it's been an insane month.

we had a nice time with my family last weekend, and then jeff left immediately for his annual camping trip in the sierras.

i usually enjoy my alone time, but this time around, even with sweet leilani keeping me company in this big, empty house, i've been missing my sweetie an awful lot.

on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, i have "eat vegetarian for a week," so with my sweetie on his trip, i figured it would probably be easier to do it on my own, when i didn't need to worry about forcing my experiment on my hub. so i'm about 4 days in. not really all that tough when there is such easy access to so much good produce around here.

of course, i have to admit that reading about steak earlier today was making my mouth water. that's why i know i could never be a good vegetarian. i like meat too much.

you know, i'm a pretty confident person. i just wonder what it is about the few people that exist in this world that makes me second guess myself at times.

camilles (11:07pm, 9.30.09)

our little dog loves to be where the action is. even if that means sitting right under my feet while i'm trying to do dishes.

she also loves to be where nothing is going on, usually crammed between us while we sit on the couch watching tv.

the days are flying by, and i can't believe it is almost october. jeff and i were talking about how fast this year is coming to an end, wondering if there is any way to make things slow down. we realized we are happier having a full life, because we can look back on the past years and be excited at all the wonderful memories and accomplishments. besides, at the end of the day, it's still the end of the day. might as well have something to show for it.

we'll be spending most of the weekend with my extended family, celebrating my cousin's wedding. in addition to the wedding, we are doing an estuary kayaking tour through newport bay, which should be pretty fun. i'm hoping the weather will stay warm, because i'm pretty sure we'll be getting wet.

camilles (7:20pm, 9.23.09)

we got back late on saturday night after a great few days on oahu. say what you may about the totally crowded silliness of waikiki, but there is something quite charming about the hustle and bustle, and once you get out of that craziness, the rest of the island is full of gorgeous adventure.

we had a 3 shrimp shack taste off, rode 150 miles on 49cc scooters (seriously, a totally fun and amazing thing to do), did a little shopping, did a little snorkeling and beach hangings, and enjoyed down time at a few of our favorite night spots for food, drinks, and people watching.

check out all the photos!

by the end, though, we were looking forward to coming back to our little house and our little dog and our regular lives.

life is pretty good. i haven't talked much about how adorable our little dog is, but we love her. she's a funny fur ball that has made coming home every day an even greater joy. i can't express enough HOW lucky we feel to have gotten the opportunity to rescue her and give her a new home. while we aren't perfect dog parents, i think she seems pretty happy hanging out with us.

other news, the condo is in escrow. i don't know if i had said anything about it before, but we've been in the process of trying to get the bank to approve a short sale on it ever since we moved into our house. it's been a loooooooooooong ordeal, and jeff has been tireless in his efforts to make sure it gets done. our fingers are crossed that everything moves through escrow smoothly and somebody else has the keys to the place by the end of next month. it could fall apart, of course, but we are closer than ever...

camilles (5:30pm, 9.22.09)

we are getting ourselves ready for our last few hours on maui before we fly over to oahu. choosing not to adjust too much to the timezone out here has allowed us to be out and about fairly early every morning, which is to our advantage given that most of the excitement around here involves needing daylight.

we did the road to hana (all the way around, even through the dirt roads), visited lana'i, drank at maui brewing, went up to haleakala for a hike, drove all the way around west maui (one lane roads are better when you are following a rally racing school bus), and saw all the towns and resort areas in between.

while beautiful, yes yes, and relaxing...maui just doesn't quite live up to what we want from hawaii. at first we were a little bummed that our stay on oahu was extended by one night thanks to united screwing with our flights, but now, we are kind of ok with it.

not to say that we didn't have a totally amazing time here, or that we are unhappy that we chose to visit this year, but if we were to move out here, it would be the lowest on the list of possible islands.

so after a little breakfast and some packing up, i think we are going to hit the beach and then sam sato's for an early lunch before catching our flight to oahu for part 2 of our vacation. being in hawaii really is da best.

camilles (7:27am, 9.15.09)

on our way up to go rollerskating for our friend tim's birthday, i was struck with a serious craving for a burger that was wrapped in paper. jeff hit up the iphone and found a place called tk burgers just off the freeway in mission viejo.

you can't imagine our delight to walk in and see SEVEN witco stools AND a witco wall decoration, along with various other vintage tiki Knick-knacks and some pretty cool lamps. the burgers were super tasty, too. i'm sure 99% of the people who walk in don't realize they are witco and 99% of you probably don't know what witco is...but we walked into a random place and found some elusive art objects of great interest.

anyway...that's me enjoying a tasty burger sitting on a stool that is worth way more than we can afford, pal.

we leave in just a few days, so we are trying our best to eat up anything that might go bad while we are out of town.

what do you do when you've got 1 hot dog, a few tiny pieces of tri-tip, some grilled pineapple, corn on the cob, carmelized onion/garlic/bell pepper, eggs, and a garden full of fresh basil? why...make fried rice, of course.

jeff was sitting at the island while i was prepping all the odds and ends, i asked him if he ever ate fried rice at home as a kid, and he said no. i guess i just never considered the possibility of growing up and NOT having fried rice as the obvious answer of what to do with random leftovers. actually, i suppose fried rice is kind of the asian version of a casserole. we RARELY had casseroles as a kid.

well, i asked jeff just now what his household did with little bits of leftover food and he said that it would go to the dogs!

camilles (10:33pm, 9.8.09)

having hair that is 20 different lengths might not be for everyone, but it works ok for me.

then again, having purpleish-pink hair isn't for everyone, either.

same goes for having a fish float lamp in your dining room.

everything appeals to at least someone right?

as for my ranting the other day, to be fair, it was set off by a chain of events that was put in motion a long time ago outside of anyone's control. my feelings are still hurt and i'm sad because it can't be fixed, but i got the straight scoop today. a little honesty goes a long way to find some sort of internal resolution, even if it isn't the most ideal thing to come to terms with.

camilles (9:25pm, 9.3.09)

for a while i've felt like it was better to deal with the pain of repeatedly having my feelings hurt by somebody i considered a friend than just accept the sad truth that he isn't a friend at all. everyone has been telling me this for a while, but i guess i just wasn't ready to give it up.

i am now.

he isn't worthy of my friendship.

happy september, everyone.

my husband is the most wonderful person i know. my dog is sweet. my house is almost clean. my hair is cut. my jeep has some nice new shocks. we are just days away from a long weekend and a little bbq for some local friends, and days after that away from flying to hawaii for 7 days of leaving it all behind.

i said the other day that i'm happy...and i am. happy and looking forward to the immediate adventures.

camilles (10:30pm, 9.1.09)