I [heart] Rosarito!

8 friends +
3 days in Rosarito, Mexico +
6 hours in the car +
1 stop in San Diego +
1 lunch of lobster, tortillas, beans and rice +
30 minutes walking around Puerto Nuevo +
1 cool flask +
4 hours of napping +
3 drinking games +
6 people declaring their love for me +
3 trips to Papas & Beer +
1,000 pesos out of the ATM +
6 hours in the sun +
6 Tecates +
1 really cool straw hat courtesy of Kale +
4 taxi rides +
1 police check point +
1 beer poured on Mason’s head +
10 hours of dancing +
4 free drinks at Coco Beach +
1 late night snack at Machos Tacos +
1 dinner of Mr. Zaragoza’s famous fried chicken +
3 pumpkin chocolate chip cookies +
1 bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles +
10 toes in the ocean +
1 juggler outside my car window +
2 hours in line to get back to the U.S. +
1 turkey sandwich at Hennessey’s +
7 blocks biking around Santa Monica looking for apartments +
1 bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup =

The best weekend of the summer so far!

Check out the pictures!

P.S. — If you were there and I left anything out, feel free to add it!

Rosarito bound

Painted toenails. Check.

Passport. Check.

Swimsuit. Check.

Pumpkin and chocolate chip cookies. Check.

Sandals. Check.

Sunscreen. Check.

Tequila. Check.

I’m Rosarito bound, my friends. Enjoy your weekend! Pictures of mine to come on Monday!

Donuts make me happy

And so do new sandals. And discounts at the auto shop.

Today has been a good day. It started with a trip to the South Bay Auto Center to get a new fuel filter, something my dad, a mechanic, told me I needed. Once I convinced the (mostly Spanish-speaking) mechanic that I did, in fact, need a new fuel filter even though I had no idea why I needed one, the next 30 minutes went by pretty smoothly. Me and my sister sat on little chairs in the middle of the shop and sipped on cranberry juice to the smell of engine oil, and Oscar (the shop’s owner) gave me a discount because my dad works for FedEx, and it seems Oscar is quite fond of FedEx. I smiled and signed the receipt, happy for the extra $20 in my pocket.

After my auto shop adventure, I went to work, and to my surprise, there were actually donuts left over from the 8:00 a.m. meeting. My heart jumped when I saw the box, hoping against hope there was something good left, and much to my delight, there was! One beautiful puffy chocolate donut complete with pink and yellow sprinkles was just sitting there, waiting on me to take a bite. So, I did. And it was gooooood.

After my donut binge and a few hours of work, I decided I needed something new for my trip to Rosarito this weekend. So, I headed over to the shopping center across from my work to browse the shops, and what a fabulous little shopping spree I had. One new bathing suit, a cute tank top, and a pair of (long coveted) gladiator sandals later and I was walking on clouds.

Now I’m headed home to do some online shopping for Mexican auto insurance. If that goes smoothly, I’ll have to say that today has been just plain fabulous.

Monday's back again.

2 of my favorite people +
1 hour at Sharkeez for happy hour +
1 LAPD officer +
1 backyard adventure +
2 whiskey and cokes +
1 plate of cheese fries on the deck at Hennessey’s +
1 pitcher at The Poop Deck +
30 minutes at The Underground +
1 answered phone at The Mermaid Bar +
5 terrible techno songs in a row at 12th and Highland +
5 fun hip hop songs in a row at Beaches +
2 hours laying on the beach +
1 yogurt with strawberries at Pinkberry +
20 minutes wandering around Whole Foods +
1 morning sleeping until noon +
1 hour sitting on the steps +
2 free movies +
1 drive to Santa Monica with the windows down +
1 dinner of grilled chicken and corn +
2 hours of Lars and the Real Girl +
1 bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup =

One very HOT, but very fun weekend.

Here's to the first day of summer

Sorry that I’ve been MIA all week, everyone! I hope you haven’t missed me too much. I’ve just been a tad bit busy with my sister’s move, catching up on work since it was only a three-day week for me and getting used to having a new roomy. But no worries because I’m back, and what a perfect day to come back on: the first day of summer!

Last night I went to my very first summer barbecue. Grilled chicken, asparagus and tomatoes topped with blue cheese and bread crumbs. Needless to say, it was the perfect kick-off to the “official” summer - well, that and the new Jack Johnson CD I stole out of my sister’s CD case yesterday. Driving back to work after my lunch break, I couldn’t help but notice how much Jack mellows me out and gets my little wheels a turnin'. By the time I parked my car in the lot outside my office building, I had concluded that:

1. It’s never a good idea for your sister to date your boyfriend’s friends.

2. I really don’t like when someone says, “Let’s just see how things go.” I prefer a plan. I’m a planner.

3. Red velvet cake really does taste like chocolate cake with red food coloring.

4. The amount of toilet paper two girls go through in one week could wallpaper a small home.

5. All food tastes better grilled.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday!

If you build it, she will come

Or in my case, if you clean it out, she will come.

My sister is moving from Texas to Los Angeles this weekend to live with me in my one bedroom apartment (until she gets a job, then we’ll find a bigger place). In preparation for her arrival, I cleaned out one of the two closets in my apartment so she can use it, and ever since I cleaned it out, I’ve been oh so excited about her move. Maybe it’s all those shelves just waiting to have shoes on them or those empty hangers begging for shirts and skirts, or maybe it’s just the fact that I’ll suddenly have another closet full of clothes to choose from (fun)!

For the past two years, we’ve lived thousands of miles apart, going about our business, becoming our own people, making our own friends, and adopting our own annoying habits, and on Sunday, we’ll come together again, for a new adventure, in this fabulous city of LA.

Wish us luck! And stay tuned for updates on how things are going!

Surrender

I know I already posted today, but I wanted to post again and tell you all about something really sad that happened to someone I used to be really close to. Her name is Jessica, and she is my ex-boyfriend’s sister, and although we were friends while I was dating her brother, we drifted apart after the break up. Since then, I’ve bumped into her a couple times when I was home visiting, but that’s about it.

So, yesterday, when I learned from my mom that her baby had died, I was so sad. I had heard a while back that Jessica found out something was wrong with her baby when she was only a couple months pregnant, but I hadn’t heard anymore news until yesterday when I learned that she delivered the baby on Friday and it lived one hour before it died. Treyson Kemp Carlin, as they named him, never developed any kidneys, a condition known as bilateral renal agenesis. Because he didn’t have any kidneys, he couldn’t produce any amniotic fluid, so he was basically developing inside a dry womb, something I didn’t even know was possible.

The reason that I wanted to let you all know about it, though, is because Jessica kept a blog about her experiences throughout her pregnancy. I just learned about the blog today, and I was completely and totally blown away. Not only was I impressed at Jessica’s writing skills, but I was impressed by the story she so eloquently tells about a mom and her unborn son, and I immediately wished I had been there to read about it along the way.

And so I figured, as people who like to read blogs, you guys might want to check it out. It’s called Surrender. And in the meantime, it would be awesome if you could say a prayer for Jessica and her husband, Josh or send some positive, healing energy their way. I know they would appreciate it.

June gloom

When you think of living in California, you probably think of palm trees, beaches and hot, sunny weather. Well, you’d be right about the palm trees and beaches, but so wrong about the weather. While it’s usually sunny, it’s actually never hot here, that is, if you live at the beach.

If you live in the valley or inland somewhere, surrounded by mountains on all sides, you’ll experience perfectly warm, nonhumid, 85 to 90 degree temps on a weekly basis. You can enjoy long walks after dinner in the warm afternoon breeze, and you’ll be able to float in pools, play in sprinklers and eat dinner outdoors whenever you please.

However, if you live at the beach, things are quite different. Eating dinner outdoors isn’t really possible, unless you want to bundle up in your winter best or go to a restaurant where they have outdoor heaters. Long walks after dinner are often cut short by the chilly breeze biting at your ears, and floating in pools is never really fun when the water is a frigid 60 degrees that refuses to be warmed up by the 69 degree day.

Sorry if I sound bitter. Maybe the June gloom is getting to me. You see, in southern California, we have this thing called June gloom that lasts, well, for the month of June. Thirty days of gloomy, cloudy skies that sometimes turn into sun, but sometimes don’t. Today’s not looking good. (See photo above.) In fact, today looks like the kind of day you’d want to bundle up in a sweater and tuck yourself into the corner of your couch for a Lifetime movie marathon and a glass of hot chocolate. Today does not look like summer. Today looks like blah. And that’s how it makes me feel.

I can’t help it if I want blisteringly hot summer days and ice cream cones that melt down my arms, warm summer nights full of walking and talking and dinners eaten outside to the light of the moon. I want to sit on my steps until the sun goes down in nothing but my tank top and cut offs. I want to swear off any shoes that aren’t sandals. And I want to dive into the icy ocean simply because the beach is too hot.

Unfortunately, with only a couple days clocking in at higher than 80 degrees in Manhattan Beach so far this summer, it doesn’t look like these things will be happening anytime soon. So, for all of you living in places where the nights are hot and the days are hotter, think of me. I’m with you in spirit.

Monday again.

1 leftover homemade hamburger +
2 whiskey and cokes +
1 vodka red bull at The Parlor +
2 five dollar cab rides +
1 day of being sick +
2 hours napping +
60 minutes people watching at Starbucks +
1 extra hot decaf cinnamon dolce latte with a lemon loaf +
1 bike ride to the promenade and back +
3 soft tacos from Cabo Cantina +
11 hours of sleep +
1 sink full of dishes +
20 clean bowls and plates +
7 blocks biking to the beach +
3 hours in the sun +
1 Body+Soul magazine +
1 crazy couch cleaner named Milan +
2 clean couches +
30 minutes running +
1 dinner of chicken and mushroom spaghetti +
60 minutes watching the Lakers/Celtics game +
2 episodes of The Girls Next Door +
1 pumpkin chocolate chip cookie +
1 glass of milk +
1 sleepy girl in bed by 10:30 =

One lazy weekend that was exactly what I needed.

Bundles of joy

A couple nights ago, my boyfriend and I put together a stroller. His sister is coming to visit next weekend and bringing his baby nephew. In order to cut down on the amount of stuff she has to lug through the airport, she asked him if he could buy a stroller and have it for her in LA. He said sure.

So, there we were, me sitting on the bed reading him the directions, him putting on the wheels with his handy dandy all-in-one tool, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’re you laughing at?” he asked.

“I’m laughing because I think it’s weird that we’re putting together a stroller,” I said.

“Why?” he asked. “Do you think if people saw us through the windows they would think we were having a baby?”

“Probably,” I said. “I’ve never really imagined myself putting together a stroller, but if I had, I would’ve imagined it to be with my husband, getting ready to have a baby.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he said, busily snapping on wheels and hubcaps.

Since he no longer seemed to need my assembly assistance, I let my mind wander. Sitting there on the bed with my legs folded Indian style, I let myself imagine for a second that I was eight months pregnant with a big belly in my lap, wearing elastic-waist pants, craving ice cream and pickles and feeling so excited about that stroller and all that it meant. And I must admit, it felt pretty exciting, if a tad bit scary.

“Ok, it’s done,” he said a few minutes later, putting an end to my little daydream. “Now, get in.”

“What do you mean, get in?” I asked.

“Get in,” he said. “I want to push you around and see if it works.”

So, I did. I got in, and he pushed me around the apartment for a bit, and we laughed, and even though I know I’ll be ready for my very own bundle of joy one day, for now, I’m more than happy to be the one in the stroller.

Four reasons

Four reasons why yesterday started off as a bad day.

1. I misbalanced my checking account and had to pay a $33 overdraft fee.
2. Thanks to the sunburn I got this weekend, my face was peeling horrendously and I looked like I had a beard.
3. I got cranberry juice on one of my favorite light blue work shirts. It doesn’t look like it’s coming out.
4. I realized I needed to buy a plane ticket to Spokane for July, and it was going to cost me over $300. My bank account felt sick.

Four reasons why yesterday ended on a high note.

1. I bought two really cute dresses from Forever 21. Even though my bank account felt sick, I felt happy.
2. I did some much-needed summer cleaning, which included throwing away an old VCR. I’ve never thrown a VCR into a dumpster before. It was highly satisfying.
3. I had the most amazing homemade hamburger for dinner, complete with onions, melted cheese and bbq sauce.
4. The Real World came on. And I realized that no matter how bad my day was, it wasn’t as bad as Joey’s.

I wanted to leave you guys with a question today: Vanity license plates? A do or a don’t?

I’m leaning toward a don’t. (No offense if you have one, or if the photo above is your car.)

Life lessons over lasagna

My boyfriend said something amazingly sweet the other night that I can’t stop thinking about. We were out to dinner, and we were talking about people who are dramatic.

“You’re dramatic,” he said.

“You think I’m dramatic?” I asked.

“Well, maybe not dramatic,” he corrected himself. “I think you’re emotional.”

“I am emotional,” I admitted. “But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It might seem like it’s a bad thing when I’m feeling sad or mad, but what about when I’m feeling happy? I’m a really caring, kind person and I’m good at showing love, and that’s a good thing.”

“Oh, I know,” he said, totally honest. “That’s why I would never want you to change. I love that you’re emotional. Even though I don’t like it when you’re really sad or upset, I love that you get so excited and really happy about things. I wouldn’t want you to be unemotional. I wouldn’t want you to be any different than you are.”

Aww, I know, so sweet it'll give you a cavity. But seriously, I was so taken aback by his response that I didn’t even know what to say. It’s funny how even though I was (shamelessly) defending myself and my emotions, I didn’t really believe what I was saying until he agreed with me. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But I do know that hearing him agree with me freed me from a little bit of the self judgment that’s been plaguing me lately, and that feels really nice.

So, my lessons for the day: Am I emotional? Yes. Is that a bad thing? No. Could it be true that some of the things we don’t like about ourselves are the things that other people love? Totally. Should we commit to looking for the silver lining in all of our shortcomings? You betcha.

Enjoy your Wednesday, everyone!

Good times

10 girls at Cobras and Matadors +
1 bottle of white zinfandel that was pink, not white +
1,000 girls at the Grove in line for the movies +
2.5 hours of Sex and the City: The Movie +
5 tears +
100 laughs +
1 bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats +
4 hours at the beach +
1 really bad sunburn +
10 painted fingernails +
1 cab ride +
2 brothers +
3 hours at 12th and Highland +
1 birthday shot with Carina +
2 hours of conversation about boys, girls and pick up lines +
1 bag of puffy Cheetos +
2 very tired girls +
1 sleepover +
1 broken computer +
3 more hours at the beach +
1 cheese enchilada dinner +
3 episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians +
1 nap on the couch +
1 walk to Von’s +
1 frozen pizza +
2 hours of the MTV Movie Awards +
9 hours of sleep =

1 really great Carina’s Birthday Weekend!