1. That this accident wasn't way worse. Feel better soon, K.
2. Pizzeria Picco. Especially the Strauss Organic soft serve ice cream with dark caramel and sea salt. Yum, yum, yum.
3. Peanut butter toast with homemade raspberry-peach jam.
4. Reading Pride and Prejudice by headlamp while bundled up in my warm sleeping bag in the Yosemite backcountry.
5. After years of resisting, finally reading Pride and Prejudice and discovering that I actually really like Jane Austen. Who knew?!?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Glen Aulin
Last week, I escaped to Yosemite for a few days. I was in dire need of a break, after a few stressful weeks at work. One of the things I really adore about living in the Bay area (and one of the things that will make it incredibly difficult for me to ever live anywhere else again) is that I can hop in my car and be in some of the most beautiful places on earth in less than 4 hours. And, really, it's hard to be stressed when you're miles from anywhere with no responsibilities other than hiking and setting up your tent each night. Oh, and make lovely steamy cups of bourbon and hot chocolate before bed. :-)
Anyway, my first night out on this trip, I decided to head out into the back country up near Tuolumne. I did an overnight to Glen Aulin.
One of the things I really love about Yosemite is that there are a lot of "backpackers campgrounds." Basically, at really popular locations, they've set up back-country campgrounds, with pit toilets, water, and bear lockers to store your food. I especially like them when I'm backpacking alone, because that way I know that there will be other folks around me in case there's some sort of emergency. In fact, it's really the only way I'll backpack alone. So there's one of these backpackers campgrounds at Glen Aulin, next to the High Sierra tent camp, and that's where I spent Wednesday night.
The High Sierra Camps are 6 camps set up in the Yosemite High Country. Each is a collection of canvas "tent cabins" in a beautiful setting. They're about a 7-10 mile hike apart from each other, and you can hike them in a loop, staying in the cabins each night and being fed dinner and breakfast. It's nice for people who want the feeling of backpacking but don't want to have to carry all their gear -- all you need to carry is your clothes. Some of the camps even have hot water and showers. I've personally never stayed at them, partly because they're quite expensive, but I'd love to someday. For now, though, I'll content myself with carrying my full pack and staying at the backpackers' campgrounds in the same places.
So, Glen Aulin is a little more than a 6 mile hike down from Tuolumne Meadows. It's a fairly easy 6 miles, especially on the way there, since it's nearly all flat or downhill. It's a nice way to acclimate to the altitude (7000-9000 feet), which can make exercise feel more difficult, but is only high enough to have made me sick once, when there was also really poor air quality because of a severe fire. (On that trip, we woke up each morning to a tent covered in ash blown in from the fires).
Basically, you follow the trail down from the Lembert Dome parking lot, near Soda Springs (which is a tiny little spring that bubbles up out of the ground already carbonated -- something to do with the chemicals in the earth there I think). The trail is lovely, weaving its way through High Sierra grassland and pine trees at first. Oh, and those blue, blue, blue Sierra skies.
The High Sierra Camps are 6 camps set up in the Yosemite High Country. Each is a collection of canvas "tent cabins" in a beautiful setting. They're about a 7-10 mile hike apart from each other, and you can hike them in a loop, staying in the cabins each night and being fed dinner and breakfast. It's nice for people who want the feeling of backpacking but don't want to have to carry all their gear -- all you need to carry is your clothes. Some of the camps even have hot water and showers. I've personally never stayed at them, partly because they're quite expensive, but I'd love to someday. For now, though, I'll content myself with carrying my full pack and staying at the backpackers' campgrounds in the same places.
So, Glen Aulin is a little more than a 6 mile hike down from Tuolumne Meadows. It's a fairly easy 6 miles, especially on the way there, since it's nearly all flat or downhill. It's a nice way to acclimate to the altitude (7000-9000 feet), which can make exercise feel more difficult, but is only high enough to have made me sick once, when there was also really poor air quality because of a severe fire. (On that trip, we woke up each morning to a tent covered in ash blown in from the fires).
Basically, you follow the trail down from the Lembert Dome parking lot, near Soda Springs (which is a tiny little spring that bubbles up out of the ground already carbonated -- something to do with the chemicals in the earth there I think). The trail is lovely, weaving its way through High Sierra grassland and pine trees at first. Oh, and those blue, blue, blue Sierra skies.
For much of the hike, the river is tumbling over that famous Yosemite granite just off to the side of the trail.
There are also gorgeous views of snow-capped sierra mountains in the distance. Breathtaking.
Once you get down to the camp, there are a couple bridges and a lovely waterfall, where I drank my morning coffee the next morning, getting damp from the waterfall's mist.
There are 30 or so sites in the backpacker's campground. The first batch are literally right next door to the tent cabins, in a wooded dell. There's a pit toilet, bear lockers, and a water spigot there, which is convenient. However, I chose to continue up the hill about another 2/10 of a mile to the higher campsites, perched on a rocky outcropping above the river. Not only do I think these campsites are nicer, but it let me escape from the bustle of the boy scout troop that happened to be there the same night I was. 
I camped in a lovely cove of rock, with the river rushing practically right underneath my tent. Lovely to fall asleep to. I think this is the best site in the whole area, and it got wonderful light as the sun was coming up in the morning. You really only could have fit one tent in the spot I chose, but there were plenty of areas nearby, where you could spread out several tents if you were with a big group.
And though I was a bit worried about how challenging the hike out the next day would be, since it was quite a lot of uphill, at altitude, it was actually quite easy. I didn't even get winded. Anyway, if I was going to do it again this trip again, I'd start out for Glen Aulin in the morning, drop my pack at a site, and then continue hiking down to Waterwheel Falls (another 3 miles beyond Glen Aulin). Then, I'd come back up to Glen Aulin to camp for the night. I think it would also be lovely to start Friday night hiking up to May Lake (only 1.2 miles -- pictures of that tomorrow), then hike Saturday from May Lake to Glen Aulin, and Sunday from Glen Aulin back to the parking lot. You'd have to find a shuttle or other ride back to your car, but that's apparently not too difficult up there.
P.S. Since I was traveling alone, many of the pictures of me from this trip were taken with my favorite new camera accessory -- the GorillaPod. Have you guys seen these things? They're amazing! It's basically a go-anywhere tripod. They're made up of a bunch of ball-and-socket joints, so they're completely bendable. You screw it into the bottom of your camera and then you can set it up anywhere to take a picture -- I put mine on totally uneven ground, around a tree branch, etc, and got some GREAT pictures. Completely worth the $25 bucks I paid on sale at REI a few weeks ago.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Just Like Heaven
This is where I spent Wednesday night.
This is where I spent Thursday night.
Friday and Saturday were similarly spectacular.
Some days, I just completely and totally love my life. Many, many more pictures to follow.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #51
1. The fact that the National Park Service Web Site for Big Bend National Park has a page called "How NOT to Die in the Desert."
2. Today, Tuesday, is Friday for me this week. . .
3. . . . because I'm going camping for a long, glorious 5 days.
4. A lovely, laughter-filled dinner last night with an ex-boyfriend whom I hope will become a current friend.
5. Fixing my non-burning campstove all by myself, while neither causing said stove to explode nor setting myself or anything else on fire.
2. Today, Tuesday, is Friday for me this week. . .
3. . . . because I'm going camping for a long, glorious 5 days.
4. A lovely, laughter-filled dinner last night with an ex-boyfriend whom I hope will become a current friend.
5. Fixing my non-burning campstove all by myself, while neither causing said stove to explode nor setting myself or anything else on fire.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dear Dude
Dear Dude,
Perhaps including several pictures of yourself with a dead deer on your online dating profile is not the best way to pick up chicks. I'm just sayin' is all.
xoxo,
Chris
Perhaps including several pictures of yourself with a dead deer on your online dating profile is not the best way to pick up chicks. I'm just sayin' is all.
xoxo,
Chris
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #50
1. Wuthering Heights
2. Cold Soba Noodles with Peanut-Sesame sauce and tons of green veggies.
3. My shiny, wonderful, lovely new macbook. (My first new computer in 7 years!) I think I'm in love.
4. Being able to do push-ups for the first time in my life. I can do 20+ girl-style ones at a go, now!
5. A phone message from my "baby" sister, who never calls me :-) She's not technically a baby at all, since she turns 24 (!!!) in a couple months, but she'll always be my baby sister!
6. The tropical smell in the air around my office lately. I think it might be the honeysuckle growing on the fence in our parking lot, but it's like being in Hawaii :-)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #49
1. Scoring several awesome vintage sheets at the thrift store -- perfect fabric for making cute summer dresses.
2. Deciding to take some time off from dating all the freakin' time to get myself sorted. (And the fact that this leaves me more time for other things I love -- sewing, knitting, cooking, reading :-)
(Sorry folks, that means no more "Dear Dude" posts for a while. Which is probably better, anyway, since at least one of the dudes in question discovered this blog. Ooops.)
3. A really productive afternoon at work.
4. Watermelon
5. Walking into my boss's office eating said watermelon and having him ask me if I was eating it because it matched my outfit today (green and white skirt, pink shirt :-)
2. Deciding to take some time off from dating all the freakin' time to get myself sorted. (And the fact that this leaves me more time for other things I love -- sewing, knitting, cooking, reading :-)
(Sorry folks, that means no more "Dear Dude" posts for a while. Which is probably better, anyway, since at least one of the dudes in question discovered this blog. Ooops.)
3. A really productive afternoon at work.
4. Watermelon
5. Walking into my boss's office eating said watermelon and having him ask me if I was eating it because it matched my outfit today (green and white skirt, pink shirt :-)
Monday, May 18, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #48
1. Seeing The Avett Brothers live. What a fantastic show! And they played my favorite song:
2. That they were playing at the Fillmore. I used to go to tons of concerts, back when I ran a record store, but I rarely go anymore. Mostly because I have very little tolerance at this point for being packed in like sardines with hundreds of stupid drunk frat boys, drowning in clouds of pot smoke. But this show was AWESOME-- small, historic venue, a very excited but mellow crowd, and we snagged a prime viewing spot on the balcony. And you get a free poster after the show at the Fillmore. And apples! (I could do without the $12 beers, though. What a rip-off!)
3. 30 degrees cooler today than yesterday. Thank goodness!
4. A really good friend, in town now for the whole summer :-)
5. Fresh, cool sheets and sleeping with all the windows open and the hum of the ceiling fan.
2. That they were playing at the Fillmore. I used to go to tons of concerts, back when I ran a record store, but I rarely go anymore. Mostly because I have very little tolerance at this point for being packed in like sardines with hundreds of stupid drunk frat boys, drowning in clouds of pot smoke. But this show was AWESOME-- small, historic venue, a very excited but mellow crowd, and we snagged a prime viewing spot on the balcony. And you get a free poster after the show at the Fillmore. And apples! (I could do without the $12 beers, though. What a rip-off!)
3. 30 degrees cooler today than yesterday. Thank goodness!
4. A really good friend, in town now for the whole summer :-)
5. Fresh, cool sheets and sleeping with all the windows open and the hum of the ceiling fan.
Monday, May 11, 2009
How I spent my Saturday night
I spent Saturday night in the mountains, sitting in front of this:
Do I look happy or what? It was so exactly what I needed.
Do I look happy or what? It was so exactly what I needed.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dear Dude #5
Dear Dude,
I know that getting dumped sucks. Really, I do. I've BEEN there. It's hard. It hurts your feelings. It makes you feel less-than-worthy. I GET it. That being said, there are graceful and not-so-graceful ways to handle a break-up. You, my friend, went decidedly toward the ungraceful when I broke things off with you last week. With that in mind, here is some friendly advice for next time some lovely lady decides she doesn't want to see you anymore:
1. We have only been dating for 3 weeks. It is WAY too soon for you to be (and I quote) "devastated" about us not seeing each other anymore. Seriously, dude, I have a carton of eggs in my fridge that is older than our relationship!
2. Begging me to reconsider won't work. No one looks good when they beg. And, in fact, it really just confirms my decision to dump your overly-sensitive and dramatic butt.
3. Asking me "Did one of your friends tell you to do this?" in an accusatory tone? Really, really, really lame. SUPER lame. I am a grown-ass woman. I don't need my friends to tell me when I need to get the hell out of a bad relationship, thankyouverymuch. Also, see #2 above and add "paranoid" to the list of reasons I dumped you.
4. IM'ing me multiple times to tell me you miss me in the week after I tell you I don't want to see you anymore? Please see #2 above. Forcing me to block you on Google chat, un-friend you on Facebook, and put your phone # into my "don't even let the phone ring" category is NOT the way to win back my heart. I 'm just sayin'
5. Oh yeah, and a bonus piece of advice, just 'cos I'm feeling generous: lying about your age, height, or both on your online dating profile = DUMB. Hint -- I'm going to figure it out sooner or later. I mean, maybe you can manage to hide your driver's license from me for a lifetime, but ain't no way in hell I'm gonna believe you're 5 foot 8 when you're wearing running shoes and I, in all my 5 foot 6 glory, STILL tower over you. In my bare feet.
XOXO,
Chris
I know that getting dumped sucks. Really, I do. I've BEEN there. It's hard. It hurts your feelings. It makes you feel less-than-worthy. I GET it. That being said, there are graceful and not-so-graceful ways to handle a break-up. You, my friend, went decidedly toward the ungraceful when I broke things off with you last week. With that in mind, here is some friendly advice for next time some lovely lady decides she doesn't want to see you anymore:
1. We have only been dating for 3 weeks. It is WAY too soon for you to be (and I quote) "devastated" about us not seeing each other anymore. Seriously, dude, I have a carton of eggs in my fridge that is older than our relationship!
2. Begging me to reconsider won't work. No one looks good when they beg. And, in fact, it really just confirms my decision to dump your overly-sensitive and dramatic butt.
3. Asking me "Did one of your friends tell you to do this?" in an accusatory tone? Really, really, really lame. SUPER lame. I am a grown-ass woman. I don't need my friends to tell me when I need to get the hell out of a bad relationship, thankyouverymuch. Also, see #2 above and add "paranoid" to the list of reasons I dumped you.
4. IM'ing me multiple times to tell me you miss me in the week after I tell you I don't want to see you anymore? Please see #2 above. Forcing me to block you on Google chat, un-friend you on Facebook, and put your phone # into my "don't even let the phone ring" category is NOT the way to win back my heart. I 'm just sayin'
5. Oh yeah, and a bonus piece of advice, just 'cos I'm feeling generous: lying about your age, height, or both on your online dating profile = DUMB. Hint -- I'm going to figure it out sooner or later. I mean, maybe you can manage to hide your driver's license from me for a lifetime, but ain't no way in hell I'm gonna believe you're 5 foot 8 when you're wearing running shoes and I, in all my 5 foot 6 glory, STILL tower over you. In my bare feet.
XOXO,
Chris
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Daily Does of Gratitude #47
1. The fact that people from Saskatchewan called hooded sweatshirts "bunny hugs."
2. A long walk around my neighborhood in last night's unseasonably warm, pink-lemonade colored dusk.
3. Avocado on sandwiches.
4. Breakfast burritos.
5. T. gets home today.
2. A long walk around my neighborhood in last night's unseasonably warm, pink-lemonade colored dusk.
3. Avocado on sandwiches.
4. Breakfast burritos.
5. T. gets home today.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #46
1. A lovely afternoon at the beach with a good friend.
2. It actually being WARM enough on a San Francisco beach to lay around in a bikini for the whole afternoon.
3. The satisfying pop when you open English pea pods to get at the peas inside.
4. A rare night -- warm enough to sleep with every window in the house open without getting cold (It was still 66 in my house when I woke up this morning -- warmer than I usually have the heat set for overnight!)
5. This song by Lisa Hannigan:
In fact, this might be my favorite music video EVER.
2. It actually being WARM enough on a San Francisco beach to lay around in a bikini for the whole afternoon.
3. The satisfying pop when you open English pea pods to get at the peas inside.
4. A rare night -- warm enough to sleep with every window in the house open without getting cold (It was still 66 in my house when I woke up this morning -- warmer than I usually have the heat set for overnight!)
5. This song by Lisa Hannigan:
In fact, this might be my favorite music video EVER.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
You change your mind like a girl changes clothes
This weekend has been kind of emotionally ridiculous. I can't even begin to put it together into any kind of coherent narrative. (I just quoted Katy Perry in my subject line -- THAT'S the kind of weekend I've had).
Stupid things:
1. Completely frying my face in the sun 2 days before I have to be on camera for videos that will go out to thousands of kids. Lovely.
2. Boys. Especially ones who are hot and then cold all of a sudden. And, while I'm at it, ones who don't get the hint that I broke things off for a good reason and I ain't gonna change my mind.
Good things:
1. I did at least have one of those lovely days where you just go where the spirit takes you. I went to the Marin Headlands for the first time:
Ocean Beach, too:
And Land's End at Sunset. Gorgeous!
EDT 5/12/09 to eliminate some content I decided I really didn't want out there.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Dear Dude #4
Dear Dude,
There is so much wrong with this email I don't even know where to begin.
xoxo,
Chris
There is so much wrong with this email I don't even know where to begin.
match you be cause are a hotly |
xoxo,
Chris
Daily Dose of Gratitude #45
1. An after-work walk through the Presidio.
2. Southern manners.
3. The view of the city at night, rows of sparkling lights running up and down the hills.
4. A really good Americano to start my day.
5. Making connections to finally get my crafty business off the ground. (Anyone want to buy a handmade yoga bag, coffee cup cozy, etc?)
2. Southern manners.
3. The view of the city at night, rows of sparkling lights running up and down the hills.
4. A really good Americano to start my day.
5. Making connections to finally get my crafty business off the ground. (Anyone want to buy a handmade yoga bag, coffee cup cozy, etc?)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Daily Dose of Gratitude #44
1. Fire-colored poppies, springing up all along the side of the road.
2. Yoga class NOT getting moved to 6am from 6:30.
3. I love the new color of my bedroom, even if the trim did end up a little wonky.
4. A vase full of unruly lilacs, the smell wafting through my entire house.
5. February gas bill, which includes heat: $36. (The Midwesterner in me is astonished that this is even possible!)
6. Tarragon.
2. Yoga class NOT getting moved to 6am from 6:30.
3. I love the new color of my bedroom, even if the trim did end up a little wonky.
4. A vase full of unruly lilacs, the smell wafting through my entire house.
5. February gas bill, which includes heat: $36. (The Midwesterner in me is astonished that this is even possible!)
6. Tarragon.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Dear Dude #3
Dear Dude,
I am a friendly kinda girl. Really, I am. And I'm doing this whole online dating thing because I want to meet people. But, honestly, you're kinda freaking me out with this whole over-eagerness thing.
Emailing me once and then responding to any emails I send you = perfectly appropriate. Emailing me 7 times to my one email to you = woah -- back off, buddy! Also, if I don't respond 3 times in a row when you try to chat request me on Match, and then follow-up by actually turning off chat, so that you can't request me anymore, that is NOT an invitation for you to email me with your yahoo chat address, phone number, and facebook name at least 3 times.
So, to review: some excitement about my profile and eagerness to meet me = charming. A 12-1 ratio of your attempts to contact me to my responses = stalker.
xoxoxo,
Chris
(And, BTW, the folks at Match really need to get on this issue. I've set it so that this guy can't contact me at all through Match, which is easy enough, and he doesn't have my personal email or phone number or anything. But there's no way to set it on Match so that he can't see my profile anymore. And, honestly, it kinda creeps me out that he continues to look at my profile often enough that he's usually near the top of the first page of "whose viewed me" when I log in. Ewww. )
I am a friendly kinda girl. Really, I am. And I'm doing this whole online dating thing because I want to meet people. But, honestly, you're kinda freaking me out with this whole over-eagerness thing.
Emailing me once and then responding to any emails I send you = perfectly appropriate. Emailing me 7 times to my one email to you = woah -- back off, buddy! Also, if I don't respond 3 times in a row when you try to chat request me on Match, and then follow-up by actually turning off chat, so that you can't request me anymore, that is NOT an invitation for you to email me with your yahoo chat address, phone number, and facebook name at least 3 times.
So, to review: some excitement about my profile and eagerness to meet me = charming. A 12-1 ratio of your attempts to contact me to my responses = stalker.
xoxoxo,
Chris
(And, BTW, the folks at Match really need to get on this issue. I've set it so that this guy can't contact me at all through Match, which is easy enough, and he doesn't have my personal email or phone number or anything. But there's no way to set it on Match so that he can't see my profile anymore. And, honestly, it kinda creeps me out that he continues to look at my profile often enough that he's usually near the top of the first page of "whose viewed me" when I log in. Ewww. )
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