Posting from the Desert

Posting from the desert today! I am using my iPhone so please pardon any weird spelling or formatting.
Since last Thursday I have been in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and last but not least Arizona!
More stories when I return later in the week.
Wanted to post something since I have been M.I.A.
Flying back to the Bay Area tomorrow.

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

Summer Cometh Slowly

Yesterday was the first day of summer and I have to be honest, I am NOT feeling it, it isn't nearly warm enough. It felt like summer when I was in Michigan the first week of June, but back here in the Bay Area....not so much. We have gotten little hints of summer here and there, but nothing solid. I am hoping that means it will just run late this year and we will be at the beach on Thanksgiving!

This my post from last year at this time - how depressing.

I have a feeling summer is going to slap me in the face later this week though - more on that later!

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

Eat::Pray::Love

I saw this trailer a couple times at the theatre now and it gives me chills each time. I mean, this booked moved me so much that when I realized this trailer was for a movie, I almost cried. I am torn though, the book was so good and I have to admit I liked the way I "saw" the book in my own mind that I am apprehensive about seeing how they made it into a movie.
I can't not see it though, I will have to check my mind at the door and may have to reread the book again afterwards if I feel the movie does it no justice.

Sara - remember when this book came out and you totally devoured it? Then I had to go and buy and copy and I couldn't put it down. Whenever I see this book in a book store (my sister just bought it) and now when I see the trailer I think of you and our trip to India we had planned that fell through just 2 days before take off, but it worked out for the best in the end - look at how much your life has changed. It really is a magical story. I still have dreams of traveling to India and now my obsession is Morocco - you never know where life may take you. Wish you were here so we could see this together my friend.

YouTube videos seem to take a little time to load, in order to get uninterrupted viewing - press play and then pause until the entire video has loaded (you can see the line fill across the bottom), then hit play.

Last American Cowboy

Photo from: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/last-american-cowboy/pictures-05.html

I super love this new show on the Animal Planet - Last American Cowboy.

It premiered last night, Tim and I watched it and it is so good. It gives you a glimpse of what it is like working and living on a cattle ranch. The American west is the star of the show, the animals and the families working the land give it even more color. I love horses, cowboys and the west so it was right up my alley. I would love to work on a ranch for a week just for the experience and to ride on the back of a running horse through the great wide open would be a dream come true!

Here is a brief synopsis from the Animal Planet website:

Premiering June 2010
Hidden amid the mammoth- Montana landscape are three family-owned and operated cattle ranches and the setting of Animal Planet's newest original series, LAST AMERICAN COWBOY. This epic adventure follows three families of tough, tenacious and headstrong cowboys through freak storms, deadly outbreaks of disease, hungry predators and forest fires that threaten their livelihood. Each ranch will need to rely on family bonds and personal strength to keep this tradition of the American West alive. Premiering Monday, June 7, at 10 PM (E/P), LAST AMERICAN COWBOY shares the highs and lows of life on a ranch for the Hughes, Galt and Stucky families. From the multi-generational ranch family committed to working only on horseback to the modern rancher who uses high-tech equipment, all-terrain vehicles and even a helicopter to manage his massive operation to the small nuclear family determined to persevere against all odds, all must struggle to make ends meet and all are deeply committed to this classic way of life lived close to the land. The Hughes family, the smallest of the three ranches, is as close to "Little House on the Prairie" as you can get. Scott and Stacey Hughes, along with their three-year old son and nine-year-old daughter, live on a 12,000-acre ranch and manage their herd of 500 Black Angus all alone. Comparatively, the Galt Ranch is one of the largest cattle ranches in Montana with over 100,000 acres, 5,500 cattle and 100 horses. It is so vast that owner Bill Galt manages it from the sky in his own helicopter. Bill and the rest of the Galt family believe technology is the future of ranching and necessary to efficiently run a ranch of this size and caliber. Contrary to the Galt family, the Stuckys are traditional ranchers choosing horseback over ATVs and doing most of the work by hand. Keeping these traditions alive is deeply important to the entire clan, and as the ranch continues to grow and expand, the Stuckys hope it will be passed down through generations.LAST AMERICAN COWBOY thrusts viewers into the glorious landscape of Montana and the remarkable world of cattle ranching. For these families it comes down to one paycheck per year, and they will do whatever it takes to continue to live and to share the life they love.

PS - Want to read a cool blog from a modern day woman who married a cattle rancher? Check out The Pioneer Woman site - I have a link on the right had side, but here it is...http://thepioneerwoman.com/ - great stories, yummy recipes and KILLER photos (also photo tips, contests and much more!)

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...

Golden Girls

I super love the television show Golden Girls and when a coworker of mine mentioned that there were going to be some drag queens reenacting 2 episodes I was on board! If you live in the Bay Area, you must check this out, it is hoot! Tickets can be found here. June is Pride month here in San Francisco and they are running this show all month long. They are also going to do some shows at Christmas time as well. You know I will be there with bells on. The costumes were cracking us up, I mean, the outfits Dorothy wore were spot on! During the breaks between scenes the lights would go down and commercials from the 80's and early 90's would play like: Mc D.L.T., Sprite "I like the Sprite in you", Crystal Light "I believe in Crystal Light cuz I believe in me", Juicy Fruit "..is gonna move ya", The Clapper "Clap on...Clap off..." and everyone would clap in the right moment. It was awesome to say the least. Everyone sang along to the opening song and to all of the commercials as well. Afterwards we waited around to get a photo with the cast...
When the photo shoot was over, we walked over to Don Ramon's for some Mexican food and a drink. Tim was at the gym and the stars were aligned and when I was done, he was done, so he came and picked me up, which is always nice. It was a great Friday night - a wonderful way to kick off the weekend.

I am...

• in need of a hair cut
• wanting to be outside
• feeling like I have a stomach ache - sort of
• excited
• anxious
• grateful
• ready for this day to end
• wishing I had a backyard I could sit in
• dreaming of a life outside of the city
• picking at my fingernails
• wearing wearing my Greek sandals into the ground
• thinking about embroidery projects I need to finish
• overwhelmed a bit
• wondering how on earth all of that oil is going to get cleaned up
• listening to a Dead Show
• wanting to simplify
• trying to carry around my new camera more (even though it is large)
• thinking about giving my blog a face lift
• wondering how I can find more time in my day to write

Michigan...

Back from the Midwest - what a fun, busy trip it was. Very successful if you ask me, we got a LOT done.
Here is a basic run down of our trip - I didn't talk as many photos as I thought I would, we were that busy!

Tuesday - Flight left on time and got to Detroit in about 4 hours - uneventful and quick, just as I like it. Emily and Mat came and picked us up at about 4:45 PM and we went to the Lemke House. We started checking out everything for the garage sale and came up with a game plan then we went to dinner at Silas Pizzeria right in Berkley (my home town). As always, it was deelish! Here is my Dad, acting silly, imagine that!

After dinner, we went home and had a little bon fire in the grill in the backyard! It was so nice, we just sat around and talked about memories we had of the house, Emily (the future Social Worker) ran the session, it was fun! I think I drank my body weight in beer that first day. Wednesday - woke up and my brother was in the garage loading things into a truck he had borrowed. He was planning on taking some of his old stuff and some of my parents old stuff to his house for him and his family. By the time I was done in the shower he was done loading and came inside and we sat with him and drank coffee for a couple hours. It was nice to visit with him. Then came the rain, it rained super hard but only for a short time, but it was gray and cloudy so us gals (Emily, Mom and I) decided to go and see Sex and the City Part 2. It was entertaining, we had a few laughs and I ate WAY too much popcorn! On the way home we stopped and picked up Middle Eastern food from the corner gas station (might sound strange coming from the corner gas station, but it is the BEST). We loaded up our plates and ate dinner outside.After dinner we moved into the garage, put on the stereo and started pricing and organizing things. We worked for a couple hours and got most of everything priced. We moved the party inside, I believe there was a hockey game on or a baseball game (or both), either way, it was important (ha ha!). While watching the game, I thought about ice skating so I found a place that rented hockey skates and I found one so we planned on going on Thursday. That night Emily, Mat, Tim and I all went to Tastee Freeze (Emily, I will always call it that) to get ice cream.

Thursday - On our lunch break from sale prepping, the four of us (Mat and Emily, Tim and I) all went skating and we had the ice to ourselves for the most part. We skated for about an hour, in uncomfortable rental skates, which is pretty good. Here is Emily showing us her great balance on hockey skates! She is a good skater, don't let this photo fool you!

We decided we would then go to the batting cages and hit some balls but when we got over there, it was closed! Boo! So we decided to go to lunch instead at Inn Season Cafe (great veggie place). Following lunch we went to Royal Oak for a minute to walk around and then back home and back to work! Emily made a nice Salmon dinner for the family with corn on the cob, steamed kale and salad. I made white chocolate pretzel and peanut bark for a sweet evening snack. We ate dinner outside again, I love it! We did a once over and it looked like we were all set for the sale of the century on Friday. Tim brushed Peanut so she looked nice for all of the guests, of course she thought they were all there to see her and not there for the sale!

Here is a sneak peak of the sale items:

Friday - First day of the Moving/Garage Sale! Mat and Tim moved all of the big stuff out from the basement into the backyard, they both worked really hard. We were so busy, lots of stuff sold before Noon. It was really nice to see old neighbors and chat with the people who came by. We were so wiped out at the end of the day, it was ridiculous. Mom, Dad, Tim and I went out for dinner since Emily and Mat had other plans. I had 2 cocktails and was feeling mighty fine by the time we got home. A good old MidWest Thunder and Lightening storm in the evening, standing on the porch watching Mother Nature rage with Tim was fun. Running barefoot in the rain in front of my parents house was a flash back to my childhood.

Saturday - Mom made Monkey Bread for Breakfast while we gave the sales floor a face lift and brought out more stuff. Emily and I went into the attic and cleaned out some of my old stuff, lots of ballet books and natural medicine books to sell and lots of photos and letters to look at. The sale on Saturday was great too - time seemed to fly by and before we knew it, it was over. We ordered Chinese food for dinner and ate outside before it began to rain for the evening. Emily, Mat, Tim and I went out for ice cream again around 11 PM in a torrential downpour, it was fun though.

Sunday - Open House/Party at my parents house. My best friend from when I was in Elementary School came over with her three kids. We had such a nice time reminiscing about when we were kids. Our parents were friends too (and still are) so we went camping together, skiing in the winter and lots of other fun stuff. Our old neighbors that have since moved came over as well along with current neighbors. My brother came over as well and stayed until around 9 PM after everyone had left it was just Mom, Dad, Tim, Andy and I talking it up. Emily and Mat had other plans and left around 8 PM. It was such a nice party, all of us made a salad and my Mom sliced a ham which was the perfect amount of food for all of us. Sunday night Tim and I went to bed around 11 PM to catch up a little on our sleep.

Monday - slept in a bit, hung out, cleaned out more stuff of mine and put things aside that I was planning to keep. Visited my best friend from High School who was about 45 minutes away - my sister drove me and picked me up. It was so nice to reconnect in person with an old friend even though our visit was short, it was very good like no time had passed at all between us. We just picked up where we left off. Monday night we went to dinner in Greek Town in Detroit.

I am bummed that I didn't bring my new camera to dinner - the low light made all of my photos grainey from my point and shoot (SHOOT!).

Tuesday - packed our bags and got on the plane at 12:30 PM Midwest time and arrived home 5 hours later. We both slept on the plane before it even took off, which was pretty funny, we must have been tired.

Here are some activities that filled some space during our visit:

• Laughing a LOT
• Playing the Trombone (video to come in the future)
• Playing wii with Emily and Mat
• Watching baseball, basketball and hockey on TV
• Getting bit by mosquitoes
• Looking at my Grandma's scrapbook (now I know where I get it from, documenting everything that is).

Manic Monday

If I had the closet of my dreams, this is what I would be wearing today...