we had fun.

more to come.

it's time for some rest.

i'm on my way to tahoe with twelve other rad people. shhhhh. it's going to be quiet in sugar bowl at the sugar shack. and sweet, of course.

dbj.

he needs to know if she believes in dinosaurs.

note: this is political. if you aren't into me and politics (which, by the way, my friend anna has pointed out to me that for this election, i am indeed... a democrat. [SURPRISE!] and i need to shut up and own it. and i should probably stop waving my independent flag. okay, okay, i've stopped. i'm owning it.) then you might not think this is humorous. or serious. or a big deal.



i first watched it on polichicks and laughed pretty hard. but he's totally serious. and when i think about it, i'm just as scared as he is.

hugs.

i am in a predicament. you see, i am not a "huggy" person. well, i am if you know me and i know you. as in, we are a bit more than normal friends. no, not in the romantic sense. more like somewhere between friends and best friends. you know, that whole range of people.

the hug is sacred. people think the kiss is sacred but i don't think so. or at least my track record doesn't prove so. hugs, however, are totally different for me. i can't just give them away. and here's the problem. if you hug me and hug me and hug me and i continuously feel uncomfortable i have to at one point stop you and say something like "i'm not a huggy person" which makes me look like a total ass. and then they catch me hugging someone. dangit!

and all of this contradicts the idea that i love physical touch. help. what is a non-huggy girl to do? especially when i am constantly surrounded by hugs. hugs goodbye. hugs before bed. hugs to welcome me home. hugs in class. hugs. hugs. hugs. i'm living a non-huggy person's hell. okay, okay, dramatic exaggeration. i know. i know.

ps. julie younger: please keep hugging me. remember that postcard i sent to your work?!

three cups of what?

tea. you know, the new york times best seller that's hot hot hot right now. well the author was a guest lecturer at usf today and i thought because i hadn't read the book i would feel out of the loop. NOT! TRUE!

from what i understand, this is a brief synopsis of the book: greg mortenson climbs k2, doesn't make it to the top and gets lost. on his way down he meets some pakistani village people who teach him a lot about life (and drinking tea: one cup = strangers, two cups = friends, three cups = family). from there he realizes a lot about this impoverished village and decides to help it by building schools to promote the importance of education. yes- i totally butchered the book, for those of you who have read it. forgive me.

some things greg said:

fighting terrorism is based out of fear. promoting peace is based on hope. (hmmm. seems pretty relevant.)

if you educate a boy, you educate an individual; if you educate a girl, you educate a community. [african proverb]

to really be able to understand poverty, you need to be able to see it. to taste it. to touch it.

interesting fact: in the eighties congress passed a bill that said from here on out one percent of our GDP will go to foreign aid. we have never fulfilled that. last year was the highest we ever achieved: .16 percent. sad.

the bad news: since 2007 the taliban and other jihadi groups have bombed, destroyed or shut down four hundred and eighty schools. the good news: in 2000 there were approximately eight hundred thousand kids going to school in pakistan and afghanistan. in 2008, there are over six million and two million of those are girls.

anyway. we should read the book. i think it's worth our time.

keith and leslie got hitched!

i have done a few weddings before. and by "done" i mean, one officially, one unofficially, and tons working under someone else. i enjoy it. it's a fun treat that i get to do for my friends. this one was no different..



three highlights: leslie was so go-with-the-flow-not-stressed-out that it felt like just another day at the ranch house in napa. but this time we were dressed up and celebrating! and the photographers, gabriel ryan and carlie renee. FREAKING AWESOME. seriously, my new favorite photographers. talk to me about them when you get engaged. and the fact that keith and leslie were on the dance floor, dancing the night away made the night ten times more fun. AWESOME.

me telling trent (who played mc very well) what was happening next...


lis, dan, julie, james, dillon, me:


trent, me, dan, chris, dillon & hope:


the end.

the search..

..for the perfect recipe book started about a month ago. no, not the kind you buy with someone else's recipes already published inside. the kind where you write your own in and you have a binder/journal/book full of recipes in the end. you know, that kind. anyway, i searched bookstores and etsy far and wide and got nothing. so i decided to take matters into my own hands: i created a virtual cookbook. 

my recipes have been homeless for quite some time. and your recipes [in my possession] have too, for that matter. so virtualcookbook.blogspot.com was created because i couldn't find the perfect bound book. so hop on over and share your stuff. that's really what it's there for. you. and me.

the catch: you can only submit recipes you've made. i do not want to know about your mom's favorite chili unless you've made it and you are willing to stand up and say "hot damn! you should make this too! it's just that good."

i am owning it.

i am young. that's what i'm owning. no makeup or pair of heels is hiding this secret.

the typical therapist response:

client: you look so... young. how old are you, anyway?

me: tell me, what makes you ask that question? and how will knowing my age affect you?

my response:

client: you look so... young.

me: well, that's because i am. 

---

i walked out of therapy today (yes. my own therapy. mind blowing: this girl has issues. duh.) and the quote board read:

"change is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." thank you winston [churchill]. good form.

can i get a little stand-up-sit-down action over here?

this is the worst sales pitch ever.

i am asking you to do something that i don't even do. but there's a reason i'm asking: i know that some of you are already doing it, but i think you should collaborate.

what don't i do? loan on kiva. what do a lot of you do? loan on kiva. how can you collaborate? by creating a lending team.

in the past two weeks i have received two emails and read one blog asking me to be part of a lending team. ignored! i just didn't want to. for no particular reason. and then i remembered (not that i ever forgot, nick) that one of my favorite friends WORKS FOR KIVA and he is the genius behind the wheel. okay, maybe that's too much credit (i don't know, is it?). and then i have another friend working as a fellow in kenya (yah zack!). at least if i am too lazy to support the idea/good works/process of kiva, i can support my friends. literally and figuratively.

so i'm starting small. before my twenty-fourth, i'm going to join a lending team. i'll let you know how it goes.

i just want to show you.

what it looks like when the boys are over.

don't worry, i already asked for sundays at ten and thursdays at nine to be my special time to be alone with the tv. okay, maybe not alone. but with me and him, together, sharing moment after moment of meredith grey and kitty mccallister. we love those moments together.

happy september first. happy dear-God-i-start-school-tomorrow-day.