lessons from today

1. pictures that you thought you had deleted from your computer can show up at any time, unexpectedly. take these for example. and yes, i had to share or else you'd all be emailing me asking me to send them to you anyway. so i blacked out the eyes. seriously - seeing these photos really did cause a gag reflex. not that the ex's gross me out, but i feel ill.

2. this lead me to wondering what happened to another ex of mine that i dated for a few years in college. i have looked him up on facebook for a long time now, but he has a very common name, so i never had much success. today, i entered as much information as i could about him into the google search box, and i hit stalker gold. he had entered a book review on amazon.com about a medieval weaponry book - or something very similar, and i knew that it was him. you see, he was a fencer and he was into that sort of stuff. i also noticed that on amazon.com, he had a wedding registry listed. after verifying with target.com, i found that he got married earlier this year in his very small hometown in a state that i don't live in. when i find the wedding pictures online, you know that i will post them here for you to see.

3. the below picture is why i'd rather not clean my house sometimes. i saw a dirty spot on the ceiling and when i went to clean it, i swear that i rubbed off over 100 years of dirt and now it looks worse than it did before. rachael, welcome home.


4. unless i go grocery shopping, i will not eat dinner for the third day in a row. which leads me to...

5. good friends are highly valuable. especially when they are supposed to be your date to your 10 year reunion in a few weeks. this is serious.

i didn't know i was looking for myself, but here we go.

in preparation for this wednesday, i took an evening off from any social calls and laid in bed and watched movies. wednesday is when the marathon training starts. so i just wanted to make you all aware that my social life pretty much is over starting on wednesday and i will be running for my life until november. i will be listening to this song a lot to get me motivated and out the door.

i just finished reading the book 'julie and julia' which as many of you know, has been made into a movie. i wasn't too impressed with the book - in fact, i pretty much hated the author throughout the entire thing. yes, julie powell, i am talking to you. i did like the idea though that you can throw yourself into something and in the process, find a piece of yourself that you didn't really know existed. how true is that. a few years ago, i threw myself into training for a half marathon when i could barely run down the street, and here i am two short years later, training for the real deal.

i still stumble over the words 'i am a runner' but i do enjoy it when people act surprised and i get to pretend that i, like celine dion, am the greatest in the world. in talking to a friend recently about her marathon running, we talked about how anticlimactic it was to run a marathon. you spend months training; you beat up your body; you have no social life; you cross the finish line, and then you...are really sore and tired.

i'm not sure about you, but i can't wait.

utah summers are friggin' hot. i had forgotten.

there's pretty much nowhere i'd rather be than with good friends on special occasions. saturday was no exception when ben and lanae were married in bountiful, utah. what a gorgeous couple. i am thrilled for them - describing them as happy would be an understatement.

i especially loved being there with this girl. i love me some brazilians. i can't wait for nade fest in a few weeks when we get to hang out again.

i also loved spending time with my tall friend. i am afraid that we are starting to look alike, kinda like those couples who have been married for 30 years. scary in more ways than you know.

utah, you brought your game face this weekend. i appreciate it.

a letter to my madre.

dear mom,

we have a few things to discuss.

1. tonight, i embroidered. aren't you proud of me? i saw these going on etsy for over 500 percent profit. i have to finish it all off and make it look presentable as part of a wedding gift still, but i am thinking about selling these now on etsy and competing with this person who is stealing money from honest people around the world.

2. i am addicted to gatorade. if i ever refer to my 'drinking problem', it is this, not anything else your imagination might come up with.
3. your grandchildren have a message they would like to share with you. funny how their personalities are just shining through in about 5 seconds worth of video.



love,

steph

utah has perfect summer weather. i had forgotten.

a very good friend of mine moved away from san francisco today. in fact, a few good friends have moved away recently. some of the sweetest people i know, and it makes me sad to see them go.

my trip to utah was good - i spent some really, really great quality time with my sister's kids and i enjoyed every second of the wonderful summer weather. i learned some good lessons while i was in utah...

• there is a reason that we should get married when we are younger and our bodies function better. that sounds very odd, but call me and i'll tell you a good story.
• hatch's hot chocolate - really is the best hot chocolate that i've ever had.
• if i'm really tired, an hour nap is a really bad idea.
• arranging for someone to take you to the airport is the most reliable way to get there. or taking public transit. i had some awesome car drama. the good news is that all is well now.
  

out of the office...and san francisco.

I'm in Utah until Wednesday. Although there is some pleasure involved, ironically, I'm here for work. Have a great week.

these pictures hardly even capture the awesomeness.

on our way down to los angeles last thursday, i couldn't resist stopping at neverland, which is about 40 miles outside of santa barbara. if you are ever driving down the 101, you should stop by. obviously we picked an opportune time and there weren't as many people there as i expected there to be. the mood there was mixed for sure, but i'm glad we went and witnessed some of the spectacle. we even saw larry king ride by in a car.

and apparently my parents sent a poster. mom, you shouldn't have.

a coworker had tipped me off that there would be posters - not sure how she knew - but i took a marker. i wrote something to the effect of 'mj - thanks for the music. love, stephanie' if you ever see these posters somewhere in a museum, look for it.

we arrived in la by late thursday night and on friday did fun things like go to breakfast and shoot people we didn't know with nerf guns, eat pancake and egg foldyovers, get woken up with breadballs to the face, and see zach in the play he is currently in - thoroughly modern millie. if you are in the santa monica area, check it out and go see it. what an amazing show. i was thoroughly impressed with zach's performance of trevor graydon.

on july 4th, we slept in and played video games to our heart's content. here is a lovely picture of me and zach sitting in the bed that rachael and i made out of zach's couches.

my friend jessica asked me before we went to huntington beach for the 4th celebrations if she could bring her dog. i was hesitant at first, but i think everyone who was there that day in hb would say that they are all glad that we brought the dog. in fact, we named the dog, The Cat. dan loved The Cat so much that he just stuck him in his pocket on our way to the party. please tell me that the below picture is one of the cutest things you have ever seen.

our tune may have changed a bit later on in the evening when The Cat got diahrrea in the car, but overall, it was a pleasant experience. i had such a good time though hanging out with everyone in la. the sun, the laughs, the people; everything about the trip was wonderful. i wouldn't be lying if i told you that i almost teared up when we had to go back on sunday afternoon. and i also wouldn't be lying when i tell you that from now on, i'm flying to la instead of driving.

ps. i also saw a guy who looks just like dave thompson. weird.

catching up.

It isn't that I forget about blogging. In fact, most of the time that I take pictures, it is so that I can share with the blogging world - and ultimately myself when I have forgotten what I did last week.

So in no particular order, here are some of the rad things I have done lately.

A few weeks ago, I went to see...Brandi Carlile again. Yep - good every time. I'd had a super long day and pretty much pulled a miracle in making it to this show on time, but I made it and she didn't disappoint. And neither did Tim or Phil. Oh Phil, stop teasing me with your sexiness.

Also, I recently hosted a bridal shower and I made Pavlova in honor of LaNae's fiance who is from Australia. It was delightful. Let me know if you want the recipe and I will email it to you. One of the easiest fancy foods I have ever made and it was also incredibly beautiful. Did I mention the deliciousness?

Then Uzi came to town and went to Tahoe and once there, we entered the Desolation Wilderness. It may have been at this point that I should have started questioning my friend who told me it would be a 3 mile hike. Was I surprised when it ended up being 10 miles? Maybe, maybe not.

We were so high up in the mountains by mile five that we walked past some snow. Not ice - but snow. It is a very odd thing to be comfortably in a bathing suit and standing in snow. I don't recommend it.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom was Marine World Africa, USA when I was a child and we went there to celebrate a friend's birthday a few weeks ago. Of course most of the park has changed, but there are some things that have stayed the same and in many ways, it was nice to go and just be there where I have so many memories as a child. I thought that maybe the rides would make me ill, but I loved the thrill just as much as I ever have.

After LaNae's bridal shower, I spent the evening with Silvia and LaNae - and it was wonderful being with them. LaNae is moving to London in two weeks and even though Silvia only lives 90 minutes away, it is far enough away that we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. Oh how I love these ladies.

Work is becoming sane again, so I'm grateful for that and for the small reminders I get every day that I'm not alone in this world. There are millions of other things that I've done and haven't taken pictures of - like when I went to the Giants Game tonight with some good friends, or when I met up with my friend and roommate from 10 years ago when she was in town last week with her adorable family.

“There is a guiding hand above all things. Often when things happen, it’s not by accident. One day, when we look back at the seeming coincidences of our lives, we will realize that perhaps they weren’t so coincidental after all.”
- Thomas S. Monson

My weekend in LA was so amazing. More on that to come tomorrow.

from the bottom of my stone cold heart

today i needed some love and i got it in abundance. to those who may have been involved in that, thank you. i mean it.

i'm going to LA for the weekend - don't act surprised. someone has to keep up this tan.

[me and uzi at tahoe]

hammock time

i have learned today that taking a few days off from work work work helps clear the mind. imagine the picture above but with a laptop on my lap. it is where i am right now. i hope you are having an equally as nice day.

$2.00 can buy you happiness if you are at Lake Tahoe.

you see those pink rafts? they are $2 at raley's in south lake tahoe. i want to go back. i will post more pictures later this week, but for now, please know that my face is pink, i am happy, i am sore, and i am extremely tired.

ready for another busy week at work? maybe not.

big deal.

michael jackson dying is kind of a big deal. i also think that uzi coming to town for a weekend is kind of a big deal. we are going here:

i wish that i were going to tahoe with a little less stress in my life, but hey - i'll take it when i can get it. tonight i went to dinner at a friend's house and chatted for a while, which was needed after another tense day at work.

bring on the mountains and the lake. bring on the pink raft.

long day.

i didn't have a bad day necessarily, but the thing i am most proud of today...

taking out the trash.

do you remember this video??

the truth is...

...that in my wildest dreams, I would quit my job and have babies instead. with relations like the ones below, can you blame me?

that's what i'm all about here on my blog. keeping it real. and with that, i'd better go to bed since i get to be at work at 6am tomorrow.

oh yeah. the blog.

Ahem. Just a second ago, I caught a bug in my bare hands. Have you ever done that? Caught a bug in your bare hands? Do you run to the door or window and let it out or hold it for a second and then decide that you don't know what to do with it and then let it go? I let it go. And then caught it again a few minutes later and killed it. Do you think PETA will be mad?

I have been a little busy with - you know - life. Work has taken a larger-than-usual chunk out of my daily life these days and to be honest, the blog has been the last thing on my mind. Well, that. And laundry. And maybe vacuuming. I don't want to complain about work on my blog because this is supposed to be a refuge from all of that and I don't really want to bore you more than I already have.

Let's talk about some of the other things I've been doing.

Lately I've been watching a lot of movies in my spare time. One of my favorite things to do these days is unwind with myself after a long day at work. Just in the past few weeks, I've watched:

• Confessions of a Shopaholic
• The Proposal
• UP!
• Last Chance Harvey
• Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
• Kiss Me Kate
• Annie Get Your Gun
• Calamity Jane
• What's Up Doc
• Serendipity

I went hiking with some friends a few weeks ago, which was great fun. We went to University Falls, north of Placerville. I love that place. I want to go again soon. The four of us girls had a rockin' dance party for over three hours in the car on the way home. We should hire ourselves out for road trips. Maybe you should tell me that you want to come to University Falls the next time I go and then I will invite you. Ok, I am glad that is settled.

Let's see - what else?

I bought a hammock on Saturday at my favorite store - Target. It cost me $25 and I used some rope that has been sitting in my car for three years to tie it up on my porch. Can we talk about how I am in love with my hammock instead of why something was in my trunk for three years? I daydream about the hammock when I am at work and then get sad that I usually get home too late to really enjoy it. It folds you in like a taco. Perhaps the hammock shall be named The Taco. I would recommend that each of you buys a hammock. I think we'd have a lot more happy people in the world if everyone had one in their room instead of a bed.

I start training in a few weeks for another race. If I thought I had no time now, I may have been kidding myself. Isn't it funny how that works with life? You think you have no time and then you decide to train for a marathon. Oh don't sit there and pretend like you've never trained for a marathon before.

life is too short to not do things like run marathons.