This weekend was a lot of fun. We spent it hanging out with friends, watching the Warriors playoff games, then heading down to Santa Cruz to hang out at an empty/abandoned pool in the middle of the woods. The dogs have had to stay behind a lot lately since it’s been so hot out (80s and 90s!) and the air conditioner in Lola is on the fritz. Life has been go go go lately. Steph, Trey’s sister, is coming to San Francisco with her boyfriend to spend a couple weeks here and we are so excited! Then after that we’re heading to NYC to visit some friends and Wes (our best friend/brother…Trey’s next door neighbor growing up…yep…we all witnessed each other as snot faced teenagers. He’s kind of my favorite person ever). Then we’re hoping to squeeze in a few camping trips with friends and dogs soon too. Summer is always a busy time around here, but I love it. Here are a few photos from around here lately.

1./ My sweet boy, I love him so. His birthday is soon! / 2. Sun lover / 3. Browsing pretty things at Esqueleto / 4. Skating empty pools / 5. Keeper girl in the morning / 6. The sky from the Bay Bridge / 7. Forever on the hunt for vintage jeans / 8. This toy cracks me up and Keeper is obsessed (thanks Zippypaws!) / 9. Sunday morning hangs

There was a time in college when Trey and I had just started dating again when this guy in my environmental science class invited me to a party he was throwing at his house. “Nah, it’s not like that“, I told Jess, my best friend over coffee that morning. “He’s just a friend“. Later that night I rode my bike to Trey’s and found him sitting around with a bunch of his friends watching bmx videos. My friend had made me this dress from leftover fabric she found in the design hall at school. I paired it with awful chunky Doc Marten boots. “Want to come?”, I asked him. “Theme parties aren’t really my thing”, he told me with his eyes on the television. Trey’s always been like that, laid back. Doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. He’s never been the type to follow my every move.

So I went and danced with a bunch of new people until we were all sweaty and feeling good. Around 4 in the morning when the kegs were up, I dug my bike out of the pile in the front yard and started to ride home. I looked down to see my tire was flat. “Hey! Where are you going?”, my new friends called from the deck. The guy from my class came over to me. “You could just stay here”, he said with eyes that said a lot more, his fingers lightly grazing my arm. I sat on the curb outside and texted Steven, Trey’s room mate and my good friend, figuring if anyone was up, it would be him. No answer. “F*ck it”, I thought, wheeling my bike down the street ready to walk it home. A few minutes later headlights came from behind me. The sound of his old volkswagen rattling up next to me. I knew it was him before looking. He hung his head out the car window, pulling up beside me. “You know, you really shouldn’t be walking in the dark at this time of night, someone with bad intentions might try to pick you up”. One of the guys from the house threw a rock at Trey’s car, angry that their friend’s mating conquests had been thwarted. They started to chase his car down. Trey got out to confront them. “Hey, get f*cked!”, he yelled. “Lets just go”, I told him. “Sorry…”, I said quietly from the passenger’s seat as we drove away. “Don’t be”, he said calmly.

“What are you, my hero? Look I just had a flat”, I said oddly defensive after a few minutes, abruptly breaking the silence. I’ve never been that girl who needed some guy to ride up on a white stallion for her. We listened to The Smiths as he drove me home to the bottom floor apartment I shared with a girl who painted her room black and spelled her name with a K even though you knew it was a C on her birth certificate. “Hey…thanks. You really didn’t have to do that”, I told him, looking more like a train wreck than potential girlfriend material. He leaned in and kissed me. Then he was gone. 

     

Before leaving on our trip, I turned our closet into an office. Yeah! Most of the stuff we already had, with the exception of some Ikea cubicle shelves and a few office supplies. What do you think of the bike chandelier? I thought it really tied the room together, haha. I decided to hang it to maximize floor space. It’s neat how simple solutions can make a room feel bigger than it really is. It’s pretty sweet having a dedicated office to work in. Up until now I had been alternating between laying on the bed, sitting in the hammock, or going to coffee shops to work.

The thing with writing in coffee shops is it’s actually the worst place in the world to write. That women with the beret, what’s her story? I wonder if the barista’s shift is ending or just beginning. This coffee is good. Are everyone’s glasses in here prescription, or do they just wear them to look smarter? That guy at 3′ o clock keeps making eye contact with me. I should have showered. Do they do wine night here?

Anyway, it’s nice to have my own space to be creative in. Even if it is just a closet. Keeper approves. Really she just wants me to throw her new orange frisbee. She makes it real hard to say no with that smile.

We’re home and peeling like snakes from the equatorial sun. Tomorrow we’re taking Lola for a spin. She’s been parked for a few weeks so hopefully she still runs, ha! I joke, but at the same time I’m really meaning it (story of my life).

I’m so excited to share stories, photos and videos from our time in Hong Kong and the Philippines over the next couple of weeks. It’s hard to choose where to begin. It was sunny and internet-less and we left with so many memories we’re already talking about. On Palawan, the island we stayed on in the Philippines, there were lots of dogs. And Hong Kong had the best eggs! For now though, my still somewhat jet-lagged self is going to get some rest. I’m almost too tired for Indian take out and Dateline (almost). Here are a few photos around here since we’ve been back.

1./ Mila and a new book 2./ Keeper, happy to be reunited with her favorite human in the hammock 3./ A wooden mask we brought back from Palawan. 4./ This vintage tee was screaming my name 5./ Jack thinking we’re leaving him behind again 6./Sometimes it feels like someone is watching you…

I can remember exactly when it clicked for me that I was important. That’s what true confidence is anyway, realizing you’re important. That your thoughts are important, that what you feel is important, and that your ideas matter. It happens at different times, and in different ways for everyone – that moment in life when you reach a breaking point and say “f*ck it” to your insecurities and decide to be 100% yourself.

For me, it happened when I was 27 and sitting on the platform of a research boat off the gulf coast of Florida looking down at a female bottlenose dolphin we had brought onboard to examine. The boat was filled with aquatic vets who had come from various research institutions from around the country to accompany our research efforts. Everyone onboard was busy tending to their assigned tasks, moving about the platform to perform blood work, urine and fecal sampling, ultra sounds, etc. It was my job as resident biologist of the lab leading the research mission to monitor every dolphin we brought onboard. Whenever their oxygen level dropped too low, or there were signs of stress, I would call for a bucket of water so we could splash it over the blowhole to initiate breathing. While others took samples, it was my job (and the lab’s) to ensure she stayed alive.

Continue reading…

1. / Mila cat in her bed jungle / 2. Diversity in coffee / 3. Hats hangin’ / 4. A new book I’m reading (it’s good) / 5. Bookstore kitty / 6. Morning coffee conversationalists (ok, it’s me who does all the talking) / 7. The city, above. / 8. A few new favorites / 9. The city, below. / 10. Those pots need somethin’…ideas welcome.

JACK DOG for President 2016 (who’s with me?)

This week was a really chill one. How about yours? It’s been in the 70s all week which has been spectacular. This weekend we’ve got a few things planned…a friend’s birthday to celebrate, some spring cleaning to do, meeting a friend who’s in town from the east coast, etc. Should be fun. Hope you guys all have a great weekend. In parting, I thought I would share with you a funny story that happened this morning:

6:30am. Blarf…Blarf… BLARF that’s the sound of our dog heaving. “Push her off the bed!” I yell as if I’m the all-knowing captain of this sinking ship. She hits the ground with a thud. Blarf….Blarf…”get her off the rug!”… BLARRRRPGHHHHHFFFF, she throws up. “I’ll get it” Trey says, stumbling into the kitchen to get the paper towels and enzyme cleaner from under the sink. I check to make sure she’s ok. She’s ok, we close her out of the bedroom in order to sleep because once she’s up, she’s UP.

6:45am. She has better plans. Like whimpering because she has been shut out from our life, seemingly forever. “Just ignore it”, Trey whispers. The whimpers slowly die off. “Yesss” I think to myself.

7:30am. Howling ensues. We can’t ignore the howling because we have neighbors and it’s still early. I immediately regret teaching her how to howl. I open the door just a crack and whisper-yell expletives into the living room. The cat pushes through the crack of the door and runs in; Keeper follows in hot pursuit after her, attempting to corral her into the corner of the bedroom. Well, f*** it, we’re up.

8:17am. “I’ve got to make the 8:25 bus”, Trey says from the closet. “Are you sure you can make it?”, I ask while pulling one pant leg on. “Yeah I think I can…(looks around)…have you seen my belt?” We look around the closet for it. “Wait..did…did Keeper steal my belt?” he asks. We simultaneously glance into the living room to see his brown leather belt sitting in the middle of the floor. Keeper had dragged it out from the closet, likely paraded it around the living room, then abandoned it. Meanwhile Jack sits patiently by the door, ready to go outside. Trey leaves, and I follow shortly after.

8:27am. My phone buzzes, it’s a text from Trey. “I missed the bus”.

So, in short, border collie pup for sale. $50 OBO. Just kidding, have a rad weekend everybody! Here are a few things that caught my attention this week:

This dog is the coolest (I might be a little biased).

Style musings with the legendary Kim Gordon.

On new reactions.

In love with the feel of this home.

How to water an air plant.

Pretty, for spring.

I’ve been noticing everyone wearing these.

Coconut is the new quinoa.

Lena Dunham’s take on the Kesha trial.

Father John Misty’s reaction at the Grammy’s made me laugh.

Above photo found here.