Last Friday my friend Jenn (one of the many!) passed through town and we had a little slumber party. We grabbed dinner at Califia with a few local girls. I've decided that I need to be more intentional with my friendships here, especially with the women here, now that all my traveler girls are gone. It was great to try a local place, and enjoy it with both new and old friends. After a great dinner, Jenn and I came back to my place and we talked about what life is like for 2 East Coast girls (who've both lived in MD, VA, & NC) to live in California. In my mind, this state may as well be it's own country as the way and expectations of life are just so different at times! Our main topics jumped from East v. West Coast views on drinking, marriage, kids, and lifestyle. Always nice to be around someone who shares similar views, whether we still hold to our EC mentality, or have slightly altered them and adapted a little bit of WC into our perceptions.
On Saturday we grabbed breakfast at a yummy little cafe, I may have written about this place before as they have the BEST spicy hot chocolate I've ever had! We caught part of a local parade of some cute elementary kids, then headed to the Stanford Mall. This place alone is worth visiting just to see the gorgeous flowers and people watch! It also has a decent variety of mid-high end retail stores. Jenn has some fabulous style and walked away with the most adorable, and what I deemed seasonally transitional, gray wedges! I wish I was brave enough, but I love my feet too much to risk blisters or numbness. Shortly after she hit the road with loose plans to see each other soon, but next time at her place!
Sunday I got inspired to bake and set my mind to make some loaded chocolate chip cookies! If you've had the privilege of tasting my mom's, they aren't quite as good, but almost! I really haven't done much baking since becoming a travel nurse. This is partially due to not having most of my supplies, but also just a lack of ppl to bake for! I enjoy it when I know the ppl who will enjoy it. I went to the Villa, a house comprised of 4 girls from the church I attend (2 are in the above picture), and while borrowing their Kitchen Aid mixer we visited with one another. As I said, I'm trying to be more intentional about the friendships here and what better way than to make ppl cookies?! After an enjoyable afternoon of grocery shopping, cooking, and baking together it was time to deliver the goods. I left some with the girls, then headed over to the Bungalow and Graceland to make a surprise cookie drop off. They were all about to watch a movie, which I begged out of saying "I have to work the next few days"...little did I know I'd actually be canceled from work! Now I feel lame, but oh well, I was just trying to be responsible!
Monday and Tuesday...oh how I wasted them! Both days I was canceled due to low census. Here's how it works, they call around 5:15-5:25 and say "You're canceled for the first 8 hours" so I go back to bed, sleep in way too late b/c my black out curtains work all too well, then laze around the house in my PJ's, get hooked on a Masterpiece Theatre show "Downton Abbey" on Netflix, get a call around 1-2 saying "You've been canceled the rest of your shift" and then continue to be not very productive! Sad right? I just wasted hours of my life...but the British mini-series was SO good! Oh, and I was a little more productive on Tuesday when Jenn (different one, Duke RN one) came down from the city and we laid out by the pool while doing a few loads of laundry!
On Wednesday my Western MD hometown friend Morgan came to visit from Modesto. We had the perfect girls day filled with pedicures, good food, great conversation, a chick flick: Jane Eyre, and happy hour @ Starbucks! I was so happy to see her, and again we revisited the E v. W coast life differences. This time talking about how people can tell we're not from out here because of how honest, opinionated, and open we are about our lives. It meant a lot that my 6 month pregnant friend would drive 2 hours to see me. After getting our half-priced frapps she hit the road, again with loose plans on my end to go visit her at her home soon!
Thursday I went up into SF to hang out with my college/traveler friend Christine (you may remember her from my camping post). We had plans to hike up Twin Peaks, the highest point in SF with some great 360 degree views of the city. We couldn't find great directions for a "trail" and didn't want to just walk on the road, so we ended up driving to the top. IT WAS SO COLD & WINDY! Seriously, my ears hurt for hours after that! Like I said, great views from up there! Check them out below.
After that we walked around the Castro district, this is one of (if not THE) most openly gay areas in America. Let's just say...it was interesting. Then we drove back to her place and we meandered a few blocks over to the Marina district which consists of some chains and local boutiques and restaurants. We went on a mission! I had recently just heard of this service Benefit (cosmetic company) provided of eyelash tinting. I'm very blonde, which means my eyelashes are non-existent w/o the help of mascara. I decided it was worth trying once! So I took my seat and began the quite painful process of eyelash tinting/eyebrow tinting & waxing. I've never dyed any hair of mine so I was not prepared for the "burn" and didn't know what to expect, but about 5 minutes into the 15 minutes a small, lone tear was running down my face. Christine did a great job of keeping the situation light, and comforting and encouraging me. I was learning that beauty IS pain!
 |
| I do agree, LAUGHTER is the best cosmetic (and it's usually free!) |
No comments:
Post a Comment