garden.

ive been thinking/trying/scared of/too lazy to/hoping to grow a little vegetable garden for some time now.

so i did it over the weekend.

there will (hopefully) be at least one of:

 peas. cucumbers. radishes. squash. basil.

ready...go!

26 miles across the sea.

confession:

i have lived in southern california my entire life.

i had never been to catalina until two weeks ago.

i know. embarassing.

BUT i can make up for that by having really cool friends. (one of which happens to be a pilot!)

darren and i flew out to catalina with our friends lauren and dean.

i documented.

so so fun.

i feel like a very small part of my life has been completed. how had i never been before???

on a sunday...

lately...

ive been doing more and more of this:

(note: and when i say "this" i dont mean taking pictures of my shoes/cat/whatever else walks into the picture...i mean the actual running part.)

because im (excitedly/nervously/wondering what i was thinking/hoping i dont die while i do it) training for one of these in october.

however....i can say that after a few weeks of it, im finally seeing progress!! finally!

phew.

do you run? you should. i have a sort of love/hate relationship with it, but im finding that the more i do it, the more i love it.

p.s. id like to apologize to anyone unfortunate enough to come across this picture for how white my legs are. id love to tell you that it will change come summer...and i'll get a tan...but that wont be happening.

i made curtains!

note: dont judge my "ruffles." i kind of just made it up as i went along...?

raspberry.

remember my favorite jam?

mmmm....

growing.

favorite place in the world.

there's a small little house in a small little town in the evergreen state.

its my favorite place in the world.

my favorite memories...

my favorite smells...

favorite sounds...

favorite homemade jam from home grown and picked raspberries and blackberries...

i even welcome every mosquito bite. (and believe me...there's a lot)

 theyre all part of the memories.

they're all bundled up into my childhood summers and tucked away neatly in this little house waiting for me each time i come back.

(this "favorite place" is oma and grandpa's house, by the way. :)

my mom, brother and i cheated this year and snuck a trip up before summer came. just a quick trip.

it wasnt long, but its enough to hold me over for a few months.

love.love.love.

be back this summer.

in the city.

my friend Sandy and I made a spur of the moment decision to take a drive to San Francisco.

i guess its not really just "a drive." its more like a journey. a long journey.

our day started out in traffic...

and then moved right along.

Sandy's boyfriend's family was nice enough to let us stay the night at their house. They had the best/bounciest/most comfortable inflatable mattress ive ever slept on!

the next morning. poor car.

we headed to the city!

rode the muni...

gave my last two dimes to the funny silver man on the streets.

did a little sight seeing...

made a little stop at Ghirardelli. of course.

which made us hungry...

then it was time to go.

after getting on the wrong bart....

.....and taking the wrong bart again....

and not knowing what was happening...

....or where we even were...

...and coming to the conclusion that we just arent meant to be city girls...

we made it back to the car. (!)

we drove. and drove. and drove. and ate. and drove.

and late last night made it back home.

so. fun.

thanks sandy!!

EDITED TO NOTE: other details of our trip include but are not limted to the following:

-a cow/bull at the gas station. yes. all by himself. he was huge.

-a scary "man" in the back seat of the car after we left the said gas station.

-an "amusement park" we found on the side of the freeway. it was a construction zone. I might have been tired?

birthday boy.

twenty three.

Since I have known you, April 4th has come around 5 times.

And every year I love celebrating you.

I asked what you wanted today...a cake? German Chocolate?--it's your favorite.

You told me you wanted chocolate chip cookies instead...the kind with the sea salt on top.

ok.

they're cooling as I type this.

Happy Birthday.

I love you.