fourth

Doesn’t it drive you nutso when someone brings something up but then refuses to tell you what it is. It particularly bothers me when someone begins saying something and then proceeds to awkwardly pause and say ‘nevermind’. Saying nevermind does not automatically wipe the memory of you beginning the conversation out of my mind forever.

Instead I become consumed with wondering what on earth you wanted to tell me but then decided against it for whatever reason. The funny thing is, as are most things in life, is that I do this to people ALL THE TIME. Just this week I have referenced an exciting event and then promised to reveal it at a later time.

Well, that time is now. My news does not affect most of you because you are not a part of my family BUT I officially have a fourth parent! This does not bring about much change in my life, as I already considered Kristen (who has been in my life and  living with us for more than half of it) my step mother but they finally decided to go all traditional on us and get married.

I couldn’t say anything because they didn’t even tell her parents until after the fact–it was a small courthouse wedding on June 25th. Without further ado, here are some pictures! :)

In celebration of the union, I picked up some cupcakes from cupcakeology as a wedding cake of sorts.

GAH you are probably surprised at my early post, but I was once again woken up by my boy’s need to wake up and workout at the freaking crack of dawn. I have been up since 6:30. And I have massive bug bites from all the spiders that I have decided to let live this past week, that’s it.

I am renewing my arachnid killing policy

chopin

In many ways, I feel as though I am a grandmother in a 18 year old body. I adore classical music, tea, sweaters, pearls, Breakfast at Tiffanys, and I wear dentures.

Okay, one of the above is not true (you caught me, I hate sweaters..) BUT I still bear a striking resemblance to a ninety year-old in many respects. The good news is, this increases my chances of making it into the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest person in the world considering I am ninety at heart NOW and I hope to have at least another seventy years more. This morning I joined my peers in attending the Church of Beethoven.

The “service” is basically church without the religion. People congregate to enjoy coffee and music on a Sunday morning at the Kosmos. Today the line up was

• F Chopin: Nocturne in E Minor Opus 72
• C Franck: Sonata in A Major for Violin & Piano
• Poets: ABQ Unidos . . . Albuquerque Youth Poetry Slam Team

Notice the average hair color of the other attendees..

I have some other exciting news! Well, actually two things (more on that later) but the more superficially exciting one is that after living in NM for 18 years I can finally call myself a citizen BECAUSE I have tried red chile. This may come to a surprise to those of you who know me and are familiar with my obsession with spice, but I have always just had this preconcieved notion that I hated red chile despite never trying it.

After “church” we dined at the ORIGINAL Garcias downtown and I figured what a perfect opportunity to try my hand at some serious carne adovada consumption.

VERDICT:

eh..It was alright. I still prefer green but I am up for trying out some more red infused dishes in the near future. I will say that it was spectacular when paired with a smidge of honey on the tortilla and then piled on top.

Since we were already downtown with camera in tow, I decided to try my had at being photographer for my article this week about the warehouse fire on Broadway. The firefighters were trying to go about their usual business while I snapped a few shots. Let’s just say that I will be sticking to writing hahah I don’t think picture taking is my forte.

Now I am off to tidy up the house before my mother returns home from her weekend at our house in Pagosa Springs and then look for a plastic plate and bowl to bring to D.C

everywhere

Washington D.C is blowing up the Bravo network right as I am about to go there!

This one is obviously a joke, BUT there really is going to be a real housewives of dc that premieres in august!

TOP CHEF D.C.

SOOOO freaking much to do but I am getting excited :)

slumber

I am one tired cookie!

Some regularly-houred, normally-located sleep is just what the doctor ordered but it seems as though my prescription was botched.

Even as far back as my sleepless night earlier this week, I have been slumber deprived and only had one night of recovery before I spent the night camped out in front of the Apple store  to get Shmemp a fancy new phone. My old, dejected Motorola Q is having some self esteem issues after being near that thing now.

The bright side of situation was that I was properly fueled throughout Wednesday to get through the long night. I paired the remainder of my salad from dinner with Leah and Molly at Johndi’s Tuesday evening with some eggs, apple, and coffee.

I seriously adore leftovers–they are almost better than eating the food originally! You carry your little box out, knowing that you are not done enjoying your food and looking forward to your next meeting.

BAM! leftover usage achieved

Plus ketchup

So we arrived Wednesday night to be about 60th in line with book in hand (me) and jacket (kemp’s originally but stolen by me later). Some people had really thought it out and had brought their computers, chairs, tents, blankets, pillows, RV’s, etc. We were on the lo-tech end..We found a tennis ball to entertain us after awhile (you can choose whether you consider this sad or genius).

We foolishly thought when the sun came up 8 hours later we were on the home stretch. Let’s just say we were wrong: we didn’t leave until one pm at least! We headed home, ate and promptly passed out until 7. Kemp went home for dinner while my mom and I whipped up some din din (did I really just shorten dinner to din din?) then I did the dishes and folded my laundry while my mom took the pup for a walk and then we all headed to bed thinking that I would be able to sleep quite a bit in a BED.

Quick and easy dinner :)

I knew Kemper had to get up early to work out, but I was thinking more in the 8 o’clock range–I was woken up at 6:30 with breakfast requests! AH, i downed some coffee and proceeded to whip up some oatmeal for him and two banana oatmeal muffins for my mother and I. Once the boy had headed out could I go back to the comfort of my bed? Of course not, I had to make some work calls and August had to be walked to off we went and now here I sit.

Busy, busy day ahead of me. Have to head down to school to pick up my acceptance letter to sweden and passport photos for my visa application, then I have a top secret event to attend (more on this when it can be revealed), lunch in celebration of said event, hopefully some interviews along the way, dry cleaning to pick up, and my visa application to be finished and sent out tomorrow.

funny bone

The good news: I SLEPT IN UNTIL ALMOST 11 !!!!!

The bad news: I woke up looking like this

Why on earth would I take a picture of me in this state? Well, I am glad you asked. You know those little things that everyone does but no one acknowledges or even really admits to doing?

C’mon

Don’t act like you dont look at your own facebook profile to see what other people see(or untag yourself out of hideous pictures posted by others), laugh when you look in the mirror upon waking up to crazy bed head, or have a solo photo sesh when you are bored and looking HOTTTTTT..or sometimes just plain and simple bored hahah.

Okay, if you are male you are most likely exempted from most of this. But ladies, let’s get real. We all do things like this, no one will believe you if you try to deny it :)

Personally, I find these little quirks more amusing than embarassing. Maybe that is because I have much more experience BEING embarassed than some other people. Take the other day for instance, when I went to the mall to meet the boy in my typical hot weather uniform of dress sans bra or underwear and was informed upon arriving to him that my BOOB WAS TOTALLY HANGING OUT.

The offending dress

Yep, I could make myself feel better by telling myself that I have long hair and it probably covered it, or that it is not much to see anyhow. But honestly, probably everyone saw and I am okay with that. Made their day a little better because it wasn’t THEM with giving an entire mall a peep show. Nothing I can do about it now but laugh, and that is what I choose to do.

I guess I can’t fight fate, and it seems as though I am destined to make a fool out of myself  for others’ enjoyment so you know what, I embrace that.

I was looking through old pictures this morning while sipping my coffee which is what brought about this train of thought and I found some funny ones that reminded me of the all the times where various pieces of my body were exposed accidentally. I guess that is the risk one runs when you run around without undergarments but I think its hilarious that my group of friends dont even get surprised when another body slip happens anymore. EHH we all have the parts people, mine just dislike being confined by clothing apparently.

So in tribute to embracing embarassment here is a photo montage of things I found on my computer that I took of myself at some point in time..Some of them are more than a year old but I find it ridiculous that I took them in the first place so without further ado..

lemon

Seeing as I have significantly reduced my coffee intake recently, I should not be surprised that I was still feeling the effects of a five o’ clock grande black coffee at almost one last night. I was feeling slightly fatigued when Kemp and I opted out of hanging with the gang at eleven thirty, but after brushing my teeth and settling down with my book before bed I realized I was too antsy to catch any zzz’s.

I am slightly cursing myself for not joining Leah in her choice of herbal tea over coffee yesterday afternoon, but I figured I would go ahead and begin writing a post to clear my head and possibly tire myself out.

Father’s Day was filled with cooking (any excuse I get these days I swear). I had stayed out a bit late the night before so I crashed in town at my mom’s house, and the drive out on Sunday morning to my dad’s was CRAZY pretty. Driving while taking pictures is obviously not advisable I realize BUT on did it quickly, while not looking at the camera, and strictly on straightaways.

On the Father’s Day menu

(*= from scratch)

• Baba Ghanoush*
• Chilled Asparagus
• Shrimp and Scallops de Jonghe*
• Green Salad
• Cinnamon Ice Cream*
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream*

I feel as though I can’t say that I made a salad or vegetable dish from scratch because I didn’t grow the veggies in some garden or something..what exactly qualifies something as being from scratch?! That term just sounds gross in my opinion, but I diverge..’From scratch’ or otherwise IIIITTT was delish of course and the weather cooled down a bit so it was pleasant eating outside.

hahah we are all making ridiculous faces. My dad is the photographer

Me dishing out some de Jonge..unaware of picture taking at this time

MMmmmK people fast forward a bit to Monday!!

Can be described in two words : lazy day. I drove into town early, got my oil changed, hung out with the boy–he was subjected to two episodes of the O.C. in exchange for some quality world cup watching–grabbed coffee with leah and then dinner with my mom, and then Kemper and I headed off to Morgan’s to hang out with everyone.

Over our dinner conversation I was reminded by my mom of all the things that I was unaware of about my looming internship. I realized I had a multitude of questions about the dorm where I would be staying, what the dress code is, the hours involved, etc.

I arrived home and jotted down these questions to call about in the morning but realized with a little online research that I had all the information at my fingertips.

Here’s some things I discovered!

What my room will look like–I WILL HAVE A KITCHEN AND BATHROOM!! I will share this with one other person so hopefully the other intern and I are of the same political party…hahah. Actually that is not really a concern, considering I have a step dad and boyfriend who do not share the same political views as I do and I love them just the same :)

Also I cleverly figured out where I would be commuting to and from campus to Capitol Hill every day using a little thing I call Google Maps..perhaps you have heard of it? Total distance is 3.1 miles on the dot. So unbelievably tempting to forgo the metro and rent a bike instead but I have been assured that aside from the problematic heels+skirt+bike issue that it will be RIDICULOUSLY hot and humid and therefore a horrible idea to attempt to walk and or bike to work.

YIKES I have so much to do before I leave. Gotta get my stuff together for my Swedish Visa, call the internship office with my questions, do laundry and pack (duh), spend time with all my loved ones, work (if I ever manage to stop being such a sketch-ball writer..I swear I don’t know what it has been about this past month but I feel flakier than a croissant), etc.

Overwhelmed is an understatement.

ouch

Memories were triggered last night serving me to be reminded of all the humiliating things I have done over the years. The flood of recollections pertaining to my various mishaps made me appreciate the person that I have grown to be today. More so though it made me want to further improve because clearly I still need some work. Even as recently as last month I have done things that even if not witnessed by anyone else, I am ashamed of myself for engaging in.

Remembering all the mortifying actions I have subjected myself to throughout my life, even ones that make perfect sense on my part but come across negatively to other people, literally makes me sick to my stomach. I seriously just lost my appetite.

It makes me wonder, truly wonder, if people can forget your embarrassing antics of the past or if thats all they think about every time they see you. I can’t even seem to put my finger on if I personally do so. I couldn’t tell you right now if I eventually forget people’s mistakes or if every time I see that person I judge them, either subconsciously or otherwise.

Clearly we have all made mistakes and are nowhere NEAR being through with doing so. If there were no mistakes, we would not be able to learn or grow from them but seriously…does growing have to be so painful? Couldn’t we instead achieve personal growth and maturity through laughter or eating snickers?

Has anyone ever noticed that a certain word is encased in

EMBARRASSED

I suspect that it is not accidental.

thank you

It is becoming increasingly apparent to me that I am one lucky girl.

I sometimes wonder if everyone possesses a pre-determined amount of good fortune because if so, I have definitely used up a fair bit of it in these past 18 years. I see people going through personal tragedies, poverty, dealing the with effects of natural disasters, or addiction and I wonder why it is not me in their place.

I guess you could say that I believe in karma to a certain extent, a fairly low extent but there is some belief nonetheless, and looking back on my life I don’t really think I deserve all the good things I am blessed with. I haven’t done anything BAD persay, I try to be a nice, helpful, and honest person in general, but I haven’t done anything spectacular either and there are times when I am a down right brat.

Life isn't fair. It's a statement that is often uttered, but the absolute truth of it is usually overlooked.

Why should I have four parents, while some have none? Why should I have so much love and happiness in my life, while some are stuck in such hateful situations? It’s scary sometimes to see all the horrible things happening all around us–the oil spill, the haitian earthquakes, the murders occuring on a daily basis, cancer, I could go on and on.–and realize that I have never even had a pet die.

I feel sometimes like I am waiting almost, for something horrible to come to happen to me, it seems like only a matter of time. I have four parents, ten grandparents (all alive and healthy), two fantastic homes, three adorable pets, an amazing set of friends, a cute boy, and great opportunities awaiting me for my future. There is a lot at stake, and I selfishly don’t want to give any of it up.

Okay, that is all kind of heavy stuff I realize. Now I have a SUPER morbid feeling about everything and I am scared to get out of the chair in case I trip down the stairs and get paralyzed or something horrific. The reason that I am thinking about this was because last night my friend and I attended a candle lighting ceremony for a girl on my cheerleading team’s dad. I didn’t have much appetite before, considering the circumstances, but we had plans to go out with the girls after so I figured I probably should.

Enacted some BFD (breakfast for dinner)

Anyways, the ceremony was beautiful and though he passed away too early, as did her mother, I know that one thing that often surprises me is people’s compassion and generosity in times of need.

AHEM.

On a different note, I woke up at precisely 9 am to our cleaning lady coming in the door so despite not getting home until 2 I dragged myself out of bed and made my first green monster! I have heard nothing but good things about these babies for months, but our blender is slightly wacko so I never endeavored to try it. I had a massive headache and was totally tired out so…

TADA!

-handful frozen spinach

-half a frozen banana

-some almond milk

-one scoop chocolate protein powder

Solid food was just not going to do it for me this morning so I had a trio of beverages while I shot out some emails about a potential article.

I felt super energized and great after drinking the monster of goodness, but I’m not sure which of the components of breakfast did it for me because there WAS a caffeinated portion of the meal. I’ll go ahead and say it was the green monster though…

…CLEARLY I hated it ;)

After working for a bit, I headed out to the gym because my mom is canceling our membership in July so I only have ten more days of having access. I’m really glad that she is finally doing this because our membership is EXTREMELY expensive and neither one of us ever goes to the gym..she plays tennis and runs with the dog and I run outside and hike and do yoga. BUT the next ten or so days I shall be a gym rat!

Now I am off to lunch with the dadster. I am just SO grateful that I am able to spend time with him, and that he able to be there for me!

jungle

You know how they say to not go grocery shopping when you are hungry?

Turns out there is a reason.

Sunflower shopping spree–that store being so close is trouble.

It was kind of an odd day to begin with, considering Tess, Em, and I left Trevor, Colin, Pat and Pavel’s house at 2am or so and proceeded to have a jellybean eating fest (me) and overfeed a fish (em). We woke up pretty early and met Breezy for a breakfast of sushi (odd I know), which was surprisingly not weird at all, there were even some women already there as well (before 11:15 no less).

Sushi is so ridiculously filling that we decided to go work out at our respective gyms. The gym I go to happens to be verrrrry close to Borders and Whole Foods so I decided to stop by and spent TWO HOURS looking at cookbooks and cooking magazines, completely forgetting to eat or drink any water after working out. Needless to say, when I left I was starving but still poor so I limited my purchases at WF to chips and blueberries and decided to stop by Sunflower for two things: an avocado and a sweet potato.

hahah yeah, THAT worked out well. My mom and stepdad are out of town so our fridge was heinously empty..but not for long!

BEFORE

AFTER

To end my rather odd day, I ate a HUGE late lunch at around four and managed to spoil my dinner. Kemper came over and we watched a show called pint sized brawlers.

For those of you who know me, clearly this show was created SOLELY for my entertainment and fascination. We watched an hour of this I think. It was magical hahah the only reason we even saw it was because the remote was wrestled (literally) out of my hands and I was forced to watch The Ultimate Fighter for an hour instead of my recorded Kathy Griffin: My Life on The D-List!! But it was a blessing in disguise obviously since the pint sized show came on after so it’s okay I suppose.

This morning I woke up at 11:30 (!!WHOA) and decided that since I missed dinner last night, I would eat it for breakfast because it was my favorite.

Chicken salad for breakfast? Ill take it. ;)

rusty

Let’s see if I can remember how to do this. I was greeted yesterday when I stepped off my flight towing my significantly larger bag into 90 degree weather. Since then there were some other signs signaling that I was home:

-construction everywhere, and traffic madness

-the heat (obviously)

-difficulty breathing on my run today

-the empty fridge at my mom’s house

-my crazy kitties

Wow, it is astonishing how quickly these past three weeks flew by, I can hardly believe that they are over. Here’s a little recap of my trip in picture form.

I went on a nice run in Portland

The next day it was beautiful outside, so we dragged our hungover selves to the Saturday Market

As we lay there, someone played a harp at our feet!

We ran across the CUTEST antique store. I wanted to steal everything, but seeing as that would be exceedingly difficult I settled for taking pictures.

Fast forward a few days and I was on beautiful Bainbridge Island (off the coast of Seattle) for my cousin Chandler’s graduation! Shout out to my fam–I know you guys are reading this :)–They have the cutest house off in the forest. So green and cozy!

I feel so creepy that I took these hahah but I really do love your house Kirsten and William! My favorite part of the house is the porch and views, I read outside quite a bit while everyone was doing their thing.

I went across to Seattle to retrieve my aunt and her hubby, and of course a stop at Pikes Market was necessary

There was so much beautiful produce

And flowers!

Seriously, unreal. Here are some scraps of pictures that I cant really place.

I really like these last two :)

I’m a sucker for teacups and flowers.

that’s all folks