My Peanut Butter is Tachy

I have got great news for everyone! If your one complaint about my blogging is that it doesn't happen enough, then I am happy to introduce you all to a brand new vegan foodie and blogger. This blog is a suitable supplement to mine as its author and I have many shared experiences. In fact, I feature prominently in many of her posts!

The blog is called My Peanut Butter is Tachy and can be found here.

February Update

Hey all,

Sorry for the lack of posts. Things have really picked up in the last week and a half. Drew made definitive plans for New York. He is leaving in two weeks - though, if you know Drew and also read this blog, pretend you don't know when he tells you. We are now in the process of looking for a new roommate and helping Drew out in any way we can.

We also just returned from a fabulous February weekend trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Joe and Becca Foster, Eric, Arisa, Drew, Evan, Kari and I all drove to Salinas last Friday. We stayed at a friends that night and went strait to Monterrey the following morning. After breakfast we drove down along HWY 1 until we hit Big Sur. We did a short hike there before turning around and heading to our house in Carmel. The house we rented for a significantly discounted rate (way to go Eric) and was amazing! Sometimes I use "amazing" a bit to liberally but in this case, it is completely justified. The house was both spacious and quaint. It had new hardwood floors, a huge kitchen, large marble fireplace and incredibly cozy furnishings. On top of all that, it was a block and half from downtown!

I will try to post pictures later but first I have to procure some from Eric or Kari, who both have better cameras than I and who I deferred to for the weekend's photo taking opportunities.

A Weird Place

Ok, I am in a weird place right now. It is transitional, it is temporary, it is not a bad place, it is just a weird place.

Drew (roommate) is undergoing some fairly significant changes. He just went Apple crazy, bought a macbook pro, an iPhone, cases for both and even some paid apps (getting real crazy). This is even more unsettling as for the past three years Drew has been among the small number of people who contested Apple's superiority. He would have heated arguments with people he barely knew about how much better a PC was and how people only bought apple to be seen with an apple.

This change of Drew's is however, shadowed by the still larger move he plans to make to New York. These plans have rapidly accelerated in the past few weeks and we are now talking about him moving out at the end of the month. (Note for mutual friends: don't freak out, Eccl. 1:2)

Evan (other roommate) is undergoing similar changes. He also recently became the proud owner of an iPhone and is also contemplating the future in serious terms.

These major developments have put a timeline on our little Country Club Commune and have accelerated my anxiety about the near future. This anxiety will subside. Even though applications are submitted I still have a substantial list of things to be doing in the meantime such as pursuing new creative outlets, planning for summer, becoming an amateur ornithologist. I also have to continue training for a half marathon, go to the bank, order contacts, get groceries, and do countless other menial tasks just to maintain life.

Still, I can't help but feel unsettled when so many things remain in the air and new tasks are constantly arising.

Laundry! I always forget about laundry. The worst part about always forgetting laundry is occasionally remembering. Occasionally remembering laundry is always remembering an impending underwear shortage.

Watch out it's a LACMA!

Last weekend we

While still having time for

Not to mention

At first things were

Then they were

But they were also

and definitely

So overall it was

And it all ended very

Recently

Last weekend Ryan came to stay with us. It was awesome.

(Ryan - Sorry I forgot to text you back to tell you how awesome it was but sometimes I forget about text messages and how people like responses, just ask Kari, but hopefully saying that it was awesome in my blog will tell you, if you still read my blog, how awesome it was and though I am oversimplifying and possibly stripping the word of its meaning, it is all just to say that your presence in Santa Barbara was felt as much as your absence, which is a lot.)

We had many wonderful, peaceful, comfortable, humorous moments but I have to say that my favorite was Saturday morning. I woke up early, woke Ryan up and we both headed down to Backyard Bowls for breakfast. We both had the steel cut oatmeal with fresh fruit. We talked for a while and when Evan joined us we walked out to State, deliberated left or right, and headed right to the beach. Then, walking out onto the Wharf we came upon a small crowd cheering on a line of kayaks racing into the harbor. Only, it turned out to be kayaks, canoes and paddle boards all competing in one odd, completely underwhelming race.

Still it was fun and I took it as proof of my latest theory, "cool stuff doesn't happen unless you leave the apartment." The basis of this theory is the presupposition that if a kind old person is ever to donate a million dollars to me after our encounter in a coffee shop, I have to be in a coffee shop first. Which, I realize that even in Montecito, is kind of worse odds than the lottery. Still, it gets me out of the apartment.

Anyways, the weekend was really fun and quite a blessing.

Grad Apps are IN!

I'm not just a university drop out anymore. I am a university dropout with PLANS!

Now I recognize that the new year is rife with plans. It's endemic. However, this small feat, the submission, is a huge relief. I am now excluded from the stress of application. Well, graduate applications. Undergraduate applications are the new stress of my life but I get paid for that stress and I guess that is what work is.

Somethings I forgot on my list

14. Eating Meat
I think my Dad put it best. "You should get a steak tonight because tomorrow you will be a vegetarian."

15. Enjoying time with my roommates.
I may never get an opportunity to live with such good guys again. Among many things to look forward to are those unexpected nights full of activity. For instance, earlier tonight Joe came over and we played a board game called "Cosmic Encounters." Joe just left but now Evan and I are watching Biggest Loser in our bath robes.

Things I Am Looking Forward to in 2011

I stole this idea from Vogue or Glamour or Marie Claire. I'm not sure, which is not a flippant way of saying those magazines are indistinguishable, but that it really could be any of those three. In any case, the editor had, instead of making a list of resolutions, made a list of things to look forward to.

Here is my list.

1. A Haircut
I only had two haircuts in 2010 and the last one was at least seven months ago. I am looking forward to the clean look but most of all, to the hair washing. As everyone knows, having someone else wash your hair is the most enjoyable part of a hair cut.

2. Herbal Essences Conditioner
My hair is getting long enough to warrant conditioner and today I bought some Volumizing Herbal Essences Conditioner. It generally takes me half a year to use a bottle of either shampoo or conditioner and I am genuinely excited about my hair smelling like white nectarine and pink coral flower for the next six months.

3. Valentines Day
I am on top of my game this year and already know what I am getting Kari.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II
Probably going to get emotional.

5. The Great Gatzby
This one I directly plagiarized from the editor's list but I have always loved Fitzgerald and, through Drew's raving, have also come to appreciate Carey Mulligan who will be playing Daisy.

6. My first Ian Fleming novel
I'll probably start with Casino Royal but we'll see what the library has. I am excited first for the experience but also because I want to become a Bondologist. That way, if there is ever a convention I can meet Umberto Eco and we will have something to talk about.

7. Running a Half Marathon
This one I am really stoked for. April 10, 2011 is the "Run Through Redlands." Kari and I have decided to run it together.

8. Visit to The Broad Museum in LA
I don't know when I am going but I am going. I am kind of excited about the art and really excited about the building. Renzo Piano, I love you.

9. Journaling
Kellie gave me a beautiful leather journal for Christmas. I am going to use it to journal about my love for Renzo Piano.

10. Breakfast
Just in general.

11. Volumes Three and Four of War and Peace
I think its fair that it will take me two years to finish this book.

12. No more hate mail from Mint.com
Seriously, mint.com I know that I am not worth anything right now but there is no need to rub it in. Oh and if I want to go over my budget for coffee shops that is my freaking business.

13. My Birthday
Normally, birthdays make me uncomfortable. I don't like all of the attention and expectations. This year however, I am turning twenty-five (don't freak out Mom) and am expecting that by my birthday, my life will be a little less disordered.

Cafe Sans Lait

This year has seen many milestones. But today,
I've hit one that I am actually proud of.

Working is hard!

Sorry I left you all with that little cliffhanger, not to mention the nearly impossible reference in the title. I did find work and, as it turns out, working full time has really cut into my free time. Now I have to prioritize my activities. The days of endless websurfing and reading are regrettably, but also thankfully, over.

First, of all, if the title of my previous post was incomprehensible to you, don't worry. No one could have got that reference. That title refers to a movie that came out in 2001 called Out Cold. It is, sadly, my favorite movie. I had come home from my first day of working and decided to celebrate by drinking a beer and watching it.

Second and more importantly, is the news that I am now fully employed. I am working in the Westmont Admissions Department as an application processor. It is truthfully, not the most thrilling work but the timeline is perfect, it is full time, and I get to work in an youthful and energy-filled department, partially staffed by two of my roommates, Evan and Matt.

Working at Westmont is, in itself, a humbling experience. Many of my freshmen residents from my RA days are now seniors and, having not kept in touch, am having to explain myself at each awkward encounter. However, on top of this I am also working in the Admissions department, the department responsible for my tuition free ride through Westmont. My first day there, the veep of admissions was introducing me to the girl at the front desk and, as a visual aid, pointed to a plaque on the wall bearing my name.

John's name is right up here, and now he is, um, here.

In my first few days I realized that many of these fears are irrational. Reconnecting with old friends and former residents has already been more a blessing than a curse. My insecurities about the scholarship are diminishing, but ok, still present.

Regardless, I am working and it feels really, really good.