after catsitting, i wandered around looking

for lululemon and instead,

walked into an Easter parade/fair:

walking along streets of giant bunnies and funnel cake,

i got a free copy of the SF Chronicle + a pin!

then i sat in the sun waiting for my henna

to dry and read about tiny-home "dignity villages"

for the homeless, and our obsession with donuts~

i think this is the first time i have ever
owned/read a newspaper. i liked it/need to do this more.  

what a good day; san francisco

is always full of pleasant and strange surprises.

~*~*~catsitting in the city~*~*~

i read thea's gourmet cookbooks, admired her closet

& watched Salem run around the apartment,

wildly.

golden gate breezes &

 crème brûlée

seine

strawberry donuts, italian cafes

& the cliff house

alas, we threw our rainbow party. 

at one point, i just sat back and felt this

extreme happiness seeping inside me as i thought of how

lucky i am to have stumbled upon this eclectic 
collection  of wonderful, genuine, and kind people to

work and play with. we played the most

insane/animated/epic charades circle game
i have ever partook in.

the only non-work person there said to cami:
"you work with all these people? wow, they are
all SO nice."

this is the recovery brunch marie and i ate:

"you're fancy. can we play together

again next time i come back?"
~
moments of intense open-ended learning,
nurtured curiosity, and human connection
make my day.

rainbowin' it up for tomorrow night
:D

i'm healthy

in the spirit of pi day,

i baked an apple biskvit (ukrainian sponge cake)!

i strayed from the recipe and added a bunch of
my own ingredients i thought would taste good...

and the sponge part didn't quite follow through,

but at least it tastes pretty edible.

i'm also trying to eat alot of fermented food,

so today i added kimchi and more kombucha to my diet,

and my stomach pain went away;
hooray for zymology!

i miss mops & fancy malls

 i ordered this book & spent all night looking at it

and post-it noting the places i have been.

 at work, we ordered a typewriter off ebay

(some keys are missing) for our old-fashioned
typography studio project, so i created a
local + international travel to do list:

the high highs played in the city!

while we waited for them to come on, thea and i 
sipped wine on a bench, against red velvet curtains.

it was the most mellow and magical

concert i've ever experienced.
huge props to whoever designed and operated
the lighting + halo-y glowing visual effects. 

~*~*~*~amazing~*~*~*~

cold rain would sporadically sprinkle

alongside the heat of the sun,

causing a very odd but refreshing sensation. 

cactus.

palms.

midcentury modern.

palm springs art museum

a beautifully designed building

intentionally curated with 3.5 levels of place-based

historical/local, Modern, and contemporary works.

tahquitz canyon

desert song

a very very last minute and amazing desert road trip.

due to recent heavy rainfall,

blooming wildflowers were everywhere!

leaded glass

i've never done anything quite like this before or

worked with a material like glass, a semiliquid solid.

 through the blood, tears, and frustration of this
lengthy artistic endeavor, i'm slowly falling in

love with the technique/process/science/

how light affects color + form in the most

unpredictable and magical way.

thank you to my instructor for her mastery, patience,

anecdotes & genuine teaching. and also much thanks to 

my wonderfully hilarious companion/only other classmate.

onwards with our artichokes and trees!

i am determined to make my work lunch breaks

pleasant, beautiful, and peaceful.

"you live in those lights!"

when the sun set, marie, elizabeth & i stood

by the water and gazed at the city's twinkling lights.

so, i recently started a book club at work.

now, i'm the only person who hasn't finished

reading the book...

after 1 hectic week, i will always make time to

stop and smell the flowers

i feel very amused by the universe right now

~*~*~*~*~*~ 

"Would you like to be Frida-ed?"

I walked around with a unibrow for a night and 

loved it. I also never realized having connected eyebrows

could draw that much attention in a public space,

including 1 marriage proposal from a drunken(?) stranger.

I got to hear Rupi Kaur do a reading

of her poetry @ the Booksmith!

She is so humble and humorous.

She began with a introduction monologue about

being the daughter of immigrants,

and I could not stop crying.

so afterwards when it was my turn to talk to her,
I told her "Rupi, during your introduction monologue

about being the daughter of immigrants,

I could not stop crying."

"thank you" she said, then she signed

a poem of her's I printed from FedEx after work.

"travel light,

live light,

spread the light,

be the light."

~the quote on my lavender tea bag this morning

the greatest moment of my day:

"Hi Emma! Remember me? My name is LIN-DA. LINDA.
CAN YOU SAY LINDA?"

"Win-na."
"YES!"

*3 hours later*

"What's my name, Emma?"

Emma thinks intensely for 10 seconds, frowns,

then her face brightens and she whispers "Win-na!"

Then she puts her face super close to

mine and gives the most radiant

smile with the pure joy of a 2 year old.

cheers to our wonderful artichoke dreams,

from 7,387 miles away :) 

this was spotted yesterday by R in Tel Aviv:
(how dare this closed market steal our future logo...)

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM.

we woke up at 6:15 and every single

minute was worth it. happy 12 years

of friendship, my friend! thanks for a 

lovely lovely lovely morning.

after  i drew this Maori inspired boy,

it became the doodle epicenter~*~*~
and other people's creations emanated from him.

my newest customer service approach is to
"kill them with kindness"
and strive to have a positive
interaction with every single person i meet.

i work in a beautiful place.

i spend time with amazing people.

i get to breathe the bay air and have

befriended nannies from south africa

and the netherlands, and thus, will have a place to

stay when i visit those places.

 

what can i say,
life is good.

sunny days with rodin and bonnard

also, i have drawn SO many versions of artichokes,
in attempts to align one design

with the technicalities of the world of
glass cutting. then after being told each one
was not possible, i gave up (for a while)
and colored:  

went to hear lianne last night at the swedish.

her voice is like a dream/out of this world.

rosé
if something is made of glass & has pretty packaging,

there's an 80% chance i'll end up buying it..

one of those nights where you are so

incredibly delirious, but you still bus it to

your art class and sit in a dark room with strangers

to view a 2 hour slideshow presentation from the 90s

narrated by your unintentionally hilarious instructor

who only wears purple sweaters.

my current state of car-less-ness has

caused me to witness several beautiful sunsets

this is me now.

i've become a morning person:

 now, i design and create glass windows,

practice vinyasa yoga, strum on a ukulele,

and empower children to be

creative problem solvers of the world
(whilst growing my powers as a child whisperer)

~*~*~*~

 the many unexpected occurrences

that happened throughout the day 

guided me to take the most glorious

walk through different neighborhoods

and i stared at buildings and their windows

for a very long time, in awe.