time I think about it, so I thought I'd share that extra tidbit. Such a fun day!

The last four weeks in a row have been so wonderful. The next few coming up should be good, but I'm not sure they can live up to the weeks before them. And can you believe that there are only 6 more weeks until OCTOBER? Holy cow. Where has the summer gone? And when can I take a break and finish reading Breaking Dawn?!!??!?!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Hang on

I don't have time to do much of anything right now, much less blog. Please forgive me. I'll be back next week. I promise.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

My Vegas is Showing

Could my smile get any bigger? I'm coming home in a few hours. Vegas has been...well, Vegas. A better report to come.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

If Loving A Vampire is a Sin, I'm Ready for a Great Trip.

Sorry for being MIA. The last few days have been a little crazy - not only have I been out of the office doing random things with work, but I'm going on a little trip today to Las Vegas, which also means that I'll be out of the office for most of next week. You're all fairly lucky, so you'll probably hear from me at least once.

Oh - and I finally caved and started reading this:

And yes, now I'm addicted to teenage vampire love just like most of the world right now. Seriously - I'm loving me some Edward Cullen at the moment. Have a great week, everyone! A full report on Sin City, coming right up.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Happy Anniversary to All of Us

It was a year ago that this picture was taken, which also means that its Melissa & Aaron's 1 year anniversary. It's also been a year now since the 4 (5 including our beloved Aaron) of us have been together. Christmas feels too far away, but at least I know that we'll have a grand sleepover at my parent's house like we always do. This picture sits at the end of my bed and most people think that its one of those old time photographs that was taken at a booth. Nope - just head to Nauvoo, Illinois and they'll do it for you for free. Much love to Matt, Aaron, Scott, and Melissa.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Only One Way To Find Out.

Last week I was talking to my friend Andrea about a dinner party that I was having this week and how I needed to find a few recipes for simple and delicious dishes so that I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time cooking. I told her that since I was getting back from my trip to Washington a day before said dinner party, I really didn't think I was going to have a lot of time on my hands to shop, prepare, etc. So you know what she said? "We'll trade. You buy the groceries and I will prepare the food." {Well, we also bartered a little party planning, which for me is so easy and yes, I understand that this isn't so easy for everyone. After all, this is pretty much my job.}

On Sunday evening I went and picked up the food and after eating it last night and possibly for breakfast this morning, I have one thing to say:
Andrea, you are my hero.

I mean - I don't really want to totally advertise for her on here since I don't really have her permission to do so, but if you are having a small dinner party at your house, she is an awesome caterer. For reals. I don't know what her going rate is, but this is definitely something worth looking into. If you want her contact info, shoot me a comment and I'll get it to you.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Reality Is Better Than My Dreams

You know how when you are planning a trip somewhere, you kind of already go on the trip in your mind? After you arrive though, you realize that it was different than you thought it would be, even though you can't remember what you thought it would be originally. Ok now I'm confusing myself. I have faith though that most of you know what in the world I'm talking about.

I arrived on Friday night at SEA-TAC airport and waited for the menfolk to arrive. After all, this was going to be a "Stephanie and the Boys" weekend. After Clark announced his pregnancy, we got on our way to Silverdale, Washington and arrived by midnight. The occasion for us all meeting up in Washington was that our dear friend Bruce was getting hitched.

Bruce has been mentioned several times before on this blog as he's been one of my closest friends over the past 3 years. {To see some fun times we've had, click here, here, here, here, or here.} At least those are some times that I have pictures of. Anyway - I'm not even sure how we became such good friends - maybe its because two of my former roommates have been on dates with either Bruce or his former roommates and maybe I can include myself in that as well.

Here's Clark, Bruce, Me, and Jeff just a few minutes before the ceremony started.

I would be nervous to plan an outdoor wedding in a place where it rains so much. Lucky for all of us, it was a beautiful day and it didn't rain at all. The ceremony took place right in front of the gazebo as pictured below. I wish I would have taken a picture while the chairs were still set up, but as soon as we left the area, the chairs were taken down.

Here's a picture of our table - composed of Bruce's friends who have at one time or another lived in Palo Alto. Granted, I haven't ever lived there, but would you really be surprised if I moved there? I didn't think so.

In true Bruce Edwards fashion, we toasted Bruce & Christie's marriage with a bottle of Henry Weinhard's. And "Rootbeer Jeff" may have even taken this picture. Obviously not to be confused with "Lawyer Jeff".


The wedding and festivities were over by 3:00 pm. How's that for getting out early? To make the most of the rest of the day, Jeff and I decided to go for a drive and check out some of the local tourist attractions; which, as I've already mentioned, weren't plentiful. We found a sign that pointed to a Scenic Beach State Park, so we headed out there to see the sights. I guess that one of the major things that I hadn't realized about Washington was how beautiful it would be. The water was crystal clear and there were some little fishing boats out in the water - and holy orca - Shamu even came to say hello.

Spending a weekend in the country was just what I needed. I found out while chatting with my parents afterwards that they used to live in Silverdale, Washington in the 70's. Random! I can't say that it would be horrible to live there - it is a beautiful place and very very serene.

The last few weekends for me have been so great - and really, exactly what I needed emotionally. And I didn't even post about the weekend before this one. Seriously - maybe I'll get to that by the end of the week, eh?

Monday, August 4, 2008

Washington Weekend


Friday really got away from me. Before I knew it, I was running out the door from work to catch a flight to Seattle. I have a lot more than this to say about my trip, but I thought I'd leave you with a bit of a teaser for your Monday morning. I have to say that my weekend was different than I expected in a lot of ways - mainly that I thought I was going to a suburb of Seattle, when in fact, I was going to a place that looks a lot more like this:

The tourist attractions there were...well, obsolete. But as you can guess, that didn't stop me from having a whole lot of fun. More info to come - just you wait.