San Francisco and Big Sur: August 2009

In honor of my love for lists, and the little green notebook we carried on vacation, I am presenting you with the list of all lists. I hope you have as much fun reading in, between and around the lines as we did re-reading the odyssey that was this year's vacation. If you'd like to see our vacation with your own two eyes, check out my Flickr account.

Thursday, August 13

• Phoenix to L.A.
• Stayed with Toph and Em
• Queen-sized, hip-tall, air mattress

Friday, August 14

• $80 breakfast in L.A.
• Drove 101 to Paso Robles to see Dan & Suzanne
• A WHOLE bottle of Justin Isosceles for lunch!
• Fires everywhere
• Vina Robles tasting [tasting with wine club members = both sides of the menu & cheese to match :) ]
  
• $12 bottle of Red 4 to go
• 101 to San Fran
• One hour hunting for a parking spot with Brian
• Let Brian drive to expedite finding of spot; Brian firmly curb checks my Matrix “rims”
• Matt locks himself out
• Slice at Mystic Pizza; meet Amy Hribar (went to school and played soccer together; she’s been in Spain for a few years, me nowhere near Pittsburgh; SMALL, SMALL world!), while eating on the street
• Drink 7/8 bottle of Crown Royal
• Up ‘til 3am
• Brian cooks veggie pizza for 6 hours; wake to smell of burn cheese; pizza is hard, black disc

Saturday, August 15

• Coffee & bananas/mimosa’s
• Soak feet in Japanese hot tub
• Squat & Gobble for breakfast; hash browns taste like Dad’s…mmmmm
• Walked to Market Street; unsuccessfully ride a street trolley
• SFMOMA; Georgia O’Keefe + Ansel Adams exhibit; Richard Avendon is a brilliant photographer
• Best/prettiest mocha of my life on the roof
• Brian buys 5 of the same postcard: sad-looking Marilyn Monroe
• Off to Pier 39 via trolley for a brief moment of touristy chaos
• Taxi to City Lights Books; Chelsea is in heaven—buys a Bukowski’s Women; buys Ginsberg’s Howl for Matt & Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet for Brian
• Drink at the kitschy bar, Vesuvio; every inch of wall is covered
• Home for pre-drinking drinks
• First, Lucky 13 (like Howard’s, but in San Fran and way cooler); best punk/rockabilly jukebox ever; photo booth insanity; HUGE shots
• Next, Zeitgeist; really hoppy beer; drug-induced paintings of pigs/elephants on the walls; friendly strangers; Brian loses motor skills—takes a time-out in the Port-a-John; we get kicked out/bar closes; carry Brian out to puke on the sidewalk; Matt pees between U-Hauls; Chelsea saves us all with pizza; Brian manages to be vertical; Chelsea guides us home with Brian’s iPhone & Google maps
• Pass out

Sunday, August 16

• Lazy morning
• Kate’s Kitchen makes us wait; fractured souls
• Lazy again; soak feet again
• Wander aimlessly around Amoeba
• Wander aimlessly across Hippie Hill
• Wander aimlessly through Golden Gate Park
• Eat $20 snacks with aforementioned $12 wine
• Check out the park from the roof of the de Young
• Wander aimlessly through Flower Conservatory and dahlia gardens
• Window shopping in the Haight-Ashbury
• Thai noodles…mmmmm
• Hot tub
• Three tall boys and three good friends in Alamo Square Park

Monday, August 17

• Brian goes to work; Chelsea finds car and park expertly in front of Brian’s house
• Back to Squat & Gobble…still delicious
• Cross Golden Gate Bridge for the first time, together
• Muir Forest. No words.
• Mt. Tam—hot but beautiful view; strange men in parking lot wearing white with bells strapped to their legs, and some instruments, singing weird British folk songs…?
• Stinson Beach; club sandwich; rolled pant legs
• Cow Hollow Motor Inn—our home for a few days
• Seafood dinner; Chelsea eats fish equivalent of pot pie, which includes shrimp, squid, scallops, crab, etc. and little tiny octopi babies
• Post-frozen yogurt, fall asleep with TV on

Tuesday, August 18

• Sleep in; get huge coffees; watch SportsCenter (Favre is back. Ugh.)
• Only aiming to eat breakfast/lunch, find ourselves at Mel’s Diner from American Graffiti
• Rent bicycles
• Huff and puff and peddle our way through Presidio Park
• Check out Ft. Point; Warming Hut; Marina Blvd.; Crissy Field; extremely lame, semi-functional wave organ
• Eat snacks on the stairs of a lighthouse; watch Chinese shipping container barge travel through the bay, and strange man wearing 2 wetsuits
• Check out Victoria Park; view of Embarkation Point from the hill
• More cycling/walking our bikes up the hills of San Fran
• Return bikes
• Matt does laundry in the sink (that takes 3 days to dry)
• Give up on 2 hour wait for ultra-trendy Italian restaurant; instead, find E’Angelo Cucina Itali—best Italian meal since Italy; beautiful waitress, grumpy old man, dirty cooks—everyone speaking Italian, us eating as if we were in heaven
• Find wine bar; buy 2007 Ridge California Sonoma County Three Valley Zin…sooo tasty
• Hotel drinking, music listening, and rummy playing

Wednesday, August 19

• Up early
• Breakfast at Pier 39; yummy SF sourdough; biggest plates I’ve ever seen
• Wait in line forever, but looking forward to a day on boats and guided wandering
• Angel Island; stinky diesel tour tram; guy ON HIS CELL PHONE WHILE ON THE TOUR—AGGGHHH!!!
• Alcatraz and audio tour with weird ambient music; took more photos in one day than I have during most other vacations
• Find Meze’s (translates to something like Greek tapas) Greek restaurant; 5-course prie-fix; best meal so far

Thursday, August 20

• Get up; get coffee; get groceries from local market; pack & leave
• Partial scenic route drive; Richard the TomTom + large-print atlas + compass = Highway 1
• Find a Subway in Mexico town; find a random, exquisite, gorgeous beach; eat lunch, take photos, play in the sand, watch things
• Get to Big Sur Campgrounds & Cabins; unpack and pitch tent
• $8 burritos the size of your head from general store
• Stella tall boy and more rummy playing
• Nice bonfire
• Guy next door roasts marshmallows by the fire with end table lamp on outside

Friday, August 21

• Free coffee & healthy breakfast; clean up & go
• Point Lobos State Park; Whaler’s Cove; whaling museum
• Healthy lunch back at camp
• Pfeiffer Beach; purple sand; Big Sur rocks; starfish; fog
• Crappy general store pizza; drink delicious Petit Syrah out of the bottle
• Rummy tourney continues
• Bonfire with stolen wood
• Matt falls asleep by the fire and is disoriented when I call his name

Saturday, August 22

• Chelsea pees outside thinking it’s too early for anyone to be awake, but later realizes it was at least 10am—time is nonexistent in nature
• Shower, breakfast, breakdown camp, leave
• Drive Highway 1 behind two undiagnosed mentally retarded drivers—Matt is tense; Chelsea loses her persistent optimism
• Make up time on 101
• The Lydecker Hotel welcomes us with open arms—we love Ann & George :)
• Make dinner together; drink box of leftover wine tasting bottles that Topher brings
• Dinner table storytelling is my favorite part of any trip
• Sleepytime

Sunday , August 23

• Eat breakfast
• Revise Lyndsey’s resume
• Notice smog/fire smoke everywhere
• Boring drive through desert
• Home again, home again, jiggidy jig jig
• Vacation hangover/depression

THE END

The most wonderful time of the year...NOT!

I don't often post things written by other people in my own blog, but I really couldn't do a better job of explaining what it's like in the summer in Phoenix...


Dear Diary:

Just moved to Arizona! Now this is a state that knows how to live. Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It is beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th:
Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th:
Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th:
The temperature hasn’t been below 105 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least, it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th:
Fell asleep by the pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body). Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.

July 20th:
I missed Fluffy (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Fluffy had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now smells like Kibbles and Shits. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. Good ol’ Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th:
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freakin’ blow dryer! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the A/C repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th:
Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now—$225,000 house and I can’t even go inside. Fluffy is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th:
It’s 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $1200 and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid state.

Aug. 8th:
If another wise ass cracks, “Hot enough for you today?” I’m going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!

Aug. 9th:
Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the seats in the car, I thought my ass was on fire. My skin melted to the seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass … Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

Aug 10th:
The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Not entirely sure how it can “really warm up” … Doesn’t it ever rain in this damn state? Water rationing will be next, so my $2700 worth of cactus will just dry up and blow away. Even the cactus can’t live in this damn heat.

Aug. 14th:
Welcome to HELL! Temperature got to 123 today. Cactus are dead. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me?! “Hot enough for you today?” My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Arizona. What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?! Will write later to let you know how the trial goes.

Deep Thoughts by Chelsea Keefer

I stole this idea from someone else's blog (who stole it from someone else’s blog)…

…so, here are my favorite things about my favorite people:

MATT

• That you make yummy meatloaf and write funny/sweet things on it.
• That you have as much sports gear as I do.
• That you have my parents in your phone (and I have yours in mine).
• That you get me water when I’m thirsty.
• That you always offer to drive on road trips.
• That you buy me DQ when I don’t have cash and I’ve had a bad day.
• That you seem to know every word to every song and who the producer was and who did the cover art and when to expect the next album from any one of your favorite artists.
• That you alternate cleaning bathrooms with me.
• That you and I can share the Suns and Buckeyes.
• That our Browns/Steelers household is generally civil and without much friction.
• That you love Dante as much as I love him.

DANTE (a.k.a. “Killer” a.k.a. “Mr. Jingles” a.k.a. “Kitty”)

• That you bring us animals to show us how much you love us.
• That, even after almost a year, you still gingerly tap the cat door before leaping outside.
• That you head butt and “talk” to us every morning when we wake up and every evening when we get home.
• That you killed so many birds we had to put a bell on you collar, and you still somehow manage to catch them.
• That you sometimes let geckos loose in the house, just to watch them run…or, you eat their lower-bodies and leave us the carcass as a gift.
• That you always know when we are sad or sick, and stay close until we’ll better.
• I love that there’s so many reasons why we love kitty that I have to stop myself here :)

MOM

• That you find the best birthday presents at arts festivals.
• That you always make sure there are fresh wildflowers for guests at the Keefer Cottage.
• That you’ve lived in Pittsburgh for almost 40 years, but you’re still nervous in snow storms.
• That you sound so excited every time I call.
• That you’ve successfully learned how to double-click, drag-and-drop, send text messages, charge your iPod, and use a thumb drive.
• That you call me when you’re on your way to the beach and you’re blaring the Barenaked Ladies or Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris or the Talking Heads (that you remembered how much you love music).
• That you are a total Egypt nerd.

DAD

• That, even though it took you forever to finish, you built Mom an Egypt-themed office.
• That you make fires so big we have to take the flag down.
• That you can get out of pretty much any ticket.
• That sometimes when I call you ask “Who is this?”
• That you seem to like when I tell you about my car maintenance.
• That every time I say I have to tell you something you say “You’re getting married?!”
• That you cook like the Swedish Chef and never use a recipe.
• That you dig cranking up XM radio classic rock or gangster rap just so it sounds cool.

New Photos

Well, my Mac was "in the shop" for a while, getting some much needed TLC. As a result, I fell behind in posting photos. So, here are some new photo sets for you to check out:

BG: May 2009

Photos from my trip back to Bowling Green, OH for Chris B's graduation.

NIN/JA: May 2009

Nine Inch Nails opening for Jane's Addition at Cricket Pavilion in Phoenix, Arizona

FLAGSTAFF: July 2009

Photos from a quick birthday trip up north: Snow Bowl Skyride; the Little America resort; and, Lowell Observatory.

All Points Bulletin

Well folks, it's time for another lengthy update from an otherwise sporadic blogger these days.

MARCH
As you all know, March was the month of sports for us. I can't tell you the joy I feel drinking beer and eating peanuts, whilst wearing a sundress and sandals in the outfield at a spring training game. For us, March is the calm before the storm, which in our case, is 100+ degree weather (although, right now, it's an 88 degree Sunday in June, and the city of Phoenix is collectively holding its breath).

March was also garden planting month. With the help of a master gardener from work, Matt and I planted our very first garden. We spent a day of manual labor helping a friend, in exchange for her expertise. As a result, we totally overhauled our soil and planted everything from cacti to succulents to flowering bushes, and even a small vegetable garden. In the time between then and now, we've had three multi-day violent wind storms, two torrential downpours with frigid temps, and a variety of other a-typical, inclement weather. Hence, we lost our entire herb garden, our strawberries, and some of the transplants and/or new plants. We'll have to breath more new life into the soil this fall, but we're happy with the results so far. Our tomatoes, zucchinis, squash, and red bell peppers are almost ready to produce--the soil may not have been healthy enough for such a bold effort this season--though we may only see flowers instead of veggies. This fall, we plan on planting a few more moderate-low-no water desert plants, mainly cacti, and some more veggies, which will probably be broccoli and cauliflower.

APRIL
April took me to Denver for one of the conferences that work sponsors. I arrived in 30 degree, blowing snow, freeze your snot weather, and did not much more than hide in my room and help to run the show. I did get the chance to hang out with Joe and Cindy Hughes for dinner and a few drinks, so Denver wasn't a total bust. I also travelled to Pittsburgh for Easter weekend. My mom hosted an open house (let's call it a mini-belated Groundhog's Party), so I could see lots of people at once, and our traditional Bunny Brunch, where my favorite people came, ate and conquered the mimosa.

In April, we got to see The Boss...that's right...Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Bruce has been on my bucket list of shows for a very long time. It was absolutely amazing to see him and the original E Street guys. We also had incredible floor tickets. I did wear earplugs for the first time in my slightly adult life.

We also hosted an NFL draft party that brought together fans of the Steelers, Browns, Bears, Cowboys, Packers, and Vikings, for a friendly BBQ and six hours of anticipation laced waiting. You know it was a good night when the food is gone, nothing is broken, and you somehow manage to avoid a headache in the morning. Golden.

We ended the month with the 3rd annual Cubs @ Diamondbacks outing, where the Cubs lost, but Matt and I both won grand slams during 'Pass the Cup' for a grand total of $50.

MAY
May was a smattering of travel, houseguests and chaos at work. I'm going to politely ignore work in this blog. Suffice to say, it was long hours, intense projects, and stressful vibes. I did celebrate my one-year anniversary with Nlets, so that was an eye-opener (if you read my pre-Nlets blogs, I did a pretty good job of predicting how life would be). All I know, is that I get paid to write for a living. Everything else is just white noise.

Early May, I was off to Bowling Green to watch Chris B. graduate with his MFA in Poetry. I sort of felt like the proud Mom. It was weird to be in BG this time around. I ate fire steak at Mr. Spot's and grilled chicken salad with breadsticks from Polleye's, but it just wasn't the same. Bars are closed, campus is different and 'For Sale' signs are popping up everywhere. The heartwarming houses and gardens and slowness of town still hangs in the air, but I've definitely lost whatever connection I had to that place. I did not, however, lose the connection between my wallet and Finders!

Matt and I went to see Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction, and, with age, comes exquisite seats. We sat in the fourth row, and revelled in Trent's sweaty, rage-filled, beefy, bad-ass, "yes, the guy still has it" rock-ing-ness. Perry Farrell brought the house down as well, accompanied by Dave Navarro and his pierced nipple, single again, eyeliner wearing, metrosexuality. The NIN/JA tour is somewhat a product of Perry wanting to celebrate the 20th (?) anniversary of Lillapalooza, which toured 1st in Phoenix. The show rocked through and through. I have some incredible photos, but my Mac is in the shop right now, so you'll have to check my Flickr account later.

May also included a Memorial Day weekend camping trip to Woods Canyon Lake, Raven's Loop, Spot #10--yes, the infamous Spot #10. Matt and I spent a week preparing: making piles of sports gear (I bought my first baseball mitt), boardgames, all of our gear, clothes, etc. We even went out and bought a few more essential pieces of camping gear to add to our collection. That Friday, we packed up and headed northeast, despite an almost 100% guarantee of crappy weather. By the time we were east of Payson, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and the fog was so bad, I was afraid we'd miss our turn. It was pouring when we got there, but we managed to pitch a dry tent and have a few drinks inside of it before passing out. The next day, we woke up realizing we forgot our (1) water, (2) chairs and (3) other assorted personal goods, like toothbrushes and cameras.

It rained ALL day, but we managed to brew coffee in the morning; I got slaughtered in six games of Yahtzee; we consumed a 1/2 bottle of Jack Daniel's; and, our tent set-up did not leak. The weather broke just long enough for 3 hours of making homemade chili, starting a fire and somehow shattering the remaining 1/2 bottle of Jack. Just after we cleaned up and got the fire raging, it began to hail. Yes, hail. We retreated to the tent yet again, and, I'll admit, even my adament positive thinking wasn't working anymore. The rain did stop, and we enjoyed another 1.5 days of sunshine, yummy camping meals, fishing, iPod, bonfire, and non-soaking wet stuck in the tent glory. We have two more camping trips planned for the summer--one in June and one in July.

After returning from camping, we had one day to get our gear clean and put away, and then had an incredibly short visit with Sarah Pinkelman. She was in town for a conference while we were camping, so we only had one night of pizza and red wine to catch up. Too short, but I'll take it. One day of toilet cleaning and laundry later, Matt's sister Teresa showed up for a long weekend. I made myself scarce when possible, and the Cooper siblings spent most of the weekend talking and catching up. It felt great to do nothing but drink, cook and chill by the pool.

JUNE
June has been, and will be, somewhat of a quiet month compared to our usual escapades. I'm off to Arlington, VA for the National Institute of Justice Conference next weekend. My parents are going to drive down for dinner/breakfast one of the nights, which will be wonderful as it is so close to Father's Day and my dad's birthday. We've got another weekend of camping--hopefully, this time without hail and with water and chairs.

The rest of the summer will be filled with more camping; a quick trip to San Diego for a wedding; possibly some Phoenix Mercury games (our women's basketball team); and, a few concerts--Tool and Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson/John Mellencamp. Our main summer vacation to San Francisco is shaping up. Looks like we'll spend the first few days with Brian, the next few solo, two days camping at Big Sur, and one uber-fast night in Los Angeles. August will end with Matt's birthday and the 10-year anniversary of us meeting during the first week of our freshman year at BGSU. Wow...time flies!


That's enough for now. I've had too much coffee; I'm craving pancakes; and, it's almost pool-o'clock. Much love to everyone. I hope this blog finds you all happy, healthy and loving life!

XOXO

Cross your fingers for me...

Well, I finally settled on the three photos to submit to the Arizona Highways contest:



AND



AND



Thanks to everyone who gave me their two cents! I don't think I have much of a chance, as there were thousands of photos submitted, but just getting my pictures out there felt good enough :)

Pickers Needed

There's this photo contest:

Chihuly: The Nature of Glass Photo Contest

I've been asking around for help choosing the photos.

I'd love your opinion...whoever it is reading this.

Pick your three favorite shots (Chihuly's glass must be featured) on my Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelseask/sets/72157613201978412/

And let me know!

Thanks :D

XOXO

P.S. Thanks to the folks who already emailed me!

How I've been...

First, an apology. Well, really an explanation. Actually, an excuse. Why haven't you heard from me in so long? I blame it on the Steelers—yes, the six time World Champion Steelers—and Harold's Cave Creek Corral. I pretty much spent most of the latter half of the football season with my Phoenix fans at Harold's, holding my breath for a "W" and, eventually, screaming my head off during the Super Bowl.

I barely had enough room in my life for super Steeler and Suns fandom, and, suddenly, with Matt around, I've morphed from casual observer of Buckeyes, Cavs, and Indians games to a pretty faithful fan of all sports in general. I must say that I'm ready to close the baseball chapter in my life for good. I just can't stand having to question whether or not it's talent or drugs that makes an athlete great. Suffice to say, if asked to choose, I'm a Steelers, Buckeyes, Penguins, Suns fan for now.

In the Keefer/Cooper house, most of November and December involved football, holidays, over-eating, family, and settling in. By January, we managed to start having some fun as well. We visited the Desert Botanical Garden for the Chihuly: Nature of Glass exhibit (see my photos on Flickr). There are very few things in this world as beautiful as the combination of nature and blown glass. You should all find a reason to come visit and check it out!

February was jam-packed with partying, with a good friend of mine's 35th birthday bonanza, which involved lots of booze and an out-of-control bonfire that included an intense session of alley hunting and the burning of 6 Christmas trees. We also took a road trip to Vegas for a quick weekend and tickets to Love. We ended up running into Topher and Emily, walked until we had shin-splints, and enjoyed every casino between the Mirage and the Bellagio.

March has been basketball/baseball spring training month. We had tickets to the Suns v. Lakers game, which was an incredible game and HUGE win for the Suns, and tickets to the Suns v. Cavs game. Although the Suns lost the Cavs game, Matt was in heaven, and, I have to admit, I enjoyed being a Witness to the King. This year the Indians debuted in their brand new spring training facility in Goodyear, so I thought it would be nice to surprise Matt with a few sets of tickets. So far, we've gone to Indians v. Brewers and Indians v. Dodgers. We also have tickets for Indians @ Cubs this weekend. As soon as basketball is over, and baseball has started, it will be nice for me to take a break from sports and rejuvenate before football season starts.

Next week, I'll be in Denver for a work conference. I get to fly back to a ½ day off and tickets to see The Boss. Bruce Springsteen is on "the list" for both Matt and me, so it was an easy decision for us to go. Easter weekend, I'm heading to Pittsburgh for an uber short visit with the parents. I think we also have a Diamondbacks v. Cubs game at the end of April. (The Cubs/Bears are my back-up teams these days. It seems everyone and their mother who I've met down here is from Chicago.)

In May, I'll be spending four days in Bowling Green for Mr. Chris Bloomfield's graduation. If my good friends were on one hand, Chris would be the opposable thumb. And there's nothing that would stop me from being there when he walks across that stage. Also in May is THE concert of the spring: Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction. In the words of Borat: Very excite. The following week, I get to enjoy the company of Pinkelman while she's here for a conference. I'm hoping she joins Matt, Chara, Tim, and me for our 2nd Annual Memorial Day Weekend Camping Chaos. And then, before you know it, I celebrate my one year anniversary with Nlets!

June starts off with a bang, as we are traveling to Chicago for The Wedding Celebration of Meredith Deubler & Michael Ansenberger. It will be a quick, but inevitably raucous and memorable trip. July will partially suck because I'll be on a plane on my birthday en route to "sunny" Savannah for my work's annual conference. I look forward to the humidity and long work hours. The rest of July will be full of what I anticipate to be our yearly attempts to stay out of the heat and keep ourselves entertained. We're thinking: take dance or maybe cooking lessons; join a gun club; re-watch our favorite TV series; indulge in an ever-growing pile of sports DVDs; and, enjoy our pool and new garden.

Oh, yeah. Our garden!

Two weekends ago, my friend from work come over to the house and helped us plan our garden. We have a number of terracotta pots and a big, U-shaped planter. We decided on a sweat equity barter: We help her weed her garden; and, she helps us plant ours. We got somewhat of a raw deal, seeing as though she has a HUGE garden that required six straight hours of weeding on an abnormally hot day in March; however, she and her husband provided us with invaluable green thumb knowledge of growing in Phoenix, as well as a few hours of manual labor. We planted herbs, veggies, and a mixture of bushes, succulents, cacti, and ground-cover. If you need to find me between May and October, chances are that I'll be by the pool with a book in my hand.

With the garden planted, every box unpacked, and most household quirks discovered, I guess you could say that Matt and I are finally "home."

Okay. Back to our crazy calendar of events.

In August, we will celebrate Phil and Julie's wedding in San Diego (drink it in). But, the main event of the month is our summer vacation. So far, the plan: starts with a road trip to San Francisco; includes a weekend with Brian (though, we have yet to confirm this, as it seems everyone is including Brian in their 2009 travel plans!); is followed by three days at in the city, where we'll stay at a hotel at Fisherman's Wharf; then moves on to two days of camping at Big Sur; and, finishes with a mad dash to an overnight stay in L.A. with the Lydeckers before driving home to Phoenix (or, a drive home straight from the coast). We are insanely impatient for this trip to begin!

Beyond August, plans haven't solidified yet, but are starting to come into focus. We might do a long Labor Day weekend at Sandy Pond. The Killers concert we were supposed to see in April has been postponed until late-September. I'm pretty sure Columbus Day weekend will involve either Portland or Bellingham. We will probably uphold our Thanksgiving tradition and attempt a fourth tasty turkey. We have ever so slight discussed spending Christmas up north with our families. It would be nice to get all parents and siblings and miscellaneous family to come to us for the gorgeous winter weather in Arizona, but we don't know if we can make it happen.

Wow! That was like a novella/vignette/autobiography in 1,500 words or less! I figured I owed all of you a serious update. If you couldn't read between the lines, here's the bottom line:

I'm happy!
Very happy!!
Very very happy!!!
Very very very happy!!!!

(P.S. Matt/Coop says hi. And, no, I don't think he'll EVER get a Facebook account.)

2008 | a list of bests

best cup of coffee: Kona French press, one sugar cube, in the morning before work

best backyard in Phoenix to eat really late yummy dinners: Chara's

best album to listen to with Matt: In Rainbows...live...in Toronto

best song to listen to loud in the car: "The Healer/Hip Hop" by Erykah Badu

best commute/new job: my commute/Nlets

best new city visited: Portland (not new, but newly experienced)

best airport: Atlanta has brisket and rocking chairs everywhere

best free thing I had to give back: the laptop I used as a full-time instructor at ASU

best very expensive purchase: a tie between buying my slightly used Matrix and getting my student loans out of forbearance

best pair of shoes: the new Chucks I'm about to buy - I think I'm going gray

best street for walking forever: 5th/Mill during the Tempe Arts Festival

best sitcom marathon: I made Matt watch Weeds; and, he's making me watch It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

best beer: Molson (only if you can see the Canadian border)

best gift: a scrapbook of my childhood artwork from my Mom...tear

best homemade holiday foods: Dad's split pea soup and wedding soup

best neighbor/cat-sitter ever: Robbie!

best decision of the year: moving into a house with the boy

best friend awards:

Chara - gourmet meals while camping, an awesome belated birthday bash, and staying strong at UOP, getting a NAM position, and generally being the strongest woman I know

The Doots - The Polish King sends funny text messages and goes to Bears games in -8 weather

Chris B. - finishing his thesis, opening up, and still managing to ROCK!!

Brian - for pulling off an incredible escape from BG to sunny San Fran for a dream job and a dream girl...and long overdue happiness

best album coming out in 2009: Of Cities by DJ Signify (featuring Aesop Rock & Blockhead) January 20th on Bully Records

best new year's resolutions (I plan on keeping): taking swing dancing lessons, joining a gun club, cooking adventurous dishes, going to the gym, talking less and listening more