i cheated...

...on my hairdresser today. and i'm leaving her for another woman.

i have been wanting to get my hair cut recently, so i tried to make an appointment at a place i found in the area. i've been there two or three times now and have been satisfied. it was nothing special...but she got the job done. i was just happy to find a place that didn't give me a mullet or bleach my hair platinum blonde..

so after calling said original place, leaving a message, and not getting a quick response i decided to "window shop" for new salons. (by "window shop" i mean browse the internet via windows.) i came across one that i found in my initial search for a california hairdresser and discovered they had recently lowered their prices and happened to also have a spa connected to it. it's always nice to know that if you feel like it, you can go to one location and get your hair cut/colored, receive a mani-pedi, get a facial, and de-stress with a massage. granted, i'm not planning on blowing $300 on all that in one day, but it's a nice thought.

anyway, i decided to go with location b and set an appointment for this morning. i was on a tight schedule due to work, so when i didn't hear from my usual place soon enough i had to make this one. my hair couldn't wait any longer!

this morning i sat waiting to meet rachel, the new girl, browsing through modern bride (no, nothing happened...it was that, men's health, or hitting the old lady next to me with my purse and taking her copy of redbook) when all of the sudden my phone rang. when i answered, the chipper voice of my old salon's receptionist was on the other line.

now, if you're a man reading this you may not understand the awkwardness that can come with leaving your old hair dresser for a new one. especially if they call you while you're at the new place. so if this seems trite or sad, shut up and find another blog to read. for the ladies, i'm sure most of you get it.

when it was my turn to speak, i was pretty much silent. i didn't know what to say. do i tell her that i found somebody else? that she just wasn't doin' it for me? that i was unsatisfied with their lack of timeliness? or that i was in a meeting and i'd have to call them back (with no intention of ever doing so)? i opted for the last one, but followed by a "i'll have to schedule for a later date," with no intention of ever calling them back.

and good thing i did.

rachel (my new girl) told me that my ex-hair dresser had succeeded in cutting my hair ALL the wrong ways. apparently my bangs were too layered, which explained why they were impossible to train and kept looking like the dog styled them (damn that lack of thumbs!). she also said that my haircut was too "round" (not sure exactly what that means) and that's a mistake for people with long, thick hair. this helped me understand why my hair was so f'ing hard to manage! so i turned myself over into the hands of rachel and she performed miracles. snipping, thinning, and chopping, she successfully saved my hair (by cutting 2-3 inches off) and gave me a cute new do!

the moral of this story? if you suspect that your hairdresser isn't right for you, make the switch! and lie to her about what happened to you if she ever tries to contact you again.

sunday

dog baths are fun.

common people...

heard about this on the morning radio show i listen to on the way to work. i love william shatner.



(the video cuts the beginning off, it's supposed to say "she came from greece with..."

"whatever happened to predictabilities...

...the milk man, the paper boy, even t.v." i tell you what happened: laura ann came to visit!

the title of this entry comes from her one request while visiting: seeing the "full house" house. you know the row of pretty victorian homes they live in, in san francisco. think back to the opening credits of the show. and don't tell me you didn't watch it...everyone at least knows the opening credits.

anyway, so while laura ann was here, we did that. but let's keep this story chronological. she arrived wednesday night (right before they banned all liquids on planes, thank god). we enjoyed some wine and cheese and headed to bed for a good night's rest. well, i'm not sure how well she slept on our couch with bandit breathing in her face, but well, that's part of the experience of staying with me and tim!

thursday we stayed around the WC, perusing the designer boutiques (in search of a tiara we never found) and playing dress-up in H&M. we met tim for lunch at pf changs and then played clinton and stacy from "what not to wear," by helping tim do some clothes shopping. except we didn't give him $5,000. he was on his own for the funds. after returning home we watched the #1 top grossing film from korea, "sex is zero," thanks to tim. i can't even begin to explain it, but let's just say it had a lot of korean boobs, consisted of several stupid college boy antics (one in specific that topped them all), and taught us that "aerobics" in korea is equivalent to american drill teams. it ended with an emotional abortion scene and a "bring it on" type conclusion. and of course, the guy got the girl. anyway, that night we cooked steaks (with the exception of lala's) and she made us some delicious wasabi mashed potatoes to go with.

friday brought an excursion into the city. first thing on the list: the "full house" house. now, before we left i googled the location of these famous houses and learned that they are officially called "the painted ladies." i also learned that the cast of "full house" never actually set foot in san francisco. not even to film the opening credits. they we're all doubles. yah, it ruined it a little for me too. said "painted ladies" we're located on alamo square, and i was given an address on haight st. (think the famous hippie-ridden, haight-ashbury area for those of you not local.) i don't know the city too well, so i didn't think much of it and we we're off (after a quick stop at "the house of bagels").

upon reaching the address provided by google, i realized it was all wrong. the address was definitely in a block of tattoo/piercing parlors, funky bars, and strange little shops which i'm sure sold all kinds of paraphernalia. definitely NOT where the tanner family lived. we quickly used our 5 maps (thanks to my mom) and discovered we we're about 15 blocks away and with the help of tim (who was at work and in front of a computer) found the famous street of houses. oh, and did i mention that along the way we also drove through the castro, the famously flamboyantly gay part of the city? yah, laura ann llllooooovvveeeed that. but to her mom's dismay, we did not see any chains or leashes.

after our adventure in that part of town we headed to north beach, driving down the famous lombard street along the way. in north beach we found ourselves some great italian food (my pizza was very authentic according to the world-traveler i was with), as well as some italian men leering at us from their cars, and some fantastic gelato. we also found a time capsule with ben franklin on top.

laura ann had wanted to go to the beach while she was here, so originally we planned to go to stinson beach. after seeing the weather though, i decided it was not worth a drive that far and we rerouted to ocean beach in order to allow a leisurely drive through golden gate park. we brought bathing suits, in case it was one of those rare sunny, warm san francisco summer days, but alas, the coastal clouds loomed over us the minute we hit the west part of town. so we drove through the park, stopping to take pictures along the way, and ended at the pacific. we played on a beach a bit, got a bit chilly, and began our drive back across the city to fisherman's wharf. there we picked up some fresh lobster and crab for dinner and headed back home.

now, previous to this visit, i did not know how to get around san francisco at all, with the exception of getting to union squares and fisherman’s wharf. i now know how to get everywhere. we had to have driven back and forth across the city at least 3 times. it wasn't the most logical, or gas-efficient, route but it sure was a blast! and i successfully showed laura ann pretty much everything you should see while visiting this area. hell, i think i showed her everything that my family saw while they we're here, and it took them three full days!

we were pretty tired that night and needed our rest for the next day, so after dinner we vegged out and watched some t.v. and got our rest for the visit to the wine country the next day. i realize that this post is getting uber-long now, so i'm going to spare the details of saturday's trip and substitute it with some pictures. (if you want to see more, click here or here.)we visited a lot of places and tim and i had a great time giving our tour...especially the part where we got special seating and discounted prices at domaine caneros, now that we are part of their "chateau society."

laura ann at domaine caneros

the three of us toasting

some random dude holding laura ann's foot while she smelled the roses.

chugging.

so yah, in summary, laura ann's visit was fantastic. we had a blast exploring san francisco and even more fun getting pretty drunk in sonoma. i'm hoping she'll return soon and bring her beau with her. and to those of you who haven't visited yet: if reading this sounded like fun, come on out, i'd love to do it again!

a blog about blogging...

one of the arguably great things about working on a college campus is the fact that you get daily "staff news" (for the southwestern readers: think what the student e-mail system should have been, not what the e-mail wars it escalated to at times). for the first time in a while i was actually interested in what one of them had to say, so i thought i would share since it pertains to the commonality i share with you, my reader:

the summary of recent findings of a pew internet project on "bloggers":

54% of bloggers say that they have never published their writing or media creations anywhere else; 44% say they have published elsewhere.

54% of bloggers are under the age of 30.

women and men have statistical parity in the blogosphere, with women representing 46% of bloggers and men 54%.

76% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to document their personal experiences and share them with others.

64% of bloggers say a reason they blog is to share practical knowledge or skills with others.
when asked to choose one main subject, 37% of bloggers say that the primary topic of their blog is "my life and experiences."

other topics ran distantly behind: 11% of bloggers focus on politics and government; 7% focus on entertainment; 6% focus on sports; 5% focus on general news and current events; 5% focus on business; 4% on technology; 2% on religion, spirituality or faith; and additional smaller groups who focus on a specific hobby, a health problem or illness, or other topics.

i imagine this is all a normal part of life...

so i just got off the phone with one of my bestest friends (hi ashley!). and i feel old.

not like "grandma old" and not "old" in a bad way. more of a "holy shit i'm growing up and becoming an adult and i can't do anything to stop it" kind of old. an old that i am slowly learning (and loving) to embrace.

we had a conversation about washing machines and dryers. f'ing laundry. i spent most of my weekend doing it. and i just had a full blown, conscious conversation about it. isn't that something older people do?! oh wait, no, that's right...i'm headed right up there. laundry is now a part of my every day life.

we also talked about our cats. not because we're crazy cat ladies, but because they are equivalent to our "children" right now. 5-10 years from now we'll be having these types of talks about our kids. geeze...

i guess lately i've been pre-occupied (not unhealthily) with "growing up." i fight it sometimes, lashing out like a 7 year old who always wants to get what she wants. other times i embrace it with 110% of myself and spend a weekend doing laundry, yardwork, and cleaning. and be perfectly okay with it.

one year anniversaries...

so i was going to write this mushy, long, sappy, over the top post about how i have been living in california for a year now and that today marks the one year anniversary of my first post-college job in the real world...but i don't really know where to start.

the one thing that my momentous occasion has brought to my mind is time. seriously?! has it been a year already? it's that "2 weeks and 2 years thing." it feels like i just got here, but at the same time how have i already done so much, seen so much, had so many people visit? i have decided that the speed of time increases at an exponential rate according to your age. remember how your parents used to tell you that you should hold on to things because they will go by quickly. and how you better enjoy your childhood? well yah, they we're right (about that, and other things). i don't remember a year feeling this short when i was 7 years old...or 14 or 20 for that matter. i think my clocks are working overtime...

it is a pretty strange thought to roll around in my head...a whole year. i think maybe that's the real reason i don't want to write about it...i'm not sure how i feel about it. not that i regret moving by any means...i think it's been the best choice i've made in a long time. it's up there with the choice of college i attended. it's totally right for me. but it's just weird to think that for a whole entire year now i have been "a californian" (don't worry friends, texas still has my heart)...for a year now i have been a salaried employee in the big, bad real world...for a year now i have been living my own life. and it ain't that bad people, let me tell you.

i guess it's just made me realize that i don't know where i'm going. i mean, i do...but i don't. who knows where i could be in 5 years. (sorry mom, i know this might freak you out a bit.) i am still intrigued by the l.a. life...and i fell in love with san diego while i was there. but i am so incredibly happy here too.

and i look back on mostly the past 5 years of my life (college and on) and realize that NONE of the things i thought would happen did. not a single one. well, i mean, there are a few, but none of them are the biggies. so i guess i need not worry about whatever will happen to me in the next year or two or five. it all seemed to work out, even if i tried to make it work another way. i guess i'm doing something right.

but regardless of the jumbled thoughts in my brain: happy anniversary california and first job! it's been great so far, let's keep it goin' strong...cuz i think time's just going to keep speeding up.