christmas craze

Posted on December 16, 2002 by Kel

I have just closed hosting for the time being. There are a few emails that I just got today so I’ll still take a look at those but that’s it. I’ve accepted a few hostees in the past few days which would bring up the total to 23, I think. That’s more than enough for now. I’ll put up the form again if I feel there’s a need.

Been busy lately with lots of Christmas stuff to do! The holidays really crept up on me this year — I just started writing my Christmas cards and I have a ton of shopping left to do. Blah. I went shopping yesterday even though it was pouring rain outside and I barely accomplished anything because the mall was so damn crowded. ::sigh::

I’ve also begun stressing out because next Monday is my last day of work and I still haven’t found another job. Next subject…

Oh! If anyone would like a Christmas card from me, send me an email! 🙂

happy birthday to me

Posted on October 11, 2002 by Kel

So today is my birthday. Oh goodness, I’m 23. Excuse me while I hide.

driving lessons

Posted on October 7, 2002 by Kel

So i went to the 49ers/Rams game yesterday. I loved our seats cause we were in the shade. Mwahaha. And it was a really hot day yesterday so… yeah. The 49ers totally beat the Rams, which sucked cause Rob really loves them and most of us were wearing navy blue. Eh, whatever. I didn’t really care. It was just cool to see a football game live.

And I took my first driving lesson in 6 years today. Umm, I did okay but I think at the sloooow rate I’m going, it’ll be another few years before I’ll ever get my license. I mean, my turns totally suck. And I almost hit a parked car. Don’t laugh — it was traumatizing! My next lesson will focus on more traffic-oriented things, like lane changes. Beware Bay Area. 😛

total shock

Posted on September 19, 2002 by Kel

I just found out that someone I went to both high school and college with has committed suicide. I’m still in total shock. We were never really that close — I haven’t talked to him in about a year since I moved out of Berkeley — but in college, we had a few classes together and we hung out occasionally. He even had a crush on me at one point. Towards the end of college, he kind of went off and did his own thing and never went out with us anymore — and we all just attributed the change to the whole growing up and growing apart deal. I know no one is to blame for what happened but I can’t help but wonder if I had just tried to keep in contact or *something* then maybe he wouldn’t have felt like he couldn’t turn to anyone. I don’t know. I just… I still can’t believe it. I hope his family is coping as best they can and that maybe, somehow, he’s found peace.

where were you?

Posted on September 10, 2002 by Kel

So tomorrow is September 11th. It feels like it was yesterday, seriously. I distinctly remember what I was doing that day — and I think that’s true of everybody I’ve talked to. Where you were and what you were doing when you found out that the Trade Center Towers had been hit will always be with you. I was still asleep when Rob called me and told me to turn on the television. I was in total shock. I don’t think I budged the entire day. I was angry because I felt helpless and I was sad because of all the unnecessary lives lost and the families who mourn them. I wanted to find out who could do this, how many planes were involved, how the rescue missions were going, and if there was any reason to believe that there were more targets. And now, a year later, I still find myself strangely drawn to the tragedy– I don’t know anyone personally who was directly affected but I guess being an American is enough of a connection to warrant my feelings.

hawaii part 2

Posted on September 4, 2002 by Kel

Because I know at least one person (thanks Amy!) is still interested, I thought I’d finally finish blogging about the rest of my trip to Hawaii. 🙂 Let’s see —

Sunday, August 18
This was the day of our big hike up to the summit of Diamond Head crater. The hike is 0.8 miles one way and took us 560 feet above the crater floor, bringing us to an elevation of 761 feet. I’ve done this hike once before when I was 16 and in much better physical shape that I am now. I mean, I didn’t remember the path being so rocky or the weather being so exruciatingly hot. I was totally huffing and puffing my way to the top. But once we reached the summit, the 99 steps and the pitch black tunnel were all worth it. So gorgeous up there.

Monday, August 19
Beach day! Whee! Rob and I spent the entire morning on the beach — we bought an air mattress and an inner tube and rocked the waves. 🙂 Great fun — but I unfortunately got a bit sunburned. Blah. But I loved it — the water is so clear and it just stretches out forever. Simply amazing. I wish I had pictures from our day at the beach but we didn’t take our camera with us — we were too scared it would be stolen. Hmmm… that’s the one bad thing about going on a trip as a couple — there’s not too many opportunities to take pictures together. Too many of our pictures are individual shots and they just look a bit silly. hee. That night we went to the Paradise Cove Luau and had an awesome time. We got to participate in various games and arts and crafts, watch a spectacular show of great Hawaiian and Polynesian dancing and — the best part — we had unlimited drinks the entire night — woo hoo! I am officially addicted to Lava Flows and Chi Chis. Such fun.

Then Tuesday sucked because we had to go home. BOO.

Anyway, yay — that’s done. Go Kelly for American Idol! 🙂

sausalito art festival

Posted on September 1, 2002 by Kel

I am so freaking tired. *sigh* I spent last night helping Rob’s brother move to his new apartment — wow, I totally forgot just how much I hate moving. It sucks. I’m never going to move, ever — it would be a total pain to pack all my stuff. I have so much… junk! lol.

And then, I had to wake up at 5am this morning to go to work(!). As a second job (and because I really love radio), I work at various events around the Bay Area for KGO Radio. Anyway, this weekend (yes, I’m working all day tomorrow too! wah!) we’re at the Sausalito Art Festival. Sausalito is a great little town just north of San Francisco after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge — it’s gorgeous. It sits right on the water and there are beautiful homes sitting atop the hills. Very upscale. Anyway, artists from all around the country are at this festival to promote and sell their work — it’s amazing to walk up and down the booths to see the paintings, watercolors, sculptures and photographs. But geesh, I was there at 6:30 this morning and I didn’t get home until 8pm! I was seriously ready to pass out. My feet are *still* killing me. And I have to wake up tomorrow morning and do it all over again. Geesh.

omg! Has anyone seen that TV show on NBC called Meet My Folks? I watched an episode earlier and I could not stop laughing! The premise is that there are 3 guys or girls who get to spend a weekend with a guy/girl and his/her parents. They have various “tasks” that need to be performed or “dirty little secrets” will be revealed about them. And at the end, the parents get to pick the person that their child gets to go on a vacation with. Bwah! On the show that I watched, there was a guy (who was totally hot and his name was Josh! like my huge celebrity crush. hee) and three girls — two of which looked like they had boob jobs. heh. But damn, all of them had some crazy secrets — they apparently have all cheated on ex-boyfriends, one dated a 51 year old because he was her “sugar daddy” and spent thousands of dollars on her, one knowingly slept with a married man, one got fired from her job at a clothing store for having phone sex, etc etc… the list goes on. I was like, how do they get this information?!? But it was hilarious watching the girls try to defend themselves. The information about the girl who dated the older man was that he was 60 — but when she tried to explain herself, she said “Well, first of all, he wasn’t 60, he was 51” — bwah! Oh, that makes it sooo much better, honey. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time.

Well, I’ve rambled way too long — but just to make it a bit longer —

The Friday Five
What’s your favorite piece of clothing that you currently own? My tan corduroy sherpa jacket from Abercrombie.
What piece of clothing do you most want to acquire? A long red coat like this one from Banana Republic.
What piece of clothing can you not bring yourself to get rid of? Why? Uh, nothing really. If I don’t like something, I’ll donate it to Goodwill — and I don’t really have clothes with that much sentimental value. With shoes, though, I’m like a pack rat. I have pairs of shoes that I haven’t worn in years.
What piece of clothing do you look your best in? Just jeans, a cute baby tee and a fun belt. For some reason, I’m very big on belts right now.
What has been your biggest fashion accident? WAY back, I used to wear jeans where the waist was really high. AND I used to tuck my shirts into my jeans. *shudder*

trip to Hawaii, part 1

Posted on August 26, 2002 by Kel

A summary of my trip to Hawaii, as promised. 🙂 Part 1…

Thursday, August 15
Rob and I had to wake up at 6am (!) to get to San Francisco airport for our 8am flight. I was wide awake from the anticipation and after settling into my seat, I became even more anxious. I mean, I was on my way to Hawaii! But after take-off, I promptly fell asleep. Add to that the fact that the in-flight movie was going to be Spirit: The Stallion of the Cimarron. No matter that Matt Damon is the voice of Spirit, at least by sleeping, it would make the 5 hour flight seem a lot shorter. Upon our arrival at the Honolulu airport, we got our leis (love them! I wish I could wear them everyday. Hee.) and were escorted to our hotel, The Ohana Reef Towers, which had a really great location — just steps from Waikiki and close to all the shopping. It was about 1pm by the time we finished unpacking and we didn’t really have anything planned for the day so we just walked around trying to get familiar with everything. We spent the next few hours walking along Waikiki beach, browsing around the International Market Place, and eating shave ice (yummy!).

Friday, August 16
We woke up early to go to Pearl Harbor, which was truly humbling. Before you actually get to see the Arizona Memorial though, there’s a short video about the events of WWII and what happened the day of December 7, 1941. Omg, I almost started to bawl, especially since the park ranger that introduced the video was a veteran who was only about 50 feet away from the USS Arizona when it was hit. *sob* After that, our tour guide drove us around downtown Honolulu where we got to see King Kamehameha?s statue, the Iolani palace (the only royal palace on American soil), and the Punchbowl National Cemetery. Then that night we went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center (too many shops, too little time) and spent way too much money on souvenirs for ourselves. Hee.

Saturday, August 17
Another early day because it was our Tour the Island day! 🙂 We headed over to the east side of the island — our first stop was Hanauma Bay, the most popular place on Oahu to go snorkeling. The water is clear, the weather is great and there’s lots of sea life to see. The next scenic points were the Halona Blowhole (where supposedly when the timing is right, the water spewing out of that crevice can reach heights of up to 30 feet but of course, nothing was happening while we were there) and the Nuuanu Pali Lookout, which has a spectacular view of windward Oahu. From there, we drove up to the North Shore, home to the famous surfing beaches which I believe are featured in the movie Blue Crush. We visited Waimea Falls Park, a stunning tropical nature park and got to see the waterfalls and also a cool dive show. We got back around 6 pm — we were just riding around in a bus but the day was so tiring! So we decided to stay in and watch The Sum of All Fears (yum, Ben Affleck!) on pay-per-view. Besides, the next day was our big hike up the Diamond Head Crater and we had to be well-rested for that. 🙂

To be continued… 😛

camera troubles

Posted on August 21, 2002 by Kel

So I thought I was going to be able to take the time to write a really long blog about my time in Hawaii. No such luck. After a long and painful day at work (I wish I was still on vacation! Wah!), I came home and promptly fell asleep on the couch. In addition, I think I’m getting sick — I think it has to do with the crazy temperature change. It was about 90 degrees with lots of humidity in Hawaii and here in the Bay Area, it’s about 60 degrees. Brrr. I also planned to upload some pictures from my trip but I still haven’t gotten around to looking through all of them (we took about 150 pics!). Unfortunately, a good number of them didn’t come out as well as we would have liked. The zoom feature on the camera just makes the pictures turn out all pixelated — grrr. Maybe I’ll have time this weekend to resize and fix them up a bit as well as sit down and write about my trip. *crosses fingers*

And also, I want to say Happy Belated Birthday to Carmen! Hope you had a great day! *hugs*

look who’s back!