Made in Barcelona

I have a postcard at my desk that reminds me of Barcelona. I love Barcelona. If I ever moved anywhere outside of North America, I would live there. It's amazing. I would drink sangria and eat falafel and stay out until 4am every night. I would take a siesta everyday at 2pm and not eat dinner until 10pm. I would dress in crazy clothes with tons of pockets and wear fancy shoes. I would drive a scooter and live in the Gothic Quarter. I would be ridiculously attractive by default and have a really cool job.
I wouldn't be stuck at work because I'm waiting for traffic to die down.

Pop Pop

Severe Weather Alert

The best part about living in LA is that I live 5 blocks from the beach and less than 2 hours from the snow. Before this past winter, I hadn't been to the snow in over 6 years. So when it actually rained here this winter, Derek and I decided to take the drive East. Too bad we didn't pay attention to the Severe Weather Alert issued that day.

We woke up early and drove to Bear Mountain. They don't let you up there without chains, so we made sure and bought some before our trip. We weren't as prepared as we thought. Once we made it half way up the mountain the police made us stop and put the chains on. Some guy convinced us to pay him $40 to put the chains on 'real tight'. Oh, did I mention it was raining ridiculously hard? Well, it was. And it didn't stop. Instead, it turned from a downpour to a semi-frozen hail sleet material. It was cold and the little bits of frozen rain stung me in the face.

We went and got some lunch at a small old restaurant on a random road in the village. The food was warm and we saw that English actor who is the lead role in the HBO show The Tudors.

When we couldn't stand the wet cold any longer we decided to drive home. Oh, did I mention it was still raining? It kept raining when we stopped to take off the tire chains. Remember that guy who was nice enough to charge us to help us put on our tire chains? He put them on so tight we couldn't get them off. It was wet and cold and getting dark. We had no choice but to drive further down the mountain. Except when you drive with chains you can't drive more than 30mph, so I kept having to stop and let the other cars pass me. Finally, we made it down to where we had to put them on in the first place. We saw two really big monster trucks and decided to pull over and ask for help. Standing next to their trucks, were 6 or 7 huge Mexican men with giant pot bellies and handlebar mustaches. Derek and I walked up to them and had to admit how lame we were that we couldn't get the chains off our tires. Derek asked them if they had a tool we could borrow to try to pry them off. One of the men reached out and said 'Will this work?'. He was holding a 3' crowbar. It took 8 of us and a crowbar to get those stupid chains off the tires.

The jolly men laughed at us, jumped in their monster trucks, and bulldozed down the mountain.

Next time, I'll invest in a crowbar. And I'm definitely staying away from Severe Weather Alerts and nice men who offer to put on your tire chains.

Brush Your Mustache

If I had the ability to grow a mustache, I would. They are awesome.
But, sadly, I can't. So, I'll continue to use a comb I found in a pinata last Cinco de Mayo.

Urban Rooster

We went to The Blessing of the Animals at Olvera Street in Downtown Los Angeles on the Saturday before Easter. It had all my favorite things : wild animals, guys wearing sombreros and holding lassos, margaritas, churros, a zebra, a camel, and all different kinds of people.

We took the bus there, and on the way back stopped at the new BCAM exhibit.

Neon Gas

These are photos from a Dan Flavin exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art last summer. He creates space with the placement of neon lights. It was really fun. We weren't allowed to take photos, but it was so crowded no one noticed.

By the way, it costs $3.97 for a gallon of regular gas at the station 2 blocks from my apartment.

Road Rage

Last night it took me 2 hours to drive home.
I drove less than 10 miles an hour for 20 miles.
Honestly.
If I wasn't driving so slow, I would have thrown myself out of the car.

Not Well Balanced

Last week I was robbed. I didn't get robbed in the traditional 'held up at gun point' way of doing things. Instead, the other day, I checked my account balance online and noticed that a lot of money was missing from my checking account. Someone had taken out hundreds of dollars two days in a row. The weirdest part is that I never lost my card and it was never stolen, but somehow, this person was able to go to the Bank of America ATM on Wilshire and withdrawal my money. I had to cancel my cards and fill out a report saying that I didn't authorize the withdrawals and I should get my money back. The bank has to run an investigation and hopefully I will get the money in the next couple weeks.

The worst part is that I have survive the next week without my check card. I didn't realize how much I love my check card. I can't remember the last time I paid for gas in cash. It definitely put a hindrance on my impulse buying over the weekend - which maybe is a good thing, I should think about leaving it at home more often.

I got a Jury Summons too, just to make the week extra special.

I guess worse things could have happened. And as far as timing goes, it worked out perfectly. I don't' have to pay rent right away, which is good, and I could have still been on vacation and not known about it for a week.

Photo Photo

My people : Teresa, Nate, Jason, Karl, Davey, Sean, Maili, Casey, Jordan, Carrie, Melanie

Austin 2007

Last year I went to Austin, Texas with my mom. We went to Austin City Limits - the 3-day music festival. We had so much fun. We saw bats, cowboys, and went to taco gospel brunch. I want to go back again this year. We have friends that just moved there and invited us out on the Fourth of July. They described it as a weekend full of drinking and floating down a pee-filled river. Can't wait!

In less than two weeks we are going to Coachella which is also a 3-day music festival in the desert. It's usually about 100 degrees all three days. Last year we had a blast. The countdown begins...

First Time

I left work early to start this page. So far, so good. This is me and my boyfriend Derek, it's kind of an old picture. We live in a funky old green apartment on the beach. I've lived in a bunch of different places over the years, but this one is by far the best. We moved in together in October 2007. Time flies.

Let's see, what else can I sum up about my life.

I graduated college in June 2006 and have been working as a Landscape Architect ever since. I really like my profession, if only it paid more. I'm anxious to do more with my career and learn new things. Someday I want my own business: a long, narrow store in kick-ass neighborhood where I sell things I make in the front and have a design consulting firm in the back. Someday.

I've been a vegetarian since Thanksgiving Day 2001. No meat. No fish. However, I do eat some dairy, only because I don't see how people could survive without eating strong, sharp, stinky cheeses. Currently, I have no desire to eat meat ever again.

Derek is the opposite. He loves meat. Hot Dogs above all. He grew up working the family beef farm in a small rural town in Northern Ontario, Canada. He's moved to the States in 2003 for work. He's also a Landscape Architect. We met while I was interning at his office in the summer of 2004. We officially been dating since September 9, 2004. He's working on getting his Green Card. The first phase is complete, I think there is 3 more to go.

I have a little baby sister Martine, she's 23, and a big sister Atarah, she's 34. We try to get together, with my mom, Seran, and my step-dad, Michael, once a week for a Sunday dinner. We have so much fun together.

I just returned from a trip to Sarasota, Florida where I was visiting my Dad and Step-Mom, amognst other family and friends. I miss them all so much. Sometimes I forget how much they mean to me. It was so much fun. Needless to say, my coworkers haven't stopped commenting on how tan I am. I'll post pictures of that trip soon. My camera broke on the way out there and I need to buy a new one.