a long overdue update

from the time i started this blog, i've noticed a recurring trend. i write a nice long post for everyone to enjoy and then it takes me at least a month before i post something else. i think it's because when i write, i usually write a lot so when i sit down to post something new it's always a bit time consuming.

i really have to get out of that habit.

anyway here are some things that have happened in the past month or so starting with my birthday.

kirstin's 24th birthday

as you all saw, i got my beautiful new camera from mike and have been trying to use it as much as i can. i still have plans to take a class to learn more of the features and hopefully get my hands on a student-priced version of adobe photoshop to learn how to use that too. my photography talent is still a work in progress.

anyway...for my actual birthday, i worked during the day and all my coworkers signed a nice card for me. when i got home from work, mike and i went to my favorite restaurant. if you know me well enough, you'll know that restaurant is p.f.changs. we had such a nice dinner and the food was amazing. then my birthday continued into the weekend when my parents came up to san clemente and we went out to dinner at salt creek grille. to further extend my birthday celebrations, i had a coffee date with aimee, brunch with julie, and dinner with sabrina in the weeks following my actual birthday.

it's going to be a good year!

grandpa norm. 1924 - 2009. r.i.p.

my grandpa norm, my dad's dad, passed away back at the beginning of september. as part of his last wishes, he didn't want us to have any sort of service for him so we had a family gathering to remember him instead.

his passing came so quickly and started with a fall down the steps in their backyard. as a result of the fall, he ran into some other complications while in the hospital--he had a heart attack which caused his heart to race and he wasn't eating too much. after a certain point, we knew there would be no recovery so the doctors had him on some medication to keep him comfortable and he died in the evening. i'm glad to know that he is no longer suffering or in pain, but it's a weird feeling to know that had he not fallen, he'd probably still be here with us.

we got the family together on the morning of october 9th and drove out to gorman (off the grapevine on i-5) which is one of the places he used to ride his motorcycle--his favorite pastime. we had some remembrances from his life and set off some balloons with messages we had all written. i've included some pictures of the day below.

i'll miss you grandpa!

surfrider foundation's 25th anniversary gala

since 1984, surfrider foundation has been working to protect the world's oceans, waves, and beaches. on october 9th, we celebrated our achievements in los angeles with a great party.

mike was able to join me which was fun bonus. due to some budget cuts, the officers are encourage to take more furlough days off. so after my grandpa's family gathering, mike and i headed to los angeles for the big event. we were staying at the omni hotel, so mike hung out at the hotel for a bit while i went to the event early to work my post. i worked the registration table selling tickets at the door and was still working by the time mike showed up. he went inside to join the party while i finished my duties.

finally around 9pm, i was ready to have some fun about the time the program for the event started. mark hoppus of blink 182 was the host and surfrider gave away the keepers of the coast award (an award given to celebrities who have helped us further our mission--this award is only given away every five years). the awards went to pearl jam, incubus, and david chokachi. i actually got to hand an award to david chokachi and brandon boyd of incubus!! then, mike and i got to enjoy the musical performance together. a group called camp freddy played which is a "super group" of sorts consisting of various people from other well-known rock bands (billy morrison, dave navarro, matt sorem, scott weiland, donovan leitch, and chris chaney). their performance was awesome and they brought up several guest performers including mark mcgrath, deryck whibley, and perry farrell! so fun.

by the time everyone was leaving the event, mike and i headed over the after party which took place at a place called the independent. it looked like an independent movie theater by day that they convert into a venue at night. we hung out for another hour or so there and after a very long day, we finally took a cab to the hotel and went to sleep.

congrats to surfrider!

...

i'll finish up these updates in another post with the following topics so stay tuned:

1. 2 year anniversary

2. scott bradley turns 50

3. family dog megin

4. halloween

kirstin has a new toy!

almost a year ago i posted an entry in this blog titled welcome to the talent show where i basically showcased my lack of photography skills and expressed my desire to make it my talent.

and now i might be able to make it happen! my wonderful loving husband who knows me so well gave me my early birthday present a couple days ago.

isn't she pretty? i'll have to think of a name for her and i'll keep you posted on that development.

well now i have the equipment to help me hone what little talent i have right now. and i'll probably take a class next spring at the local community college to try to learn more of the features of the camera and what effects i can achieve!

SOOO EXCITED!!!

everything is bigger in texas!

i spent labor day weekend with some of my life long friends in a little city called austin, tx. it's hard to believe i've known these girls for 20 years and i'm only 23 (almost 24)!

our friend lauren moved to texas about a year and a half ago for a job and i had yet to visit her in her new hometown. here's a list of some of the things we did on our trip followed by some pictures.

• we stayed up late the night we arrived just chatting and catching up.
• we quickly learned that it takes 2 hours for 4 girls to shower, dress, apply makeup, and do their hair with only one bathroom.
• we took a little driving tour of downtown austin
• visited the UT co-op to stock up on burnt orange gear for the first game of the season
• ate lunch a great sandwich joint called potbelly's
• we went to some cute shops in the south congress area of austin and took some great photos at an antique shop there
• purchased liquor for the entire weekend.
• drove outside of town for some delicious bbq dinner at the salt lick. left feeling very full but it was definitely some good eatin'
• got all decked out in our burnt orange for UT game day.
• started pre-partying and tailgating at 1pm
• played cornhole
• watched the texas kill louisiana monroe
• got tired standing at the game (all the students stand for the whole football game and i didn't train enough for that)
• took a peticab from the game to downtown
• almost fell asleep at bar #1
• then danced the night away at bar #2
• learned how to do the cupid shuffle
• floated down a river in new braunfels
• took another 2 hours to get ready for dinner
• ate at trudy's (a great tex mex place where i ate a stuffed avocado...where can i get one in ca?)
• drank a mexican martini and was set for the night! kirstin's a lightweight :)
• hiked the 100 stairs to mt. bonnell the highest place in austin. (not very high)
• then got on a plane back to so cal.

the trip was awesome and i've included some pictures here for you to enjoy.

back in the saddle again

since the marathon, i have run a grand total of 3 times equalling less than 10 miles. seems kinda sad for someone who did 26.2 in one day, but maybe that's just me.

as such, i've been noticing a slight bulge growing above the top of my jeans. that little pudge is widely known in the world of women as the dreaded "muffin top."

i give you exhibit a:

to illustrate how this happened in a mere two point five months, i've created a lovely math problem for you.

(large sweet tooth + lack of exercise) x time = unwanted, but well deserved, muffin top

i recently attended another one of no doubt's concerts in san diego and i sure found some inspiration for working out again. gwen stefani will be forty this year and looks AMAZING. she's had two kids and has washboard abs. i mean just look at her.

i give you exhibit b:

now that i've stopped oggling over her abs, i will tell you that i basically want to be her. she's been my favorite musician since i was 10 and no doubt's tragic kingdom album was one of the first cds i ever owned. so in hopes of looking more like her over the next year, i'm trying to work a new equation into my life:

(large sweet tooth + LOTS of exercise + eating healthier) x time = gwen stefani-like abs

i'll have you know that my first run in a long time was yesterday. it was difficult and today my legs are sore, but it's that first step in getting my ass/abs/legs back in shape.

here we go!

busy bodies

i was taking a look around at matt and whitney's blog today and noticed that i am down at the bottom of her blog reel widget (basically meaning i've been totally slacking in making updates to my own blog). i realized that i haven't posted anything new in over six weeks. i know how much i like to read blog updates--and even though i've said this before--i'll do my best to make updates more often for your enjoyment.

anyway, summer is in full swing and life has certainly gotten busy, at least for me. mike's been busier at work since the oc fair opened in costa mesa. he's mentioned to me that the fair has certainly brought out some interesting people to his neck of the woods.

as for me, summer and fall have easily proven to be the busiest months at surfrider. this makes perfect sense since we are heavily involved in the surf industry, and the busiest months for surfing are the warmer months. imagine that!

here's a list of some of the things we've been up to since our last post:

• my sister turned 20 on june 11th which means my parents no longer have any teenagers around. we're both so grown up now :) but i can't wait for her 21st. there are plans to do a mother daughter trip in honor of this milestone.
• father's day came and went so quickly. mike had to work, but my family came up to san clemente for a little breakfast to celebrate.
• i participated in international sufring day (an annual holiday created by surfing magazine and surfrider foundation five years ago) by going to moonlight beach in san diego and participating in a beach cleanup.
• i devoted one of my weekends to "wining and dining" surfrider's board members while they were in town for our june meeting.
• i attended my friend vickie's 80s prom themed 25th bday celebration. i honestly don't know how blue eyeshadow went out of style. it's so attractive and complements everyone's complexion! (please note the sarcasm in the past two statements)
• my sister moved back up to san francisco. she finally found an apartment to live in next year with two of her friends.
• surfrider took half a day off work for some staff bonding and competition fun for "hump day fun day." we had a surf contest, some volleyball fun, and a cornhole tournament. good times with my coworkers.
• i've been surfing a little more.
• fourth of july came and went with no significant festivities. mike had to work the next day so he went to bed early, and i decided i didn't want to fight traffic in downtown san clemente to see the fireworks off the pier, so i joined him.
• our friends scott and meghan came up to spend an afternoon in san clemente and enjoyed some dinner with us.
• i hosted one of this summer's sanO nights by creating some delicious booher burgers (burgers with delicious goodies inside). lessons from making these the first time--do not overstuff the burgers, make sure you pinch the sides really well, and make sure they are as flat as possible before putting them on the grill. i will know better for next time.
• my mom and dad came up to sc for my dad's birthday and we enjoyed some pizza and beer at pizza port, one of my favorite places.
• i attended the grand opening of my cousin's vintage shop in laguna beach. if you are ever in the area make sure to stop by macalistaire at 1850 for some great vintage finds.
• julie, one of my best friends, came to san clemente for the day to spend some time at the beach. we ended up walking around the pier for the annual ocean festival.
• and our friends scott and julie came to visit us yesterday. we went to the beach and had some dinner. it's always good seeing them and i wish we lived closer.

that's about it. here's a few pictures from some of the fun...

the view above moonlight beach on international surfing day.

hump day fun day: everyone hanging out with the cornhole tournament going on in the background.

hump day fun day: more people hanging out.

hump day fun day: ed getting ready for the boys' surf competition wearing the beaver wetsuit. note: the flap in the back actually snaps to the front of the suit. too funny!

booher burgers are made. vickie and i posing with the finished product.

cousin rachiel's vintage shop storefront.

here's a shot of the inside of rachiel's new vintage shop.

julie and i in san clemente.

take a look how crowded the beach was during the ocean festival.

there were a bunch of old woodies parked on the pier. i want one.

there were all sorts of water competitions going on throughout ocean festival. this was a dory race. two-man paddle boats making three laps. it was really exciting to watch, especially when one guy had to finish the race by himself because his partner's oar lock broke off the boat.

until next time my friends...

no doubt is back in action

a few months ago, my dear sister samantha called me up and left me a voicemail message that i'd been waiting to here for years--"no doubt is going on tour and tickets are going on sale soon, do you want to go?"  

my first thought was, "hold the phone!  my favorite band of ALL time is going on tour again and they will be making new music when they are done?  i love no doubt!  HELL YES I WANT TO GO!!!"

so we did.

the concert was may 22nd and sammy and i had SO much fun (minus the freak dancing and grinding that occurred throughout the whole concert in my peripheral vision, courtesy of a not-so-lovely white trash couple.  i mean, there are children here.  you aren't in some dark club where it's semi-okay to feel each other up while others are in close proximity.  but as you can tell, it totally didn't bother me at all.  syke.  no but really, it was totally heinous.  end of story.)

anyway, here are some pictures i took that night...

sammy and i taking a self-portrait

coors ampitheatre cricket wireless was completely full (it means no doubt is awesome!)

the opening act was a band called the sounds.  they were pretty good.

paramore played next.  i love her red hair.

then no doubt took the stage.  so cool when they did this!

besides showing blown up video feeds of the band, they played some really cool music-video type stuff on this big screen behind them.  they must have had so much fun making additional footage for this tour.

fake smoke on the back screen.

i was so sad when the concert was over :(  i want to see them again already.

this is a video i tried to edit with imovie on our computer.  the first clip is of paramore and the other three are of no doubt.  i hope it works.  enjoy!