#73 learn to play tennis

let me preface this post by saying that i'm extremely competitive.

which would be fine - except the person i'm most competitive with is me. well, that and boys.

i'm super competitive with boys.

then there's the part of me that simply doesn't want to try something new if i'm not good at it.

and...let me tell you, there's many a thing i'm not so good at. mostly anything involving coordination. it doesn't always work in my favor that i'm almost five foot ten and never played organized sports in school.

last thursday i attempted to play tennis. well, i attempted to learn how to play tennis. in my head i thought it would all go down quite simply - i mean, how difficult can it be to hit a ball back and forth? in reality it wasn't as easy. apparently there's some specific way i'm supposed to hold my wrist to make sure the ball makes it over the net?! i  have no idea. but i spent the majority of my time getting mad at myself for not keeping my wrist straight.

the good news is - by the end of it i showed some improvement - and the fact that my instructor is super cute helped matters just a bit.

bring on the next lesson! i'm ready.

#85 learn to play the ukulele

week two of ukulele lessons and here's what i've learned:

• how on earth am i supposed to remember that many chords!?
• practice, practice, practice (then practice some more)
• i permanently have the sound of ukulele strums stuck in my head
• how on earth am i supposed to remember that many chords!?!

3rd lesson is next saturday. yay!

"remember: you don't want to fall in love, being submissive to it, defenseless, giving in to it. you want to stand in love, together, separate, unique in your individuality, shoulder to shoulder."

-jd

my dear, dear friend.

#85 learn to play the ukulele

there aren't very many words that can sum up my excitement about starting ukulele lessons today! it feels like i've been waiting for this day forever!

ok. well maybe not forever - but it's been a while since i've become obsessed with the idea of playing and my cute little uke has just been sitting on my bedroom floor collecting dust.

i've promised (promised, promised) myself that i'm going to practice. a lot. and i'll be a ukulele-singing-fool before you know it.

yay! now i'm off to class!

xxoo

thank you thursday

...for quiet evenings at home and dinner by candlelight,

spiced cider and pumpkin carvings,

monday night football (and nfl sundays and thursday night football),

short visits with mom and dad,

and new happenings at the place i so fondly call home.

forgetful friday

whoopsie!

seems like i forgot to write my favorite post of the week yesterday!

i'm pretty sure i have a good excuse for my baby blog break - i just can't think of it at the moment so we'll just have to let bygones be bygones.

meanwhile, things are a little less hectic today.

and today is actually my friday with the rest of the world. yay!

there are so many things i wanna do this weekend i don't even know where to begin:

i'm dying to see this exhibition at the annenberg.

there are endless possibilities for a farmer's market on a saturday afternoon.

evening bike rides in the neighborhood.

food. there's always time for food.

nfl sunday.

happy friday everyone!

xxoo

*oh! i also decided that i wanted to try  out

the "weekly wellness" that meg started over on

her blog. although i am just on my week 1,

i've found it to be quite the challenge and i can proudly

say that i too, now find drinking water rather sexy.

you can read more about meg and the week by week program here

thank you thursday

photo via google

...for dinner dates with old roomie,

amazon's 'wish-list' (which makes me feel like i'm shopping without actually spending money),

 that incredible feeling you get after you have one of those "ah-ha" moments,

 sweet and unexpected emails from dad and a very dear friend,

and for staying in bed until 1pm on a rare rainy day in la.



candlelit dinners and live music - that's what girl's night is made of

last night, ashley and i had a long overdue dinner date in santa monica.

dinner with the two of us usually involves overly analytical conversations about men,

the latest happenings at work and life, then more gossiping about men.
(no one ever said 'ladies night' was supposed to be intellectual!)

we ate at via veneto on main street (i've gotta remember to start taking pictures of my food!)
which was pretty romantic. what can i say...i treat my lady friends right! haha.
the food was great  - but what was even better was our server's super
thick italian accent. i think he said one of the first things he learned to say in english were:

"how old are you?"
and
"i'm not gay."

i told him in my opinon, that was a good choice for english first words.

after dinner ash and i headed to zanzibar to see adam's show.
we were a little late, so when we arrived he was already a few minutes into his set.
i'm not sure if i missed any of his new songs,
but he did cover some awesome funky-soulful tunes that i happily sang along to.

sunday-funday indeed.

thank you thursday

...for nighttime santa monica skate sessions,
jenny lewis and conor oberst with my best friend,
all you can eat korean bbq,
and the guilty pleasure of the jersey shore season premier.

life, lately

lately i've been super scatter brained.

embarrassingly scatter brained.
and blue.
just a little bit blue.

dishes have piled up,

my car is screaming to be washed,
i've forgotten to pay a few bills,
and every now and then...i stumble across something on the web that makes me tear up
just a little bit.

but, right now, that's my story.
and so, this week i'll be a little more kind,
a little more patient,
and spend a little more time - with lori.