Marjorie Louise: A Birth Story

It's taken me a few weeks to get it together to write down Marjorie's birth story. I'm not even sure I'll get it all down right now before she wakes up and needs to eat*, but I figure I might as well start typing. The first two weeks of her little life have been a roller coaster, and I'll write about that another time. For now, I want to get the story of her birth out of my head and onto "paper". Edit: It's long.

I was due on August 29, but I always felt like she was going to be a September baby. I'm not sure why, maybe it's that "motherly intuition" or something. Maybe it was wishful thinking, since I kept feeling like I just wasn't quite ready to be done being pregnant. I had it in my head that it would be funny to go into labor on Labor Day, so I kind of had that as my target for a while.

On Sunday, September 4, I was having regular contractions, but they were about 30 minutes apart. They weren't super strong, more like a bigger Braxton Hicks. Noticeable, but not too painful. This went on all. day. long. We took a walk, and got an order of the "labor-inducing" pesto from our local Italian restaurant. The owners had been telling me to eat it for weeks, but I demurred until I was ready, just in case it worked. Um, it worked. Within an hour or so, I was having full-on contractions.

Pregnant Pesto Produces Possibilities

From around 10pm until midnight, I contracted painfully but easily, every 10-15 minutes. Around midnight, we decided to try to go to bed, for a change of scenery. The contractions were still around 10 minutes apart, nowhere near the 4 minutes apart required to go to the hospital, but they were strong. In bed, I woke up with each contraction, checking the clock to see if they were getting closer, "shit, only 8 minutes." "7 minutes that time!" "ugh, 9 minutes." Time passed slowly and quickly, the beginning of this whole "longest shortest time" of parenting, I'm just now realizing.

Around 1:15am, as I finished a pair of close-ish contractions, I thought it might be good to change positions, so I told Will that I felt good enough to get up and go back to the living room. I stood up and felt liquid dripping down my leg. "Ooh, I think that could be my water breaking!" Sure enough, I went to the bathroom and my underwear was soaked. We called the hospital, who told me to put on a pad, wait an hour, and if the pad was soaked, to call back. So wait we did. And soaked it was. We called back around 2:30am, and they said we could come in.

One last picture leaving the house pre-baby, arms full of pillows.

By 3am we were on the road to the hospital (turns out, packing the car took longer than we thought, plus I was still having contractions) and taking ironic photos in the lobby between contractions.

"Take the picture! Take the picture!"
The super fashionable
pajamas-to-hospital look.

We were checked in and in our room in Triage around 3:30 or so, and contractions sucked while laying reclined in the hospital bed. Turns out, reclining is not the ideal position for unmedicated contractions. I got monitored and measured, and was only 3cm dilated. Thank god my water had broken, or I would not have been allowed to come to the hospital in the first place, much less be admitted. I remember the nurse checking out my vitals, and me just asking how soon I could get the epidural. So much for "I want to labor as long as possible without it, but trust me when I say I want it" -- I wanted it at 1:30am at home, and I wanted it now. I threw up quite a bit from the contractions, which was super fun. I threw up again at some point, was it right before the epidural? Might have been. It's a little hazy. It felt like we waited in Triage forever.

By 5am, I was moved into my sweet sweet labor and delivery room (hello, Kaiser Oakland, your facilities are amazing) and getting an epidural. I was nervous, not because of the needle, but because the anesthesiologist said I would need to remain completely still, even through a contraction, while she was placing it. Will and our nurse Bharti basically held me down as I hunched over at the edge of the bed, and I somehow powered through with very still, deep breathing. I think it took less than the 5 minutes the anesthesiologist said it would take, and contractions were definitely easier in the hunched-forward position, than in the reclined position I was in in Triage. But I also tapped into some sort of tunnel vision for a second, just focusing on the pressure Will and Bharti put on my knees as I hunkered down to breathe for a second. It was exhausting, and that was just one contraction. I never felt more confident in my decision to go for the drugs.

Happy girl with an epidural that has kicked in.

From about 6am until about 9pm or so, I labored so damn peacefully it was ridiculous. I was dilating slowly, which meant I could snack on grapes and peanut butter pretzels to my heart's content (they said I could eat normal food until 5-6cm), and I found the nature videos and spa music available on the TV to be quite soothing. I was in pure, blissed out heaven. I took naps, and hung out with our awesome nurse Bryanna, and was just more relaxed than I've been in a very long time. It's been a busy, stressful and traumatic year so far, and I don't know if I can truly explain how lovely it felt to just be free and relaxed, no discomfort mentally or physically. I hadn't really even pieced that together until today, over two weeks later, that one of the reasons I was ready to be done feeling everything was because I'd been feeling so much for so long. I just wanted to relax. And man. It was so relaxing. You guys, I can't even tell you how awesome this epidural was, but I hope the picture above says enough.

Anyway, by around 9pm I was only at 6cm, and had developed a small fever. The baby's heart rate was slightly elevated, so they wanted to give me Pitocin to speed things along a bit. My only concern was whether my pain would increase, because up until this point, I felt a mild pressure during most contractions, but zero pain. And some contractions had passed without my feeling anything. I didn't really want that to change. I was told that I could get extra doses of the epidural (extra beyond the little bump up doses I could administer to myself every 15 minutes, that is - referred to as "an extra shot of Jaeger at the end of your night at the bar") if needed, but that the Pitocin would make the contractions stronger and closer. Fine. 

They were right, the contractions sped up and intensified. And joy of joys, my sciatica returned. Now I was starting to get uncomfortable -- the sciatica meant that I couldn't really get comfortable even between contractions, and our friend/doula Jenny and Will were giving me massages, and it was the closest we came to doing any of the techniques we learned in all of our classes (aside from the couple of hours pre-hospital). I was ready for that bonus epidural now, thankyouverymuch! Meanwhile, Will was pretty anxious about my fever and the baby's heart rate, so he went to the bathroom after talking to the nurses (who assured him that I and the baby were ok). But by the time he came out, I'd been checked and was fully dilated. I asked if it was too late for the extra epidural, but our nurse Kate said I wouldn't need it at this point. I could start pushing, and she thought that I'd be ok. 

Sidenote: Kate was awesome. Bryanna selected her to take over when her shift ended at 4pm, and as we'd been Bryanna's only patients (apparently not everyone goes into labor on Labor Day?), she wanted us to be taken care of. Apparently we are fun people to labor with. Bryanna was fantastic, and Kate was an excellent replacement. We love them both very much and grew quite attached.

It was about 11:15pm at this point, and Kate's shift ended at midnight. I wanted to get this baby out in time for Kate to help deliver her, and so did Kate. I was surprised at how easy pushing was for the first hour or so. I remember saying something like, "If this is all that pushing is? Dude, this is going to be a piece of cake." and I remember getting laughed at. But the first hour was really not bad at all, thankyouepidural. Kate's shift was set to end, but she took a little longer to finish her charting, and then asked her replacement nurse if it was ok for her to come in and help out. I'm so glad Kaiser allows nurses to do this, and that the replacement nurse wasn't offended or didn't feel like Kate was stepping on her toes...because I don't know if I could have gotten through the end of that pushing without her. I mean, I would have gotten through it. Sure. But Kate was just the perfect cheerleader - while everyone else (nurse, Will, Jenny, and eventually the doctor) was down at my legs, Kate was up in my ear, with encouraging and sometimes hilarious sentiments to help me along. As she later said, "Sometimes you don't need people yelling at your vagina. Sometimes you need someone up by your head." So true, Kate. So true.

Will kept shouting that he saw the baby's head, and I kept looking in the provided mirror to see if I could see anything, but I couldn't, so I just kept pushing along. Pushing was tiring, but not painful, so on we went. Until she started crowning. I got to reach down and touch her head (slimy, totally weird), and finally she started staying put between contractions (instead of her head going back inside like a prairie dog in a hole). Shit was getting real. The nurses said they wanted to wait until the last possible minute to call in the doctor, since when they do that, a whole mess of people come in - the residents (Kaiser is a teaching hospital, which I love) and the doctor and midwife and a NICU nurse and probably some other people. I think it was like 6 new people in addition to our cozy little team of 4. 

When they felt like it was almost time, the crew came in...and then the baby crowned forever. I literally saw a resident checking her phone. Apparently Margie was an "epic crowner". The doctor, bless her, was not one for trying fast and furious methods for getting the baby out (and Kaiser doesn't do routine episiotomies), instead favoring perineal massage and some sort of oil I can't remember, to stretch me out slowly. It was as painful as it sounds. When she said she was going to apply the oil to help stretch things out, I would cringe in anticipation of the stinging and burning...but it was generally over pretty quickly and at this point I just wanted to keep pushing. I looked up into the mirror at one point and saw a big round head, coming out of what was apparently my vagina. Totally cool and weird and something I will probably never forget.

I pushed 3-4 times per contraction, wanting to push over and over until she was out already. Having a baby stuck in your vaginal canal is sort of unpleasant, though she was riding it out like a champ, with steady blood pressure and a calm heartbeat. But at this point, I was ready to push her the heck out. We had several rounds of "this is it, we'll get her out on the next one!" and at one point I had to clarify whether they meant this one push or this one contraction (because girl's gotta set her expectations properly), but eventually, one of the pushes was indeed the final push. I didn't know it would be the last one until I opened my eyes and suddenly there was a baby coming towards my face. I didn't really feel a big sense of release when she came out - I just heard some shouts and exclamations and baby cries while my eyes were still squeezed shut from pushing...and then there she was. I hope I'll never forget the feeling of opening my eyes and seeing this squirmy baby coming towards me. It was intense, and I think I may have just said "oh shit oh shit" over and over until and even after I was holding her. This slimy, wiggly little person was on my chest being patted dry and covered in a blanket. I didn't realize until later that she'd had her first big poop-splosion all over me immediately after coming out. Off to a solid start, kiddo. Nice work! :)

Delivering the placenta was way cooler than I expected. I didn't feel a big release when Margie came out, but I definitely did when I delivered the placenta. It was one big push, and then a whoosh and suddenly I felt empty. It was amazing, and I was shocked at how suddenly done I felt. Like, oh. The delivery is over. I'm empty now. And we got to thoroughly examine the placenta before we left the delivery room - placentas are really cool, you guys. I highly recommend looking at yours up close if you have the opportunity. We took pictures, but they're not on my camera and I don't have them yet. But if you want to see them, well, I can probably share them eventually.

The next few hours are a blur - skin to skin for an hour while they checked her vitals, which I barely noticed. Crying and looking around in a daze. Seeing the look on Will's face as he looked at his daughter, who I'd come to know inside my belly, but who somehow still felt totally new, familiar and strange all at once.

I cry every time I look at this picture.

We were moved pretty quickly, by about 3am, into our postpartum room (apparently a lot of people go into labor in the middle of the night after Labor Day and they needed the room). I was still pretty shell shocked from the whole thing, to be honest, and it was hard for me to adjust to this new world where this little creature who just came out of my body was our daughter. This was our child, holy shit. I wasn't really prepared for the hormone shift - I don't think anyone can really prepare you for what that feels like. But for the first few hours, I didn't really feel connected. It may have been the epidural wearing off (though I didn't have any problems feeling connected while on the epidural all day), or it may have just been the standard trauma of a relatively easy birth, but it took me a few hours to come back down to Earth and feel like I could actualize what had just happened. I felt empty, literally, but I also felt confused and shocked and not totally sure what I was supposed to do. People kept asking what her name was, and I still wasn't sure. I wanted it to be Marjorie Louise, but I wasn't 100% sure that it was right. I didn't quite know her yet. And it felt like it was suddenly all up to me, and I wanted to be sure. And suddenly I wasn't sure of anything. We had a kid? Is that what just happened? I'm not pregnant anymore? That's the baby that was inside me? That one, right next to me in the little crib? Is ours now? And my body is a wreck, and did we remember to tell our families that she was born? A blur, I tell you.

"She's here. This is our baby. Can you believe it?"

But after a few hours, things started settling down. We notified our families, who had been up worried all night, and eventually decided on her name. I ate a little and drank some deliciously cold water, and actually got some sleep. The nurses came in to administer painkillers and check our vitals and help us with diapers and swaddles and breastfeeding. Everyone took such good care of us that I didn't want to leave. We were lucky to get a "bonus" night; because she was born after midnight, that first night didn't count towards our "2-nights post birth" allowance. And I was so glad to take all three nights.

I won't go into epic detail about the amazing care Kaiser Oakland gave us, but I will say that it was wonderful. Margie was born at 12:59am on Tuesday, and we checked out on Thursday afternoon, and in between we had fantastic round the clock care from great nurses and doctors and midwives and pediatricians and food service and janitorial and a photographer and pretty much everyone was just great. The food was plentiful and tasty, the room was comfortable, and we just got to chill out and start getting used to being parents. Nothing can really prepare you for the time when you leave the hospital and take the baby home and realize that uhhhh now this is your life, but man did Kaiser prepare us as best as they could. Except that nobody helped us with the car seat, which I felt was A) not very nice, I was terrified trying to do it for the first time, and B) unsafe, and they probably should make sure you're not lying when you say that yes, you have one in your car bye bye now.

Happy and cozy in our hospital nest.

Right now, as the adorable Margie Lou is crying her little eyes out for no discernable reason, I kind of wish we could go back to the hospital and the care of that cozy little room. But we're parents now, and we'll figure it out. I have plenty more to say about postpartum hormones and adjusting to life as a mom, but that's another long post for another day. 

Me and my lil buddy this morning, very tired
after not so great sleep and a fussy morning.

Will is back to work now, and the days are hard but mostly good. The nights are harder, because psychologically as adults we think we're supposed to sleep at night, and newborn babies don't quite get that concept. But we're working on it, and right now I'm listening to Will try to soothe our crying baby in the other room as I try to recall all the details of her birth before they're lost to the sands of mommy brain. I can't believe she's already 2.5 weeks old. Time has already flown by - her birth seems both infinitely far in the distant past, and like it was just a few days ago. 

If you've written your birth story down, please do share the link in the comments. Or just share in the comments, if you haven't written it down elsewhere. I'd love to read about other people's experiences, now that I'm on the other side. <3

*it took me 2 writing sessions to get it all out, and I only finished in two thanks to Will making dinner and snuggling Margie so I could write. Thanks, Will.


Edit: One thing I forgot to mention was the catheter (thanks, Meldemy for reminding me!) -- I had been totally freaked out by the idea of a catheter, which is a requirement when you have an epidural. Turns out, you don't feel it being put in, and it's really no big deal. And then you don't have to get up to pee. They take it out before you start pushing, and before we went to postpartum, the nurse re-inserted it to empty my bladder for me (thanks! did not know this was a thing you could do manually!) since it was full, and in her words, "I place a lot more catheters than the postpartum nurses. Trust me, you'd rather have me do it now while your epidural is still going than have them do it once you're settled over there." She was right. It was no big deal.

No Big Deal, Just Biking Around Oakland

Today, I went on a bicycle ride. No big deal, right?

Except for me, it was a huge deal.

Those of you who've been reading for a while may recall that I learned to ride a bike in February of 2010. And while it was a successful lesson, the only other time I've ridden a bike since then was on our little weekend getaway in wine country almost a year ago. So when our friend Jack invited us to come along on a bike tour of Oakland, I said yes with a mixture of enthusiasm and nervousness.

I've been trying to push myself out of my comfort zone lately, and to say yes to adventures (and besides, Jack said it was beginner-friendly), so I figured what the heck? Unfortunately, we had some bike trouble and ended up being a little late to the tour, and it left without us. We tried to catch up but lost the group...so sad. But we were determined to have an adventure, so we carried on anyway.

An approximation of our route. Damn straight.

Turns out you can see a bunch of random stuff when you just bike around a city! I saw parts of Oakland I didn't know existed, despite having driven through them countless times. Gorgeous old buildings, long since abandoned and turned into tent camps...Laney College's lovely campus...and some beautiful new landscaping around the lake.

Oh, and this random sculpture.

About halfway through the ride, I had to switch bikes with our (my new) friend Jeremy, because apparently my front tire was damaged? I hadn't noticed, but apparently that's what was making it more challenging to ride. Once we switched, things were a lot smoother.

What's that we're all looking at? 

It's hard to see, but it's a seal!
In the Lake Merritt tributary!
What?
I think I should call wildlife rescue tomorrow.

We ended up on a lovely bike/walking path down by the waterfront, and went all the way to Jack London Square, where we spent some time at the farmers' market before heading back to the car.

I am seriously patting myself on the back. I know it was just a few hours riding a bike around a mostly-flat city, but I am damn proud. We crossed railroad tracks and rode on bumpy gravel, grass, and potholey streets, and I didn't fall or crash once. And I was mostly not freaked out. I actually had a really great time...and now I'm thinking about getting myself a bike...sore-butt notwithstanding :)

Skating Tenaya

Not ones to miss out on a once in a lifetime (or even a once in 30 years) opportunity, we drove to Tenaya Lake in Yosemite twice in the last two weeks. As you can see from the slideshow...awesome.

The slideshow contains photos and videos; if you can't view a video for some reason (looks like videos might not work in the slideshow), just check out my Skating Tenaya album on PicasaWeb.

Will's teammate Chris posted these photos and videos, in case my slideshow wasn't enough for ya :)

The first post-BlogHer11 post

So BlogHer was fun.  It was really fun. And now I am well stocked on Allegra and Command Hooks and Glad containers and all sorts of goodies.  I had a ridiculous amount of fun with Tricia, Lyz and Suki.

Obviously.

We made friends, and I'll do some shout outs when I go through and organize the gigundo stack of business cards I collected (like a boss). I didn't use my digital camera once, but I took a TON of iphone photos - tweeting #blogher11 was what all the cool kids were doing, and y'all know I'm the coolest of kids (ha). 

Some favorites include:

• Being socially rejected
• Eye Candy at the Expo
• The joys of walking
• A Serious Sleepy Girl
• Last night at the conference
• Drunk Ricki Lake

Yeah, the conference was fun (did I mention that already?). We've been waiting for 4 hours at the airport for our severely delayed flight, but we're going to be boarding soon and oh man, I'm gonna sleep on my new Tempur-pedic travel pillow. 

More posts to come, with lots of giveaways and updates and blog love.  For now, I could use a drink. And a nap.

Yosemite

I love Yosemite.  I've been going there practically since I was born (there are pictures of me there as a newborn, when my parents were not much older than I am now) and I feel a sort of calmness when I'm there. Even the drive there fills me with a sense of centeredness, I feel myself start to loosen up and give in to nature.  I know that sounds sort of hippy dippy.  It's hard to explain...I guess it's the closest thing I have to a religious/spiritual connection of some sort.  When I go to the park, I'm happy. I could stare at the river or rest under the trees for hours, breathing in the piney air and listening to the sounds of rushing water.  I love it.

When I heard about the record snow levels this year, and the resulting record high water levels, I knew I had to get there to see it.  Will was planning a camping trip for early August (this weekend), but I am (obviously) at BlogHer and unable to go (sadface, but not totally, because BlogHer is awesome), so I convinced him to join me on an impromptu trip to the park.

We didn't have a reservation, and my only requirement was to see the waterfalls. Specifically Vernal Falls, because in my mind that was an easy walk with a good payoff (oops, I forgot the part where it's a steep uphill walk that is not as short as I thought - oh well, worth it).  We left early, around 7:15am if I remember correctly, and got to the park around 10:30, right around when the Crane Flat campground was opening. For the first time all summer. We got a spot, and though it wasn't the *best* spot in the world, it was a campsite within the park's boundaries, and I was happy.

We made a little list of things we wanted to do, and every single thing on that list was vetoed by the park rangers who told us the river was too high and fast for rafting, Hardin meadow was still soggy and snow-patchy, and the bridge at Hetch Hetchy was closed due to too much water coming off the waterfalls.  We decided to go for North Dome, a strenuous hike, but one I was gearing myself up for.  Except when we got to the trailhead, a group of hikers told us they had gone about 1.5 miles in only to be stopped by a huge snow bank covering the trail.  Not wanting to lose the trail (and because at this point, it was already around 4pm), we drove onward towards Lembert Dome (at the suggestion of the hikers).  We stopped at various points along the way, whenever we felt like stopping.  It was new for us, not planning and just kind of going with the flow.  I'm glad we did it.  It felt good to be out there just the two of us, driving and stopping and admiring this beautiful part of the park that we had never visited together.

The slideshow below features around 60 of my favorite photos from that weekend (we took over 300). If you don't want to watch the whole thing, you can click here to just browse the photos on PicasaWeb (and leave comments too!).

It's been so long

I haven't blogged in about a month, and for that, I'm sorry.  Some of you have been guilting me into writing again, and some of you have been harassing me on Twitter, and it makes me feel truly loved.  And ashamed.  Bad blogger, bad blogger!

Ok, enough of that.  Truthfully, things have been busy around here in the last month.  From a little legal battle with our landlord (he wasn't making repairs) to finding a new apartment (we move in a few weeks) to five days of camping in Yosemite (our families met each other for the first time), well, blogging has just taken a back seat.

I will definitely share photos of our new place when we have them, but for now, I will tell you that it has almost everything on our wish list (hardwood floors, laundry in-unit, plenty of storage), and a few things on our "don't even want to say it out loud" wish list (dishwasher, garbage disposal, wood-burning fireplace).  The landlords are wonderfully nice, and we can already tell that they care about maintaining the property.  Not that it's hard to care more than our current landlord, but let's just say that the look of pure shock and horror on our new landlord's face when I told him about the lack of repairs in our building won me over.  And we'll be living by a lake, which is pretty cool too.

Yosemite was wonderful, as it always is.  Our families met for the first time, and everything went well. We went on some great hikes, and grilled some delicious meat.  I got a ton of mosquito bites, but it was worth it - I miss the mountains already.  Note: the "Four Mile Trail" is actually 4.8 miles, and it's all uphill, gaining 3,200 feet in elevation. Grueling, but the views were unbeatable.  We also hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome and then around to Taft Point.  We saw Bridalveil Falls (my favorite) and Yosemite Falls (and again at night, all alone), and hiked to Carlon Falls on our last day in the park.  We camped at Hodgdon Meadows, in the two best sites in the campground, slept under the stars and swam in the ice-cold river.  On the way home, Will and I stopped at a Gouda cheese factory, Big Dipper (I think that's what it's called) for homemade ice cream, and at a farm stand (Costa Farms?) for fresh-picked corn...10 ears for $1.00.  The shower I took after a quick unpacking burst felt amazing, and now we're turning around to go on a short camping trip again this weekend.  

For now, enjoy some Yosemite photos, and I'll return with a giveaway soon!

 Tunnel View

 At the top of Sentinel Dome

 Checking out the view atop Sentinel Dome

 I love Bridalveil Falls!

 Carlon Falls

Yosemite Falls and the Merced River

How to Ride a Bike

Today, I learned how to ride a bike. You may recall that this was one of my New Year's resolutions, and I am proud to say that I can check it off my list! Class met at REI in Berkeley at 9:45am, where we piled into the REI Outdoor School van and drove to the El Cerrito DMV parking lot. The parking lot has a driveway with a (very) slight incline, which allowed us to get a little speed without having the instructors run along behind, pushing your bike. You know, like your mom or dad probably did when you learned how to ride as a kid.

For the first few hours (the class was 4 hours long), we rode our bikes without pedals, our seats low enough so our feet could rest flat on the ground. We started at the top of the incline with a bit of a walking/running start, and just sort of coasted down as far as we could go without stopping. The instructors called this "gliding". We practiced gliding until we could get all the way down the incline without stopping; then we practiced continuing with a right-hand turn and coasting through the parking lot down to where the van was parked. I'd say the whole stretch from the incline to the van was a couple hundred feet? I am bad at guessing these sorts of things. Here's a map of the parking lot, with the path marked in yellow arrows (click to enlarge).


Once we had become comfortable gliding through the yellow-arrow path without stopping three or four times in a row, our seats were raised about an inch. This repeated until our seats were raised to their full, pedal-ready height. This is the height at which you are kind of on tip-toe when you put your feet down. This is incredibly awkward for getting on and off the bike if you are not used to it. Just sayin'.

Anyway, I was ready for pedals around 12pm - an hour ahead of schedule, according to the instructor! I was pretty stoked about it; at the beginning of the day, I had no idea how I would do. Turns out, I found the gliding to be pretty easy, and my balance was better than I thought it would be. By the time the instructors said I could move on to pedals, I was ready! I walked my bike to the top of the incline, glided down, turned right, and placed my feet on the pedals. In just a few seconds, I was riding! I pedaled my way all the way back to the top of the incline! Such freedom! I think the best moment of discovery for me was when I was at the top of the incline and had a runny nose. My tissues were all the way back in the van...but I realized I could ride my bike over there in about 10 seconds! Thrilling! I know it's silly and small, but it was a big deal to me to realize that now I can just jump on a bike and get where I need to go. I will have to learn how to ride in traffic/urban areas, and perhaps how to ride on uneven terrain as well, but I feel confident in my ability to do so. Let me restate: I Can Ride A Bike. For someone who has spent the greater part of her adult life feeling left out from this particular part of society, this is a big deal.

I highly recommend this class to anyone who is hesitant to hop on a bike. REI instructors really know what they are talking about, and this particular method of teaching was very successful. After having learned this way (starting with no pedals), I feel like the whole training wheels method is sort of backwards and counter-intuitive. I mean, why start someone on four wheels if you are only going to take two of them away eventually? That way, you don't learn the real balancing thing, since you have the crutch of the training wheels. This makes so much more sense to me...to the adult me anyway. Start off learning how to balance and turn on the bike, just going down a slight incline. Then, once you have control of the bike, add the pedals. I could not believe how simple and fun it was, and I am just so glad that now I can join the rest of the bike-riding world!

And now, a short video of my "Victory Lap". We each did one at the end of the class, at whatever level we had reached by the end of the lesson. For some, this was simply gliding, sans-pedals, all the way to the van. For some, this was gliding and then pedaling back to the starting point. For me and one other woman, this was biking down and then weaving through the cone course the instructors had set up for us. I cannot believe that I went from not being able to ride a bike to doing a difficult cone course in under four hours, but I did it! As you can hear in the video, the instructor was proud of me - and I was proud of myself too!

Ohmega Salvage

As you may know, I have occasionally been writing for a local website called Berkeleyside. One of my primary contributions is a column called Scouting Berkeley, in which I cover my local adventures, scouting out cool new places in this fair city of mine.  My most recent post covered the trip Emily and I took to Ohmega Salvage, and she took so many wonderful pictures, I wanted to share some here, since they didn't all make it into the slideshow on my post.

Enjoy!

Alameda Flea Market

Last weekend, my friend Aly and I went to the Alameda Point Antiques & Collectibles Faire, commonly known as the Alameda Flea Market. It happens on the first Sunday of every month, and though I've lived up here for three years, this was my first time going. It was a lot of fun, and I ended up with some great goodies!

little blue bowl from the 1940's: $5
yellow pyrex bowl with "butterfly" flower pattern: $10
two floral TV-trays: $2
Saltine tin: $2

Corn bread pan - we saw these everywhere for $25-$45. I bought this one for $5. It needs to be seasoned, but for 5 bucks, I couldn't resist the thought of baking corn bread mini-loafs shaped like ears of corn. Too cute!

There are a few other things I purchased as gifts, so unfortunately I can't share them on the blog, but this place was just full of brilliant things. Some old and gorgeous, some completely bizarre, some totally junky...all fun to look at! It took us about three hours to get through the whole thing - including a stop for some yummy food.

I fell in love with this handmade furniture from D and L Smith. It's actually pretty affordable, and it's just beautifully made. I mean, just look at! Really good quality, and come on - that little dresser was only $225. The cheapo one I bought at IKEA (and subsequently had to re-build and fix with wood screws myself) was $179. Check out their website - they have some really beautiful pieces.

If you're planning to go next month, here are some tips:

• Bring cash - I had gotten this tip from Yelp, and it proved valuable. There was an ATM there, but the line was tremendously long!
• Wear sunscreen - I put it on my face, but missed a few spots. I also missed my neck and chest. Even though it was cold and foggy when we got there, the sun came out in the last hour, and I totally lobstered out.
• Haggle if you want to - I was a little hesitant, and I'm sure I could have haggled at some places where I just walked away instead, but I did get that little blue bowl for $5 (the guy was asking $8). So woo!
• Bring a cart - or at the very least, bring sturdy bags. I hadn't expected to buy much, and while I didn't spend a lot of money, I got a lot of small items that were difficult to carry individually (even in the plastic grocery bags some people offered). And while you're at it, bring some bubble wrap or paper - not all of the places selling breakables had paper/bubble wrap. I ended up getting some from another booth, but it would have been nice to be able to use my own.
  

Adventure Boy

The Boy just left for his 2-month PCT backpacking trip. I'll post a full update on the packing and dehydrated food and resupply boxes and shaved head later...and for anyone who is interested, I'll be posting a link to his trail journal. I'm going to tag all the PCT-related posts to make them easier to find if you want to read up on his trip.

If you live anywhere along the PCT, maybe you'll see him along the way :-)

For now, I'm going to do dishes and straighten up my empty-feeling apartment. More later.

The Lair

It was very rainy at the Lair of the Golden Bear this weekend, but that didn't stop us from hiking to Cleo's Bath on Saturday. There's not much info on this hike online, so I'll give you a little rundown of our experience. We started out walking along the lake, nice and easy, even in the rain (and mud). The hike around the lake has its ups and downs (literally, not figuratively), but it's not really strenuous. After about an hour or so of this, we came to the Cleo's Bath trailhead. While we hugged the trees to get out of the rain, which had gotten slightly heavier, we wondered how much farther it was to the end. None of us had ever done it before, so we asked a rugged-looking hiker on his way back. "30-4o minutes," he said. "It's flat for a bit, then starts going up. It'll take you an hour, tops." We believed him, and carried on. Flat for a bit it was, and then oh boy did it start "going up!" We bumped into a middle-aged couple who told us there was a "little bit of a scramble" at one point, and that it should take us about 20 minutes (HA. Took almost an hour, I think). I didn't like the sound of it...I'm not experienced with "scrambling," and we were lookin' at a lot of wet granite ahead of us. Nevertheless, we adventured onward! There were some particularly tricky spots, where we were basically climbing up narrow passageways of slick granite, and I was getting nervous about the return trip, but I surprised myself. I was stronger than I thought I was, able to hoist myself up onto rocks and such (The Boy helped pull me up on occasion, which was definitely appreciated). We finally got to Cleo's Bath, which we all agreed would be more worth it in the summer when you could jump right in. We hiked back down, sliding on our butts more often than not, and with heavy, wet jeans, made it back to the cars.

So yes, it was fun. It was wet. It was an adventure. The rest of the weekend was lovely, with the exception of a painful Penguins loss on Saturday night. We watched the game from a nice little Italian restaurant though, and the delicious food and wine *almost* made up for it. We played Yahtzee and read by the fire in the lodge, and the sun came out just in time for us to leave on Sunday. It's always nice to get away and be in the woods for a few days, even in the rain!

Pictures from the weekend below. I didn't take very many, but here they are.

Curves

About two years ago, I joined Curves. It was around the corner (literally, a 3-minute walk) from my house, and I got a few of my fellow Berkeley Rep interns to join with me. My roommate Kristen and I would go, generally three times a week, and I felt good. Granted, I was walking ~4 miles a day, almost every day (to and from work), but I liked the vibe at Curves. It's a friendly place, and very different atmosphere from a normal gym. Sure, the general age of the clientele is approximately twice that of my own, but I like it. The music is fun, the machines are easy to use, and the staff (and other members!) make me want to push myself. Overall, it's a very supportive environment, and I really like that.

Yes, I know that there has been some controversy surrounding Curves because of the owner's pro-life beliefs. Reportedly, he has donated a ton of money to anti-abortion agencies, and people are upset that the money he makes from his pro-woman Curves franchises supports something that by many is considered to be very anti-woman. This makes people upset. I'll admit that this makes me upset. However, it is his right to use his money how he chooses. The women who own these franchises (and many, if not all - I can't find the data - of the franchise-owners are women) have a right to support organizations that are pro-choice, pro-life, or not to support any organizations at all. So do the members. Yes, I feel conflicted at times, knowing that a small percentage of my membership fees are going towards pro-life groups. But then again, I can always counter that with a donation or volunteer work. I can continue to support pro-choice organizations on my own. Check out this website for more information about this whole thing.

Wow. That was a lot more Curves-Controversy talk than I was planning on writing. The whole point of this post was supposed to be telling you all how excited I am about my new Fitness & Weight Management Plan! I recently joined Curves in Rockridge through their $30 for 30 Days Trial Plan. It includes 3 days a week with a trainer (though you can go as many days a week as you want), and evaluations, and a 30 day free trial with Curves Complete. Today, I picked up the Curves Fitness & Weight Management Plan book, which comes with a ton of recipes for use with the Plan. I plan on starting the plan (ha. ha. ha.) next week. Basically, it works in 3 phases, with different caloric intakes for each phase, to train your body and trick it into thinking you're not dieting. Phase 1 is 7 days, Phase 2 is 23 days, and Phase 3 is 2-4 weeks. You do the 30 day cycle (Phases 1-2), and then (in theory) you stick to Phase 3 for the rest of your life, until you gain 3+ pounds, and then you go back to Phase 1 for 2-3 days.

Sounds more complicated than it is. For more information, click here. They provide a lot of food options; it's really a wide-ranging menu. The meals look good. It looks pretty easy. I mean, I will have to commit to it, and it won't be easy to resist my standard treats, but if I just follow the recipes (and figure out their substitution tables for when I want to eat something that's not on the list), I should be ok. My goal weight (that I pulled out of nowhere) is 130 lbs. I currently weigh 154 lbs. My trainer says she can help me drop 20 lbs in 3 months pretty easily if I follow the diet and come in 3 times a week (and Curves recommends walking 30 min a day most days as well). My BMI (ratio of muscle to fat) is a little higher than it should be, but that should come down too. My plan is to come in 5-6 times a week, so that plus my occasional hikes/walks and walks to the grocery store, in addition to the "diet," should put me in a pretty good position.

I have never actively tried to lose weight before, so this should be interesting. I've started a new label called SuperFit to keep track of my blog posts on the subject, and yes, I plan to blog this whole experience. I'll take pictures of food sometimes, and report what's going on with my weight loss and such.

I'm sure it won't be SuperEasy, but I like the support system that Curves provides. The trainers who work there take an active interest in your life, and many have gone through the diet and exercise programs as well, and can offer tips and personal stories about how they lost weight. They motivate you and cheer you on while you work out, and they push you to work harder.

So, I have high hopes. Now is the time to start something like this - while I have a lot of time on my hands, and the desire to stop spending my days eating and watching TV (two months was enough!). This weekend, I am going to go through the Phase 1 recipes and menus, make a shopping list (cottage cheese! vegetables! egg substitute!), and get psyched up. Most of the things on the menu are things I already eat...I have a feeling my portions are just going to get smaller. Oh, portion control... :-)

Wish me luck, and feel free to share any diet/exercise tips you have!

Renegade Craft Fair

Susie and I reunited today after almost 6 years without seeing each other. Magically, it was as if no time had passed, and we had a pretty awesome day. We had breakfast at the Thai Temple in Berkeley (yum yum yum!) and then headed into the city for the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason's Festival Pavillion. This is approximately how we got there from the Embarcadero BART station...except we didn't go on Bay Street, we went the long way, along the water. It was definitely around 3.5 miles, which didn't seem all that far or painful (despite the hoards of tourists we had to wade through around Fisherman's Warf), but by the time we got to the craft fair, our feet were quite tired. We ended up picking up a bicycle taxi (kind of like this), which turned out to be a fantastic idea!!! It was quite fun, and was a neat way to see a bit of the city - feeling the wind in our hair and riding along, saving our poor feet. Absolutely worth the $20.

Enjoy this lovely little slideshow from our day, with links to my favorite booths from the craft fair below!

• Recover Your Thoughts: journals whose covers are made out of recycled book covers. The pages are also recycled, and they get the books from recycling bins.
• Angelfish & Co.: bags and such made of really neat fabric - really expensive though.
• Simply Wood Rings: eco-conscious, beautiful jewelry made out of wood.
• Michelle Caplan: collage art - some of it was really cool, but it was WAY too expensive for what it was.
  
• The Bittersweet Project: really lovely jewelry.
• Maiden Love: the cutest wool & lavender-stuffed elephants I've ever seen in my life. Too bad they are so pricey.
• Domestic Construction: awesome lamps made of tea cups. If they weren't $60, I might have purchased one. I think it would be pretty easy to make...if you had a ceramic-cutting device.
• Happy Owl Glass: cute little animal-printed glass things, from pendants to little bowls, and tshirts as well...very very cute, and they have all sorts of creatures, so there's something for everyone, even if your favorite animal is, say, a sloth! They're also on etsy.
• Ice Cream Project: 100% vegan ice cream, and it was really good!!!
• Mucca Pazza: The Best Band Ever. Check them out in the slideshow pictures...they have crazy cool moves, and awesome circus-klezmer-marching band music. Originally from Chicago, this was their first time playing in CA. And I hope they come back.
  

Check out some of these sites, and enjoy!

Hawaii!!!

So, The Boy and I are officially going on vacation!!! We've been talking about it for a while, doing our research, and planning things out, mostly trying out different combinations of dates and online travel planners to see whether or not we could afford it. Aaaand thanks to beachdestinations.com, we can! I got a $500 referral bonus from work (for referring someone who was actually hired), which will cover almost all of my half of the flight and hotel for 6 nights on Kauai! We're not going until October, which gives us plenty of time to plan (and save for spending money when we're there); if you've been to Kauai recently, and you have any suggestions of awesome things to do or things that we absolutely should not miss, please feel free to leave it in the comments or email me: kimskitchensink [at] gmail [dot] com (long run-on sentence)! We're staying at the Aloha Beach Resort in a cheap cheap "garden view" room - maybe it'll get upgraded based on availability, maybe not, but hey, how much time are we going to spend sitting in the hotel room anyway, right?

Anyway, I'm super excited, and we just bought our tickets and hooray! A real, live, grown-up vacation!

Haena Beach, Kauai. I don't know where this is, but it looks pretty!

Half Dome Adventure: Recap

So, as you may remember, The Boy decided that for his birthday this year, he wanted to climb Half Dome. And I agreed to it. As did 7 of his friends. So, on Friday morning, we started heading up to Yosemite for what would be a ridiculous, painful, bad-ass, totally awesome weekend. And now...the recap.

At 8:30 Friday morning, my car (carrying myself, The Boy, and one friend) left Berkeley and started driving through the crazy-nasty smoke to Yosemite. On the way there, we called the park ranger folks to find out about smoke conditions in the park, and found out that it was pretty bad at the Sweetwater Campground, where we had been planning to stay. However, they said that it was not quite as bad in the park, and that we might be able to find a campsite there, at Crane Flat. Funny, since nobody told us that information when we (and by we I mean The Boy) called for weeks asking about reservations. Apparently they hold a certain number of sites for walk-ins. But they don't tell anyone about it beforehand...I guess then too many people would just show up? Hmmm. Anyway, we got there in just over 3 hours, and miraculously found two lovely campsites next to each other at Crane Flat. We set up the tents, and headed into Yosemite Village to call the rest of our group to let them know of the change of plans, and also to eat. We were mighty hungry. I also bought a pair of shorts, because, um, well, I did not own a pair of actual shorts, and we were about to hike all day in the sun. Now I own a pair of shorts. I haven't worn shorts (as in, come above the knee, not capri pants, shorts) probably since junior high. Crazy! But enough about the shorts. Though they are awesome.

Anyway, we returned to camp and took naps in the sunshine. The Boy started a campfire without matches, and we saw both a deer and a bear (which The Boy scared away, with the support of his friend, myself, and about 30 other campers. Apparently bears don't like pots and pans banging together coupled with lots of clapping - some of us did not have pots and pans). It was very exciting, especially for the friend who had never seen a bear and really wanted to. We ate spaghetti and garlic bread and salad, and hung around the campfire waiting for the other two cars of people to arrive. The first car didn't get there until 11:30pm, at which point we were debating whether or not to just go to bed. Once we heard that the third car hadn't left Berkeley until 9pm, we decided that they could just find the campsite by themselves, and we shut down for the night somewhere around 11:45pm.

I had a hard time falling asleep, as I think did most of our group, just out of nervousness for the day ahead. A few panic-ish dreams later, I woke up with our 5:30am alarm, and we started getting ready. My stomach was in such knots that I couldn't eat...which would later prove to be, um, not beneficial to my hiking abilities. I think it was the combination of nerves and not getting enough sleep, but I just felt sort of crappy for most of the morning. The morning being 5:30-7:00am. Once we got to the trailhead at around 7:15, I was feeling a bit better, but I was still unsure about the hike. I kept going back and forth about whether or not I actually wanted to get to the top of Half Dome, whether or not I thought I could pull it off physically (or mentally), and whether or not I was going to be a collosal disappointment to myself and my group if I didn't make it. Eventually (somewhere around mile 6 I think), I decided that I wasn't doing this for anyone but myself, and that if I could just make it to the bottom of the Quarter Dome, I would be happy.

I don't know what made me think I was in the kind of shape one should be in to attempt a hike like this, but, um...it seemed like a good idea at the time? My body may not forgive me for a while, but it was an Adventure. You see, this is a very difficult hike. Listed as one of the most strenuous day-hikes around, it can be anywhere from 14-18 miles roundtrip, depending on which way you go.


And it goes a little something like this:

• Hike 0.8 miles to the base of Vernal Falls. This is all uphill, mostly switchbacks. It is more tiring than you think it will be.
  
• Then, take the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls. This is many, many, many steep stone steps (about 0.7 miles of them). They are slippery because of the mist, and they are very steep. And there are many of them. Lots.
  
• From the top of Vernal Falls, it's about another 1.9 miles to the top of Nevada Falls. This is more steep, steep steps. Also, more steep switchbacks. Lots of steep. You are gaining lots of altitude, and if you're like me (dehydrated, exhausted), you may lose the breakfast you didn't really eat. The view from the top is awesome though.
• From Nevada, it's around 4.8 miles to Half Dome. You go up a few more steep, stony switchbacks, and you are probably thinking that it would have been nice to just stop at Nevada. I started thinking about how far I needed to go in order to not be disappointed in myself, which I decided was the bottom. If I could just make it to the bottom, I would have succeeded.
• After the post-Nevada switchbacks, you get to walk on a nice, flat sandy road for about a mile, being lured into a false sense of comfort. Then it's back to the effing switchbacks. They are steep, and just when you're thinking you must be getting close, you see the 2 mile marker ("Are you kidding me?!?!? Two more miles!?!??!?). If you are anything like us, it has taken you an average of 1 hour to go 1 mile - so 2 miles means 2 hours. Which, when you've been hiking for 4 hours already, seems nearly impossible.
  
• But you do it. You finally make it through the redwoods, up all the switchbacks (yeah, there are more. so many more.), up to a long flat area, with lovely trees and stones for sitting. Then you see it.
• No, not Half Dome. Well, you do see it. But it's behind a giant (slightly smaller) dome, known as Quarter Dome (see picture - that beast in the front is Quarter Dome). To get to Half Dome, you have to first climb many large steps to get over the beast of a rock. Once you get over Quarter Dome, apparently it flattens out, into what is known as the Saddle. Then you are facing the famous cables. I did not do these things. I started to go up the Quarter Dome steps, and just pooped out. My knees were shaking, and my head was spinning, and I knew that if I wanted to make it down the ~10 miles back to the trailhead later, I needed to rest.
• So I rested while the rest of the crew headed up the Domes. They rocked, from what I've been told. But I've also been told that it is terrifying. And from pictures like the ones on this post, I can imagine that it would be, even without frightening weather (we had great weather, for the record).
  
• We began the hike down after everyone made it back down, starting our descent at around 7pm (we had two separate groups going up the cables, the first getting down as the second was going up). This meant that we had to hike in the dark for a few hours. Which was both awesome and scary. But my hiking buddy and I were fierce, and we felt like badasses the whole way. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we had no choice but to keep walking...after all, it was dark out, and we couldn't just stay there on the trail.
  
• We got to the trailhead at around 10:45pm, an hour after The Boy and two friends who had decided to RUN down the crazyass switchbacks in order to catch the shuttle to the parking lot. I don't know how the heck they did it, but I'm glad they did. We could hardly find my car by driving the mile-plus from the trailhead to the parking lot at Curry Village...I can't imagine walking there and wandering around the parking lot. That would have sucked. So thank you, guys, for being unbelievably rad and running down the John Muir. You rock. The last of our group was just about 10 minutes behind us, and once I got my car, the other car went to get them. Teamwork!
  

We got back to camp around 11:15 or so, and collapsed into our chairs, trying to motivate ourselves to start a fire and cook the burgers and hot dogs that our friend had brought when he arrived at around 5pm. Poor guy, we had estimated an 8pm arrival time, so he had just been sitting around hoping to hear from us. Oy. But that food was delicious, and cleanup didn't take too long. Somewhere, probably around 1am (I have no idea), we fell into our sleeping bags. I can't speak for everyone else, but I slept like a rock.

Sunday morning, we made pancakes and sausage, ate leftover birthday cake (note: making a cake and freezing it = best idea ever!!! Thanks, Jennifer and The Internet!), and got ready to pack out. We stopped by Rainbow Pool for some much needed swimming in cold water. Our muscles were sufficiently numbed, and we relaxed by the water with potato chips and Oreos. A few hours later, we started the drive home...and just over 3 hours later, we arrived.

Pulling ourselves out of the car was much more difficult than anticipated, and the muscles are still sore today (Monday). But you know what? It was a fantastic trip. I had a great time, and even though my body will probably hate me for a few more days, it was well worth it. Even though I didn't make it to the top, I still did an ~18 mile hike in 15 hours and lived to write a self-indulgent blog post about it.

Yeah!

The view from the top of Nevada Falls

[note: two of these pictures are not mine - my camera started dying about halfway, so I don't have any pictures from the hike up. The pictures that are not mine are the 2.0 mile marker and the view of Quarter/Half Dome, and if you click them, it will take you to the websites from which they came. I'll be getting some pictures from a friend, and will maybe post some more pictures then.]

NY Wrapup

So. I'm back from NY. What a crazy trip! Day-by-day, here's how it all went down (with a slideshow at the end for those of you who like pictures).

I arrived Friday night around midnight, and got to my apartment around 1:45am. I spent about half an hour debating whether to shower or go to bed. I chose shower (traveling makes me feel gross), and didn't get in bed until around 2:30am. Didn't fall asleep till after 3. Then, at 6, the alarm in the other (vacant) bedroom went off. It took me a while to figure out what that beeping was, but I finally stumbled over to it and got it to shut off. Or, um, snooze. Around 20 minutes later, it started up again. That was fun. I finally got it to shut off and went back to sleep. Until my alarm went off at 8:30. Reluctantly, I got out of bed and got out the door - had to get to the Belasco by 10 to get rush tickets for Passing Strange!

My journey to the theatre started off...not quite right. I had looked up directions on HopStop from my place to E44th St instead of W44th St...so I ended up taking the wrong train for a while and found myself walking around Grand Central Station and the streets nearby. Once I realized I wasn't quite in the right area, I pulled out my BlackBerry, Googled the theatre, and clicked the link to Google Maps. I realized where I needed to go, and got there (though I did ask several people along the way, just to make sure I could do things like cut through Grand Central Station). Tickets purchased, I headed into Times Square and naiively figured I would just wander around a bit until meeting up with Elon to see the show. I didn't realize it would A) be so hot, B) be so humid, and C) be so crowded. In hindsight, yeah. Times Square in the middle of summer. Duh. What was I thinking? I ended getting an iced mocha and sitting in the lobby of the building next to the we-have-no-seating Starbucks, I called my friend Ryan. He suggested I head down to a bookstore a few blocks away, but I got distracted by a Starbucks that had seating, and I was so damn hot that I couldn't resist. Yes, I went to a 2nd Starbucks. I wrote in my journal, sipping my iced coffee, and felt quite like a hipster. But I was cooling off, so I didn't mind.

I met up with Elon and saw the show, which was quite different from the Berkeley Rep production in many ways, but was still great fun. After chatting with Stew for about an hour, we decided to head up to Elon's office for a bit. Oh, did I mention it was pouring outside? And my poor beautiful yellow satin ballet flats are ruined? Sad. After hanging out at his office and dealing with some Major Broadway Drama (they don't have their tickets! oh no! let's get them tickets! ...ah, the life of a press rep), we went back out to the theatre. He saw August: Osage County (which one about a billion Tonys), and I, November (David Mamet, Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Awesome). Twas a good night, even though I had to end it early and skip karaoke with Jessica - too tired!!! I ended up falling asleep around 3am...not quite early, but naturally once I got to the apartment I wasn't quite tired enough to fall asleep.

Sunday, I slept in until around 10:30am. Luxurious! Still less than 8 hours of sleep! I met Mikey for a delicious brunch (complete with peach bellini...mmm), and we walked over to Central Park. She showed me the sights, from Turtle Pond, to canoe-ing on the lake, to the Alice in Wonderland statue, to the Upper East Side (not in the park, but we had to wander for a while to find an ATM), and it was quite lovely indeed. After stopping by a local market to pick up food, I was ready to have people over for the Tonys! Rachel and Peter came over, and we ate and watched what I thought was a pretty great show. Too bad ratings are at an all time low...where are all the theatre loving TV watchers!?!?! Sigh.

Monday, I went to work at the NY office, and felt like I was going to fall asleep most of the day - guess I was still not adjusted to the time and crazy lifestyle of being on a trip like this. Monday night, I met up with Elon again, and he walked me down through The Village (West? East? I don't remember. Both?) and we met my (other) friend Rachel at her bookstore, the Super Way Awesome Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. It's in SoHo, and it is really great. I wish I could have spent more time hanging out there. If you're anywhere near the area, check it out! We went to a fun little bar, Tom & Jerrys. Apparently they sometimes show movies there sometimes, though there weren't any that night. I got a little lost on the way home, or I almost got lost anyway...thanks to two very nice young gentlemen, I figured out where to go. Yay!

Tuesday, I had another crazy day at work, and after many many missed connections due to his lack of a cell phone, met up with Sterling for some fantastic burritos, margaritas, and "we haven't seen each other in two years?!?!??!" conversation.

Wednesday, I worked from the apartment for a bit, had brunch with Rachel (not bookstore Rachel) at the amazing Popover Cafe, and worked some more. Elon came over for a little bit, and I grabbed a cab to the airport at around 2:15pm (eastern time). By the time I got back to my apartment in Berkeley, it was after 10pm (pacific time), and I was wiped. I didn't actually unpack until tonight, and I'm finally starting to feel back on track. I'm looking forward to this relaxing weekend...the first time I've had to pick up my apartment in over a month! Phew!

All in all, a great trip. It was crazy, yes. Absolutely crazy. But quite fun. I got to see a lot of people I hardly ever get to see, reunions were had and new friendships were formed. In writing this, I've realized how many of my friends have websites, so I've linked to them all when appropriate. They are awesome, and deserve recognition for their awesomeness.

I'm too tired and hot to edit this, so I hope you liked it and it wasn't too monotonous. Happy 1st Day Of Summer. The end.