Malibu

Yesterday Kevin and I drove out to Malibu with two friends. We parked on the Pacific Coast Highway, and took some stairs down to this secluded little beach. There were only about four other small groups close to us. Kevin and I spent a good three hours swimming, and diving into the waves. Once I got into the water, I did not want to get out. The waves were sort of small, and fun for body surfing. The weird part is that at one point on our way to the beach, our friend who was driving took a wrong turn of sorts leading us into a very upscale neighborhood. Every home had a gate, and plants to obscure the view. We got the feeling that we may be in front of the home of a celebrity when we would pass a gate that also had a security guard sitting outside of it (there were only a couple of these). It was such a fun day, I had no idea how close we really are to malibu, and we will definitely be going back. If you come visit, you can play in the water with us like little dolphins!

Blog "Code" Names

I LOVE blogs. Seriously. I could not be happier that so many people are willing to self publish on a semi-consistent basis. There are a few drawbacks to blogs- like those bloggers who are not that interesting or great at writing but do it anyway. I have to read it, I can't look away. And no, it's not your blog. My ultimate pet peeve with blogs are the dumb nick names people use for their friends and family members. Young-mom bloggers are definitely the most guilty of this. Referring to their daughter Abby as "A" and husband Brad as "B". It's very confusing because I know that their names are Brad and Abby- because said mother obviously mentioned it at some point or another. Often times they attempt a cute nick name like "winker" or "bun" but why not just refer to them by their name? I finally saw a mom refer to one of her children as a series of letters and numbers. Something along the lines of- WHJ85. Is this to protect your child? Because I am pretty sure I have seen WHJ85 in some pretty embarrassing circumstances, most of them involving a serious lack of clothing. They must be running out of blog nicknames at the city registry office.

barf.

I am intrigued by advertising and marketing in general. Many of the magazines I enjoy are stuffed with ads, and for me the ads are part of the reading material- so don't complain to me about excessive ad space. But to me this ad seems so sad. I just feel like it's Microsoft's pathetic attempt at relating to the youth.

By the way, today the school was having some sort of total computer overhaul, and beginning at 12 e-mail, and internet were unavailable. So, the "senior administrators" decided to be super awesome and send us all home for the day- with pay. I was paid to take a nap today, and I didn't even use vacation hours.

What Constitutes "Cute?"

I was shocked after reading this article. The real singer is not pictured in this article, but I have to say that she is just as cute as the girl they used. How sad.

Admittedly a Little Obsessed With...

TOMS!! I want them in almost every color and pattern.
But especially

these
these
and these

I will have to save my pennies and pick the right ones

I Might Just Pass Out, Really.

I doubt that it's something I've done regularly, but I am guilty of claiming that "I might pass out," generally when I am feeling overly dramatic about wanting Peet's Coffee and a Noah's bagel, stat. But yesterday I almost did pass out, and now I will (try to) never claim such a feeling again unless it really happens.

To set the stage, I woke up unusually perky for a Monday morning. I wasn't even feeling tense about the pile of work on my desk. I kissed Kevin goodbye and walked to work. Every Monday begins with a staff meeting, and yesterday I was tracking with the conversations and adding my own thoughts when I could. Suddenly, my co-workers appeared to be spinning, and the conference table was swaying back and forth in front of me. When I looked out the window into my boss' office, his chair looked like it was riding a wave. I assumed I was simply in need of some food, and I tried my best to excuse myself from the meeting. I had to grip the walls as I walked. I reached the kitchen, and suddenly the floor hit me in the face (I fell). I helped myself up using the refrigerator handle and opened it looking for yogurt. All I could find was a coke. I grabbed it and started drinking hoping I was just in need of sugar. I started to feel myself going down again, and stepped into the restroom. I looked in the mirror and my face had no color, except that just below my eyes was bright purple. I walked back to the meeting, and my boss said that I looked horrible and needed to go home. I called Kevin at his work, and he drove over and picked me up. I cam home at 11:30, and slept until 2, and then again until 6.

I woke up still certain that my blood sugar must be low, and more or less demanded dinner from Kevin. He is very sweet, and spent the next 45 minutes making me chicken and brown rice. I tried to sit up to eat, and started to feel like I might pass out again. So, he ate dinner alone- man I'm awesome. By then I was willing to accept that I was sick. I slept from 10pm until noon.

Plus I had crazy dreams that always accompany the flu for me. Including Matt and I hanging out at his apartment. We were about to leave when the members of ICP and some fans crossed the street to the donut shop across from his loft. Matt then made the decision that if we were going to step outside that we had better dress like ICP fans. Strange- yes.

Buy Fresh, Eat Local

Finally shopping for groceries has become fun again. I was in the groove of shopping up in portland, splitting my loyalties between trader joe's, fred meyer, and whole foods. When we moved down here, we were shocked by food prices. But now I am once again in a groove of shopping. We are doing the majority of our shopping at Trader Joe's, and as of yesterday I found a farmer's market that is close, cheap and wonderful. Which is great, because it was hard on the pocket book to buy fresh veggies and fruit. Now, I plan to do the bulk of my weekly produce shopping here on Saturday's. I was really impressed with the variety of fresh produce.* Sure, it's not as aesthetically pleasing as the farmer's market held on Portland State's campus, but it'll do.

We bought a flat of strawberries that were so bright and large they looked fake. And one whole stand was committed to avocados (my absolute favorite). The lady selling them would ask when you planned to use the avocados, and for what. She would then pick them out for you, as she had them lined up in order of ripeness. I just mushed one up and ate it for lunch. I have to say that California has to be the best place to buy avocados.

I am also looking forward to trying out some of the recipes from my most recent issue of "Real Simple" (thanks again Kristin! it's the best present ever). The August issue features "20, 20 minute meals." Which is a dream come true to a full-time working wifey like me.

*the photo featured is not from pasadena, but rather from a trip to Seattle's public market.

Strengths Finder

I recently completed a strengths finding test for work, that accompanies a book they have me reading. I thought my results were pretty interesting, and not at all what I expected.

Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Developer

You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.

Maximizer

Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else’s, fascinate you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored excellence, rapid learning, a skill mastered without recourse to steps—all these are clues that a strength may be in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. Likewise, you are attracted to others who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. You don’t want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather, you want to capitalize on the gifts with which you are blessed. It’s more fun. It’s more productive. And, counterintuitively, it is more demanding.

Empathy

You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.

Communication

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Learner

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”