dripping with passion

we decided to take the scenic route to seattle... across the ggb and into the foliagey vineyards near sonoma... and then we drove through a tree!! got out for a quick walk through redwood national park... down a dirt road to this viewpoint... crossed some state lines... saw lots of this kind of stuff along the way... and loved the sunset along the oregon coast. epic road trip. good music. excellent podcasts. fantastic conversation. and lots of junk food. in this one day in the car, i ate: one bowl honey bunches of oats - 9 packs of fruit snacks - 3 fruit roll-ups - 2 fruit-by-the-foots - half a bag of pirate booty - bag of teddy grahams - an apple (yeah! totally healthy!) - a bowl of chili and a thick slice of garlic bread at a dive in crescent city, california - 2 diet cokes - 2 vitamin waters - and...a junior whopper. 18.5 hours. good weather, but a bout of pouring rain, which we, of course, loved. "hey - scenic viewpoint! quick, turn there! go!" "let's just dr...

this time of life is so unique!!! it is really great. on somewhat of a whim, i packed all my stuff and moved to san francisco and fell in love with a place that keeps telling me it's mine. and now, i'm hanging on by a thread financially but loving it - i am really loving it. i sort papers and catalogs, babysit for a smattering of families all over the bay, complete random tasks and errands for a fascinating documentary filmmaker and sometimes work remotely for my brother's and my sister's companies. i will no doubt be finding other random means to pay my rent and buy ramen. and in between all this, i get to have all kinds of adventures in this city that is positively bursting with beauty, coolness, diversity and a colorful culture. i've done things that i never thought i would do, seen things i never imagined i'd see. i get to entertain beloved visitors without having to take a day of vacation time. i get to take long runs along the beach and read good books and...

some things just stick with you. probably about 5 years ago, i remember being in relief society at the boston university ward and we were all asked to go around the room and introduce ourselves as it was one of the first weeks of the new school year. we were told to say our name, where we're from, what we were doing in boston, and our favourite season (it was a new favourite every week for about a month). everyone filed through, saying that they loved the heat of summer or the snow in winter or the new flowers of spring. then one girl got up and said, "my favourite season is always the one that i am currently experiencing." for some reason, i will never forget that. i think it's really poignant what she said, and i hope that i can enjoy each slice of life as it comes because it's there in front of me and it's beautiful. there's something to embracing the chill of winter without having to relentlessly look forward to warm days, or soaking in the sun without...

i woke up one friday morning, went downstairs to the living room and here's what i found: eight of my dear friends sleeping on my couches and floor. i felt giddy and swollen with admiration, love and gratitude for good friends. i'm not sure how i lucked out and this happened - on wednesday i heard that some girls might be coming to help our friend jae move to san francisco, and thursday night a slew of 8 showed up. it was so fun! it was so fun to have them. the weekend was crammed with visitors and also crammed with adventures, beautiful things, chaos trying to caravan around san francisco, and really, really good times. i felt so blessed. good people. pictures by jen and megan. we cheered on the giants after their big win in game 2 of the world series: we watched the 8th and 9th innings in an awesome sports bar by the stadium and then ran through the streets hollering and cheering with all the fans. showing off the city from alamo square - i'll never tire of that view! han...

i know that when people shorten the name julie they spell jules, but when i think of my friend julie e i think of jewels. because that girl is an absolute gem. we met while interning for a summer in dc and quickly found out we were kindred spirits and (at the dance clubs in the district) dancing soulmates. jewels is one of my favourite people on earth. it was such a treat to have her visit for a weekend. we had a lot of fun and also i took a lot of pictures. i realize i went a little crazy on the collages here. but it's an efficient way to share all the beauty and gladness of julie's three days in san fran. ike's sandwich (holy hannah incredibly yummy) picnic in dolores park and wandering around the mission: gorgeous morning in north beach and scrumptious brunch at mama's: lombard street and the palace of fine arts (where at least 15 asian tourists asked for a picture with uber-blond julie): walking tour of the golden gate bridge (boy howdy the weather was glorious): af...

yesterday i went downtown to the giants' world series victory parade. it was crazy, epic, thrilling, electrifying, insane, incredible, extremely fun and absolutely sensational (pictures to come). kelsey and i strolled down market street with tens of thousands of exuberant fans, the air thick with triumph, merriment and enthusiasm - and marijuana. the city was alive, breathing, cheering. we ate lunch at a corner sandwich shop. we rode the unine-smelling muni train smashed with fans. i walked home from the stop in the gorgeous, perfect weather (the slanty light of fall but the sunshine and still warmth of summer). i drove down to the beach for a run as the sun descended and left the sky looking ethereal and almost eerily beautiful. i ran faster than i usually do and loved the ocean air hitting me in the face. i turned around to make my loop, then went to cross the street and looked behind me and the sky was on fire . i gasped. i ran toward the electric pink in the sky. i screamed as ...

i like slices of life when i feel like this - (from a tree grows in brooklyn ) francie stood on tiptoe and stretched her arms wide. 'oh, i want to hold it all!' she cried. 'i want to hold the way the night is - cold without wind. and the way the stars are so near and shiny. i want to hold all of it tight until it hollers out, "let me go! let me go!"' on saturday, on a cliff overlooking the city and the ocean, i wanted to hold the way the evening was - chilly with a bite of wind, and the way the sleepy sun made the colors otherworldly beautiful. i wanted to hold it all tight until it hollered. so, i tried this: she decided to fix this time in her life exactly the way it was this instant. perhaps that way she could hold on to it as a living thing and not have it become something called a memory. the company made the views even more splendid. this weekend i had 8 friends visit from utah. it was an adventure and a blessing (more on the epic weekend later). but oh!...