the dead neighbor who is probably reading this now from the other side

I was telling someone the other day about the neighbor who lived kind-of-next-door, kind-of-inside-the-house in San Francisco. If it was you, please make yourself known. I asked Rachael today what his last name was so that I could see if I could find his psychic hotline site again. I just searched for the following terms in my gmail and found these gems of conversations that I had with Rachael in years past about him.

From February 2010:

12:56 PM me: rachaelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
Rachael: hello steph zundel
12:57 PM me: how is utah
Rachael: it's good
why do you hate jean marie
12:58 PM me: so last night at like 10
1:01 PM i was putting some paint away on the kitchen counter
please keep in mind that i was the only one home last night
so to close up the paint, i hit the hammer on the lid like 2 times - and the lid is plastic
so it wasn't loud
and he banged on the wall a bunch of times
so i said out loud "oh yeah?"
and i turned on the dishwasher
1:02 PM this morning at 5am he was throwing things around
good times
Rachael: hahahahaha
nice
he's so lame
me: yeah he's a gem
Rachael: but that's awesome that you did that
me: good thing you weren't in your room
i mean
it woke me up
at 5am
him slamming doors, etc
1:04 PM Rachael: we would have fought back together
slamming doors
and hitting the wall
hahahaha
that would have been fun
me: a real party

I moved to New York at the end of September in 2010. A few weeks after I moved, Rachael reported to me that there was an odd smell coming from the entryway to my old house and that our mail had been piling up for a few days. It was quickly guessed that there was something dead in our neighbor's apartment. Possibly him.

From October 2010:

Rachael: I have no update
but the smell is still strong
me: ohmy
the police haven't taken away a body?
9:59 PM Rachael: i just got home
and there seems to be no change
in situation
me: eee
10:00 PM Rachael: i should go knock on the door
and then bust in
so you can put it on your blog
me: bang on the wall and see what happens
OMG
i can call his psychic hotline
should I?
Rachael: um yes, obviously
haha
me: what is his last name
i can't remember
10:01 PM jean marie.......
damn
what is it
10:02 PM Rachael: carroll
me: yes
Rachael: it took me a minute
ha
10:03 PM me: he isn't very old
born in 48Rachael: jean marie!
do not be dead!
(but please stop banging on the wall)
10:04 PM me: ok so on his website, it says he was on there 2 days ago
Rachael: oh ok
so maybe he has a dead dog
btw the mail is not sorted again today
maybe he's out of town
and left something for dead
10:05 PM me: http://jeancyberpsychic.webs.com/Rachael: look at that apartment!
10:06 PM me: HAHAHA
Rachael: aahahaha
me: I can email him
and say "are you dead?" please bang on the wall if you are not
Rachael: hahaha
10:08 PM me: oh good he has a blog
http://jeancyberpsychic.webs.com/apps/blog/Rachael: hahah
add it to your list!
10:09 PM me: i am very tempted to leave a comment on his website
like "are you dead?"
but i am afraid that if he is, he will come here and appear to me
Rachael: haha
10:12 PM me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
10:13 PM Rachael: hahaha
HAHA
you nut case
me: hahahaha
i bcc'd you
Rachael: HAHAHAHAH
me: he knows our names
due to the mail
Rachael: right
HAHAHAH
wow
that's too much
me: hahaha
Rachael: hahahah
i like it
way to make things happen
as usual
me: we'll see if he responds
Rachael: if he responds i will die
10:14 PM me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
if jean marie is a psychic, he will know that i was going to call but didn't want to pay $15
10:15 PM Rachael: HAHAHA

This is a great example of the insane conversations that Rachael and I have on a regular basis.

Please note that this neighbor that I am referencing in the above chats is not the same as this neighbor. Or this one.

Oy.

Vacation Goals = Not Met

Friends.

I did have a taco while I was in Mexico: the night that I arrived.  The rest of my time there was spent laying on the beach, eating delicious food, swimming in the ocean, riding 4-wheelers, or laughing with friends.

Watch this for four hours.  This is what my drive from Phoenix to Puerto Peñasco looked like.

Mayan Palace Hotel

After a lovely Mothers Day Brunch

  

Those three little dots in the middle of the dune: Amy, Mark, Javier.

The best part of any foreign vacation.  Seriously.  I love a cold Coca light.

The next portion of my trip was spent in Tucson.  The above painting lives at my friends' house since I gave it to them as a wedding gift about 5 years ago. Turns out, the friend that I modeled with was/is a great friend of the groom and since I was/am a good friend of the bride, I figured it was appropriate that it lived at their house for the rest of its life.  Many great memories though associated with that painting.  I don't think it has a title, but I want to call it "When times were simpler." Circa 2005 - artist is Ed Davenport.  

It was right around the time that this painting photo was taken that I was stricken with food poisoning from something I ate in Mexico.  And when I say that I was probably the sickest I've ever been, it would not be an exaggeration.  By some miracle I drove from Tucson to Phoenix without incident and then laid around the Hawkins' house with my equally ill friend and her kids.  I pulled myself together at least twice while I was with them for 3 days and we even went to their daughter's dance recital in someone's backyard.

Cole came down from the playroom in this costume to cheer me up while I was sick on the couch.

Me and Meghan.  Can't remember the last time I saw her face to face before this day.  Might have been when her brother and I were in love...11 years ago.  She was in high school.  Oh, how times flies by.

Memorial Day

This year, for the first time in 7 years, I did not go to North Carolina for Memorial Day weekend.  Micah and I talked about what we were going to do instead for a while and when it came right down to it, staying close to town was what we decided to do.

On Saturday morning we went upstate to do one of my very favorite things: Historic Home Tour.  I'd heard of the Rockefeller mansion, Kykuit many times since moving here and since it is only about 30 minutes away up the river, we decided to go.  Josh and Carly came with us and it made for quite an enjoyable day.

Might I add that it was freezing cold - I was wishing all morning that I had my sleeping bag coat on.  The house was beautiful, but compared to the other historic home tours that I've been on, this wasn't my favorite. The Vanderbilts were much more extravagent with their money and had dance/banquet halls and beautiful staircases.  The Rockefellers, not as much; though they did have a great old car collection in the barn.

On Sunday I had dinner with some of my best friends in Brooklyn.  I don't know why we didn't get a picture with all of us in it, but at least I did get a photo of the Savages in their matching red pants.  Side note: RED PANTS!  I am just so glad to live close to friends who have become family to me over the last 13 years.  Hopefully soon we can all get together again.

Monday morning came early and off we went again in a rental car to find more adventure.  This time, it was in the form of zip-lining.  The last time I'd gone was here and I wasn't sure how it would be in the good ol' US of A.  Turns out, they are hard core about safety, which I guess is a good thing, but gets annoying when someone checks the harness you're wearing every 5 minutes to make sure it is OK.  In case you're wondering, we went to Hunter Mountain for this.  Luckily a lady that we were with took this photo of me on the last rope and although it looks like I'm smiling, I hope you click on the photo to get a closer look.  Thanks, Shayla, for coming with us!

After our adventure, we went to Woodstock to get lunch.  This is the only photo I got since there was a man on the street with a python and I almost passed out and had to run across the street the instant I saw it.

A few hours and diet cokes later, we were home in our urban jungle and saying goodbye to these fools who moved to Utah for the summer...

Dear British friends - giving you the bird was unintentional.  maybe.

If polygamy ever gets reinstated, ...

...things will get awkward.

el fin.

¡Olé!

I'm off for a week to visit the Southwest.  I have a few goals in mind for this trip, as follows:

1. Come back to New York as Estefania.
2. Eat a taco every day
3. Go for at least 24 hours without turning my phone on or looking at the internet.
4. At least once in every day, wear a bathing suit.

The only pictures I took this weekend.

For the past few months, I have made a new tradition for myself.  Saturday = Diet Dr. Pepper at McDonalds.  Most of the time, I go with my friend who lives around the corner.  It is one of my favorite things now about the weekend.  You know that life is good when all you want on the weekend is some time at McDonalds.  I mean, really.

Saturday night, I went to a Great Gatsby party downtown.

My friend, Amber, whom I have been friends with for nearly 13 years - we figured out that we are 4th cousins due to a polygamist ancestor.  Enough of that nonsense.  Back to Gatsby.  Can we just discuss though for a moment how that book is terribly depressing?  Not a single character has integrity.  Lame.  But here I am looking like Daisy Buchanan on the subway.  She rode the subway when she wasn't living in her mansion out on Long Island.  We are obviously twins.  

Brodster!

I shall never tire of the views from this rooftop.  If we can't party at a mansion on Long Island, this is a close second in places I'd like to spend my evenings.

Extensions

I've been thinking lately that I should change the name of this blog: Weird Things that Happen to Me

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about me.  Parts of me are fake.  My face for example, is most reconstructed, as I'm sure I have discussed on here a few times.  Also, my almost blonde hair?  A little spray of hydrogen peroxide, a little sun, and boom.  Blonde-ish hair.

Also, I sometimes wear extensions.  Kristy taught me about them.  Here is a photo of me the first night I wore them.  They add length and thickness to my hair that is amazing.

I apparently also needed an intervention about my roots.  

I mostly just wear them to church because who can wake up earlier than necessary to put in extensions to impress people in the office?  Not this girl.

On Sunday at church I mentioned to my friend that I was wearing my fake hair and she then asked if she could see it.  I took out a single piece - they are just clip-ins - and showed her how to put it in her hair, etc.  Nothing too complicated and no one was around.  About 30 minutes later I was riding home on the subway with a few friends, a woman and a man.  It should be noted that the man is single, and so he knows very little about women's beauty products.  My lady friend said to me - why is your hair so long on this side - and pulled an entire clip of hair off my arm while our male friend looked on in horror.  No big deal - just lost a huge chunk of my hair.

I just laughed and shoved it in my bag.  

Cover=blown

PS - If you want more information about my extensions, let me know.  I am happy to pass along useful information.  I'm wearing them in only one of the photos below.  Any guesses on which one?  

Funny in retrospect...

A few months ago I had a friend ask if I wanted to sign up to run a 10k in April.  Since I'm supposed to be signing up for the New York Marathon in a few weeks, I figured that a 10k would be good for me so that I'd actually get out of the house in the cold and start running again.  I have been running off and on with a friend in the morning so although I wasn't super prepared for the race, you know how this goes: if I am untrained for a race, I do well.  Thanks again, body.

Friday night was a late one and it wasn't even for some great gossipy reason, so we won't even discuss that. All you need to know is that I was up really late.  As in, I got 3 hours of sleep, maybe.  My alarm went off all too soon and I quickly found myself throwing on running clothes and running out the door to meet up with friends.  I was feeling good the first part of the race and pacing myself well.  As we were pushing up the second large hill at the top of the park, I knew that something was wrong.  Really wrong. You runners out there know what I am talking about.  And as is always convenient in a large race, there was a photographer. Exhibit A:

I walked with this look on my face a ways until I found a porta-potty and waited in line for about 5 minutes and the lady before me came out and said - just so you know, I used the last of the toilet paper.  Disaster.  I almost cried.  I moved on in pursuit of another toilet.  About a half a mile later, I came to a water station and miracle of miracles, my visiting teacher was there getting some water.  I told her my dilemma and she ran ahead, talked to a hot dog stand vendor and came back with some napkins.  She looked at me in an all seriousness said - "There is a dumpster over there.  Do you want to go behind it and have me guard you so you can do your business?"  Please pause for a moment and think about what just happened.  My friend just volunteered to stand guard while I went to the bathroom in the woods in Central Park.  I didn't do it.  I have standards, people.  We asked a volunteer where the next toilet was and she reminded me that the boathouse was just down at the bottom of the hill.  

Fast-forward about 15 minutes and I was running the last mile of the race and this was the look on my face as I was about to cross the finish line.  

You are welcome.

Because I always blog about it...

For the first time since I moved to New York (shocking, really) I saw Brandi Carlile last Friday at the Beacon Theater. She was amazing, per the usual.  At this point I feel like I know too much about it and it freaks me out a little.  Like maybe I know more facts about her than the friend I went with.  Weird.  

In semi-related news, the band that opened for her: The Lone Bellow was amazing and I have been listening to them non-stop since Friday.

In Which My Pinterest Party Dreams Come True

This weekend was one of the busiest I have had in recent memory.  Also, the best.  I love St. Patrick's Day. I think it is the best & most ridiculous holiday that we celebrate (as a world?).  Since I am 1% Irish, I must celebrate appropriately by dressing like a leprechaun, as follows:

Thanks for the boots, Shayla!

Then you will eat corned beef because it is a dessert meat, i.e., delicious.  Instead of making cabbage that no one wants to eat, we made kale chips and they were delicious. I love corned beef with all of my heart.

 I'm not yet ready to talk about how much time the rainbow took me to make.  I might have to reuse it for Easter. ...and all of the spring months.

Before the guests arrived at the party, Micah requested a piece of the rainbow cake that I slaved over all day on Saturday.  I obliged as long as there was a photo.  Take 1 was of us cutting the cake together while very lovingly holding the knife.  What a sport.  Also, we sometimes dress alike.

Ta-DAAA.  Rainbow! {insert jazz hands}

 {insert jazz hands again}

Rainbow Jell-Oooooohhhhh

And then I dyed all of the drinks green.  

Mila & Ethan came to the party all decked out.  Mila spoke right before me in church a few weeks ago so now obviously we are BFF.

Mila made a leprechaun trap and it was amazing.  Inside, rainbows galore.  The fact that she made this cake made my heart so happy.  

 The spread: 

{the apple rings were devoured before any guests arrived and those things that look like peas are really just green sixlets}

Jason & Court

Jane, klr, Megan & Nate

Lisa & Mark

Lisa & Brody

Emily, Lauri, Mila, Hailey, Ethan

Me and Micah {non-ridiculous pose}

Robert tasting the rainbow. 

 

Only the finest jewels for our guests...

Miscellaneous St. Patrick's Day attire

My attempt at making the friend wall look festive.  I say half a success.

Previous St. Patrick's Day Celebrations here:

{2009, 2010, 2011, 2013}

Also, thanks, Pinterest!