a trip to brazil

I love getting my hair done at Salon Xia with Suzanna. She works in a tiny little craftsman house that was turned into a salon. So cute! I love Pasadena.

I got a brazillian blowout - which is amazing. My hair is curly and gets more and more unmanageable as the brazillian wears off. It's basically a keratin straightening treatment that transforms your hair so that it is straight, shiny, and beautiful for a few months. I couldn't be more hooked on it - it's worth the money for the time I save and getting to work sooner in the morning.

For some reason, I was thinking about Evan Rachel Wood this weekend. What a freaking badass that girl is. She looks so sweet and innocent, but in reality she dates Marilyn Manson and gets tattoos. She's like a kitten who does heroin. She seems to really be in acting for the craft - all of her movies are terrific. I could not be more afraid of her. Seriously, I feel uncomfortable looking at her. I wonder what she's like in person.

Seriously! How could you?!

texting ticket

Jor had jury duty this morning so he didn't have to be downtown until 9:30am! Of course I had to sleep in too or else I'd be too jealous. He made me coffee and warmed up the shower for me. I love Fridays!

It was super clear on my drive in this morning, which only took 20 minutes! Completely unheard of. Sometimes when that happens, I imagine that it's the rapture and all the Christians got taken away! They don't have to face eternal damnation and I don't have to sit in traffic! Everyone wins.





I work in the Wells Fargo Tower.

  
There are huge signs on the freeway displaying estimated commute times - I saw one that said "texting ticket - $1544." HOLY SHIT! I'm never texting again. I'm never going on my iphone in the car AGAIN! I'm never - wait... oh, phew, that says "$154+" ... well ... might be worth it then. It's actually really stupid - when I'm in Colorado and my parents and sister are on their cell phones, I think "wow, that's really unsafe" and then flashforward to me slamming on my breaks in bumper to bumper traffic while reading about Kate & William's wedding cake ... I should stop - my mom might read this someday.

On my morning drive I was thinking about internet shopping vs. in person shopping. I think I am much more likely to be compulsive when I'm in person. For example, my favorite website to peruse is 6pm.com. It's zappos' outlet store, and they usually have the same merchandise, so why pay full price when you can get something on sale? That's my motto. I agonized of a pair of Cole Haan boots for about 2 months until I finally bought them for what I thought was the bargain price of $240 (off of $300):



When they finally arrived, I realized my wooly mammoth feet are a half size bigger than I expected (size 10). So I sent them back. And I checked the website for my size daily - finally they came in, but they were $176. Did I really want to spend that much? I'd already had them for $240. No, I could get more for my money. Besides, I buy too much stuff anyway. Agonized another 3 months. Finally saw them for $116. Snatched them up. I love my 6pm.

Flash forward to me desperately needing a pair of cute flats ... run to Nordstrom ... Tory Burch and Jimmy Choo flats are so cute ... wow Jimmy Choo is comfortable! How much are these? Oh, $415? God damnit.



Oh ... well these Tory Burch flats are only $200... wow that's half the price... ok. Sold. In 10 minutes! It took me 5 months to buy the online boots and 10 minutes to spend more money in person. My only option is to become a hermit and never leave the house.



Quick note in case my husband reads (not that he'd get them for me, but a girl can dream) - I'm currently lusting after these shoes:



oh, and this:

seesters

I love my little sister. She brightens up my day, every day. We are in constant communication through text, email, phone, gchat, you name it. My husband hears the iphone incoming text chime and he says "you know, if you're going to run up another $20 phone bill on texts with your sister, you might as well call."

She is currently nannying a little girl who has two brothers and cannot yet fathom actually liking your siblings. "You talk to your sister everyday?" she asked Jordie after seeing a picture of me, "WHY!?" This is the same girl who makes my sister wear a diaper and lay on the couch drinking out of a water bottle without speaking for hours on end, so I don't know if it's really easy to rationalize with her.

I read an article recently about how having a sister is good for your health. It was sent to me by a friend who has two sisters. I always wished I had an older sister since I spent most of my youth as a total nerd with short hair, acne, no fashion sense, huge eyebrows, and dorky glasses. Maybe a sister would have given me guidance. However, I have a theory that I never really got into the "bad/cool" crowd since I was never cool enough, so I spent most of high school as a total angel, never having tried alcohol or cigarettes.

My mom has 3 sisters - lucky duck! However, I do remember hearing stories about murderous rage (sisters trying to attack each other with lighter fluid and girl scout knives?) and jealousy. In fact, my very own sweet sister gave me a black eye complete with a burst blood vessel (I'm sure that really added to the beauty I described above), cut up my sweatpants, stole my clothing, told me not to steal her clothing (apparently she was concerned that my "fat ass" would stretch out her $10 soffee shorts) and probably wreaked havoc on my own teenage life in her own special way.

When my grandmother and grandfather died, I witnessed the importance of my mom and aunties having each other to lean on. They love each other! My mom always told me that after she and my dad were gone (nice thought, mom!) all we'd have was each other. My brother, sister, and I have always been close. I'm very thankful for that.

i finally did it!

After years of trying to write in a diary, and then convincing myself that I will one day actually create a blog instead of lame facebook updates, I have done it. Normally, I bother my coworkers with random stories... why do that when I can post online where total strangers can read them?!

I was one of those weird kids who wrote stories in journals as a child. I remember crying to my mom because a friend staying over had ripped out pages in my journal to use for score keeping for a game. "Those stories are my life!" I cried. "You need a more exciting life," said my mom. She had me there. Anyway, usually in the shower I would come up with the perfect page out of a novel, or my class paper - the point being that I usually think I have fantastic thoughts running through my head, so why not write them down?

I'm also happy to report that my password for the blog is "strong." Why is it so exhilirating to know that your 8 character password gets the green light. Not to mention that my password doesn't seem exceptionally strong to me.

A couple of nights ago my husband and I went to a fun event with our friends at the Athenaeum at Cal Tech. It might be nerd alert over there, (I'm just jealous that my brain isn't that big, let's be honest) but those people sure know how to throw a party. Napa wines (our favorite!) were featured, with sushi, cheese, passed appetizers (so basically my idea of heaven). 

http://www.gemstonewine.com/home.html

One of my favorites was Gemstone Winery. Really small, only 150 cases distributed each year. Love those boutique wineries! Apparently the owners don't even have any bottles of the '07 cab left. Which reminds me: buy all bottles of '07 napa wines that you see. Everywhere you go. This is a great vintage and someday your $30 bottle could be worth $300 (if you store it right!) That was my "act like I know about wine" tirade. I can't wait to go back up north to wine country again. Better get on it before we start popping out babies!