sunrise

kelly kapowski

ladies who lunch

Whoops

This is exactly the reason why I don't blog. I always forget that I have one and then I go through large gaps of time without updating. Well, quite frankly, I don't feel like going through the reels of memories that I've created since my last update. Let's see what I can remember off the top of my head. We went on vacation. That was fun and relaxing minus the part where we got hustled. I don't want to go into detail about that but let's just say it's all settled and we're happy campers now. This weekend we went to the city to celebrate Mike D's birthday. What a trip that night was. As you can see, I'm pretty terrible at recounting past events. I promise to do my best at updating this blog so I don't go through this again, for my own sake. After all, the reason why I created this blog was so that I could look back upon it in later years and reminisce. I'm all about documentation.

Oh yeah! How could I forget? Nancy flew in from NYC on 9/11 for Julia's engagement party. It's been a blast since she returned and I feel like we've all grown extremely close again in such a short amount of time. That, in my opinion, is a true testament to our friendship. No matter how long we're apart, once we're together it's like we were never apart at all. I love these girls to death. I'm actually going to be eating lunch with Julia today because I've been craving my favorite Vietnamese dish: hu tieu ba nam sa dec. I'll post pics later.

Meanwhile, here is one of my favorite Bjork songs of all time.

What the Fork?

It's about to be broughten.

Reggae/Dance Hall

I taught myself how to reggae two step. I'm either going to sign up for reggae dance classes or just start going to reggae nights.

Cake - The Distance

Sickest bass line, ever. Must learn.

Another Batch...

of my lime melt-aways ;)

Dinner for Schmucks

We had dinner with Sarah and Josh last night at their place and I had a really great time. Sarah and Josh made this amazing roasted chicken from their Top Chef recipe book, and I whipped up a quick salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, feta cheese and raspberry vinaigrette. The more and more we get to know each other, the more we find out we have in common. Sarah and I are like twins, except she's Jewish. I smell a new friendship blooming :)

Their two dogs are named Peanut and Grizzly, and they're both Pomeranians. They're definitely yappers, but they're really nice. I was able to pick them up and that's the first time I haven't shitted bricks around a Pomeranian (they're usually really aggressive and unfriendly). Sarah's always giving me treats and presents for my dogs and she gives me the best tips. The most useful one yet was the peanut butter in the Kong ball trick -- I use that to sneak out the door so the new one doesn't whine and get all emo because he's attached to me. I gotta think of something impressive to make for our next dinner.

Beautiful Sunset

taken on Wednesday at SJ Muni when we were there with Mel and Joel

Sonnymoon - Nursery Boys

In celebration of a personal message from Sonnymoon stating they have big things planned for SF:

Groove Armada - History (Love Mix)

I am very much into this song right now. I don't even like Groove Armada but this sounds nothing like any of their past ensembles.

SJ Muni

Last night we met up with Jeff at SJ Muni to hit up the driving range. It was my first time in over six years, and only my second time ever. I had to admit, I did a lot better than I anticipated. The last time I went, all I could do was chip the ball or slice it at some crazy angle. I was able to hit it past the first flag a couple of times (I believe it was 126 yards). EJ did really well too! He definitely has the distance and the power, he just needs to work on his form and control. Jeff of course hits like a pro.

whoa! far out, dude.

pro status (he got mad at me for snapping a pic)

*shrugs*

G'd Out Cruiser

I know we are always trying to tackle new projects, but this one is finally coming to fruition. We're planning on completely stripping the old bright blue Schwinn cruiser to rebuild it as a gangsta hood rich one. I don't want to spoil the surprise, and who knows how many more times we're going to change our minds about the design, so let's just look at our current progress:

some kind of macho

also necessary: steel wool + safety goggles + back up gloves

he made me do the dangerous work

The epoxy/paint remover ate away at the gloves and also splashed on to my skin multiple times. It is highly suggested that you have water nearby because it BURNS LIKE A MOTHER #*&$*&$. I just realized that we don't have any "after" photos. After letting the remover soak into the paint for a few minutes we used the steel wool to scrub it all off -- presumably to reveal a lustrous shiny steel frame. But we were wrong -- we need to apply another layer because there were, like, 5 layers of paint on that sucker.. Until next time.

Montara State Beach

On Monday my geology class had our field lab at Montara State Beach (between Half Moon Bay and Pacifca). It is the most gorgeous hidden beach I have ever been to in Northern California. It is situated in a natural cove with lots of beautiful rock structures and clean, coarse sand. The water is uncharacteristically clear and blue for the California Pacific -- simply amazing.

 view of the northern end of the beach

 view of the southern end

 the most adorable little seashell ever

 a preserved channel -- too bad i have nothing to scale this to. you can see the layer of deposited sedimentary rock that once upon a time rested at the bottom of the channel

the biggest crab I've ever seen out of water. poor little fella was dying. oh well.

you can kind of grasp how clear the water is

oxidized iron within the sandstone

Alabamians + My Parents

Jessica, Jessica, and Arlin came to California this week to surprise my cousin Vy before her big Iron Man tri (112mi bike, 2mi swim, and 26mi run) in Sonoma, so we had a little get together at Uncle Thomas' and Hong's house in south SJ. It was a special treat to see them all again, as well as the babies and my grandparents!



Grandma and Sara (3mos)




Grandpa and Amara (23mos)




Here's a great picture of the cousins who were able to attend

Lindy slept over that night and we just stayed up watching movies. When I dropped her off in the morning mom fed us the best Bi Cuon ever. For someone who doesn't eat fish sauce, she makes it quite well. The best, in fact.



Mom's bi cuon and nuoc mam

She also gave us four potted plants to add more life to our already lively apartment. My mom is the best! My dad got a new Galaxy Tab from work, which is his new addiction, and I am beyond jealous. I asked him to order one for me if he could get away with it (shh!). But seriously, it is so much better than the iPad in many aspects. I am waiting for the tablet market to mature and become more saturated so I have more options for my budget.




I am looking forward to my lazy Sunday.

The Wood

"I can't be walkin' up in there with my breath all tart and shit, man!" - Slim

cuteoverload

i die.

Like old times

Good chats and good food with my sister and cousins. First time we've hung out alone since I was in single-digits.

Mary brought mini red velvet bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes!!!

Deformed Flounder

I've picked up fishing as a hobby and boy, do I love it! I've only ever gone crabbing before, but this is a lot more challenging and a true test of patience. Here's a picture of the only fish I've ever caught by myself:

The deformed/cancerous flounder I caught and released @Pacifica Pier

We've been on several trips now and I've caught some monstrous crabs on my fishing line, only for them to unclasp and plummet back into the ocean. BOO!

Side note: The flounder in the picture had lopsided eyes, which is normal because flounders' eyes migrate as they mature. The weird/gross part was that this fish had lumpy tumors on it's underbelly. No way am I putting that in my tummy (yes, I'm aware we eat chicken and beef tumors all the time).

Japanese at home -- my idea of a romantic evening

disappointing steak & eggs (@Bill's Willow Glen w/ Juju, Moo, and Austin on 7/26)

Meghan's Bridal Shower + Wharf to Wharf

On Saturday EJ and Matt joined me on the drive down to Yosemite Valley for Meghan's bridal shower. They dropped me off at her parent's house in Oakhurst and left for an impromptu hike together (how romantic!). It was so good to see Meghan again after about a year! She looked vibrant and gorgeous as usual but with an extra bride-to-be glow. Her parents prepared a fantastic meal complete with delicious adult beverages, and her sister prepared two games for us to play, one of which I won! Their backyard was the perfect location for her shower, although it was extremely hot. We were all dripping sweat bullets. Their house sits on 5 acres of their own wild land. There is so much plant life and geological history in their own backyard. You can't even tell how big their backyard is because of all the shrubbery and boulders. I'd like to have a house like that some day. The shower began around 1pm but unfortunately I had to leave early because of the Wharf to Wharf race the following day, so the boys picked me up in the early evening to allow us to get plenty of rest that night.

We woke up the next day around 5am and Matt arrived at the apartment around 6am -- right on time! We were shooting to arrive in Santa Cruz by 7 and we met our goal. Traffic wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be so we got there pretty quick and managed to find a spot in the free parking lot where there was also a free shuttle to the race starting point. Since it was our first race, we weren't too sure what to expect but the Wharf to Wharf staff are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Really though, it's not that hard to figure out where to go even if there are 15,000 runners. The run itself was nowhere as tough as I had presumed, but I was definitely feeling the pain in my knees and ankles the following day. I had forgotten how tough it is to run on the asphalt. I should've known because I damaged my sciatic nerve a couple of years ago when I used to run on the street often. I finished in 1:07, EJ finished in 0:59 and Matt finished in 0:57. We all did alright but there is always room for improvement. We can't be too tough on ourselves considering it was the first race for all of us.

We drove past the biggest wildfire I'd ever witnessed. There was also a deer family crossing the freeway to safer grounds. Matt has a better picture of it. I shot this while driving.

adult beverage bar

Shrimp cocktail, beef kebabs, wild rice salad, pasta and fruit. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Criswell!

Meg, Martha, and Claire

The only pic I got at the race

This salon was handing out cupcakes after the race. It looks better than it tasted.