Why my relationship works

Scene: Rad Boyfriend and I are discussing plans for tonight via the gChat.

RB: I have to help a friend with some computer stuff after work today. So maybe 8pm?
Me, grumbling silently to myself: That's way too late to eat dinner, I'll be starving by 6. No way we'll make it through the whole movie.
Me, to RB: Baby, I would wait forever for you. But if you can make it any earlier than 8, I would greatly appreciate it.

How to annoy me/Things I don't understand

ATTENTION LANDLORDS/PROPERTY MANAGERS:

When you post an ad on craigslist for the apartment you're trying to rent without photos, it leads me to two conclusions: a) you're a lazy landlord who doesn't want to waste your time taking and posting pictures; and b) you suck, the apartment sucks, and I shouldn't waste my time going to look at it.

Renting out an apartment is like selling a product. You have to market it, promote its best qualities, and highlight the features. Car companies don't advertise their vehicles by producing ads that say "2010 Honda Civic, $16,000, dealer on Mission Avenue." Likewise, landlords shouldn't advertise their rental units in 20 words or less. When I see a posting that looks like that, I have ZERO desire to contact the landlord, let alone go see the apartment. It makes me think the apartment is so dumpy and awful that posting even one picture would turn renters off. It also gives me a negative first impression of the person I'm writing my rent check to every month. If they can't take the time to put together a proper listing, what happens if I have a gas leak?

Red and I recently had to do the legwork of finding a renter for our house. Here's the ad we posted:

$1595 / 2br - Craftsman House w/ Hardwood Floors and Backyard (North Park ) (map)

---

Date: 2010-04-08, 2:21PM PDT
Reply to: hous-pc5ys-1682872021@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

---

Charming 2-bedroom Craftsman home available for rent June 5th. Enjoy privacy in your own house and fenced-in backyard! Centrally located in North Park and within walking distance of University Avenue, Hillcrest Farmer's Market, Henry's, Albertson's, and plenty of shops and restaurants. Close to Hillcrest, University Heights, Balboa Park, and minutes from Downtown. Nearby freeways: 163, 8, and 805. Cats welcome!

* 2 bedrooms, both with walk-in closets
* 1 bonus room with closet, perfect for an office or den
* 1 large bathroom
* washer and dryer hookups
* kitchen with gas stove and fridge
* huge pantry
* hardwood floors
* built-in bookcases in living room
* built-in buffet in dining room
* tons of storage space
* large front porch
* fenced-in backyard
* INCLUDED: landscaping, water, and trash pick-up

If you're interested, please call Danielle @ XXX.XXX.XXXX

OR.....

OPEN HOUSE: We've had so much interest in the house that we've decided to have an open house. SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1-3pm. XXXX Lincoln Avenue

Property managed by Heritage Property Consulting.

• cats are OK - purrr
• Location: North Park
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1682872021




We posted this ad last Thursday and had a lease signed by Monday. The ad below has been up since April 7th.

$1400 / 3br - House in Great Central Location (City Heights/North Park)

---

Date: 2010-04-07, 12:01PM PDT
Reply to: see below

---

Nice & updated private 3 bedroom house
Borders North Park, 1 bath, flexible lease, washer/dryer hookups, refrig, stove, fenced yard
$1200 security deposit
Available now
Call 858-547-9188


Just sayin'.

My bearded man

I've mentioned the Rad Boyfriend in passing several times on this here weblog, but I've never gotten into how we met or came to be Rad Boyfriend and Awesome Girlfriend. And I probably won't, not for a while. I am, however, dedicating this post to one of the many reasons why Rad Boyfriend is so Rad.

Several weeks ago, I hurt my back. It's unclear how exactly I hurt it, but I did. And I ignored my body for those several weeks and continued lifting heavy laundry baskets and boxes, and continued to get down on my hands and knees to scrub the kitchen floor. My body didn't like this so much, because I woke up on Sunday morning and literally couldn't move. Every motion of my body, no matter how slight, made me hyperventilate with pain. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to blink, it hurt to lay still. I somehow made it out of bed to use the bathroom, and promptly burst into tears after I laid back down in bed. This was NOT good.

I happened to be house-sitting at the time, and the owner of the house happens to be a helicopter EMT who just happens to have some pretty sweet prescription drugs in the guest bathroom. Quick lesson in whatever sort of back injury I have: PAIN KILLERS DO NOT HELP THE PAIN. Neither prescription-strength ibuprofen nor Vicodin did a thing to help ease my agony. I gimped around all day like a gimpy gimp and it was miserable.

Miserable except for one thing: Rad Boyfriend. I'd been complaining about my back for several days by that point, and he realized the magnitude of my pain when I came back to bed that morning in tears. He immediately took over, and for the next two days, he did EVERYTHING for me. He helped me get dressed, he unloaded the dishwasher, he brought me drinks and snacks, he fed the dog that he's allergic to, he went to the store for me, EVERYTHING. He even went to the airport to pick up a friend for me! If he saw me lean towards the coffee table, he asked what I wanted and got it for me. When I dropped my phone (or glasses or remote control) he picked it up for me. He even spent an extra night with me knowing he'd have to wake up early the next morning to go home and get ready before work. And at the end of that day? He came back with my favorite snacks. He loaded the dishwasher and did the dishes and fed the dog. He had dinner with me, we watched a movie together, and when it was time for him to go home, he checked all the windows, locked the doors, tucked me into bed, and told me to call him in the morning if I needed anything.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Reason Number 970,687 why Rad Boyfriend is so Rad.

It was organic and crunchy

Scene: I'm house-sitting for some friends of the Rad Boyfriend and...me? Myself? Whatever, I'm house-sitting for people we both know. Rad Boyfriend opens up their fridge and pulls out a plastic deli container.

RB: This is the most hippie-looking peanut butter I've ever seen.

Coming to terms with my unwealth

I went to law school and spent a ton of money on tuition and living expenses. I didn't think about the cost of all that stuff because HEY! I'm gonna be a LAWYER! I'm gonna make a BUTTLOAD of money after all is said and done!

Yeah, not so much.

Fast-forward to almost 2 years after graduation and I think I've finally decided (for sure) that I don't want to practice law. I'd been toying with the idea of taking the California bar exam, but ultimately decided against it. It's expensive, time-consuming, and I don't have any guarantee of passing it, or more importantly, finding a position as an attorney afterward. And California has this funny thing about licensed attorneys working as paralegals--they don't like it. So not only do I not have any prospects of finding a job as a lawyer, but I could never go back to being a paralegal. I think I'll stick with my current job, thank you very much.

But here's the problem with spending all that money on an education that doesn't doesn't lead to a fancy, 6-figure salary: it sucks your wallet dry. Do you have any idea how much my student loan payments are each month? A LOT. Add to that the cost of moving across the country with no savings and into an expensive house because I just HAD to live in a Craftsman, and BAM. Instant wallet-drainer. Not good times.

So what have I done to fix this money problem? Well, several things. First I stopped eating out so much. When Rad Boyfriend and I first started dating, we went out ALL THE TIME. That promptly ended when my car got towed and my car insurance was due and I was in a bad state. After that, I started bargain hunting when it came to groceries and shopping. (Three words: Trader Joe's and Target. That's all I'm saying.) Then I started looking for a second job. I dreaded the idea of having to work retail, but I sucked it up and applied to a bunch of different jobs, both retail and non-retail. I don't want to jinx anything, but let's just say I've had some luck in the non-retail department. (More on that later.)

And finally, the thing that will save me the most amount of money every month, I decided to move out of my very awesome, very expensive house, and into a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 friends. It's going to be quite a change living with 2 people and sharing a bathroom with a boy. But you know what? It's worth it. Not only do I love these 2 friends dearly, but we're adults now. We know how to respect each other's space and keep things clean. We all have jobs, we all have schedules, and most importantly, we all want to save some money.

So goodbye awesome Craftsman house. Goodbye kitties whom I've grown to love like my own. Goodbye Red, one of the best roommates I have EVER had. Goodbye font porch and walk-in closet and hardwood floors.

AND HELLO SAVINGS ACCOUNT!!

It feels good to be an adult and have my priorities straight =)

Earthquake!

I experienced my first actual SoCal earthquake yesterday--7.2!! And here's how I reacted:

Rad Boyfriend and I were sitting on his parents' couch, about 60 miles north of San Diego. I'd been drinking a bit and thought I felt something strange, but attributed it to the alcohol. I looked over at RB and saw him rocking back and forth on the couch like it was a glider. "Are you moving the couch?" I asked him. "No!" he responded, "it's an earthquake!"

D'oh!

How I know my family still loves me even though I moved 3,000 away from them

My mom called me this morning to tell me that I will be receiving a package in the mail. The contents of said package?

"Well, you know your grandmother. Once she gets an idea into her head, there's no stopping her. She wanted to send you an Easter package. She made sweet bread, so she sent you some of that. And a smoked sausage from that deli you like. And two hard-boiled eggs that you may or may not want to throw out by the time you get the package. It's all wrapped in a frilly apron that she bought for you. And when I say frilly, I mean it's frilly. Also, be careful when you throw the box away because she also put $20 at the bottom for you."

You guys, how cute are they?!

So how will y'all be spending your Easter? Church or no church? Dressed up or casual? Are you going to your family's house, or are you hosting? I myself will be going to church in my Sunday best, which will be followed by some day-drinking and dinner at the Rad Boyfriend's family's house. And when your Rad Boyfriend has three teenage step-siblings, one brother and sister-in-law, one 3-year-old half sister, and a bevvy of entertaining relatives that regularly throw each other into the pool fully clothed, your Easter Sunday is sure to be fun =)

Good point, albiet a little sweeping in its assumption that all Republicans/Conservatives feel this way

I try and stay away from politics on this here blog, but once in a while something comes along that is too good not to share. The following excerpt has been floating around the interwebs for a little while now. I found it here. While it does pigeonhole an inferred group of people, I happen to think some of this makes a good point. Enjoy. Or don't.

• You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
  
• You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.
  
• You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.
  
• You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed. You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
  
• You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
  
• You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
  
• You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people. You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
  
• You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
  
• You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
  
• You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
  
• You didn't get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich. You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
  
• You finally got mad when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all okay with you, but helping other Americans...oh hell no.

Because I love food. And you guys.

I just bought $75 worth of gift certificates to some of my favorite restaurants for SIX DOLLARS!!! How did I do it? Do I have connections in the restaurant industry? Is my boyfriend's dad in the food business? (He is, but that's not how I got this deal.)

Restaurant.com is running a deal where you can buy a $25 gift certificate to any restaurant on their website for $2. Just enter the promo code COOK. That's it. And the only strings attached are that you usually have to spend $35 at the restaurant in order to redeem the certificate, it's only valid Monday-Thursday, and it's not good on alcohol. If you ask me, that's still a phenomenal deal. Bon appetit, you guys!

Editor's note: I am in no way affiliated with this website. I just really, really like food!

A $189 misunderstanding

The Rad Boyfriend and I recently booked a trip to Florida to visit family and attend a wedding. We purchased plane tickets a few weeks ago and we've been looking into hotels ever since. Our main criteria for hotels was (a) cheap and (b) close to our friends. Today I went on hotels.com and found some pretty inexpensive options that were super close to our friends. After emailing back and forth with the bride, I decided on one hotel in particular and gChat'ed a link to Rad Boyfriend:

me: [link to hotel]

$84/night

1.4 miles from that other hotel they were talking about

and it's a 3.5 star hotel

let me know what you think

Sent at 11:10 AM on Tuesday

Sometime after 11:10, I changed my gChat status to "I think I want Burger Lounge for lunch."

Between 11:44 and 11:49, the following exchange took place:

Rad Boyfriend: Mmmm

Do it

me: ok

total is $188.92

for 2 nights

Sent at 11:49 AM on Tuesday

Rad Boyfriend: Haha no wait

Burger lounge I meant haha

me: dude

i just booked it

HE SAID "DO IT"!! Internet, if you asked your boyfriend what he thought about a hotel, and the next response you got from him was "do it," what would you think?


Luckily the hotel is really nice and close to our friends and only $84 per night, which is much less than we were expecting. And most importantly:

me: are you mad?

Rad Boyfriend: Not really

No

Amused a little

So it all worked out. And he's still Rad.

Feeling whimsical

Dogfish
by Mary Oliver

Some kind of relaxed and beautiful thing
kept flickering in with the tide
and looking around.
Black as a fisherman's boot,
with a white belly.

If you asked for a picture I would have to draw a smile
under the perfectly round eyes and above the chin,
which was rough
as a thousand sharpened nails.

And you know
what a smile means,
don't you?

*

I wanted the past to go away, I wanted
to leave it, like another country; I wanted
my life to close, and open
like a hinge, like a wing, like the part of the song
where it falls
down over the rocks: an explosion, a discovery;
I wanted
to hurry into the work of my life; I wanted to know,

whoever I was, I was

alive
for a little while.

*

It was evening, and no longer summer.
Three small fish, I don't know what they were,
huddled in the highest ripples
as it came swimming in again, effortless, the whole body
one gesture, one black sleeve
that could fit easily around
the bodies of three small fish.

*

Also I wanted
to be able to love. And we all know
how that one goes,
don't we?

Slowly

*

the dogfish tore open the soft basins of water.

*

You don't want to hear the story
of my life, and anyway
I don't want to tell it, I want to listen

to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.

And anyway it's the same old story - - -
a few people just trying,
one way or another,
to survive.

Mostly, I want to be kind.
And nobody, of course, is kind,
or mean,
for a simple reason.

And nobody gets out of it, having to
swim through the fires to stay in
this world.

*

And look! look! look! I think those little fish
better wake up and dash themselves away
from the hopeless future that is
bulging toward them.

*

And probably,
if they don't waste time
looking for an easier world,

they can do it.


Thank you, Alice.

While the boss is away....

....there's only so much busy work I can do.

My boss has been out sick ALL WEEK. I've done everything I can possibly do in the meantime to keep myself busy, and I am getting B-O-R-E-D. Hence I thought now would be a good time to write a blog post. Only I don't really have much to write about, so this might be a hodgepodge of miscellaneous topics:

• The Rad Boyfriend and I are going to Florida in May to visit family and attend a wedding. We'll be in Miami for 2 nights and in Orlando for 2 nights. Any suggestions on what to do in Miami? The last time I was there, I was 15 and only remember The News Cafe and this. (Don't click on that if you're at work--while not offensive, it might shock some work folk.) Any suggestions on restaurants and whatnot would be helpful =)
  
  
• Because I'm poor, I went clothes shopping at Target recently and found some AWESOME stuff. Seriously ladies, check it out!
  
  
• When I first moved into my current house, everything was white: white walls, while built-ins, white appliances, white white white. Even my bedset at the time was white:

So I went to Bed Bath & Beyond recently and bought a bedset almost the exact opposite of white: it's brown. Dark brown with shades of aqua and lime green. Pair that with the dark wook furniture and the darker curtains I bought, I'm starting to think it's just too dark in the room. ::Sigh:: I guess we live and learn through decorating mistakes.

• Here is an adorable picture of Tioga, one of the kitties Red and I have temporarily adopted:

I say temporarily because her mommy and daddy are in Peru doing Peace Corps-type work and will be back in July. I'm gonna miss these kitties!

On being in a relationship

Scene: I accidentally used Rad Boyfriend's toothbrush over the weekend, and almost did it again last night. His response:

"Here's how you can tell the difference between my toothbrush and your toothbrush: mine is the normal-looking one, and yours is the one that looks like it's been shoved in a blender."

But I like it here....

Dan over at [redacted] recently wrote a post about moving back to New York City after living in Miami for a few years. I left the following comment about my fear one day moving back home:

Glad you're back. However I must say, being a born-and-bred New Yorker who moved to warmer climates myself, this worries me. Does this mean I'll end up moving back to the snow and sleet, too? Is every New Yorker's inevitable plight to move someplace awesome and warm, only to realize how much they miss the En Why See? Because I really, REALLY like it here in San Diego. :-/

Here is his response:

Put it this way, Danielle. If New York and San Diego were people, New York would be Jon Hamm and San Diego would be a Jonas Brother, and when the Jonas Brother saw Jon Hamm hanging out all nonchalantly on the street corner he'd be like, "What are you doing, Jon Hamm?" and Jon Hamm would be like, "Just waiting for you to fuck it up, Jonas Brother."

All I have to say is this: if San Diego somehow stops being awesome, or if I ever tire of wearing flip-flops to work (whichever comes first), and this results in me moving back to New York, Don Draper better have an affair with me.

Choosing my words carefully

I live in San Diego where the weather is warm and the sun is out and I can wear flip-flops 300 days out of the year. Most all of my friends and family are on the East coast, where they were just hit with feet of snow and will likely suffer through at least 2 more months of below-freezing temperatures. This makes for awkward conversation when my mom calls and asks me what I'm doing. Because I don't want to lie to her, but at the same time, I don't want to tell her that I'm sitting outside sipping champagne and enjoying brunch on the patio of a nice restaurant.... that would just be mean. So how do I handle this situation? By downplaying it:

Mom: Hi babe, how are you? What are you doing?
Me: I'm good. We're... uh... sitting outside, nothing special.
Mom: How is the weather? Is it nice out?
Me: Uh, yeah. It's in the 70's. Which is a nice change, because it rained here all last week.
Mom: The 70's? Really? Ugh. It's 34 and snowing here. AGAIN.
Me: Aw man, that sucks. But at least the snow is pretty, right?
Mom: Yeah, until I have to dig my car out of it.
Me: Uh... well....
Mom: So what's the temperature there?
Me: Um.. 72 I think?
Mom: Aaahh!! Are you wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops?
Me: Yeah, but it's the first time I've gone out without a sweater in weeks.
Mom: A sweater?! I've been wearing my winter coat for 3 months already! I am so jealous.

And so it goes. No matter how much I downplay it, my mother will always assert that I have it better out here than she has it back home. Until I remind her that she gets to snuggle up with this every night:

Why he's so rad

Six months ago, right when we started dating, I mentioned in passing that I'd never had flowers sent to my office before. Thursday afternoon I came back from lunch and found this on my desk.




He is awesome =)

It's been a long, long time

For those of you who still have me in your "blogs I'm following" list, hi! And welcome back! For those of you who have taken me off your list, well you're probably not reading this anyway. So =P

It's been a while, I know. I promised (twice) to start writing this blog thing again, and both times I broke my promise. It's just that things got so busy so fast, I barely had time to sleep let alone update a website. I know, I suck. So how's about no more promises? Much like starting a new relationship, let's just see where things go from here.

I think I mentioned in some previous posts that I finally made my life-long dream of moving to California come true. Too much time has passed to get into an in-depth discussion about the past six months, so let's pick up where we should've left off....



....with this season of LOST. I am not loving it. Maybe I need to watch each episode twice like I did last season. Maybe I need to sit back and just let it happen without reading too much into it. (HA!) Or maybe I've just grown out of the show.

My main complaint is that after 5 years of messing with our heads and constantly adding new characters and storylines without reconciling previous ones, they've yet again added a whole new twist. IN THE LAST SEASON. Aren't they supposed to be tying up loose ends at this point? Who is this Asian leader and what does he want with the Losties? How long have he and his people (and the temple) been there? How does this plot line tie in with the history of the show and the island? How does it tie in with the whole parallel universe thing they've got going on?

I was all prepared to spend 16 episodes being shocked and amazed and saying stuff like, "Ooohh NOW I get it!" But instead, I've spend the last 3 (has it been three? I've lost count already) being annoyed and bored. Don't get me wrong, I will still watch every episode and analyze the crap out of it with Red as we sit on the couch sipping wine. But the less interesting it gets, the more wine I will drink. And considering the amount of wine I already drink, more is definitely not good.

LOST: Please go back to be interesting. My Tuesday nights (and ability to function on Wednesday morning) depend on it.

Pros and cons of living in a gay neighborhood

Pro: Everything is better. The food and service in restaurants, the quality and selection in grocery stores, the friendliness of merchants, EVERYTHING.
Con: The staff constantly hits on your boyfriend.

Pro: Houses and lawns are well-maintained, and the trash is always taken out and sorted properly.
Con: The bums know this and go through all the trash cans in your alley.

Pro: Small children are few and far between, as are loud football parties.
Con: Brunch establishments are packed on the weekends.

Pro: Everyone has a dog.
Con: They're usually small and yappy and poop on your grass.

Pro: Cars are kept clean and with minimal obnoxious flair.
Con: Cars are washed by flamboyant shirtless men (not so much a con) who blast techno music at 8am on Sunday morning (definitely a con).

Pro: Everyone is super nice and friendly.
Con: They Constantly. Hit on. Your boyfriend.

The Wedding, Part 2

Last we heard about The Wedding, the girls were on their way into the church to meet the boys for some aisle-walkin'. That part went off without a hitch; even the 3-year old ring bearer and his little flower girlfriend did their parts and walked hand-in-hand down the aisle. And it was just as adorable as you might think.

Aside from one minor trip over a chair at the alter, the reading I gave at the church (from my iPhone) went well. The groom kissed the bride and we all cheered and clapped and took a thousand and one pictures. Including this one:

Told you they were as adorable as you thought they were ;-)

The limo ride to the reception was.... well, I'm not allowed to talk about the limo ride to the reception. Just know that there was a lot of drinking and personal picture-taking involved. And that it was F-U-N!!!

So we get to the reception hall and we're all nice and toasty, ready for some more boozin' and dancin' and actin' a fool. We hover outside of the hall while all the guests file in, and stop every single server on his or her way out that has even the slightest bit of food left on their serving tray. (We were HUN-GOR-AY!!) As we're milling about aimlessly, Cousin Dee (not to be confused with Me Dee) ushers a very frantic looking woman into the hallway. This woman is clearly upset and begins to talk a bit of smack about another family member, something about someone's husband and who has to stay away from him and some how someone told someone else to keep her hands of him, whoever "him" is. Very confusing. Very agitated. I thank God the bride is not around to witness it. This woman eventually calms down, and someone finally tells us to just go inside and eat, that it'll be at least an hour before the DJ introduces us. So we do.

Then we go back out and dance our way inside. Every couple does a funny dance on their way in, except that the best man and I have decided that he's going to carry me in. Which actually turns out to be pretty funny, because the best man is a 300-pound black man that looks sort of like the Notorious B.I.G., and I am a 125-pound (shut up, I'm estimating) white girl dressed in an elaborate bridesmaid gown and holding flowers. Oh, and he carries me out to Don't Stop Believin'. True story!!

So at this point in the festivities, the bride and groom have danced their first dance and my BFF Caila (hi Caila!!) take this opportunity to go use the ladies room. We walk out into the hallway and are confronted by 6 or 7 servers, 2 managers with headsets, and a flurry of wedding guests. We see 2 children crying in a coat closet and someone trying to console them. The entrance to the patio is being blocked by a member of the catering staff, and we have no idea what the frack is going on. We look out onto the patio and see two females, one of which is the agitated lady from earlier, being held back by a dude, while another lady is being held back by someone else. They are clearly involved in some sort of altercation. Just as we begin to understand the situation, I see blue and red flashing lights. In what probably took all of 10 seconds, the following happened: a manager in a headset pushed his way through the crowd gathering in the hallway yelled at everyone to clear out and refuses to let anyone in from or out to the patio; a wedding guest claiming to he a police officer (who actually is) tries unsuccessfully to push his way outside to help, and become increasingly angry when no one lets him through--they eventually let him through; the bride's brother and his girlfriend try to exit the hall and are frantically pushed back inside by Caila and myself, but when the girlfriend insists she has to pee (poor girl, she'd been holding it for hours!), we have to let her through and explain that there is a fight taking place on the patio outside, and please don't tell the bride or groom. At this point, 6 uniformed police officers and 2 undercover cops have congregated on the patio of this restaurant. The uniformed officers try to enter the building and are politely asked not to, with pleadings of, "Come on guys, this is a wedding. We don't need the bride to find out about this. They're inside having a good time, they just danced their first dance. Let's not make this worse. Can we keep it outside?" (I fully admit to being one of the first people to say those words.) At first, the officers get all "who the fuck do you think you are, I'm a cop and there's been an altercation, I can do whatever I want," but then an undercover agent comes over and makes the same argument that this is a wedding, let's keep it down, and the police take care of the situation outside.

Phew. It seems to be over.

But it's not. Before we can say, "Oh good, let's not tell the bride or groom about this," the groom comes flying around the other side of the patio, clearly upset. And I'm using that term very lightly. He was mad. Fuming, in fact. And rightly so. He has a few choice words for the ladies involved in the fight (who, let's just say, should've been acting with the utmost class and respect considering their relation to the bride and groom), throws his jacket on the floor, and storms out of the restaurant. Both his father and I chase him down the street until I realize I'm the one in 4 inch heels. So I stop running and go back inside to do damage control. Caila and I are both very hush-hush about the situation, downplaying it as much as we can, giving as little detail as possible. The groom comes back inside smiling, and it seems as though his father has calmed him down. The party continues. The bride at some point comes over to my table and casually asks, "Soooo.... how many people saw the fight? Who else knows the cops were called? Come on, you can tell me. I can take it. I've been drinking since this morning."

Aaah, what a wedding. The rest of it went off without a hitch. I gave my speech, we all danced and ate, I nearly suffocated in my dress, my cousin got naked in the bathroom because of a Spanks malfunction, and we all agreed that it was a night to remember.

Winter

I think I was born with thin blood. Or at least some sort of condition that renders me incapable of ever getting warm. Because even when it's 72 degrees outside, the slightest breeze will make me shiver.

It's been about 65-70 degrees during the day here in San Diego, and that's perfectly fine with me. But it goes down to around 57 at night and holy crap, am I freezing. Last night I slept in pajama pants, a t-shirt and sweatshirt, and under a "level 4" down comforter and I was STILL COLD. I wear a sweater and a pea coat to work every day, and still bring a scarf or wrap to drape around my shoulders. Even though I can wear flip flops to my office, I've opted for boots the past two weeks. Because once my feet start getting cold, then my hands start to feel it, and before I know it, I'm curled up in a ball under my desk basking in the warm air coming from my computer.

And the funny thing is that I've always been this way. San Diego didn't "get to me" or "thin my blood" as some like to joke. I was always the first one to wear my winter coat and the last one to ever leave the house without a sweater, even in the dead of summer. Because you know how cold it gets in those air conditioned stores......

So I ask you, Internet: WTF? Why am I so damn cold? I moved from the frigid home of the Nor'easter that is New York, to a desert on the ocean where the temperature is a constant 60-80, and I still can't shake the cold. Are there others like me? Do YOU turn the heat on in October like I do? Some support would be nice here.