Journey Through the Depths

{through the madness that's my mind}



I go through phases.

Sometimes I can't stop reading, other times I'll bake three days in a row.

Right now, I feel like writing.

So don't mind the rambling post.

It's just creative genius at work.

No big.

---

Sometimes, I think writing is the ultimate form of creating.

Normally I'm not the type to actually do the writing itself, but rather, I'm the type that enjoys reading the fruits of someone else's labour {oh yeah, you read that right. Brit spelling, coming at ya}.

For example, books are my first love. Fiction in general, though romance in particular. Not the gushy, dime-novel, swooning-heroine type, but the more adventure, mystery, there-just-happens-to-be-a-good-pairing-here type.

Magazines are my second love. They have pictures.

Both, however, have words and lots of them.

I like reading those words.

It's usually much more interesting than coming up with my own.

So I have nothing but admiration for those who have it in them to sit and write all day.

Obviously, I can't be a journalist.

Also doubtful is being an English teacher.

I think that'd drive me up the wall.

Writing as an author is a little better, if only because I love stories enough to make telling my own worth the effort.

But I think I'd be a one-hit wonder.

I get too easily sidetracked and distracted to stay focused on one thing for any long amount of time.

I think I just said the same thing two different ways in one sentence.

Dear goodness.

{Yes, I realize that pretty much each sentence is getting its own paragraph. I warned you. This is a rambling post}.

I do hope this writing thing sticks with me long enough that I can keep this up during the normal school year.

The upside of having had all summer to work on this blogging thing is that I'm definitely faster than I was when I first started.

It's not that my thoughts are flowing faster or that I've gotten all that much better at expressing myself, but I think it's just the practice that makes it all easier.

Which is nice.

And I've figured out a decent format that works for me and my easily distracted brain.

At least for the moment.

I always wonder, though, if I should/could allow myself to write some ginormous hunk of a paragraph with no paragraph breaks in between and whether anyone would actually take the time to read it.

Only if it were super important is my guess.

Or if they were in love with me, my life, or my blog.

Which, at this point in the game, would be very rare indeed.

Can you believe I'm already a junior in college? How did this happen? And with senior standing? Goodness gracious.

One of the girls my age just got married about a week and a half ago. Admittedly, she also graduated this past June after only two years spent in college. She had that much credit and took that many classes in a short amount of time that she was able to graduate TWO YEARS early. How'd we get this old?

I'm so confused.

Sometimes it's baffling to realize that I'm expected to know what I want to do by the end of these four years of madness.

I mean, I kind of have an idea, but it's not a for-sure plan at this point.

I know that I want to like, if not love, what I do {whatever the heck it is}.

I have a few companies that I'd like to keep in mind, if only because I like their products, so why wouldn't I work for a business I like.

{Oh. There's a lot of repetition of the word 'like' in the past two paragraph/sentences. Too bad}.

But I don't really know what I want to do.

I suppose that comes with time.

Right now, I'd like to have the time to finish cleaning my room and organizing everything for the move back down to Los Angeles and my new home-away-from-home.

I do hope our apartment coalesces and it becomes somewhere that people want to visit, not just a place where the three of us can sleep after a long day.

That'd be nice.

People.

Have I told you I get to take the pancake pan down with me?

My mother says it's technically called a griddle, but we've never called it that in this house before, so why should I start now?

I think Blogger is telling me that this post is getting rather long.

Every time I pause in typing and Blogger has enough time to try to save, it takes a longer and longer amount of time before it allows me to go back to writing.

I think that's my cue to stop.

But my brain is still rambling and I don't know if I can go to sleep with this many thoughts and things running around my head like the lizards in my backyard on a sunny afternoon.

I'm pretty sure that made no sense and I'm not sure if I want to proofread that.

Drat.

I probably will.

After I go find a picture for this rambling post about nothing in particular.

Ha.

That's going to be fun.

Good night, world.

Y'all should be asleep, 'cause it's after two in the morning.

You & I

{... and chocolate}



I am blessed.

I dearly hope that each and every one of you have a few forever friends that you know will always be there when you need them.

I know who mine are.

And I adore them to pieces.

---

{two words: time. zones.}

Forever friends are the ones whose emails still make you laugh because you can totally hear the tone of their voice as they type.

Forever friends are the ones that you can be yourself around because they can't judge-- they're just as crazy as you are.

Forever friends are the ones with whom you can get together once a year and you pick up exactly where you left off last time.

Forever friends don't care about distance, time, or medium. When you talk, you have no qualms about teasing each other mercilessly or asking honest questions. You know you can trust them and that no matter how old you get and how much you may have matured since you last parted, you're still ridiculous when you put all y'all together in one room at the same time.

These are the people whose opinions you trust. And when they say something brutally honest that you disagree with, it's not going to end your friendship. You're just going to bring up that one time they did something just as stupid or wore something equally embarrassing that'll counteract their opinion on whatever the subject matter is. Even if you do end up taking their advice, it was still fun to argue about it.

---

{too true, too true}

You see, I have a theory about these forever friends.

You can tell who they are because when you're with them, spending time with them and chattering and hanging out will be a higher priority than taking pictures of said activities.

At least for someone who's big on being behind the camera and capturing moments, I know that when I'm with certain people, I don't think to dig out my camera because I'm too busy enjoying the actual living.

Which is why I have about five pictures from all of today.

Three of which I didn't even take. Someone else borrowed my camera and took a few.

That's how you know when you're with real friends.

When {your friends > the photos}.

I love you guys.


---
Ingrid Michaelson's "You & I" was being hummed while coming up with the title.
Cute song.

Driving Solo

{Vroom Vroom}

Aaaaahhhhhhhh!

I DROVE BY MYSELF TODAY.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

---

More importantly, I didn't kill anyone.

Whoo.

Fancy Pancakes

{I WISH My Pancakes Looked That Good}

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and, like I promised, I woke up early and made him the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.

Never again.

The first two were made following the directions in the recipe and they turned out sticky, gooey, and underdone. The mess they made after I tried to flip them over was so bad that I actually turned off the stove, picked up the pan, brought it over to the sink, and doused the entire thing to get the melted brown sugar off. *facepalm*

Take two, I gave up and mixed the cinnamon roll filling into the batter. The pancakes definitely made less of a mess and they did look better, but… I don’t know. After these failed attempts at fancy pancakes, I think I’ll go back to normal pancakes. I’m very good at those. Not only do they look nice and fluffy and pretty, they taste better, too. *grins* I feel like I have to make those and take some pictures so you know what real pancakes look like and to prove to you that I actually know what I’m doing around breakfast foods!

---

The Point of the Story:

1. If you’re going to follow someone else’s recipe, think twice when it calls for more liquid in the batter than solid. Something’s wrong there. You’re going to get flat pancakes. Like… flatflat pancakes.

2. A lot of sugar in the batter = food burning/turning brown a lot faster. Steben, this is for you. You’ve been forewarned.

3. The cinnamon roll filling would be good for some other baking project. As it is, I feel like that was a waste of a stick of butter… However, since we rarely use cinnamon in our house, this was a good use of a spice that’s probably been sitting in our cabinet since… I was five?

4. They really didn’t taste too bad. They just looked a little strange. Like whole wheat pancakes when really, they were full of fat and sugar. Actually, that’s a win-win situation right there. Never mind! This wasn’t a failed cooking attempt after all! *laughs*

{Real Whole Wheat Pancakes}

Adventuring: Day-Tripping in Berkeley's Elmwood District

We decided to capitalize on the fact that Daddy took the entire week off as a birthday present to himself by going out and adventuring today.

We started by running Zoe at Tilden Park, where I got some more upcloseandpersonal pictures of her in all her super cuteness. Only this week, it was more cloudy and quite windy, so the colors aren’t as bright as last week.

{My Puppy. <3}

{See? Cloudy.}

 The downside about having a Border Collie in a decently urban area is that leash laws aren’t the greatest… that is to say, hyper dog + nowhere to go off-leash = not good. We thought we’d finally found a spot to run her to her little heart’s content in this wide open, grassy meadow area…

… but no. Today we found out someone’s trying to sue Tilden for not enforcing the leash laws strictly enough, so no more vast green expanses for our fuzzbutt.
Sad day.

Since we were right next to Berkeley, we thought we’d stop by Ici Ice Cream and see what all the fuss is about. Turns out, cold, foggy days mean lots of parking available, so we got a spot right down the street. Last time we tried to get some ice cream, it was sunny and thus, the nearest parking space was four blocks away. Yay for cold dessert on cold days! Who needs sun to eat ice cream anyways?

{Pinterest via Unknown}

{It IS. Especially if it's some form of chocolate}

As we walked towards our destination, we got sidetracked by Treehouse Green Gifts. It’s the cutest store that I honestly think I could spend all day and a ridiculous amount of money in if I were allowed.

Apologies that some of the pictures didn’t turn out as sharp or as bright as I’d like… If and whenever we go back, I’ll try to do better…

I want that middle painting. It’s so colorful and cheery and it has birds. In trees. Who doesn’t love that?

Look! Jellyfish!

 And MOUSTACHE CLIPS. Seriously? That’s pretty awesome.

I couldn’t take pictures of every last thing that made me stop and ogle ‘cause then I would have been in there for ages and ages and ages and my parentals wanted ice cream, darn it! So here’re a few of the various companies & their websites I texted myself {oh yeah, I’m so cool} so that I could look them up later {which is now}.¹

And this ridiculously hilarious notebook was from Elmwood Stationers a few shops farther down. Love it!

I should’ve taken pictures of our ice cream, I know, but one, it was cloudy and outdoor pictures always look so sad when it’s not blazing sunlight and ice cream deserves blazing sunlight to do it justice, and two, it was yummy. And we ate it before I remembered. Oops.

I can personally recommend the Malted Vanilla Gingersnap, though I’m a bit confused over the ‘Malted’ part of that flavor… but that’s probably because I don’t know what ‘Malted’ tastes like. What’re my taste buds supposed to be looking for? *curious look* Hm.

Besides my gingerbread-man-esque ice cream, the cone was like a crispy crepe… and they have chocolate at the bottom so that your ice cream doesn’t leak out, but I was so full by the time I got halfway down the cone, my mom ate mine. Now that it’s late at night, I want it back. *grins* Oh, midnight cravings. How you taunt me.

I love adventuring and the slobbery kisses of a happy dog. What makes your day?

---

¹ Oh. I forgot to look these up. Look for a post tomorrow filled with prettiful things! *grins*

The Little Things in Life, No. 6: Pirates, Dinosaurs, & Etsy

{Ode to My Nerdy Friends... You Know Who You Are.}

… getting a friend request on Facebook from my mom.

And watching her crack up after I changed her ‘Language’ setting to Pirate.

Oh, Mom.



{Oooh, Pretty!}

... discovering the miracle that is Envelope Moistener. Yes, there really is such a thing. I discovered this today at work—it looks kind of like a giant glue stick with a marble on top and it does the most amazing thing!

*dramatic pause*

That’s right, it moistens that yucky strip at the top of envelopes so that you don’t have to do it yourself! And when you’re sending out 473 {yes, we counted} newsletters, it makes a difference, let me tell you.



{Dainty}

{In Honor of... "The End"}

 … getting that internshippy at the Chamber of Commerce {belated update, but yes. I’ve survived one week as of today!} and having one of my responsibilities be looking for things on Etsy!

Only now I have an account I don’t know what to do with. Help!

 … getting absolutely gorgeous dog pics while day-tripping with the parentals. Just fyi, Zoe’s staring at the toy behind the camera and in case you don’t know her, she’s eerily patient when it comes to waiting for you to throw her toy. Which translates to lots of time for me to take face shots! *clickclickclick*



{Happy Birthday to Me!}

 … my birthday’s tomorrow. I’m gonna be oooold. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Hrm. I guess at some point I should share the wisdom {ha! what wisdom!} that I’ve maybesortakinda gained over the years. This requires more thought.

---

On an awesomer note…

 

{Here's where I would normally have a picture,
but it's cloudy outside right now,
so some other time perhaps}

 

I GOT A GREEN DINO FOR MY BIRTHDAY! I’M SO EXCITED!

So excited, in fact, that the guy at Costco gave me a funny look when I carried it through the register line. {Yes, of course we paid for it. What do you think we are? Invisible?} I absolutely refused to put it on the conveyor belt thingmerbob.

Yeah, I’m mature. Whoo.

*ecstatic* AND DID I TELL YOU IT’S ALSO A… *wait for it*… SLEEPING BAG?

Yes, your mind is blown.

Happy Independence!

My mom and I watched this 4th of July TV special earlier today and it was really fun-- how in the world Burt Wolf got himself invited to all these events is a mystery, but he is rather hilarious.

And I don't know about you, but I can hear the fireworks going off all over the place.  That includes from our neighbors' backyard and it's freaking out Zoe so much that she's been under my chair for the past an hour and a half-- bad neighbors!

On the other hand, the sound of fireworks and backyard barbeques to me is the noise of summer. It's these that make me think heatwaves and beaches and all the summer cliche goodness you can possibly think of. July 4th means family and friends and warm summer nights and mosquito bites and is the yearly reminder that my birthday's just around the corner... and that I'm growing up and should be maturing (ha!). It's happy and sobering all at the same time. Especially because it's a day to remember all that has been paid to make our freedom and this celebration possible.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!



{Proud to be an American}



"These are the times that try men's souls and the price of freedom is high."

Thomas Paine, 1776

Book List: June 2011

Since half of June was spent studying for and taking finals, this is all I've had time for during the remainder of June.

This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James
Scarlet Nights by Jude Deveraux
Teens Cook by Meghan & Jill Carle
Mysteria Lane Anthology
A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh
The Scent of Jasmine by Jude Deveraux
College Cooking by Meghan & Jill Carle
A Convenient Arrangement by Lynne Graham
Best Kitchen Quick Tips by Cooks Illustrated
Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich
The MacKade Brothers: Rafe and Jared by Nora Roberts
Storm of Shadows by Christina Dodd
Styx's Storm by Lora Leigh
What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

And yes, I read a lot of romances. I happen to like them.

---

[Thoughts]

1. Eloisa James is always a fun writer to read, but while the book met expectations, I must say that the summary on the back had nothing to do with the actual plotline. How strange.

{Half Price Books, $1.00, Historical Romance}

2. Third in the Edilean Series, Scarlet Nights continued the tradition of absolutely gorgeous covers and fantastic writing. But then, almost all of Jude Deveraux's books are fantastic. Plotlines are well thought out and deep.

{Library Sale, $0.75, Romantic Suspense}

3. Unlike most cookbooks meant for people under the age of 18, Teens Cook actually explains various cooking techniques and includes things that would really help you learn your way around a kitchen. Aaand, as someone who's tried several recipes and had them all turn out almost perfectly, I can say that their recipes really work. I particularly like the fact that most of their ingredients are things that you'll have at home anyways and don't have to go out of your way to find in a grocery store.

{Library, Cookbooks}

4. I love anthologies because, really, who doesn't love getting four different stories for the price of one? *happy* I happened to get Mysteria Lane and its prequel, Mysteria, when Borders was going out of business, so the price was pretty awesome as well. This is one of those 'suspension of reality' books because you know all of it is impossible, but it's fun to read about the town and its characters anyways.

{Borders, $2.00, Paranormal Romance}

5. I ruined the twist for myself because I happened to flip to the back of the book and read one sentence that changed the entire way I interpreted A Matter of Class. I feel a little sad that I missed the surprise, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

{Library Sale, $0.50, Historical Romance}

6. ... Oh. I may not have actually read this one yet. Shoot.
{Library Sale, $0.75, Romantic Suspense}

7. The continuation of Teens Cook, College Cooking has even more tips on surviving in an unknown kitchen and how to eat healthy within your college budget. The styling's more mature and the recipes are decently doable, though I haven't tried any of them yet. Still working on the first book... *grins* I'm excited though.
{Library, Cookbooks}

8. Another anthology. Very Harlequin-esque, though if you can get over that fact and ignore the slight cheesiness of it all, it's a fun, fluffy read.
{Half Price Books, $1.00, Contemporary Romance}

9. This is one of those awesome books that you wish you had before The Incident happened (whatever The Incident you're thinking of is, as long as it occurred in a kitchen). The ideas and tips in Best Kitchen Quick Tips are super useful and good to know so you can save time, effort, and ingredients. But mostly time.
{Library, Cookbooks}

10. While I'm not a huge fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series, I absolutely adore her short romantic comedies. They're easy reading and super cute. And incredibly crazy. In a good way. This one didn't disappoint and actually made me burst out laughing at three o'clock in the morning... That's how you know it's a good book. *grins*
{Library Sale, $0.75, Contemporary Romance}

11. Just to clarify: I will buy anything by Nora Roberts.
Well, almost. I've never bought one of her suspense novels 'cause I know they'll keep me awake at night. Which admittedly is a sign of a good author, but I'm not willing to risk my sleep.
Her romances, however, are a different story. While I lose sleep over these too, it's because I can't put it down, not because I'm agonizing over the ending and how crazy brilliant it was (ie: her suspense/mystery books). She can have you loving the characters within pages of opening the book and she writes their stories out so well that you forget you're not really there. J'adore.
{Half Price Books, $1.00, Contemporary Romance}

12. Christina Dodd is another one of my favorite authors. I think my only complaint about her books may be that the titles all literally sound the same. So when I'm in a bookstore, I can never remember whether I have a certain book or not just by the title alone. But other than that, if it has her name on it, I get excited. *eee* I'm still excited now because I have two more of her books waiting for me to read them. *happy squeak*
{Borders, $2.00, Paranormal Romance}

13. Who doesn't love a good paranormal romance? And for the genre that she writes, Lora Leigh is really a fabulous writer. Wow.
{Library, Paranormal Romance}

14. This woman is amazing. Her books are always super long (yay!), her characters are interesting, and her plotlines are fun to read. Plus, her sense of humor comes through easily in her writing. In What I Did for Love, I think my one issue would be that the resolution takes a tad too long. And when it does come around, I got a itsybitsy bit confused. Which isn't good as a reader. But loved the story and am willing to overlook the iffy resolution because of the awesome epilogue.
{Library, Contemporary Romance}

---

So, what'd you read this month?

The Little Things in Life, No. 4: Stealthy Feesh & Miscellaneous Multimedia

{From the Fountain}

{In the Arches}

... reading this book and seeing Royce Hall mentioned within its depths (pg 326 in the paperback to be specific). Ohmygoodness, yay UCLA! There are times when I simply cannot believe where I get to go to school nine months out of the year. I'm in awe. *happy sigh of contentment*



{Stealthy Little Feeshie}

... seeing my dad's reaction to the interesting music pre-loaded onto his new work computer. Such as the superly awesome named album, Ninja Tuna. Seriously? I don't care what type of music it is, I'd keep it for the title.



{Library Sale, $2.00, Romantic Comedy}

... watching 105 minutes of cuteness, aka Letters to Juliet. I finally got around to seeing it a few days ago and may I just say. Two words. Christopher Egan. *grins* [Although the rest of the actors/actresses were pretty wonderful themselves, too].



{Sunshine Baby}

... noticing that a buuunch of the bloggers I read are either pregnant or new moms recently and since I somehow ended up helping out in the nursery during VBS with two moms that chatter about everything, I've learned a ridiculous amount about all sorts of interesting things. For better or for worse.

 

 

... more pretty ads! [They were supposed to be mostly eyewear ads. I had an eye doctor appointment Wednesday, what can I say? But when I tried looking them up on Google, I couldn't find them. *shrugs & sighs* What can you do?]

Singing in the Rain

{Raindrops. So Many Raindrops. (with Picasa Picnik)}

So, it's pouring here in Northern California.

Like, the go-outside-and-get-soaked-within-a-few-seconds kind of pouring.

It is summer, right?

...

Weird.


[What's even weirder is the fact that this weekend is supposed to hit the triple digits. God has a sense of humor, I tell ya.]

The Little Things in Life, No. 3: Senior Standing & Strawberry Crepes

{Problems with College}

... having senior standing as of this past weekend. Whooooa me! *yaaay*



{Crepes with Strawberries}

... successfully making crepes with fresh strawberries on Saturday. Yum.



{Cleaning Supplies}

 ... cleaning the entire kitchen, dining room, and living room while my parents were out. See [this post]*.



{Stock Photo with Picasa Picnik Text}

... getting to watch Elyse take her first steps ever by herself today, and then laughing with the rest of ladies in the nursery because we were instructed by her mom to not tell her if Elyse walks without her there. So it's a secret. Shhh!

{Baguette & Prosciutto}

... coming home after VBS and my mummy made me lunch! Hee. It's a big deal.


* : I haven't written it yet. But I'll update this when I do!

Also, this is the first time I've ever played around and edited pictures. *eee* I'm so cool now!

Aaand I got a call from Debrr today! *even more excited than successfully playing around with Picasa Picnik*

The Little Things in Life, No. 2: Sleep & Happiness

{I wonder why the times are different}

... it being Friday. [Please don't burst into song!] Because that means the weekend and the ability to sleep in tomorrow, as opposed to the 7:20 am wake up calls I've been getting all week for VBS.

Not that I mind the early morning alarms, but it is nice to have the choice to roll over and go back to sleep.

{Yeah, yeah, I know that the bedding's white here}

... the mess I've made of my sheets and comforter that's so amazingly nice to snuggle under. It seriously looks like a huge pile of purple and blue that someone just flung onto the bed and left there.



{But I like dragons...}

 ... starting a new book by Christina Dodd. Excitement!

{Old Fashion Telephone}

 ... finally calling the Chamber of Commerce in my area to ask about whether they would like an intern over the summer (ME!) and if they would, to please call me back. Now the waiting begins...



{Happiness Defined}

... really good friends who always welcome you back with a hug no matter where you've been and how long you've been gone. <3

They give me warm and fuzzy feelings. *eee*