April Seabright

After weeks of yearning and failed attempts, I finally made it to the ocean.

It's April, and the chill hasn't yet left the air. The water was freezing, but it was worth braving the waves to feel water rushing between my toes.

As nice as the beach was, it was also ridiculously windy. So windy that when my boyfriend, Ryan, and I were lying on our towels, we could feel the sand pelting our feet. 

Sort of comical, actually.

Eventually we got tired of that scene and ditched our towels in favor of taking a stroll.

Seabright has been my beach of choice for years now, but I had never taken the time to head to the northern end of the beach.

Has anyone else noticed that under most lighthouses you will usually find these huge concrete structures? They remind me of jax. You know, those little x-shaped things from the children's game? The objective is to bounce the ball and try to pick up as many jax as you can before the ball reaches the ground.

Or something like that.

Winery Fun

Despite the fact that I have lived in northern California for the majority of my life, I had never found my way into a winery until earlier today.

It was actually an unplanned. I was having lunch with a good friend in Livermore when she suggested we hit a couple up. There were no objections on my part.

Prior to our outing, I was more a fan of sweeter white wines than I was of reds.

No longer, though. Reds at Steven Kent Winery have made a fan out of me. 

Presents for Me

I didn't celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense this year.

I did, however, get this lovely sweater dress as a gift from the bf.

And these brown Steve Madden boots as a gift to myself. My first ever Steve Madden boot. Can you believe that?

Hey Mr. DJ

This weekend was a busy one. One of my best friend's graduation from college was on Thursday, and my own graduation, along with mom's birthday, was on Friday. 

My boyfriend's quite the DJ on the side, and provided the Motown tunes for my mom's birthday celebration on Saturday. 

He didn't have all of his gear, but the mixing still sounded amazing.

I'll admit it... I danced around the room with a water bottle as my mic more than a couple of times. Especially when Michael Jackson's Beat It came on.

Adolescents in Autumn: A Villanelle

I wrote a poem inspired by fall. It's a good thing I wrote it when the inspiration struck, because a storm swept across the Bay Area and knocked the remaining leaves off all the trees.

Wide Eyes stood still beneath the falling leaves

Beside her half, whose fingers reach for more.

With eyelids shut, she felt the fragile breeze.

They witnessed autumn have its way. Most trees

Were bare, chestnut and almond painted the floor.

Wide Eyes stood still beneath the falling leaves

And watched her half leap to catch them with ease.

Memories fell and grew crisp to their core.

With eyelids shut, she felt the fragile breeze

Find it’s way to niches kept still by boundaries

That few had the cunning to cross before.

Wide Eyes stood still beneath the falling leaves

And silently begged for her half to believe

The two of them would always find a way ashore.  

With eyelids shut, she felt the fragile breeze

And inhaled the faint scent of the dormant trees

Beside her half, whose laughter made them soar.

Wide Eyes stood still beneath the falling leaves

With eyelids shut. She felt the fragile breeze.

Swan Queen

It was such a gray day today.

It put me in a sort of melancholy mood. That, and the fact that I saw The Black Swan last night.

It was a dark tale about a ballerina who was awarded the star role in her ballet company's production of Swan Queen. The role required her to play both the White Swan, who represented purity and beauty, and the Black Swan, who represented guile and sensuality.

Already perfectly suited to dance the White Swan, the ballerina had to go hell to get in touch with her darker side.

 I highly recommend it if you like darker films that will stay in your thoughts for a few days.

Some Snow for Some Sun?

Every December downtown San Jose sets up this Christmas wonderland sort of thing in the park. Christmas trees, fake snow, ferris wheels - the whole shebang.

It's sort of funny how Northern California has to create fake snow in events like these to help set the winter wonderland mood and get us in the holiday spirit. I'm sure in say, Ohio, would love to trade us some of their snow for some of our famous California sun. 

I'd make that trade for sure. I've heard it can be a bit of a hassle sometimes, but I can definitely say that I am a big fan of the snow, and I wish Northern California got even just a little bit during the winter season.

I stand here professing my deep and unyielding love for snowy snow, yet to be fair, I have to admit that I actually have yet to have even stepped foot in a snow mound. Do you think I'd change my mind if I spent a few days trying to maneuver around in the stuff? 

I might...

This guy made me laugh.

This guy freaked me out. Shall we call him Gipedo?

Underwater Love

Yes, it's true. I love to watch fish.

I mentioned how amazing the Monterey Aquarium is, but I'm pretty positive the Atlanta Aquarium would blow it out of the water.

Ha. Ha. Get it?

It's the only aquarium outside of Asia to host whale sharks... and they've got four of them. Oh, they've also got four beluga (yes, beluga) whales.

Road trip to Atlanta, anyone? I really want to go.