Roadtrip: Adventures from the road, Journey to Mexico and Back

So the title of this blog was only to lure you in. There haven't been adventures per-say so much as my car hasn't broken down in the middle of nowhere, I haven't gotten lost, not even so much as a road rage incident to report. The 8 hour drive from Tahoe to Pasadena did get good after I bought a liter size "Starbucks something or other lite" somewhere on highway 5 sometime between hours 3 and 4 and despite it tasting worse than anything ever - like a frappucino laced with red-bull (my worst nightmare in a can) - I polished the thing off and less than 30 minutes later I was driving high on caffeine and what may have contained large or small traces of amphetamines singing along to Usher's "OMG" it's as good as on repeat on the radio so that's nice. I could have driven to Mexico if I had had another one. I love getting the caffeine shakes, so many good ideas come and go quicker than you can write them down to remember what they were and also it makes Highway 5 and all it's not beautiful scenery seem downright fascinating. Then hour 7 struck and I came down from my high. Twice I got tricked into listening to Christian music stations, in my defense some of their songs are really cleverly disguised as good rock and once I woke up from my sugar and caffeine induced hangover daze only to find I was mumbling along to words of a song that was in spanish. True I usually mumble along to songs in English that I know the words to but spanish radios getting really catchy!

It's been a whirlwind of cousins and long overdue visits to friends. "If it's Tuesday this must be San Clemente" (that is a clever reference to an amazing movie made in the 60's. I'll buy you a Starbucks frappe-amphetamine if you figure it out)

I'm off to bed only to wake up sore tomorrow from the kick ass yoga class I did this morning at The Yoga Loft in Manhattan Beach....we started with abs so you can only imagine how much the perfect non-hot mess of a teacher tortured us. Namaste people. Namaste.

*Image = Hint to above riddle

Okay so I really love grocery shopping. Does this make me a freak?

I mean I really really love it. Whole foods makes my heart beat faster and Trader Joes makes me smile. The Golden Nugget in Davis, well it makes me want to relocate there so it can be my neighborhood store. I mean this is not normal. I suffered terribly in 2008, living without a car on the Embarcadero when it was a regular thing for me to enter the gorgeous Safeway on King St. only to exit with way too much stuff to carry on the mile walk home. Tragedies of a first world girl I had to start taking only a hand basket in with me to ensure I wouldn't end up cabbing it 3.5 blocks. Sometimes I tricked my Dad into giving me a lift home after work but incidentally he never wanted to allow me the 2 hours I would, if I could have, chosen to spend going up and down each aisle. Squinting at the per measure costs, comparing prices and picking the perfectly ripe avocado. Enjoying the beautiful produce displays, talking up a storm with the butcher and after every aisles been visited doing a quick second round through just to fill in any late in the game grocery decisions. I told you...I seriously love it. Which is why I drove to the Safeway in Truckee when I was already in Tahoe City just to do the grocery shopping for this weekends 4th of July hostessing extravaganza I am doing. It's a shiny new Safeway and I've been looking forward to it all week long. Please don't judge. Thanks.

Anyway I'm off as my heart goes pitter patter - this maybe now for several reasons A. the impending grocery shopping trip B. The gorgeous firefighter that just walked into the internet cafe...in uniform C. The large coffee I drank - either way it's safe to say I am way overstimulated right now-

Signature Hot Mess…The Sunglass Tan and Other Adventures from this weekend

It’s going to take a little bronzer to even out my raccoon face and sunburnt nose but I’ve definitely had it worse. It’s been a busy week up here in Tahoe. When in doubt my line is “it’s the altitude people.” For example, I use this when breathing heavily after walking not that far on flat ground, during a hike, in defense of my after yoga nap, and more than a few times during what was one epic Saturday where LK and I rented bikes and made the roundtrip from Squaw Valley into Tahoe city for Bloody Mary’s and a lakeside lunch in the sun which turned into a mini pub crawl. We stopped at Fat Cat’s and Front Street Pizza on the Truckee river. Here’s a story maybe not funny I don’t know. Later that night while out on the Tahoe City Town! Playing a wild game of shuffle board a girl comes up to me and LK and is all “hey it’s Mojito and Dog Chase!” let me explain she was the bartender at one of our stops on the way home and those were the drinks she served us. I love being remembered as “Dog Chase.” Could I not have just ordered a Bloody Mary or like a Dirty Martini because I think I would rather be called either of those. Or Sex on the Beach or Shandy (Drink of the summer!!) So you get the point. Anyway LK and I pulled the Mana Loa hustle except instead of hoop shooting at Mana Loa we managed to win tequila shots at the shuffle board table in Pete N Peter’s. Truly a one off accident and made really good friends with a cab driver who took us into Tahoe City and home again at 4:30 in the morning. The short story we stopped by the Chevron to pick up snacks and we cruised around Tahoe City looking for the next scene. Special night whoa.

Also, if you haven’t yet, check out my new blog “Mya Clicks.” As soon as I get through my Australian back log I’ll get some photos of Tahoe up. A shout out to Mike, graphic designer and photographer extraordinaire, who helped me with the web design. I shouldn’t really do this because it makes me look all amateur and shit but take a look at his site, MPKelley.com it’s worth a gander. Also the snowboarding shots are actually him snowboarding and taking the photo at the same time. A little bit of amazing right there!

Peace people (that’s Tahoe talking) see you soon for the first in a series of “homework assignments” in which I make use of my unemployed time up here.

*Sign above is posted in Squaw Village. Is it just me?

Syd's is the new Nook: In which I eat an Everything Bagel w/ cream cheese 3 days in a row...as a second breakfast

It's just even when I go in determined not to do it someone else orders one and the delicious smell of toasted sesame and garlic wafts through the place and I am a goner. So I have been spending a little time here. I don't think they have noticed me lurking yet but I am not sure how much longer I can go unnoticed. The place is comfy, they play jazzy elevator music and through the back door I have a view of the parking lot and then the lake. Not too shabby. And it is still cold enough up here to justify this indoor, internet fiend behavior. Speaking of cold last night I went out with a new friend to take lake photos. The best part is my sad little Canon totally got to try on a new outfit. Check out the size of that lens. It's so big I am tilting forward while holding it. Also my hands are numb and toes too but it was worth it to get to play with all the awesome photography gear that I might be able to afford sometime in the next 16 years depending on how well I marry and how little I shop for clothing. I think I am finally ready to take the next step and start using a tripod. I realize this means some of you might not want to be seen with me in public but oh the things you can take with the a slow shutter speed!! Sorry I'll stop now. Anyway I have to remember not to smile till I can floss...I have seeds in my teeth. The really little tricky kind that you don't know are there until some gives you the awkward look where they can't help but stare and aren't sure whether to tell you that you have food fangs. I am just saying I would always tell you if you had food in your teeth, that's how you know I am a good friend. I'm off to do I don't really know what but I'll be back pretty soon, especially as long as I remain jobless.

This should take you back but if it doesn't please just reflect on the days when bell bottoms were in. Either decade is fine. Just do it.

So among other things that I have seen in the last 48 hours I just saw a "tan tattoo" on the mid-drift of a 16 year old girl. A heart shape. Remember the days of fake and baking with a heart shaped sticker on your hip bone. Well it's been years since I've done that. My little bro and I used to go together. Two middle eastern babies whose catch phrase used to be "we don't burn, we're middle eastern" and proceeded to NEVER wear sunscreen going to the tanning beds. Kurt under the guise of it was for some show or another. Me because we all know it makes your skin look better and also you look skinnier. No intervention needed we both hit rock bottom some years back. Me from a blister inducing sunburn (6 hours spring skiing Squaw with no sunscreen will get anyone) Kurt just gets blotchy these days. Well there I didn't mean to get off track. I also saw 16 year old legs with writing all over them. Signatures of friends. Messages that will go down the shower drain and be forgotten the way we forget a high-school crush or the tormenting days when getting asked to slow dance in Junior high (in the middle of the afternoon in the school cafeteria) was the most important thing in the world. School yearbooks and the moment of asking that soon to be forgotten crush if he would sign yours. Popular girls and the way we resented our parents but relied on them totally. Made their lives hell, snuck out of the house, missed curfew and got drunk on one and a half beers. These girls have it all before them but right now it's a tan tattoo and rereading crushes messages written in the yearbook. And I am going all high-school nostalgia on you which is so much worse than college nostalgia - don't you think so? - Anyway LK and I went stag to our Senior Prom. Why do I remember this particularly, because photos from this event just surfaced (along with the my highschool graduation photos that I had never seen till last week) We drove into the city together, vague remembrance of two Cal guys offering to take us on the way - LK do you remember this? - We danced and then stole our friends dates and took our photo, the two of us with 8 guys pretending to fawn over us. A better prom photo there is not. We joined the festivities back at the hotel with everyone else and in true high-school fashion everyone dropped like flies till it was LK and I drinking bud lights and smoking cigarettes on the hotel fire-escape, reflecting on the possibility that the world is bigger than we knew at the moment. At least I know we were hoping it was.

Anyway here I completely change the subject or I might literally write a book in which I go down memory lane. So twice in the last week I have been asked if I have a photography blog, this not because I was taking photos but because I was commenting on someone taking photos and it got me thinking, maybe my sidebar click could be it's own page. So I have done it. The link is at the top of the page and as soon and I figure out what is wrong with my photo formatting it will have some of my photos for your viewing pleasure or not. Also please note while laughing is encouraged while reading this blog my photos are not meant to induce laughter... usually. You know just in case. I take this stuff really seriously. Thanks. Bye.

I am going to Be punished for Posting these photos

So I spent this weekend down in San Francisco and Sunday, a beautiful sunny Sunday was spent brunching and then after barely resisting the French Toast at Sidewalk Cafe was spent figuring out this bridesmaid dress. It's a convertible dress, one size fits all (which is frightening). See above us reading the endless possibilities that this dress claims to have...until you realize this comes with contingents including but not limited to particularly not moving. It takes two people to assemble but better to have three, safety pins and a lot of patience. We all took turns in it and I have to confess the material is nice against the skin, and if you like to spin on the dance floor this will do it. But I think it's safe to say the gripes outweigh these positives. Lucky the unnamed bridesmaid can pull anything off and has killer shoes (see above) to take the emphasis off potential dress malfunctions. The last two photos of the dress are what she's going to wear. We still have to write directions on how we did this (if we can remember).

Universal Rule #1000 and A little bit of Lovely San Francisco

Why is it when there is so little to do it is harder to get the few things you need to do done?

For Example I have nothing to do all day and can't seem to focus on giving you an actual post so instead photos it will be. You might prefer this to actually having to read my long and mostly pointless rants. So be it just don't tell me this to my face. Thanks.

*Berkeley Flowers growing in unexpected places.

*The Bay Bridge, risked my life to take this photo. You know drive and click...Actually we were dead stopped so mom don't lecture me.

*A cozy cafe/bar in San Francisco's Hayes Valley for Sangria Happy Hour!!

*Pink chairs, I want them for my non-existent patio.

*Brunch at Jovino on Union St., Drink of the summer a "Shandy" Hefeweizen with a splash of lemonade. Yum!