dripping with passion

every october, there is a huuuuuuge, twangy but august, sensational (thanks to the copious music and weed), and absolutely free bluegrass festival in golden gate park. it. is. rad. how could it not be with a name like hardly strictly bluegrass ?? the first saturday in october, i rode my bike (!!! more on that later) to the park after general conference (!!!! i love it almost as much as christmas) and met up with kelsey, a genuine bluegrass aficionado. the place was packed with people, young and old, frumpy and fabulous, sweet and sour, high and tipsy…lots of hippies. the atmosphere was unparalleled in its unique, gritty brand of goodness and energy. everything felt organic, including an inner contentment in my beating heart. we got to see patty griffin, one of my all-time favourite artists perform up-close and live. she was fantastic; i could have sat there listening to her sing forever. everyone was just really truly enjoying the sweetness of harmonies and cadences and expression...

…and the {moon} shines on the bay… oh i want to be there, in my city! wooo ohh ohhhh ohhh ooooooh… that journey song is what they play during the seventh inning stretch at giants games. i loved my first experience watching america’s favourite pastime at at&t park. it’s about a fourth as awesome as fenway park, which means it is pretty wicked cool. we got cheap craigslist tickets, the gigantes won, the weather was so mild and kind, i danced between innings and belted “take me out to the ball game,” and the wave went around the stadium without a break at least seven times. i think that certainly makes for a good baseball game. speaking of the lights in the city and the shining bay, a couple days earlier rachael threw a bridal shower at her apartment which has stellar views for our dear bride mccaye. we enjoyed treats, presents and that certain brand of sticky sweetness that is only at showers…with the city and bay glittering out the window. mccaye is the greatest; i’m so happy...

when asked, “do you want to run the napa valley ragnar relay practically for free with a bunch of strangers?” i said an emphatic “yes!” an old friend of my sister’s from college sent me a facebook message in august, knowing i lived in the bay area, asking me if knew any runners because her ragnar team was desperately looking for a replacement for a drop-out. i said, “i’ll do it!” and a few weeks later i got picked up at 4am by a car-full of cute moms from walnut creek ready to run. it was so stinking fun . 198 miles, 30.5 hours, practically no sleep, looooads of laughs and tons of singing and dancing to classic catchy music thanks to our team name: i was in this van with five great girls, none of whom i had ever met before, and we became fast friends and had a blast. i just loved the whole relay experience, and i felt on a high the whole time, even when i was so tired. yes, we had a fantastic time, even though there were moments when we really felt like we were: we each ran thr...

one of my sf besties moved back to utah in september. i was so sad to see nikki leave the city. i kind of begged her to stay…but a new and right adventure was awaiting her. on the sunday before her move, we had a nikki’s-best-sf-girls-tea-party to celebrate our friendship with this stellar girl. nikki is crazy about herbal tea, so we asked everyone to bring their own mug and she shared her dozens of flavors, and we had little tea sandwiches and tea cakes. we sat around and had girl talk (two engagement stories from the attendees!!) and enjoyed our time with a dear, wonderful, departing friend. then, of course, we took loads of pictures! i think there are few blessings in life more sweet and lovely than good girlfriends. i’ve found such fantastic girls everywhere i’ve gone, and i’m so grateful.

on labor day, kelsey and i went to pt reyes. i couldn’t ask for a better bay area adventure buddy than kels. like me, she likes doing stuff, and she’s pretty much always up for anything. one of our conversations while exploring was about the searing beauty of bleak landscape – and how we loved the sweeping vistas we saw that weren’t lush or flourishing but so gorgeous in a raw, earnest way. indeed, a lot of things in life are bleak but somehow the most beautiful… pictures by kelsey (who likes to stay behind the camera and photograph me until i drag her out by asking park rangers to snap one of both of us): we saw so many elk and one bone-fide, hissing elk fight! of course i had to try on the antlers. i loved our blustery, wild, foggy adventure on a little golden peninsula jutting into the open sea. there was hardly anyone else there. it was good for the soul.