weekend in pictures.

Friday morning I recieved a demand invitation via text to take a little girls-only day trip with M-Squared to Santa Ynez on Saturday for Live Oak 2010. Considering it's pretty much just one huge group of people hanging out, listening to music and drinking / eating all day...of course I wasn't going to turn that down. I've never been (and neither had Maggie) so we had our first Live Oak experiences together! S and K were already set up there camping for the weekend, so it was all good. If I had any outdoors-y bone in my body (or, a badass RV maybe) I'd totally be down for camping. But since I don't sleep outside, use port-a-potties or function in any way without electricity...keeping it to a day trip is where it's at. I'm no Bear Gryllis is all I'm sayin'.



The only bummer? Josh Ritter was playing on Sunday night. I knew this going in, and had kind of succommbed to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to see him so I didn't let it ruin my day. Positive thinking? Maybe. Though I'm sure the 12 beers I slammed had something to do with said "positive thinking" as well.



On Sunday, I saw Toy Story 3 (in 3-D) with B. Who is 22 years old and sobbed her way through pretty much the whole last half of the movie? THIS GIRL. I'm borderline embarassed for myself but IT WAS SO SAD. Who would have thought I'd be able to relate so much to a Pixar movie. NOT ME.

We then went over to our friend Alicia's to hang out and pretty much decided that Sunday's are now going to be pot-luck dinners with everyone. This idea excites me way more than it should, given that I don't cook...ever. Yeah, I'm that girl who obsesses over Rachael Ray (and uh, has had a subscription to her magazine since it first came out) It's not that I don't like to, I'm just horribly lazy and never do. However, I did get down on cutting those carrots and tomatoes for that salad though. My backlog of issues of ED w/ RR will sure come in handy this summer, I think.

But Monday, oh glorious and wonderful Monday. Normally, I hate the day. And this one didn't start off any differently, other than the fact I had to get up earlier than usual to water plants and ended up SHOOTING MYSELF IN THE FACE with the hose. I honestly don't think there's any scenario in the world that's a worse way to be forced to wake up. And this was pre-coffee too so, let's just imagine how well that went over for a second... It's was UGLY.

So, flashforward. I'm driving to work, still flaming pissed / hating the world for the cruel wakeup call I recieved two hours earlier (because you know, it's the UNIVERSE'S FAULT for leaving the hose upturned from the previous morning) and I'm just about to get on the freeway when I see the George's getting off the freeway and motioning for me to turn around and pull over. So, I do. And greet them with some sort of horribly sarcastic and rude remark because again, it was all Kevin's fault I got shot in the face because they were HIS plants that I was watering. The conversation went something like this:

K: "We have something for you"
S: "Yeah, we couldn't wait to give it to you."
Me: "It better be like, 'you got Josh Ritter's phone number for me' good considering I got up early to water your plants this morning and took a shot from the hose STRAIGHT TO THE FUCKING FACE."

I honestly don't know how people can even stand to be around me sometimes, with my charming and polite demeanor and everything.

But then, oh THEN, they pull out this little number:



...and I just started screaming. I mean SCA-REAM-ING. Full on, jabbering incoherantly, can't get out of my car because the door is locked and I don't realize it, OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD SHUT UP. IS THIS HAPPENING BECAUSE THIS CAN'T BE REAL LIFE, I THINK I MIGHT BE DEAD.

Total and complete freak-out ensued. In public. At 8:30 in the morning. And I DIDN'T EVEN CARE. Hearing them talk about his set (it was amazing, he was so good) and how NICE Josh was to all his fans (he's a big hugger apparently, shoot me now) was just awesome. And how they both knew they'd have to go over and get him to sign something for me. It's just, really cool. I didn't expect it and I'm just glad that even if I couldn't be there, they could be to appreciate how awesome this guy is. I can't thank them enough for thinking of me that night.

Suck on that, Monday.

the post in which I have an Oprah moment.

Saturday started with a 6am wake-up call to meet Bethany, Chelsea and Monique and drive up to SJC to drop Chelnique off so they could go on their Rufus-Fest 2010 in good ol' Canada. [Fun fact: they were flying from SJC to DTW and going into Windsor. My old stomping grounds! Made me a bit nostalgic] So, after we dropped them off, B and I made our way to Santa Cruz for a little while. Other than wanting to die driving to get there (I still don't do well on windy, mountain-esque roads. Don't do well meaning NEED TO PUKE) it's was beautiful. Found an estate sale, saw downtown, had lunch while watching the USA vs. England game, and went thrifting. On our way home, we stopped in Gilroy and hit a Salvation Army when I found a new knit dress THAT HAS POCKETS. FOR FIVE DOLLARS. Needless to say, it was a pretty successful day trip.

...other than the fact that I was so tired when I got home, I felt like I was stoned. No seriously, even a dinner of In N' Out didn't register on the delicious scale when I ate it. All I could think of was the cool underside of my pillows and when I finally did get home it was faceplant into bed, clothes still on and didn't stir until about 10:30 the next morning. Glorious bed! OHMYGODI'MNEVERGOINGTOLEAVEYOUEVERAGAIN BED!

However, the fact that it was about 90 degrees outside, and I was laying in a nest of sweat and drool when I woke up the next morning (AT TEN THIRTY) meant that I needed to get the hell out of dodge and oh, you know, HAVE to go down to San Luis and while I'm down there, just HAPPEN to see Maggie. And when I say "see" I really mean spend the whole day hanging out. It was fun, as it always is.

I really cherish the relationship I'm building with Megan at the same time. It's funny to think that, aside from a few (maybe two) visits to Michigan and two trips here...we didn't really know each other. Now that I'm here and she's here (and um, my incessant need to see her and Maggie just about every weekend) we can finally hang out and get to know each other. I've always said that one of the best things about me moving here was the fact that I could finally get to know this side of my family that I really didn't know for the greater part of my life. Now that they're in my life (or, they allow me to be in theirs, whichever way you look at it) I can't picture them NOT being in it. I constantly learn more about them and our relationships always seem to be enriched and growing. And have I mentioned how much I love being a part of it? Yeah, that horrible noise heard from the rooftop? That was me screaming how much I love it.

Or, it was me scream laughing in a drunken stupor...both scenarios are very likely.

Ok, that's the end of my "ohmygod my family is so cool" Oprah / Dr. Phil ramble. SOMEONE GET THIS GIRL SOME TISSUES, PLEASE.

Oh wait:

This works just fine.