string*THEORY

Time Flies When You're Stressed Out

I'm not really sure how to start a journal entry after such an extensive (and unannounced) absence. I feel as if I owe you all some sort of explanation followed by a blow by blow account of what the heck I've been up to these past two months. The truth is, it would be too much to go into now, but I promise that I'll slowly divulge my past whereabouts during the course of my next few entries - which will (hopefully) be more regular.

Before I jump in the warm Caribbean water that will be my account of a recent vacation, I want to say "thank you" to those of you who have thought to reach out to me, and a "sorry" for not sending you the big virtual hug of thanks. Another "sorry" for not noticing or acknowledging your recent triumphs, I've been just as out of touch with your lives, as I have with my own. Slowly but surely I will catch up with you.

Ah yes, the Caribbean...is there anything better then letting the stresses of the world drift away with the seagulls as you let the warm thickness of the salty Caribbean water carry and show you what it must feel like to fly? Fear not, the photos above are not some ominous hint as to where I've been spending my time these past months. The photos were taken at El Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A peaceful cemetery by the sea and one of my new favorite spots to shoot.

The long awaited respite was filled with sun, sea, food and beautiful people. Maritza, why didn't you mention this about Puerto Rico? It really should be renamed as "Land of the Hot People". And did I mention reading? I had an opportunity to reignite my inner bibliophile with two amazing novels, The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Both incredible for their attention to detail, character development, and homage to the power of the female spirit. I'm going to keep this momentum and post-vacation flame alive by jumping into my next novel. So, I must ask, what are you reading now? What is your favorite book?

La Superior

Sacramento Day #1, a trip to the Mexican grocery store.

::SWEET::

'

::SAVORY::

::Let Summer Begin::

no, no, this isn't one of those mis-placed posts brought up again by bloglines for some unknown reason (is it me, or has that been happening a lot lately?).

For those of you who have never visited this fine little city I live in, let me just warn you, it's cold in the summer. Like, really cold. Like, I wear sweaters everyday kinda cold. Yes, yes, it's true. And if you don't believe me, well, do yourself a favor when you come and visit, and budget in an extra $12.99 to pick yourself up a cheesy Golden Gate Bridge sweatshirt when you realize that your typical August attire isn't going to cut it.

So rather then go on and on, I'm going to take a little break and go where the summer is sure to be, my hometown of Sacramento. Where today, it's "unseasonable cold" at a nice dry heat of 90 degrees. Yes! Now, that's summer.

As much as I love San Francisco, I have to say that I miss all of the rituals of summer. The types of sweltering summers I'm used to from Sacramento and Spain. Hot. Hot like, you can't eat dinner in the house and long summer evenings are spent enjoying cold-soup gazpacho in the backyard while hanging out half awake as the sun tends to put your mind to sleep. Hot like, the obligatory night swim, right before heading up to bed, because without it, comfortable sleep cannot be had. Hot like, turning your house inside out, just to survive. Dragging the TV outside to watching the Olympics with your dad. And setting up camp outside with your sisters, because really, what's a summer sleeping cooped up inside, when you can get a slight break from the heat by sleeping in the backyard?

So, for the next few days, I'll be soaking up the final days of summer, in the most traditional sense of the word. Swimming in the day, rubbing aloe + calamine lotion in the night (another lovely feature of Sacramento summers is the giant mosquito's).

I'm going to try to post. It might be the typical long rambling posts with lots of photos or just daily postcards a la Liesl. Because really, do I need to have that hot computer sitting on my lap as I struggle to keep cool?

Midnight Fabric Shopping

I disappeared for a bit, didn't I? And without any notice, shame on me. Sometimes that needs to happen, doesn't it? Setting aside the tools we use to document + reflect on our lives - to actually live.

And live I did. This past week was an absolute flurry of happy activity - none of which were creative related. But just a generally good time connecting with friends, soaking up the sun in the South Bay and wiping myself out. Which is the states of affairs for me right now. I'm back at home, reflecting + relaxing.

And my favorite part of returning home? Besides reuniting with the hubs, well, going through the mail of course!

"Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy"

Have you ever heard that song? Neither had I until I managed to make my way up to the Calgary Stampede this week where I heard that song about 392 times in less then 48 hours. Despite the short visit, as much craziness as you can think of happened and Canada pretty much knocked me on my butt. So much so that I had to cut my trip short and return home early. This mostly due to a violent bought of God-Only-Know's-What involving me becoming "that girl" on the plane - grossing everyone out. I'm trying my best not to go into the details - feel lucky today that your not one of my sisters, because I would be on the phone with you right now breaking out all the disgusting details. I do that, I don't know why.

I'm so.so.so happy to be home. The trip home was the longest short trip home I've ever had and every time I turned around, my patience was tested. Right down the very last minute when I was picking up my luggage and there were about 40,000 mis-behavin' children in the luggage carousel area of SFO. Screaming, kicking and ramming their carts into my ankles. I'm ashamed to say that I had a minor melt down involving "words" with a 12 year old and a evil stare down contest with his mother. Right after that, my phone died so I couldn't find my husband. Karma? Most likely. The world has a way of balancing things out.

At any rate, it took until about this here minute to recover and I'm finally moving about my house freely instead of shouting from the back room "babe, can you make me 'sumore chicken broth?". The man is a saint.

The weekend turned for the better after a baseball game with the hubs and then a surprise at my doorstep from Megan. And if you don't know who Megan is, go on over and introduce yourself. The photo doesn't do it justice, but she sent me a generous package full of soapy goodies from her shop. Body + face soap, foot balm (which I need after wearing cowboy boots for 48 hours straight!), a scrubby exfoliating thingy + the coolest soap dish ever (already displayed in my bathroom, thank you very much). This stuff smells soooo good, and is that healthy luxurious kind of stuff you could probably eat if you were really hungry and couldn't find an apple. Thank you, Megan!

Before I forget! Thank you so so much...for all your kind congratulatory wishes and messages from my anniversary. The hubby was just as touched. Ya'll are just too sweet.

::Hello::Goodbye::

Popping in to say hello! We're back from Key West. I have lots of thoughts to share on Key West, The South (in general) and the feelings of vacation, etc... but guess what? I'm leaving again. I'm heading off to Calgary in a few hours and will be back Friday. I'll do my best to pop in before then, but who knows where that wild town will take me in the next couple of days.

One of the things I love the most about vacation is coming back. Namely the rhythm of getting back into the swing of things, looking at my life and daily routines with a fresh perspective. The process of sealing up the box of vacation memories as I shuffle about the house with tan skin, flip flops still caked in sand, toes still painted in tropical colors. I'm hopeful that my vacation resolutions (I always come back with a few) will stick. They're almost always the same no matter where I go....eat healthier, get more sleep, exercise...you know how it is. And I suppose that's what vacation is all about, right? Renewal. Rejuvenation.

I wish I wasn't leaving today, but I am. I want more then anything to just settle back into the house and indulge in that back-from-vacation feeling, catch up with your blogs...and emails....and flickr photos.

All that (along with a little shop update) will have to wait, though for this weekend.

I'll be sure to pop in this week with photos of this wild Canadian city of Calgary...

The Wedding Fight

Well, this time two years ago we were waking up to get ready for yet another party.

Our main mission at that point, was not to find and iron our clothing, but to find and fix our car which had broken down at the diner that we ate at after we got married the night before. But all of that was after we had to quickly put down our ginormous burgers because a huge fight had broken out between a bunch of beefy frat boys. Soda and french fries were flying all over the place and I didn't want to get my gown dirty. Not to mention getting punched in the face on my wedding night. Well, I suppose I try to avoid that on any given night. Yes, we were still dressed up, and yes, sitting in a old-fashioned diner while some guys were getting their asses beat.

We high tailed it out of there to realize that we would be sitting in the parking lot for an hour while we waited for a cab to pick us up because the car wouldn't start. I slept. My new husband waited. And waited. And called again. What were we waiting for? Oh, yes, the cabbie. The cabbie who wouldn't get out of the drivers seat to help us put our luggage in the trunk, but instead let the weary newlyweds struggle with six weeks of honeymoon luggage. I'm pretty sure he was drunk. This is the same cabbie that was so anxious to move on to his next fare after dropping us off at our hotel, that he backed over our luggage crushing all the mosquito coils I so carefully packed for our trip to Indonesia. Of course this wouldn't have happened had he managed to get out of the car to help us.

We laugh about it now, I promise.

Anyway, the bags are packed (not really, but I couldn't think of a better segue) and we're headed down to Key West tonight. I really couldn't be more excited. Looking forward to just sinking into the warm sand and dozing off between chapters. A couple of margaritas and maybe a slice of some key lime pie would be lovely too.

I'll be back with photos of clear turquoise waters + a few projects I've been working on next Tuesday.

Enjoy the holiday, and as always, be safe.

Proud Sisters & Jail Houses

[click on any of the photos to enlarge]

It's official, she's done. And so are my parents. This weekend was not only a celebration of my sisters (Moni) graduation from college (Fashion Merchandising & Apparel Design - how cool is that?) but also a celebration of my parents new found financial freedom as all three of their daughters are officially financially emancipated. Double...or should I say triple, cool.

The weekend brought many feelings of pride as I watched my baby sis take this new big step in her life. It was a little weird too, because I was kinda old when she was born, so I remember things like my mothers pregnancy & Moni's first steps.

It also brought a whole lot of fun as I had a chance to share my city with the family. I started out with a trip with my cousins to Oakland on the Bart (I know, I know, exciting). This was their first time riding the subway, and the trip was full of hilarious questions...like..."will we be able to see sharks when we go under the bay"....and "are there bathrooms or snacks on the subway"...and finally..."is the way back as long as it was the way here?". They were a bit nervous at first, can you tell in the photo?

Ooh look, we did find snacks, didn't we? And their naughty big cousin let them get sweets (twinkies...lot's of twinkies) before dinner, hmmm...hope their mom isn't reading this!

Then it was on to Alcatraz. And can you believe I've never been? That's the best thing about hosting visitors - the chance to visit some of the tourists sites...

Lot's of great photo opps at Alcatraz, let me tell you...or show you (better yet)....

And I'll leave you with my favorites...(life in prison looks similar to our little crafty lives, doesn't it?)...ok, I was kidding about that. The tour was pretty sad, actually. But this wasn't:

Here's to the Graduates!

Funny how sometimes my weekend is so crazy, that I'm actually glad to welcome the "break" that the week brings. I guess it has to do with a routine I can rely on, and the expectation of the consistent rhythm that the work week promises.

The weekend in Chico brought lots of proud moments as I watched my best friend graduate from Chico State. This has been a long coming transition with lots of road blocks to overcome, cities to move to (4 to be exact), and majors to choose and change. I'm incredibly proud of her and the other older students that I saw graduating that day. It takes a little something extra to accomplish this feat when your a little older, I think.

I'm home now, and will be for two solid weeks (yeah!). However, there's not a moment to rest (or craft - so sad, I know), as we're trying desperately to prepare the house for this weekends graduation celebration for my sister. We're hosting 25 relatives in our 2 bedroom apartment. I don't know about you, but my house is in a constant state of disarray, much cleaning or organizing to be done if I'm expecting anyone other then the UPS guy. Should be interesting.

My plan is to sneak in little moments here and there in organizing my studio, but it will be tough, as according to the hubs, it's not a priority. Obviously I don't agree with that. Having my buttons sorted before the party is absolutely essential....right?

Photos of that and other little projects I'm working on to come....Tis the Season of Organizing, I guess.

Impromtu Blogging Break

Apparently I took a short break and didn't even realize it - I guess Vegas and the chaos of the Celebration Extravaganza will do that to you. Speaking of Vegas, man am I glad to be home. I'm glad to be home, even if it's only for 2 hours to swap out the work clothes in my suitcase for this seasons graduation uniform. And catch up on my blogging, of course.

This is a short post today, partly because I'm swamped with obligations and partly because I just don't have a whole lot to say. I've been working 18 hour days the past week and I'm drained to say the least. Things are looking up now that I'm home, tonight I get to spend some much needed time with the hubs, driving up to Chico, CA and a much anticipated weekend with my best friends from high school.

Have a lovely weekend, see you next week.