i don't understand:

why looking at other people's lives and belongings is so enthralling. sometimes i feel like a borderline stalker.

found:

came across these while looking through iphoto on bailey's old laptop. both from summer 2006.

can't stop, won't stop:

last night i got back from a week in california; this afternoon i leave for a long weekend in pleasure island with my parents. i feel like summer is almost over.

cooking:

one good thing about spending the summer at home with my parents is that i've been able to practice my cooking -- and teach them how to make healthy dinners without meat. i've made curried vegetables, gazpacho soup, fresh pastas with homemade pesto, etc. etc. also, mom and i have been combining our efforts lately: last tuesday it was tortilla española, fresh tomato salad with vinaigrette, and mojitos; tonight it was grilled fish tacos with pico de gallo, roasted corn, red cabbage, creamy guacamole, and watermelon margaritas (recipes from the current issue of domino magazine). delicious.

tomorrow i leave for san francisco at 6 a.m. i'm excited about seeing and doing a number of things while i'm there...

i love:

the new portishead album. it has been stuck in my head all month, and i listened to it all last week in belize on my ipod while i laid on the sand and watched these really pretty and eerie frigatebirds float above me, and it's pretty much all i've listened to in my car since i bought the c.d. back in may. i think that it's probably affecting my entire outlook on life.

some things:

this is a neat leaf that i found in my parents' backyard:
and this is a video of mom and bailey bicycling to work:

routine:

i get up early, i have coffee and breakfast, sit around for a while, get dressed. i prepare lunch, mom and i ride our bicycles 1.4 miles to work. i work until 5 p.m., we ride our bicycles 1.4 miles home. i think about unpacking my car and straightening up my room. i run, i shower. i help with dinner and drink a few glasses of wine. i read, and i go to bed early.

so if you're curious: this will be my summer. plus a vacation here and there. it's not so bad, so far.

tonight:

is the first time that i've felt "alone" in a while. it's probably because i have an almost-completely-empty apartment (besides a few boxes of cleaning supplies and an overnight bag) and a big, queen-sized air mattress all to myself (and maribelle) for the first time in over a week.

tomorrow morning i leave austin for good. it's such a weird feeling -- i'll miss the city and my friends and the springs and the food and my way of life, of course, but i'm glad to move on. and i've been ready for a while.

so i'm looking forward to a summer of travel and self-betterment, and an autumn in a completely different place.

(a few new photos on flickr.)

yoga:

my little, cramped apartment has been much too uncomfortable to practice yoga in and this, combined with the cancellation of my gym membership, has caused me to almost completely abandon my practice over the past ten months or so.

but yesterday morning my parents took home most of the furniture from my living room and kitchen, so now i have a big (um, not very big), open space in my apartment to lay out my mat.

i just pulled out my deck of yoga cards and stretched for a solid 45 minutes. it felt so, so, so wonderful. i'm getting excited about picking it up again, and about perhaps starting a weekly (or bi-weekly? or tri-weekly?) pick-up yoga session on the lawn across from 715 in the fall.

hmm. what on earth would the neighbors think if we practiced naked?

birthday:

thanks to all of my wonderful friends who made my birthday a great one by sending me surprises in the mail, partying with me on saturday night, or making/finding/giving me beautiful things. i'm such a lucky girl. i love you all.