It makes total sense...

I've some how convinced myself that the longer I stay up, the longer it will take for work to come tomorrow. And I especially do this after weekends like the one I just had. It's my way of holding on to a good thing.

Tonight's prolonging tool...a trip to the movie theater. I was actually exhausted and if I was a little more sensible, would have climbed into bed instead. But the movie was well worth it and Pixar has won my heart once again.

Up made me laugh so hard I almost spit Sprite out of my nose and it also made me want to be in love.

Chlorine is a time machine.

A group of perfectly mature, intelligent adults spent about 10 hours playing in the pool today. But when I stopped to look around, everyone's faces and even their mannerisms were closer to a group of 7 year-olds at summer camp.

I watched my friends do handstands, have splash fights and say things like:
"Watch me, watch me!"
{pitter patter, pitter patter.......splash!}
"Did you see that?"

It reminded me of giving "safari tours" on blow up rafts in my pool and then sitting inside, soaking wet, eating hot dogs and watching a quick movie before running back to the pool for a cannonball contest.

I LOVE being in my bathing suit all day. And since we were all the mature adults I mentioned before, we got to stay in as long as we wanted and never had to scream back into the house, "Pleeeaaase Mom...just five more minutes!"

Comfortable

Spent an LA traffic car ride and a hot tub extravaganza with two friends tonight. Something about spending time with these two is just so comfortable.

Not because I know all of their secrets or even every detail of what makes them tick. There's still so much to learn, but there's something that just clicks. I swear time spent with them feels a little like curling up on a Sunday afternoon couch and watching movies.

And everyone knows Sundays are where best friends are made.

Because ya never know, ya never know...

I left a concert tonight thinking I knew my sunshine. And I was so close. It had to do with change and accepting it..for real. I even had it half written in my head.

But then I went to the "after" bar. And a random boy came up to us...ya know...two hot girls...and starting making small talk. Come to find out...as he told us what he did for a living...we started to make a connection. And he basically was so intrinsically connected to Friends of El Faro (FOEF), that I freaked out. Such a small, small world.

I'm a board member of FOEF (a teeny grassroots non-profit) and we had so many connections it was ridiculous.

Small world connections will forever amaze me. Forever.

I'm a sucker for the small things...

Coming Soon: Game Night

It showed up on my doorstep.
No note.
No evidence.

A new board game to add to the collection at 2016.
Surprise deliveries (especially when hand-delivered) might be better than vanilla milkshakes.

Almost.

Permission to be vague...

It's funny how friends work.
One calls the other because they might be down/sad/mad/frustrated and they just need to be in the same room with someone.

Conveniently, and perhaps unbeknownst to them, the friend they called actually needed that too. And even though the two friends didn't have a rockstar party with lots of high fives...they both made each other's nights.

Love that.

Dazed & Confused

Went to the cemetery screening tonight at Hollywood Forever. A friend and I decided to make a trip to the bathroom right as the movie started and realized on our way back that it was now dark, the movie was playing and we weren't entirely sure where our friends were sitting.

We sort of crawled through the masses, trying to stay out of people's way and not step on too many blankets. We stopped a few times and sat on the ground to try and reassess the crowd to find our friends.

On the final stop, we both sat on our knees peering around the heads in front of us. We knew we had to be close but it was starting to feel like we'd never find them. As we were whispering back and forth the person directly in front of us turned around to see what the commotion was.

Once we saw his face, my friend and I started to giggle uncontrollably. We had been sitting practically RIGHT ON TOP of my friends and had no idea.

Santa Monica Taxi

We had the best cab driver tonight. We chatted about the Lakers and how he'd been a fan for years. He told us this story about a girl he picked up once who was headed to The Staples Center for the Lakers game seven in the playoffs.

When they arrived, she asked if he wanted to come in. She had an extra ticket and was planning to scalp it, but the driver had seemed like a nice guy and she could tell he was a huge fan. So he waved her cab fare, parked the car and had an AMAZING evening.

Never skip a beat

There really is something to be said for the kind of friends you might see once a year - or even every couple of years, but once you're together its as if you just saw them yesterday.

So happy to have my Newcastle buddies in town.

Winner, Winner

Didn't have plans next Thursday...but now I do!

I won tickets on KCRW to see Ben Harper next week. Pretty sweet. Winning on KCRW is kind of anti-climactic because its not like you're on air screaming your head off. The guy simply takes your membership number, verifies your address and says, "Ok, your tickets will be at will call."

But that doesn't mean I didn't get out of my car and jump up and down and squeal. Cause I did.

One more sleep

I have a friend coming to visit for Memorial Day weekend and he's been sending me countdown messages every day.

3 more days!
2 more days!
1 more day!

So fun.

Carpool is for cool kids

I forget how much I'm in my car alone and how used to being solo you get. I spent quite a bit of time in the car with a group of people tonight.

At first, a little overwhelmed with music, loud talkers and multiple conversations. But there's something comforting about it too. Reminds me of high school and always going somewhere in a group.

I suppose living in LA makes it even more so, since we all tend to show up to events Swingers-style...but I think as an adult in general you ride solo more often.

My friend dropped me off and we spent 20 minutes or so chatting in the car before I went in. Also reminiscent of high school...and a conversation that may have never happened had we taken multiple cars.

I think I DO belong among the wildflowers

Another successful dig for Guerrilla Gardening last night. But the best part was having drinks at the password protected bar afterward.

As a group, we pretty much had a private bar and the piano player sang Wildflowers by Tom Petty (a personal fave) in tribute to us. Ad lib always gets me...I'm so impressed when people make stuff up on the fly. He changed the words around to things like:

You belong among the wildflowers
Thanks for getting out there and planting a tree
You belong in suits of orange
Making our streets pre-ett-ty.

Or some version there of.

Right in my own backyard

The good things are always right under your nose.

I spent the afternoon/evening helping a friend with a photo shoot in my courtyard. I love that I'm drawn to people who can MacGyver anything to make it rad. (e.g., my brother and the lovely Ms. Hawthorne)



At some point we needed a photo assistant to french flag me so we invited my neighbor to join.

As the evening turned into late night, I found myself chatting with my neighbor at her kitchen table....for hours. There was an instant connect and we shared things that were therapist worthy as opposed to neighborly banter. Those type of connections are so refreshing and freeing.

Things I Cannot Do

• Dress appropriately for the weather.
• Get the mail TO the mailbox.
• Pass up a dandelion without blowing and making a wish.
• Resist the temptation to tie my straw wrapper in a knot to see if "someone is thinking about me"
• Sleep
• Wink my right eye
• Figure out which part of my day was the sunshine today.
  

Field Day 2009 ruled.

My neighbors already think I'm weird...I mean...cool.

My mom and I were set up in the courtyard of my apartment complex tonight, crouched over on two stools, halfway in the bushes, filling water balloons for about 2 hours. Pretty average Friday night really.

A few of my neighbors passed through and everyone seemed to have a clever comment.

"A little late night gardening, eh?" or simply, "What the heck are you doing?" -- as if it's not obvious...sheesh.

Kudos to my mom for making it through balloon explosions and tired fingers. And, hey neighbors, squawk all you want...but next time, be prepared to duck.

Bikes are cool.

Driving to Irvine for a weekly meeting is going to be tough. But today, I found this little gem.

I think the bike rack will lose its novelty but the Chick-fil-A that's right next door most certainly will not.

Thank you Madam Mayor

Spent 5 hours at the Beverly Hills City Council meeting gawking at the Mayor and waiting for the next tactless thing to come out of her mouth.

All in all, it was actually a pretty educational experience.

My favorite part was watching community members return from the podium after stating their case and give secret high fives as they smothered each other in compliments. Pretty great to see the empowerment they felt in that moment.

Also, it's BEVERLY HILLS, shouldn't they have served Kettle One martinis and passed hour d' oeuvres? I'll be sure to put that in the comment box next time.

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pancakes

I saw Saturn tonight.
For real.

Like, with the rings and everything.

There's a guy on the Santa Monica Pier with a huge telescope that lets you look for free. Granted, he takes donations if you'd like to give them, but we offered him a nice chat instead. I informed him that there is a huge meteorite auction coming up and the Garza Stone might go for $55,000+. Thought he might want to get in on that.

Buying a piece of fallen rock makes way more sense to me then shelling out cash for an autographed whatever.

[NOTE: In trying to recall the sentence you use to memorize the planets, I realized the 'P' technically doesn't exist anymore. Are kids coming up with a new sentence now?! Whoa.]

They don't even drink it in Mexico...

Found myself in the lobby of a hotel tonight with a bag of lemons and no idea where my meeting was. As I'm leaving the front desk, the bellman follows behind me...lemon extended,"Mam, I think you dropped this."

I was rushing out, already late for my meeting, and told him he should keep it. He was very polite and wouldn't accept the fruit. As I held out the bag for him to put it back, another lemon rolled past my foot and we both giggled as he reached down to put the escapee back in my bag. As I turned to leave...plop...another lemon.

This time, he picked it up, tossed it in the air as if he was juggling and said, "That's it. It's fate. I'm supposed to take this home and open a Corona tonight."

I prefer limes in my Corona. Actually, I prefer any beer BUT Corona. Regardless, glad I could assist in what I'm sure was a well-deserved nightcap.

The future's so bright.

I was at the Whaler chattin' up the people next to us and one of the guys wanted to trade shades. He tried on all of our glasses and we decided mine looked best.

So we traded.
And I scored these sweet red ones. I used to own a pair exactly like them but they were eaten by Sandcastle Wars last year.

I'm pretty sure the 18 beers my new friend had ingested made it near impossible for him to notice the scratches and bent frames on my $5 gold aviator glasses. But a trade is a trade.

Cancer Schmancer

Tears seem to come so easy lately and today was no exception. I participated in the Revlon Run/Walk For Women and it was an inspiring start to my day.

I opted to RUN the 5K and caught myself at moments wishing I had chosen otherwise. However, passing through the 45,000 participants and reading the tribute cards pasted on their backs, kept me from slowing down. The cards were dedicated to women in their lives affected by cancer and read -- In Memory of, In support of or I am a Survivor. The cards were filled out with things like:

My loving wife
I miss my sister
My aunt -- who still gives me strength everyday
My beautiful daughter
Gramma
My favorite teacher



It was heartbreaking to think that everyone in this sea of people had been affected by cancer in some way. But inspiring little gems were all around me. Specifically two.

In addition to my tribute card, I also had an 8.5 x 11 picture attached to my shirt of my friend's mom who recently passed away from Ovarian Cancer. About halfway through the run, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, this fell off a ways back. I've been trying to catch up so I could give it back to you."

And on the bus ride back to our cars, the little girl in front of me took off her medal from finishing the race and placed it over the bus driver's neck. She told the bus driver she wanted to thank her for helping and for driving us around.

Spring Cleaning

I'm from Florida.
Not sure if you knew.

But, in Florida, washing your car is sort of a bonus activity as opposed to a necessity. It rains all the time. And it rains hard. So hard...it could even wash away guilt...but mostly it leaves your car spotless.

In California, people PAY to have someone ELSE wash their car. And they're, like, consistent about it. It's a status symbol or something.

I wash my car in California when I'm feeling overly responsible or I can get it for free. Today, while I was getting gas, I opted to wash my back window. There was some bird POOP on it, and I decided it could use a little cleaning.

When I got back on the freeway and checked my rear view mirror to merge...I couldn't believe the difference. I had no idea I was living in a fog. I could see details that I forgot existed. It felt a little like I had spring cleaned my world.

Poop.

Because it's fun to say.

Your turn!

I had a photographer come over today to take pictures for an article about Guerrilla Gardening. Photo shoots are fun regardless, but today was extra special because I decided to turn the camera on the photographer.

We have a Polaroid wall at our house and anyone who passes the door is required to take their picture. When I explained this to said photographer, she was excited but she got so nervous about being in front of the camera. It was very sweet and now her big cheesy grin is on our wall!

Next, please.

It felt like the week before Christmas at the post office today. The line was literally out the door. I think partly because the little automated guy was broken...but also because they have two people working the counter. One of whom always leaves because it's their "break" even though there's still 20 people in line.

I actually would like to work at the post office for a week just to be the relatively nice person behind the counter and actually give people customer service. But that's another entry entirely.

After waiting in line for the ONE stamp I needed, I passed an older gentleman (70 or so) addressing a pink envelope. The card was still out and it had fancy pink script that said Daughter. I'm assuming it was a Mother's Day card for his daughter. And I have no idea why, but it just made me smile.

25 cents...

Or 50 or a maybe a dollar.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to get whatever prize came from the change machines. Stickers, candy, bouncy balls, My Little Pony toys...it didn't matter.

I think compared to most families, THIS kid got to put quarters into those machines pretty frequently. However, ANYTIME I see those, I feel compelled to put money in and get a prize. I know I wasn't fully deprived. But enough to make me always want to play.

Tonight, I saw the balls and I wanted to buy one to mark a momentous moment. So I put in the two quarters, awaited the bouncy ball...and ultimately was a teeny bit disappointed. What appeared to be a Texas Longhorns bouncy ball was actually just a plastic NON-BOUNCY round thing. HOWEVER, it made for a good surface to make notes with a Sharpie marker.

So I did. And it now will have a permanent home in my car. To remind me of some momentous thoughts.

Heading East

This is my favorite view from the 10 freeway. I risk an accident every time I drive through the few miles of natural power because I can't take my eyes off my surroundings. I have no idea what draws me to it...but I'm always so stunned.

Jameson, please.

Had drinks tonight with a long-lost friend who always finds herself on top of a mountain, wrangling with rapids or exploring the sea. This weekend she made a spontaneous trip to sip drinks with me by the pool.

And in the middle of one of those drinks the lady next to us leaned over and said, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to hitchhike, but I overheard what you were saying and I totally agree."

I loved the use of the phrase "don't mean to hitchhike" -- brilliant.

My lady...

Parked my car briefly with a valet guy...had to run in and get something. When I came back, he was waiting for me at the door and took my arm to escort me to my car.

So easy...and so sweet.