my dad

today is his 51st birthday! {wow}. i wish i was home to give him a huge hug and maybe grab some sushi together to celebrate. if i were a perfect daughter i'de golf 18 holes with him, alas, i cannot golf. [but i can eat.] i don't think he even reads my blogs but i can't resist a post for him!

i could make a list of 1000 things i love about him, but that would be a little excessive for your reading pleasure... so maybe i'll just share one or two of my favorite stories? ok.

once when i was in high school [and so dramatic as high school girls are...] i spent an entire night whining to my dad about how stressed/over-worked i was. this is embarassing, but to insure that he completely understood what i was feeling, i told him something along the lines of- "i feel like a glass box, and there is just so much water inside me that it's spilling over and i'm going to shatter from the pressure!". {i seriously said that, oh my.} i was obviously distraught. we talked and chatted and i'm sure he made me feel better and then i went to bed. the next day i put in the 8 hours of school and then after school went to work. i worked at a gym near our house and had a 1/2 hour break so i went next door to the grocery store to grab a bite to eat. as i was walking back to the gym, i looked at my car in the parking lot and noticed something taped to my windsheild. i was furious because of course i thought it was a ticket {so optimistic} and walked over to see how much money i'de be fined. well, it was a sweet note from my dad written on the back of a shopping reciept. it said, "pookie, you may be a glass box near shattering, but you're the prettiest glass box i've ever known." it put me in happy tears and i still have that note!

when we were still living in california my parents bought this ginormous 3/4 ton chevy suburban. finally, we were rid of the funny [but so dependable] red mazda van. all were pretty excited. my dad especially loved it. that christmas my mom made a million carmels for people in the ward/neighborhood and sent me, regan, and dad out to deliever them. we took the suburban {which he informed us was his "b.a.t. mobile" aka; bad-ass truck} to deliever the goods and the entire time dad had christmas music BLASTING over the speakers {to demonstate what a great system his bat mobile had}. it went something like this; mannheim steamroller at ear-deafening decibel and two dizzily happy girls delivering christmas carmels with their dad all over concord, what a sight. i just remember driving around with him and regan with the windows down so all could share in christmas joy, laughing so hard it hurt.

seriously, my dad is the most wonderful man on the entire planet. i love him with every inch of my heart. i'm so greatful for our relationship and the fun we've had together for the past 20 years! we are a lucky family to call such a man "father". and my mom did good.

oh, AND

happy halloween!!! eat too much candy and have too much fun this weekend.

Lately

At 7pm one night my friend Alli [who is from Danville, CA and a very dedicated Angels fan] decided we should go into the city to watch the Yankee v. Angels baseball game. So we called two other girlfriends and the four of us drove into the Bronx, somehow found parking a million miles away and made our way to the new Yankee stadium. We didn't have tickets but we wached the game in the Hard Rock Cafe right next door. We might have been a little out of place amidst the screaming/drunk Yankee fans. And Alli [of course] had to sport her RED coat in Angels pride. Goodness. The game finally ended at 1am in the 13th inning. So long. Yankees won. That made the drunk people very happy.

Ready and waiting for our yummy hamburgers. Notice none of us are in navy blue, woops.

Earlier that day a group of us drove up to CT to go to this cute farm stand/corn maze. It was my very first corn maze, which is funny because I lived in Cache Valley for 4+ years. Verdict? Corn mazes are boring. I think a haunted one would have been a bit more exciting, but this one was not $7.00 worth of fun.

Our group told Alli and I to "run!", that we would play Sardines. So we ran. In circles. For ten mintues. And kept ending up at this stupid pole. #6. And they didn't even play Sardines [we are gullible?]. We just ran around like idiots. And laughed a lot. And made the entire group wait for us to find our way out. Which took entirely too long.

Cute group of autumn lovers. We enjoyed fresh Apple Cider doughnuts together after our adventure in the corn.

Other great things I've been doing-

Took a week in Saint Martin with the Akram's. That was great. I didn't work during the days so I just layed by the pool or on the beach and read "The Great Influenza" by John M. Barry. Fascinating book. I got a tan and lots of freckles. Minimal sun damage [Mom].

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at night. So beautiful. I'm working on getting those pictures.

Saw "Where The Wild Things Are". Loved it. Thought it was a little sad and intense for a children's movie.

Baked homemade bread. Didn't suceed. Megan, Ashley, Mom and Grandma make it looks so easy, and smell so wonderful, and taste so mouthwatering. Mine was the texture of a rubbery pound cake with a surprisingly hard crust. I was quite discouraged. Mom said she would teach me when I go home for Christmas, I have faith that I will master it.

Got the new Michael Buble CD Crazy Love. I might just be a little in love with him, always.

It is gorgeous here. The leaves are bright orange and yellow and red and I feel like someone just lit all the trees on fire. I live in the most beautiful place on earth. And feel so happy and grateful and content.

Happy Autumn!

i heart dc

big exhibit. little nicki.

a few weeks ago i went down to dc to visit my good friend mara who is doing an internship. we had such a blast seeing the sights all weekend. it was go-go-go nonstop and by the end of those three days i needed a pedicure in the worst way. so worth the blisters though. please, make sure that you get to dc at some point in your life! bucket list it.

the capitol. so impressive and beautiful, like most of the buildings in the area.

library of congress. this was one of my favorites! during the war of 1812 the british burned the nation's capitol and the library of congress. thomas jefferson, having acquired the largest personal collection of books in the united states, sold his personal library as a replacement. congress purchased it for 23K in 1815. the jefferson library exhibit still has the majority of these books. it was completely astounding.

and when there is construction on the metro at 11pm, this is what we do to pass the time. so my most favorite part of the trip was on sunday when we went to the holocaust museaum. it was by far the most incredible thing to witness. no cameras allowed in, but the things i saw inside were gut-wrenching and heart breaking. it was very moving and i was in tears for the majority of the 3 hours i spent there. it was stunningly powerful and i was able to more fully grasp and identify with, even in miniscule amounts, an unfathomable time in history. other favorites? the smithsonian museaum of american history. SO GREAT. i was in there for 5 hours by myself, completely content and fascinated. national archives. georgetown- so chic. dupont circle- so hippy. thanks to; mara for a lovely weekend dc for being so hospitable the weather for not being too hot my dear feet for suffering for miles and miles

autumn harvest

apple picking is our best hobby.

they were delicious and juicy and we picked 1/2 a bushel.

and now i want to make baked goods, with apples and cinnamon.

the day was gorgeous-

sunny but there was a crisp breeze, my favorite. the leaves are starting to turn!

we also bought fresh apple cider, corn on the cob, homegrown tomatoes & pumpkins.

i'm excited for conference next weekend, and for autumn to get here in full force.

frozen bliss

today was my first time driving in the city without;

1. getting lost.

2. nearly getting into a car accident.

3. getting honked at.

4. getting completely flustered and overwhelmed.

5. crying.

i am feeling pretty good. excellent even. and so competent. if you ever need anyone to drive you around nyc, i'm officially your girl.

and while i was there, baby and i enjoyed one of these-

frozen hot chocolate from seredipity.

it was as delicious as it looks.

don't be jealous, i will take you there. we also did some shopping and strolling. it was lovely.

09.07.09

running into an old friend from high school in this huge city: serendipidous.

spending labor day weekend with new friends: wonderful.

riding on a bike, 30 blocks, in this: terrifying, exhilirating, insane...

to get to this [central park]: lovely. and do this: perfect.

i had a great labor day weekend.

how was yours?

lobster & steamers

i've only had lobster once in my life. it was in mexico and i know now that it wasn't good. it was spiny carribean lobster and over-cooked. last night i had fresh maine atlantic lobster. kelly and munir had a new england clam bake type dinner. she bought lobsters, they were alive. they were so alive that they were crawling around on the floor and the baby was quite amused. i was slightly appalled. five hours later they went into a big pot of boiling water. [i put one of them in] they were still very alive. i picked him up and he just started frolicking in my hand. i almost freaked. kelly really wanted to take a picture. i threw him in the water and jumped back, and screamed a little. 12 mintues later i was enjoying delicious lobster soaked in hot, melted butter. the dismemberment of the poor guy was almost more than i could handle. but i got over it. he was really scrumptious and cooked perfectly. i also tried steamers. steamed clams. those were good too. a little different. and so fresh there was still sand on them. i liked the lobster better because with the clams i felt like i was eating tiny organs wrapped up in thin pasta. is that what i was eating? don't tell me, because that would gross me out. but wait, my night gets better. thunderstorms. it was drizzling and raining all evening but at 3am i woke up to thunder so loud i felt like i was on a battle ground. it was seriously deafening. and the lightening was lighting up my whole room. i was really tired but so enthralled by the thunderstorm that i got up and just sat by my window for a good 20 mintues and watched it. the rain was pouring in my window, but i liked it. it was mesmerizing. no pictures=no camera. blah. soon hopefully.

times square

Last summer Gunnar and I and another great friend {"rachy"} had the brilliant plan of taking a vacation to NYC together. And who would have thought it actually would have worked out. Well, sort of. He happened to be out here for some business/intern/other fun stuff and so I met up with him in the city! {Rachael, we missed your pretty face}

Such a lovely day. I took the train into Grand Central station- a sight to see in and of itself I thought- and we met up at the Hyatt. We strolled around the city for like 45 minutes and then decided we better actually do something. So we went to Times Square. I'd never been. It was lots of fun. They have lawn chairs parked right in the middle of it all and we just sat for probably an hour&a half and chatted. It was so wonderful. After lots of people watching, he was the sweetest and treated me to lunch/dinner at this cute little restaurant. I had the best grilled veggie sandwhich I've ever seen/tasted/dreampt of. After we'd stuffed ourselves we went across the street to the M&M factory. That was insane. I really enjoyed it- and I don't even like M&Ms. They had dark chocolate M&Ms with coconut in them, scrumptious.

Unfortunately the afternoon had to end. He had some meetings and such to attend too. And so we rode the subway back to GCS {luckily he was with me- otherwise who knows where I would have ended up} and headed our seperate ways. He's still in town and we're meeting up again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that. love gunnar. love friends. love the city. love my life.