a life-changing day

this post is brought to you by my brand new macbook air!! (!!!!!)

 

   

tuesday, 26 june 2012 was a momentous day.

i spent $1398 and was shaking in my boots about it, but it feels real good.

this beautiful, oh so beautiful computer is the second largest purchase i've ever made in my life.

i'm mourning the loss of a couple plane tickets to exotic locales...

...but am in love with this pretty silver gadget that makes my life a lot less frustrating.

{i was wasting hours at work and at home waiting for my crappy handmedown computer to load}

 

welcome to the world, charity's beloved macbook air!

26 june 2012, 8:14pm

2.96 lbs, 13 inches

yet to be named - i'm leaning towards sebastian

a dreamy midsummer night

brittany and i decided the longest day of the year is certainly worth celebrating, so we added midsummer night to our line-up of holiday dinner parties. we both had family in town the week before, so our preparations had to be quite last-minute, but everything worked out so splendidly! it was a whimsy, magical evening. truly dreamy.

 

brittany is a master of literature and an 8th grade english teacher, so she taught us a little bit about shakespeare’s midsummer’s night dream. we each read quotes from the play before eating.

as the well-lived daylight slipped away, the lights twinkled and the candles shimmered and the night was just so lovely. we talked about midsummer traditions around the world, our plans for the summer months, and memories of summers gone by.

 

this dinner party was such a happy official start the warmest season. i think we captured nd basked in athe oh so sweet atmosphere of summer nights and the fanciful mood of shakespeare’s play perfectly!

there’s nothing like the deep, cozy, barefoot feeling of summer. as the days slowly get shorter, i intend to love the heck out of all the sunny hours of summertime this year.

the rocket boat, etc.

on monday after work i sped up to the city to spend the evening with eli and julie. about 7 years ago eli and i rode the shark boat on the hudson river around the statue of liberty – and we still talk about how ridiculously fun it was to this day. so when we found out there was a speed boat tour in san francisco bay, we just had to check it out.

and it. was. awesome. it was such a thrill ride. we went super fast under the bay bridge and the driver pulled some insane donuts out in the bay. we were laughing so hard as our faces were getting blown around like crazy.

i know this picture is incredibly unflattering of all of us – but it captures the hilarity of the ride.

it was such a pretty evening at pier 39! we drove down to the mission so i could show eli and julie a different flavor of san francisco. we wandered through the street art in clarion alley on the way to dinner.

eli has this crazy good knack for finding cool restaurants. we ate yummy thai food in this neat joint that had grass on the walls.

we polished off the evening with (ever-epic) bi-rite ice cream. one of the best monday nights of the year, for sure.

sunday of stanford and sea

after a slumber party in my bedroom and wonderful church meetings on sunday morning, eli and julie and i headed to stanford and then to the sea.

we had two picnics in two very pretty places.
campus was packed with people because it was graduation!
it was super foggy along the coast.
we called our dad to wish him a happy father’s day.
we drove through the foothills at golden hour.

   

i love how visitors help me remember that i live in a pretty remarkable place.

eli & julie came to town!

my closest-in-age brother eli and his wife julie came through san francisco last weekend on their way to a family reunion in fresno. i’D been itching to share my city with eli for ages and it was so fun to have that boy and his girl in town.

the truth is, eli and i have not always liked each other. yes, sibling rivalry at its finest. somehow, our worlds turned, and after about fifteen years of teasing and drama, we became the best of friends. this miraculous revolution is such a big part of who i am, and i love my brother and all he has taught me so, so, so.

it was a very unusually hot day in the city on saturday. i picked up eli and julie in oakland and took them on my standard tour loop….

starting with the hair-raising drive across the bay bridge…
…and of course a late saturday morning at the ferry building.

we parked at alamo square and took in the view in the sun and wind…

and then strolled through the streets admiring colorful victorians.

we passed city hall…

…bused to union square…

…strolled through chinatown and the north beach festival to my rooftop…

…and stopped by lombard street.

we drove the divisadero hill to the palace of fine arts…

…and then cruised over the bridge to admire the golden gate.

i showed eli and julie my favorite spot in the headlands as the sun went down…

…and we ended our packed day at a japanese curry house in nob hill.

i sure love eli and julie. they are some of the best adventurers i know so the weekend with them was bomb.