second home

it was everything i hoped for. with the exception of no chirashi. and i only ate at fusion twice, so if you took the under in the pool, you win a fist bump (unless you are rb, then you get a high five).

here is the music mix, for those lucky friends. see you on my birthday.

the CMB 07 2008 mix

1. Sexx Laws,
Beck
Midnite Vultures
2. Run Like Hell,
DJ Z-Trip and DJ P
Uneasy Listening Volume I
3. Ripple [Live],
Grateful Dead
Fillmore East, NYC, April 1971
4. Isn't It Time,
The Babys
Anthology
5. The Weight,
The Band
The Band: Greatest Hits
6. Expectations,
Belle and Sebastian
Juno Soundtrack
7. Falling,
Ben Kweller
Sha Sha
8. Da Funk,
Daft Punk
Homework
9. Low,
Flo Rida [Featuring T-Pain]
Mail on Sunday
10. 3's and 7's,
Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris
11. On the Run [Live],
Phish
Darck Side of the Moon
12. The Way I Feel,
Remy Shand
The Way I Feel
13. The Way You Are,
Milky
DJ Po-Po, Let's Go Streaking
14. In the Waiting Line,
Zero 7
Garden State Soundtrack
15. Gate Crashers Suck [Live],
Keller Williams
Stage: Right [Disc 2]

weekend on and around the CMB

this weekend, i will once again be making the trip to san diego to visit my grand, grand friends. i was happy to be moving away from san diego when it happened, but i miss some awesome friends more than anything. don't really have that many super awesome friends back home, mostly i wrote all of them off for lack of wit or attention or something like that. miss linsey and hannah b are always there for me, and i love hanging with my fam, but nothing is as fun as drinking fance pints, playing pictionary on napkins/coasters, and hanging with my friends in san diego.
highlights for the coming weekend? again, the fance pints, but at a new bar i am dying to try out based solely on a logo and beer list, the f.i.s.t. meeting that will inevitably happen (i am waiting to cheers random people and events), some shopping, beaching it, maybe (hopefully) a boat ride?, and whatever else comes my way.
if only ms. pl herself were there... we could end up friday with peter d's and ob and workout equipment that looks like feminine products... ah, the good old days.

all good

along with all other happenings in july, my first of two trips in this month took place this past weekend with a trip to the all good music festival at marvin's mountaintop. three days of camping, music, and chicanery was exactly what i needed after the busy start to the month.

lou, mr. bear, and i made the three and a half hour trek to masontown, west virginia and met up, quite easily, with mr. johnson and h-mf-c himself. usually, at a festival so large, it is pretty difficult to find the campsite that your friends saved for you, but, as luck might have it, we got sent in the back way and ran smack into the duo. unfortunately, they had already set up their tents, my favorite part of any camping experience. we planned on sleeping in the back of the vedge, so we were ready for music and relaxation.

the first night, and by far the highlight of my weekend, started with mr. phil lesh and friends. although, as i texted to mr. barefoot, no eyes of the world, my ripple virginity was taken and it was far more beautiful than others lost. other great elements of the weekend included keller playing with the wmds, tea leaf green, and derek trucks and susan tedeschi's soul stew review.

by far, the worst part of the weekend, killer hills to climb to the music and back to the campsite. my calves are killing me, but i had a great time.

forth with july

july is always, always, always a hella-busy month in my family. we start out on the third with a night-party at my cousin's house; then the fourth, with a family reunion and fireworks. this year, we finished the long weekend off with a party on the fifth at my sis' house to celebrate the thirtieth birthday of my future brother in law.

even though this is the first summer that i have lived back in cleveland for a long time, i usually make it home for the fourth. i love my grandma, and love to see her and the rest of the family at the reunion. on top of it all, july is always a great time to make a cross-country trek, so there was always reason to come home.

i love the parties, and i love the reunion, but my fave part of the weekend this year was the fireworks. for the first time in both of their lives, jonas and penelope got to see the fireworks, and they both loved them. pretty crazy. i try to imagine what fireworks feel like to a little kid. a huge, sparkling, here-and-gone light-tastic phenomenon in the sky. jonas simply said, "i love green!" or whatever color happened to be splashed across the sky above. what surprised me the most was penelope. she just sat and stared in awe.

rebeginnings

i know, i know, i gave up on posting for awhile. so did some other people. but i am following in their footsteps, renewed with fresh internet access and free time, and here they come... new posts.

furniture, even

here it is, a furnished apartment...

i can't believe i finally got around to it. and that quilt on my bed? a hand-made (no sewing machine!) gift from my grandma for christmas!

best. gift. evs.

i love the holidays

this time of year makes me so happy, what with the snow (again!), decorating the tree (see below), wrapping gifts, making cookies, all that jazz. here i am, enjoying the season.

long time, no see

well, i have been away from the blog for a bit. i have had a crazy, life changing, confusing, lonely, happy month, if that makes any sense at all. give me another month and we can talk about it.

but the great news, i am an auntie once again! my fertile sister gave birth to my new niece Penelope Jo Hanks, the most surprisiest birth of the whole bunch of pregnant chicks I know. I say surprisiest since everyone in the family, except mom, was pretty sure she was going to have a boy. the babes, born Nov 17th, is healthy and happy in her new pink onesies with a massive head of hair. here is a pic for all of you, i am not the best at taking a bunch of pics tho, so this is the best I have...

I don't want to slight my adorable nephew, who has been very helpful to his mommy and new sister. here is your shoutout, mr. jonas!!!

this just in!!! great news!!!

http://www.kellerwilliams.net/news.full.htm


UPDATE: Keller delivers to Australia!!! Not personally, but you get the idea...

hilarious youtubage

i was searching some keller skits, and got this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN66e8TQyoM

these kids are brilliant. and mountainlarious.

be safe, sd

hope you are all safe with the fire blazing on every news channel.
let me know...

mr. bear says hello

a shout-out from bear.

best pic evs

going through my various pictures saved on the computer, organizing them into folders, etc., and ran across this gem... (courtesy pl)

man, do i look short.

new haircut

rate it.

new glasses

i am home for about a day and decide to waste some time, have some fun, and go crazy by going with my sister to get jonas his first pair of glasses. we thought he might have a lazy eye or something, because he tends to look a little crosseyed at times, but it turns out he is farsighted. the little guy focuses too hard on objects close to him so his eye goes crossed. i am glad i finally know the difference between nearsighted and farsighted. even as a non-glasses-wearer, you would think i would know the difference after 27+ years.

side note. pediatric optometrists (is that what they are called?) must have pretty hard jobs.

anyway, fitting a less than two year old for glasses was an experience, i will tell you. and not for the reason you think, jonas is really well behaved and was very good for the optician. but choosing the pair of glasses that will be in all of the pictures of this kid for his most adorable years is a daunting task.

do you go retro and get the black rims for the punk look?

do you get something small that will fade into his face?

do the round frames make him look too much like little harry potter?

etc. etc. etc. anyway, here is a look at the cutest future engineer out there…