the hustler of AC

Someone had to be cause it certainly wasn't me.  Apparently I was getting in trouble for taking pictures but I didn't care.  It was worth it for the shot.

The wedding was nice, it was full of teary eyed moments.  It was also weird to see so many people from college, like a reunion in disguise.

And just like that I'm done with my travel.  Nothing on the horizon besides getting back in to my routine.  I'm excited for the new View today before work and then tomorrow will be Laura's first day.
Oh I will also pay my first car payment next week, so there's that to look forward to too.  -__-

I miss them already : (

Back from Boston and I am missing Zeus and Penny terribly.

The wedding was beautiful and I was honored to be a part of the party.  It was also really fun to meet so many different people from Jon's life that I had only ever heard about or seen in pictures.  Like his niece Olivia!!  Ugghhh, she is so adorable, literally smiling and happy about EVERYTHING.

And then I made a lot of new and unexpected friends as well.  Like Joe's mom, who by the end of the night was dragging me by my tie to the dance floor.  Or Louis' parents who were hilariously english and fantastic.  I rode with them from the house to the venue and we were supposed to be following the others.  As we were getting situated we saw them pull away from the curb and down the street to which Lesley exclaimed, "Well they're off like a prom dress!"

Besides the wedding it was great to just get out of town for a few days.  It's been almost two years since I've flown anywhere or been away from work for more than three days.  I was reminded of the person I used to be and the life I used to have.

When I got home from the airport I took a shower and intended to go to the grocery store but my truck wouldn't start.  I have an appointment for this afternoon with Rodney at the Miami Mini dealership.  Will keep you posted.

Of all the reasons I'm super excited to get a new car I think the best thing will be having a sound system that works.  As you may recall my radio in the truck has a tendency to fall out of the dashboard when I go over a particularly large speed bump.  And to have speakers that work 100% of the time?  Oh it will be amazing.

Special thanks to Zeus for deep cleaning my ears every chance he got for 4 days:

I can enjoy my new sound system to the fullest!  And you know what I'll be listening to for the inaugural drive.

Paris and Mia

While Heather is on the other side of the planet I get the honor and privilege of looking after her two precious angels.  I even wrote a song that I sing to them when I check on them.

"Paris is nice,
Mia is nice,
Two nice ladies,
Nice nice nice"

They seem to enjoy it.

she says, "WHERE'S MOM"

Heather returns from Haiti tomorrow, but I think the girls are ready for her to be back.  Me too!  Judging by the messages I've received from her she will have some stories to tell.

Heather Bruce	Apr 11 (2 days ago)
to me

Hi there!  How are things?  How are the girls?  I'm excited to get home and sleep.  I have a rooster outside my window.  I don't know if I've ever wanted something dead so much.... I lay there last night hoping we'd have rooster for dinner and "maybe they'll let me pick which one".  I think the malaria meds are making me angry...

rabbit rabbit rabbit

Well it finally happened folks.  I failed you, March 2013, tough times indeed.  For the first time I failed to get a post a day for the month, I'm sorry.

But it's a new month, starting with my favorite holiday.  The holiday I was born to celebrate.  I just wish I were going to work so I'd have somebody to prank.  Maybe I'll have to wait until I get home and prank the detective.  He'll be angry!

I'm spending the morning in Sarasota with my sister before I head back down south.  Hopefully my drive back will be less dramatic than my drive up was.

And don't worry, I will post this months fat cat picture as soon as I get home.  I know you're anxiously waiting.

I think he's glad I'm home

He inched himself in to this position, like I wouldn't notice.  If I had continued to ignore him I'm sure he would have eventually just crawled across my entire keyboard.

But I can't resist him, he's too adorable.  We've run the full gamut of emotions, from extreme purring and headbutting, to biting and kicking.  Now we seem to have reached the "just be with me" stage.  If I'm standing in one place for long enough he will lay down across my feet, otherwise he just has to be at my side, touching me somehow.  : (

He's nice.

i'm back

It was so wonderfully uncomfortably hot I had to stop my run so I could jump in the water.  Yesterday walking around San Francisco I was literally wearing a sweater and a leather jacket and I was still cold.    It was nice to begin sweating immediately upon exiting the airport this morning.

After my swim I was heading home and as I passed an area of woods I heard some rustling from the foliage.  I was very pleased to find this nice guy:

although since it was still like 3 in the afternoon I think it's safe to assume that he has rabies.  That's why I was glad there was a fence in between us.  Still, his face, I like it.

It's also my first raccoon sighting here even though I always look for them after I noticed this hilarious sign a while back:

"We only have two rules around here, no stopping, and definitely no feeding the raccoons"

I like that they had to have a sign specially commissioned because the problem had apparently gotten that out of hand.

Why can't the Ft. Lauderdale fire department just let the raccoons be great?

whatever happened to predictability

I have the afternoon to myself on my last day in San Francisco so I decided to go for a nice afternoon stroll.  I ended up on Broderick St. and remembered that it's the street the actual full house house is on that I never got to see the last time I was here.  So there you go Sergio, I hauled my ass all over San Francisco one more time just for this picture, just for you.  I have to say, looking at the house from the side view, I do not believe it could support a family of...what, like 8?  And didn't they all have their own bedrooms?  But at least I can check this off my list of things to see in my lifetime.

I also appreciate that I got to see this today:

 
Hahaha.  That's Evan trying to navigate the impossibly steep hill outside Meredith's apartment.  While I would never want to have to deal with that hill on a daily basis I do love this sign on the corner:

Such a Meredith place to live.  I'm sad I to leave tonight but I look forward to getting back in to shorts and flip flops.

the wedding, day 1

I made it to San Francisco safe and sound.  Actually, I got the entire row to myself on the flight out so I slept like a baby.  I met up with Kelly and Evan at the airport and we made our way to Meredith's to spend the night.  That view from the top of a hill is all you're getting from me about San Francisco.

Well that and this shot I took of downtown from the bridge as we left the city:

And made our way out to wine country:

I actually saw grapes!  Real live grapes!!

So far we've only attended the welcoming party and if it's any indication of the weekend ahead I am quite excited.  Everything you need to know about the party can be summed up in this picture of us:

Wasted.

Oh and I'm sorry Meredith, I know I promised I wouldn't put this on my blog but I can't resist.

That ring is not kidding around.

It's going to be a good weekend.

all day

I saw neither hide nor hair of the detective all day, unless it was when I was in my closet and happened to look in the corner of my shirt shelf.  I think he can sense that I'm getting ready to go out of town so he's giving me the cold shoulder in preparation.

That picture I took this morning when I was putting on my running clothes.  Hours and hours later as I gathered my things and planned my outfits for the coming days I found him again, this time more awake and alert:

Still just as angry.  Previously he would lay on top of the shirts that were in that spot, as of today he has started shoving them off the shelf altogether.  Of course if I put some kind of cat bed there I'm sure he would abandon the spot quickly.

I learned a long time ago to stop trying to understand why he does the things he does.  It's just his nature.  He's weird.

For now he's left his fortress of solitude and joined me out in the living room so I am going to take advantage of the opportunity and get to packing.  I'm crossing time zones tomorrow!

north beach

When we finished setting up camp Linden said, "There's beer in the cooler, I hope you don't mind using the pink drink holder".  Once I saw what it said I knew I'd have no problem using it at all.

It was a great beach day, everything worked out in our favor.  I think it was a fitting way to celebrate my one year anniversary down here too.  And I enjoyed my final day of rest and relaxation before a week of hard work followed by a weekend of intense travel.

I'm glad I at least have a healthy glow to carry me through the week.

it always happens like this

Looks like a beautiful day for the beach eh?  That's what I thought too.  In fact, I started preparing for my beautiful Saturday off as early as Friday evening when I unwrapped the roadster and got it all cleaned up.

You can imagine my displeasure sitting in the beach parking lot where the view out my passenger side was the one above, and the view out of my drivers side was this:

In that Florida style, the rolling thunderheads were nowhere to be seen on my entire drive to the beach. As soon as I parked, however, they blocked out the sun and brought that cold wind that often heralds the impending storm.

After some consideration I decided there would be other days for the beach and I gave up on my grand plan.  I instead spent the day cleaning.  The good news is that I have clothes to wear to work now!  The  bad news is I didn't get the golden tan I was hoping for.  When I travel to other places how will people know I live in South Florida?!

I guess it only takes a brief conversation to figure out somebody is an insane Floridian.  And sometimes, it doesn't even take conversation, as this man learned recently.  Since I'm not tan I'll have to use that as my topic of conversation with strangers I may meet in the coming days.

It's either that or talk about the weather.

home sweet home

I got in yesterday afternoon and immediately went on a run even though all I really wanted to do was go to sleep.  I felt like 6:30 was probably too early for sleep though, so I forced myself out.  As usual I was glad I did once it was over.

Especially because I was still in a new york state of mind so it was fun to run along the beach and remember why I love it down here too.

And there's this guy:

He was obviously happy to see me.

"Please, please let me out of here, why am I kept prisoner?"

We cuddled all night.

NYC for the 4th

There was a part of me that was excited to spend the 4th of July in Miami and see what it was all about but when my work schedule lends itself to travel I have to take advantage.  And when Meghan said she and Sam both had the 4th off it was too good to be true.

I did everything I could have wanted to do yesterday too.  I got coffee from 9th St., followed by sitting in the park with Meghan and chatting/dog watching.

Once Sam woke up we wandered around the city looking for food.  After being turned away from our original destination we ended up at Bread which I had forgotten all about.  I used to eat at Bread almost every day when I worked at Simple around the corner, but I haven't been back since.  The food is just as good as I remember.

After lunch we stopped at whole foods to pick up another of my favorite nyc things;

source

and headed back to one of my favorite places:

for one of my favorite activities:

As the sun started to fade we made our way to the party for the evening.  Suzannah's instructions were, "the doors are open, just come on in" so that's what we did.  But the apt we entered didn't seem to have much of a party going on.

Apparently because it wasn't the apt throwing the party.  That's right, this is just somebody random's apt in NYC that they leave completely open.  We literally walked in off the street without buzzing anybody, got in the elevator, pressed "P" for the penthouse, and walked right in.  Once we realized we were in a strangers apartment Meghan made us leave quickly, but I had to snap a picture before we did.

Having seen the penthouse I was disappointed to not be able to party there.  I figured the apt hosting the party would probably be more modest in comparison.

I couldn't have been more wrong.  It was seriously one of the largest and most unexpectedly luxurious apartments I have ever been in.  We weren't really sure who at the party actually lived in the apt so I was hesitant to take too many pictures, but here are the two most important ones.  This was in the corner of one of the GIANT bedrooms:

Why?!  I want this!  It's so Mariah!!  Ugh, my envy knows no bounds.

And then if that wasn't crazy enough, when I asked where I could go to the bathroom I was directed to their powder room in the front entryway.  I figured it was going to be a modest closet sized bathroom. I was, again, incorrect.  It was really hard to take a picture that really shows how crazy the bathroom is but I did the best I could.

It was floor to ceiling mirrors on all four sides with all black furnishings.  Even the door to the bathroom was mirrored so once you closed it you were in the epicenter of your own infinite army stretching out in every direction.  And when I peed?  Oh it was glorious.  I could watch myself from literally every angle.  And who doesn't want to do that?!

The only downside to the apt was that we didn't have any kind of view of the fireworks.  At first I thought this was our only outside view:

Until Meghan finally invited me up to the roof which had a pretty incredible view of Union Square.

We could hear the fireworks, and even sometimes see them in the reflections of the windows, but it was mostly just a tease.

At least the skyline provides enough twinkling lights to satisfy.  And we even left with enough time to catch a few of the fireworks from the view down 15th St.

Along with all the other stragglers who couldn't find their way to a better view.  We got home and I didn't even realize but Sam ordered a pizza from what I would say is the ideal place to order a pizza from, Lombardi's.  Not only is Lombardi's great because it's delicious and steeped in history, it's also another place that I used to eat at all the time when I worked at Simple.  And there's nothing better after a good buzz than some nostalgic pizza.  Isn't that how the saying goes?

I'm not even sure when we all went to sleep last night but it happened at some point.  And now I must prepare myself for another fun nyc day before I head back south tomorrow morning.  I'm going to go put my walking shoes on now!

happy 3rd birthday

source

Can you believe it, we are starting year 3 of my blog.  Finally out of the terrible twos.

Hopefully have some big things on the horizon for this year, guest writers, more fabulous vacations, visits from strangers.  And barbie, there will still be barbie.

So thanks guys, for reading this silliness for the past two years, I hope I can keep you entertained for a few more at least : )

And thanks to all of you who have helped me provide original content.  You are all my muses.

doing stuff and seeing things

Ok ok, I'll say it, San Francisco is pretty great.  Congratulations Meredith, you were right all along.  

Yesterday will took me to breakfast at this crazy tiny restaurant perched along the edge of the Pacific: 

where we sat in the perfect corner booth.  That picture up top was the view to my right as we ate and this was my view across the table: 

Awww so nice.  

Apparently the craziness we were looking at below us is the remains of an old bathing house from back in the day.  They even had a picture of what it was like before it burned down:

My favorite part being the guys in the water: 

doing their daily calisthenics, good for the body and mind!  

Sadly all that remains are the remains.

Still pretty cool.  I was also astounded by the big rocks in the ocean.  I mean look at those things!  You don't get rocks like that in the Atlantic, at least not in my Atlantic.  We also don't have awesome sea caves. 

"Oh sure, you can wear flip flops" -Will.  

That black cave sand is cold let me tell you what.  But totally worth it.  

After breakfast Will took me to the legion of honor to see sculptures by Rodin among other things.  This also happened: 

By the time we finished the clouds had cleared and I was beginning to see what all the fuss was about with San Francisco.  We found out that our admission to the legion of honor would also grant us access to the de young, where we climbed to the top of the tower for this view:

If you look close you can see the golden gate bridge! 

We didn't end up spending much time at the de young looking at the art, mostly just looking at the views of the city.  Will did instruct me to take a picture of these crazy tumbleweeds:

Otherwise I was too anxious to get back outside and enjoy the nice weather.  Nobody told me that it's only summer for like a couple hour during midday, otherwise it's just bitterly bitterly cold.  But during those precious midday hours it is really beautiful.  

And apparently there are youths around every corner, ready with a choreographed song and dance routine for all to enjoy: 

And enjoy we did.  

In the evening Will and I parted ways and I had all my dreams come true by having dinner with Meredith, Peter, Amelise, and Ben.  I also got to see Meredith's apartment which was like some kind of dream. This is her view from the living room: 

And her precious angel dog Jolene: 

: (((( She's so nice!  It took almost the whole night, and about two sticks of string cheese, but we finally became best friends right before it was time for me to leave.  

But leave I had to, as Meredith had gotten me wasted on delicious margaritas at nopalito.  And yes, again, you're right Meredith, the mexican food is better in California.  

I've done so much but I still have so much more to do.  Headed out now for another day of San Francisco fun.