And make you cry love, cry out loving…

…dance drunken to your hearts beat…

[name that tune]

******Here we go, gliding into another fabulous weekend. Last night, I attempted to communicate with my BFF Lauren, but failed due to forgetfulness and laundry. She is headed to Paul Simon, from what I gather. Who I love more than anything. Luckily, Jeff set our boom box in the bedroom to play music from our iPhones (because he has mad skills like that) so I settled in after folding laundry for an evening of Paul singing to me. Delightful.

Last night Jeff also realized the depth of my Paul love, which apparently had gone silent for the past 4 and a half years. Well, anyways, now he knows, and knows I will love him forever and always, and anyone who disagrees with me on that point can skedaddle out of my purview.

Things are looking up, this weekend, which includes: making red velvet cupcakes tonight with Rebecca, a wine-induced picnic at Malibu’s Saddlerock tomorrow, birthday fun included, a housewarming party that will continue the fun tomorrow night, and a Sunday of relaxing, and maybe a date hike in Malibu. Packed with fun (and sun, finally, finally has returned to LA!) I literally cannot wait for a busy-yet-relaxed weekend in LA.

Here’s a photo from last year’s wine adventure…

 

That's some water...towards the end of our adventure...

Don't get all crazy, there were like 20 of us. Or...14. So, not unreasonable, we swear!

The lady-friends.

Isn't my bf handsome?

Here’s to another year of fun, and an excellent afternoon to celebrate…

All our friendship has been for the past 2 years is RUSHING.

I said this to Corelyn last night as we RUSHED out of the door to Trader Joe’s and I said, “Remember that time that we went to TJ’s and forgot our list?”

“Yes, we talk about it nearly every time we go to TJS, obviously it was traumatic.”

“Well yes, and we were rushing for some reason….”

“WE’RE ALWAYS RUSHING.”

“Corelyn, all our friendship has been for the past 2 years is RUSHING. We just RUSH around all the live-long day.”

Last night was no exception. The plan was to do the following: paint chairs, make granola, exchange music (if we had time), maybe slap on a second coat of paint, outfit plan for the photo shoot on Sunday.

On the actual docket? Unexpected visit from Mary, which turned into outfit planning whilst waiting for dinner to arrive. This was a blessing (not in disguised, as Corelyn pointed out) because she had insight into what she really thought would look great. Also unexpected visit from Becca, who showed up because she was supposed to grab dinner with Mary. This turned into dinner with Mary and Becca, whilst hanging out with Melissa, who actually was supposed to come over.

This led us to a late start on our painting, which meant we painted the chairs in my garage in the dark, using a camping light and head lamps. Mary watched for a few minutes before turning to go inside and keep Becca company.

“How do they look?” Mary asked as we came in, about 30 minutes later.

“Well, you’re not going to like them. But we’ll put a second coat on them and they’ll look great,” was my honest response. After that, we sat around for a few minutes making plans for the granola we were about to make, waiting for the food. The Indian place we order from somehow was very late in getting us our food, so this led to us eating and finishing up around 9:15. Since our normal TJ’s closes at 9:00, we had to head to a different one.

As we were going to the car, after saying goodbye to Mary and Becca who were rejuvenated by delicious food and ready for another adventure, Melissa, Corelyn, and I were reminded a) how late it was b) that we had the list and c) all we do is rush.

We headed to TJ’s where we had a hilarious conversation with the check-out guy, “You know how there is always something in granola that you don’t like? This granola will have nothing you don’t like, because YOU made it.” He seemed intrigued. He gave us stickers. One has a chicken with chicks that are multicolored.

Then we went back to the house, when we realized it was 10:00. Perfect time to make granola and paint the second coat. We got everything ready for the oven to bake, then took the timer, the camping lamp, the headlamps, and headed back to the garage.

27 minutes later, we headed back inside, but not before Melissa came to say goodbye and tell us someone had left a hilarious note (which is going to be posted soon, I promise.) She headed home, and we headed inside to finish the granola.

As we washed our teal hands, we could smell the oats and maple syrup all deliciously roasted. We documented what we had already added, and then added a slew of other things while making sure to keep track of what we were adding. Pictures were taken, random splotches of paint were found on each other’s arms, and granola was finished. By the time Corelyn left it was nearly quarter to midnight. We hadn’t had a music exchange, we didn’t pack the kitchen, but other than that, we had accomplished a lot.

Tonight, book club. Tomorrow? Rinse and repeat Tuesday’s chaos with some donuts, muffins, and pancakes. Stay tuned.

Twenty ten: Spring.

I drove to meet my bff in San Francisco.

I took her home with me.

Her husband surprised her.

Before we cruise, we see Kirsten.

We cruise. We snorkel. We swim.

With Jeff’s family.

We go to Joshua Tree. We hike.

We climb big rocks.

We go to Chilton. We recreate scenes from Gilmore Girls.

We jump for joy.

We learn new tricks to cutting the acidity of coffee…

We grew things.

We sanded.

We baked. We built.

We piled into a van.

To hang out at a winery. For Mary’s birthday. In Malibu.

WE BBQed.