I am blogging a little later in the week because I was waiting for the day I cook something new. However, I had an eventful weekend that left me with so many left overs, I haven't had the need to cook for the last four days (unless you consider a half a sandwich or heating up some premade tomato soup cooking).
Last week was a nice week. I got to check out that swap meet I spoke of in my last blog. I'm not sure if it was because I went later in the evening when it, technically, starts at 7 am, but it was extremely small. There were only about 8 or 9 booths up, so I was in and out of there in a matter of minutes. I spent some time looking at records but didn't find anything good. But, hey, if any of you are interested in collecting Donny Osmond records, let me know, there's plenty of those. I did buy some jewelry and got to speak a little spanish in the meantime. I, also, had my first guitar lesson last Tuesday and loved it. I am so excited to finally be playing again. I am sad that I'm not learning from my dad but it is probably good for me to play with a room of complete strangers, so that I get over this whole "fear of playing in front of anyone who is not my dad" thing. It does help that my teacher reminds me an awful lot like my dad though. He even had a long pony tail and wears skater shoes like my dad! Although, my dad's cooler with his checkered vans instead of this guys bulky skater shoes. After my guitar lessons, I made it to the farmers market like I hoped I would. I didn't have much cash on me, so I only bought new flowers to replace my old and wilting ones and then headed home. A quick trip is better than no trip.
We have continued to have amazingly beautiful days:
I really hope they stay for a while. I understand we need rain and that there are these things called "seasons", but I will give up complaining about winter if I can just hang on to this weather for a few more weeks..or a little longer.
Please?
It was so nice outside I drove downtown to do some...um... light shopping. HA! That's what I thought! I went to check out our new H&M. Turns out, on that corner alone, there is an H&M, Forever 21 and a Marshalls. This is also the half way point between Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. I am in some serious trouble. Time to find a job.
All last week, I worked hard on my apartment. I put things together that I have been putting off for a while, set up my desk and emptied out several boxes. As much as I would love to say I did this due to my strong will and discipline, I didn't. I did it because my sister and the rest of the Koçak fam came to visit me over the weekend. I knew I would get scolded if I left it the way it was before she arrived. (Scolded with love ;) love you sista) Plus, I really wanted it to be nice for them. I had a few tasks to
get done before they came. One of these tasks was to ask my upstairs neighbors to cool it on the music and partying over the weekend so that the babies could sleep. This was the first time I've interacted with my neighbors, mind you. I must seem really cool at this point. Whatev, they were super quiet which was awesome. The Koçaks arrived late Friday night. My nephews were both excited to see me, probably not as much as I was to see them. My sister, brother-in-law and I caught up, while the kids watched one of my favorite movies, Ratatouille (yeah, I said it...FAVORITE). I got to sleep with my nephew, Ata, both nights. That makes me happy every time. On Saturday, after a big, homemade, breakfast, we headed to the zoo. I'll let the pictures illustrate our trip:
After the zoo, we eventually met up with one of my closest friends, Tatianni. She lives in Washington right now but she was on a road trip back down to Redlands and she stopped by SB for a visit. It was awesome to see her. It made me really miss her. I instructed her and her boyfriend to get some macarons at a french cafe that's a little ways down from the restaurant we were at. I talked the macarons up so much at lunch that Missy and Orsan wanted some for dessert (I love introducing people to macarons, if there is anybody out there that wants me to bring some back for them this weekend let me know). We ended up walking there, which turned out to be a 2 mile walk... a little longer than a few blocks like I had told them is was. Luckily, they are fans of the fitness. Saturday was pretty much perfect. After the long walks and devouring 13 macarons, we just sat around in my apartment and talked the rest of the night.
Sunday, we woke up and walked to the beach. It was a gorgeous day to run around on the sand amongst dozens of surfers and skip rocks:
Once we got home, Missy made a huge amount of beans and rice for some burritos and some delicious broccoli and brussel sprouts with dried cranberry, pistachios and lemon...so good! Hence, the leftovers I spoke of earlier. I've had my share or burritos this week. After burritos, we left for the gelato place I had been talking about for a week. Of course, the time I take people to this place, they don't deliver. The gelato was icey, as if it had been there for a long time. I still have faith though. I'll have to go back again just to make sure it's still good. Alas, the weekend had to come to an end. The fam packed up and left me to watch tv... I mean do homework... all alone. I would have been extremely sad if it weren't for my going home this weekend. I was still sad.
This week has been uneventful but a good one nevertheless. I had another spider attack. Actually, I had a few. Last Thursday, the day before my sister came out, I opened my door after coming home from a long study sesh, only to walk into a spider web. As soon as I turned on the light, I looked up and saw the infestation that had taken over my ceiling. These tiny spiders were taking over! I immediately got the vacuum out and sucked up every single spider I saw. I took out the stepping stool and, no joke, vacuumed my apartment carpet to ceiling. I didn't notice them after that but Missy said she kept seeing them, especially on Sunday. Well, come Sunday a new batch of tiny spiders were making their way around my ceiling again. It's time to tell the manager. Naturally, I didn't tell the manager on monday because I had vacuumed them up and they were no longer a problem at the moment. Well, nothing like hundreds of newly hatched spiders crawling up your wall like a colony of ants to stop you from procrastinating. Here's what I discovered behind my long, vertical floor lamp... like they were purposefully trying to get up to my ceiling without being seen:
I know it's gross. I swear my apartment is not dirty. I vacuumed all of these spiders up and every spider that I saw after that. I emailed my manager directly after I dealt with them and went to her the next day as soon as I got out of my first class. She warned me that this might happen right before I moved in and she said they would take care of it then and is determined to take care of it now. She is sending someone over to spray my apartment this week. I haven't had a problem since, but I don't know what surprise I have coming for me if I don't spray my apartment. (people who planned on visiting me in the future, don't let this change your mind. This will all be over soon and I have a queen size air mattress waiting for you.)
On a less disgusting note, I had another guitar lesson last night and I am in the process of learning my scales and a couple of Tracy Chapman songs. I'll tell you how it goes. I didn't make it to the swap meet or the farmers market because I had to study for a test I have coming up but I did go for a long, much-needed run after my lesson. This was the first time I went on this run since I've been back. I run along the bluffs that over look the beach. It is a beautiful run:
I could run forever when I've got a view like this to enjoy! I get lost in my surroundings and sometimes forget how long I've been running. It makes me happy.
Today, has been a good day. I have been in an optimistic mood all day. I am truly excited and grateful for my life at the moment. I am going through some uncomfortable and difficult times but they are also times I know will provide new experiences and put me in new situations that will promote growth and self awareness. I have some plans for my near future... new clubs, activism, a job. All sorts of goodies.
It's 2:30 am and I am going to force myself to go to bed now. I know I didn't say everything I wanted to, but so much comes to mind as I write, it becomes hard to stay on track. I need to start a journal to remind myself what I should blog for y'all later. I bet you guys are excited at the idea of longer blogs... right? At least the picture are becoming more abundant, ehh?
I will leave you with pictures of me and my adorable nephew Ata, who always wants to take pictures with me on my computer so that we can laugh together about what he looks like. These are just few of several pictures:
None, however, make me as happy as this one:
<3 <3 <3
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