Pic taken during the move in process. We really have cleaned up more sense then.
Shaft and I recently moved to the 414 located in Sugarhouse. I have lived alone for two and half years and wasn’t quite sure about living in the room mate scenario again. The answer? It’s completely superb. To be honest, the 414 might be my best living situation yet. Let’s see… I get to hang out with Shaft on a regular basis, CB can run around in the big fenced in yard, I have access to a mac, linux and windows machine, plus I get to spend time with two great kids for half the week. Add to all this the fact that we have guitar hero and I feel like the luckiest girl on the lower east side.
I recently had the chance to fly out to New York for the weekend. It was my first time to go to New York in the spring and it was substantially more enjoyable than my dead of winter and middle of summer trips. In fact, I actually loved New York and for the first time in my life thought I might enjoy living there.
I crashed up in Brooklyn at my friend Josh’s house. It was extremely kind of him to offer up his place, which was perfectly located for easy access into the city. This picture was taken when we were enjoying an excellent brunch at Miriams.
My Seattle-based friend Warren suggested I catch up with his friend and avid NYC tour guide, JP. JP was seriously hilarious and gladly showed me around the most interesting sites of Union Square: the man selling the carrot slicer, the sock shop with a very diverse sock offering, the gym where JP enjoyed running on the sidewalk racing the folks on the treadmills, a comfortable couch outside of a furniture shop, but mostly the fantastic Japanese restaurant with a cotton candy machine. Good times!
I was able to meet up with my good friend Robb for drinks at Floyds, catching up on life while watching endless games of Bacci ball. He then joined me on Saturday for my walk across the Brooklyn bridge and strolling through Soho.
The busy, busy street in Soho.
After meeting up with my business friend Sam, I caught up with Justin for a quick drink
Later on Saturday night I hung out with a bunch of friends from SXSW including Alex and his wife, Orian, Charlie and his girl Meredith, and a couple of Charlie’s other friends I didn’t get the time to really get to know. A handful of us then headed to Yuri’s for a party, but I am not used to the late night lifestyle of New York and so didn’t stay very long. The next day I gathered all my stuff together and flew home in the early afternoon.
My good friend Sam recently moved to Guam to practice law. I can’t express how excited I am for his move and envy his opportunity to live abroad.
As a going away gift, Sam, who is a guitarist and composer, put on a house show. I absolutely love his folk-like music, with lyrics including:
“Bobbing with the potatoes
Trying to stay afloat.
So I grabbin’ me a carrot,
and trying to carve a boat.
And I’ll set sail
straight for your heart.
And if I get there
will you give me a part?
Cuz you are the girl I can’t resist,
though you persist.
Though you persist.” Great Expectations
“If I turn the temperature down
and I’m the only heat around
Would you come on darlin’ and sit a little closer to me?” Proposal #2
“I carry my phone
wherever I roam.
Feels like a big long leash.
A fish when it’s hooked
well, tastes better cooked.
She’s fishing catch and release.” Bachelor’s Lament
Listening to Sam play that night made me realize (again) how lucky I have been to have him in my life. His friendship has been invaluable. He seems to understand me well and regardless of how little or much I see him throughout the year, he is always there for support. Mostly though, Sam is perhaps the only friend who I can openly talk to about any of my emotions, no matter how raw they might be that day, and he is always willing to listen.. just listen. He has gotten me through many rough patches in my life and I am lucky to have him has a friend. I hope he finds much happiness in Guam.
I just realized that my Seattle based friend Chris is blogging. I have looked through about a dozen entries this morn and am impressed with his blog, especially his photos. He writes on all topics I know nothing about: photography, pop culture, music, movies, etc. I really dig it. Check it out here or it will also be linked on my blogroll. The above shot is his and called Artificial Nature.
In 2006 I traveled to Ireland for a two week trip and was amazed at the hospitality of the Irish. People would freely give me rides, offer me drinks, talk for hours in pubs, inquire about my travels, etc. Then to top it off I met the most fantastic crew of climbers who picked me up in Northern Ireland to let me join in their climbing trip at the Burren. The hospitality of these people was over the top.
While there I made two real good friends, H.I.P #1 and H.I.P #2. (H.I.P is an acronym for Hardcore Irish Person as it they were psyched to climb even when the rock was wet, plus would sip tea in the freezing rain prior to crashing in the tent for the night .) This week has been a little funky as I am striving to get back into the groove of work and midterms after a long awesome weekend. Between work and homework I took a break to flip through the Google reader and saw that H.I.P #2 had posted up the nicest blog about my new site and how his friends should check it out. The Irish kindness never ceases to amaze me.
Both H.I.P #1 and H.I.P #2 blog. Check out their sites here and here.
This past week was a little volatile for me and filled with a handful of bummer days, which is out of the ordinary. In hindsight, I believe there were just many variables all colliding within the same week. However, during the bummer week I had five friends who just went out of their way to help me out, to which I wanted to say thank you.
One day I came home from work and noticed a package in the mail. I looked at the stamp and noticed the British pound symbol and instantly smiled. Inside was a fantastic cd and the best card, sent as a late birthday present from my British Team Buddha friends.
The next day was yet another struggle, but once again I came home to find surprises awaiting in the mail. I had a new Cheyenne cd from my friend Harper in New York and a big box full of cereal from my good friend Sam (the cereal being an inside joke).
Shaft and I went out to a symphony on Friday. I always know the program prior to attending, but this night was an exception where we had gotten tickets last minute, not being able to read up on the show prior to attendance. To our surprise, it was a light-hearted performance of family fun music and a magician. With anyone else the show might have seemed silly, but since I was with Shaft I could laugh out loud and thoroughly enjoy the illusions.
My friend Sam was in the Salt Lake area this weekend. On Saturday we went to a play and enjoyed some supper afterwards. The night was fantastic because we had the chance to just chat openly about life, fears, hopes, etc. I find conversations with Sam to be refreshing.
Mr. Math left me a kind note and some delicious cookies, which made me smile.
Thanks everyone. I appreciated your kind gestures.
This weekend was such a blast that I thought I might ramble about it a little on the Crag Baby blog.
Friday: My work day finished up at the Nanotech Conference at the University of Utah. I went just for the afternoon portion to hear the discussions on commercializations. The event was informative with interesting speakers and attendees. That evening Shaft and I went to the Sarah Vowell reading at Capitol Theater. I had received the tickets through my volunteer work at KCPW and it was such a treat. Sarah Vowell was hilarious and I can’t wait to get her new book for my father. After the reading, Shaft and I enjoyed dinner at Cafe Molise and sipped some martinis at The Red Door. Man, I love Chocolatinis!
Saturday: I participated in the Deadpoint Comp at The Front. The problems were diverse with a whole section of crimpy problems sprinkled in with a good handful of sloper and reachy problems. My friends and I even luckily ended up with some great prizes including a free month to The Front (which I gave to Ms. Pear so that we can climb together in the gym) and a gift certificate for some free running shoes (which Shaft gave to me). Later that evening I attended one of the best parties at my friend Eric’s house. It consisted of a great crew of folks in costume, all enjoying the catered sushi and the open bar. Pictured above is me and Jules.
Sunday: I lazily enjoyed the morn with the CB-GBers and caught up on some reading. I took the CB-GBers for a small hike and hung out with two of my favorite kids. I was going to go climbing, but sometimes it is nice just to lay low.
Life is great! I love to savor the good times so that I can reflect back when times are bumpy. I really am grateful for the people in my life, the awesome job I am lucky enough to work, the area in which I live, plus so much more.
