MEMORY: October 2010

Me: "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Him: "I am in love with you...madly in love."

memories

My close friend has been blogging about her memories in an effort not to forget them.  Her blog entries have inspired me to blog about my own instances that I either cannot or do not want to forget.

Overtime, memories become warped and start ebbing away from the memory catalogs of the brain. I also believe that photographs depicting the day or the event can often distort our memories. For example, a stressful day during childhood could be getting on stage during a piano recital and performing from memory in front of two hundred people including peers and parents. Memories preserving emotions from the day include feeling very nervous, anxious, yet optimistic about a flawless performance. However, one of the eager beaver parents at the recital hall suddenly affronts you with an order to "SAY CHEESE!" and a camera in your face. Now, ten years later as you thumb through pictures from that day, you may think that that piano recital was no big deal and that you must have been without a care in the world as evinced by your toothy grin. So in my opinion, dependent on the situation, pictures can either preserve memories or fuel dissolution of memories.

So here begins a pledge to try to document these special occasions and hard-to-forget instances.

Although my memories will probably end up being in random order, I'm going to try to blog about my most recent first and move backward through teenage-hood and toward childhood.

some things that excite me!

VERY CUTE. EVERY WORD RINGS TRUE.

BOSSYPANTS by TINA FEY. NOW AVAILABLE as an UNABRIDGED AUDIOBOOK read by none other than TINA FEY.  YAY!

Pledge to lead a more active lifestyle

Remember how I mentioned I would write in depth about my hike in the backwoods of Filoli?
Well, today is the day not the day. It's late, I have work early tomorrow morning, and some things to do before bed so I promise the entry on wonderful Bill will be up soon. I just want to be able to do him justice.  Anyway, I quickly want to put it out there that I want to utilize my bike more as well as my Vibram Five Fingers through more exercise and outdoorsy activities like hiking, cycling, and running on a routine and rigorous schedule. ;-)

Transformations

Recently, I've been thinking about transformations and how each and everyone of us have evolved through the years. As chapters of your life close and others start anew, you realize many of your once-close friends fade into the background, once-acquaintances strengthen their friendships with you becoming close friends, and together you begin a new journey.

Below, is a picture of my family's latest and greatest addition. Her name is Poissons. She's a four-year old Yorkshire Terrier we adopted from the humane society. She's absolutely the sweetest, the best cuddle partner, and a great companion. 

Each day, we have been adventuring out into our neighborhood on daily strolls, taking Poissons to local bay trails for light jogs, and even some "fishier" fun with beach days! 

A new era of her life is quickly unfolding with every passing day. Her old life being locked in a kennel with passersby gawking at her, being under-socialized, and being family-less are over. Now, she smiles all the time, places kisses all over you, climbs next to you to nap, and has completely transformed into a friendly and outgoing dog. I'm very happy to be starting a new journey with Poissons in my life.

Before

After

Demise by a Floral Tank

My pledge to not buy any clothes and accessories has been broken.  "What happened!?!?" you may ask. Well, a giftcard was burning a hole in my wallet and I gave in. As some of you may now, my best friend and birthday buddy Angela gave me an Anthropologie giftcard this year. For a good three months, I kept it tucked away in a drawer at home safe from any spur of the moment temptation. However, these past couple of weeks have been pretty difficult for me and I made the conscious decision to "house" the giftcard in my wallet until further notice. Well, today, I walked into Anthropologie and ended up really liking a floral tank, so what did I do? Simple, I spent the giftcard and broke my pledge.

Even though I wasn't able to keep to my 1 year shop my closet challenge, I don't own anything similar and I know that with the impending hot weather, this floral tank will get a lot of use.  Somehow, justifying my purchase to myself has calmed my qualm.

Aside from that, I've truly been rotating pieces in my closet and scooping out *nearly* forgotten about jackets and sweaters and wearing them more often these past 6 months. Since December 28, 2010 until now, I feel like I put up a valiant effort and that I deserved this tank. But, when I told my boyfriend that I bought something, his simple reply of "[you lasted] 6 months...pretty good", which I know he meant nothing remotely hurtful by, for some reason, stung. 

Even with such a joyful print, I felt pretty crummy.

What's happening?!

Clearly, from the fact that no goodness has been pledged for over two months, I fell off the 'I will blog frequently' wagon. But instead of beating myself up over it, I will pick up now and fill you in on what I've been up to.
These last two months, I've been getting more in touch with nature by going on hikes. For my birthday weekend, I went hiking in Woodside. Later, for Mother's Day I went on a guided Nature Hike at Filoli (more on this later). And then just a couple weekends ago, I hiked 3ish miles in Temescal Canyon and also went on a micro-mini sweaty stroll through an Indian Reservation in Southern California.
Generally, hiking isn't something I gravitate toward. However, on my ascension up a hill in Temescal, I loved the breathtakingly-beautiful canyon and Pacific Ocean snapshot at the top. The way the ocean glistened that afternoon will make for a lovely memory. There's also the more tangible reward of feeling a slightly sore in your legs, a sensation I've come to look forward to. Whenever that slightly uncomfortable tingling is knocking at my door, it means I pushed myself out of my normal routine and worked hard at something new. In the spirit of this blog, it's always a good thing when I try something new and focus on incorporating its positive aspects into my life.
After my recent hikes, I've decided to do more outdoorsy things. So recently, I bought a bike! After months of my brother urging me, I finally bought a pre-loved Trek 7100 Hybrid. A not-too-comprehensive $90 tune-up later, it is up and running and I'm riding it around town and loving it! Every inch of this bike is mine, paid exclusively by yours truly -- a fact that I'm kind of proud of since it's been growing into an expensive investment. But I am sure that I will continue to love it and get as much out of it as I put in. True to its Hybrid name, my bike is perfect for daily commuting or for the leisurely ride around town. And of course, I've personalized it to make it more unique.  In addition to the basket hanging in front of the handlebars that will hold my picnic foods, fresh farmer's market produce, blanket and Yorkie companion, I even installed a little bell to ring as I cruise by.
Today was the first day that I really rode it for an extended period of time. For nearly an hour, I zoomed uphill then shimmied downhill toward downtown, looping around a park and past a church. On my ride, I saw two other cyclists and we exchanged a head nod in acknowledgement. I guess they see me, a re-born bike novice, as... yup... one of them.  I worked up a sweat even though it's clear that we should expect a late summer this year with thunderstorms in this weekend's June forecast.
All around, I am really enjoying my bike and hope that my pledge to try more outdoor activities will come easily. With the minor tingling in my muscles, I can tell I'll be a tad sore tomorrow but I still can't wait to get back on tomorrow.