Mad Men and madness in general

We've done so much lately my posts are piling up everywhere but my blog. Yet here I am. I'm posting pictures of gold foil. You have to understand I have an upcoming crane deadline that is fast approaching.

I'm surrounded by tiny little piles of gold foil paper. They are multiplying. I can feel them lurking in corners. Staring at me... unfolded and not at all crane-like.



I promise I'll be back to posting substance soon. That is, if you consider 45 pictures of my dinner substantial posts.

I decided to rent the first season of Mad Men to keep me sane during my folding.

What was I thinking? The show is actually make me mad... or sad... or unsettled.



Let me start with what I like. I adore, ADORE the clothes. I can't get enough of the style. I want the furniture. You know I love the cars. The music is fantastic. Really, I want to go back in time and steal all of these things. Then I want to bring them back to my world.

My world involves living and voicing opinions and loving someone and not feeling trapped. I am 4 episodes into the first season and its all so tragic. Tragic I tell you! They are all screaming on the inside. Just watching it made me want to burn my bra (although it would be such a little fire) and smack some sense into every one of those characters. And yet, I am still watching.

I am still day dreaming about the clothes I would like to pluck from the screen. When did wearing dresses become something for special occasions? I need to wear more dresses. I need more red lipstick. It went from normal to daring to wear red lipstick and there just isn't enough red lipstick anymore. What am I rambling about? I have no idea. I think I have gold foil poisoning.

So tell me, you Mad Men fans.... is there a bright side? What keeps you coming back for more? Is everyone trapped and struggling forever? Do you always feel the urge to have a martini while you watch this... or is it just me?

Also, when was the last time you wore red lipstick? I'm taking a survey.

Lovelies

What can I say about my bachelorette weekend? It was amazing.

It was amazing because of these three women that I love dearly. They all took time out of their very busy lives to give me a trip I won't ever forget.

Chrissy, April and Tina are incredible women with incredibly varied lives. None of them knew each other before this weekend. By the end they were exchanging emails and we were talking about future trips.

I have never felt so spoiled in my entire life... and believe me, I've been spoiled.

We got dressed up and dined at fantastic restaurants. We roamed the city and watched the people go by. We sipped champagne. We shopped. We lounged in pjs and gabbed for hours. We never once turned on the TV. We tried new things and made new memories.

We laughed and laughed and laughed.

I love my B but there is nothing like spending quality time with your friends.

The Autumn Equinox

AUTUMN from Greenwave on Vimeo.

At sunset today Autumn officially starts! In celebration of the change of seasons I thought I would put up a few gorgeous videos. (Turn on the HD and view them full screen if you can) The first 2 are calm nature scenes and the last has a bit more energy. Enjoy!

Many of you will get to experience the wonderful fall foliage yourselves. Please share it with me! Having been born and raised in Southern California the changing of seasons has more to do with holidays and activities than it does with nature.

Fall Foliage 2007 from Nick Bowie on Vimeo.

These last two videos were taken in Maine. These are for you Sherri and Kayla!

I have always dreamed of being able to witness the beauty in New England during this season. Someday I'll make it there.

Autumn brings so many things I love. Roasted fall vegetables, the smell of baking, hazy days, spicy scents, cool air and warm blankets. Oh and coats. I love coats. I don't need them but I love them.

The fall makes me think of friends and family coming together. Nights beside the fireplace, gatherings in a warm room and the start of the holidays.

Tumbledown Fall Montage from Desi Van Til on Vimeo.

"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad."
- Edwin Way Teale

What do you like about Autumn?

Ebony (EB)

Jump EB, Jump! This is Ebony.

When we were in Sacramento a few weeks ago we stopped to visit her parents.
I'm pretty sure she thought we were visiting her.




Isn't she gorgeous? Yes, she is a pit but she is not in the least bit ferocious.

I'm not even sure she knows she is supposed to be a big tough girl.



She likes to look at herself in the mirror. She preens.

She loves B. B has a way with animals. Animals and babies.

It must be because they have so much in common.



I was thinking about stealing her ball... but I think she is on to me.

EB is really just a big baby in pit bull's clothing. She thinks she is a lap dog.




We like to cuddle on the couch. I told you she is a big love bug.

Please don't look at my legs. They look weird.

I told you not to look! Actually they represent the ivory in the picture.

Ebony and Ivory... live together in perfect harmony....

Girls Weekend Away

San Francisco from Gabor Tarnok on Vimeo.

I'm leaving today with 3 of my bestest friends and we are heading to San Francisco for a 30th Birthday/Bachelorette Extravaganza!

To be honest, until now I haven't really had the time to think about it. Then I started looking for a video on San Francisco and the excitement is overwhelming!

San Francisco may very well be my favorite city on Earth. I love it. There is so much to do in SF I could write thousands of blog posts on it. I could spend the rest of my days people watching and never get bored. Oh and the food. From street vendors to fine dining, San Francisco has it all. There is dining for every taste, from every culture in any atmosphere. The city just breathes life.

I wasn't able to find exactly the right picture to express the city or exactly the right video but I'll try to capture as much as I can while I'm there! We'll be back Monday night.

Have you been to San Francisco?

If so, tell me what you liked about your trip.

If you haven't been, but would like to go, tell me what you would look forward to.

Sunset

These pictures were taken from our balcony.



I had every intention of starting up the Elements program my parents gave me for my birthday and doing something wonderful with these.



How do people have time to raise children and work and take pictures and edit them and blog and eat and sleep?



The sky is gorgeous and its one of my favorite parts of living in this apartment.

I've never been surrounded by so much nature.



All you farmers are laughing at me right now, I just know it!

But you see, there are trees around here.... and bunnies.... and trails.



But mostly I like the view of the sky as the sun goes down.

On the Verge

Do you ever start a story/post and know its going to be all over the place? Well, you've been warned!

I'm standing on the edge, on the verge of doing something. On the verge of doing so many things. I have an anxious, excited, nervous, overwhelmed, slightly spastic, and expectant feeling in my stomach. This year is going to be an amazing one. I can feel it in every cell of my body. There are so many things on my list of goals I don't even know where to start. I have to constantly remind myself to take a breath.

I suppose all this is incredibly normal. I'm months away from my wedding with 2,971 things left on my to do list and I've just turned 30. The blogging just fuels the fire. Lets face it, writing a personal blog requires you looking at your life on a daily basis. That alone was the reason I started it. It makes me think about the things I love, the things I want, the things I need and the things I already have.

I've been charting my goals on a neatly formatted excel spreadsheet. Don't even start to think that means I'm organized. I am selectively organized. I have stacks of papers tucked everywhere. That will go on a list of things to do... purge papers. I have a spreadsheet for those things to. I'm neurotic. Do you feel the urge to run away?

Julie & Julia Trailer from RealTVfilms on Vimeo.

On a different note (or maybe it isn't different at all) I took my mom to see Julie/Julia on her birthday (which was yesterday, Happy Birthday Mom!). I really liked it. I related to Julia but so vividly to Julie. She is working an office job she doesn't like, looking for a creative outlet and finds something amazing in herself that transforms her life. It reminded me that it is always a good time to commit myself to learning something new.

I also saw so much of those husbands in B. He thinks I can do anything. Its a bit ridiculous actually. I could get up tomorrow and say "B, I'm going to be a concert pianist" and he would say "You will be the best concert pianist ever". But don't we need that in our lives?

On a side note... I would've watched this movie just to soak in the dresses, the shoes, the skirts and blouses of the Julia scenes. I love the styles of these times. This alone is the reason I just put Mad Men into my netflix. I want to soak in the style and try and reproduce it. I may start baking in heels and a frill apron. Hmmm, I need to get a frilly apron.

One last comment on the movie. It covers blogging. Its hard to explain the drive behind doing it or even what it is to people who have never been exposed to it. Why do we put our thoughts onto these blogs and send them out into the great interwebs? How do you explain blogging to people who have no idea what it is? I think its kind of funny because blogging has been around for years and I've only just gotten into it. But its still so new to so many.

I imagine the blog/book/movie of Julie/Julia is so popular because so many of us can relate to the characters. Have you seen the movie?