A Very Merry Christmas

Just as we're preparing to ring in the new year, I finally sit down to tell you about Christmas. It was great, our first Christmas together and so much fun. Bryan survived the James family festivities amazingly and made it more fun for all of us. Highlights included feisty conversation over high-tea, Bryan leading us in song, and way, way too much food. We rounded out our stay in San Diego with trips to the zoo, Balboa Park and downtown. I took pictures but will have to add them later.

All in all, a perfect Christmas.

Now we're in SF to celebrate New Years with friends. I'm typing this as I'm huddled under a down comforter on my old couch. It's COLD here! We've gone soft, we can't handle this chill.

Hope you all have a safe and happy new year. Start working on those New Year's resolutions. One of mine will be to provide many pictures of us taken on my new camera.

Christmas Card

Well we had the best intentions but just couldn't get it together, no Christmas cards this year.

Instead, I give you this. I put the santa hats on myself!

A Funny...

Got this today from my co-worker Anthony who has the best sense of humor.

I love it!

Labels

I was recently invited to join Blogger Beta. While perhaps no different to you, the reader, it's a bit cooler on the backend. And it allows me to label my posts. So I just spent the last 30 minutes of my work day labeling some old posts. I have no idea if I did it well at all. I fear I created too many labels. Anyhow, you can check it out and see if it's interesting. I'm actually already bored of it.

A Friendly Weekend

Despite me spending hours on the couch watching mind-numbing TV, we managed to have a terrific weekend.

On Friday I met some paddling friends for a birthday party and just had a blast. They have always been some of my favorite people here but I never really felt like I fit in their group. I suddenly realized I need to put myself in their group and not wait for an invitation. Great realization at the age of 30, right? But it was a big one. Bryan met us later for drinks and the fun continued. Nothing crazy at all, just nice to be with nice people.

On Saturday night we went to a holiday party co-hosted by Ed and Kimberly (of the famous SF group of friends). It was a blast. Their friends have a beautiful house in Lanikai that inspires me to grow up, make money and live like an adult. And everyone we met was interesting and very warm. I met a very sweet, drunk girl originally from San Jose who told me things I needed to hear, inspired me to seek my passion, and gave me a strong hug when I left. Bryan met a future client and made plans for two-hand-touch football and game-watching at the bar.

It made us feel like we were "home." Sort of like going to a party at Ted's and meeting people who know people who know people... and just having a good time. At one point I turned to Bryan and said "these people could be our future friends!"

It was great. If I'd actually gotten my ass off the couch and to the beach, it would have been a perfect weekend. But we did go for a mini hike - so a very good weekend.

My Lunch Break

Okay, I think you need to hear this. It somehow sums up life in Hawaii. Or maybe just life.

So I've been freezing all day because I had to wear a skirt since all of my jeans are dirty, and I didn't even think to bring a sweater or jacket over my tank top. I step out for lunch and am shocked to discover it's cold outside. In Hawaii! And just as I'm standing at the corner and spacing out, it starts to rain. Cold rain. So I'm looking up at the sky like an idiot when someone I know drives by and yells "Jenni!" Great, I'm shivering cold, totally zoned out and looking up at the sky.

I eventually make it to my favorite lunch place where it's clear the lady at the counter knows I come every week. She almost remembered my order. It's actually mellow in there so I decided to eat there and take some time to myself. I turn around and discover our freelance copywriter. A nice enough guy but not someone I'd choose to eat lunch with. So much for the time to myself, now I need to make small talk. He tells me about his other part-time gig which is doing psychic readings at a metaphysical store or something. So I ask him all about that and how he learned he was psychic and all the time I'm worried he can read my mind and knows that I'm not really comfortable. And what else could he know about me?!

We end up talking about settling into Hawaii, our ideas for odd jobs and products to invent, and other random things as if we're long time friends. But he's psychic so maybe we are...

As we're walking back to work we encounter a little Asian man doing his own karaoke show with a boombox and a little TV. And he's bad, very bad.

Holiday Torture for Bryan

On Sunday we were all dressed up for my company holiday party so I made Bryan stand for pictures in front of the tree while I tried to place the camera on a tripod with a timer. It ended up being a total joke and we took about 10 pictures with none of them turning out well. This one is actually the best but it cracks me up because Bryan's head is kinked to the side and I have a ridiculous fake smile on. At this point we weren't even happy, just faking it for a picture. And you can tell.

PM Update: Maybe this is a better picture to illustrate Bryan's torture.

More About U2

Just thought I'd share these terribly blurry pics from the concert. Do you see the little fuzzy Bono at the front of the stage? And there's The Edge, my new major crush. He's so sexy.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

How lovely is your squat-ness. You only need three cords of lights. We bought your accessories at the dreaded Wal-Mart. They only cost us $40. Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, you make me very happeeeeeee!


This is our tree. I am exceptionally proud of it. We bought it from a ghetto tree lot where it came off a refrigerated container from Portland, OR. But the guy who sold it to us was from Maine so that's pretty tree-authentic. He called it the "Charlie Brown tree" which won me over immediately and then he threw in the tree stand at a discount. We were sold. From there I made Bryan go to Wal-Mart (hell-mart) for affordable decorations. We got 54 glass ornaments, lights and beads for $40. And pipecleaners which we used to make our own ornaments - aren't we cute and poor?


We've had the tree for over a week now and it still makes me crazy happy. But we've placed it in the window that gets massive sunlight every morning. So I estimate the tree has about three more days before it loses all its needles. Just last night I wrapped a bunch of presents and put them below it.

WhataWeekend!*

Once again, time for our weekend recap. A wonderful and busy weekend.

Friday night we went for Mexican food and did our best to order all in Spanish. Which was a total joke. And then went to the mall to simply pick something up. The mall was madness and we spent way too much time there but I did find a surprise gift for my Dad, something for Bryan's parents, and we bought a set of sheets for a Salvation Army family. So we did good. I've been thoroughly exhausted lately so fell asleep around 10. I have no idea what my problem is but I'm sick of feeling tired.

Saturday we were super lazy until I freaked out and made us go to the craft store (madness! but look for a homemade holiday card from us soon) and the grocery store where we bought stuff for two dinners, snacks and lots of banana bread. This is a thrilling update so far, right? But I promise, it gets better. Because after the errand-running we went to the PEARL JAM/U2 concert!

PEARL JAM and U2. Woohoo! It was a blast. The biggest concert I've ever been to and a really good show. Bono is amazing and The Edge is the absolutely coolest. We rocked out to many classics and had a blast. My favorite story to tell is how we bought tickets in section E which is about as far from the stage as you can get, but we sat in section M which is about as close as you can get. We're working the system, just working the system.

Sunday morning we slept in, watched more TV (I think we should unplug it) and then motivated to go to the beach. After my I-live-in-Hawaii-and-do-nothing-Hawaii depression last week I needed some beach time. It was soooo relaxing and soooo nice. But too cold to go in the ocean. Ocean temperatures are about 80 right now and very spoiled Jenni here thinks that's too cold!

After the beach, we went to my holiday party. Which was fun but weird. I'll post about that later.

All in all, great weekend. We only have one more in Hawaii before we go to San Diego for Christmas. Stress! Why does this time of year fly by so fast?

*The title was inspired by Whataburger restaurants I remember seeing on various roadtrips through Middle America.

How Expensive is Hawaii?

I remember a particularly delightful morning many years ago when I purchased a single banana in San Francisco's Chinatown for 12 cents. Granted, Chinatown is known for it's excellent bargains, and this said banana purchase was over five years ago so an equivalent banana in today's economy may be affected by inflation.

This morning I purchased a single banana for 37 cents! Also keep in mind that bananas grow EVERYWHERE in Hawaii.

If we follow the rules of this banana equation, it is 3.08 times more expensive to live in Hawaii than San Francisco's Chinatown.

Now These are Some Lights!

It can be a bit challenging to get in the Christmas spirit when it's 80 degrees and the thought of hot cider makes you sweat. But these lovely lights outside my building certainly made me feel spirited. The picture doesn't even do them justice, they all change colors - red to white to green to multicolored. Fabulous!

Ooops!

I've been throwing a little pity party for myself because I've been so great about posting here and NO ONE was leaving comments! Turns out I'd accidently blocked them from being posted. Ooops, sorry! Situation is remedied. Continue to post and read back-and-forth comments from my mom and aunts.

"One and One Make Eleven"

Okay Hawaii, you got me. I'll stick around.

I'll have two glasses of white wine (big glasses, mind you) and some crab cakes and then walk along the beachwalk in my bare feet only to be greeted by strangers who like my dress (nice dress from H&M but makes my backend look positively flat), wish me a good evening, and whistle at me. I'll enjoy the full moon on the waves, the fact that I'm no cooler than I was at noon with no additional clothing on, and sink my feet deep in the sand. Here's an interesting thing... the sand is cool as you walk along it until you reach the breaking waves, then it gets warm where the water washed over it. Try that in San Francisco! See if your toes don't fall off... And then I'll travel to Taco Bell for delicious unhealthy food to soak up the wine. And there I'll encounter an interesting character who will remind Bryan to "listen to your wahine" and inform us "one and one make eleven."

Okay, you got me, I'll stick around for a while. Because, Hawaii, you have your own crazy charm. And you have free wine at the Outrigger hotel. And that's exactly what I needed.

Whoa...

I just had the heaviest, clearest "what the hell are we doing here?" thought. It feels terrible.

Life has been busy and stressful lately. And not Hawaii-like at all. It's a weird place to be. If we're not going to go to the beach and eat papayas all day long, do we need to be here? Because we can work, eat and pay bills in just about every city. It's hard to balance what I wanted out of this experience and what I've lined up for my reality.

I'm sure this will pass. I'm off to an event in Waikiki tonight which might feel more 'Hawaii' (or it might turn me off completely because Waikiki is truly a zoo) and I've already promised myself I will go to the beach this weekend. I might even eat a papaya too.

Jerk!

A very rude thief (or maybe even thieves) stole the front wheel of my bike while it was LOCKED to the bike rack outside my office. They actually cut through the cable lock (I always lock the wheel to the frame) and ran off with it.

I'd laugh about it if it wasn't such a major inconvenience. To actually go to the effort to steal a rusty wheel? Dumb.

Elements of major inconvenience:
- Now I have a bike with only one tire located downtown, far from any bike store. What am I suppose to do with it? Do I wheel it home on one tire and face ridicule from passerbys? Do I buy a front wheel from the bike store, carry it down here, attach it and ride it home? If so, how do I know what size wheel to get? Do I have to go out there with a tape measure and measure the remaining wheel? At that point, is it even worth doing? Should I just undo the lock and give my half-bike to city as a sacrifice to the bike gods? The bike is a piece of crap anyway. Might be cheaper to get a whole new bike than worry about replacing this one's wheel.
- I was trying to stick to my "bike not bus" new plan. It was intended to get me to exercise more, get fresh air and save my sanity from The Bus. Damn thief stole my exercise plan too!!

Only good thing to come of this is confirmation that I should NEVER leave my cushy seat on the bike. It has a quick release and is a really nice seat. I feel like a fool carrying it into work with me but you know that nice seat would have been gone in a second!

Are You Ready For Some Football

Last night we and 10 of our friends went to the UH football game against Oregon State. An awesome time. I hadn't been to a college game since my senior year at CU oh so very long ago. And there's no doubting it, there's something special about college footbal. The UH team is in the top 25 this year which is pretty impressive and Oregon State had already upset USC earlier in the season so it was an exciting game with all sorts of crazy plays... more quarterback sacks than I have ever seen, a kickoff return for a touchdown, a purposely sacrificed safety... In the end, UH couldn't get the extra points to win but lost by only 3 in a very high scoring game that kept us on the edge of our seats. You can look for them in the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Eve.

Oh, and it felt really good to buy those 12 tickets (we have 10 friends!!!).

This guys is the Warriors mascot. He wears a skirt made of ti leaves. He's pretty scary but have you ever seen a mascot that isn't in a stuffed outfit? I suppose to make a cartoon costume Warrior might be culturally insulting.

SPF

Again, I attempt to do SPF every week as a structure to share pictures and stories of our Hawaii life.

1. Something that makes you go hmmmm...
I'll tell you what makes me go hmmmm.... WILD CHICKENS! What the %$*@! Why are they here? Why are they wild? Why so many on Kauai and some on the North Shore? These are the chickens we encountered on our camping trip. And I saw many more this week on Kauai.

2. Something sweet
Bryan!

3. Something retro
Weak, I know. But this is all I could find retro. This is a picture of some of the Beach Boy paddlers in the 70's.

November Sunrise

Nice sunrise, huh? Bryan's freelance work and my photoshoot got us both up early enough to see this.

Not Like the Others...

This morning I flew to Kauai for a photoshoot with two of my co-workers and our photography team. We all checked in together and went through security line together. The ID-checker-guy said to our Japanese photo assistant "hey man, howz it?", and to our white (orginally from LA but now tan and a surfer) photographer "hey man", and to my Philipino co-worker "howz it goin?" And to me, "hello, good morning." Clearly, despite my Hawaii ID, I am not quite local.

Later in the day some tourists at the hotel stopped me to ask if the models and crew were all local to the island. I explained that they were from Oahu and that some of us worked at an ad agency in Honolulu. They nodded along and looked at me in complete surprise "You're from Honolulu?" Yes, I replied. They seemed to doubt it.

12/1 Update: Last night our stylist turned to me, "Hey Jenni, are you from the mainland or something?" Classic.

Snow Report (aka Turkey-Day Weekend Update)

Well, now that we are back in warm and humid Hawaii, it's nice to reflect back on our long weekend in chilly Spokane.

After three days in quiet and cozy Davenport, we travelled back to Spokane where I feel like I basically lived the life of Bryan. Friends came over and we played video games (you would never believe it but I'm not half bad at John Madden) and ping pong (I suck bad) and board games (thankfully not Pictionary). I was shocked to realize it was almost 3am and I was still up laughing with the guys about farts, porn and whatever else. I'm turning into Bryan!

The next day we played in about three inches of fresh snow. So fun! So fun! Snow is so special. And then we visited Bryan's brother and sister-in-law's house to see their new kitchen and chat. The snow kept falling so Bryan helped his neice and nephew make a beautiful snowman that was taller than me!

We capped off the long weekend with a nice dinner at the Davenport Hotel (but don't be tricked, it's actually in Spokane) surrounded by Christmas decorations and cozy times.

It was neat to be part of a Jayne family holiday. I'm super excited to have Bryan in San Diego with us for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're up in chilly Davenport, Washington, about 45 miles outside of Spokane, enjoying a traditional Jayne family Thanksgiving with Grandma Margaret (Bryan's grandmother). Yesterday we had 17 people at dinner (definitely a record for me) and watched the snow fall (big, fat, wet flakes). Dinner was followed by a rousing game of Pictionary and a some chill time around the house.

Today we shopped around town, watched CU play a sad football game, energized for a chilly football game ourselves (I'm terrible, just like CU), and ate more turkey - of course!

We'll be in Davenport until Saturday and then back to Spokane for re-enactments of Bryan's youth with friends and ping pong in the basement. And then back to Hawaii on Monday. The weather forecast calls for inches of snow on Sunday so I'll be sure to take pics and post them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Genki

Last night I had my initiation to Genki Sushi. It's everything I normally would hate but somehow love in this combination. Maybe the way I love Taco Bell or Old Navy. Sort of hideous but they just do it right.

This is the Genki logo. It's an angry yellow sushi man. And I love it.

Genki is a sushi chain restuarant. It has a long conveyor belt running though the whole place and little plates of sushi cruise on by your table for picking. It's weird because the fish can just go around and around. So it's not really that fresh. But you sort of forget that while you're sitting there. Each of the plates has no more than four pieces of sushi on it and they're all color-coded by price (black being the most expensive and most tasty, red being the cheapest and not so tasty). It's a fully interactive meal experience. You must keep one eye on the belt at all times lest your favorite plate speed by without your notice. Typical conversation from last night included "Oh, grab that one!" "There go the hot dog rolls again." "Wow, a black plate, that's unusual!" "Get it! Get it! Get it!"

In short, a delightfully strange dinner experience. And filling, although not all that amazing. I will deifnitely visit again.

This SFP Stuff is Hard

Okay, another Stuff Portrait Friday...

1. Something you seize
2. Something you shake
3. Something purple

Seize

We'll, as cheesy as it sounds, Bryan and I try to seize every day here in Hawaii. Knowing this probably isn't forever, we try to get to the beach every weekend, see new sights and live in the moment. Lately work has been getting in the way of that. Damn work!

I also occasionally seize the can of bug killer when a see a roach. But I'm worried if I continue to talk about roaches you will think we're living in a hovel and feel sad for us. We're not. We have a nice and clean place, the roaches are just an evil reality of Hawaii. Damn roaches!

Shake

We shake a lot of things but I'm certain the thing that gets the most shaking is the sunscreen. We are self-proclaimed sunscreen adicts. That's how we keep our mainland pale in this constant sunshine (that and the 9-5 damn work). We're probably on our 10th can of sunscreen in almost as many months. And we'll keep shaking them.

Purple

Purple is the orchid in this lei I got my friend Karen for her 40th birthday.

On a very related note, my camera is on its last legs. Once a source of pure joy for me, it is now causing me serious stress as it makes a clicking sound every time I use it and progressively takes worse and worse images. Please send positive camera vibes to my weak and suffering Canon and hope that it lasts until Christmas. Or no more pictures on the blog!

In Dog's Town

So I just stepped out for a very late lunch and saw that Dog the Bounty Hunter is in front of my building taking pictures with fans.

What do you make of that?

Fun in Lanai!

On Friday Laura and Dan arrived in Honolulu and we all met up on Lanai for our long weekend of fun and adventure!

Lanai is wonderful. There really isn't much to do there but we spent every minute of the weekend on an adventure. We stayed at the very sweet and nice Hotel Lanai which comes with our highest recommendations. And we rented a 4x4 Jeep! Laura and I picked it out in blue and did the initial exploring and off-roading together.



Lanai has less than 3,000 residents, one gas station, no stop lights, and a whole bunch of red dirt roads leading to remote places. We spent our days bumping around on the roads, exploring new scenery and relaxing on the beach a bit. And our evenings chatting over good dinners and drinks. Lanai looks and feels nothing like anywhere else in Hawaii. It was a perfect break and a true getaway.



As for my birthday in Lanai, it was perfect. I spent the day feeling very relaxed and excited for the adventure ahead of us. If I can carry that into my 30's, I think I'll be set.

Birthday Dinner

Bryan, Brian and Maiko helped me celebrate my upcoming new decade with a very fun dinner at my favorite restaurant, Town.

And so the Celebrating Begins

It's a tradition in my office that your co-workers decorate your office for your birthday. As much as there are many things I don't like about my jobs, this one thing is great! It immediately put me in a good and festive mood. It's my birthday! And they so sweetly wrote "Happy 25!" in crepe paper

Even better, my very clever co-workers created a sort of 'cake' of yogurts and sang me happy birthday. Because, as some of you know, I like yogurt. And I have a reputation for bringing a yogurt to work everyday. Somehow I have a lot of reputations at work. They tease me for eating fruit, and I think my Halloween costume surprised a number of them.

Note for the future... guava yogurt is gross.

And another clever co-worker left me a grocery back of beer - a flashback to one of my favorite images (can't create link now, check the August archive). These Hawaii kids... so clever! And I'll definitely take that beer!

And even more gifts and happy times from my co-workers... lunch, a cake and a 24"x24" snapshot of my face. Excellent... But with work birthdays like this, there's no point to taking the day off.

A Journey of 30 Years

Without planning it exactly this way, it's taken me 30 years to come full circle. Almost 30 years ago I was born at Kapiolani Hospital here in Honolulu. I think the hospital had a different address at the time but now it's literally five blocks from our apartment. My first home was an apartment maybe three miles at the most from here. While I've always had the desire to live in Hawaii, I never thought I needed to be here at 30, it just sort of worked out this way.

Tonight I got my first birthday card of the year from my grandmother Tutu. She pointed out that this is my first birthday in Hawaii. I find that amazing and somehow very meaningful. I suppose I've come back 'home.'

This is the most mellow, most low-key I have ever been about my birthday. Usually I organize a big group get-together, have a wish-list for gifts, plan to spoil myself, and celebrate me. And usually that comes with pressure and stress. This year, it's as if my birthday were any other day. I'll celebrate. And I'll get friends together. And my birthday falls on a weekend so I won't burst into tears at work as I have in the past. It sounds anti-climatic but I think it's right. I feel more at peace with it than I ever have. Maybe it's because I've already done what I needed to get here. Now I get to coast a bit.

At 2:10pm on the 11th, you can mark it official... 30 years of Jenni and back where I started.

We Don't Live in Milwaukee

Quote from Bryan today: "We need to go to the beach. Because this is what makes it Hawaii. Going to work and back and cleaning the house all day... we could live in Milwaukee."

Proof that we don't live in Milwaukee, Bryan floating at Kahala Beach. A new beach for us and a favorite. It's super, super shallow and looks like it might have great snorkeling.

We did spend much of yesterday cleaning. We deserved it after letting the house get so awful and we have friends coming to visit soon so have to put up the appearance of always having a neat and orderly house!

Now, a special celebratory note to Laura who is celebrating her 30th in Japan right now! We'll celebrate together on Lanai (the island, not a porch) this weekend. But if you know her, send a little note and wish her a very happy birthday!

SPF

Happy Friday! This week's theme is supposedly easy, although I didn't really think so. We're asked to show The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. Sticking with the blog theme of "Aloha Adventure" I thought I better show you what's good, bad and ugly about living in Hawaii.


The Good.
Hello? We're in Hawaii. That's what's good. Sometimes it's like we're living in a postcard.


The Bad.
Being far from our friends. Pretty bad.


The Ugly.
The bleep-ing freeway system here. It's the worst, absolute worst.

Halloween Tales

Bryan and I love Halloween, as anyone who was around to witness "Bill Idol" or "Fog" can attest. So yesterday was no ordinary day for us. I insisted on wearing my costume to work - shoes to hat to eye makeup! I got a number of odd looks from co-workers and a couple of comments like "Jenni, you're too much." But I take pride in it all and loved it completely. Now, Bryan wimped out on wearing his costume (was it the super short shorts? the waaaay unbuttoned shirt?) but he was fully in character by the evening when we ventured out to Waikiki.

We had heard "Waikiki goes off" for Halloween so we headed down there for the people-watching and festivities. It's no Castro celebration but it was pretty good. We saw some good costumes. I shreiked when I saw Jem and insisted on having my picture taken with her (Gordon, please send). Slutty costumes seemed to be the top choice - slutty cops, slutty bunnies, slutty bees, slutty firefighters, just slutty in general. And we saw a bunch of pirates, a good amount of Supermans, and the incredibly creative (abeit odd) orchid plant sitting on a table. One of my personal favorites was a Golddigger. Sexy, creative and fun.



Neither Bryan's nor my costumer was necessarily a hit. A lot of people loved my hat and commented on my shoes but I really don't know how many knew who I was. And Byran was truly Magnum P.I. recreated but I think the aloha shirt is all too common here. We spent most of our evening with our friend Gordon who was Gilligan so a lot of people assumed Bryan was the skipper.



My favorite part of the evening was all the Japanese tourists who take your picture. It's adorable. And they love us! I'm sure 50 people must have taken my picture. Some posing with me, some without. I can't imagine how many Japanese scrapbooks (or blogs!) we'll be in.

We ended the evening by meeting up with my brother to see him as Edward Scissorhands. VERY well done. He and I haven't seen each other on Halloween since I was Tinkerbell in high school and he was, maybe, a pregnant nun?



A special shout out to my friend Mike who suggested Bryan and I go as John Mark Karr and John Benet Ramsey. If only we had the courage! Probably the best and most inappropriate costume idea I have ever heard. Mike, you rock.

And now, the brainstorming begins for next year!

Happy Halloween!

We're the Wicked Witch of the East and Magnum P.I. We rock, trust me.

SPF

I have a little secret. I visit TONS of other people's blogs. I happen upon them in the most random ways and I think they make me feel more in touch with the mainland world. One of the blogs I visit hosts a little event called Stuff Portrait Fridays where she posts a theme each week and encourages you to post pictures of of your stuff and share it with others. As much as I hate to admit I'm deep in the blog world, I think this is a cool way to share little bits of our (read: my) Hawaii life.

This week's SFP was in honor of breast cancer awareness month and requested pictures of:
1. Your potholders
2. Your melons or pumpkins
3. Something pink

Soooo....

1. That's our ONE potholder. I got it at Wal-Mart. It's actually pretty cool. It's hanging on a screw because our landlord put a new stove in but it's too wide so you can't open the oven door with the doorknobs on. So we had to take them off. Tacky. And I sometimes snag my clothes on them.


2. These are our pumpkins. I just got them. They made me feel happy and festive. I'm loving the idea of Halloween in our own place. I am trying very hard to resist getting Halloween decor for the house. I can only resist because I don't want to have to pack more than I have to when we do move back to the mainland.


3. Something pink are the straps on my new kick-ass Crocs slippers. They rock. And they are so obnoxious!

San Francisco Stories

It doesn’t seem fair to write a bit of a “life lessons” posting and not follow it up with fun.

So here are a few San Francisco stories…

1. I saw Jesus. No, not on a piece of burnt toast or a painting in a bar, but in the flesh! He was a man in his early 40’s (I’d guess) with blondish grey hair to his shoulders and over-grown facial hair. He wore a white tunic and white pants with sandals. He carried a cane, wore a large gold cross, and had a necklace made of ceramic letters that spelled Jesus. We made pretty strong eye contact as he passed me at the Ferry Building and he said “God bless you.” I promise you, only in San Francisco.

2. I had my second shark sighting in three weeks. Shortly after I encountered Jesus I was walking along a pier on the Embarcardero where the guys were fishing off the end. And one guy caught a pretty good sized leopard shark! It was a buch of Asian and Hispanic fishermen, a few homeless men, a well-dressed business man and me – all watching him pull in this shark. Again, only in San Francisco.

3. I ran into my nemesis. If I could have named one person I wouldn’t want to see in San Francisco it would have been Eric Wong. He’s my old landlord’s son and we have a history of arguments, mean phone calls and awkward encounters that go back years. And I saw him twice in one week. Just my luck.

4. I looked at the sun through a filtered telescope a very nice sun-expert sort of guy had set up at 9th and Irving. I tell you, only in San Francisco.

I also have a secret belief that San Francisco put out its best weather for me. When I arrived on Saturday night it was pretty bitter cold (to my Hawaii cold intolerance) but by Thursday I was cruising around in a tank top. Thank you, lovely city, for rolling out the sunshine in my honor.

100th Post! 100th Post!!

Woohoo! What an anniversary. 100 posts in 8 months and two days. Not bad at all.

So today is not so good. I picked a fight with Bryan this morning. The fighting points were valid but the timing was really inappropriate. And I feel awful. Then I got icky vibes at work and went to my only friend to seek solace and share stories. She is in the most wicked mood I have ever witnessed with her. So I stepped away. I was almost immediately on the verge of tears so I decided I needed to get out of here and deserved a treat. I went to Starbucks. Sugar and caffeine... the medicine for any emotional pain. The morning turned around when the Starbucks man commented on how nice my shirt is (it's from H&M. I'm incredibly proud of it and no one else all morning even acknowledged it). I swear I could have leaned across the counter, hugged him, and said "let's be friends." Instead I smiled like I won the lottery and said "thank you, that's really nice to hear."

So, in short, I ruined my morning and the Starbucks man fixed it. Totally worth almost $6.

A Week of Perspective

Last week I was in San Francisco for my first trip back ‘home.’ Bryan had intended to join me on Friday and we were going to spend the weekend catching up with friends. Bryan got very sad news early in the week that one of his childhood friends passed away. Bryan traveled straight to Spokane and I joined him on Saturday for the memorial service.

Clearly our vacation plans were adjusted. It’s hard to relaxed and have fun when you know people are in pain and mourning. But I think the change of plans really put a few things in perspective for me. I feel like I really learned a lot about who I am, what makes me happy, and where I want to be.

As cheesy as this is, I learned that home is where Bryan is. I was really looking forward to being in the city by myself and doing things I wanted to do. But immediately I realized it’s not as much fun as it used to be to be alone. I spent years in San Francisco where I basically did things I wanted to do. I remember being perfectly content to spend a weekend day walking through Chinatown and then reading a book in the park. But after just a few hours of that this week I was ready to call Bryan or visit with a friend.

I was also reminded of how special our friends are. It was so awesome just to hang out with people I know. Not have to start from the beginning of our life stories or create humor to communicate. It was so easy just to hang out. While I’ll definitely miss them and believe that they are particularly special people, it inspires me to make those friendships in Hawaii too.

Now, we’re happy in Hawaii and I think we’ll stay for a short while. But, I think as any lost often brings this up, I feel like we’re too far from “home”. I don’t know exactly how to remedy that right now but I think it’s important to be aware of.

I was also a bit surprised to learn that San Francisco isn’t all that. It is a beautiful city that was my home for so many years. But it’s sort of crazy. There are crazy people there, a ton of traffic, dirty air, exhausting streets. I might be going soft but I like the ease of living in Hawaii. I like that we relax more. But I do miss the energy. Our evenings in Hawaii usually wrap up around 8. The restaurants close, must-see TV is over, and it’s dark. And I really miss the neighborhood feel. There is nothing better than a neighborhood where you can walk to shops and restaurants. Honolulu is definitely lacking in that area.

I'm afraid to say I might be getting crunchy. I was cruising through the streets of San Francisco and didn’t really feel settled until I was in Golden Gate Park. I found myself looking at the trees and the blue sky and thought “this is so nice.” I would have expected to feel that way about the shopping, not the park!

So now, back in Hawaii... I welcome the warm air. I curse the noisy midnight winds that keep us awake. I yearn for a variety of restaurants. I look forward to going to the beach this weekend. I hope to surf and SCUBA. I miss cute fall clothes. I miss my friends but feel motivated to throw a party to meet new ones. And mostly I'm just happy to hang with Bryan.

It's a Two-Way Street Guys...

I got to thinking today (as I sit here goofing off at work) that I spend a lot of time posting things to this blog pretty much for your amusement. But rarely do I get much back in return. Aside from my mom, almost NONE of you comment. Which is cool most of the time.

However, today I'm asking for something in return. Bryan and I need Halloween costume ideas. And we're taking suggestions. I actually have something in mind for myself but it's rather conceptual and I'm starting to re-think it. So please post a comment (you can do it anonymously if you prefer) and let us know what we should be for Halloween.

Earthquake, We're Okay

This morning Bryan awoke at 7:07am to the violent (and long lasting) shaking of a 6.5 earthquake centered in Kona on the Big Island. He's totally fine but spent the day without water and electricity. Meaning he had to walk 12 flights of stairs to get to the car to get to the grocery store and then walk back up 12 flights of stairs with bottles of water and basic food items. And now he sits bored, trying to read by candlelight.

I'm fine. Totally fine but feeling terrible I'm not there with him. I'm in SF for a long visit with friends.

Everyone we know is 100% fine.

Yummy?

I just went downstairs for a quick lunch. I took my co-worker's suggestion to try the Korean BBQ place. It's called Yummy Korean B-B-Q. But I got the vegetable plate, so it's not barbequed at all.

The server and I had a true failure to communicate. I wasn't sure how the ordering worked so we stumbled over that. She wasn't able to tell me exactly what the choices were. We only identified the cucumbers were spicy after they were already on my plate. It was pretty fun in an adventurous way but now I'm stuck with a mysterious lunch. I think I'm eating kimchee cucumbers, maybe?

All in all, not all that Yummy. Next time I'm getting meat.

In-between

Sara's wedding was beautiful and our long weekend on Maui was awesome. It was great to see my college friends, to meet some new ones, and for Bryan and I to completely relax at the beach and in the pool.

It was hard to come back home. I'm sure both Bryan and I could have used a much longer vacation and a weekend at the beach in Maui sort of points out all the crapiness of having to go to work at 8am every Monday through Friday.

Unfortunately I came home to a funk too. The only way I can try to explain it is to say I felt very "in between." I'm travelling to San Francisco this weekend and I'm really, really excited about it. I think I feel in between my past lives (college and SF) and my current or future life. I have such incredible friends as part of my past lives. And in my current life I know many incredible people but they're not yet my trusted friends. So I'm a bit lost. Luckily, I have Bryan. He bridges my past, current and future lives which is very cool.

But I could still stand to have a few good girlfriends here.

Sonny and Cher, we are not

Pretty City

This was the view from our "lanai" window on Sunday night. I like it.

Hooray!

Tomorrow morning I fly to Maui for a quick work meeting and then stay for four days of fabulous-ness.

My very good friend Sara is marrying her very excellent fiance Kent on Maui on Friday. I am so excited to get to be a part of it and to see all my great college friends.

So bring on the celebrating, the hugs, the partying and the good times. We're ready for it!

"We Had a Good Weekend"

On Friday I met my brother at the Academy of Art for Art After Dark, a once-a-month event that combines art, food, drinks and the "scene." We took in the Ansel Adams exhibit, a drink, and some socializing with my co-workers. Bryan stayed at work to play video games with his friends at work. When he was done the three of us got Burger King (nothing convenient is open after 9pm) and then met more of my co-workers for 80's themed karaoke. It was fun and funny. And I actually sang. Wham!

Saturday was camping day!! Our campsite was on the North Shore, about has far north as you can get on the island. And our site was literally beachfront. And beautiful. We set up our tent (very useful but still tacky as camouflage). Then we swam in the ocean, chatted with our fellow campers and eventually helped prepare dinner. It was great to be away from the city and we were very relaxed.

This morning we woke up to the sounds of the ocean (and chickens). We had a great camp breakfast, walked along the beach, swam a bit and then packed up to go home. It was a quick camping trip but it was great. We're both pumped to camp whenever possible.

Crazy exciting event of the weekend came on our walk along the beach. We saw a shark!! Some local kids had caught a SHARK on their fishing line over night. They just had it dead on the beach. Craziness. So we checked it out, touched it and pretty much stood there dumbfounded. It was at least four feet long. Pretty cool looking too. Looked exactly like you'd think a shark would. The kids eventually cut it open and buried it. Which is gross so we won't focus on that...

We stopped for shave ice on the way home and made it back to catch more than half of the Seahawks game (which they lost terribly).

As we sit here doing laundry and paying bills, Bryan just turned to me and said, "we had a good weekend."

Hope you did too!

Wait, Where are We?

This weekend Bryan and I are going camping with a friend from my office and a bunch of her friends. We're really excited to get out and do a Hawaii thing (beach camping) and be social with new people.

And for the occasion, Bryan went to Wal-Mart (yes, we feel guilty) and invested (it was only $40! Wal-Mart bad and good) in a tent. Now here's the best part....

It's a CAMOUFLAGE tent. Can you believe it?! I would never be caught dead in anything camouflage before. Camouflage. How very un-Bay Area.

Now, no offense to the local folks but somehow a camouflage tent is not nearly as offensive here in Hawaii as it would be in San Francisco. I was threatening to fly a confederate flag outside our tent to stick with the theme. But I think I won't. It's a democratic state after all. And word might get back to San Francisco and they'd never let me back in.

I'll post pictures and stories of the camping adventure early next week.

Enjoy your weekend!

Adding One More to the Mix

My Hawaii family is now one member stronger. My cousin Will and his wife Heather welcomed their third daughter this week.

There are so many Jenni-relatives in Hawaii that I need all my fingers and toes to count them.

So Baby Lee, welcome to our crazy little clan. Can't wait to see you in person and give you our love!

Sailing the Sea

On Friday night we met some friends for an evening sailboat ride to watch the sunset and catch the weekly fireworks show.

Super cool.

I'm Still High on Adrenaline

Whoooo! I just got pictures from the race and it all came back to me.

And here's a little note from our coach to let you know how stoked we all are..
- Rachel ironed the race...which is an amazing accomplishment. (You try sitting for 6 hours and 46 minutes and steer through all kinds of sloppy conditions...)
- Over the entire race Rachel was never more than 100 yards north or south of the straight line to her goal...confirmed via the GPS (which we watched constantly).
- Not a single woman in that crew ever asked for an extra time out,
- Not a single woman gave less than 100 percent in the boat,
- Not a single woman complained about an injury (though I could see there was some pain),
- Not a single woman complained about seasickness (even though there was some),
- At the end, ANY ONE of our paddlers could have handled the final sprint...there was no one who gave out. (That does not happen often in this race...)
- AND, during the entire race, NOT A SINGLE BOAT EVER PASSED US....and we just picked out boats one at a time and took them out.

Go Us!!

Pics:
#1: I'm in seat 5
#2: I'm in seat 5 (see how my elbow is bent down? Bad form!)
#3: I'm in seat 4 (you can tell I'm fighting for it. Ugh, I can imagine how tired I was.)
#4: Our kick ass team!

I Did It!!!

I am officially an athlete stud. Or as my coworker just told me, I'm really Kama'aina now.

Yesterday I paddled the 41 miles across the Molokai Channel (that's open ocean folks!) with nine teammates. We completed it in 6 hours and 46 minutes. And we rocked it!

It was one of the absolute best experiences of my life. I can't exactly put it into words or put my finger on what was so spectacular about it but it was terrific. And fun! Crazy to think that extreme physical activity and pain could be fun but it was. I had a blast out there.

So here are all the details for those of you who want to know or have nothing to do at work today....

I caught a 6:45 AM(!) flight to Molokai on a little puddle jumper plane on Saturday morning. I was super bummed to have to get up that early and spend my entire day on Molokai doing nothing. But whatever. That's how it goes. And actually, it was great. I ended up getting a terrific breakfast at the Molokai Lodge with three of the "open women" on my team (they're the advanced girls). They were super cool to me and very supportive of my first long distance race (everyone else on my team had already done two similar style races. I did not get to do them. Visit my previous posts for the details). Much of paddling for me is the social aspect and these three girls really made me feel welcome and 'loved' in a way I don't always find in paddling. So my Molokai weekend started off very strong.

We stayed in tiny condo units on the very far west side of the island and pretty much did nothing all day. I napped a bit, walked the beach, watched my local teammates pick opii off the rocks, swam in the pool a bit and napped a bit more. Pretty boring actually. But let me tell you, Molokai is gorgeous. And we were on the dry side. At night we all cooked a massive spagetti dinner together, ate in a circle on the grass like we were in grade school and laughed and had fun. Then we had a team meeting, I burst into tears because I was so nervous, and we were in bed by 8:30.

The crying actually helped a lot. I think it let me get my nervous energy out that had been building for weeks. So on Sunday morning at 5am when we left the condos in a shuttle bus, I was ready to go. And everything else after that just got better and better. We were some of the first to arrive at the beach with 70 canoes around and the sun rising. We had great energy and gave hugs all around. I took a few picture of the experience on a digital camera so I'll have to post those later. Every race always starts with a Hawaiian prayer and for the first time I got teary. And then they were off.

As I mentioned before, each team as 10 paddlers. The canoe holds six. So four girls ride on the escort boat (think nice fishing boat) at all times. We take turns rotating in an out of the boat. Each person paddles about 40 minutes at a time and then rests for 20 minutes or so. We did about 12 "changes" throughout the race and I personally did about seven. I started the race in the escort boat but got to finish in the canoe which meant I got to cross the finish line.

Anyhow, there's not much else to tell you. We left Molokai and could barely see Oahu. But we got closer and closer and the whole time I knew we could do it. It was definitely a situation where I hit my exhaustion point a few times and had to overcome it. I never thought I was one who would particularly persevere in a physical activity but I proved that I am. If I was a runner I might try a marathon next!

Oh, I should admit that I hurt myself pretty good. My body hurts all over today. My entire right leg is banged and bruised. My left knee is super sore. And my mind is still complete mush. But I am one of only 700 women who get to do this experience every year. So I'm psyched.

The Grand Finale

On Sunday I reach the completion of my first season of paddling. I'll be participating in the Na Wahine O Ke Kai (means Women of the Sea) race. It's a 41 mile race from Molokai to Waikiki. We think it will take us about 7 hours to complete.

It should be insane.

It's sort of the Ironman of the paddling world. We expect about 80 boats in the entire competitive - again with teams from California, Australia and NZ. Each team has 10 paddlers and they switch in and out of the boat throughout the race. Which means I'll spend a fair amount of time floating or swimming in the Molokai Channel - famous for it's rough conditions and sharks. Yay, sharks.

I'm psyched for it. I'm a tad nervous and think that it will feel more like torture than fun. But I am just thrilled that I have worked so hard to get here and will actually participate in this phenomenal event.

So wish me luck!