It's hard to recap the span of a couple weeks. In no particular order, I received a coupon book that I bought for $15 which has some incredible discounts and have been taking advantage of this often, I've seen Clash of the Titans and Hot Tub Time Machine (neither of which I really liked, but there was some redeeming entertainment value to Clash of the Titans- and thanks to the coupon book, the movies were $6 and $7.50 respectively), I had a visitor, I was a visitor myself, I accidently broke something of Nadine's :(, I was taken out by Nadine to a very nice dinner, I signed up to clean up the school that my church body inhabits on Sundays, I made chicken curry, I went to the Grove, I went to Yogurtland, I went to the beach, I caught a Quakes game on a heartbreakingly perfect Sunday afternoon, I talked to my brother, I watched LOST, I mourned over the fact that LOST is a repeat tonight, I started to wind down at my current job, I got part of this song down pat:
(~53 sec to about 1:20)
Yes, as most of you know, I made the drive up to Laytonville out of love for my cousin and his family, which is my family too. The drive north was fascinating, and I wasnt bored for a second. I owe it all to a filled-out music selection, sunny weather, no traffic woes, fantastic gas mileage (only took me about 1.25, 1.5 tanks of gas to get up there), and plain old anticipation. Ah.. and how could i forget the ever-changing, gorgeous scenery? What a beautiful drive. I cant wait for an excuse to do it again, I really cant.
When I arrived, it was late- not sure if it was 12am or just before, but I had such a sense of serenity as I stepped out of my car onto shaky legs and looked up through the trees to see brilliant stars. Mmm, just lovely. Wild life was humming gently around me. I was welcomed with hugs and about 20-30 minutes of chat, and then we all decided to call it a night.
The next morning, I awoke to the sounds of various farm animals outside my window. Everything else was quiet, and I could see the sun out my window. The grass was covered in early morning country mist. Absolutely picturesque. I just laid there for a few minutes, and soon heard Ryder across the house talking with his mom. Then, the pitter patter of little feet, and then silence. From bed, I glanced through the gap in the open door of my room to see a curious little face framed by wild feathery blonde hair gazing back.
I invited him in and, friendly fellah, he entered the room with a smile on his face and started chatting away with me. I asked him if he wanted the wet willey that his grandpa had told me to give to him, and he grinned before declining. In no time, he had me up and out of bed, and we sat on the floor of his play room and made castles for quite a while.
Throughout that morning I received a fairly thorough tour of his toy room and everything in it. We were eventually joined by Mat's friend Jacob and his son Griffin, who's a bit younger than Ryder. (Ryder just turned 3, by the way- had a great birthday party, lots of fun presents, and a racecar pinata!)
We all played together until breakfast was served- and of course, Mat is a ridiculously good cook. I generally dont eat pig meat, not on principle but just because I dont like it, but the ham he made was fresh and tasty. Hash browns, eggs, oj, and I was better than good to go. Thank you, cousin.
We went for a walk down their country lane, came back and played some more (ABCs for Ryder, reading, more castles), and settled in for lunch (perfect chicken salad- big chunks of chicken, walnuts, grapes, onions, consumed with pita bread).
Mat and I had a chance to talk one on one during and after mealtime. I wonder if we had ever really talked, or spent concentrated time together. When I was little I remember thinking that he was the coolest. Now of course I love all of my cousins for the unique people that they've become :) Anyhow, before I dig myself into a hole here, haha (because the fight for the Favorite Uncle title is about to break out, I can just feel it) ...in the afternoon, we (minus Erin, who was wiped out at that point and opted to stay home) drove down the street a bit to pick up some groceries and "visit" the family on Skype. WOWWWW Ryder is so cute. Every time his grandpa (Mat's dad, my uncle) came into view on the computer screen, Ryder would wave and shout Hi Grandpa! Mat doesnt YET have a computer or internet, so this stuff was pretty novel to Ryder. When I videoed him earlier in the day, he was mesmerized by seeing himself on my computer. In any case, it was bittersweet but overall so very wonderful to see everyone gathered, and to be able to be a small part of it. I know that it meant a lot to Mat as well. What a great family I have.
Skype ended all too soon, and we returned to the house for steak and porkchops, asparagus, and shoot, I'm sure there was something else but all I can think about is the asparagus :) Yum. More chatting ensued. Cousinhood is an interesting sort of relationship. In my experience, it's essentially that you're cordially bound to certain people by blood/family ties, but you dont really have the pressure that comes along with a straight up friendship to keep in touch consistently. In a way, it's kind of nice to have people who care about you by default, even without too much of a reason. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Mat better. He is so sweet to Ryder, and he and Erin seem to have a great home set up in this new place (they bought it late last year). The house itself is really nice. They've got fowl running around all over the place, sheep, horses, a pig (Garret!), a fluffy cat, and two dogs. Really quite peaceful.
The night ended on a high note, with the consumption of Erin's blueberry upside-down cake. So good!! Then Ryder buried us all one by one in his stuffed animals (which he lugged from his room) and then it was time for bed!
The next morning was short, but sunny and summery and idyllic. We built a few more castles for good measure, and Mat cooked us up omelets with potato, carrot, and asparagus. Avocado on top. AHHHHH, this was mindblowing. I made the same thing a few days after I got back. As you can tell, I was a fan of the menu the whole weekend.
Mat, Erin, and Ryder were off to the beach for the day, and eventually I said my goodbyes and commenced my return journey. It only took about a half-hour longer than before, as I hit some light traffic around Oakland. Just a warning- the stretch of road about 45 min north of LA- the 5- is DANGEROUSLY beautiful. I couldnt keep my eyes on the road. I wish I could describe it to you, but just think towering mountains, green everywhere, grass and darker dots of trees, everything soft and rolling... and even worse, I drove through there during the Golden Hour period of the evening, so everything looked even more perfect.
Where the 5 meets the 580 (i believe it's the 580), it's a lot of green rolling hills, and an army of windmills/wind turbines. That was fascinating, especially on my drive up, when I wasnt expecting it. Three-armed turbines of all different sizes were spinning at varying speeds... very interesting to watch. Around exit 325 on the 5, i noticed an amazingly potent, floral, sweet smell. It was there on the way up and on the way back. I wish I knew what was growing in the fields along that stretch of road, because the smell was unforgettable.
What else? My friend Tiffany came to visit this past Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I met her during my Music Semester on Martha's Vineyard- the CMC.
(Shawna, Me, Tifftastic)
(Andrea, Tiff, Me somewhere in LA)
She's living in NC right now and decided it was a good time to visit, while she'd have the dual benefits of seeing me and escaping to LA for a few days! The first time I visited LA was actually during that CMC semester, so Tiff and I have some history in this part of town even. We had a blast! Unfortunately, I had to work on Thursday and Friday, but we made the most of it. She got her fill of Century City, and took my car down the road to Westwood Village on Friday to explore a bit. We made chicken curry on Thursday night, and then went to Yogurtland. She was very similar to me in my initial reaction to Yogurtland. I had been talking it up all day to her, and when we got there she tried a few flavors and agreed that everything tasted pretty good; was happy for the toppings bar, and noted without yet fully understanding the significance that the price was by ounce (30 cents/oz). This was just how my first experience went. And then, we got to the register, and I told the cashier that our yogurts were together, and Tiff started to protest.. until the cashier gave us our total, and the total was something like $4.30. At that point, her eyes went wide and she got pretty darn excited- as I had done, too. Cheeeeeap! A little money goes a LONG way at this place. You can get a TUB of froyo for under $3. Anyhow, she was sold.
The next day was work for me, as I mentioned, and Tiff did some exploring. Then, we were going to catch a sunset cruise around the bay in Newport Beach (I got 2 for cheap as part of a www.livingsocial.com deal). Unfortunately, due to several unexpected delays, we missed the cruise... so we went to the Grove instead, caught Clash of the Titans for cheap (thanks to my coupon book! woohoo!). Snuck coffee and cookies into the theatre, because we baaaad. The movie was ridiculous, but it was a leisure activity, and we could laugh about it afterward, so no real complaints.
Saturday... hmm. Saturday we visited Buffalo Exchange (in Westwood Village), which is like a thrift store but people sell their clothes to the shop instead of donating. They were having a $1 sale, and while I purchased a couple duds, I also bought a few great items. It was a madhouse so we didnt last long there. UCLA, which is directly next to Westwood Village, was holding The Festival of Books, so we walked up that way and ended up perusing for quite a while. We eventually came across a $5 or less books tent, and I got some great bargains! $17.50 for a large hardcover coffee table type book called The Chronicle of Baseball, a large softcover Encyclopedia of Soccer, an old nifty looking Complete Works of Shakespeare, and Interviews from Red Sox Nation. Tiff got a piano book. We lugged everything back to the car, went back to Nadine's for a quick lunch, walked to Century City for a dessert of a See's Candies sample each, drove out to the beach in Santa Monica and were beach bums for a while, returned to Nadine's, walked to get coffee down the street, came back to the house and crashed for a while, made dinner, drove to Yogurtland one last time, then headed out for a drive until it was time to go to LAX. We ended up on Hollywood Blvd near all of the constant hubbub area, and decided to find a place to park and walk around.
We strolled along the walk of stars, saw Grauman's Chinese Theatre (as well as its less flashy sibling, Grauman's Egyptian Theatre), and people-watched from the top level of a plush, gorgeous outdoor mall complex. Lots of over-excited teens; lots of costumed hooligans (spidey, superman, a sparkly-shirted ape man, etc). Never a dull moment. Eventually it was time to head, and I dropped her at LAX without incident. It was a super fun time. I need to find my camera and post a few pics.
Lastly, because this is feeling long now... I went to a Quakes game on Sunday.
Got those glasses for $1 at Buffalo Exchange. They're ok. They'll do.
It was the kind of day that's perfect to spend at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. Fenway, well I love Fenway whenever, but I especially love it in the evening/at night. McCoy is great for sunny Sunday afternoons. The Quakes won, and I got some color sitting and scoring the game. It was such a relaxing few hours... I wish the stadium was even 10 miles closer to West LA. Before the gates opened, I had Boba Tea which another CMC friend had recommended to me all of 5 years ago. I chose Pineapple, and, well, it was ok. VERY sweet. It was more of a pineapple slush, ice and pineapple, with tapioca bubbles at the bottom. All in all, it was too sweet for me to get even halfway through, but I'm glad I finally tried it. Also before the game, there were 3 coed softball games happening around the stadium (it's called the Epicenter, hee)... a bunch of nice baseball and softball fields surround the Epicenter. AND it was Little League day, so all sorts of teams were there and the kids marched around the field before the game. Cute.
Any good road trip ideas? I still need to see San Francisco, but I'll wait to make that happen around Mat's wedding. San Diego is also on the radar. Taking suggestions.
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