Red Dresses Are Hard to Find

Who would have thought that finding a red dress in February would be nearly impossible? Not I! No, I assumed that in the week before Valentine's Day the stores would have plenty of options. 

Ashleigh and I first journeyed to PB, where I found my adorable white dress for Yelp's White Party last summer. We stopped by about seven shops and found only a handful of red dresses, none of which fit my style or budget. The majority of stores seem to have switched over to spring colors already and pastels were everywhere!!! I don't even like pastels on a regular day but on a special search for red, they were extra annoying. 

Then we went to Mission Valley mall. I found a couple of dresses to try on but they didn't fit right. One of the dresses I couldn't even figure out how to get on!

Unsuccessful, we drove home. I babysat for a few hours in the late afternoon and then headed out for a quick shopping trip before dinner with Alyssa. 

After searching for a total of about three hours yesterday, I finally gave up on my quest to find a red dress for tomorrow's Yelp Elite party. Instead, I settled on a new red cardigan to wear over an already-owned black dress. 

Hope this is going to be considered enough red...I honestly don't own hardly any red so I'm out of options. Next time, Yelp should throw a blue, green or purple party...I'm much better off with the cool colors!

The Best Friend Comes to Town

A couple weekends ago, one of my best friends from high school, Lillian, came to San Diego on a business trip. Lucky me! This meant that we finally got some uninterrupted BFF-time that we hadn't had for quite awhile. Before I moved to San Diego in 2010, she had spent two years in Pullman finishing her master's so we haven't been in the same city since early 2008. In the little time that we've spent together over the past nearly five years, a lot of it has been spent hanging out as part of a group or watching Supernatural marathons with quick bursts of catching up thrown in here and there.

But on this weekend trip, we plenty of quality time!

We began on Friday afternoon when I picked her up and brought her back to my neck of the woods. We took Emma on a walk through the neighborhood shopping center, where Lillian fell in love with some jewelry and the shop owner fell in love with Emma. 

Then we joined a few of my San Diego friends for a sushi night. We attempted to go to Sushi Deli but found out there was over an hour wait. So Lil and I hopped on our phones and found another Japanese restaurant just up the street that could seat us asap. The food was amazing and the group of people was both fun and hilarious. 

We spent almost the entire day on Saturday just hanging out and catching up (while, of course, enjoying all that San Diego has to offer) and it was wonderful! We started the day with some homemade chocolate chip and butterscotch pancakes before moving to the Del Mar beach to sit outside in the 75-degree January sun. 

Me and Lil at Del Mar beach.

Emma came along for the girl time too!

Lillian at the beach.

After an hour or two of chatting on the seaside bench, I drove us up the coast to Cardiff for acai bowls at Sambazon Cafe. This seaside market area signifies everything that I think California should be. It's laidback yet stylish and is only a mere walk to the beach. Not only did we enjoy great food but also a great laugh as a table full of surfer boys mistook us for a lesbian couple. Apparently, while I was chatting with one of the boys about Emma the pug (and Lillian ordered,) I kept mentioning "we" in conversation. As in "we take our dogs to the beach." I, of course, was referring to Micah and throwing "we" into the conversation as subtle hint that I wasn't single and was immune to his lame pick-up attempts. But when Lillian came out of the restaurant to relieve me and watch Emma while I ordered, surfer boy got the wrong idea. He later came up to Lillian and point blank asked her if we were a couple, to which she laughed and sputtered, "No!" 

We took a quick stroll on the beach but the wind was kicking up and the temperature was dropping so we turned back to head home and prepare for phase two of the evening. 

Lillian enjoying some puppy love.

Lillian had mentioned that she would like to do some cheap shopping so I took her to Garnet Avenue in PB. I warned her ahead of time that PB was douchebag central. I don't know what happens to that area after dark but all the DBs come crawling out and sure enough, we ran into a few.

But first we wandered through the shops and Lillian picked out a few things. I wasn't in need of anything at the time but am wishing now that I had been more alert as I need to return to these same shops within the next week or two to search for a red dress for my next Yelp party.

By this point, we were hungry and decided to try Narraya Thai. We were quickly glad that we did as we were seated in the sunken table section of the restaurant. It looked like we were sitting on the floor, which provided for a new and exciting dining experience. We also learned that if we reviewed the restaurant on Yelp we could get a free appetizer. They shouldn't tell the crazy Yelper that because I whipped out my phone and posted a review in five minutes. Our free curry puffs were amazing and well worth the review!

Me and Lillian at Narraya.

After dinner, we walked back to the car and encountered one of the many PB DBs on the street corner. He wanted to know where we were headed and, like the cool people we are, we told him home...at 9:30...on a Saturday night. Guess we really are getting older. :)

We went home and squeezed in a couple Supernatural episodes too!

The next morning, we enjoyed brunch at The Beach House (silly me, I forgot to take pictures!) and then dropped Lil off at the airport. It's always sad to say good bye to a friend but I know that our friendship can handle any time or distance apart. And I'm looking forward to seeing her in July when she returns for Comic Con!

Les Miserables

I admit that I did not enjoy reading Les Miserables in high school. Like most required books, I barely skimmed the pages (but loved the Sparknotes version). I vaguely remember the story of Jean Valjean stealing the bread to feed his family but the rest of the book had faded into my memory.

When I saw that a new movie version was coming out around Christmas, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see it. But when I heard that the film was a success and was up for awards, I decided to give it a shot. I had bought Micah a gift card to the luxury movie theater near our house (it's actually within walking distance) for his birthday and we were looking for a longer movie to see in the soft, cushy seats. The Hobbit, another book that I hardly read in high school, was our other option but considering that I barely survived sitting through the first Lord of the Rings, I opted against further suffering. 

Late Saturday morning (I had to work at 5:30 p.m. so we had to attend the early show), we headed over to the theater. After selecting our seats, we settled into the plush, reclining chairs and Micah ordered some food from the roving waiter. 

Then the movie began...and I was largely mesmerized for two and a half hours. Bits of the story came back to me as I watched but the entire final third of the movie (the part that tells the story of the revolution) seemed new to me. Young Cosette was hauntingly beautiful as a poor, neglected child in a Cinderellaesque surrounding.  

I recognized a couple of the songs ("I Dreamed a Dream" and "On My Own") but the rest were unknown. I've always been a fan of musicals so the near constant singing didn't bother me. 

I'm curious now if after having seen the movie, the book would seem any more interesting to me. Or perhaps it would just be more appealing now that it's not being forced upon me. 

Dreaming About Tokyo Disney

I don't usually remember my dreams, much less actually take the time to write about them, but last night's dream was so random and vivid.

I often dream about Disneyland (big surprise, huh?) but last night I had a dream about Tokyo Disneyland. I hopped a plane and flew across the Pacific...with no shoes. At least, I was barefoot when I disembarked in Japan. So my first order of business was finding some shoes. I selected a pair of flip flops but then I realized that I was in need of a pedicure (which in real life, I'm planning to do today). So I ended up in a little nail shop that was run by American girls with Japanese accents. I chose a red polish (which I would seldom choose in my conscience state).

After finally getting my feet prepared, I arrived at Tokyo Disneyland at 4 p.m. It looked like Anaheim's version but with a lot more Japanese people. The main thing I remember about this portion of the dream was that my friend ordered a huge ice cream sundae that five or six people shared while watching the parade.

Then it was time to fly back home. Guess I traveled all the way to Japan for one day.

New Opportunities

I've been wanting to expand my work in social media for the past couple of months but decided to hold off until after the holidays. Not only were the holidays a busy and stressful time (and the 10-day vacation would have put a crimp in my starting new work), but I thought I would make tax time slightly easier by not starting a new job at the end of the year.

When I returned to San Diego around New Years, I decided to post an ad on Craigslist looking for freelance writing and social media work. I wanted to take on a couple extra clients that I could work on from home and easily fit into my existing schedule. 

For the first couple of weeks, I received almost nothing. I began to wonder if Craigslist or my email was broken. I was feeling discouraged and beginning to doubt if this approach would work.

Then, about two weeks ago, the emails started coming in. First one, then two and eventually I received around six emails from people looking for either writing or social media help (or sometimes both).

I'm currently trying to get four of these new jobs off the ground. I've met with one client in person and talked with two others via the phone. A couple have sent over the information I need to get started and the others are working on compiling a list of everything I need to get started. 

The next couple weeks will help me determine which jobs are going to stick. I'll see who is reliable in communicating their hopes and needs with me and who is a pleasure to work for (being happy in my work is something that I greatly need). 

Hopefully, I'll find that at least a couple of these new opportunities transition into part-time, permanent gigs to coincide nicely with my current social media jobs. 

Postponing the Rest of my Holiday Blogs

I started writing my Christmas vacation blog with good intentions and a plan to chronicle the whole trip. Alas, the days fly by and my poor blog gets tossed to the wayside. Now, almost a month since I returned to San Diego, I have more pressing matters to discuss. Perhaps I'll return to the tale of my holiday travels but in the meantime, I have a few other blog ideas that must take center stage.

Visiting Sylvia

One of the highlights of my visits to Seattle is always visiting Sylvia and her family. I had the pleasure of taking care of Sylvia for about eight months in 2010, just prior to my move to San Diego, and I'm so happy that I can continue to be a part of her life from afar. It's amazing how six or so months can go by between visits and yet it always feels like we begin just where we left off. Although we're not actually related, I definitely feel like she (and the rest of her family) are part of my family too.

Micah and I arrived in Seattle around 1 p.m. on December 23 and drove straight to Sylvia's house. She greeted me at the door with open arms and a great big hug! Micah carried Emma (our pug) into the house and we introduced the two. They quickly became best friends and Emma, as usual, made herself feel right at home. 

Here are my favorite photos from our visit:

Sylvia and Emma

Sylvia's little brother, Clifford. Sylvia took this
photo herself.

She's so funny!

Giggles!

She still loves my hair!

I wish I knew what she was looking
at but her expression is great!

So sweet!

Love her!

Hugs!

Kisses!

Emma had to join the picture too!

Our funny photo.

Micah and Sylvia's funny photo.

After visiting for a few hours and catching up with her parents, it was time to hit the road again and complete our journey to Snohomish. Looking forward to seeing Sylvia in the summer!