CACTUS TREE

Last weekend I went to sunny Arizona to spend time with some of my all-time favorite friends, whom I know from the glory days otherwise known as college. Let's review the tapes, shall we?

1) FINALLY found a good definition of a cactus... such a relief! I've spent years wondering about these fascinating organisms, but thanks to this highly informative plaque at the Desert Botanical Garden, it seems there is no need for me to wonder any longer...

2) Relaxed/beautified our footsies. Thanks, Paige, for capturing the moment with this awesome photograph (which maybe should be my new facebook profile picture???).

3) Kristan inflated her air mattress in the middle of the night; Kate was convinced Krissy was shredding some documents. I have no photos of this incident because Kristan shredded them all.

4) Saw the beautiful Chihuly glass exhibit at the DBG.

5) Listened to Jimmy T. and Johnny M. whilst in the car. Belted out "ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-OOH-ooh" at the top of our lungs. Reminisced about the John Mayer concert in LV and the sketchy (to put it mildly) hotel we stayed at in 2004 because of our lack of moola.

6) Ate these delightful treats from Sprinkles:

7) Sat by the pool at 4 p.m. in FEBRUARY!!!!!!

8) Completed this crossword on the plane and accidentally knocked over Kate's apple juice in my glee (which if funny in hindsight):

9) Retained my title as "Take Two Queen." Clearly, the tiles below do not belong to me, as most of them are not being properly utilized in the formation of words.

10) Left wanting more. Can't wait until WHR 2010!!

BLUE SKIES...

Last weekend I went on holiday to the "land where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars." My friend Derek lives in San Fran, I was itching to get out of town, and I found an awesome deal on a flight. It was as if the stars aligned just for me, so I packed my bags for a mini-vacation....

My one fear was that it might rain the entire time, but it turned out that luck was on my side; on Saturday the sun was shining and the sky was blue. Derek & I took advantage of this wonderful fact. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, up to a little lookout point over by Sausalito (where there was a fantastic view of the bridge) and then back. We figured that round-trip, this was almost a 6 mile walk, which I LOVED... it made me feel so energized and alive! Derek had a brilliant idea to take a photo every other lamp post on the way back across the bridge, so I have posted a few for your viewing enjoyment. There were about 5 million to choose from (mostly quasi-semi-pseudo crappy), so I limited it to my 3 favorites:

Lamp Post #1: "This is going to be fun(ny)!"

Lamp Post #17: "Do you think the camera is working?"

Lamp Post # 1,031,319: "We should probably spice these photos up."

After the photo shoot, we ate lunch at this lovely little place: http://www.cafegratitude.com/, where I was fulfilled and Derek was refreshed. Then we headed to Chinatown to take a "tour" of an antiquated fortune cookie factory, which was apropos since I have consumed roughly 150 fortune cookies this month (this is not hyperbole...more on that another day): http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/attractions/ggfortunecookie.html.

We then met up with some of Derek's SF pals and participated in a Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt, which was an interesting and clever event. The following link will show you some sample clues: http://www.sftreasurehunts.com/hunts/sample_clues.html. After over 3 hours of hunting, we decided to throw in the towel and nourish our bodies at the House of Nan King, which is a ghettrofied (word is made up, but I think you get it) yet delicious Chinese food establishment in Chinatown.

The weekend was enriching for me, and I was grateful to get away from the doldrums to spend high-quality time in good company in an invigorating city. As with every other time I've been to San Francisco, I left my heart there...

WORMY

Dear Anyone Who Has Ever Made Fun of Me for Compulsively Washing/Sanitizing My Hands,

This is just a friendly reminder that if more people were like me, events like this would be less likely to happen:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/11/todays-video-do.html.

Love,
R