here kiddie kiddie.

zinnia - euser farm - napa, ca

children think the oddest things, and i love that about them. when i was still nannying for ashlyn and tessa, they reminded me how much humor happens in the figuring out of things. i was quite the same way. until i was about five years old, i thought that my grandparents lived in the sky because we had to fly to see them. i called grilled cheese "girl cheese" for a good decade--always wondering, why don't they call it boy cheese? i confused the word 'errands' with 'erins' (my sister being the ever effervescent erin eleanor euser), so whenever my mom went to run "erins," i was left with an image of my she and my sister running around in circles.

and i continue to realize a good handful of my long-held "knowledge" is pretty off. lucas kacher, my go-to, facty, know-how friend, only a couple months ago enlightened me that rogets (as in the thesaurus) is pronounced ro-jhay not ro-gets. my brain blushed as it often does when corrected. all the same, i'm allowing myself to be royally peeved when broadcasters continue to mispronounce beijing (bay-JING, people. bay. JING.)

grizzly green.

grass - my backyard - napa, ca

my garden at home in napa is looks like a billion dollars.  flourishing to the nth degree. it is currently featuring the following:

peaches (white and yellow)

nectarines

heirloom tomatoes

apples (gala, granny smith, and gravenstein)

 watermelons

 cantaloupes (which i didn't know how to spell until this very moment)

onions (green, red, pearl)

peppers (bell and jalepeno)

beets

corn

lettuce (red, romaine, and field greens)

leeks

french prunes

plums

basil

potatoes

oregeno

thyme

pumpkins (my favorite being the cinderella variety)

cucumbers

squashes (too many to list)

and i'm forgetting a million things...

tonight for dinner literally everything on our plate was either grown or caught by my dad.  we had grilled alaskan salmon caught forty-eight hours prior on his fishing trip in alaska, grilled zuccini, roasted potatoes, sliced heirloom tomatoes, beets, and green salad. deeeeeelish. 

 i think that's what i miss most when i'm gone from home--being able to run into the yard and fill the fridge.  having a craving for a juicy peach or even ripe figs topped with gorgonzola, and having it within my ability to see them from the tree to the plate and into my bod.  nothing like it.  and since erin already has dibs on the euser enclave, i've gotta develop a game plan to duplicate this organic wonderland somewhere else when time comes to settle.  note to self: i might need a higher paying job and a husband with a knack for all things green.

you 'aint got no alibi.

tick tock clock - musee d'orsay - paris, france

last night might very well be my favorite night downtown sb of my entire career.  

get this:

7:15pm - start drinking georgia jams (see 'the fuzz is half the fun' post)

9:00pm - five tall drinks deep, i sit transfixed on the olympic beach volleyball match playing on nbc

9:15pm - twelve chicks, one dude, and i hop into a van cab (i obviously brought a little fun for the road)

9:30pm - arrive downtown sb.  head to sharkeez to enjoy cocktails free of charge

10:30pm - arrive at indochine where the charismatic, fantastic lydia hu most generously provided bottle service for our massive group.  i proceeded to see several people who i haven't seen since graduation. such a trip.

11:15pm - mozied over to statemynt to shake it with a fun crowd.  naturally, i encouraged handsome friends to hug it out.  never gets old.

1:00am - HILARIOUS MOMENT! so i'm walking toward the dance floor when this awkward and unattractive dude says to me, "i really like your earrings."  i look at him, give him a thumbs up, and laugh out, "seriously? what a lame line."  i walk away not thinking anything of it.  

1:10 am - the same guy crosses my path again.  he stops me and says, "you are the ugliest person i've ever seen."  aaaahahahaha.  butthurt much?  to that i offer, "wow, really?  good story."  (miss taryn gifford pointed out today a response that would've been far more fitting: "oh really?  well you're not invited to my birthday party")  for a second or two i was a little shaken, then i realized how ridiculous the situation really was--the irony of a hideous person saying that i was ugly.  suck it homeboy.  

1:15am - i tell my sister.  she, hammered, says, "where the fuck is he?!" i point in the general direction.  she grabs the wrong guy by his shirt.  shouts something at his face, and grabs a bouncer claiming that she's been hit by him.  my favorite moment: she puts her hand right next to her temple and makes a mini clam wave saying, "bye bye.  yep. bye bye. you're outta here. don't fuck with my sister."  

1:16am - the error was corrected. i befriended the wrongly accused party.  and the real perpetrator managed to be rejected by everyone, all night long.  that was revenge enough. 

it pays to have a badass bitch for a sister.

2:00pm - take a cab back to i.v. with a french driver.  we discuss french films and my love for the language (and my intense desire to learn).  all the while, lightening and thunder thrash about in the sky.  NUTS.

isla veeeesta.

it's so surreal to be back here in isla vista.  i'm staying with my sister for a week or so in her amazing new place on dp.  the view is still life changing.  and as much as this part of my life is in the past, i'll never be too old or too sophisticated to come back and have a serious amount of fun.  so here's to fiesta weekend and the confetti-filled eggs to come!

(photo by jessica craig martin)