Tag: California

Drivin down the 101…

~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Yup, that’s right.  A coworker and I were back in the Bay for the past 5 days (actually 3 days…2 days of all-day traveling, blarf) for a work conference.   In addition to attending the conference, we made a “networking” stop down in Mountain View….

…where they provide their workers with free beer every Friday, have free cafes every 200 yards, and google-colored bikes lying around for people to grab if they need to get across campus.  Big thanks goes out to Jess for the tour.

Saturday afternoon, after two days of conference and a morning meeting, we took a trip over the bridge in PERFECT weather in a drop-top Mini Cooper…

…to Bolinas…

…to chill with some old grad school friends and their babies.

And now we’re back, work is in full force, Paul is in full studying and pickling mode.

Oh, and I changed my hair color.

Happy Monday.

Unplugged

~ meh ~ 2 Comments

…is where I was for the past week and a half.  I sat down at a computer exactly once and it was for 5 minutes.  And it was glorious.

The past week, in a nutshell:

xmas in santa barbara (and an xmas dinner in seal beach)

hiking in the mountains

old friends

at old hangouts

a little swimming in the sun

in totally amazing weather

then i headed thata way

to sf

where i spent a lot of time walking

over hills, through familiar neighborhoods

avoiding death monsters

hanging out with super awesome peeps, making great food

and eating (and drinking) it

enjoyed some local music

and local art

culminating in a bridal shower for alix

where my more artistic counterparts took over the job of making the rehearsal bouquet (because I was ruining it) while i went and drank champagne and ate about 30 shrimp before hopping on a red-eye back to kentucky

so long, california. until next time.

happy 2012

Where oh where has October gone…

~ meh ~ Leave a comment


{Celebrated a wedding with old friends in Colorado…}

David and Mom, 1966

{…and the life of an old friend in Seal Beach…}

 

{…some trail running in Barea…}

{…and Kentucky football games at Commonwealth Sadium…}

{…a little pumpkin baked deliciousness at home (recipe here)…}

{…and domestic adventures in canning…}

{…seasonal reading (yes, this book is from the “required high school reading” section of the library and is labeled “teen” on the cover)…}


{…and, of course, fall sunsets.}

Weekend Home

~ meh ~ Leave a comment

After a harrowing trip back that involved an attempt to fly through some nasty thunderstorms in the South only to turn around and head back to Chicago, sharing a hotel room with a stranger from my flight, and over 20 hours of delays, I am back in Kentucky.  Though it rained on Friday, there was no snow in Santa Barbara while I was there, and Saturday and Sunday the weather was BEAUTIFUL…

…as was the bride at the wedding we attended.

Saturday morning we woke up to clear skies, so first I went for a run along the beach…

…then joined my parents for stadiums at SBCC…

…then met up with another old friend who just happened to be in town at our old stomping grounds…

…for a swim.

Then we headed to the wedding and reception down at the Bathhouse…

…and the next morning drove back down to LA to begin the 36 hour trek back to Kentucky.

Also got to make a trip to Trader Joe’s (exciting) since there is no TJ’s in the state of Kentucky (a sad truth), see some really good friends for the first time in years, and enjoy the sun.  What more could you ask for.  Hope to be back soon.

Escape

~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Oh, Santa Barbara.

I’m heading home this weekend to attend the wedding of a dear old friend.  Since I left Santa Barbara over a decade ago for a number of cold, snowy climates, I have received weekly calls from my parents throughout the winter months, usually from the beach, just letting me know that it’s sunny and 75.  Every day of the year.  So I was pretty excited to head back and run outside on non-ice covered streets, swim outdoors, and maybe, possibly, even lay out and give myself a pre-spring sunburn (you have to build up a base.)

Santa Barbara weather forecast for the weekend of February 26, 2011:

Cloudy with rain.  High in the low 50s, lows in the low 30s.  Chance of snow.

CHANCE.  OF.  SNOW.  For the first time since like 1948.

Hell no.

Santa Barbara South

~ meh ~ Leave a comment

Santa Barbara, Orange County, San Diego, back to Santa Barbara…over the course of 4 days.  It was a lot of quick hellos and goodbyes and some nice peppers from my parent’s garden.

Totally unrelated to the purpose of this trip, I am including the picture below (even though you can barely tell what is going on) because it was so impressive.

A homeless fellow riding his bike down State Street carrying his life on his handlebars, which included (but was not limited to): clothing, bedding, bags of cans, a boogie board, and an extra bike.  Just in case.  This guy is ready for anything.

This is the house that Jimmy built

~ meh ~ 1 Comment

Gonna get me a whole big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever, an’ I’m gonna squash ’em on my face an’ let ’em run offen my chin.

~John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath

This is Uncle Jimmy:

This is the porch of the house that Jimmy built:

This is the wine from the vineyards you can see from the porch of the house that Jimmy built:

This is the pizza oven that Jimmy built for a friend well, just, because:

This is totally awesome, the life that Jimmy built.

Next stop: Santa Barbara

Note: Pictures for this post were all taken with my Droid, I was too lazy to deal with lighting settings on my phone, which is why they’re kind of crappy.