Tooth Fairy

My niece is adorable. She's getting so old she's losing teeth now. This pic of her letter to the tooth fairy made my day.

MIT Hack

MIT kids are smart, Harvard kids are dumb.

"In recognition of the release of Halo 3, a highly anticipated video game by Microsoft and Bungie, MIT hackers adorned the John P. Harvard statue, in Harvard Yard, with a Spartan helmet. The back of the helmet, which is worn by the protagonist of the game, Master Chief, was labeled with “Master Chief in Training.” The statue was decorated with an assault rifle (bullet count of 2E), as well as a Beaver emblem on the right shoulder."

Wee Ninja in da house

Thanks to a random birthday present our apartment has a little flair which makes me happy. Thanks Karren, 'preciate cha!



We might change it out from time to time. Any suggestions on what else we should put there?

The King of Kong & Live Free or Die

After a couple of weekends in Maine, we decided to accept an invitation to lake winnipesauke in NH. I've heard much about the lake and I was quite excited to see it for myself and go waterskiing. Turns out I didn't waterski (I was too much of a wuss and it was pretty choppy, only wakeboarding water...) but I lied to Whitney and told her I would go after her. hahaha. Poor girl. She was COLD. I did end up getting into the water after we got off the boat and we were in the hot tub. The water wasn't bad at all, it was just windy and chilly outside.



I think this is an awesome pic of Cam wakeboarding.



Whitney got up for the first time. She was an instant pro. Though a cold instant pro.



Fun with testing my arm length...


The real star was Jared...getting some major air here.

If you haven't seen The King of Kong : Fistful of Quarters yet, you MUST go see this movie. Its only about an hour and 20 mins, but its pure joy the whole film length. It's a documentary about middle aged men fighting for the crown of highest Donkey Kong score ever. You think its a mockumentary its just so rich with humor & good lines. Part of the movie takes place at Fun Spot at Lake Winnipesauke. We were quite excited to make a pilgrimage to this famous arcade and play some of the classic games of old.

Steve Wiebe -- one of the main characters in King of Kong.

Billy Mitchell -- the other main character in King of Kong.

Whitney might kill me for putting this up, I have no idea how my camera captured that wild look in her eye as she approached the Tetris machine...but we can just say its a miracle and not question it.

PONG!
I played Frogger for a good 20 mins. You really can't go wrong with this one.

I LOVE this game and the fact its in such great condition. A true classic.

Me getting my butt kicked on the famous Donkey Kong machine from the movie.


Skee-ball : The game for the masses.

Live Free or Die, folks. Really.

Funspot was full of classic arcade games, it was quite fun. Although I had one huge gripe: No X-men! Boo. All in all, I gained a new appreciation for the good ole state of New Hampshire.

YO! MTV Raps + Puma = Awesomeness

I was on my way home after stopping for JP Licks fro yo when I walked by the Puma store on Newbury and was delighted to see huge Yo! MTV Raps signs in the window. Apparently the 80s are back, just in case you were blind for the past year. I didn't go inside because I had my fro yo cone, but I can't wait to see the flourescent kicks that this collaboration comes up with. I think I was like 3 years old when Yo! MTV Raps came out originally...but I still feel connected to it.

Vote for the 756 ball fate.

Marc Ecko bought Barry's 756th HR ball from the Mets fan that caught it August 7th. Now Marc wants the "public" to decide what to do with the ball -- send it to the Hall of Fame, send it to the Hall of Fame with a burned asterisk, or send it out to space.

Who knows if he's really going to follow the public's opinion (there is no way to see which option is winning in votes) or if he would really send it out to space...but I voted anyway.

http://www.vote756.com/marcecko/

I'm big in Boston.

My dear brother Cameron invited me to go to the Yankees-Red Sox game on Friday night. It was quite a fun game until the 8th, when the yankees got 6 runs. But despite that, Cam and I still made it on Boston.com. Check out this great pic.


To see for yourself...go to
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/gallery/09_14_07_fenway_scene?pg=16

The guy that is in the green and white striped shirt next to me...he was so funny. Typical New Englander...from Quincy, Irish Catholic, drank alot, die hard sox fan, yankee fan heckler.

It was a great game until I had my heart ripped out and stomped on. But anyway...we still won last night. :)

The Wit is back.

When walking home from school on Wednesday I had the sudden urge to start my blog up again. Along with that, I had this post inspire me on that same day, and two of my friends told me they really missed my blog.

So here we go.

I think its September in Boston that gets me so excited about life in general and which is why I had the sudden urge to blog again. Not necessarily that my life hasn't been exciting since March, au contraire...but perhaps I'm open again to having all of you read about it again. And for me, its a lovely way to journal.

March Madness

With selection Sunday just around the corner, I'm shaking in my slip on vans.

Why, you ask? Because my bracket last year simply rocked. My first round was nearly perfect (I think I missed 2 games out of 32) and my second round was nearly the same. I was on top in my BU law pool and a BYU law school pool. It was the first year I didn't bet any money and I was totally kicking myself for it. But this year, I have a feeling I'm not going to do as well as last year and that will leave me deflated. How can you beat a nearly perfect first round of your bracket? (I still brag about it)

I do have hope though. Last year I followed college basketball a little more than this year (and besides, there seems like there is a lot more fluctuation in team performance this season) but I still predicted 0 out of 4 final four teams.

The goal this year is to still have fun picking my teams (I still dont think I'll pick BYU, they always choke and as much and I'd love to cheer for them, if they are really going up against Texas Tech...puhlease...), watching all the games (if only it was on my plasma...hee hee I'll be at home instead), and drawing up my family's bracket (a tradition I started in the 5th grade after realizing how much fun the NCAA tourney was). Btw, I had a winning streak for my family's bracket for like 5 years straight. It was beautiful. I think JB (?) won it last year w/ Florida...or maybe it was Hillary. Maybe I can regain some of the family bragging rights. (we just choose names out of a hat, its all luck)

March is my favorite time of the year b/c of March Madness. I have very fond memories in undergrad of skipping class and watching all the first round games. When else can you have 16 games in a day? March Madness also got me through the one weekend I spent in the hospital recovering from sepsis my freshman year. Last year I skipped property and watched the Boston College first round game in T's pub on Comm Ave. Skipping class was a good choice last time. March Madness also reminds me of the time in 1994 when my dad decided we should scalp tickets for the final four and I got to go to it. There was also the time sophomore year when Mike and I went up to the U and got tickets to see the Gonzaga-Arizona game that went into triple OT. I screamed so hard I had a headache for about an hour. Now I'm just rambling about my favorite March Madness moments...anyway...It also signals the end of what I think is the most exciting sports event (all those college players play with so much heart, and each time they just have one game to play) while it signals the start of...BASEBALL. :)

So I will definitely do my research this year and choose carefully. But I vow not to be disappointed and I will love every minute of the double OTs, incredible last second shots, the endearing cinderellas, and hopefully the teams I hate exiting early. I seriously can't wait.

UPDATE: I ended up with all 4 of my final 4...I was quite happy with my results. And I beat my roommate who bragged about her bracket for a long time...she ended up with 0/4.

Nostalgia

This weekend whilst in DC I was talking to someone (I really wish I could remember who it was...dang) about how much I love U2. We were talking about our favorite albums and I said Achtung Baby and Zooropa. He agreed that Zooropa was awesome (I think it was a he at least..) and then dawned on me that I hadn't listened to that album in SO long. Zooropa was my first CD I purchased when I was in 5th grade and I just got a new CD player. I felt SO cool going to Sam Goody at Bellevue Square to purchase my first CD. $13.99 was so worth the hours and hours of play time that the CD got in my room. I was just talking about how awesome the album is with Karren on gchat right now...and we decided the WHOLE album is so good. Lemon, Zooropa, Babyface, Stay, Who's Gonna Pay for your Crashed Car, Dirty Day, the Wanderer...seriously the whole album is awesome. And who could forget the music video for Numb w/ the Edge?



Anyway, I just looked up Zooropa in my itunes and I'm listening to it right now. It's bringing me back to dancing around in my room on Yarrow Point when I was 11! I can still remember exactly how my room looked too. I felt so cool b/c I could finally put up my own posters (my mom didnt let me hang posters in Menlo Park). I had a big U of W Huskies poster along with a big Squaw Valley Poster (which I still have somewhere I think). I even had the U2 calendar from 1995 hanging up in that room.




Anyway, thank you U2 for bringing me back to my elementary and middle school days. I'm so enjoying this.

What are your favorite albums that bring you back in time?

Recharging

This weekend was so perfect and it was exactly what I needed. At the last minute I booked a ticket to DC and stayed with my friend Amber. I couldn't have picked a better weekend for the weather (sunny and 60), friends (one of my best friends from growing up was randomly there with a bunch of my other friends), fun (parties, shopping, museums, tours, late night chats, french toast, going out to dinner, etc) and other random things.

I was in such a good mood when I got home. Then the weight of the reading assignments, work, papers, etc came down on me along with the realization that we have mice in our apt.

I'm still smiling about the weekend though. And instead of reading, I watched Laguna Beach. How's that for escapism?

Oscar Wrap Up

So I never like the Oscars. But I watch them anyway. This year I was more excited about them because I had actually seen quite a few of the movies that were nominated: The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, Marie-Antoinette, The Queen...so anyway I felt more attached or more invested in it this year than previous years, when I hadn't seen any of the movies nominated.

Again, I was disappointed. I always ask myself why I watch. I mean I love the gowns and all, but its always too political and I just get annoyed about how self-aggrandizing it is. I always find myself saying, "What a waste of my time", yet I still watch. It's just a show to be like "look how great Hollywood is" when really Hollywood ain't that great. Yet I still go and see their movies.

Jack Black and Will Ferrell were the only good parts. Okay, and Jennifer Hudson.

But I was quite excited the departed won and so did Martin Scorcese. But I still dont endorse seeing it. It really was highly offensive. Even though it was good.

Can you see how I feel here people? I'm totally divided on this Oscar issue.

So...to sum up, I love and hate the oscars.

I'd date him

More Bounce in California

When I booked my ticket in October, little did I know that my flight to Huntington Beach to visit Katie and Corey would come at the perfect time. Two weeks into winter and I was definitely ready for some warmth and sunshine.

Upon my arrival (my flight was a little late and the direct TV was out...sadness) Corey picked me up and guess where we went first...that's right IN and OUT for my favorite cheeseburger with grilled onions. *sigh* Thank goodness for DVR b/c I didn't miss Greys and The Office. Both hilarious.

Friday morning I realized that the 6 1/2 hour flight was totally worth it when I got to take a nice long run along the beach in shorts and tshirt and being blinded by the sun. While Corey was at work I just slept in and took the run and got ready. When she got home we went to this fantabulous hole in the wall taqueria in Newport Beach and then headed straight for some high quality shopping at South Coast Plaza. I had heard about South Coast for years and was very happy to finally go there. I was in heaven with a Saks, Nordstrom, Chloe, Tory Burch, JoMalone, Coach, Barneys, Cole-Haan, Zara, all in the same place. My only gripe was that it was inside and we didn't get to soak up more sunshine. We got to the mall at like 4 and closed it down at 9 pm. The last stop was Ted Baker where I got this absolutely fabulous coat. (I had buyers remorse the next day, but heh lucky for me they didn't take returns so I"m stuck with it :) Then we headed to Claim Jumpers for a later dinner and Katie joined us. We all had the seared ahi tuna salad that had beets in it...just divine. It came with this garlic cheese bread that was oh so tasty. Followed up by some amazing dessert:


Mud Pie for the Masses is really what it should have been named.

Saturday we slept in. (The whole time I was there I slept like 11 hours every night, it was heaven). Then we went on a run, then we went to downtown HB for guess what...more shopping. The Shoe Lab on Main St where we all bought a pair of hot shoes. Here is Katie and I checking ourselves out.





It's a good thing Corey and I live in different cities b/c great fashion minds think alike and we ended up with the same pair of shoes. And they were on sale...even better.

We went to Wahoo's Fish Tacos for lunch. Simply heaven. If I lived in HB I think I'd have these everyday. It was great when I watched the first season of Laguna Beach this weekend that they had a scene in Wahoos. I felt all special.

When we walked into The Closet on main, I felt like I was back in Haight Ashbury. They had some fabulous pieces, but thankfully I didn't walk away with anything b/c I had done my damage the day before (plus that pair of shoes I bought on saturday, see above) But I did kind of like this hat. It looked better on sideways though.

My favorite pic of the trip. This happened in Burlington Coat Factory. Enough said.


Me & the one girl I know who loves Big Gulps more than I do.

Saturday night we saw Catch & Release. Nothing to write home about but I thought the leading guy (timothy olyphant) was kind of cute (even though he was the slimy guy...whatever). I still love Jennifer Garner even if this movie was trying to do too much. Kevin Smith made me laugh too. I wanted more of a romantic comedy, not like 5 plots shoved together incoherently. But I still enjoyed myself.

Sunday was Stake Conference and we got to hear L. Tom Perry speak which was a treat. I really loved his talk because he was so positive and really down to earth.

After church we headed south to Laguna Beach to meet up with my brother for dinner.

As we stood on the beach watching the sun set, I couldn't help but be overcome with gratitude for how beautiful the scene was. I think I appreciated it more being away from the sun and warmth for so long. For some reason the ocean was really turquoise too which made me very happy. I just stared at it for the longest time.


Dinner in Laguna was amazing..I had some Salmon something. Cam and I love taking pics together. haha.

So we were driving back and I decided I really couldn't leave just yet and I stayed for a couple more days. Monday and Tuesday I shopped, read, ran, and watched some more TV. It was simply the best weekend...I LOVED it. Not to mention Corey and Katie are two of my favorite people. Miss you guys!

Presidents Weekend Looked A Lot Like This

Pretty much my weekend in a nutshell.