Santa Monica & Pride ---> Week in Review, Day 174-180

Not too many small things, since I was pretty busy with work. But a few BIG things!

~ spent 24 hours in Santa Monica. It was a great birthday treat to sit on the beach in the warmth...



~ ... and visit a landmark. Johnny Utah would be proud.


~ had a drink with a celebrity. Well, NEXT to a celebrity. Well, KIND OF a celebrity. Tabatha Coffey from Bravo's Shear Genius and Tabath's Salon Takeover. I think she's sassy, love her hair, and she is quite wee in person. No, I did not ask her for a picture.

~ Mr. Sound set up a fabulous birthday dinner at BOA Steakhouse. Aw, yum. We started with goat cheese baklava, which combines two of my favorite things. Enjoyed a petite fliet mignon with seasonal mushrooms, and finished with cookies and ice cream. Throughout, artisan cocktails and wine. The best part was the company. :-)

~ we've lived in the Bay Are for about a decade and never attended the Pride Parade. Until this year. It was twice as long as the St. Patrick's Parade, since it included a ton of politicians and causes. Then there were the wild things!




~ my favorite part of the parade was the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers. Holy, this group is amazing and their bad-ass outfits are only a clue of how bad-ass they really are. Check them out online or at many events around Orgeon, their home state.

Tiki, the Mission and roller derby -----> Week in Review, Day 167-173

~ visited the Tonga Room, legendary tiki bar in San Francisco and rumored to be closing soon. There is a thunderstorm every 20 minutes or so over the pool in the middle of the room, and the Mai Tais are ridiculously good.

~ tried almond butter (with roasted flaxseeds for crunch). High in protein - and in calories, so careful!

~ cooked talapia and made our own rice pilaf

~ enjoyed Sunday brunch at Dolores Park Cafe on a gorgeous sunny morning

~ got dessert after Sunday brunch at the famous Bi-Rite ice cream shop. Brought home two flavors to share with Mr. Sound - salted carmel and malted vanilla with toffee and nuts. Oh, yum.

~ saw roller derby in person - the SF ShEvil Dead vs the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Bombshells. Those girls are badass.

and they haul ass.

Food, games, and more food -----> Week in Review, Day 160-166

~ ate salmon that was swimming in Alaska 24 hours earlier. Sad, but delicious.

~ saw the sun set from the Berklee Hills

~ went to a class at Women's Audio Mission, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts. Learned a ton about pursuing a career as an independent artist - scary and inspiring all at once. Glad I finally got to see the place and its awesome studio.

~ played Crispy Wickets, a game that involves throwing a frisbee through two narrowly-placed poles and thwarting the other team from getting points. My frisbee skills are poor at best, and the requirement of a beer in hand at all times does not help.

~ fell in love with peanut butter-bacon cookies, compliments of my talented friend Gwoeyn

~ visited Amore's Pizza and Pasta Kitchen in Tracy, which is newly-managed by my friend Sonia. She is doing an amazing job there and the food is great. Go visit!

~ rooted for the US but felt English while watching the World Cup, due to Walkers Crisps and their unusual flavors: English Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding, Smoky Bacon, Roast Chicken, Worcester Sauce.

~ forgot the password to my phone. The password I use about 10 times a day. How does that happen?

Piano, vocal chords and New Haven ---> Week in Review

Day 153-159

I went home to suburban New York for a quick weekend. It was great. I forget how beautiful the state it, especially along the Hudson River. And I forget how much I miss that accent.

Mr. Sound and I went to a surprise party for my cousin. It was great to celebrate and to have a large part of the family in one room. Then we spent the rest of the weekend with my mom. She can be difficult, like all parents are at one time or another, but it was a nice visit. Although heartwarming, this family time is nothing new, so here's my recap for the week:

~ visited New Haven, CT, the home of Yale. I pictured more people walking around with sweaters tied around their shoulders reciting Shakespeare. Not so.

~ visited a speech therapist and saw a video of my vocal chords in action. Creepy and fascinating.

~ took my first professional piano lesson

~ had a lot of coffees with a lot of people for work (though that's nothing new, either)

New Things Happen Every Day

Day 152

If you look carefully over the last few weeks, you will see I've shirked my responsibilities. Only sporadic writing since mid-May. Alas, a person gets busy and some things must go by the way. This blog was the left on the side of the road as I sped past.

I have been doing new things. A lot of them centered around work or food. But mostly work. Lots of coffee meetings, lots of networking, lots of new contacts. Intermittent in that was good news and bad news, old friends and new stresses. I de-cluttered my mind and then filled it back up again.

New things are happening every day, I'm just no longer recording it. It seems more reasonable at this point to check in once a week. I will try my hand at one new BIG thing every week, and celebrate the smaller things as a week-in-review.

Through this project, I've learned a lot about myself. Looking back on this blog at the end of the year will be heart-warming and full of good memories. For that reason, I'm disappointed I could not keep up with it every day for one year. Hey, six months isn't too bad. Another six months of new stuff is bound to be memorable, as well - a more compact shape should not tarnish that. Look how cute and fantastic the Smart Car is.