16 March 2010

i've been busy, i swear!

even the sun has an awesome grill at sfai

the view from school, as breathtaking as ever

superbowl spread on the day the saints made history

sometimes he sneaks up on you

new batch of little girl headbands in the works

quick visit with djuna and her parents
(djuna models the mini beret i gave her for her 2nd birthday)


anton, writer/producer and all around sweetie
(currently script supervising for his short "charity")

15 December 2009

xmas comes to the shoebox

nathan and i trotted out my nutcracker collection this past weekend so that there would be some semblance of holiday cheer in our shoebox. all these years living on my own, i haven't often had an xmas tree, which is completely tragic being that i love them so. this year it dawned on me: wreathes! the poor man's tree. still fills the room with that gorgeous smell.

my favorite nutcracker is the pink haired pirate. he has a treasure map draped over his arm... and a pegleg!


this stocking is as old as i am, knitted for me by great grandma flo.

15 October 2009

happy birthday, little boots

new favorite things

i made a few discoveries during our trip and developed a love of a few simple things that had somehow eluded me till now.

drip coffee
aspen trees
chipmunks and their cute little striped bodies
convertybeetle living
desert at nightfall
long underwear
chile rellenos
cherry 7up
straw sun hat

and really, the list can go on. my love also grew for perennial favorites like spending money and adding to my coozie collection.

14 October 2009

victorious

L, crew needed. R, shoot dates.

i pitched alone forever at the scary cow pitch meeting this sunday and was successful in recruiting a buttload of awesome people to fill out our crew. as is customary, my insides turned gooey and i had to take some notes before i went up in front of everyone to do my bit. hilarity!

rainy day hiding

san francisco is none too happy about the storm that barrelled through the region yesterday, but i sure enjoyed staying warm and cozy tucked away in the shoebox.

this was the first time in a while that i could keep out of the rain and have the apartment all to myself, so i indulged in some of my favorite rainy day activities, many of which are holdovers i guess from rainy days at school when i was teen.

what are your favorite rainy day activities?

mine are reading, watching movies, padding around in slippers, and drinking hot cocoa. typical!

old news, but

hearty congrats to my favorite restaurateur!

trip index

guess where

in the spirit of one of my favorite reading activities, harper's index, i give you our road trip in indexed form...

states traversed over eight day trek, including california: 4
portion of days we drove with the top down on the convertybeetle: 8
freeways, highways, and interstates we drove on: 19
chipmunks i almost ran over: 3
mosquito bites sustained: 0
lodgings we stayed at: 4
portion of lodgings touting historical notoriety: 2/4
casinos we strolled through: 7
casinos we "patronized": 5
amount of money spent gambling: $250
winnings: $30
las vegas buffets we glutted ourselves at: 2
lowest temp v. highest temp: 49° v. 107°
trips to walmart: 3
times we used the convertybeetle's a/c: 1
days we would have needed a/c if we weren't speeding in a convertybeetle: 8
books i brought to read: 3
books i read: 0

06 October 2009

en route to the gc

just before dusk on the 67

where the deer are

arizona desert before it gives way to the pines

california desert

one of my absolute favorite moments on the trip was driving towards death valley our first night. the sun was setting in the desert, we were heading to nevada with no idea where we would later be resting our heads. we'd been in the car for hours, i'm talking 10+, but we were still digging the road. we listened to pulp, goldfrapp, and joy division (plus elegia from new order). the music was depressing, but we were so happy.

30 September 2009

day x day

leaving east bay

day 1 out of san francisco by 10am or so, drive through yosemite, early supper at a taco truck in bishop, watch the temp gauge in the convertybeetle climb past 100° as we drive through death valley in the dead of night, pull in to pahrump, nv, for gas and lodging but decide to push on for vegas. 12+ hours of driving total.

day 2
up early, shopping spree at vegas walmart (beer, camping supplies, beef stew!), head east out of town with the top down in a sea of air conditioned cars, take the 15 thru a wee slice of arizona and into utah, another stop at walmart (long johns for grand crayon!), lunch at the cracker barrel, put the top up for a cool down, cut back over into arizona via the 59 past a town called hurricane (hurricanes in utah?), warm weather gives way to chilly breezes as we connect to the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous 67, pull over to change out of shorts and into jeans and sweatshirts, continue on the pine and aspen lined road passing deer families eating their dinners, finally arrive at the north rim campground at the grand canyon just as darkness falls, set up camp, build a fire, admire the evening sky, collapse in cozy sleeping bag.

day 3 make our first cups of drip coffee and it takes forever, head out to the kaibab national forest for my first view of the grand canyon from point imperial, take beaucoup pics, back to camp to make a picnic lunch, head out to north kaibab trail and hike down as far as we can go, take beaucoup pics, eat sandwiches on the trail and make friends with mules as they pass by, crawl back to the convertybeetle, back to camp for showers, laundry, dinner, and a little reading before dark, chitty chatty by the fire into the night.

near mono lake, yosemite

day 4 with heavy hearts, we break camp, back on the road with the top down and we are shocked when the convertybeetle temp gauge confirms that it is 49°! completely bundled up, we make our way back to the interstate, stop for a bathroom break at an vermillion cliffs overlook, buy the most beautiful turquoise and feather pendant from a navajo woman named genevieve, more sandwiches in the arizona desert, shed some layers, retrace our steps through utah, back in arizona for a minute, then on into the punishing nevada heat, finally arriving in the hustle and bustle of late-day las vegas, settle in our room at the flamingo with a view of the live flamingos, dinner at the buffet (not so good, crappy crappy service), a little gambling, long stroll down the strip with occasional pop-ins at other big casino-hotels, nice to sleep in a bed again.

day 5
up early and head out to explore the flamingo on me own while nathan sleeps in, visit the wedding chapel, the pool, and the animal sanctuary (turtles! huge koi! swans! flamingos! duckies!), read up on bugsy siegel's flamingo legacy, back to the room to wake up my travel companion, finally packed up and checked out, we stroll back out on the strip in search of a better buffet, happy to find a good one at the mirage (sushi! bread pudding! enchiladas! pine nut & salami & pasta salad!), gamble a negligible amount at the mirage and discover a nickel slot call kitty glitter! one last trip to my favorite walmart, back on the road for another marathon day in the convertybeetle, spend the rest of the day cutting thru the vast and beautiful nevada desert, nathan buys a capgun at a truck stop and pretends to be clyde to my bonnie, traverse the extraterrestrial highway (375), reach tonopah, an old mining town, after dark, opt to check into the silver queen over best western, really good mexican food for dinner down the street, a few rounds of digi poker and a winning round of kitty glitter at the little ramada casino down the road, then off to bed.

day 6 our last day in the desert, we are eager to hit the road and leave town before gassing up, and about an hour later, we just barely make it back to tonopah for a fill-up and some bk, back on the road and on and on and on through more vast desert, past vacant walker lake, through more wee towns, finally cross the border into california and on into beautiful forested hillsides, lots and lots and lots and lots of bikers, jeez, get to lake tahoe with no place to stay, nathan randomly finds the cal-neva resort in our guide book from the library, we head up to crystal bay on the east (feels like north) shore and score a $300 room on the top floor for two nights at less than $100/night, dump our stuff and fawn over the lake views from our room, back out for burger dinner and chocolate malt at the char-pit in king's beach, the past week catches up with us and we both fall asleep earrrrly.

on the way to death valley

day 7 finally a chance to sleep in, brunch at fire sign cafe in tahoe city on the west shore leads to impromptu drive around the entire lake, fall more in love with lake tahoe, ice cream sundaes in south lake tahoe, back to the room to regroup, aha! let's go to the beach! lay out by crystal clear water on the beach at sand harbor on the east shore, get some sun, catch up on a little reading, back to the room to spruce up for dinner at christy hill in tahoe city, eat on the outdoor deck facing the water, dark but still beautiful! love the cab, malbec, calamari, chili relleno, panko-crusted halibut, and filet mignon, try to pull an all-nighter, but can barely make it past 11.

day 8 the saddest day of the vacation, time to go home. pack up the convertybeetle and head into neighboring incline village for hearty breakfast at crosby's grill pub (and casino-- still in nevada), more outdoor dining with gentle rustling of nearby creek, then digest on the beach at zephyr cove for a few hours, pick out a few pretty rocks for souvenirs, witness a lakeside wedding a few yards away, back in the convertybeetle, drive off into the sunset.

what's a convertybeetle?

nathan strikes a pose, walmart parking lot, vegas.

29 September 2009

road warriors


we spent a long week cruising across state lines in a convertybeetle and have lots of photos to show you! come saturday, september 26th, we'd been to yosemite, death valley, las vegas, the grand canyon, lake tahoe, and everywhere in between.

if i can show one image that pretty much sums up the trip, it's the composite above. both photos were taken the same day; bundled up and escaping 49° in grand canyon on the left, and cutting through the nevada desert with temps topping 90° just a few hours later on the right. and of course, the top was down the whole way!

03 September 2009

cheers

well, mom & dad finally got to partake in some trivia at edinburgh castle after years of missing out. thanks to them, we got a free pitcher for knowing the answers to some really obscure questions.

in other news, i had to evacuate our shoebox yesterday so a kindly gentleman could re-caulk our bathtub, and i took refuge at a matinee for the new harry potter. they're all finally old enough to start hooking up with each other! good lord, hogwarts was awash in more raging hormones this installment than any previous.