Connecticut Pics that I forgot to post!

I made that tutu for Lilly!

This is a legitimate Christmas Tree farm!!

For whatever reason I forgot to post these when I came back from Connecticut! I took a lot more, but these are some of the best ones, I think. Isn't Lilly (my friend Brittany's baby) a total doll?! I love her curly blonde hair!!

Update on Eat Pray Love

So I finally finished the book Eat Pray Love, and I thought I'd post about how I felt about it, since I had said that I loved it so much before.

Let me clarify... I loved the section of the book when she's in Italy, and I kinda liked when she was in Bali. But the whole section while Liz Gilbert is in India (meditating at an Ashram, trying to be closer to God), isn't really my thing. She is a very intriguing author and her writing style is incredibly easy to follow. However, the India bit just wasn't for me.

Typically, I read books that I really like and that I'm very into in about 2-3 days depending on the size of the book and if I have anything going on. This book took me somewhere around 5-7 days to finish. I really had to force myself to sit down and finish it because the India section was hard for me to read. Not because it was poor writing or anything, but just because I have never experienced much of what she was talking about. Meditation, praying for hours on end, seeing a "blue pearl of enlightenment", etc etc. Personally, not my thing.

Once Liz got to Bali, it turned around a bit. She was doing much more than just sitting around having religious experiences. She met people, she made friends, she went to parties, she met a man, etc.

All in all, I'll say that I liked 2/3 of this book. I had hoped to love the entire thing and that it would somehow change my perspective or whatever, but it didn't. It was just a partially intriguing read, for me at least. For someone that is religious and believes in all of that, it will probably be an excellent book for you!

A Passion of Mine

One word:

COOKING.

Since I have been back at my dad's house for the summer, I haven't really cooked much. It was really nice at first, knowing that dinner will be on the table every night and not having to worry about getting it there myself.

Then, last night I decided I wanted to make a nice dinner. So, I made bbq-ed sirloins with sauteed onions on the top, mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and cheese, and steamed veggies on the side. Oh, and I also made bruschetta as an appetizer. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to get ready. Typically, we don't eat until around 9ish, whatever reason. Last night we ate at 7:15 and it was excellent.

Put shortly, I love to cook. It made me happy knowing that I made people happy. So, this morning I still had the urge to cook. So for a brunch/lunch thing I made a greek pasta salad (with pasta, onion, tomatoes, feta, and italian dressing) and then bruschetta again. I happen to love bruschetta, so I can't help but cook it when I have the stuff for it. Especially when I can just go get basil from the yard!

That's it for now, more on the cooking bit later!

Eat Pray Love

I have recently started reading a new book. For a while there I was only reading stupid girly chick lit books that did absolutely nothing for me except kill time.

That was fun, for a while. Then I started to crave some real reading. Classics, meaningful books, things people ACTUALLY are passionate about. So what I did was come up with a gigantic list of books that I want to read. Here it is:

Wizard of Oz
Withering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Tale of Two Cities
Count of Monte Cristo
Crime and Punishment
Don Quixote
Dracula (Bram Stoker's edition)
Ethan Frome
Hound of the Baskervilles
Jane Eyre
Madame Bovary
Odysseus
Swiss Family Robinson
Scarlet Letter
Kite Runner
Gulliver's Travels
The Canterbury Tales

Those are the ones I came up with on my own. Then one of my teachers last semester (by far the coolest and most intriguing teacher ever) gave me a list of books he though I'd like. They are:

Everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten
A Yankee Way of Knowledge
Don Juan
As a Man Thinketh
Travels with Charley (Can't believe I've never read this, since it's Steinbeck and I live in Salinas and all...)
Shogun
On the Road (Can't WAIT to read this one. I love beat writers)
The Covenant
The Mismeasure of Man
100 years of Solitude
Stranger to the Ground
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Night (Elie Wiesel)

It's all fine and dandy to have this gigantic list, but really how many of those do I have access to without driving a fair distance? I looked in 3 different libraries within 10 miles of me, and the only one I could find that has MOST of these books is the Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel... Well that's a 30 min drive for books. Okay... There has to be a better option. So I looked into a Kindle (which is still a maybe, since I'll be traveling a lot and all).

Anyway, the whole point of this post was to tell you about 2 books that I've read/started to read recently. I was hanging out at my dad's house, doing nothing. When I wandered over to his very small collection of books, looking for something that might entertain me. Well, he has Marley and Me, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons (all of which I've read), and then he has Cesar's Way. I'm not really into a book on dog training. SKIP.

The last one I came across was The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I had always though it was a religious book or something, like you meet Peter, then whoever else and builds up to God. Not really my type of book, considering I'm not a particularly religious person. However, I finally read the information on it. WOW. It sounded like an amazing book!! So, naturally, I started reading. I finished that book in 2 hours and it was fantastic!!! So if any of you are looking to read a good, quick book that's definitely the one.

Onto the one I'm reading now. Eat Pray Love. Again, a book I've avoided because it seemed very religious-like to me and again, not my thing. BUT, there's been so much hype about it lately that I borrowed my friend's copy and started reading. Another winner!! I'm only on page 40 (having just barely started reading it), but I'm having a hard time putting it down to go to the dentist!! This book really hit home for me, especially considering that I leave to Prague in a month. She travels to India, Indonesia, and Italy, and along the way she makes friends, enjoys all things cultural, and finds herself. I feel like this is what I've been looking for... the reassurance that I'm not the only person who feels like maybe just getting out of my routine for a while will help me see my life in a different way. I'm not looking to find love or any of that, just to find some peace for me and maybe, just maybe, figure out what exactly it is that I want to do what I'm done with college. I have 2 years left, and I'm at a loss. I feel like maybe this book will help me see what I need to do while I'm abroad to have an entirely fulfilled trip to Prague.

More on this topic as I read the book. It'll be on hold this weekend though, I'll be in Las Vegas poolside most of the day and, since it's not mine, I don't want to take it just in case I ruin it.

PS-- Any thoughts on the Kindle?? I'm still REALLY thinking about it, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it. For a person that reads as much as I do (plus traveling!), I think it'll be pretty awesome.

Projects

Like I have said before, I'm trying to do projects to keep me busy while I'm not working. Well, I already did the behind-the-toilet cabinet. I painted it gold! Newest project: taking a wooden electrical wire spool and turning it into a table.

First things first, I belt sanded the crap out of it. I didn't really realize how powerful those things were until I started to use one. DAAAANG!! I laughed that it said "1 Horsepower" on the side, but that apparently wasn't something I should ahve been laughing about! That thing almost took off on me!! Anyway, once I got the hang of it, sanding was a snap!
I had wanted to stain it a cherry color because (in my ignorance) I assumed that cherry stain would be a dark reddish color. WRONG. It's a light color, so I went with "Red Mahogany" instead. Here's the bottom (I was practicing on the part you won't see haha)


Looks pretty good... So I continue on.



It isn't done yet, but it's getting closer! Keep in mind, the part that's up right now is actually going to be the bottom (which is why I didn't fill in that hole). I still need to sand it with a finer grit paper and then re-varnish it again, but it seems to be coming along nicely! Thoughts??

So many new things...

There are so many new things going on in my life, and I'm not sure where to start.

Well, let's move down the list from top to bottom, one issue at a time!

--A few weeks ago, I got some exciting news! Well, an exciting package in the mail is more like it. I got my passport back from the Czech Consulate WITH MY VISA IN IT!! That was what made Prague seem real. Up until then, it was all talking on the phone and sending papers, I hadn't really gotten anything back yet saying that I was good to go. I jumped up and down, sent pictures to my dad, mom, and boyfriend with about a million exclamation marks because I was so excited!! Then, after that I finally got to make my payment for the trip, so that was also a really huge and exciting thing... however, the day after I paid there was a giant blip in the radar. I received a call from a woman at CSUMB (my school) saying that there was a hold on my account. Naturally, I asked what it was and she said that the school has a policy against students going abroad without having a semester at that campus under their belt. I was devastated. I had spent a ton of money not even 12 hours before on this and it was coming crashing down on me. I cried for a long time. Chris just sat here with me until my dad got home and we could start to work it out. It threw me off guard because I had asked that exact question multiple times to many different people at CSUMB to make sure I was set. So I emailed my AIFS advisor to see what my options were in terms of the money I'd put down and if I could switch semesters if need be, and she said it was not a problem and to just let her know. That took the worrying part of it away, which just left the really really pissed off part of me. Naturally this all happened on a Friday at 4:30 pm so I couldn't get a hold of anyone until Tuesday since Monday was a holiday. All weekend I agonized over it and tried to figure out all possible scenarios of what I could do. I know that I want to go in the Fall to Prague because winter is my favorite season and I'd love to see the city covered in snow. Basically, if I couldn't go this fall I would go the next fall.

All weekend I waited.

Then on Tuesday, I went down to CSUMB and found out that there is no written formal policy on that topic. I couldn't have been happier!! This was good news and it was starting to look up. Eventually, I had to get a hold of a few deans of different areas of the school and got the okay for an "Exception to Rule" basically. So. Long story short, I was freaking out for a few days and it all ended up being fine in the end! Hopefully this means that it will be that much more special to me because I've had to fight people tooth and nail during the entire process over everything. It hasn't come easy, but now everything is set into motion and I'm crossing my fingers that no other problems come up!


--On June 21st I took a red-eye flight out of San Francisco to Hartford, Connecticut to see one of my best friends, Brittany. She used to live in Monterey but she's from Connecticut so she moved back. I stayed with her and her fiance for a week, and it was a BLAST!! The day I got there, they picked me up from the airport and we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast (I flew in at 8 am CT time). I had forgotten how much I loved Cracker Barrel from when I used to go with my Grandma Connie. That place is DELICIOUS!! and cheap! Anyway, the rest of the day we just hung out until dinner time, where we went to this place called "Margaritas". They definitely had the BEST margaritas. I had a raspberry margarita and then a "lime in the coconut" margarita. SO DELICIOUS!! Brittany just had two of the lime in the coconut margaritas. Then, on top of all of that, our waiter gave me a free (gigantic!) glass of sangria because Brittany told him I like sangria and apparently their bartender makes it the best. And believe you me, it was by far the best sangria I've ever had. EVER. This was in downtown Mystic (we drove right by Mystic Pizza! There were tons of pictures of Julia Roberts in there too!) which is a really beautiful place. All of Connecticut is beautiful, there are so many trees it's amazing!!

Some of the highlights of my trip:
-Going to Brittany's best friend's wedding! It was gorgeous! It was at Ocean Beach Park in New London.
-Seeing Britt and Lilly (her 1.5 year old daughter!)
-Meeting Britt's fiance for the first time (really nice guy!!)
-Meeting all of Brittany's friends and family that I've heard about for so long
-Going to Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casinos and having a BLAST at both!
-Getting the "Swamp Water" drink while at a bbq place in Mohegan Sun. It is a drink in a fishbowl, and it took 3 of us to finish it!
-Trying on bridesmaid dresses for Britt's wedding next Sept!
-just having fun in general!

We were going to go to NYC for a day, but Britt got really sick so we ended up not going to that. Oh well! Life happens, and there is always another time for me to go to NYC!

Just a few other random things going on in my life:

I'm loving being able to take my dog Toby out to the beach and on walks as often as I like, but I hate not having a job. I've been looking for one, but no one wants to hire me for 2 months. In the mean time, I go do work for my mom or dad's office when they need me so that helps to give me a little cash flow.

I'm going to VEGAS for the first time (after turning 21!) on the weekend of July 30th and I can't wait!! I'm going with Chloe, Chloe's sister, and her boyfriend. Were all staying in the same hotel room (which makes it MUCH cheaper for us all!) Were staying at Treasure Island. We'll be driving my car down there (all chipping in for gas) and it's going to be packed to the brim with snacks, bags, BYOB from costco, and food so we don't have to spend all that much there. Works for me! I'm all for saving money if I can. Can't wait though!! It's kind of a belated bday celebration for Chloe and me.

Let's see... I think that's about it. Other than me trying to avoid Target at all costs (I save money that way haha) I don't really do a whole ton during the day. I've started a few projects that I'm going to pick back up next week that should be fun. I'm sanding and staining an electrical wire spool so I can use it for a table, I'm tiling the top of a chest we have, and I'm also going to restain my dining room table so it matches the rest of my furniture. Can't wait to put it all together!

Keeping busy...

As I posted in my last blog... I am bored out of my fricking mind!

No one will hire me for a few months, which sucks a lot. So, no job. All my friends have jobs, so they're all too busy to hang out. Chloe is in Italy still, which is super cool for her but I'm bored!!!

So, to combat the bored-ness I have started some projects:
--I have one of those cabinets that goes behind the toilet and it was a boring white. I decided white isn't really my thing (I like bright color), so I electric sanded it, primered it, and spray painted it shiny gold!!! It's super awesome and much more my personality =]
--My brother is an electrician so they have those big huge wood spools lying around a lot... well, I thought that would be the PERFECT beginning to either an outdoor table (it has a hold in the middle, perfect for an umbrella!!) or a side table inside. I haven't started this project yet, but I'm going to sand and paint it probably a gray color. Then on the top, my dad and me are going to make a mold around the edge and urethane it and push maybe some rocks or seashells or beer bottle tops into it to make it pretty!! My brother laughed at me when I asked him to get it for me, and his coworkers made fun of me for having "cheap furniture", but I happen to think it'll look cool and probably last longer than their Ikea crap furniture... so THERE!
--Next project... I want to sand and refinish my dining room table. It's really old and has been battered around a LOT and has spots on it and such. Plus, it's a really light wood color and I like darker wood (it goes more with the motif my apartment is going to have, I'll get to that later). So I'm going to sand it down and refinish it! I'll probably need my dad's help for this one, so we'll see how it goes!
--My pops made this chest a loooong time ago and he left a lip on the top and was always supposed to put a seat on it. Well, we've had it as long as I can remember and no seat... still. So, since he made it for me, I've decided that I want to do something to the top. What I'm going to do is tile it!! Find either some fun painted tiles at a thrift store or something or get broken glass and make a mosaic! I'm excited for it, either way.

I also went to the library to pick up some books for me to read in my down time (which is basically all day now...unfortunately). I got "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac, "The Scarlet Letter", "Lord of the Flies", and "Odysseus". I know that some of them were books that kids my age read in high school English classes, but because I bounced around so often between schools, somehow I managed to not read any of them! So, once I'm done with one I'll let you know how I thought it was. So far, I'm reading Lord of the Flies and it's kind of boring... I've heard it picks up and I think I'm at the point RIGHT before they split up or something, but so far I've had to kind of force myself to read it. Oh well! I'll finish it! I love to read so these 4 books might only last me a week or two!

If there are any good books that you guys have read or are on your book list to read, let me know!! I love getting book recommendations! =]

On another note, I go to Connecticut soon to see Brittany!! I leave at 8:05pm on June 21st and I'm taking the red-eye to Connecticut! I can't WAIT and I have a running countdown going... 16 DAYS!! Well, 16 days until I leave here, 17 until I actually see Blee. I get to Hartford at 8 am! I wanted a red-eye first of all because it's WAY cheaper. Secondly, I wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with my favorite ginger ever!

Anyway, in case you're all wondering, Toby (my new dog) is great! He plays like a champ with Cash and he's non-stop running and playing. I love that! He's all licensed in Salinas now, he's an official resident! Pretty crazy stuff... I've never had my own dog before. It's always been a family dog or even if it started out as mine, it always ends up being my dad's! This time, he's ALL mine.

Will write later, have to go get ready for the day! I'm heading off to the beach with Toby and I'm meeting my friend Kelly there! It's going to be a great day! Plus, when is it EVER 75 in Carmel? Have to take advantage of it while I can!