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I've been so busy lately with my new job (loving it so much!) that I've forgotten how nice it is to update this blog with what I've been doing lately. I wish that I was as diligent in blogging as I was in the past. I was recently going through old Livejournal entries and laughing/crying at how young, angsty, and naive I was, but at least I still have them to look back on and remember things I might have otherwise forgotten. I still curse the day that I deleted my first blogger account because I had some great posts written up there that I spent more time on than I did actually studying back in college, but oh well! This is probably good for me since most of those posts are probably too incriminating for myself and others. I hope to post more about the art and music that has been inspiring me lately, as well as my style that has totally changed from vintage babydoll twee chick to French/Japanese minimalist grandma--the best description I can think of at the moment, which probably makes zero sense to others. 

At the moment, I am excited to be visiting Las Vegas next weekend to attend my godson Austin's baptism. My cousins will all be there and I am sure that we will have a great time "discovering" what the city in the desert has to offer. The following weekend, Z and I head to Ithaca, NY for his youngest sister's graduation. (I'm so old! I remember first meeting her when she was in high school!) I'm excited to see Cornell, which from her instagram posts proves to be such a beautiful campus. After the graduation, Z and I will be taking a train up to Montreal. I hope to document these trips and post them here! Until then, here are some iphone photos via my instagram from the past couple of weeks taken around San Francisco. Enjoy!

The Great Chili Cook-off!

Last month, Z's mom helped organize a little event for their neighborhood with beer tasting and a chili cook-off competition for Oktoberfest.  Even though I am not sure how chili fits in with Oktoberfest, Z decided to enter the competition competing against some of his family's friends and even against Z's own father. Z basically threw everything but the kitchen sink into his chili and then fretted about it being too spicy for his audience, whose idea of a good bowl of chili comes from a can prepared via the microwave. (Just kidding, but sadly this might be the American standard) Tasters were able to vote for their favorite chili, but halfway through the competition Z ran out of food. Rookie status! Z received a couple of votes though during his short time serving, so all was not lost. While Z was busy serving chili, I was busy drinking free beer from Das Brew (a local microbrewery from the area) and making Finnegan take ridiculous photos with all the hay bales and scarecrows in the vicinity. This probably was not a good idea considering how I talked about giving my liver a vacation in my last post, but apparently I forgot about this. After Oktoberfest beer, Z and I later joined some friends in Oakland at our favorite Tiki Bar for more drinks. It was a great weekend overall! Below are photos of an apathetic pig dog and a day-drunk Z. Cheers!

Z & S Go To Sacramento

Since I'm still catching up with blog posts of the past, this set of pictures are from a past trip that Z and I took up to Sacramento for a quick get-away for our joint birthday celebration. I've mentioned it in the past here and here, but Z and I try to plan for a trip to celebrate our birthdays since we were born on the same day! For this birthday, we decided to visit Sacramento. The last time that I went to Sacramento was when I was a freshman in high school. My mom's cousin was getting married and it was a whirlwind of a trip because I barely remember getting to do anything else. I do remember driving past the capital and thinking about how beautiful the buildings in the surrounding area were...and the trees! So many trees in Sacramento! Without the trees, Sacramento ground temperature would just be too unbearable!

Upon our arrival, we walked around Midtown and Mansion flats visiting various antique / thrift shops, followed by a stop at a local coffee shop. It was nice to visit shops that weren't bombarded by hoards of people compared to the city. I found a nice 100% cotton denim dress and a linen top that I made into a crop top with a frayed bottom.  Later that evening, Z and I had dinner at a BBQ place with a couple of microbrews from the area. The next morning, we headed over to old town and toured the old buildings and saloons in the area. In retrospect, we probably should have done something else because everything in the area was a tourist trap and I would have preferred to check out other areas of Sacramento. Overall, this trip was pretty low-key but I'm getting old and turning into a Grandma. Gone are the days that I used to come thisclose to blacking out over too much alcohol consumption and dancing to indie hits in smokey, dirty, dive bars. Okay, who am I kidding...I still long for those days, but after getting my appendix surgery and finding out that my liver needs a vacation, I should probably take much better care of myself. Here are some photos of my Grandma Golden Age trip. Enjoy and sorry for such a late post!