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!