It was a New Jersey kind of week...

This week my NJ bff was in town.  He's amazing, of course.  I mean...he IS my NJ BFF!!!!!!  I flew down to LA on Wednesday and drove up to Sacramento with him.  That night we ended up at Cheaters where people were stamped, songs were sung and pieces of art were explained.  BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!

Thursday we hung out in Sacramento.  We hung out at my folk's place, got Sandra Dee's, got trashed at Cheaters, saw what some of our fair city has to offer and rode motos until bolts fell off. Literally.

Friday we hit up Santa Cruz.  We tried to go to the mystery spot, but all we saw was this:

There were people in there, but we had just missed out on the last tour of the day.  We left the spot of mystery and headed over to FU Tattoo and visited with Nick Vargas (another wonderful human being).  We chat, I discussed possibly heading back down in June, we left for coffee.  Because I'm an addict.  After wondering around the also closed boardwalk, we hit up the pier and peeped some seals.  I talked to my cousin and we met up with her for dinner at Saturn Cafe before heading back to Sacramento for more adventures.

Today we woke up a little late and headed out to San Francisco.  We saw the Japanese Tea Gardens, I possibly got peeped by some girl with short hair and a lot of tattoos, and then we went to Haight Ashbury for people watching.  After getting some punch from Hobson's inside Nicholas and Brandorz, we walked around a bit.  Eventually we headed back to the car and did some sight seeing while driving around.  A quick trip to Ben Sherman and we headed home to grab yogurt and a Black Velvet from Bonn Lair.  It's sleepy time now, as Nicholas has got to wake up early to hit the road back towards San Diego, a whale's vagina, to catch his flight home.

And for whatever reason I can't get this song out of my head:

Party time

Yesterday I flew down to LA to drive back up with my NJ BFF Mr. Nicholas Terzulli.  We had lunch at Doughboys and got coffee at Intelligentsia before we started the drive up.  We made it an hour before Garmin said we would and we immediately set in to a game of Dr. Mario.  Big time party-er's at our house!!!  We ended up leaving and going to meet some friends who were doing karaoke and ended the night at Cheaters.  Nicholas was in incredibly adorable form as was Brandorz.  Both of them were pretty hammered.  I wish I had video or could remember half of the things either one of them said.  I was referred to as Peanut by the end of the night.  It was a good day!

Roommate award

This is a post I apparently started to write October 26th of last year:

Today I took the best roommate award and broke it over my knee because no one else will come as close as I did today.

I was getting a pedicure today and while I was sitting in the chair getting my feets taken care of, I saw some chick walk in that B might be interested in.  So what do I do?  I listen and get her name, then I take pictures all secret agent style and ship them off.  Then...I get this ridic request for n00dz and I tell him to make due with what I've provided and stalk her via facebook/myspace/linkedin/imacrazyinterwebzstalkerandalreadyknowallaboutyou.com

Dropping Brandon's Motorcycle

Haha...yeah I did.  Oops.  He didn't think it was as funny as I did.

So here's the haps:

We were out just taking a little putt while we had some time and the weather was nice.  Since my Suzi isn't registered and I'm mad frightened about getting 'er towed, Brandon let me ride his little Yammy.  We head out towards Jackson...we decided just to take a little trip about half hour out since I didn't have much time.

Apparently it'd been a while since I've ridden (before my last surgery) and I am such a retard that at one point I needed to shift up and kicked the shifter down.  Oops!!  I guess I thought I was riding an English bike?  Into second gear I went!!  I was thrown a little forward, laughed and recovered quite well without anyone the wiser.

We needed to stop and fill up both bikes before heading out.  As we go to leave the gas station, we have to do a routine little maneuver to get into the far left turn lane.  Brandon goes first.  I go to follow and as I'm trying to inch up next to him, I'm pretty much walking the bike with the bars turned all the way right to make my way next to B.  As I'm straddling the bike walking it up to the car, the bike starts leaning hard right (yeah...my good leg, what.the.heck).  I realize I can't keep the bike up, but don't want to just let it drop and hit the street hard, so I gently set it down.  It had to have been the most slow motion ridiculousness to watch!!!

Brandon's looking at me in disbelief.  I'm laughing in disbelief because not only do I actually set the bike down, I do it in the middle of the street.  Of a crowded street.  With a couple cars behind us.

Brandon shakes his head, sort of smiling and goes to ride his bike back across the street to the gas station so he can pick up the bike I'm no longer on. 

He stalls.

His bike is kick only.

He's gotta push it across 2 lanes of traffic.

He finally makes it back, picks up the Yammy, pushes it across the street and just shakes his head in disappointment.  Once he finally gets the bike running again (I flooded everything), he decided we needed a safer Rijel Route. 

The rest of the trip went off without a hitch.  I finally got to ride and I've now dropped a bike for the second time!!!  I'm an iiiiiiiiiiiiiidiot!!!!!!

Holy crap LEGO

I don't even know if I can explain how in LOVE with this I am.  It's $90, but I'm probably going to break down and get this masterpiece of square sex.  I also need to go back to Pennsylvania and see this bad boy IRL.

 

This would be pretty sweet too.  Really any modern art design buildings in Lego form would be amazing.


On a different note...if you haven't read this amazing blog, where the fuck have you been?  And no.  I'm not trying to be his one true love, get into his pants, win him over with my ego stroke, or any other kind of stroke for that matter.  He truly IS a gentleman, a scholar and an incredible human being.  So, if you happen to know a highly educated, heavily tattooed babe with an ass that makes Beyonce think she left the junk out of her trunk...send him a message.  No, seriously.

No one likes a bummed Rijel

Including me.  Which is why every time I feel it coming on, I try to fix it immediately!!!

Things that make me happy:

 Family

 More family

Love

Donk Magazine

Rhino vs. Donk

Pigs

Food

Coffee AKA Mocha

And amazing sunsets.

6 down, 1 to go!!!!

I got out of surgery Friday feeling pretty good.  I only threw up twice all day (total score) and even had visitors!  Jeannie Mae talked to the doctor and apparently my cartilage grew too well and that's why my knee was catching.  This was the BEST case scenario.

What does that mean?  That means I've only one more surgery to go to be completely 100% good again!!!!  The next surgery will just be an exploratory to make sure everything is all gravy.  I was up and walking today and things felt pretty good as far as stability goes. 

How random is 2010 so far.  Yeah, it's a statement, not a question.  From my surgery, to other people's surgeries, my car sitch, people's babies comin' through and hearing about my friend getting stabbed...things are a little crazy this year.  I think I've maintained a pretty positive attitude about everything though.  I don't think I've let the worst get the best of me and I'm going to try to keep the trend going.

I've also switched from Safari to Firefox...and am lacking a couple shortcuts.  I'm trying to get used to it, but I might have to go back based on these little things.  Then again...having these extra shortcuts are pretty sweet too.  I'm keeping an open mind about it, but I'll see how that goes.

I also need to upload a few photos I've taken.  I should really start taking pictures again, so that silly flickr account doesn't go to waste.

This hair style...

apparently attracts compliments as well as men, women, men dressed as women and women dressed as men.

Tonight was no different.  Remember my dear friend Bryce?  If not...here's a reference photo:

Take careful notice of his upper lip.  Wait.  What do you mean you can't see it?  Oh, yeah...it's covered by a GIGANTIC mustache!!

Tonight I met up with Bryce downtown to watch a couple bands play.  In between bands we were talking, like most people do between bands and the next thing I know I feel a hand on my lower back kind of hugging me and squeezing me.  I didn't freak out, I kind of figured it was someone I knew and I just hadn't seen them at the show yet.

I look over to see someone about my height with a little smaller frame wearing a white plaid Kangol style hat, a dark gray/blue jacket over a light gray hoodie, lighter colored jeans and light colored shoes.  I do not recognize this guy!  He's got a baby face and I didn't think he was over 22 years old.  Then...he whispers into my ear while still hugging me and holding me close and I can't really make out what he's saying so I kind of just smile and agree.  

"So...if you need my help, just let me know..." he says.

"Wait.  What?  What'd you say?" 

"Oh, I saw you standing here talking to this guy and I thought to myself, "I think I need to go save that girl, I don't think she wants to be talking to this guy." (referring to Bryce)"

"Hahaha...actually, we're good friends.  I know his mustache makes him look like a total creep, but he's a good dude."

"Oh, damn.  I'm soooooo sorry.  Well, is it okay if I just stand here and talk to you for a minute anyway?" he asks as he sort of hugs me again and pulls me in.

I didn't care so I let dude chat me up for a minute.  He introduced himself and I cannot remember dude's name, but I DO remember it being quite ambiguous.  He was waaaaaaaaaaaaasted so I didn't care and I never turn down a wasted convo.  As we talk, Bryce and his friend slowly move away from me.  What assholes.

I finally make it a little obvious I want to get back to my conversation and he lets me, but not before he asks for my name a second time.  I give him my name and he grabs ahold of my shoulders and repeats my name at LEAST 30 times all the while kind of pushing me back and forth.  I'm PRAYING he doesn't try to kiss me.  I wasn't in the mood to be ambushed!!!!  I luck out and he leaves after telling me it was nice to meet me.

I make my way over to Bryce and his friend to clarify if it was a male or female.  Verdict: female.

Shocker, right?  Didn't think so.  Me and my hair are a chick magnet.

Fat Kid Tour pt. 4

This last weekend I found myself in Los Angeles on yet another fat kid tour.  Cupcakes, coffee, more cupcakes and pretzels!!!  And yes...that's pretty much all I ate for 2 days.  And no...I don't regret that.

I got to put my feet in some sand for the first time in a looooooooooooooooooong time!  And it felt GOOD.

I was able to pull off my goal and I was out of Sacramento each weekend of January.  It was amazing.  I love not being home and I LOVED trying to find a new place to go each weekend.  What's going to suck is that the month of February will keep me somewhat confined.  Silly surgery!!!

Despite recent ridiculous events...I like to think my spirits are still amazingly high.  My guess is that it has something to do with all the new people I have contact with 3 or 4 days a week.  Especially the 73 year old Argentinian woman who I seem to see semi-regularly these days that told me, "You have a smile that makes people's days!"

Someone stole the key lime

And I almost cried.

There we were.  Grant, Brandon and I, inside Cafe Mekka in Nevada City staring 3 (count them...THREE) key lime tarts in the FACE.

Ahead of us is a couple taking a gander at the dessert case.  I hear them order.

The woman behind the counter asks Brandon what he'd like to order.  He tells the woman our drink orders and that he would like 3 key limes.  The woman says okay, but says she'll start making the drinks first.

Next thing you know...the couple ahead of us is handed 2 of the 3 key limes.

What assholes.  Didn't they KNOW we drove all the way from Sacramento to get THIS particular key lime?!?!  Then.  Add insult to injury.  Those dicks tell the cashier they only planned on ordering coffee, the desserts were an after thought they might not even want.

I could've punched them.  I should've punched them.  In the face.

On the road again...

From Hearst Castle to Morro Bay to Santa Cruz and home.

We saw a sunset.

We conquered the world:

We had a ridiculous amount of fun.

And back to the epic adventure...

After Bryce dug the giant piece of glass from deep inside his nasal cavity (the one on the dash in the photo), we found our way to receiving ONE bar of cell reception.

After I sat to the far right side of the car with my head at a 45 degree angle, I made the call to my insurance company.  I doubt they've talked to many people as good spirited as we were for having just been in an accident.

I've never had to take 45 minutes to explain where I was using a highway as a reference point, let alone asking someone "Can you find NEVADA?!"  It literally took us that long to finally explain to the representative on the phone where we were...in a general area.  I didn't realize that telling someone we were in the south eastern part of Oregon could lead to such a misunderstanding.  After giving the person Winnemucca as a reference point to find us, she decides it would be a good idea to send a tow truck from Winnemucca (almost 4 hours away) instead of one from Boise (2 1/2 hours away).  Not only is she a genius with this whole Winnemucca plan, but she tells me it will only take an hour and a half at the most.

Now...I know what she's saying is bulllllllllllllllllshit because Bryce and I had just driven 4 hours since WE'D left Winnemucca AND we were ahead of the blizzard that just hit their town.  If she expected them to be there in an hour and a half, she was clearly smoking crack rock.  I asked for her to send a tow truck from Boise instead and she told me she couldn't because the tow truck driver was already on the way (obviously not true since it'd only been about 20 minutes).  So...after this whole tow thing is set up...I start asking about rental vehicles.

She tells me the nearest rental agency to Winnemucca is in Elko.  ELKO.  2 hours away from the town we were supposed to get towed to.  HOW WERE WE TO GET TO THE RENTAL PLACE?!?!  She tells me she doesn't know.

It's 19 degrees outside and the window I'm sitting at is broken.  The cold is settling in and I grab a blanket.

Next thing you know, 2 hunting angels were sent to us and tell us there's a tow station about 15 minutes up the road.  I opt to stay with the car while Bryce gets the tow started.  We make it to the little rinky dink town where the tow yard and a small diner make up all the revenue for the town and the people who own the tow company are SAINTS.

After hanging around most the morning and dealing with insurance crap we finally hop in the tow truck for the 3 1/2 hour drive up to Nampa, Idaho.  This is where I'll say goodbye to my car, just in case I won't ever see it again.  Bryce and I are determined to continue with our trip because we're not going to let something as silly as an accident get us down!!!  We hang out in Boise for the night and grab delicious Chinese food for dinner.  Yeah...no potatoes in Idaho, I'm a retard.

We wake up in Boise we head to Twin Falls.  We see signs for the Oregon trail and want to see if we can catch typhoid fever or shoot an ox for food.  Instead of finding oxen or indians to help us float across the river, we find the illustrious Perrine Bridge.

We decide Twin Falls is a good of place as any to ring in the new year.  I have the brilliant idea of hitting up the local mall and finding the Hot Topic and asking any girl behind the register where her brother goes to hang out.  I figure this might get us to a sweet dive bar.  As luck would have it...we drive directly past a mall, so we pull in.  We walk into the mall and what store do we stand in front of?  Hot Topic.  What do we do?  Ask the girl behind the register where the local dive bars are.

They gave us sweet hats.

Better late than never, right?

My road trip:

Bryce and I left pretty late Tuesday night.  We were both fully prepared for a full night of driving and staying awake.  We'd been preparing for it the past few nights and were totally ready.  We made it to Baxter and had to put on chains.  Shitty.  That meant I wasn't going to be getting any refund for them.  The snow was crazy beautiful and it was definitely snowING, so Bryce man'd up and put the chains on.

We were hauling ass at about 30mph until the state line.  Yeah.  We needed chains THAT long.  Once we got the chains off it was pretty smooth sailing.  I got an amazing postcard with a moose on it.  When we hit Winnemucca we went north on 95 to head up towards Idaho.  The scenery was BEAUTIFUL the entire time we were on the road.

A couple hours before sunrise I decided to take a nap before taking up driving, since Bryce had driven the whole time so far.  Just as the sun was about to make it's appearance I woke up to a ridiculously calm Bryce who was taking control of my car as we were spinning out.  It was totally surreal and probably the best roller coaster ride I've ever been on.

We hit the snow bank.  The passenger side window shattered.  Rear wheel bent.  Airbags deployed.  No cell phone reception.

After everything was settled we assessed damages.  Both Bryce and I were totally unscathed.  Well, comparatively at least.  I had a few small spots on my hand and Bryce found a piece of glass IN HIS NOSE!!!!!

New Years Eve

Was spent at a dive bar in Twin Falls, ID.

Throughout the night we met a couple characters.  My favorite one was a guy who moved down from Alaska.  Apparently at some point he had gotten a DUI up in Alaska and even though he was apparently carrying a bunch of weed and cocaine, he only got charged for the DUI.  He went on to tell me that he LOVED a fire crotch.

My second favorite guy of the night was our hotel desk clerk.  He found out we were from California and got excited and started telling us about his celebrity encounters.  His prized possession: an autograph and a photo with a Burt Reynolds look-a-like that lives in Twin Falls.

Roadtripping and re-gifting

View Larger Map

This is the plan for Wednesday - Sunday. It's approximately 2,800 miles and 2 complete days of driving under regular conditions. I'm completely stoked! It looks like it'll be snowing in Yellowstone most of the time we'll be going through it, but I've got chains and we're packing very, VERY warm. I'll also be crossing off 4 more states and finally having the West completed!

RE-GIFTING IS GRANDMA'S FAVORITE

A few years back Gma had come and done Christmas with us. We were all opening our gifts and when my turn came up I chose the gift from Gma. For whatever reason, the item I was opening up seemed familiar. Jeannie Mae looked over at what I'd unwrapped.

"Hey!!! Mom?!?! Isn't that the gift Den & I got you last year?!" Jeannie Mae exclaimed.

"Oohh...I don't know. Maybe. I give her now." Grandma says and points to me.

"You can't just do that."

"Oh. Why not? I no use it. I don't really like it anyway."

(Gma rules)

My first robot arrived!!!!!!

And it's amazing!  I'm looking at him as I type this and he's WONDERFUL!!!!  It was a nice surprise to see a package from Adam D sitting in my mailbox!!!!!  I'd post a picture...but he's a present and I'd hate to spoil it!

Today was spent in San Francisco with shopping with Katie and Brandon.  We arrived at the Bay Bridge at 4:40pm.  We soon realized if we pulled off for a few, we could make carpool and save $4!!!  Since traffic was so heavy, we decided to play a fun game where we let EVERYONE who wanted, merge and zipper in front of us so we'd be further back and waste time.  We got a little too close for comfort and we just pulled over to the side where Brandon pretended to be on his phone making a call (since he was driving and technically it's illegal to drive with a handheld phone).

We finally saw the carpool lane open up.  And it opened up 6 lanes to the left of where we were, in completely stopped traffic.  Oops!!!!  So we made Brandon maneuver us all the way over and we got to the lane JUST before the lane separators started!!!  Phwew!

We hit up a few stores and got a couple gifts.  Thanks to me being all handicapped and what not, parking was free and it wasn't as crazy as I expected it to be.  We picked up our friend Vince and went to some delicious place that had friend plantains with bean sauce.  I fell in love.

On the way home we stopped by Candy Cane Lane in Vacaville to take in all the beautiful Christmas lights.  It was a good day.

Roadtrip

I think it's time again.  I have December 29th through January 3rd off and don't want to be in the state.  I don't know where I really I want to go, I just know it's not in California!!!  Perhaps it'll be a destination that'll be unknown until December 29th.  I HOPE that's how it turns out...those are my favorite.
6 days off...what to do with 6 days off.  Something spectacular, hopefully.

I want to go and find places with things like these:

And this:

I also want to take more pictures of people taking pictures.

Long johns are needed

The nights sure are getting colder.  

I went on a ride along with a friend tonight.  We got to drive really fast in fog and even look for someone jumping fences.  Then the car over heated and we needed to call a tow truck.  The tow truck driver gets there and he brought his wife.  Awesome.  How are all 4 of us going to fit in his crew cab?  We can all fit, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to be that close to his plumber's crack and sweatpants (ugh. sweatpants.).  

While we were waiting for him to hitch the car his crazy cracked out wife BLASTS the stereo and starts singing along.  We then got lucky enough for her to come out of the truck and show us her best dance moves.  When we let them know we were going to wait for someone to come pick us up, the wife tried to coerce us into the truck to wait where it wasn't so cold.  We politely declined.  

Surgery number 6

I figured I'd be more upset or bummed out when I actually heard my doctor speak of a 6th surgery as part of my definite future.  I kind of laughed a little, made a few calls, joked a bit more and sort of forgot about it for a few hours.

I guess the worst thing is not knowing exactly what's wrong with my knee.  Haha...I lied.  Having to get another surgery is probably the worst thing, but not knowing is definitely a close second!!!  My doctor and I explored all the options and it all comes back to getting back inside the knee to see what's actually causing my problems.  As with my last surgery, there are 3 possibilities of what my problem could be.  2 of them are a pretty easy fix, the 3rd is shit and with my track record and my knee's hatred for having a life without pain...the 3rd is probably what I'll be dealing with.

My doctor/surgeon is pretty rad.  He and I joked about what would have happened if I was a 65 year old.  He laughed and said that if I were 65, have had this many surgeries in the same timespan and were having the exact same symptoms, he'd just lop the damn thing off at the thigh!  Lucky for me, I'm quite young and spry with a good chance of healing!!!  He makes things a little more light hearted and easier to handle.  He hates cutting me open as much as I hate recovering from it.

In good news...Alissa, Grant and I watched Fighting tonight.  It definitely wasn't good and wasn't quite bad enough to be a bad good, it was just bad.  But Channing Tatum is a total babe.

Crafting

I have a new idea that I want to try for an air cleaner cover.  I think I can make it work and am pretty excited about it.  The problem is finding an appropriate air cleaner I can use.

I stuffed my face full of deliciousness at my work holiday party on Monday night.  There were fantastic mashed potatoes, chicken, pie, tri tip and pork.  I had seconds in the dessert section.  And by dessert, I mean chicken.

We had a gift exchange and Alissa miraculously got me this year and I got the most wonderful gifts!!!!  I requested: a giraffe, an owl and socks.  She got me an owl necklace and buttons, a giraffe belt buckle and cashmere socks!!!  I got the best person for secret santa!!!!!

I'm stoked to figure out what I'm getting my folks for the holiday as well as a couple other people I need to shop for.  Brandon said my gift is not in his room and I'm bummed because I'd totally be rifling through all his shit to find it.  Yeah...I'm THAT bad.

Today was Todd's birthday and we went and had some wonderful company and wonderful food at the taco spot across the street.  I got to talk motos.  Then when I got home I got to talk MORE motos.  I'm a lucky girl.  Seriously.