what?!

a couple weeks ago my brother (and team) caught a 225 pound thresher shark:

yikes.

my dear friend...

..turned twenty-three today. happy birthday, kristy. you are loved.

i get to see t-dub tomorrow. dbj!
(oh so many references to the summer of 06)

predicaments and favorite things.

my friend kyle just informed me of a school in seattle that i might be interested in: seattle university... WHAT?!?! are you serious?? just like usf, but in seattle with kristy and sarah and nordstrom central. brilliant.

you see, i'm in a predicament. good job at nordstrom (full time) + good job at the house (part time) + usf counseling program (part time) = no way in hell. if all three were part time, it would be totally possible. but that's not happening anytime soon, maybe if the woman who went on maternity leave (the one i'm interim for) comes back we could split her position. yeah right. side note: she had her baby on monday and named him ROCKO cause he was stubborn and like a rock and wouldn't come out (three weeks late!). HILARIOUS. rocko!!!

back to my predicament: ideally i would love to do all three part time. but, it's obviously not possible. SO i figure i continue to do nordstrom full time and urban. then in the near future i continue to do nordstrom full time and go to school at seattle u part time. genius. BUT, do i really want to leave squeaks/adam/jenn? or my mom and barry? or my cousins/aunt/uncle?

here's the thing... i've been on the move since i left visalia to go to college. never settling for more than a year. even at westmont, i left twice to study abroad and graduated early. am i just moving somewhere else because it's what i do or is it because it's what i want and need? i can already hear my family telling me about how ideal my financial situation is (right now)... but if money wasn't an issue, what would i do? where would i go? who do i want to know?

"the people who suffer the most are those who don't know what they want" and i don't know what i want.

my favorite things, right now:
fresh strawberries, watermelon and turkey chili (not together)
my personal trainer, my arms are still burning
yolkless egg salad
saying zero instead of "oh" when reading numbers
my boss (nayir) and co-worker (mariana) at nordstrom

by the way: happy birthday to my best friend and my oldest brother.

memorial weekend.

tanning on the balcony.
had dinner with squeaks.
brothers and sisters for hours.
cooking in the kitchen! mmmmm.

squeaks.

i'm changing riley's name to squeaks cause his version of crying is more like the muni coming to a quick stop.... squeeeeeeeeeeak!

a shrimp!

aunty em.

as of 6:31 tonight, i'm an aunt! riley james is a lil' guy weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces. pictures soon.

sunday, sunday, sunday!

today has been such a relaxing day. woke up early for bay to breakers and watched for quite some time... then went grocery shopping... read the latest com.arts magazine... laid out (in the sun, duh) on the balcony... watched motorcycle diaries... brothers and sisters @ 10...

bay to breakers is a 12k race that starts from the embarcadero (the bay) and goes to the ocean (breakers)... it's truly a san francisco event. people get dressed up and undressed- there are tons of naked people (ak! so many shapes, colors and sizes!) it turns into a huge block party and the best part is that the race goes right by my house so we had great views. i've never seen so many people drink so much beer before 9am. here are some photos:

many robins tied together:

(s)he was looking for her lost sheep...

scarecrow and tinman started drinking at 7:45...

the ran the whole way in suits!

grapes!

a group of lawyers as sharks:

butterflies!

brides...

storm troopers:

where's waldo?

the only candidate represented:

steve zissou's unpaid college interns:

a day off.

10:07a: went looking for the newspaper. nowhere to be found. pissed.
10:21a: "we suspended the paper for the summer" says ann.
10:22a: long pause. "i actually read that thing! get it back!" i whined.

11:58a: "let's measure your body fat" says my personal trainer.
11:58a: grumble. huff. puff. "okay" i say.
12:29p: "you must do what i tell you." she goes on to read a long list.
12:31p: "you're kinda demanding."

2:02p: "no! i don't want mommy to leave!" says willem.
2:03p: "she's gone willem. suck it up. we're going to get a smoothie."
2:52p: "faster! again! again!" says emma as i push her stroller [fast].
2:53p: "emma, i will not break a sweat for your entertainment."
2:53p: she gives a confused look. i go again cause she's so damn cute.

6:44p: "what are you going to make with all of this paper?"
6:44p: "i never know until i sit down." i say to the paper source man.
10:42p: i just got done making envelopes with the best liners ever.

three things today.

i dropped my phone in my soup. (insert expletive).

ben is coming to live in the house for the summer; should be fun.

i met blake nordstrom today. pretty impressive guy.

mothers, tanning and break-ups.

courtney (my sister-in-law as of 7-20-7) and i wandered around walnut creek after taking my mom out to breakfast for mother's day. my mom has been a mother for thirty years and my grandma has been one for fifty. holy smokes.

later in the afternoon i took full advantage of my fabulous balcony. absolutely fabulous. i had put sunscreen on my face and just now i was biting a nail (mistake) and it tasted like beach.

being an RA for both men and women has been a very different experience. i'm learning a lot about relationships and break-ups and i'm not even in one! learning curve: comforting a guy is definitely different from comforting a girl.

riley is almost here.

okay, first things first: riley is my best friend's dog's name. and it is also my soon-to-be nephew's name. can we put a stop to naming pets human names? jokes.

my mom and i put on a baby shower for my brother and jenn. it was fabulous. the family came and it was so low-key, i loved it.

lastly... happy 21st birthday janelle houston! i love you.

updated to-do list.

9. Fill the space over my bed (Complete 5/7/07)
88. Go to Coit Tower (Completed 4/21/07)

yeah!

the fam is in town for one of the baby showers... fun!

live music list.

regarding my obsession of making lists... remember how i'm a 'j' in the myers briggs world? pretty much i like to make lists, among many other things. i thought i'd embrace the list...

live music i've experienced: damien rice, ben taylor, phoenix, sufjan stevens, ben harper, matt wertz, kate earl, teitur, jon mclaughlin, new amsterdams, maroon5, tristan prettyman, big city rock, tim mcgraw, jason mraz, norah jones, jack johnson, counting crows, john mayer, dashboard, gavin degraw, dave barnes, leanne ryhmes, tyrone wells, stephen kellog, third eye blind, amy grant (2nd grade?). i know i'm forgetting a few, damn. some of those are pretty funny. help me remember, please.

live music i want to experience: alanis morissette, ryan adams, maria taylor, coldplay, iron & wine, denison witmer, james taylor, rosie thomas, dixie chicks, greg laswell, howie day, matt nathanson, patty griffin, ray lamontagne, rufus wainwright, and travis.

note to shonna: the list that started in mr. raheb's class is on #25.

big girl job.

we have this joke, we being the young college grads that work at nordstrom. the joke is that one day we will get our "big girl" job and leave the sales floor. here's the thing: i got my big girl job and i am totally feeling the pain. don't get me wrong, i love love love the sim world, but 7:30-4:30 is draining. what that really translates to is setting my alarm to 5:55 so i can get up by 6:05, getting to the kitchen by 6:30 to make lunch, reading the paper and eating breakfast to leave by 6:55. exhausting. bottom line: i'm tired. right now i am supposed to be planning baby shower games and getting prizes or practicing my calligraphy (stop laughing.) or hanging the prints above my bed (thanks julie!) or writing thank you notes. instead i'm blogging and thinking about what to make for dinner slash anticipating watching tv in bed so i can shut off my head.
g o o d n i g h t .

handwriting.

i've heard a few things about my handwriting in my life. for example, i'm a font whore or that it's attractive (what?). i do like my handwriting (all 47 different styles), but i'm taking a class to get better. stop laughing at me. i'm not artsy, i'm crafty, and i'm getting better by learning caligraphy. so far: the lowercase letters a and c are the hardest.

my new motto: do something creative every day. check.
my new obsession: making lists. (surprised?)
my new job: love it.

oh sunday.

before i left santa barbara i spent time with allie, then janelle- so good. then... trent, dan and i experienced the red jeep and foxes almost crashing into my car. long car rides = beef jerkey and red laces. came home to a mayterm student and groceries.

have you seen the new cingular commercial? hilarious. omg. inbd.

sensory overload.

sb/westmont's graduation. saw some of my favorite people:



order of events: graduation. pictures. sarah's party. water with lori. tshirts with michele. dinner at the rivas/jordans. fun with kp & st.
so glad i went, even though it was a little overwhelming.
happy graduation class of 2007.

he impacted thousands.

this morning there was an article in the chronicle about a professor at berkeley. talk about vocation.

Michelangelo says...

"I saw the angel in the marble and I chiseled until I set it free."

goodbye, spring07.

the benediction we shared with them:
may God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths,
and superficial relationships
so that you may live deep within your heart.

may God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

may God bless you with tears
to shed for those who suffer pain,
rejection, hunger and war
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
and turn their pain into joy.

and may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in the world.
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .