Memorial Day Weekend in Pics

On Thursday, I attended my last Balboa graduation.  My favorite kiddo graduated and I'm so proud:

On Saturday, Matt and I had an amazing dinner at Pican in Oakland.  He had fried chicken & gouda mac&cheese, I had grits enchiladas (yep!), and we both had bourbon cocktails. ;)

Sunday was not so awesome.  We woke up to discover that Matt's car was no longer outside our house.  Some punk ass thieves stole his ride!  So instead of heading to a friends' party, we marched on down to the Oakland Police Department.  Ughhhhhhh.

But, my adorable grandma turned 92!  She's still not doing great, but she made it to her birthday, and she's looking mighty cute:

On Sunday we had a couple friends over to break in our new grill!  Matt played Grillmaster Flash and cooked us up some amazing sausages (mine veggie!), asparagus, corn, bbq tofu, etc.  Yum!

And we dressed the weenie like a weenie:

What did you do over the long weekend??

Suspension of Disbelief

Warning: you might not want to read this if you haven't watched last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy and you intend to.

In most movies or books, we as readers/viewers have to employ our suspension of disbelief. Real life, without hyperbolic drama, extraordinary events, etc. just isn't interesting enough. I get that, both as a writer and a reader/tv-watcher, and I'm pretty good at putting my scrutiny and doubt aside to escape into a fantasy world for a while. But sometimes, the limits of my ability to suspend disbelief are tested.

Like last night, in Grey's Anatomy.

I think Grey's Anatomy is one of the greatest shows on tv. Aside from its spinoff show, Private Practice, it's the only show I watch every week no matter how busy I am. I'm plenty familiar with the Grey's drama: ridiculous medical conundrums, an explosive bomb inside a patient that threatens the whole hospital, a hospital shooter/mass murderer, a bizarre bus crash/fatality, a rare cancer, etc. etc. I love it. But last night--a plane crash? Just before the residents are about to fly on their own to new jobs at new hospitals?

I don't know, it just seemed a little too absurd and a little too convenient. Plus, I'm pissed that Lexie's dead. I liked her, and I love how dynamic her character has been over the seasons. And Mark's right: they were meant to be together.

The unbelievability of last night's show prevented me from feeling much emotion. Which is a bummer. On the other hand, I wept inconsolably at this week's Private Practice. So devastating.

What did y'all think? Are there any shows that just seem a little too far-fetched for you?

Happy Friday!

One thing on the brain . . .

This morning, I paid a little visit to my (hot) podiatrist, Dr. Jake Lee, and he gave me the best news I've heard in a while.  He said my x-rays looked great, that he couldn't even see the fracture anymore, and that I could ditch the robo-boot I've been sporting!  He also said that I could start walking and, if that's comfortable, begin running again.  YAY TUESDAY!  This day is off to an incredible start.

Therefore, I only have one thing on my mind: SHOES.  Now that I'm no longer bound to the hideous and uncomfortable walking cast-boot, I'm rifling through my closet trying to find my highest-heeled pretties.  And also scouring the internet for outlandish platforms such as these:

Source: shoemetro.com via Claire on Pinterest

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Claire on Pinterest

Source: freepeople.com via Claire on Pinterest

Those last ones aren't exactly summery, but they're still HOT!

Some Miscellaneous Notes

~Graduation is a week from Thursday.  I'm so excited for school to get out (I've been doing both old + new jobs, teaching Monday nights at the prison, and babysitting 1-2 nights per week), but when I think about all that I have to get done between now and then, I go all fetal.

~I'm finally reading Fifty Shades of Grey.  As a person who went to graduate school for creative writing, I'm kind of appalled by the writing itself (which is terrible), and yet I can't put it down.  Actually, I can, because I have to since I'm working an insane number of hours.  But I don't want to put it down.  Also, I cannot believe they sell this book at Target!  Modest people: stay far away. ;)

~JJ took the cutest video of Jude saying "Happy Mothers' Day" to his mama.  But just in case she wasn't sure who he was talking to, he specified "I love you, Cari."  HA!  Cracks me up when kids call their parents by their first names.  Watch this 15 second video and you'll understand why I'm so obsessed with him:

I'm so lucky to have them in my life.  They found me when their oldest, Milo, was around 5 months old, and they were beginning to really need a babysitter.  Now they're some of my best friends!

Hope all the mamas had happy mothers' days. :)

Girls' Trip 2012 in Pictures

It's Tuesday morning and I'm still reeling from another incredible girls' trip.  This time, Micaela, Marianne, Faiza, & our friend Ezgi flew out from their various locales and came to San Francisco, where our adventure started.  We had a couple days here before heading down (road-trip style!) to Anaheim, home of Marianne's new obsession: The Anaheim Angels (aka one of their pitchers, C.J. Wilson).

Marianne arrived with GIRLS' TRIP 2012 necklaces for all of us, which you can (sorta) see us boasting in this picture, taken at Target for last-minute supplies on our way down south:

As you can guess, a van full of five girls meant hours of talking about friendship, relationships, sex, and hot celebs.  Also: racism, misogyny, religious discrimination, and international political unrest (hey, we're complex creatures).  As we rolled into Orange County just in time for a late dinner, I thought: Carrie's boyfriend's restaurant!  I gave Carrie a ring and voila, she met us at The Corner in Huntington Beach, which we agreed in unanimity was THE BEST MEAL we had the entire trip.

Carrie: even more adorable & hilarious (and tiny) in person!

Unfortunately we were too famished to take pictures of the food before we scarfed it down, but let me just say that it was delectable.  I had mashed potato tacos (you heard that right) that were somehow even more delicious than their description, and a roasted beet (& burrata & arugula) salad that I'm desperate to recreate.  Also: vodka lemonade cocktails with mint leaves.  Carrie and Chris were so wonderful that I can't wait to go back (and spend more time with Carrie).  Like all my parentheticals in this blog post?  (Ha!).

A quick sleep in our hotel, and then Saturday morning we were off to San Diego to have a Cinco de Mayo Mexican lunch on the beach with my dear friend Elena from grad school.  She recommended a spot in Del Mar that was perfect for margaritas and festive Mexican food.  The food was great, but best of all was the company: it was so neat for me to witness the merging of worlds as my Girls' Trip 2012 girls met Elena!  After lunch, we hung out on the beach for a while before grabbing a coffee & trekking back up to Anaheim to prepare for the main event: the Angels vs. Blue Jays game.

Elena & me on the beach!

sweet twinkies on the beach

Marianne was chomping at the bit to get to Angels Stadium, so we headed over there an hour early to try to find her main man, C.J. Wilson, warming up.  My friend Dave & the twinkies' cousin Moses met us at the stadium, so we had quite a group to cheer on C.J. (minus Faiza, from Toronto, who was rooting for her Blue Jays!).  

a healthy dose of internal rivalry

the view from our seats

Much to Faiza's dismay & Marianne's delight, the Angels proceeded to kick some Blue Jay ass, and Marianne and her homemade poster ended up on the JumboTron!  It was certainly the highlight of the evening, and so sweet to see Marianne floating around on cloud 9.  Almost as giddy as she was Sunday morning when she woke to a tweet from C.J.!  (To be clear, C.J. Wilson, a two-time World Series pitcher and first class hottie, has tweeted at Marianne now 6 times).

see Marianne on the JumboTron in the bottom left?  

"you're tigers, you're tigers"

I was lucky enough to meet up with Amy (she's been one of my best friends since middle school), Dave, and their adorable 2-year-old, Sammy, for brunch before we headed back up north.  Again, it was so cool to have friends from different eras of life around a table together.  

Baby Boy Lazzaroni #2 arriving this fall

We got back up to the Bay Area in no time, and I was sad to see all the girls off on Monday morning.  It was especially hard going back to work after such an incredible time with such good friends.  Hard to believe that next time I see Micaela, she'll have a little baby girl!  I'm so lucky we've been able to do this two years in a row (but we missed you, Jessie!), and I can't wait to see what we plan for next year.  It's time to start brainstorming!

See pictures from our Girls' Trip 2011 here.