The Avengers

It's really no surprise I was bored watching The Avengers. Why would I like it? It's not my style, I'm not invested in the characters, and it was long.

I did decide to appreciate it as much as possible, and help out the nerds, so I laughed loudly when appropriate. I could tell though, that some of the nerds in the audience simply didn't know when something was funny, as I was basically the only one laughing.

I contemplated napping, but I was strangely well rested, so I just kind of looked around and waited for the next funny part to come along. But really, it. Was. So. Boring.

This is the type of thing I would usually post to facebook, but I didn't want to cause any heart attacks, and I think people are tired of me expressing my non-nerdy opinions.

As bored as I was, I did appreciate all the eye candy. That wasn't bad at all.

A Regular

In an effort to stick it to the stupid 7-Eleven man and also make healthier choices, I've decided to give up my morning taquitos. The thing about the taquito is that it is super easy to pick up and consume in the morning, and they keep me nice and full till lunch time, a problem I've had my whole life.

Well, a few weeks ago when I got sick, I needed to make tea purchases. So, in the morning I would start going to Argo Tea and pick up a food item as well. They have these amazing muffins that keep me full till lunch time, which I'm all about. It suddenly hit me that they must be a million calories, so the next day at Argo I checked, and indeed, they are rolling somewhere between 350-500 cals. Sigh. That would explain the full factor.

But that's not the point. The point is that today when I asked for a small Rooibos Chai, she said, "Wait, have you tried that Green Rooibos Vanilla, it's our special today. I offered it to another regular this morning and she really liked it."

What? I'm a regular?

I had no idea. I don't even know if I've ever been a regular anywhere before. I don't even know how I feel about this.

I said, yes, I would like to try the Green Rooibos Vanilla, with almond milk, and make that a Teappuccino. Oh, and can I get a chocolate croissant? Thanks.

It was delicious.

Rebecca Minkoff Mini M.A.C

My new neon pink bag came today! I'm so excited. Naturally we had a little photo shoot. Welcome to my life, little neon bag. We are going to be very good friends. I'm excited for all our summer adventures!

Miserable Tomorrow

For the past week I've been thinking about something that I've known for a long time: Facebook isn't fulfilling. I don't know why I let myself get swept up in that filth, but I did.

I've always known blogging was the way to go. I have always known it, yet I've let my blog fall by the wayside.  I would think about posting something every so often, but it always sounded like a lot of work. Why come up with an accurate and witty retelling of my life when I can just post a mediocre one-liner or a half truth photo to facebook and get a bunch of "likes" and hopefully a lot of envy burning in the hearts of my "friends"?  Obviously that is the best choice. If I'm going to spend time on social media, it might as well be where I can get instant gratification and where I can twist the truth so others can become jealous of my single, fabulous, jet-setting, reality-tv-ing, good-looking, humorous, fashionable life. Right?

I realized, like everyone else, (by everyone else, I mean mostly single people) facebook is a huge source of pride. We post things to brag, and to build ourselves up. And unfortunately, we read things and it usually tears us down. (In my case, I just get annoyed, and then block that person.)

Anyway, I'm going to loosen my grip on pride, and spend a little time on my blog. I had thought that maybe I was too far gone, and wouldn't be able to make a respectable return to my previous rock star record keeping habit. But I have decided to try.

Right before I was about to type up this post,  I was brainstorming a topic. I was thinking of complaining about how sick I've been, and that I have to move at the end of the week, and it's all just been so hard, and I hate moving, and I hate change, and it's impossible to move when you are sick, and people aren't behaving how I want them to behave, when I noticed Amanda Ball had updated her blog.

Amanda, your life is harder than mine. I can't hardly handle my life right now, but I know for certain that I couldn't handle yours. So, if any of you want to know how I'm doing, just read Amanda's blog, dial it back about 100 notches, and you've got my life.

Now, I'm going to go to sleep, and sleep in, because I have the day off, and no one to wake me up but the birds outside, and maybe my coughing. But I'll just go back to sleep. But please remember, I'm sick, so I will probably be miserable tomorrow.

Anniversary Party

I don't know if you know, but my life here in Chicago is a little bit surreal sometimes. By surreal I mean my work is the subject of a reality show on VH1 airing at the end of March. You should watch it and probably see me every once in a while accidentally making a dumb face at the camera, yawning, or eating something really messy. 

Anyway, one of our last evening filming sessions was the celebration of eDrop-off's anniversary. It was a cool party because it was mostly only coworkers, which I liked. I enjoy being able to invite my friends to events, but if everyone has their peeps there, you always have to be watching out for them, making sure you don't lose them, introducing them to people.  It can be hard work. Anyway, the following pictures are of my coworkers and you will probably see the film crew as well. 

PS, this was one of my first nights using my new iPhone for picture taking purposes. It was also the first night that Natasha tried to ask Siri something and Siri politely responded, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." I like that Siri, because I like loyal friends. 

New Years Dream

New Years Eve was a dream. I loved it. It mixed my family and my Chicago worlds. You see, after our Kansas trip we decided we needed another trip. I volunteered the ol' Cohen homestead. Sometime in the fall New Years Eve was chosen. Everyone arrived precisely according to schedule. I did send out the itinerary, and it needed to be adhered to. 

After a quick tour of the house and the BBQs, we made lunch and headed out to the coast. We took the 46 and stopped at the look out for our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. And, for a photo shoot. 

We jumped over to Cambria for lunch. 

And ate Taco Works chips! Delish! 

After lunch we attempted to find the elephant seals, buuuutt... well, I just couldn't find those beasts. So we went a little early to our next stop: Hearst Castle! My fav! You know I can't go home without a HC visit. We are chillin' in the visitors center in this pic. What I like about it is that you can tell Sandy and Jimmy are about to tell some jokes. 

Right before you get on the bus to the Castle, they have you take a picture. Everyone said they looked dumb, and that it was going to be a bad picture. I said I looked super hott, and I was probably going to buy the photo in the end. Well, I was right. I looked hott. And so did everyone else. I love this photo.

Usually, on the bus ride, you listen to old timey music and listen to a recording of someone talking about the Castle. Well, this time it was Alex Trebek! I love the 'hood as much as Alex does, so I wonder why they didn't get me to record? I would be good at it. Well, there's still time.  

We went on the Upstairs and Suites Tour. Or something like that. Laziness is prohibiting me from finding out the specific name, but did not prohibit me from typing out this explanatory sentence. 

Anyway, our tour guide was named Bev. First she accused us all of being on the wrong tour. I knew immediately I was going to have fun with her. And I did. She said phrases like, "When he was feeling a lot of emotionalism," "December 23, 2003," and "Mad doggin'." Or was it "Mad eyein'."? Either way, I loved her. 

The Library

Story of my life

Haha, just kidding!

If I ever get invited up to the castle for a little sleepover, I would choose this room: 

It has amazing views, windows on both sides of the room (for a nice cross breeze) and it's pink!

But that's enough of the inside. Since the last time I visited, they changed protocol, and now you can hang out and explore the grounds after your tour. It's kind of awesome. The only thing I don't like about this concept is that you don't get the history of many of the art pieces found on the grounds. 

Oh well. 

Opposite sides of the Castle. The room I want would look out onto both these views.

At the end of the tour, I said thanks to Bev, and then she went around and hugged each one of us. 

I planned it almost perfectly, and we got to catch the sunset. 

Everyone loved this fountain. There was a cute little peeing lamb on the other side. 

We hung out by the Neptune Pool. The Neptune Pool wowed my guests even more than I could 

have imagined. When you share something you love, you hope others love it too. 

Our prom photo. Sandy was kind enough to let us all be Jimmy's dates. 

In light of recent engagements in my branch, I have been thinking about how I would want to be proposed to, and as of right now, I'm thinking I would love to be proposed to at Hearst Castle. It's gorgeous, has great views, it's public, but private enough, I will look pretty (I can't understand people who get engaged while sweaty, or while in their pajamas), it's the perfect place for picture taking, it's magical, I have fond memories there, and we can stare into each others eyes until the sun goes down. 

Okay, that's enough grossness for now. I'm just saying, if you have the opportunity to make your proposal awesome, then why don't you do it? 

We finished up at Hearst Castle and jetted home, just in time for a tri tip dinner. It was so good. I loved it. And those people who have never had tri tip loved it too. Dad used his fancy new knife (Christmas present), the kind of knife they use at Brazilian steak houses, you know, the kind without a tip. He looked so cool with it. He was able to just walk around, cutting meat. 

We played a few games, laughed a lot, and ate a lot of tri tip. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

However, I'm interested in multiple perfect days. 

The next morning we woke up to find Mother had prepared pancake batter and had bacon in the oven. She would have been there manning the pancakes, but she had to go to CrossFit instead. I'm fine with that. I'm an advocate for an increase in awesomeness. 

While we were getting ready I told everyone that we were going to the beach, and wondered if I needed to bring towels, just in case anyone needed to get in the Pacific Ocean. Everyone said they would not be getting wet. 

Morro Bay rose to the occasion and was absolutely gorgeous.  

Me and The Rock

We headed out to the sand. Nelly didn't come down to the sand because of some sand issue. We respected her beliefs, and she chilled in the parking lot and read about The Rock. 

Well, we were on the beach, took some pics, and then Jimmy convinced me to get in the water. It wasn't hard. I knew I would want to get in, but I thought I was mature enough to keep my shoes on. 

I'm not. We LOVE the ocean!

I guess Sandy had had enough of all of Wendy's Mean Doggin'. 

But they made up in time to take this pretty jumping pic. Jumping pics are hard. You are either going for cool, or pretty, but most of them end up looking dumb. Just check Facebook for a bunch of dumb wedding jumping pics. But this one is pretty. 

Jimmy chose Wendy to be his prom date for life:

Or maybe he was just trying to convince her to do this: 

Mom and Dad met us at the beach:

They took a walk south while we went north to the Embarcadero. We went in a few shops, got a few souvenirs, and just soaked up the sun and surf. 

We found a great spot for taking pics, and I'm going to post every single one. 

After we went to my favorite taffy place (I forgot how much I love taffy; I should have bought more.) 

We ran into these guys!

Pops, Torah, and Brandon.

We took some family pictures (I wish Paul and Marissa and chillin' could have been there!) 

And then some pics of my Chicago family. It was truly a great experience to have my worlds collide. 

After the photo shoot we went right over to Montana de Oro. 

Bryn and Elle. I love this shot, even though you can't really see their faces. I think, because of their relationship, that maybe I might have liked having a sister. Maybe. Or maybe Bryn and Elle are really lucky to have parents that foster friendships between siblings. That might be it too. 

Diana posted this pic as her Facebook profile pic, and someone mentioned how awesome it is that she's in India. That's what I like about California, it's such a chameleon. 

I couldn't decide amongst these Jimmy ocean shots, so you get all three.

I love a good jog in the sand. 

And I love Wade. 

But he was ready to go to Firestones, so we had to leave this joint. 

Wade ate half a chicken and turned into Super Wade.

Firestone was great. The food was fabulous, their outdoor eating area is charming, and I love the twinkle lights, the outdoor fireplaces, and my family and friends.

Afterword we went to Bubblegum Alley which was like, five blocks away. I forgot how little SLO's blocks are, and I forgot that I live in Chicago. We were there in under 7 minutes. I have tons of pics of Bubblegum Alley, but they were all gross, so you'll just have to use your memory/imagination. 

We went home, and lazed about the house. Tara came over to meet my peeps and ring in the New Year. Brandon and family were there, Mom, Pops, and Mary, and G-ma even made an appearance. 

BFF pic!

We played games, took naps, laughed a lot, ate amazing nachos (good work, Jimmy) with amazing guacamole (good work, Brandon), popped poppers, laughed some more, rang in New York New Year (for the kids), rang in Chicago New Year (cause that's where we live), and rang in California New Year (cause we live in the present), and watched a movie and discussed unbelievably important topics. I loved every minute of everything. I am so glad my friends were able to visit. Being surrounded by friends and family is the perfect way to ring in the New Year.