Caroline Makes Me a Star

http://www.coeurdela.blogspot.com/

My friend Caroline just featured me as one of her travelers on her blog. It's a good read anyway, but is especially exciting for me to be on it! Go and check out my 15 minutes :)

Climbing Climbing!

Climbing kick off! Parrish got in on Thursday to SFO and we headed over to Oakland to meet up with Voltaire. We swapped some gooey bars for a walkie and were on our way to Tuolumne Meadows!

Our first night there we camped out at the employee parking and hung with a few of the trail maintainers. They were a good group and fed us and shared our beer.

The next morning we got up and went down to the first come first serve sites where we got our site assignment and set up camp before a very late start on Cathedral, a 500 foot, five pitch beauty! The hike was pretty long, and uphill the whole way. Quite a way to start the morning.
Voltaire was our fearless leader, with Parrish on belay. After Voltaire would lead the pitch he would belay me from the top. I trailed the second rope, unclipping the rope I was climbing on and clipping in Parrish's rope behind me. Since I didn't think in a million years we would get to climb this amazing stuff I hadn't brought a small day pack. So up I went with my camera bag pulling me backwards the whole damn time. Combined with the drag from the second rope I had to work to get up some not so difficult climbs. When I would reach the top of a pitch I would belay Parrish off of the anchor that Voltaire set up.
On we went for a few pitches before we got to the chimney. Yey! The fun part was figuring out how we were going to get our packs up since it was too small for us to fit through wearing them. We decided that Voltaire would get up past the chimney and then lower a rope for us to hook our packs to. Then Parrish and I would grab ours on our way up.
On one of the pitches we could not get a piece of gear out of the crack. We decided that it was our sacrifice to the climbing gods. As we moved through the next pitch a woman passed us soloing (soloing is no rope. No rope at all. There were way too many people soloing that day for it to be caused by individual insanity). She had our gear! Our nut to be exact. Parrish and I laughed with her about our sacrifice and as she moved past us we looked at each other and realized... She was the climbing god!
The last three pitches were scattered with chipmunk shit. What on earth?! I put my hand right in it. Damn little bastards. I will never look at them as innocent little creatures again.
The last pitch of Cathedral was hard! There was a lot of wrapping around and with the drag from the rope I took to throwing my body in the opposite direction just to get enough slack to move. Before the final pitch you came up over the top of the rock and the view completely knocked me on my ass. I yelled! Parrish thought I hurt myself (not an unreasonable assumption), but I just couldn't not contain my amazement. We had been looking down on such a great view the whole day and it was nothing compared to the view through the pass to Half Dome, all of the lakes and other peaks surrounding us. I am sure the reaction was heightened by the journey to it, but I swear it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

The hike down was a little sketchy. Needless to say it made me nervous. At one point Parrish went ahead to see if she could get down a pretty steep slope. It was like slow motion... Her feet slipped back and she belly flopped a good seven feet down. Voltaire and I were helpless. It scared the shit out of us, but she was okay. The rest of the hike down was dark and we kept losing the trail. The river kept us going in the right direction and we finally got back to camp at midnight.

The next day was a rest day. We climbed some single pitch stuff including the guide cracks. I only climbed one before the ankle started screaming. Crack climbing is a lot of foot and hand jamming... It all comes down to pain management, and with my ankle already jacked up, I should have known better. While Parrish and Voltaire climbed I wondered around and took pictures.

At dinner that night we decided to climb Fairview. It is 12 pitches and 900 feet to the top, and is considered one of the top climbs anywhere. The approach was a lot shorter than Cathedral, and we got to the base at sunrise to make sure we could get up and hike back down before dark. The first pitch was led by Voltaire and Parrish followed. I climbed up third. The first pitch was 180 feet of crack, most of which was wet. About half way up my ankle was hurting so bad I could barely put wait on it. Since I knew I wouldn't be going beyond this first pitch I knew I had to finish it. The noises coming out of me must have been frightening they were so primal! But I did it. I got up the first pitch, 5.9 crack, of Fairview. Once I regrouped at the anchor they lowered me back down for me to hike to the car and come back to get them when they were done.

Sitting at the bottom I chatted with other climbers and then finally made my way back to the car. The fight up that crack really exhausted me. I went straight back to the camp and daisy chained my leg to the ceiling of our tent and crashed.

On our last day there we were planning on hiking Vernal Falls in the Valley. Since I was hurt we decided to go down to El Cap Meadow and show Parrish Yosemite Falls. It was great to hang out and show her the sights. It was also neat to see El Cap and Half Dome with a climbing guide book in hand. Voltaire was planning on climbing Half Dome in following weeks. Quite the accomplishment considering the amount of stuff you have to carry up its intense 2000 feet.

Parrish's flight out wasn't until late so we met up with some friends for dinner first. This is where I met Saunders and Melissa, my new climbing girls!

It was an incredible weekend.

Nicaragua and Costa Rica!

In July I headed to Costa Rica. My friend Tanner is living in San Jose teaching English. He needed to leave the country for 72 hours and was planning to travel for a bit after. When he posted a note on Facebook looking for a travel buddy I jumped at it, of course!

I got in and we headed to his host family house for the night before going to Nicaragua the following morning. On the bus we met Jen and Joel who we would then hang out with while in San Juan del Sur. We also met Mark, the Mikes and Richard at our hostel.

San Juan del Sur was beautiful and cheap! We hiked and hung out at the beach. The food was great, the mango daiquiris were better! Delicious! On the 4th of July we all hiked up to the grocery store and bought all the fixin's needed for burgers. It was a great way to spend the day, burgers and beer with some really fantastic people.

We went from San Juan del Sur to Tamarindo, Costa Rica. We travelled with Pernilla and Kwesi. Since we were meeting Tanner's friend Laura to pick up his car we decided to cab it to the border and then catch another cab on the other side. I have crossed a few borders in my travels... But I couldn't have been more grateful to have Tanner there to negotiate the exchange of money to the kids that pushed us to the front of the line, to get us to each of the lines necessary to get our exit stamps from Nicaragua and our entrance stamps from Costa Rica.

We got to Tamarindo and were all exhausted. The hostel was a great little spot with a pool and a cross eyed golden lab named Diego. We rented a surfboard between the four of us everyday and spent our time at the beach. One of the days a monster storm rolled in and the humidity fried my camera. It took a few weeks but it is finally up and running again, just in time for Yosemite.

La Fortuna was probably my favorite. It was frustrating that EVERYTHING you did cost money, but it was worth it. Each trail you hiked cost ten dollars, but hiking in a cloud forest is something you will never forget. It took us a couple of days before the clouds cleared enough to see Arenal, the volcano just outside of town. We ran into Mark, a guy we met in San Juan del Sur, on our second day in town. We hiked up to a crater lake in the rain one day. It was crazy fun! Mud everywhere and super steep! It was a good day. The next day we went to Down to Earth Coffee and hung out with Matias. He's a great coffee grower/roaster in La Fortuna. He makes some of the best coffee I have ever had! On our way back to San Jose we drove him and his wife and went to where they roast their coffee.

On our last day we went up to Irazu, a volcano right outside of the city. It was freezing but beautiful. 

It was a great trip!

Whitman, Wordsworth... Whatever.

Most that know me will know the necklace that I wear all the time. There is a St. Christopher charm that is from my trip through Europe, a charm I got in Nice on my second trip over, my Great Aunt's high school ring and my grandmother's high school charm. The center piece is a charm with the quote, "How does the meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free. Down to its root, and in that freedom, bold." -Whitman. While going through my room I found the tag for the charm and was really excited to see the website listed so that I could go and see what stuff they have online. But then I noticed something else, the quote on the tag has Wordsworth listed as the one quoted. Shit. I just went online and have found that it is a Wordsworth quote. For five years I have been quoting Whitman like an idiot.

Next stop? I'm emailing these fools and see if they will send me some free goodies :)

Projects at Home: Food

I have been trying to get my family to eat better. This has proven to be very interesting, because I can't cook. I can fake my way through things from time to time but I miss more than I hit. Tonight should have been a miss, but it wasn't! My dad's staple is spaghetti with red sauce, ground beef and sausage. We swapped the sauce out for a Heart Healthy brand, the noodles out for rice noodles, and all of the meat out for tofu. It was not pretty. The noodles tasted like paper mache, icky! The sauce looked like... well... nasty. We went back to the regular spaghetti noodles and rolled with it anyway. To our surprise my dad loved it! We can never tell him that he was loving soy instead of beef.

Strawberry Margarita

Oh hell. I'm waaaay behind! Let me break it down for you. In no particular order here are the major events over the past month.

1. I cut 14 inches off of my hair. Donated a foot and lost the other two inches to styling, yey! Love the new do. My scalp tingled and my neck hurt for two days after the cut. That head of hair weighed more than I thought!

2. I turned 26! I am officially old...er. I had a great group of people out for my birthday dinner. Parrish, Peter, Chris, Jay, Ann, Craig, Amy, Stacy, Chris, Beth, Will, Erika, Michelle and James. We went out and had dinner before heading out to Eighteenth Street Lounge for some drinks.

Once there we picked up a few more people. Jean, Tim, Daren, Gillian, and Kat. I had a really good time. It was such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many good people. I'm so lucky to have found them.

3. I finished up at Ray's. The amount of time I spent with everyone there made it very sad for me to leave. I was happy that most of the senior staff wasn't there on my last night. It would have been much harder to walk away. Saying goodbye to Danielle and Jaime was hard enough without my girls there.

4. There Cherry Blossoms! After a year of being annoyed about missing the Cherry Blossoms last year in Japan and DC I have finally seen them! Leanne and I took Channy down to see them and it was a great day. Chan slept for most of our walk around the Tidal Basin and woke up just in time for the FDR Memorial so we could take some pictures before she decided it was time to go home.

5. My going away party. It was such a rough night! I picked up Joe and Dave from Dulles and we went to check into our hotel. We got all dolled up and got on the Metro to Courthouse. Erika, Bonnie and Jeff met up with us at Four Courts for a drink. Jeff couldn't stick around for dinner but spent enough time with Joe and Dave that they were totally man crushing on him for the rest of the night. We ate at Ray's and Beth and Leanne were late. The two that should know better! Parrish and Kory met us there. Dinner was amazing and the crowd died down by the time we were done. I had brought a cake for Leanne's birthday, which was the next day, and as I brought it out Jaime brought a cake that Leanne had made me out of the kitchen! Two birthday cakes deep, we were already stuffed, so we each had a bite and sent the rest to the kitchen for the guys.I had to say goodbye to Parrish at the restaurant. The beginning of the end. We all loaded up in Beth's minivan and Leanne's car. Other than a quick stop to repair a "padiddle" we were on our way to Rocket Bar. It was packed! The Caps game had just let out and the bar was swarming with Cap fans. We had a bunch of people meet up with us there and it was on! Beers all around and some good laughs to finish off the night. It was just the way I wanted to say goodbye... For now.

Cozu-Melted in the Sun

My latest pedi was inspired by our last snow, and it's very short stay. I will miss waking up to snow. Even visits to Tahoe might not ever give me the same feeling that I get when I wake up in my own bed and lay there watching the snow fall.

Pedi day was a special day because it was Leanne's first day out of the house since Chan! I met Chan the day before when we gave her her first bath. She was so good until the water started getting cold!For our day of errands she was good all day. The wailing at the end was entirely warranted so I won't hold it against her :). I was so happy to get to see Leanne again (I have been banned since I was sick) and I am completely head over heals for the new little chicky!

I've been working a bit and am officially in my last two weeks at Ray's. I am pretty sad about it. It does give me a great excuse to get the girls out on the town. I just wish I had made it happen sooner. There are so many new people at the restaurant. Some I really like and am stoked I've had a chance to hang out with them outside of work.

With my birthday coming up fast I have a night planned with some of my girls, and I can't wait! Then I am heading up to Brooklyn to visit Pam. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen so I'm stoked that we have a couple days to hang out before I head back to Cali where it will be so much harder to make a spontaneous trip to New York.

Today was my first big day towards my move. The car is washed, the roof rack is back in place and the boxes are put together and ready to go as soon as Elizabeth clears out her dining room furniture and leaves me space to put them.

No one can seem to understand why I'm leaving so soon after getting here. Funny, since no one could figure out why I would move here in the first place 10 months ago. Because, that's why! :)

FUN FIND: I had to look up my roof rack measurements online and under the description of the different parts they had this for the clips that hold the rack on: "Add vehicle-specific Q-Clips (00601-00730) to ensure a custom fit to your door frame (Do not confuse Q-Clips with similar-sounding personal hygiene products. Attempting to clean your ears with Q-Clips may result in serious Vincent Van Gogh-like injuries.)"

My Prague-ative

Since I got home from California so many things have happened! I'm going to hit the big points.
Bo was in DC for work from Hiroshima! Very exciting for me. As lovely as my girls in Virginia/DC are, I was in some serious need of some San Francisco spirit in my life! The Manhattan Project exhibit at the American History Museum and seeing the Enola Gay at The Udvar Hazy Center were special treats for me. Bo's knowledge on these exhibits far exceeds the information given on the little signs in the museum (obviously). Not to mention all of the fun facts he has up his sleeve. Lunch at the Hell Burger was the best meal we had... Probably the strangest twist to Bo's visit was when we decided to head to U Street for a couple beers at Solly's. We went upstairs and were so stoked to have the table with the view! A couple of beers in the entire building jolted. WTF... We looked out our window and saw a cab hanging half way out of the bottom part of the bar. Moments later the bartender/owner was rushing us all down the smoked filled stairs to the street. It turns out that the cab driver had a seizure and, just as he was picking up a fare, hit the gas and plowed into the bar. Somehow he managed not to seriously injuring a single person.
Ray's The Steaks has officially moved! We are now triple in size and working our asses off. The new location is beautiful. Our first night was a bit chaotic! The hoods didn't have enough suck for all of the smoke off the grills. Lucky for us it was warm enough out to have all of the doors opened, but we were still pretty smoked out. No one was pissed. Everyone ate and was happy, especially with their half off checks. We do have a lot of new trainees. The good news is that most of them are eager and ready to work. After twelve days on my body decided that enough was enough and I have been in bed, sick as a dog for the past five days.
And the cherry on top! Leanne had a baby girl!! Because I am sick, I haven't been able to go and visit yet. But hopefully by the end of the week I can drop in see the belly, face to face :)
With a little over a month to go as an East Coast resident I'm trying to work as much as I can and make time for my new friends, that I'm hoping to hang onto once I move.

Revved Up and Ready to Go!

My new firetruck red pedi polish is more a motivator than an expression of how I'm feeling today. I should be more amped up, the inauguration is less than 24 hours behind me, I am working my way back to the west coast, I just spent the last week with a couple of my best, oldest friends... But to be honest, I'm really having a hard time getting myself going since getting back from California.

My Christmas and New Years home was great! Christmas day was spent with my family, our neighbors and some old family friends. It was great hanging out with everyone. Having Allie and Julia around really made the day so fun. There is something about kids in the house at Christmas! Thank goodness we have Mark and Lin next door to keep the pressure off of me and Nate. After dinner I drove up to Jeff's and hung out with his family before heading back to the house to watch a movie.

The day after Christmas was my first day back at a California climbing gym :). Todd and I met at the Berkeley gym and then ran around to REI, where I got the accesories that I needed for my new rope that Nate got me for Christmas, and a couple of ski stores.

The 27th was a day. My last Aratic show. I got out to Livermore and got to hang out with the boys. Everyone went to grab some food and then Todd and I went on a Starbuck's run. Some competative ping pong, a couple beers and a really awesome show. I am so happy they had one while I was home, since they are officially broken up as of a couple weeks ago.

New Year's Eve left me with a couple of option. I broke things off with Jeff and so I didn't really want to start my year off there... And then I had another potentially akward option. Then Todd invited me to Tahoe with some friends. It was just what I needed. we went up New Year's Eve and spent chatting with some really nice people. New Year's Day was spent at Heavenly. It was the most beautiful day. Blue skies, the lake was clear and amazing, the snow wasn't too icy. I suuuuucked at snowboarding. Worst day ever (as far as my skills go). I used to be moderately good, but not that day. That day I was a shit show on the mountain. Todd and Mark stuck with me the whole time. Troopers!

On the second we went out again. It was a bit cold and snowing like crazy. I decided that I should try skiing.

FEB 15TH:
After two months of this blog sitting here unfinished, for a few reasons, I'm just throwing it out there. My trip home was wonderful! I had a great day with my girls and dinners with friends that I don't talk to nearly enough.

Inauguration eve I was able to go down to The Mall and check out the set up. There are tons of new pictures up on my Picasa site if you are interested.

Blind Puppies

I still owe everyone a Christmas blog, but I'm not getting my pedi until Wednesday so you'll have to wait. This blog is the result of an epiphany. One of myself and of the people I choose to surround myself with.
I will start with myself. At risk of sounding too lame... Here we go. I realized while I was home in California that I have landed myself at a fork in the road. I know where I want to go, that part is easy. What I'm struggling with is recognizing where I have just come from, and who I am. I only have myself to blame. I had pulled the wool over my own eyes, but now I can see, and it's time to get to work. I want to be a happier person. I have turned into a cynic. I have joked about it for three years, Since Chef Trav took a walk, but it's really not that funny. The only reason I have remained a cynic for so long is because I have continued to surround myself with people who feed my reasoning for the cynicism. If my thinking wasn't proven correct regularly I think would have a better chance of seeing past it to the good in people. I have so many honest, loyal, kind people in my life, and I have let them be overshadowed for too long by those who feed on bitterness and doubt. Not all of these people are bad people, they're just not healthy for me to be around, or talk to, all of the time.
My friend Parrish had a great New Year's resolution, to surround herself with people that she really wants to hang out with, and are good for her to be around, rather than getting sucked into spending time in crowds that she just doesn't jive with. Since it is really just an amendment to mine, to be a happier person, I have adopted it as a late one for myself.
Now nothing is that simple. The one thing that has recently muddied the water is booze. I love a good beer. I love a good five or six beers if I'm out with the right people. I have officially started a list of those that I have put on probation when it comes to me being around them when they are drinking. They're smart people, and they know who they are. If you can't handle your booze, you know it after the first bad round. "Sorry, I was too drunk," just doesn't cut it. I had two situations (that's right, I am calling you both situations) the week before I left to go home for Christmas. Both while I had a boyfriend, both willing to throw our friendship under the bus for a piece of ass and no interest in anything else. Both being reasonable guys, they were embarrassed, but when did it become acceptable for men to become knuckle draggers when they have one too many? (I know, the ladies do it too, and a couple have made my list for other reasons, but today I'm focusing on the boys.) And I'm not the only one who has experienced this recently. It's an unacceptable excuse, and here is why. I can name a good handful of my boys that haven't used this excuse.
There are "good boys", "bad boys" and blind puppies. Blind puppies? Yeah, I call them blind puppies because they aren't bad guys, they just can't seem to get a grasp on things and won't slow down enough to stop running into barriers and breaking shit (literally or figuratively). They still have time to figure it out, I just won't be the bumper taking all of the hits, waiting for them to regain their sight, anymore. Most of the blind puppies I know are liquor induced and I am extremely confident they will figure it out soon enough.
So there we go, the three easy steps to being a happier person, reduce time around people that encourage my cynicism, surround myself with those who are good, and keep the blind puppies on probation until they get it together.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Don't Toy With Me

I started this month off with Red Hot Holiday on my toes, but with climbing it soon wore off.
With everything going on this month Don't Toy With Me was the only way to go... At least until they make a color called Don't F*&%@ With Me, I'm Not In The F*$#&ing Mood. I have been on a bit of a roller coaster since Thanksgiving.
I was sick, a few times. The low point was working at the restaurant and the burger shop with no voice. I mean shit, what the hell can you do?
The holidays have brought around some festivities that have been so fun!! I got to be in a light parade up in Annapolis on J's boat. I love the Annapolis group. They are so chill and fun. J, James, Christina, Will... And my girl Parrish of course! After we headed to D.C. for my friend Jeff's hat party. It was really fun... So fun that he was evicted half way through it. C'est la vie, another Jeff Le party goes down in history. He has a ton of friends and could probably live for free for well over a year if need be. The night wrapped up with some very drunk happy folks and a bar brawl. My friend Jon got into town on Friday and so we got to go to dinner and then went out with Parrish and met up with Jon's friends. Some really fun people.
Last week my great aunt passed away. My first time truly regretting my move was when my mom told me that she was gone and not being able to be there with my family. So I got on a plane and came home early to regroup before Christmas.
Losing her really took the wind out of my sails. We have all been so worried about my grandma and her surgery that none of us saw it coming so soon. Parkinson's had taken its toll. She hadn't been herself for a long time. She may be the first person I have lost that I honestly can think of as being happier. The picture I have of her in my mind is one of her with a smile on her face.
Today I spent the day with my mom and grandma going through her stuff and chatting. I gave my grandma a mini pedi... She has never had her toenails painted! It was nice to be there. It was what we all needed, to be together.
Christmas is just around the corner. Best wishes to everyone and their families! I'm sure there will be more to write by the time I get back to the East Coast.

Snow You Can See!

Ele-Fantastic!

I forgot to write about the election! I don't know how, but I did... The election was not my happiest moment, because I didn't get to vote. Not that it matters now (Yey Obama!), but at the time I just about lost my mind. I registered in VA twice and they have no record of me being here. So not only did I not get to help change VA to blue (which it did for the first time in 44 years,without my help), but I didn't get to vote on Prop 8 in CA either... Which really broke my heart.
I guess all is well that ends well. Obama gives me hope. I don't think we can expect really amazing things to happen, we are far too deep into the hole to be fixed in 4 years, but maybe he can turn this ship around and at least get us headed in the right direction.
On another note... SNOW! It snowed while I was driving home from class today. It was so light I didn't know what it was at first (being from California, my first thought was ash)... You can't see it in the video at all, but I'm putting it up anyway, my first Virginia snow!

I AM NOT A WAITRESS!!

Okay, yes, I'm still a waitress. But I've been so frustrated lately that when I found the pretty red polish named "I am not a Waitress" I couldn't resist. When you know what you want, waiting is such a bitch! As many of you have heard me state, patients is a virtue, just not one of mine.

So much has happened since I wrote last!! Jill and Brandon got married for starters! http://picasaweb.google.com/pamela.a.jacobson/JillAndBrandonTieTheKnot# Holy shit. I got into Malibu on Thursday and hung out with Jill's parents and her friend Lauren before the rehearsal. After the rehearsal we all went back to Jill and Brandon's and had dinner. After dinner I stayed the night at the house with Jill's brother Jay, and Brandon. In the morning Brandon was gone early to surf and Jay and I went to breakfast. Mexican food, *drool*. Then it was off to run some last minute errands and get to the hotel where I got to take some pictures of the bridal party getting ready until my room was ready and the ladies got there. A lot of the old Monterey folks were there, and two of my oldest friends, Dori and Erin. I feel like I haven't seen them in forever! Cristiano, Ali, Al, her husband Mike, Dustin, Paul, April, Mel, Todd... And to get to see Jill's family was great too! Jay, Pam and Jay, and to meet Jay's fiance, who is one of Jill's oldest friends Daniela, was icing on the cake. The wedding was perfectly, intimate and rowdy! We had a great time, dancing the polka, can can and break dancing (not me...) and wrapping the night up with "Don't Stop Believing"... Everyone went back to the hotel after and we hung out by the bar before calling it a night.

The day after the wedding I drove down to Costa Mesa with Erin, Dori and Ali. Ali left for home and Erin, Dori and I hung out by the pool until Z showed up. The girls were hung over (I was DD and ready to go!) so Z and I went to the beach. I miss the beach. I could have stayed there forever. We went back to Erin's to shower up before driving to San Diego to go out for Z's friend's birthday. Good beer and good people finished up the night before we went back to Z's to crash. In the morning we grabbed breakfast and he took me to the train station. I took the train up to Burbank to fly back to Virginia. Not ready. Not even close to ready to leave California. It was that moment that a tentative plan to move home became concrete.

Changing my major, again and again and again, has been EXHAUSTING. I have had ideas of what I wanted to do, but nothing that would turn into a tangible job that would make me enough money to enjoy the other areas of my life, until now. Architectural Engineering. There are no programs here in Arlington. Online classes, moving to Richmond to attend Tech and private school in DC are my only options, unless I want to go back to San Francisco State that has a program that promises to have you work ready by graduation.

Missing new babies, friends' milestones, my family and my home has put a slight damper on my life in Virginia. I love it here. I love my friends, I love the seasons, I love my house. But it's not home, and it never will be. So, with nothing to prove, I'm moving home in May. I think a nice Bay 2 Breakers party will be just the welcome back I need... After a few more adventures of course!

Last week I had two days off in a row. My grandma has been having some trouble since her heart surgery a couple of months ago, and Jasmine just had her sweet little girl, Beverly!! I couldn't resist surprising everyone with a trip home. Nate picked me up at BART and we went home. It was great to see my parents, they were so surprised. In the morning my mom and I went to see Julia! I hadn't met Julia yet, only a couple months old now, she's beautiful. Promising to be a complete knock-out like her sister Allie. It was great to chat with Linda for a little while before we headed up to Napa to see my grandma. Man she's mad!! I don't blame her a bit. I hate not being able to do the things I like because of some injury... And heart surgery?! Oh I'd be pissed. She's strong, and she'll get through it, but it won't be easy. I was glad I got to see her and my Aunt, who was in a really good mood. Christmas was just too far away.

On our way home I called Jasmine, for the third time.... :) Beverly was only five days old at this point and Jasmine wasn't in the mood for company. I would think that very few of us would be, but when she heard I was in town we got to go right over. Beverly is one of the prettiest babies I have ever seen, just like her mama... We stayed for a little while, with her son Gabe and her dad Mike there for company. I have known them since before I can remember, well Mike and Jasmine anyway, and it was just what I needed.

I went to dinner with the parents and then, in the morning, climbed with Nate. VA gyms blow, I love Diablo Rock (as it is now called)... I do not love Keith, who was working the front desk, but even he couldn't ruin the day for me!

I left at four to get to San Francisco to see Jeff. We haven't hung out in San Francisco together since I was 19, it was strange... And great. It was a hint of what it will be like when I move back. To have him living in my city makes me happy. She's being rough on him, but I'm sure he will find his niche.

This weekend I have another two days off in a row! So tomorrow Leanne and I are going to a mini spa day. Then I am off to dinner with Jill and Steve (Lisa's parents) at Zatinya, a tapas place in DC. Sunday I am climbing with Parrish :)... It better stop raining!

I moved my bed to next to my window. When I move back I will miss this for sure. There is no way I will have a view like this in San Francisco! There are times when I will just sit there, reading or watching fat squirrels try and climb the trees... Virginia has given me some of my favorite memories, and I'm sure the next few months will give me at least that many more...

Louvre Me Louvre Me

My roommate just got back from a weekend trip to Paris! Now that I live on the East Coast this is realistic for me too... If only I could find the time! So instead I will paint my nails Paris inspired purple and go to work :)

Work has been good lately. The burger shop, Ray's Burger Hell, was just reviewed in the Washington Post and kept us quite busy yesterday and today. Today we sold over six hundred burgers... Yesterday we sold 825! Quite amazing. I get sick of eatting at every restaurant that I work at, but not the burger shop. I could eat there everyday, not have the same burger twice, and always, ALWAYS, finish that 10 oz hunk of deliciousness! If you are curious, here are some of the reivews...

Ray's Burger Hell:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100803060.html?sub=AR

http://www.washingtonian.com/restaurantreviews/1921.html

Ray's the Steaks:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=cityguide/profile&id=1071592

Nate left to fly back to California today. I am so sad that he is back on the West Coast! We had such a good time! DC United game with Megan, my friend Barbara's roommate's going away party, climbing with James and J, The Spy Museum with Leanne and dinner with Parrish and Bonnie. The best times though were when we were running a muck just the two of us. We had so much fun! To see more go check out my Picasa site!