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...