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oh what a delight of a week it's been.

flew to california last weekend for a few days of catching up with friends and warm sunshine. got to wedding-dress shop with my cousin ashleigh and meet a new little friend in cody, son of my friends john & nancy. then of course there was film classes and rough cut screenings and lots of coffee breaks with my darling mandy. and also: my own personal frozen yogurt review tour! i've been addicted ever since emily and i first tasted red mango this summer. my tastebuds got to compare the taste to pinkberry (the prime competitor according to my online research. i think red mango is creamier and a little tarter while pinkberry is a bit sweeter. they are both delicious) and also a local favorite of the biola crowd, berry cool where i discovered that mochi and blackerries are divine when mixed with original tart). mmm, what fun!

amiliah and i flew virgin america, which i would most highly recommend if they only flew boeing jets. blast. the state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system is the best ever. you can create your own music playlist from hundreds of artists or watch live TV. on the flight back i was able to watch nearly the entire presidential debate! very cool.


















on friday night stephanie and i went to see the touring broadway musical, spring awakening. i didn't know what to expect and generally don't care for broadway musicals terribly much. but i'd heard the buzz on this one...it won the tony for best musical at last year's tony awards, and seemed to be centered on youth, plus the music was scored by duncan sheik (whom i've loved since his debut album came out in the mid-nineties.) if you've read anything about this show, it's true that it deals with weighty topics and teenage angst in spades and is quite racy and shocking in parts. it's also real and energetic and tragic and full of life and yearning. that said, i loved it. the more i think about it, the more i love it. so much that i want to see it again. i can't get the songs out of my head (stephanie bought me the soundtrack for my birthday so i can sing along). it is provocative and charged and we couldn't stop talking and analyzing the whole bus ride home. so, broadway has a new fan. on this one at least.





















saturday night i went out to dinner with the family at our new little haunt and came home to my favorite french silk pie with freshly whipped cream.

and then, sunday: my birthday and the mad hatter tea party! i don't know where i got the idea; it just came to me while i was sitting by the fire reading while my parents were away. i wanted color, vibrancy, a celebration of youth, innocence, eccentricity, uniqueness, wit, and creativity. i miss summer and camp so it seemed a good reason for all of us to be together again in a whirl of festivity. a very merry un-unbirthday!

...and now the afterparty blues. or more like grey. it was fabulous and all i wanted; my head aches; i love fall but it's cold outside.