Graduation Goggles

"Graduation goggles is the nostalgic feeling one has about a time or someone in their life when it is about to end, even if the time was completely miserable." -How I Met Your Mother Wiki

Sweeping declaration: How I Met Your Mother IS the show of our generation.  It is just SO relate-able!  There have been more than a handful of times when I have felt that the show is portraying events that have happened in my life or could be applied to situations in my life.  This is no mere TV sitcom my friends, this is a guide for living life in your mid 20s-30s.  Sometimes a "what to do", and sometimes a "what not to do".  From "nothing good happens after 2AM" to "the mermaid effect" life lessons abound in HIMYM.

Today, we focus on the concept of "Graduation Goggles," defined above. And per HIMYM, it looks a little something like this:



Click here if the video doesn't show... sorry...

 Lately, I have been having Graduation Googgles ALLLLL over Santa Monica.  And honestly, I would not describe my time here as completely miserable (not even close), but there have been frustrating and difficult circumstances. For example, LA traffic, something I have complained bitterly about in the past, had me nostalgic the other day.  I was exiting the 10 on to Lincoln after work and was stopped on the exit ramp in a line of cars.  Right outside my window was the "Welcome to Santa Monica" sign, and as I sat there looking at it, Sarah McLachlan began playing in my head to accompany a sepia toned slide show of the good times in Santa Monica. Riding bikes down the beach, drinking wine with friends, splashing in the ocean after midnight, gatherings on my back patio... all interrupted by honking when I failed to see that I could move forward.  Whoops.

The marine layer has made me nostalgic lately as well.  Which is truly bizarre because this weather phenomena occurs in San Diego as well.  My June has not seemed so gloomy, despite a lack of morning sunshine.  It appears that I have made my peace with the gloom, possibly because after enduring a tropical storm in NYC at Kendall's graduation, I realized that a cloudy sky with no rain is pretty great in comparison.

And graduation goggles for my job?  Not so much honestly.  Maybe that will happen in these next few weeks?  Who knows.

Anyway, my point is that my time here in Santa Monica/Los Angeles is winding down, and perhaps my biggest disappointment is my LA Bucket List.  Whenever I am about to move or leave a place that I have been for a good portion of time, I like to make a bucket list of things to do in order to maximize my time.  I actually started this tradition when I was studying abroad in Australia. It was a wonderful tool, because in my last 1-2 months in Sydney, anytime I found myself in my room with nothing to do, I would pick something off the list and have a mini-adventure.  The bucket list I made for LA is simple and relatively short.  As I have stated before, I feel like I have most of the things I wanted to so since moving here. Regardless, here it is...

PaulSale's Corner: I majored in Tacos...

In honor of Father's Day, I bring you another tale from PaulSale. Some of you may have heard this one already from my sister, but I think it is worth being shared again.  Happy Father's Day to a man who is proud of all we do...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: PaulSale
Date: May 24, 2012 3:23:59 PM EDT
To: Kendall Sale
Cc: Taylor Sale
Subject: Letters after Taylor's Name?

Kendall,

Note the letters that are after Taylor’s name now when she sends an email from the VA.  One of them is CGC.  Isn’t that what you used to like to order all the time from Taco Bell? J

Taylor J. Sale, MS, MEd, CGC

 Thanks,
Paul Sale

PaulSale's Corner: Hamster Kidnap

Our first installment of PaulSale's Corner features a text message (or multimedia message I suppose) that I received from my father while I was getting ready for my best friend's wedding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PaulSale:

Two Kia Souls and zero hampsters. I think this lady kidnapped them!

Sent: May  19, 11:52 AM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He later explained in person that this lady looked creepy and suspicious.

Bring on the Gloom...

Tomorrow is June. JUNE!  I have no idea where May went.  To jog my memory and catch everyone up (since I'm sure you have all been on the edge of your seats wondering where I am...) here is a photo recap of my Magnificent May:

First stop, SAN DIEGO for Joni's Junior League fundraiser gala and some quality time with her and Sean:

Island Divine

La Jolla Glider Port

Next, off to my favorite state, COLORADO, for Ms. Krystal's  mountain wedding:

Gettin' Dough

I'm a big fan of cupcakes.  Big fan.  I'm one of those people for whom a completely terrible day can be totally turned around by someone handing me a red velvet cupcake. Seriously.  As intellectual as I can be, I'm really still as easily pleased as a small child.  I've earned me the nickname "The Little One" at work given that I'm the youngest and that things like my new business cards are the COOLEST thing ever even if they have my e-mail address wrong and I have to rip them from the Avery printable sheets myself. Anyway, I digress...

It's no surprise that receiving the following e-mail from my father on Sunday completely changed the focus of my week:

Sprinkles Announces 24-Hour-Cupcake Access

Maybe something that you guys should check out while Kendall is visiting.  It’s a 24 hour cupcake ATM in Beverly Hills. http://laist.com/2012/02/28/sprinkles_announces_24-hour-cupcake.php

Oh yeah, my sister is here.  That's pretty cool too, but I've had her for a little over 23 years.  A cupcake ATM is brand. spanking. new.  I'll write more about her visit later.  Right now- cupcakes.  Clearly, Ken and I made sure to jaunt over to BH on Sunday after dinner to check out the newest way to get your sugar fix.  The result:

FYI: Kendall's shirt is a brand new style
from Jill  Aiko Yee's upcoming spring line!

Yep.  The ATM was not yet up and running.  The article was extremely misleading.  And we were heartbroken, as you can probably tell by Kendall's expression.  Regardless, I began following the ATM on Facebook.  On Tuesday, the ATM updated it status and announced that it was open for business.  On Wednesday, Kendall and I again made our way to Beverly Hills after dinner to find this:

Psh.  Yeah.  Even I am not enough of a fat kid to wait in that line for a cupcake that may or may not even be fresh.  According to YouTube this is what my experience would have been like:

Chelsea Handler also had some comments about the new addition to our metropolis on her show (that I was not able to find on YouTube), namely recognizing that there are no drive-thrus in BH for a reason, the ATM is just asking for an "influx of drunk assholes" to the area and that they should really focus on a cupcake delivery service.  At this last point, my heart filled with pride and nostalgia, knowing that such a magic thing existed and that it was only in Boulder.

http://www.boulderbaked.com

Yes ladies and gentleman, Boulder,CO: Home of the Drunk Asshole has been doing delivery desserts since... well... at least since 2003 and probably for many, many years before that.  And they are fabulous.

In summary, the Cupcake ATM is exciting and seems awesome.  But like most over-hyped places in LA, there is no way that you can get near it for the time being and trying is going to be annoying as hell.  When they install one at the Jack in the Box I live next door to, life will be complete.  Mostly, I'm just bitter because I've failed at using the ATM.  Twice.  And because I drove down Rodeo Drive.  Twice.  In one week.  Wha wah.

Also, delivery deserts would be so clutch in LA and Boulder rules.

Blending in

Ever since we were little, my mother stressed blending in and not acting like tourists when were were on vacation.  Especially when we were in Colorado- Mom wanted everyone to think that we were locals.  Blending in was no easy task with my father aka Tourist Man taking pictures of EVERYTHING:

With his tiny camera backpack of power and the hat he only bought
yesterday, he dons his socks with sandals and sets off to experience
AUSTRALIA!

Yeah, ok.  We all kinda failed on this one...

Mom would fight the powers of Tourist Man by not letting us eat anywhere we could eat at home and making Ken and I keep walking when Dad jumped into a random bush to take a picture of a flower.  In Colorado, we were supposed to try to dress like locals (aka, wear our pajamas to breakfast- done and done!); the hallmark of fitting in was being asked for directions by some "lame tourist."

The Duchess's New Plates

In true Taylor fashion, I have found other productive things to do despite reaching the standstill mentioned in my previous post.  As a result, today The Duchess had a very big day.

It started with her smog test this morning.  She was pretty nervous so I had to drive her around a bit before the test.  :) Actually, surrogate Dad Paul told me that I needed to warm the car up before the smog test so that the readings were accurate.  Anyway, she passed her test with flying colors and then it was off to the DMV.

The CA DMV was actually a pretty pleasant experience.  I made a reservation, I showed up early, and I don't think I waited more than 5 min to be helped at any point during my visit.  The Duchess had her identity verified and then I got my licence and she got her registration.  The annual registration fee is actually less than in Iowa AND I was exempt from tax since I acquired my car as a gift from a blood relation (thanks PaulSale).

Then it was my turn to be examined.  I'm happy to report that I passed my vision exam without my glasses-- keeping me from legally having to wear them every single time I drive.  I also passed my written driving examination despite the fact that I was unaware that it is illegal to smoke when you have a child in the car and that I apparently don't know the sign graphic for "lane ending, merge left".  I mean, come on.  There are usually other contextual clues to help you out there.  Oh, and sorry I give bikers the right of way, I would hate to accidentally hit one of them and in Chicago they do whatever the hell the want anyway... regardless, in 2-4 weeks I will have a new license in hand.  Until then, I have this:

The Duchess was truly the big winner today as we drove away from the DMV plates in hand.  I took her to a car wash as celebratory treat (aka: removal of all the bugs that attacked when driving through STUPID Nebraska) and then we made the switch.

So it's official!  The Duchess and I are California girls!  Cue the annoying song about girls from California of your choosing... personally I prefer the Beach Boys.

It's all happening.

It began with an ice scraper...

...and my heart has been pounding ever since.  I'll do my best to keep from word-vomiting my way through this entire post.  (By the way, that is seriously my ice scraper in a different pattern).

Chicago says CHEEEESSSSEEE!

Yeah, I know.  I'm a huge dork.  Just trying to keep things interesting...

So, since my last post I finally got the pictures off of my Dad's camera.  I had to take his compact flash drive to a photo kiosk at Target and make a photo CD since apparently my version of windows was "attacking" his software and "fouling" it up.  All my fault, bad daughter, shame shame.  In the Sale house, electronics never break on their own or just stop working.  You always "had to have done something!"  I apparently conspired with Vista to take the compact flash converter under siege and reject the drivers from the camera software.  My bad.  

The kiosk was actually awesome because it allowed me to tint the pics, enlarge them and print them so they are all ready to move on to the display step... once I figure out exactly what that step is...

Drum roll please......

Hopefully you can see that this spells out C-H-I-C-A-G-O.  It's probably easier when they are horizontal (TWSS?) so use your imagination.  First C is a Cubs jersey, H is the Wrigley Building from State St, I is the Water Tower, second C is from the Chicago Theater, A is the El tracks running above Lake St, G is from Giordano's, and O is the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel. 

I think they turned out pretty well, but displaying them could really make or break it.  I have a long poster frame from Target that I could put them in, but I still kinda want to get them each their own glass with clips and then attach them together with a piece of wood or something... we will see.

Suggestions and comments welcome!!!

Out with a bang

Alright, so you know when you were a kid and you would get a new toy and play with it all day, everyday for like a week and then never again??  I find that as an adult-ish person, I still have this quality though now it mostly applies to workout plans and guys I attempt to date.  I'm also concerned that this may happen to my blog.  So my first 5 posts were all consecutive (*cough* excited child) and then followed by about 5 days of radio silence however, I feel that I have a perfectly good excuse for my lapse: playing in Chicago!

Before I head out to California, I really wanted to make one more visit to the city I love enough to consider one of my three homes (Iowa and Colorado would be the other two) and soak in all of my favorite things.  It seems logical that I should have memories of having fun, knowing my way around a place and spending time with people I love before I'm lost, confused and friendless on the coast.

Growing up...again.

Well folks, while the month of August has left me feeling like a freeloader on my parents couch, this first week in September has skyrocketed me towards my new independent life in LA.  Here's the progress:

1. I finally have something in my name other than debt

Ok, so we are actually celebrating a successful tire change.
This does accurately capture my emotions about the ownership
of said vehicle though.

While The Duchess (long story) and I have been together for several years now, she technically belonged to my parents.  Now, she is truly and legally mine- along with two blown-out front speakers and a faint smell of squid from a transport malfunction for an AP Bio project (don't say I never did anything for you children of STL).  And the speakers hadn't crossed my mind for YEARS (I know, I suck) until I saw my Dad type "As Is" on our "contract" (and I probably just got myself in trouble with PaulSale).  Regardless, I own a car, I'm excited, and yes, you will have trouble conversing with others if you sit in my back seat.  No, that smell is not my car, it's you.  Just smile and enjoy the music.


2. I've been put to the test
My time in Iowa has left me both bored and board- as in studying for my genetic counseling certification exam. Mom and I trekked to the Quad Cities this morning so that I could sit for my 3 hour exam while she shopped and did other productive things.  I will not know if I passed the test for a few months (gaaa, I know) but it was an important step in my career and now leaves me with time to focus on other endeavors.  Which is important because....

Photo pulled from Google Image Search

3. I see movement
That's right, a plan for the big move is falling into place.  I've been told to get out to California as soon as I can- and the week after next is the target!  So while I'm fitting all the pieces to transition me and my stuff occupying the 'rents 3rd stall garage out to LaLa land, I'm making one final trip to Chicago this weekend to toast the previous milestone with some of my classmates and enjoy what may be my final days with a real social life for some time.  Once I'm in LA, I'm pretty much starting from scratch.  More on that later of course :)