Ms. Gaston

After a long week of mid-terms, I had the immense pleasure of hosting my best friend Chloe this weekend (pics on facebook, I am too lazy to post them here)! On Friday we grabbed thai food, mulled around Westwood, lazed a bit at home, then got dressed up for dinner. We went to my favorite sushi place, Yamato.  Many sake shots and sake bombs and some great conversation later, we stumbled home (hilariously, I might add). We stayed up late and watched some internet shows (standard), and talked until our ears bled. Saturday I gave Chloe a little tour of UCLA, then she and Erica and I went to the Getty museum. It was beautiful, as always. That night the three of us plus Erica’s boyfriend Gereme and her friend Andrew went to little Ethiopia (who knew that even existed?) and had a really nice dinner at a place called Merkato. It was one of those ones where the food is on a big plate in front of everyone and you use your hands… good thing I was in great company. We came back, lit a hookah, busted out some vodka and popped in an Eddie Izzard video. That man is SO hilarious, I almost pissed myself laughing.

Chloe went home today, and I am now trying to pull myself together to finish my boring ass paper on the birth of Conservatism in the 1940’s. riveting stuff, really.

I forgot my camera in LA AGAIN, so I am destined to have absolutely no photographic evidence of my life as a young adult. I did, however, spend so much time with babies this weekend! I couldn’t think of a better thing to do.

Thursday night Chloe and I got to have a really nice dinner at Tupelo Junction. The owner comped it for us, which was totally unexpected and awesome!

Friday I spent with little Finley, who is all of 6 weeks old. Basically he just slept on my chest for 3 hours. I was in heaven. Friday night Chloe and I rented Confessions of a Shopaholic. Oh god it was so bad! We still had fun though, because it is impossible to not enjoy myself with that girl.

Saturday we grabbed coffee at the RoCo and walked around downtown (we were supposed to go hiking, but a combination of poor air quality and laziness intervened). I was treated to a special lobster dinner with my dad, and then off to more babysitting. These people lived in a ridiculously nice condo that is across the street from the Biltmore. It was so beautiful. They had one year old twin girls who were SO sweet and cute, but they went to bed almost immediately. It was a long night, but it paid for my trip up here.

For any Harry Potter lovers out there, Chloe showed me a hilarious fan made musical… A Very Potter Musical! It only gets funnier with each act…enjoy!

Last week was too much for me. So much went down emotionally that I don’t even want to think about.

The weekend was great though!

I was feeling really ill, but went to SB to hopefully find some rest. Friday I had lunch with Laura and Dan, got my hair done, and was cooked a fabulous dinner by Aaron, and then him, Jimmy and I went to see Julie and Julia. That movie was so so SO good! I loved it. Perfect feel good movie.
I got to see Chloe a bunch, spent time with my dad and even got to hold Mr. Finley Ray! He is one month old, and couldn’t be more precious.
I also got a new guitar! It is way nicer than I deserve. I bought it from some guy who said he had a mid-life crisis and decided he was going to become a professional guitar player, special ordered a very expensive left handed guitar, played it once, and came to his senses. So now I am the proud owner of a brand new Martin 0018 V acoustic guitar! I will post a picture soon.

Lessons are going okay. I just want to be good without all of the practicing crap! My callouses are getting quite pronounced though. Theo said we could start learning an actual song next week, woo! Oh life’s simple joys.

I am loving classes. This batch has some highly intelligent people in it. This one guy in my History of American Conservatism class is a libertarian, and he and I walked home from school together having an intense political discussion. It was nice to have someone to talk to who has such a different political opinion than me, but is not only intelligent and informed, but rational and unassuming.

I decided on a roommate! Her name is Sarah, and she is super fun. I am really excited to move in with them, but I am also loving my current roommate situation. I feel spoiled by all the love and good cooking!

I was disqualified for the PMS study because I have a family history of depression/mental illness. So much for trying to further science while making a quick buck!

Currently reading: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. It is interesting and thought provoking, much in the same way Guns, Germs and Steel by Jerry Diamond was. These research-based phenomena books make me feel smart, but also old and boring. Sometimes I just want a trashy romance novel….

I finally signed up for one of those human guinea pig studies. This one is on PMS. It is actually two studies, but I only qualify for one because I am left-handed. Hmm. Not sure I see the correlation there.
It is a double blind two month study where they inject me with some PMS killer one month and a placebo the next, and I keep nightly journals about my moods.
It is more work than I thought, but hey, I am about to be unemployed and 240 bucks sounds mighty nice.

Today’s treat:

All organic gluten-free ginger spice cake with low-fat lemon vanilla cream cheese frosting topped with fresh raspberries (that is a mouthful, in a literal and literary sense). Plus some home brewed Earl Grey iced tea.

Tonight I shampooed the carpet (twice) and read Calvin and Hobbes. I am one WILD AND CRAZY GIRL!!

This week has been turbulent.

I enjoyed my peaceful weekend at home (LA, that is) alone. I bought a fish, Nero.

Not to be confused with Nemo. Nero is named after my favorite Roman tyrant, whose final words were “So dies an artist!”

Basically I got sucked into totally anthropomorphizing him, because I bought him a Buddha statue to bring him some zen, some plant bulbs that havent sprouted yet, and some fancy worms to be given as treats. He has brought me a surprising amount of joy. It is  calming to have another living thing in room, even if it spends all day attacking its own reflection.

Finals are in full swing. And by full swing, I envision a Roman gladiator fully swinging a bloody mace at my sissy wooden shield of knowledge. I am disappointed that I didn’t do so hot on my research paper about Gothic stained glass, it pretty much guarantees my best score to be an A-. Life could be worse.

This morning I did really well on my Egyptian Civ final, so only one more to go before sweet freedom (for 3 days, until session C begins).

Last night we had a potluck at BCF. I had a good time. This whole week I have been pretty emotional and was really feeling down today, but was totally uplifted to be surrounded by fun, loving, like-minded people. I spent all of this afternoon studying Medieval Art by the pool. Oh, how I love you Southern California.

I am ready for another long, lazy weekend.

Don’t fret. Unless I am the next Mother Mary, this is not a baby-related issue.

It has been MONTHS since my ever-present nausea subsided. Most of my life I have been plagued by bouts of throwing up and constant nausea. For the past 5 or so months, though, it hasn’t been a problem at all. About a week and a half ago I started getting sick again, luckily without throwing up, just extreme nausea. The night after my run on Thursday I threw up, and again last night after my work-out. And I definitely don’t think it was from over-exertion, I am not exactly training for an Ironman.
I woke up sick today, ate some toast, drank some coffee, took a bath to calm my stomach, but no relief. I am constantly over-salivating, and just thinking of certain foods makes me gag. I have a pronounced sense of smell, with mildly offensive odors magnified.

My nausea is always strongest when I wake up, subsiding around noon, picking up again when I drive or after 10pm.

Ok body, lets function properly from now on. PLEASE.

I get the apartment to myself this weekend, it will be nice.

I took Terese to the airport yesterday, and sat with her for like 5 hours before her flight left…it was actually really nice. Sometimes the two of us just click, and she opens up to me and I see that she is a good person who has a lot of hurt and doesn’t understand why. I am renewing my efforts to be kinder to her, especially since I won’t see her for 2 weeks.

I started running on the UCLA track again! It  was really good yesterday. I did a  stadium mile; my quads are LOVING me today. Trying to get pumped to do it again…

I went OCD on our kitchen today when I found A COCKROACH IN MY COFFEE POT (!!!!!!). I scoured the whole thing in bleach and boiling water, followed by Raid in every crevice. I am really over this shit.

For now, a nap.

PS. I still suck at guitar, and am getting disheartened because I practice all kinds :\

Seriously, AWFUL.

I am still stressed out to the max. School is getting really crazy, and my tolerance for things like studying are waning at an alarming rate. Only a few more weeks, and then 6 more weeks, and then a week or so off right at my 21st birthday.

Weekend was crazy but worth it. I got home decently early on Friday night, which was not planned but great so I could really see my dad. I love him so much. Saturday was Leah-Holly fun day, and we went to the beach and out to Cold Springs Tavern to catch a band. It was SO gorgeous up there! I am not going to see her again until December probably, so I am really glad I made the effort to come up again. Sunday was LOG reunion, and it was fun to catch up with some people I probably wouldn’t have ever seen again. Drove home Sunday afternoon and had my guitar lesson with Theo. I cannot even talk about how attractive he is. I need to find myself an old man or something to teach me guitar, I would pay attention better.At least it has encouraged me to practice all kinds! I hear songs and think, “Oh boy, I cannot wait to play songs like this!” and then I play what I know, and I eat about 10 slices of humble pie. This is a loooooong road.

I got to see Cassie on Monday, and it was awesome. LOVE that girl. On Tuesday I went to the Getty Museum, and had a great time by myself. I love that place. It was beautiful and peaceful, as always. That evening I went out to dinner with a girl from IVBCF, Evelyn. She is basically amazing, and way cooler than me. We both are going through similar situations on the love front, and it was really nice to have someone to about to about it, especially someone who doesn’t know anything about it. It was very clarifying.

I have decided to commit to being single for a while. I want to try and not date for at least 3 months.* I think I need to make sure my heart is completely healed before I open it up to someone else. When I look waaaaay back, I think I started dating Noah too soon after Jeff broke my heart, and that dragged both of us through the repercussions of that for a long time, which was not fair to either of us. I am not making any promises, but I think it would be a good idea.

*The only exception being Guitar God Theo. If he should choose to grace myself, a mere mortal, with his presence in a context where I wasn’t paying him hourly, I don’t think I could resist. ha.