Changes

Obviously, I've changed the template on my blog. This is a long time coming. I've known in my mind that I should always keep things fresh, but my heart and stomach couldn't, well, stomach it.

When I started this blog in 2007, I chose the design that was the least used and the one that seemed to suit me. There was no way I was going to have that dot template. Do you remember that thing? It was too popular. I couldn't do it. Anyway, soon all sorts of templates seemed to surface from the heart of a True Scrapbooker. These Scrapers had TONS of blog templates with a million layers. Not only did it take forever to download, but if I chose one of those designs, then my blog would have to look like a scrapbook.

BLACH!

Yup, that's how I feel about that. Blach. I'm not a Scraper, and I'm not a Scraper poser, so there was nothing left to do but maintain my original Blogger template.

And then, on Sunday, June 20, 2010, everything changed. I noticed a link to change the look of my blog. These templates were very tantalizing to me. They were fresh. They were clean. They downloaded quickly. And best of all, they didn't look like a scrapbook. There were so many to choose from! While I was just looking around, a thought kept popping up in the back of my mind. I knew that once I changed, I would never be able to go back. That template would no longer be available to me. This, of course, is a huge risk.


I like the new look of my blog. However, I feel the scrolling capability isn't up to par. This could be a deal breaker.

1 Live Purple Urchin

Last weekend was Wicked weekend! I've never seen Wicked, and seeing how everyone raves about it, I figured it was time to go.

This is the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. This picture was basically taken from our hotel. I loved being so close to the theatre.


We stayed at the Hotel Whitcomb, and it was very cool. I loved it. It had a singing doorman. What's not to love about that? Oh, and also, it had a very long hallway:



Sorry if you got motion sickness.

On Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast at Munch Haven, then jumped on the BART to get to the Embarcadero. Our goal was to visit the Aquarium of the Bay. We found a lot of cool things on the way, like a street fair and a half marathon. There were TONS of people out and about, and most of them didn't seem to care that there was a race going on. But I cared. And I let everyone know. Let's just say I did a lot of cheering. Or yelling. Or mostly yelling at everyone to get out of the way of the race.

Because of the race, the trolleys were not running, so we had to walk. No problem, except that suddenly my normally trusty shoes decided to turn against me and give me three blisters. I was able to find a shoe store and found an awesome pair of sandals made out of yoga mats. After that purchase, I was so zen that I decided to strike a pose.


We finally made it to the aquarium, and guess who we found there?


Mike, Kylie and Sky!


Okay, we didn't just run into them.. it was planned.. but very last minute. On Thursday or so I had texted Ky to tell her I would be in SF that weekend, and she should hop over. But they already had plans to go to SF that weekend! To see Wicked! It was perfect! So we set up this aquarium visit.

The aquarium was, well... nothing at all like the majestic and beautiful and sentimental Monterey Bay Aquarium. The only things that stopped me from calling Aquarium of the Bay Aquarium of the Lame was the fact that I got to hang out with Ky, and I got a behind the scenes tour.





In the aquarium, in the very small and unimpressive touch pool, we were asking the guy on duty what they do with the animals once they get too big for the touch pool. I was messing around and asked if they put them up for adoption. He responded that no, they do not put them up for adoption, and that it would be impossible for me to keep one at my home, as my house is of course not big enough, and I wouldn't have enough money to build the proper type of pool for the bat ray anyway.

Jeez. His job must suck if it causes him to be devoid of all humor. Or maybe they have meetings all the time for the staff to stress the importance of taking every question seriously. Or possibly, he just didn't know I was kidding. Am I really that hard to read?




While we were on the pier, we did a little Geocaching. I spotted this little guy:



And finally! We made it to Wicked!


I would tell you my feelings on Wicked, except I haven't quite acquired any yet.

I Can Ride!

The last time I tried riding a bike was a complete failure. My nieces, however, thought it was hilarious. Because that day has been haunting me, and because I don't think it is quite proper for a lady not to know how to ride a bike, I went over to the Cohen's to try again.

When Elle saw me, she asked what I was doing. Her Mom said I came over to ride bikes. Elle just looked at me like, "Yeah right. Aunt Riah ride a bike? You're crazy."

So naturally I had to prove her wrong. Nothing like healthy competition between aunt and niece, is there?

I got on the bike, with the added intimidation of having the iBert attached, and proceeded to ride around a little. I was proud of myself, and I pointed out my riding skills to Elle. She said, "Yeah, but can you go fast? You go somewhere and we'll time you. I'll draw the map." Then she bent down and drew the map in the dirt. It was simple: go around the block.

So I did. I was flying! I went around in five minutes. It still didn't impress Elle. I asked, "So was that fast?"

She responded, "Not as fast as me."

Yeah, well, at least I'm old enough to go around the block by myself.

"The Zinfandel, please, and don't skimp on the wheel wash."

I got out of my car at the service station and I ran right into this new sign:



The ridiculousness of this sign really speaks for itself. I have nothing else to say.

All The Difference

Oh man, I heart summer.

Around lunch time on Friday I received a text from Jodie. They were going to go to Avila to have a BBQ around 4 if I wanted to join them. My answer was of course YES and I asked them to bring me a change of clothes and a jacket. The beach can get windy you know.

When I got to the beach I immediately regretted my decision. A jacket? Are you kidding? I should have had them bring me a swim suit! It was gorgeous! It was 5:30 in the evening and it was beautiful!


You know, maybe I should just start keeping a bathing suit in my car.


The girls were all about surfing. You see how they are standing in the surf? Well, when a big wave comes along, they will bring their arms up for balance and catch a wave. It's only pretend, of course. They know it's not real surfing. Just because they are kids doesn't mean they have an inaccurate idea of what surfing is. Jeez.


While the girls contemplated the waves, Wade had his own work to do. You see, the ocean kept spitting out all this sand. Wade, being the astute man he is, realized the sand needed to go back into the ocean, so handful by handful he threw it back. A passerby looked at him and saw the millions of handfuls of sand waiting to be tossed back. The passerby said, "With all this sand, how do you expect to make a difference?" Wade picked up another handful, tossed it into the ocean and said, "To that handful, I made all the difference in the world."