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I’m in San Francisco!

 sunrise on flight

I’m actually going to be in San Francisco for two separate trips this month. I’m here now as part of a surprise birthday thing for my friend Brian (or “bean” as everyone calls him). We all came up to S.F. from L.A. met up with some of out other S.F. based friends at the Zeitgeist last night to surprise him. He thought he was spending a quiet weekend in S.F. with his girlfriend… little did he know he’d have to put up with us for the night.

He was actually surprised, he had no clue. We were even more surprised that he really was surprised. We had figured someone would have let the cat out of the bag seeing as how many people knew and it was planned about a month and a half in advance.

So far on this trip I have bought way too many sweets, and have lots left over. I think I’ve changed my spending habits to focus more on food rather than clothing and accessories. This is due to the issue of producing  waste that I talked about in a previous entry. I know with food at least I’m not producing harmful waste – that is, not that I know of… it might be a by product of the food that is made for me.

One thing I love about this city is that even places that aren’t marketed as “environmentally friendly” eating establishments still are. What I mean is that on Friday I went to Bistro Burger for lunch, got a burger and fries to go and they use recycled paper boxes instead of Styrofoam. At Zeitgeist they were using the new bio-degradable cutlery that I’ve been reading about recently on TreeHugger and GLiving. These aren’t some hippie, health food joints yet everyone in this city is already so eco-aware that it’s just normal practice for them to take that extra step.

So anyway, I’m off to visit more friends, eat more food, and look for those damn organic jeans until I have to leave tomorrow morning.

SFO BART platform

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An Open Letter to An Old Friend

Dear San Francisco,

Hi. How are you?

I know it’s been awhile. I’m sorry things ended up like they did last time we were together.

I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I’ve been looking at pictures. I really miss you. I love the time we spent together. You were there for me through some of the hardest years of my life and I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know if we can ever get back to where we were before but I know I want you to be a part of my future. I just can’t stand living like this, not seeing you. I wish I could hug you but I wouldn’t know where to start.

I’ll see you soon, hopefully. Not sure when, but soon.

Love you,
Mitzi

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Oh the places you’ll go!

At this moment I have three friends scattered across Europe. All are there independent of each other and all are probably in different countries.

My friend Andy is in the USAF and is there working. He’s either in Berlin or Paris. He’s usually in Berlin but last he told me he was headed to Paris, for what reason I’m not sure.

My cousin is backpacking through Europe right now. Last I talked to her she was in London but that was about week ago. She was traveling with a friend but when they arrived in London her friend was sent back to New York, for what reason I do not know. Taking time to travel through Europe is something I’d really like to do. I know this is probably true for a lot of liberal Americans but I just thought I’d mention it.

My friend Sean is currently in Italy for a wedding. Can you imagine getting married in Italy (and not living there). Better yet, getting married in a castle in Italy. I think that’s what they’re doing anyway, or maybe the reception is in a castle. Either way, I’ve never been to a castle before, let alone a castle in Italy.

Meanwhile, I’m here, in Los Angeles…which may seem glamorous to some but it really isn’t, or maybe I’m just jaded. There is something to be said though about sleeping in your own bed. Sometimes you’ll sleep in better but more often than not it’s hard to fall asleep in a foreign bed.

Like I said before, I really want to travel through Europe some time. I had always thought that I would do it once I graduated from college, but I just went right into working. It’s not bad, I love my work, but I now have to find time to do the Europe thing.

I think the last time I used my passport was when I went to Puerto Vallarta for my senior trip. I can’t believe that was five years ago. Five years. Saying it out loud makes it unbelievable because it feels like I just left high school. The memories are still fresh. Does that mean I’ve done nothing as memorable since then? Or perhaps I spent so much time there with those people that it will take longer to forget. I like to think it’s the latter.

Anyway, I know I’ve done this before (not here) but I’ve compiled my travel wishlist:

  • London
  • Fiji
  • Paris
  • Rome
  • Greece
  • Denver
  • Tokyo
  • South Africa
  • New Zealand
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Iceland

I can think of more but at this point I’m just naming places. I’d also like to revisit New York and San Francisco. Always San Francisco. Now I just have to find the time and money. I guess I’ll be reading 4-Hour Work Week.

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Good Eatin’

Thanksgiving Dinner

On a recent trip to Santa Cruz for Labor Day weekend, my friends and I decided to have a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner (or Christmas if you prefer) because really, one day a year just isn’t enough.

We learned that during the “off season” turkeys at the store are generally half the size of those during the holiday season. This is partly due to the fact that the turkeys don’t include any dark meat – no wings, no drumsticks. 🙁 Despite the lack of dark meat (or as I like to call it “the flavor explosion”) we still made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and I was stuffed, almost to the point where I would have needed to induce vomiting to keep from exploding. I know! That indeed does sound delicious, doesn’t it?

I firmly believe that stuffing is something one should have as a kitchen staple, like popcorn or something. You sit down to watch some tv with a glass of water and a bowl/plate of stuffing. Yummmm YUM!

Moving on, I had quite an excellent time in Santa Cruz with Julie, Danielle & Co. They’ve asked me to refer to them by that title in the future so I am happy to oblige. I always have fun with them, well, ok probably not always but I don’t think I’ve encountered anything traumatizing enough to remember right now so that says enough.

We shopped, we ate, we watched awards shows. I think it was a very successful holiday for me.

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See The World

I’ve decided I want to study abroad…or study ablad, as my mom says.

I’m considering the UK, either London or Swansea in Wales, maybe American Business School in Paris or a Univ. in Melbourne, Australia. I don’t know how economically possible this would be…or possible at all. I’ve only looked at some information on the website and narrowed down countries with participating schools. I need to attend a meeting tomorrow after I get out of work.

I’m quite excited about it but I don’t know if this will be like the time I tried to plan a trip to London for Spring Break and got all the information but stopped short at buying tickets and a bed at a hostel…or if it will be like me applying to go to school up here in San Francisco and actually moving from Los Angeles.

I think that moving up here has led me to believe that no matter where I end up I will have fun and survive. Hopefully that is the case. I’ve been thinking about pulling out my roots and floating into the wind a lot lately…to New York mostly. I don’t know why I feel this way. Was it watching a Felicity marathon on Sunday night that made me feel this way? Perhaps it was the feeling which urged me to put the DVD in and watch the story of another girl’s trek across the country. Maybe I’m searching for something. I guess San Francisco was my first baby step. What I’m searching for I really don’t know…so how will I know when I find it? I guess it’s like they say, “When you know you’ll know.” I keep telling people I’m trying to find myself…but I don’t really know what in myself is missing.

At this point I can only think of one thing that is missing and that is the love I have lost. I think that was my anchor and now that the rope has been severed my boat floats freely and will travel…but every boat must dock somewhere.