Spent the morning in the Mission,

picked up some amazing things at Tartine Bakery

and ate a chocolate croissant on Linda St.

 banana cream pie tart ~*~*~

^ THIS building has glory.

I chatted with a stranger selling vintage things
on the street and turns out, he worked at the deyoung
35 years ago, in the room King Tut was exhibited in.
 ~
Then, suddenly, I saw my friend Mary sitting on

the curb, eating a salad while on her lunch break.

The view was so beautiful I had to pull over

to get a better look. I tried to go to this beach

but realized every single car in the parking lot

was a secret service vehicle, got really confused,

so i left and ate a crab sandwich instead.

Legion of Honor

I love being a tourist (with a car).

I am always so amazed when I give the
front desk my work badge, and they hand
me a free admission ticket...

e x p l o r i n g   m y   n e w
 n e i g h b o r h o o d

2.5 months ago,

i envisioned myself driving across this bridge,
with the radio on and my hair flying around
in the golden afternoon sunshine & bay breezes.
 

And now it's actually happening
(DAILY, but with some more fog..)

i'm living the dream~*~*~

only at this job can i wear a sunhat all day,

and play the Amelie & Miyazaki soundtrack

while setting up the art studios.

i keep meeting THE COOOLEST little humans.

we dig for treasure, converse in Mandarin,

design paper pizzas and twist wire into bouquets.

they are curious, unafraid and
have no filters. it's pretty
refreshingly amazing.

'Heisenberg' and I huddled in a nest on a sand dune,
sipped sake and cheered to "summer" in san francisco :)

cheers to more adventures~*~*~

REREUNITED WITH PAI!!

browsed lots of vendors + got free bags of chips.

happy birthday ellen!

you deserve a trophy.

"i have scoliosis, but it's only mild"

"i do too! 8%" 

~*~*~

i love mornings to myself.

i sat in a lovely garden and noticed how

perfectly balanced & intentionally harmonious

the design was. i became inexplicably happy + sleepy.

I passed out on a bench inside the museum
and then later, deliriously wandered into a video
exhibit about the fusion of contemp + traditional
Maori garment making.

The artist kept on speaking about the
importance of whakapapa and it filled me with
more happiness that i knew what that meant,
and how special and ingrained it is
for Pacific Islanders.

then i sat next to a room full

of Frank Lloyd Wright's creations :D

I am completely baffled by how

extraordinarily kind and unnecessarily helpful

everyone i've encountered has been to me.

SF, you have restored my hope in humanity.

~*~*~*~*
looking forward to all that is to come~

 and cheers to new people, flavors and
getting to know/supporting local business owners!

first day of new job!

i think i said "HI FRIEND!" about 200 times today.

~
"what flavor do you think this green ice cream is?"

"cabbage." 
~
as a job perk, i get free unlimited access to
all museums in the bay area.
whooooOOOOO!!!!

there are such amazing murals everywhere!

#finallyseemyselfreflectedinpublicart

happy days

today was one of the best days of my life!

the kindness of people and interconnectedness of

the universe makes me feel so ready

to live in this new sunshine,
drink this wild new air,

and swim this new sea.

f e r r y  b u i l d i n g

when i first visited this place, i never thought

i'd be living in san francisco 6 years later!

i ate a lot of gourmet free samples,

bought a 1/2 baguette for 82 cents

and then sat on a wooden bench

and wrote a letter + drew a picture
while watching seagulls.

then i got a wonderful phone call!

day #3

after completing my morning errands, i climbed up

insanely inclined streets & found a magical park

with a view! then i ate a peanut butter

cookie while browsing little stores with little things.

the cutest cookie i have ever seen ^

day #1 of my new life in the city:
steep streets, rolling fog,
bus conversations with kind strangers,

and bright buildings that dgaf
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

dog days

a stranger at the farmer's market asked if he could

cut me in line because he was in a rush, and then

he paid for my entire bag of Rainier cherries.

How nice is that!

 ~*~*~*~

i don't know why i keep having the most

violent and disturbing red-colored nightmares.

teeth ripping,

being held captive-esque

dreams.

Bird Noises 

I am on my 13th book of this year,

and this book is so compelling & beautiful.

Ramona Ausubel makes me think of things I have

never thought before and imagine scenarios so

poetically magical and bizarre that

I want reality to be like this.

I highly recommend it. Also, she

graduated from an MFA program @ UC Irvine! 

To prepare for my great move,

I bought myself a moth shirt to celebrate

wings and starting anew one more time.

go forth!

kimchi vs butter
mung beans vs casseroles

I forgot how genuinely funny and witty Melissa is,

until our paths crossed at the library last week.

We stuffed ourselves with sushi while

chatting about racist encounters in public spaces
(and potential ways to be strategic about it),

political assumptions, and our experiences

running into people we'd rather not run into.

Then, while taking advantage of the beautiful

afternoon lighting, we engaged in self-reflection

and took a walk by a sewer and saw an itty bitty
hummingbird.

I know you're reading this,

so, THANK YOU FOR TODAY AND I CAN'T

WAIT FOR BEER + BURGERS WITH YOU.
And also for introducing me to the term:
superfund.

happy mother's day!

they had the best pasta & pizza & coffee

at the piazza del duomo!

 time for k1ss3s

 the sun came out!

#mopslovesbichu
#obsessed

No cakes were baked and nothing was knitted,

but alot of carbs and chocolate cake

was eaten at a buffet and lots of tv watched.

Then I came home and read a short story

about a boy's cat who got hit by a car

and then the cat was put into a freezer to die.

~ ~ ~

I'm putting some flowers
in my hair because

San Francisco, here I come!

* * *

9 job applications + 5 interviews later,

i am joining Mops for an afternoon of lounging,

BREAKING BAD and library books.

i cut some roses from the yard and this time,

the thorns didn't tear open my skin!

Facebook told me I resemble Mulan by 95%.

Like Mulan, I am "persevering and dynamic"

and "always want to be right."

In 1st grade, I won the award for "Perseverance".
They handed us ice cream popsicles in
the multipurpose room while the principal explained
that she was a princiPAL (aka friend) and what it
means to meet life's challenges with perseverance.
I nodded as I ate the ice cream, even though i hate
hardened chocolate on cold desserts.
Then i went back to class, happy, because i felt
like i had a new secret power of persevering.

WHO IS YOUR DISNEY DOPPELGANGER?

Ran into one awesome person at the library today ;)

spring blooms

these were all grown by seeds btw :)

car//rides

.MATT&KIM.
nOw nOw nOw

"If property damage is more upsetting
to you than institutionalized racism,
your moral compass needs a realignment."

#maryland

after working on job apps & interview prepping,

i'm pulling an Olivia Pope tonight.

except I am not as classy as her, and just drink
wine from Bonne Maman strawberry jam jars.

oOnwards!

 This is my masterpiece:
I named it Jardin Quiche~

I love love love any kind of food with

spinach or tomatoes. It also contains

broccoli, red bell peppers, & onions. 

 ^the time we went to france and everything

was impeccably perfect + aesthetically delightful.

I attempted to make bread pudding with all this
leftover french & gluten free bread. I threw in
some bananas, walnuts, shredded coconut + brown sugar

using this recipe & it turned out PRETTY good.

~ * ~ * ~  * ~ *

Ashley sent me Rupi's book and a pair of sea otter

socks from our favorite sock shop in Seattle.

Now I can sit on my bed and read her poems with warm feet,

t h a n k   y o u :)

It was suggested by a reader that

I blog about OCD moments:

Once, I was at the store trying to pick the most

perfect throw. Scrutinizing over the alignment of
stitches and fluffiness of varying fabrics,

I spent over 30 minutes conducting a comprehensive

quality-control session comparing 7 different blankets for manufacturing defects and found myself slowly

going insane because I couldn't make a decision.

Thankfully, the choice became clear after 35 minutes.

The incident sparked my new goal to limit myself

to 5 minutes (or less) when picking between anything at a store.

hazel grace,
i feel you on the 
having lungs that
sometimes suck at beings lungs.

plants are up to something

If furbies, technology, or cyborg consumerism
interest you, here is a paper I wrote 3 years ago:

The Age of Virtual Pets:
New Possibilities for Morality, Intimacy and Intelligence
(and yes, I did include that creature in the final submitted version.)