'YOUR GAS IS OPEN'

If you didn't already know, Meg-o and I took a San Fran-hiatus to Santa Barbara to visit her dad this past weekend. We left on Thursday morning and drove four hours south to what they call the 'central coast.' I don't know, in Florida we have the Panhandle, central Florida, and SoFla, central coast just seems like an oxymoron to me. Nevertheless, the drive was fairly painless AND we were good samaritans and notified some people that their gas tank was completely unscrewed and open (How? I have no idea, but one flicked cigarette butt and bye-bye fancy Lexus.). Go us.

Megan's father and his wife, Loretta, are just the sweetest people. We were so girly this weekend, facials and pedicures, and not gonna lie, I lovedd it. Getting pedicure was a little scary, but people touching your feet isn't bad when you're expecting it and when they aren't doing it maliciously (Alen). The scrubbing part was kinda tough, but I think it was worth how pretty my toes currently look. Girly, girly, girly.

It gets girlier. After facials the first day, we went to go see Sex and the City. IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY SEEN SEX AND THE CITY 2, GO SEE IT. I'm not going to lie to you, the first one is better, but the clothes are just fabulous. That's all I can say until Amanda gives me the okay.

After the movie, we parked in BFE in her dad's neighborhood because, of course, there was no parking near his house. So we're walking to the house at one in the morning, and some person's chihuahua is barking at us. Problem is, the dog is outside their owner's yard and starts to follow us. I learned at an early age you just don't run from dogs, so I'm just working on maintaining a brisk walk. Megan, on the other hand, decides on a rather brisk jog. We made it to the house without any altercations, but fact of the matter is, homegirl ran from a chihuahua.

Saturday, we drove to San Luis Obispo, had lunch, saw the mission, and walked around the town. San Luis Obispo is cute, the people remind me of the people in Florida but it looks a lot like San Antonio, Texas.

I didn't actually get to see the inside of the mission because there was a wedding in progress (Which is fine because I, fully and adoringly, support matrimony), but what I did see was very nice. After that, I put my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

It's hella cold, people. Beautiful, but the water is flippin' cold.

So we're back, and tomorrow is my last day to kick back and be on vacation. I must, must start working out again this week and my internship begins on Tuesday. I'm not nervous yet. I don't know, I don't think I've fully wrapped my mind around the awesomeness. Stay posted to hear all about my first day and to see how freaking lost I get on Tuesday trying to navigate public transportation.

chin

postscript - In case you wanted to know, top three songs on the radio right now in California are 1) In My Head - Jason Derulo, 2) Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz, and 3) OMG - Usher. I had a total of eight hours with car radio to figure this out. Kill. Me. California Girls by Katy Perry was super close but inconveniently came on at times when we completely lost radio signal, and we only had to hear Alejandro by Lady Gaga once each way. Thank god.

post postscript - When at dinner with people you've just met, before expressing any strong dislike you have about any university, make sure you know who is an alumnus of where. Yes, I'm speaking from experience. I'm an idiot, that's all.

"So then the Vikings.."

So I've been in the Bay for a little over a day now, and it's real comf (as in comfortable, I've got to get back in this abbrevs thing). This is a really strange thing to be excited about, but I feel like a normal person because I get super sleepy at around 11 pm and wake up at ten until 8 every morning. Pacific Time isn't so scary, maybe it's just Eastern Time that sucks.

First official outing was to the California Academy of Sciences.

I really enjoyed this museum because it really put things in perspective for me. I'm sure a lot of you have heard me say I don't really like animals. Yesterday, I realized this is absolutely false. I am absolutely fascinated by animals...behind glass that don't have faces.

The starfish are Megan and I. I'll give a dollar to the first person to guess who's who and why.

After the Academy of Sciences, there was 'college story time with Nanan' and coffee AND, for the first time in awhile, we experienced rush hour traffic in combination with five o'clock radio. It's the little things in life that are constant reminders that Oberlin is not real life, people.

Dinner was the absolute best. Chris is currently reading all about the history of the Norse and what not and who knew that there are about six degrees of separation between the Vikings and...everything (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, etc.). I have not laughed that hard in weeks. Megan was crying. It was great.

The second best thing about both of Megan's houses (after Chris) is the amazing amount of books available at my disposal. It's fantastic. I'm finally going to finish this Michael Jackson biography that I started on the drive up to college, but I'm simultaneously going to read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan because I just can't wait. I'll keep ya'll posted on the literary scene.

I don't know exactly what's happening, but it's 11:26 am and we're leaving to do..something (Italian people? North beach? pizza? idk.). GO SEE SEX AND THE CITY 2 TONIGHT, AT MIDNIGHT. That's all.

chinnnn

"Ma'am, your bag is 16 lbs. overweight."

Helloooo. So if you look below, you'll see my feeble attempt at wrapping up my winter term project. Haha, if you don't already know, that was quite an experience so we're just going to leave it at that. Adios Toni.

HOWEVER, tengo un proyecto nuevo. SAN FRANCISCO. If somehow you missed me raving all spring semester about how I'm going to be living/working/breathing for three months in San Francisco, I've got news for you. I'm in San Francisco and on Pacific Time.

Getting here, that was an experience. After a night of Thumper with our next-door neighbor lax bros and co., Megan and I woke up late. Yes, I was a little bit frazzled but not the end of the world. The end of the world was getting to the airport and having, not one, but both of our bags be overweight. Severely overweight. A total of twenty-seven pounds overweight. Okay, it wasn't the end of the world but I did panic a little. Thank god for Megan, because while I panicked she played master problem solver. I just want to take a moment and apologize to my parents for calling and freaking out. Sorry guys. Airports are stressful, stressful places people.

Nine hours of travel later, I arrived. It's beautiful people, really beautiful, and I haven't even done anything spectacular yet. For those of you who know Megan, you know she's all about family (which is funny because you probably also know she swears she's never getting married. just a heads up, that's false. she may not know it yet, but she's going to have a fantastic husband and lots of children. shh.). I haven't even been here for twenty-four hours and it's already obvious why she talks about her family all the time. They are so welcoming and just wonderful people. Also, her stepdad, Chris, reminds me SO MUCH of one of my favorite Obies ever. It's actually hilarious, he's already a favorite of mine.

So try and keep up with me this summer, I already have so much to talk about and it's only day one. There will be pictures. It's going to be great fun people, great fun.

Chin