dripping with passion

it was like a pretty little miracle - rupsha and amethyst happened to be in san francisco the same weekend. i haven't seen these girls since i left wellesley in a flurry of schoolwork, emotion and change three years ago. it was heavenly to be together again. allow me to brag about how cool my friends are for one sec - rupsha just got back from teaching english in korea, after interning in mircro-finance in india, and now she's working at a restaurant and with clinton health in boston. amethyst took a year leave from her master's in art history program at ut-austin to study mural art in chile as a fulbright scholar. and of course there's josephine who i adore having close by(just across the bay), who has been involved in so many cool projects since graduation it makes my head hurt and will soon be the best elementary school teacher ever. we had such fun reminiscing and laughing and catching up. we sat at the bar at pizzeria delfina and danced and sang to the 90s music ...

i have so loved having dear ones visit me in san francisco!! in the midst of wonderful weekend-long visitors, i had two shorter visits from my fantastic high school friend mallory and my rad sister-in-law aja . mal and i have been pals since 7th grade (actually i think we met at girl's camp the summer before 7th grade!) and the last two years of high school had a sleepover together every friday night (shout out to erin anderson, who was in sleepover club too). sheesh we had some good times, watching stupid movies and pigging out. every friday, without fail, in the wee hours my dad would come downstairs in a haze and ask me to ask mallory to talk quieter. mal and i share a natural tendency to talk loud, a love for celebrity gossip, and a million memories. she was in town for the ucla/cal game (her hubby is a huge bruins fan) and came into the city to spend an evening with me. we explored union square (and made an h&m stop, obviously), walked through chinatown, and had a great m...

seriously blue skies. stellar friends. plane stunts that blew my mind. so so sunny. roasted corn with cayenne pepper. happy crowds. it was fun. i love san francisco.

a few weeks ago my sister shawni and her husband took my niece lucy to washington, d.c. to participate in a medical study. when they offered to fly me down to arizona to spend five days with their other 4 kids (aka my favourite people on earth), i cleared my schedule and excitedly made the trip. i've got to play mom with these kids a few times before, but every time i go i am amazed at how good they are. we had so much fun - swim parties, a pizza/root beer float/popcorn/movie party at my brother josh 's school, elle's orchestra concert, gracie's soccer game, bike rides in the heat to the grocery store to buy popsicles, a wicked dance party, a frozen yogurt trip, etc. etc. i also got to go to "shadow-a-student day" with elle at the junior high - it was seriously a blast, and a blast from the past. we were all soooo excited to see lucy when she returned home, the day after her 4th birthday! she loved the surprises we left her in her room. on sunday we enjoyed ...

my roommate emily (this girl is the epitome of cool) had some friends from australia staying at our house this week. this recently married couple has been traveling around the world for the past 14 months, and california is their last stop. they have been to 28 countries! they are so great and i got so excited talking to them about their adventures. it made me add a qualification to my husband list, which now looks like this - 1. huge earning power 2. huge muscles 3. last name that sounds good with charity 4. willing and excited to take a year+ long trip with me around the world in our first 2 years (that's not really the list - but #4 is legit) so, because tonight i feel especially wanderlusty, i decided to choose the 28 countries my future husband and i will visit. starting from california and heading west around the globe (leaving out where i've already been), they are: tonga - new zealand - australia china vietnam - burma nepal saudi arabia south africa russia turkey - cro...

late one frigid december night three years ago i finished the last paper of my college career, submitted it to my professor via email, and then put on my cap and gown over my pajamas and had a jubilant dance party in my dorm room. this was my version of college graduation. three weeks later i left to serve a mission. a year and a half later i came home and found my diploma framed on my bed. not much career training or preparation. i instantly became a little lost lamb in the big real world. i am sure i am in the right place, and deep, deep in me i am sure that at the right time i will find a good job that will help me to figure out what i want to do and develop my career. because of this assurance, the job hunt so far has been optimistic and not entirely encompassing in my new life. but, after two and half months, i'm starting to feel the twinges of desperation. so many people have been so gracious to offer tips, leads, connections and advice. i have learned a lot from exploring do...

...that two little girls who lived on the same street in the foothills of salt lake would end up sleeping in the same room in a house on a hill in san francisco?? indeed, mccaye and i grew up on opposite ends of augusta way and about a month ago serendipitously became roommates here in san fran. i feel so happy and blessed that in this case, life came full circle! here we are in mccaye's bakery kiosk downtown. she is a baker and budding businesswoman. she also is wicked good at tennis and hoola hooping, so much fun to be around, gives great advice, and i swear i find out about hidden talents she has everyday. totes one of the coolest girls ever. with jane living in the city too, that makes three of us from the same home ward now together in san francisco. in a new place it is such a huge blessing to have friends around that i have real history with. we learned primary songs together, had girls' camp adventures together, can reminisce about neighborhood traditions and character...

kerianne coined the term "favity fave" - a playful and more emphatic alternative to favourite (yes, i am using the british spelling - i lost the accent so quick but i'm holding onto the spelling as long as i can!).   i think the phrase works well to describe the week i spent with dani - and keri on the first day and the last - in san fran and around. here are some of my favity fave pictures with some of my very most favity fave people in some of my absolute favity fave places. photos by dani     after i picked up dani at the airport, we chased a sunset at ocean beach and then drove across the golden gate bridge to this glorious sight - how about that moonlight on the bay?!   on wednesday we met up with kerianne at tahoe and it was gorgeous .         bike riding along the truckee river, hanging out on the warm rocks at sand harbor, and watching a delicious sunset made for a perfect day - well worth the 4 hour drive there and back!...

so i have had a goal for about 5 years to be "the birthday girl" (that's what i call her in my head). i just really, really want to be that one gal that remembers everyone's birthday, always sends them a cute card, and goes the extra mile to help loved ones feel extra special on their day of birth. i've made about 5 birthday calendars and gotten all hyped up over and over about my plans to be the best birthday girl ever. i dunno, i just really wanna. reality is that at about 11:25pm on the night of a dear one's birthday, i suddenly remember it is their birthday and i send them a loooong text, feel guilty for not doing more, and strengthen my resolve to be that dang awesome birthday girl. i'll get there someday. tonight i realized by blog could help! yesterday was my beloved dani's birthday - so here's my tribute to her! she's one of the coolest people on the planet - will climb bridal veil falls in her sunday clothes and jerusalem sandals and t...