Do You Know the Way to San Jose...

i just flew in from Tulsa and boy are my arms tired...

hahahahaha!

i got into San Jose airport late friday night to be welcomed out of the cold air(where is the warm Silicone Valley?) by my bestest friend in the whole entire world, Carrie. i'm here for her wedding! odd factoid about me, i have never been in a wedding party. sure i was a candle lighter twice when i was a kid, but that doesn't count. this does. any who, been a busy 2 days already. i'll start off my trip with a little jealousy of the avocado tree in my Carebear's Mountain View yard. i would never live in CA, but a perk would be to go outside and pick an avocado off of my own tree. ughhh, one point for CA. zero, OK. citrus trees are another thing i wish could grow in my lovely OKlahoma. kumquats abundant in her front yard, ouch! 2-o, CA.

me playing with my new app in the "nursery". can't see my belly, can you?

i have my to-do list when i come and visit, which includes 2 of my "happy places". first happy place is Ikea, duh. why don't we have one in OK? doh! 3-0, CA.
i had to get some essential items for house. crib sheets, kids dishes, tubberware, scrubby brushes, etc. i don't care how crowded it gets there, i love it. the cheap furniture, gorgeous fabrics, $.99 things you cannot not take home, and of course the cafeteria! mmmm, swedish meatballs and sparkling currant drink! "happy place" #2 coming soon, you'll be jealous, i already am.

so, being a pre-wedding weekend, we had a bacholorette party. the first part being a day at the spa. we rented a room at Watercourse Way, in Palo Alto. we had 2 spa rooms, each room had a whirlpool, freezing cold plunge, and either a body shower or sauna. for close to 2 hours, 5 naked chicks(2 preggers) lounged in the heat and water sipping sparkling drinks and feasting on berries and cheeses! it was nice, i just wish i could have sat in the sauna for 30 minutes. don't worry, i hardly submerged myself in the waters for longer than a minute, just dangled my tootsies lots. it was still very relaxing. i recommend this place if you are in the area.

next item up for business, AsiaSF. carrie wanted drag, dancing, and food. worked out perfectly. at the corner of 9th and howard in San Francisco this place was a perfect party room. we had a prefix menu, a corner table, loud music, and men who looked more womanly than i prancing around half naked. many times i wondered why their body parts looked better than mine....but oh yeah, they bought theirs, i was born with mine, Thanks Mom!

there is a club in the basement, so before dinner we danced and after dinner we danced. we were quite the group. i think we were the only party that didn't have glittery male appendages on top someones head, or a silk sash displaying our status across the chest. we were an odd group really i guess, 2 preggo girls, no gay men in gold pants, no feather boas, no headpieces, we looked normal.

so after our night in 'da club, i walked outside and there was a Banksy on the wall. weird. it's not everyday you stumble upon one of his pieces of work. i heard he was over in our country putting some pieces up, but never thought i would just happen upon one without looking. this one is part of a SF series i think, it is one of his infamous rats with BP on his chest with a drawing of a rat skull and crossbones next to him. now i know there is more, i think i'll go try to find them later.

you know i can't just leave the score 3-0. i'll just mention some things i noticed. carrie has a garden in her back yard. it is a container garden that is adorable and sufficient. it is the size of my asparagus patch, 3-1.

she just moved to an adorable house with a garage, back yard, fruit bearing trees. it is great. it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath all in a cozy 1,000ish sq ft. 3-2!
my mommi lives less than 5 miles from me, so does carrie's mom. 3-3.

3-3, huh? OKlahoma has seasons. take that sunny but cold silicone valley!

3-4, OK!

Hail Storms in OKlahoma!

Things I Want, Just Because.

anna maria horner's new book! because i think i need new sewing projects.

a serger, so my sewing could be better

fresh strawberries, to make my belly happy

rice pudding, again, to make my belly happy

a prenatal massage, to make my body happy

a karmann ghia, for fun and wind in my hair

quepi reci shoes from Louboutin, because they are beautiful

Oklahoma Spring Storms

oklahoma wall cloud

every spring, us Oklahomans have some crazy weather to deal with. spring thunderstorms can be beautiful, but here in the Heartland they often turn deadly. the warm air coming in from the gulf hits the cold air and makes the sky go crazy. it turns ominous shades of greens, blues, and grays and forms wall clouds that may or may not form a tornado. being outside at these times has the oddest feeling of electricity and calm all at the same time. if you are from here, you know what i mean. all over the television and radio there are warnings and doppler radar pictures for us to watch, but most Oklahomans go outside and watch the sky. sirens could be going off, hail coming down the size of golf balls and most of my neighborhood would be out on their porch looking out. not me. i have a healthy fear of the beast we call "tornado". i call it healthy, it's probably not. they scare me, make me shake in my boots. if the sky even gets that shade of cloudy absinthe, i find the nearest basement to camp out in with my favorite possessions. a close friend of mine was taken by a F-5 (the strongest on the fujita scale) tornado May 3,1999. i remember that night, not sure what was happening in and around my state's capital. i was working in the kitchen at a local restaurant, we were all standing out back listening to the radio and watching the sky. we heard that it hit the city of Moore, we were all wondering if we knew anyone in Moore. i didn't think i did, so i felt fine. the next day i found out i did indeed know someone in Moore, Oklahoma. there was optimism in the beginning, we just didn't know where he was, that area was a mess, how could he call to say he was okay...over 40 people died tragically that day including Rusty. i think about him all the time, especially every spring.

the sky outside my house

anthropologie and wisteria

anthropologie is going into utica square this fall in the old harold's space. a space i always love due to the wondrous amount of wisteria around. i thought it was a great space for anthropologie, especially because of all the whimsical wisteria around the entrances.

when i heard they were going to cut it all down, i thought surely they wouldn't do that, it's so anthropolgie. why would someone chop down all that splendor? i thought "ahhh, it will never happen", and let it go. then monday morning at breakfast what did i see, but men chopping it all down. well, i went right home got my spade and a container and marched right back to dig some up.

wisteria is my favorite floral bush ever. i took these back home and planted them. so did my mom. hopefully one of us has some transplant luck.

oh! and i forgive you anthropologie, i'll let it go, this time...

my backyard

our airstream rv

i love my back yard, and the things in it. if i am not working at the scooter shop, i am usually out back. there are many reasons for me to be out back. one, my neighbors. there are about 6 of us that our backyards back up to each other, so i always know what they are doing. we will chat, share a bottle of wine, eat snacks, give gardening advice, or give away extra plants or eggs. i love it. another reason to be out back is to watch the chickens. i let the chicks out to play for the first time today. they were so cute, taking a dust bath or pecking at the dirt. thirdly, being in the backyard is where my garden is, and being in the garden takes up a lot of time right now. so most of the time when i am out back i will be sitting on my tushy digging in the dirt, if not i feel too guilty to do anything else. if it is sunny out i will do double duty and put my bikini on and absorb some vitaminD while digging. reason number four is the kids. they are always in someone's back yard. i know they are okay, but i feel like i should be outside listening just in case...when will i get over this mother hen attitude?!

my lighthouse my Greek gave me for mother's day 3 years ago

the planter i made for the asparagus

the peas, carrots, and broccoli

playhouse/mudpie restaurant/laying nest

the baby girls, well i hope they are girls

wink! he wanted to play.

so, being in the backyard rules right now. as we know i love the front porch, but no rest for me till my chores are done out back.