Happy Halloween!

I'm at that age where I'm more into recycling outfits than going about new ones. Well, that's not entirely true... I had a dream for this year, but I couldn't make it to the Halloween party I had been invited to, so I didn't have the energy to really pursue it, and I'm keeping it a secret so perhaps I can do it next year!

My boss came in yesterday to encourage me to dress up and say that she definitely would be, so I came in my old faithful Halloween outfit from 2009! (The shorts aren't that short!)

Here was the original 2009 wear (and YES my roommates all dressed up as 3 Musketeers and yes there are 4 and I could have joined but I said no because I'm an idiot who insisted on being a referee... it definitely wasn't one of my smarter moments!)

And then today my boss (dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi - ha!) came and brought a bucket of chocolate and this little goody cup of Halloween treats. I'm so excited for that straw!

Tonight I'm looking forward to hanging out on my porch and handing out candy to the kids! They better come by too. Dave says some years they do, some years they don't.

Let's All Fangirl Together

Last week, someone put a gun to my head and said "IF YOU DON'T PRE-ORDER TAYLOR SWIFT'S NEW ALBUM 1989, I WILL SHOOT YOU DEAD" so I HAD to pre-order the album so that I could live to see the next day.

Well it came in yesterday (yes, it was released on Monday, but I got photo prints and a code to enter to meet Taylor Swift so the joke is on YOU) and I'm in loveeeee again! And for the record: I really, really wish I didn't like her. I wish it were easy to write her off as immature or basic or annoying, and sometimes she really is annoying, but I can't help but love her music.

Wednesdays are my free days so I had chores to catch up on, so I put the album in and started washing dishes and cleaning Khaleesi's 3 litter boxes (what kind of a world do I live in where my cat has 3 choices of location, texture, privacy and surroundings to go to the bathroom in and I have 1?? Oh yeah, I'm living in this world:)

...and the problem with Taylor Swift's songs is that they are all so catchy immediately! As soon as one song is over you already want to listen to it again! So can you believe I was taking my time cleaning litter boxes and wishing there was more to do so I could still listen to the music productively? She passed the litter box test. (I just made that up).

Okay, back to work... with the album playing. I love having (good) new music!

Festival Supreme

Way back when, maybe in June, I was listening to the radio on my way to work when KROQ's Kevin and Bean were interviewing Jack Black, who was promoting his event Festival Supreme. For all intents and purposes, it's like a comedy Coachella... a day-long festival of multiple stages and a free-for-all reign of all the stand-up, performance and music comedy that they could pack in to the day. (There were also music acts there, which, aside from Tenacious D, ended up being a little more confusing than anything else). Well, I was sold, and I convinced my fellow Groundling member Chelsea to buy a ticket as well, and Saturday was the day.

It. Was. Awesome!! I went to Chelsea's place in LA in the morning, and she and I stuffed ourselves with Chipotle first before heading to the Shrine Auditorium. They utilized indoor and outdoor space which was great. There was stand-up going on inside, and more performance-based comedy and music going on outside. Chelsea and I got in around 4, and it felt like we had so much time ahead of us, but everything went so fast! We pretty much were darting back and forth, inside and out to catch everyone we could, in-between running to the restroom and grabbing beers. The coolest thing was how unpretentious it was, and most of the comedians were out in the crowd with the rest of us watching other comedians during the show. I was sad to pieces when I came out of the bathroom and Chelsea told me Fred Armisen had literally just passed me.

Highlights included: Janeane Garafalo, Norm MacDonald (high out of his mind), Eric Andre (later in the crowd with us), Fred Armisen (who played the Sparkling Applejuice song that only I seemed to know in all of LA), Margaret Cho, Workaholics, Nick Kroll, Drunk History, Comedy Bang Bang (who brought out Zach Galifinakis and Adam Scott), Doug Benson, and the winner of the festival in mine and Chelsea's opinion: Bo Burnham. 

Arj Barker was also there, but we just missed him on arriving, however, we were out watching Heidecker & Wood (with Eric Andre) and Arj Barker came walking by. I FANGIRLED-OUT and started hyperventilating and asking Chelsea if I should be "that girl" and ask for a picture with him because I love him, but my heart was beating too fast and in that time another girl actually approached him, and he was really nice, but he kept going and didn't take a picture with her, so I figured it was for the best. However, when he was walking back, he walked in front of me and we made eye contact and smiled at each other and THAT was the crowning moment of the weekend!!

Norm MacDonald (horrible picture, I know)

Bo Burnham

Comedy Bang Bang, Scott Aukerman hosting on the left, then Zach Galifianakis, Adam Scott, and some girl Tracy??

Oh! And how's this for inconvenient? Chelsea and I are outside in the thick of the Tenacious D crowd when I for some reason get the inkling to check my phone and I see a missed call and a text from Palak. A missed call AND a text? Hmm. I check the text. It's this:

And there I was, outside, in LA, with live music, aka impossible to call her back. But it's true, she got engaged on Saturday!

On Sunday I slept in (ain't no joke spending all day standing and then driving back home at midnight from LA! Chelsea had to teach Zumba in the morning and I figured I may as well just get home at this point) and then packed me up a little breakfast picnic (even though it was like 1p) and went to Fairmount Park to read by the lake. It was so pleasant! And then Anja and I caught each other on text for once (this is difficult with our time difference) and were able to selfie between me in the park and her in the Baltimore airport awaiting her flight back to London.

It was a refreshing weekend. When I ran into my neighbor Rick on Sunday, we were catching up and he asked how I was today and I even said "man, I feel refreshed" and he said "it was all that comedy, right? It's a stress reliever" and I thought YES. YES IT IS.

And there's the little kitty Khaleesi being adorable, just because she is. She's even attacking a toy ball with feathers and not her damn bug bands for once!

Why God Whyyyyy

Why God, why?

I asked myself (or God?) this question twice in the past 24 hours.

The first was in relation to some obnoxious girls at yoga. Some people are really, really into their yoga. The studio Marisa and I go to is a great practice with a wide range, but overall everyone there is really concentrating on their own yoga, whatever that means for them. It's a very introspective practice, so there is not much interaction. Right before the teacher shut the door to start the class, two young girls come bounding in and set up their mats next to me. One girl plopped her keys on the ground loudly next to me, which contained her university ID, so I know she was a college student (Secret's out, Chelsea!) and yes I work with college kids and yes I have a sense of humor, but they were really testing my patience.

For one, as we began, they were sending out snapchats of themselves in the class. One girl, getting endless texts, eventually turned her phone over, but the other continued to text (somehow??) and they were consistently whispering and giggling. Marisa and I occasionally share glances or make snarky comments to each other, so I tried not to get too upset over that. By the end, they were taking pictures of each other, sitting poses out to take a picture of the other one, and remember I was right next to them, so it's feasible that I was in the background somewhere, and by that time I was just pissed. I had to stay in savasana long enough for them to leave before me so I didn't make some awful comment. I really hope they don't come back again.

The second time I asked why God why??? it was to ask why my little keety kat is just so darn cute that I can't even handle it!! Look at her up on the fridge and her little face!

She's just soooo precious I can't even take it! What would YOU do with a kitty this pretty??

Bug Bands

Khaleesi, being the little question mark that she is, is obsessed with rubber bands. They are her favorite toys in the world. She likes to chew, chase, swipe them all over the place. She is even good about getting them around her paw and flinging them up in the air for herself when I am not available (she is an only child, after all) and once I watched it land on her head around her ear and she frantically searched for it on the ground. (She's not the brightest crayon in the box). She always brings one to me in the morning once she is sure I am awake to throw for her.

I distinguish between "rubber bands" (what I use) from "bug bands" for her, since she is just a little Bug. I even bought a pack of them and stashed them away to bring out when hers inevitably get lost somewhere or other around the place. Can you believe she found these?

I saw when she noticed them, and caught her pulling out the entire pack for herself.

It's just weird because, how can you even smell them or recognize them on the cardboard like that?? And they are inanimate, not shiny, and don't have any catnip. I mean, better for me because these are way cheaper, but all in all there is clearly something wrong with this Khaleesi. It must be cuteness overload.

Fairmount Park

I missed yoga yesterday and was very sad about it. Marisa texted me that she wasn't going to be able to make it, but I still had every intention of going. Unfortunately, the universe had different plans for me.

Our department was taken out for ice cream at the end of day (mmmm...) that had me leaving a little late. Then I was rushing out the door and realized I forgot my phone. Then I remembered that I had to park further away than normal today, so I figured I just wasn't going to make it, and it wasn't worth the stress. If this sounds ridiculous, it's not. We're always on a very strict schedule to make it to the 5:30 class, and this is in Redlands, so if we don't leave by 5:00, we're late, which annoys me more than the traffic. So it didn't happen.

I got home and was already in workout clothes, so I put headphones in my phone and headed out to run around downtown Riverside and into Fairmount Park and around Lake Evans. Now I've been to Fairmount Park many times, but the weather was perfect and for some reason it seemed more beautiful than usual.

(My phone was in my running armband so really hard to get a picture).

The entire running experience was just so nice. Perfect weather, houses decorated for Halloween, people walking their dogs, or feeding the ducks with their kids, and a little girl chasing her cat (how did the cat not get away?) and everyone so friendly.

And gosh! Those houses downtown!! They are so unique and beautiful, and the kind that just make you happy to know that they exist! On the same block there is one that looks like a European cottage, one like a Mediterranean beach house, a mission-styled pueblo, a regal colonial structure, and a turn-of-the-century American craftsman home. That's the dreeeeeam.

Six Months

Sooooo it turns out that that whole six months of probation is actually a real thing here at work that is taken very seriously. I'm not saying that I had forgotten about it... au contraire, I knew it was sometime around this time, but I figured unless they said otherwise, I was still hired and life would continue as normal.

Not! I came in today and this was on my office door.

Such a surprise! And so cute! I just love it.

NAO GIMME VACAYSHUN.

The Great 28-Year-Old Slumber Party

Now before I go and ruin all the fun by letting you know if this was a slumber party for 28 year olds, or a slumber party that has lasted for 28 years, I have to start at the beginning!

My Uncle Bob and Roomie Pamo-san have October 21st birthdays, and both decided to celebrate them on October 18 of this year, so I had a doubly-fun weekend between the two.

The first half of the Saturday was spent at Aunt Frances' celebrating the 70-year-old (well, tomorrow) with family from everywhere! I even had my sidekick Parker there helping me to steal avocados.

Birfday Boy

Aunt Judee and Uncle Carl... with an Uncle Carl in his hand??

Parker resembling Sixteen Jones in this picture

Whatevs

Cousins and Grammy

Spooky. And why is Tammy without a prop?

It was a nice get together and I was a little sad at having to leave early! Especially with Cheryll yelling at the football game on TV with absolutely no rhyme or reason.

Now since Pam is all lawyer now, she's apparently too  busy even to think about her birthday, so she decided to throw something together last minute, and what she put together was a Slumber Party for her 28th Birthday. Now if you think that that sounds lame, the joke is on you because it was a-maz-ing.

First of all, Doug's parents hosted it at their house, it was Pam, Doug, Raf, Rob, Pearo, Priya, Kunal, Fern, Sruti, Dan, me, and even Colleen and Justin made it with their  1 1/2 year old Kylie. I was a little late and missed the pool party fun (better off from what I hear given how cold the water was), but there were 4 gigantic pizzas, cupcakes, an entire array of snacks, a liquor store's worth of liquor, beer and wine, and the best people you can find in San Diego.

It was exactly like the slumber parties of yore, only better. Shots, junk food and snacks in our pajamas, Cards Against Humanity, birthday cake, and then going outside near the pool and downing the cases of Coor's light for Survivor Flip Cup (awful) that had me puking up the fizz in one of Debbie's plants.

When we were starting to prepare for night-night time, we claimed couches and loveseats, re-arranged the living room, set up air mattress and blankets, and I fell asleep around this point (although I felt Pearo cover me up with a blanket) and woke up to everyone crowding around me and trying to freak me out by saying we needed to evacuate... because apparently they had gotten into a good game of Truth or Dare and Rob said that they all needed to wake me up "in a panic". Well the waking up part worked and I was so glad that it did because I got to join in on the best game of truth or dare ever, especially because no one shied away from any dare and everyone was such a good sport.

Colleen, Justin and Kylie had taken the spare room, but Colleen had lent us Kylie's Tranquil Turtle, so this was all done with watery soft music in the background and a light display on the ceiling. It was everything you expect from a slumber party... and more!

Pam and Colleen (who share birthdays) lighting their cake

Everyone waiting to sing to the birthday girls

In the morning there was coffee and fruit and croissants and muffins (mufins... muftensteins...) and Kunal made frittatas and we sat outside by the pool and relived the previous night and talked about ebola, and conspiracy theories, and Lena Dunham.

Morning clean-up (not as fun)

Slowly we dispersed, but by the afternoon I found myself on the San Diego bay cruise with Pam, Doug, Jack and Debbie. This was awesome, and beautiful, and while waiting in line, I regaled them with tales of my motion sickness and all the times I threw up (Roller coaster at Magic Mountain! Driving in Santa Barbara with Alyse! Snorkeling off Key West! On the boat to Catalina Island!) and Pam lamented that we hadn't brought one of Debbie's plants with us for me to throw up into again.

The day was perfect and the cruise was lovely... bloody Mary's and chocolate donuts lovely!

Pamosan

Helicopters

Seals!

Under the Coronado Bridge

That happened, and was not planned

And this happened

And I made Pam take it again

After a few bloody Mary's the selfies come out

A bootleg picture of our picture!

After this we went back to Pam and Doug's to sit on the balcony. But then this happened.

Me and Jack are dunzo

And when I woke up, Pam had a bowl of lentils for me, since I needed to start making my way back to Riverside, and they sent me off with pizza and Corn Nuts and Diet Coke (half courtesy the slumber party) for the trek home.

And now it's Monday and I don't wanna!

Cherub Rock

I saw Cherub last night at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium and it was off the hooooooook! I couldn't believe what a great show they put on with that venue, which is largely huge and the audience didn't fill up (why??), so there was crazy lightshows, bouncin beats and jumpin dance parties everywhere.

I wanted so badly to record the performance of Doses & Mimosas to send to my friends in San Diego (with whom that song and reference go back a long way) but when they finally played it, I couldn't do anything but enjoy it, sing it and dance to it. They completely got me onto more of their music and songs.

And of course, can't do anything without Doses & Mimosas.

Happy Friday to the world, world!

Portlandia For Me

Yaysies, it's officially official: I'll be going to Portland (the Oregon one) in November for work.

I have been to Portland before (that infamous Road Trip of 2005) but that was before it exploded into a hipster mess so I'm looking forward to returning. Plus I was also only 20 at the time, if you catch my drift...

Here was me mailing off a postcard in Portland. Maybe I'll find the same postbox and re-create that picture.

Just kidding, definitely not wasting time on that. But very much looking forward to it - haven't traveled since April and getting antsy!

International L♥VE

I love all my international students, but it's impossible not to feel a little rejuvenated when I get to work with a new culture or talk with someone from a country that I don't often get exposed to. Today I helped a new admit student from Kenya, and she was so sweet, and I told her how I took a class on the Congolese language of Lingala and she was excited and just started gabbing away about the language and culture and it was a real connection for us, she was cute! It reminded me of why I love working with international students so much.

And then I had to go get my eyebrows did and my lady sold me some handcrafted herbal eyeliner from her home country of Nepal. I guess she's lucky I just had payday so I could spare the $4, but I still felt so worldly! It's nice to live in a place with so much diversity. I'm told this eyeliner (which looks like melted kohl on the end of a small wooden stick not bigger than a single match) will last years and she insists that her clients love it. We shall see...

Turn Down For This

Be careful with your workout playlists. You can put Lil' Jon's Turn Down For What on there on repeat and it will keep you running for a half hour straight, but the mixed beats will also make you want to dance and probably halfway fall off the treadmill too. It's a hazard. But I didn't sign a waiver for my playlist...!

Weekend Kitty

Khaleesi was such a good kitty this weekend. She played outside while I ate breakfast on the porch but didn't run away, she came back in when I called her, she napped with me, played nice, and ate crickets that made it into the sunroom. She even waited while I hiked Mt Rubidoux in the 90+ degree heat at 10:00am for me to come home and play with her, aka put her toy mouse on her head to take a picture.

Do crazy cat ladies get club membership cards? I'm overdue for mine.