Movin' On Up

One of the reasons I've been so absent lately is that my office has been in the middle of a move.

I have kind of hinted over on I Shake My Fist At You about the crazy neighborhood my office used to be in. First there was the time we were put on police lockdown because of some gangbanger running around with an AK-47. Then, there was the time that someone called in a bomb threat and the entire complex was evacuated. Where were we evacuated to, you ask? Oh, to the neighborhood that had been locked down, of course.

Other classic moments included the time we saw our building on an episode of Gangland, and the time that we were propositioned by an over the hill, barefoot hooker at 8:15am. I've been offered sex from a crazy homeless meth-head, and my friend swears she had a hex put on her by the toothless old woman who hung out in the Yum Yum Donuts. We were located in between a Payless Shoes, a tiny place called "T&A Seafood," and the 24-hour "Le Sex Shoppe."

But anyway, other than all of the crazy things going out OUTSIDE the building, I actually really liked our space. It was a little run down, a little unique, and a little strange, but it was a good space. Until we outgrew it. And stopped needing the huge sound stage we had downstairs. And our lease ran out and the building was rented out to one of the "Big 3" networks who decided to move two of their major soap operas there. Big changes are coming to the building, and big changes thus came for us.

Long story short (too late!), we've spent the last two months gearing up for the move, uncertain about where we were going, packing, purging, sorting through over 5 years of STUFF, and packing some more. D-day was last Friday.

This is how my desk looked before I started the hard core packing.

This was my little storage room - and yes, that is a handicap
shower. I think the building was once used as a hospital?

Me on moving day - at my now packed and empty desk.

Our new building is in a really nice location - in a quiet business area on a cul-de-sac with an Embassy Suites across the way. We're on the 6th floor of a building with a 24 hour receptionist/security person, and you need your after-hours key card to get up to our floor before 9am. We have the entire floor, a green-screen room, two conference rooms, and a snazzy reception area.

The experience has been an interesting one - mostly good. I'm a little concerned about the amount of space I'm going to have at this new building. We're currently in a temporary office until our work stations are fully built, so there will be another small move in about 6-8 weeks, and we'll see how that one goes. I'm hoping for the best, but can't yet see how they're going to accommodate me and my 40 boxes of binders and tapes.

But I'm optimistic - it's not exactly a new start for my company, but it's a great beginning to the next chapter. I'm sooo glad that the move is over and that we're finally able to settle. Maybe now I'll have a little bit of time for myself, and a very neglected Sean.

I love my new area (even though it's just temporary) - I have a window!

Also? My view is SO much better. I can see outside!

Ireland trip: Getting there

What's that you say? Oh, I'm finally getting around to posts about Ireland, even though it's been almost 6 weeks? Yeah, yeah, I know, it's ridiculous. But we had such a good time and it's still so fresh in our minds that I had to go back to talk some more about the trip!

As it turns out, flying to Europe as a 27 year old is much different than flying to Europe as a 20 year old. I was not expecting to be jet lagged - and it took a bigger toll on me than it used to. But it didn't matter too much, because hi, we were going to Europe!


It was reassuring to watch our bags get loaded onto the plane leaving LA. Even though I've taken loads of flights, and only once have had a bag lost, once it enough to be paranoid about it.

We had a stop over in Chicago, which was an interesting experience. Aer Lingus is a really small airline, and so we flew domestic to Chicago, had lunch at a Chinese food place that had REALLY good sesame chicken, and then exited security only to switch terminals and go back through security. And trust me when I say that eating lunch first was a good idea - there is no food except candy bars and bottled soda in the international terminal!


We didn't have to wait in the international terminal long and got on the awesome plane to Dublin!


We got our own TV screens and remotes, and there were only two seats in the aisle. It was a pretty awesome way to spend the flight!

I highly recommend Aer Lingus - we already want to go back, and I'll be following their website for cheap tickets!

Leaving on a jet plane.

And now, the final part of the most amazing spring break I’ve ever known. Make sure you read parts one, two, and three to get caught up!

When we wrapped that Thursday, there was a town car waiting to take us to the airport, because that’s how movie stars roll. Ben Affleck sat in the front and talked politics with my dad, and it occurred to me that while he would never be the best actor, he was an incredibly intelligent person. It was getting late – at least 11pm, but the nice thing about flying on a private jet is that they don’t have a “departure time,” they leave whenever you want.

We got to the airport and boarded the private jet that had “been sent for Mr. Affleck,” and I could barely contain my excitement. But my dad’s number one rule for being at work with him was to remember that however I behaved would be a direct reflection on him, so I stifled my excitement and tried my best to put on a cool façade.

We boarded the plane and went through the easiest customs process I’ve ever been through, and while we were waiting to take off, my dad made noise about me not telling my mom that we were leaving later than planned. Ben Affleck, being a nice guy, offered up his cell phone.

I remember thinking – SHIT. How am I going to get through this phone call without gushing to my mom about where we are??

I somehow managed – “Hi mom… Yeah, we’re leaving late… No, I’ll stay at dad’s tonight and come home tomorrow… Yes, it’s been a fun trip… ok, bye!”

It got me some strange looks from both Ben Affleck and my dad, but then they announced we were ready for takeoff.

And Ben Affleck asked if I was curious how he’s known about my best friend. I babbled that of course I was, because how had he possibly known that my best friend’s name was Megan, and how could he know we called her Megs? Though I thought at the time that I pulled it off, I’m sure it sounded just as geeky as you might think it did.

He laughed, as if it was this awesomely great joke, and explained how there was a fan page online with message boards that he routinely checked. And how right before they’d gone to shoot that scene, he’d looked at it and had seen a post titled “[my dad’s name]’s daughter.” Megan had posted about how I was up there visiting, and how the weather in LA was really nice compared to Canada, but if he happened to see me, please tell me “Megs says hi.”

And he had! I was pretty impressed – not only did he read the fan boards, but he’d actually given two shits to say something. Again, what a nice guy!

The rest of the flight was uneventful – I listened to Lauryn Hill until the batteries on my discman died. I tried to soak up every second, fighting sleep by watching the stars, but by that point everyone else was asleep. The next thing I knew, we were landing and debarking the plane – Ben Affleck to be whisked away by another town car, and us to be greeted by taxi. Just like that, as quickly as everything else had been, my encounter was over.

In the taxi back to our house, my dad asked my why I hadn’t told my mom where I was when I called her.

My response?

“Dad, if I’d told mom that I was on a private jet with Ben Affleck right then, I’d have LOST MY SHIT, squealed like a little girl, and embarrassed all of us!”

He laughed and laughed, and of course, later related the story to Ben Affleck, who also laughed and laughed. I’m glad that after that awesome of a trip, that they’d had a laugh, even if it was at my expense.

So that’s my “Ben Affleck story.” I met him briefly again at the end of the shoot when my whole family went up to see my dad, but it wasn’t anything the same. He did make good on his word and printed two of the better photos and signed them for me, and then the photographer gave me all of the negatives. It’s hilarious to look at the first few photos, because I’m so obviously surprised and caught off guard. It’s like the ultimate deer in the headlights look.

Like I said on Tuesday, I’ve been reflecting on my life a lot lately, and recognizing just how charmed it’s been so far.This story is a prime example. I feel so fortunate with the experiences I’ve had, and so lucky that I still have so many things ahead of me.

Maybe someday I’ll run into Ben Affleck again. I highly doubt he’d remember the shy girl with braces, but it would be nice to let him know he made a huge impact on me that year!

This was one of the two photos he signed and framed for me - and also
my favorite. It was in a moment where I was finally recovering from
shock and actually smiled. Also? I like it because you can hardly
tell I have braces. And he looks HOT. Look at that jaw line!

Ambushed!

Welcome back to my continuing saga! Parts one and two are already up, and this is part three!

Where were we this time? Right.

Vancouver. Megs. The sound stage with the giant green screen and jail set. Working as a PA.

Thursday was our last day of shooting before a long weekend, and it would still be a while before I solved the mystery of how Ben Affleck had known my best friend's name. My spring break was almost over, and my dad was getting the rare opportunity to come home for the weekend by flying home with me. We had tickets booked for a 9pm flight, and my dad had made arrangements to leave by 6pm to get to the airport.

That morning, I’d rushed to get ready. I’d thrown on jeans and a hoodie with the logo of my high school’s softball team. It was about 10am, and my hair was messy from wearing an earpiece for the walkie talkie. I was rushing from one side of the stage to another to do some random errand that some random person had instructed me to do (can you say lowest on the totem pole?), when Ben Affleck appeared out of nowhere with the set photographer.

“Can we take a couple photos?” he asked me.

I think my thoughts were something like this: SERIOUSLY??? OMG OMG YES! OMG OMG OMG OMG! OMG! YES! DUH! OMG! Hell, they’d probably still be like that if this happened tomorrow.

I managed to respond with a squeaky “Yeah, sure,” and I barely had time to rip the earpiece off before he was hugging me. And God bless that set photographer, he just kept taking photos until he had gone through an entire roll. Ben Affleck hugged me, kissed my forehead, laughing the whole time.

"We’ll pick some good ones and print them for you, ok?” And then, just as quickly, they were gone.

Reflecting on it now – when I’m the age he would have been and my sister is the age I was – it was a really nice thing he did. He could have taken a quick snapshot, not caring how it came out, but instead he took a few minutes to make my entire year. I have a lot of respect for people who take a little extra time when they know it means something to someone.

The entire exchange was maybe 2-3 minutes, but oh man, I will never forget it.

And then the day got better.

We were breaking for lunch and John had just broken the news to my dad that we wouldn’t, in fact, be able to leave at 6pm for our 9pm flight. They’d missed a shot and would not be wrapping early that night, so we had to figure out alternate plans to get back to LA. The upside? We were sitting with Ben Affleck’s assistant at the time, and she had good news.

“We’re flying to LA tonight – Warren Beatty sent a jet for us, and I can see if there’s room for you guys.”

Yeah, ok, because that happens. Seriously? I was in a complete state of shock by that point - was this really happening to me???

Parts one, two and four!

"Megs Says Hi."

Yesterday I started a story about one of the more kick ass experiences of my life. Part one can be found here. Here is part two!

So where did I leave off?

Ahh yes. “Megs says hi.” Me at 16. Nerdy and quiet. My best friend was Megan (who is still one of my best friends, and subsequently loves this story), and we often called her Megs.

Side note: Today is Megan's birthday!! How appropriate that my post would be central to her... Happy birthday dude!

And the only drawback to being in Canada for spring break was being away from my friends in a time before laptop computers and cell phones were cheap enough for high schoolers to have.

Prince George. On Monday afternoon we flew back down to Vancouver, and my dad and I had some quality father daughter time. I remember getting amazing Indian food (the first time I’d eaten it), and my dad buying me Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. For my discman. Hehe.

Shooting resumed on Tuesday, and I was in for three more whole days of awesomeness. I worked under the table as a PA. I wore a radio and ran errands. I made friends with the crew members, and some of the cast. My favorites? Danny Trejo and Clarence Williams III, who were so nice and actually quite chatty.

I worked with my dad’s second AD on call sheets. I watched them shoot on the biggest green screen I’d ever seen. I even filled in with the props people when they needed a prop letter in a girl’s handwriting (and if you look close enough, you can even see it in the movie!).

You know that term “in pig heaven?” Yeah, that was me that entire week. Me = one lucky girl.

And then the interactions with Ben Affleck began.

I had been introduced to him on the first day, but there wasn’t much down time for chatting until the day before we left. We were inside on the stage, and they were setting up for another shot, and we were all hanging out by video village.

I didn’t even know that Ben Affleck really remembered who I was, but right as they were about to go back to shooting, he looked directly at me, smiled that toothy smile that had caused my crush in the first place, and said: “Oh, by the way, Megs says hi.”

Say what?

I stopped dead in my tracks. How did he know that? How did he know I had a best friend named Megan, and that we called her Megs?

He was gone before I had a chance to respond, and I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how the hell he knew about “Megs.”

My dad’s explanation was that everyone had a friend named Megan. Yeah, ok, maybe, but still. How did he KNOW???

The mystery would plague me until the next night, while I was flying home on a private plane after one of the best days of my life!

Parts one, three and four!

How time flies!

Today is my 5 year anniversary at my job. Which weirds me out, because when I first decided to take the job, I thought: “I never intended to get into the TV industry, but I’ll try it for 6 months or so.” Cut to today. 5 years later. And me, surprisingly, still loving what I do.

But this anniversary has made me think a lot about my life. Where I thought I’d be vs. where I am. And it made me think about how time flies, and how fortunate I've been. How different things are. It made me nostalgic, and so I decided to share the story of one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. I split this story up into 4 small parts, but I promise I'll be a better blogger and finish it this week! Here we go...

Preface: My dad is in the film industry. It’s not something I talk about that often, because in Los Angeles, it always leads to at least one or two people asking for favors. “Oh, can your give your dad my head shot?” “Oh, can your dad get me a job?” To which the typical answer is, "Sure, but he’s just going to throw it away," or "Not really, no."

Anyway, because of my dad’s job (I won’t say exactly what he does, but he gets to boss a bunch of people around and make sure things go how they’re supposed to, it’s pretty awesome), I’ve had some incredible and unusual opportunities. I’ve been around movie sets my whole life, and I’ve had a chance to meet some really cool people.

This story is from spring of 1999 (holy crap, I can't believe that was 10 years ago!). I was a 16-year-old junior in high school. My dad was working on Reindeer Games. Does anyone remember that gem? Yeah, didn’t think you would. Let me refresh your memory – Ben Affleck starred in a “Christmas” movie about a guy whose cellmate is killed right before he’s scheduled to be released from jail and meet the girl he’s been writing back and forth to, the "girl of his dreams." So naturally, an elated to be out of jail Ben Affleck takes his cellmate’s place in meeting the girl. Trouble ensues, chock filled with violence and bad language (and tons of bad acting).

But here’s the thing: this was 1999. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon had just won the Oscar for Good Will Hunting. Armageddon had been released the summer before. Ben Affleck was on the cusp of major stardom - tall, dark and handsome - and I was a shy, quiet 16-year-old with a HUGE crush. It was my spring break, and my dad was letting my fly up to Canada to spend it working with him.

It was a dream come true – an entire week with my dad (and just the two of us, at that), Ben Affleck, and a movie set.

I anxiously flew by myself to Vancouver, then took a super small plane to a town called Prince George where they were shooting. I arrived on a Saturday afternoon; they were shooting nights. I spent the first night watching a diner scene being filmed, the second night watching the grand finale casino scene.

There was an amazing stunt of a guy being lit on fire and falling out of a two story window. There was director John Frankenheimer (a good friend of my dad’s that I knew from several other movies) giving me gruff advice to never smoke. There was my dad running around yelling at people and making it all happen (I was so proud!). There was Ben Affleck joking around with everyone and greeting screaming fans that were standing out in the cold in the middle of the night, and Charlize Theron hanging out (with her mom, too) being absolutely gorgeous and super nice.

I think that even at 16 I realized what an awesome memory that trip would be, and how lucky I was to be experiencing it.

Parts two, three and four!

Scarf exchange!

Recently, I discovered a new blogging friend - Kate over at Simply Said by Simply Me. And my new blogging friend?? Is rad. And is having a rad scarf exchange that I've decided to join in on!

It started as something that she participated in and now she's doing one of her own. So check it out if you might be interested, and you could get a scarf too!

End of my rope.

I’ve been really irritable lately, and I don’t like being irritable. And unfortunately, the source is something I can’t really get away from – work. Or, more specifically, two people at work. Without going into detail, lest I be dooced, I’ll just say this – it’s incredibly frustrating to not be able to do your job the way you see best because of macho, pissing contest bullshit.

So yeah. I’ve been frustrated. And the worst part of it is that it seems that this issue always comes up about 20 minutes before I’m scheduled to go home. So I get in the car angry. I drive home in traffic angry. I get home to Sean angry. And the actions of those two people ultimately cause me to not enjoy my evenings off. Which is stupid, and something I need to stop. I need to find that zen, that something that causes me to calm down and let go and not carry that anger home with me.

So here’s my question: has this happened to you? Have you ever had to deal with someone who you just can’t get along with?

I’m past the point of even trying to get along – different personalities, etc, etc. I can work with people I don’t get along with, I can work with different personalities. I have no illusions that I’m going to be bff with everyone.

But how do you work with someone who refuses to listen, to be respectful? How do you attempt to have change happen when your complaints fall of deaf ears? Do you go around proper channels? Do you ignore the problem? Get a new job? What?

Because seriously, I’m near the end of my rope.

Quick question...

I need help!

If you wanted to put framed photographs in your house, what kinds of photographs would you put up?

Would you put a series of similar shots? Would you put a themed cluster of shots? Would you put one larger print?

What content would you pick? Landscapes? People? Objects?

Just doing some research – I’m determined to get my Esty shop off the ground before the holidays!

That big question.

For the record, Sean and I did not propose on our trip, and we are not engaged.

I can’t even tell you the number of people who have asked me about that.

The first time, when Casey said she had a feeling he might propose on the trip, I got a little thrill. The logical side of my mind said, no way – we’re not there yet. But that wildly romantic side couldn’t help but think “wouldn’t that be great?” It was a nice, excited feeling, and had caught me off guard because it had never even occurred to me.

But then EVERYONE started asking me. My boss. My co-worker. The friend of a friend who I had dinner with. The client my boss and I went on a business lunch with.

I had a birthday party. And a couple of friends did the nudge and wink thing.

My head was still saying, DUDE. It’s not gonna happen. You know it’s not going to happen. We’re not there yet. We’ve talked about it – we know we want to get there sometime, but now is not “sometime.”

But I started to wonder – do they know something I don’t know? Could it really happen? And I would daydream – maybe he’d propose here, maybe he’d propose while we were doing this.

Then I finally stopped myself. Because I know Sean. I know us. And I knew that him proposing on this trip wasn’t going to happen. And I didn’t want to go into the trip thinking “Maybe he’ll propose,” and then be disappointed when he didn’t.

We had an incredible trip that neither of us will ever forget, without a proposal. We enjoyed each other. We spent good, quality time talking, being silent, getting into a deeper sync than we were before. And it really was perfect.

Twice as many people have told me since we got back that they wondered if he would propose. And it makes me think: how long do people typically take to get engaged? What’s the rush? Why do people seem so impatient to get us married off?

We’ve been together for three and a half years, and the pressure to get engaged is increasing. And while I’m ready to get married (or, at least engaged), I know Sean isn’t quite yet. The commitment is there, no doubt. But, there’s something missing – a lack of faith in the institution of marriage, maybe. Fear of divorce, or that marriage changes things so drastically that you stop liking each other. Fear that getting married means the end of your sex life, or the end of fun. Whatever it is, we’ll get past it at some point. I don’t want to rush in to getting engaged when it’s not what both of us want.

So, until then, I'll be patient. I’ll field the questions about when we’ll get married. I’ll anticipate the day that we do get married and I can call him my husband. And until then, I’ll enjoy every second with him, because that’s what’s important to me – having a good life with someone who I love, and who loves me to the ends of the earth.

Even if he hasn’t given me a ring to tell that to the world.

And we're back!

We're back! Granted, it's been a while, but we're back! Crazy things happen when you go on vacation from a super busy job, and I've been absolutely swamped since we got back.

But that doesn't matter. What does matter? We had an AMAZING time. We did loads of stuff, we took time to relax. We saw Dublin, we saw the west coast. We planned a little, ad-libbed a lot. We rented a car, and I drove on the right hand side - crazy! We enjoyed the cold weather and the refreshing, clean air. We soaked in the green.

And, of course, being us, we now want to move there. :-)

I wrote pages and pages of journal entries, trying to record every moment so that I wouldn't forget, but I don't know that I'll post those here. Instead, I think I'll do a quick (-ish, this is me we're talking about here) review of the places we went over the next couple days, and let the photos do the talking!

View from the airplane as we flew East.

Sean took this one early the first morning - he couldn't
sleep so he took the camera on a photo safari and snapped
this over Dublin Harbor. Love it!

There were sooo many sheep!

We discovered this little road that circled a lake in the North West (Co.
Donegal) and spent about 2 hours exploring!

We stayed in Ballyshannon for two nights - it was such a cute little town!

It rained heavily the day we were in Galway, but we still ventured out to
explore and snap some photos.

The day it rained in Dublin, we took refuge in St. Patrick's
cathedral - it was lovely!

The last days we were there, it was clear and a bit warmer, and we took
a ton of walks to see as much as we could.

We already can't wait to go back!

You and I left our troubles far behind...

We're off.

Our vacation has finally arrived, and it could not be at a better (or worse) time. Things are insanely busy for both of us, but we need this so much!

My goals for this vacation? Relax. Take photos. Enjoy time with Sean. See things we've never seen before. Drink lots of Guinness.

It's going to be a great trip.

** Title lyrics from "The Bird and the Worm" by Owl City **

I had a bad experience. What happened? I HAD a bad experience!

I hate dental work.

Like, really hate it.

Let me preface with a bit about my dental history.

My dad's cousin is a dentist. Which meant that for the first years of my life, my dad would truck me down to Orange County to see him, and that every time we had a family gathering, there would be a "Let's see how your teeth are doing!" or an "Open wide!" Which I hated. Love my dad's cousin, hate that he was my dentist.

Then, I got into middle school and started having orthodontic work done. Teeth pulled. Bands put in. Head gear. Neck gear. By the time I got to braces, I was a pro. But? When I started having all that work done? Came to the realization that I have a high tolerance for Novocain. How did I figure that one out, you ask? Well, when I was 12, I had a few teeth pulled. And they didn't give me enough, didn't believe me that I was still feeling pain when I shouldn't have been. So I had teeth pulled out while feeling virtually everything.

Thus began my hatred of dental work.

I had a good dentist when I was on my dad's PPO. He was a friend of my mom's from church, and handled all of my fillings and my one crown up until I got out of college and started working at my company. When I switched to an HMO.

Since starting there almost five years ago, I've only been to the dentist twice. The last time was in 2006. I know, I know. It's terrible.

The first dentist I went to was at a dental group. A large dental group. Who were very corporate and all about the sale. I went to have my teeth cleaned, and mistakenly told someone there I was possibly interested in teeth whitening, but couldn't afford it at the moment. Which began a litany of phone calls and irritating sales pitches. It got to the point where my mom would IM me they had called the house as they were calling my work number. I finally told them point blank I never wanted to hear from them again, and asked to speak to the office manager and be removed as their patient.

The next dentist I went to treated me like I was 5 years old. As he was examining me with his hands all up my mouth, hairy knuckles visible even under gloves, he said things like "Oh, we need to pay attention to this" and "Oh, we need to floss more." Actually, you ass, I need to floss more. I'm sure YOUR gums are perfectly fine.

I considered getting back my PPO through work and going to my original dentist, but to do that would cost me $180/month, on top of crazy co-pays and other charges. So, no PPO for me.

Anyway. (Sorry, that was more preface than I had planned. Explanation? See the title of my blog.) ;-)

Cut to three years later, yesterday, when I break a fucking tooth eating popcorn at lunch. A week before I'm leaving the country for 8 days.

And to this morning, when I finally got my butt back in a dentist's chair. And had a full blown anxiety attack (my first, by the way), when they found a different tooth that needed a minimum of a crown, with potential need for a root canal. Immediately.

So today I spent over three hours in the dentist's chair, and they didn't even get to the tooth I broke. Five shots of Novocain, awful sinuses, $400, and a terrible gag reflex (I know, insert sexual joke here) that lead to an incredibly uncomfortable experience and more anxiety, and I have a temporary crown on my tooth and another appointment for Saturday morning.

And about five more appointments and another $1,000 in treatment lined up for when I get back from Ireland. And that's WITH my insurance.

And the kicker? They gave me Nitrous (laughing gas) with the hopes that it would calm me down a bit and help out with the procedure. And it seems I have a tolerance for that, too, as it did next to nothing.

Other issues have cropped up, too, but that's a story for another day, cause I'm simply exhausted.

Why must everything go wrong right before big vacations???

I'm trying to see the bright side - at least the dental stuff didn't happen WHILE we were in Ireland, at least it's being taken care of before I needed a root canal. But it's hard to see the bright side when you're in the middle of the shit storm.

Finally booked!

One of the major sources of stress for me recently has been our lack of hotel rooms for our trip to Ireland. I know that sounds totally lame, but I'm one of those people who likes to have things planned months in advance, especially when it comes to international travel.

Up until yesterday? The only thing we had booked was our flights. We were still trying to figure out where to stay, and for how long, and we had so much else going on there was no real time to sit down and figure it out. I finally came up with a couple of options and asked Sean which ones he was down with, and we figured out what we're doing!

Our official Ireland itinerary:

1 night in Dublin
2 nights in Ballyshannon, in the North West part of the country
1 night in Galway
3 nights in Dublin

Hopefully, we'll be able to see a good chunk of the country while not spending every single night in a different location.

I'm officially super excited for the trip, and it feels like a huge weight has lifted - we know where we'll be sleeping!

Have you been to Ireland? Is there anything in the areas we're visiting that we HAVE to see?

Sunburned ankles and blueberry cobbler.

Yesterday was my birthday!

I had a great, relaxing weekend that included these things:

- Going to Ventura and Santa Barbara to see Shannon support her cycling team in a race on Saturday morning, then had a nice late breakfast with her.
- Sean and I going to the beach so he could surf and I could read... it getting really hot and me rolling up my pants and sleeves. (I am now sun burnt on my ankles, nose and right forearm. And it was totally worth it!)
- Going to dinner at a great Argentinean place with my parents and sisters and brother, and having a great time.
- Sleeping in and lazing around on my actual birthday morning.
- Hanging out with my mom and having a delicious dinner, which included a yummy blueberry cobbler that totally turned my mouth purple for hours.
- Raiding Target with Shosh and Marie and treating myself to a scarf I totally didn't need, but absolutely love.

As birthdays go, it was pretty great, which was really nice, given the last few weeks I've had.

I've been so busy, so crazed, so stressed and frustrated. Mostly about work, but also about life, and where work is headed. I've been at my job almost 5 years, and I still have no idea what I want to "do" with my life. I feel like I'm having a bit of a quarter life crisis, and I can't say it's entirely pleasant.

So right now, I'm just going to concentrate on what a good weekend it was. Look forward to more birthday celebrations this week, my birthday party on Saturday, and to Ireland and my friends' wedding in September. Try to write more, try to get out of work on time instead of an average of an hour late. Try to do the things I want to do more often, and find a better balance.

Hopefully, 27 will be the age of "figuring shit out!"