Willo O'Brien

lunch with trina!

my darling friend Trina just came & took me out to a yummy post-birthday lunch at Chez Maman! Their panini’s and lemonade are DELICIOUS and we got to sit outside and enjoy the absolutely amazing weather that we’re having here in SF! We literally just get a handful of these days where it’s actually almost too hot. The AC in the car almost wasn’t cold enough to keep us cool, it’s that hot!! :p What a treat!

It was soooo nice to see Trina too. We had so much to catch up on (I hope I didn’t just talk the whole time with all I got goin on!) she’s a great listener and such a dear friend. Trina was the one who found Kazoo! And she’s someone I met years ago through SARK parties… (full story of how we’ve known eachother is on that “found kazoo” link). So we’ve become good friends – although we both scoffed at the fact that it’s been well over 6 months since we’ve gotten together!! How does that happen!?

Anyway – Trina and I are going to go life drawing – FINALLY. We’ve said we were going to do this for years and I’m confident that now it’s going to happen. Plus she’s started to paint & has invited me over for a painting party! Sounds perfect!! I can’t wait.

travel bug.

wow!! i have both thursday, july 3rd & july 4th off!!! I should be doing something!! Going somewhere!!! But with who? Or, if by myself – to where?

Someplace on the beach sounds dreamy (the beach always sounds dreamy to me). Even L.A. would be fun, but I’d want someone to go with me. I need more friends in L.A.

But part of me doesn’t wanna travel. It sounds nice to be home and relax. I have dinner planned w/ my friends up north. And I’ll probably take a hike up in Marin… or maybe I’ll spend some time down in Santa Cruz w/ my bro. I’m sure the weekend will fill up just fine… but thinking about having 4 days off and not going anywhere sorta made me sad today. It makes me think of the friends I have in my life. And how traveling for years has meant with Matt. That’s all.

Then again – Traveling single is fun. I definitely would be way into doing a Europe trip on my own. And I’ve been wanting to go meet Christy in Vancouver! And then there’s my friend Aimee in New Orleans, Karrie in NYC, Paula in D.C. and Justyn in Nashville. So I do have some options. But they sound expensive… and not too many of those are “beachy” :) Plus, I need to save money not spend money! And, lucky me – a few of those peeps are coming out to see me soon!

Ok, I feel better. A long weekend in the bay area sounds nice. And really – there’s no day’s off for me lately, since I’ve got so much freelance work to catch up on! oy!

more CL stuff…

I decided to keep the cute coffee table and antique dresser. It all actually looks really nice in my place now… it feels cozy. I’m psyched. I also got an AWESOME kitchen island/table/stools thing that is perfect for my kitchen! I love it.

Matt has a few things for sale. A big ol’ bookcase, our bakers rack & a kitchen cart (cutting board not included).

saturday night rockstars

Saturday night was rockin. Scott’s BBQ was fun… I saw some friendly faces from Jim’s BBQ in Tilden Park that Jee & I went to over Memorial Day weekend. Max, Michelle & I grilled up some yummy chicken and chatted over our first couple beers of the evening.

Around 9 we headed over to Jane, Sarah & Helen’s for the big housewarming/birthday party, which over the next couple hours got bigger, louder and most excellent. Highlights were making my friend Brendan stay and get drunk(er), groovin’ and shakin it something FIERCE with my favorite chattanooga girlfriends (very hot), having michelle come find me and just like a good ol’ junior high dance pulling me into the bathroom to spill the news that my brother was mackin on our good friend Eva (oohmy!), meeting Jake’s girlfriend Amy FINALLY, saving the carpet from the wine spillage (that I still blame Tantek for, unless that hurts his feelings, cuz then I’ll just suck it up and take the blame), and taking photos of Ashley’s… well as she puts it, décolletage. Ya, those will be up soon, dontchoo worry.

The next morning after only a couple hours of sleep, we all went out for breakfast & sat soakin up the sun down on Valencia. The rest of my day was amazing and intense, happy and sad… first the happy:

I got home to find Matt had come over and set up my birthday present. OH MY GAWD is he amazingly wonderful. See, after separating, I’ve been needing to get a stereo and DVD player since all the stuff we had was Matt’s. He’s HUGE into sound and home theatre. HUGE. The man should work at Magnolia Hi-Fi. So I had told him I had been looking at this super cheap compact system at Best Buy… and needless to say being the hi-fi snob that he is, he wasn’t too supportive of that! He kept highly recommending that I get a nice receiver and a DVD player separate instead cuz it’d be better in the long run, etc. And as much as I agreed, a nice system was not only WAY to expensive for me right now, but complicated and way over my head! Left to my own devices and budget, I was sure to buy the compact system – and was very close to doing so…. but, as you may have guessed by now, I won’t have to. Matt absolutely spoiled me and (while thoroughly enjoying the process himself) bought me an amazing system. The goods: Denon, Sony, Boston Acoustic. Oh my am I a lucky, lucky girl!!!!! It’s AWESOME!!!!

The sad parts of my day were when we went to go over & see our now ex-landlord over on Lundys for the open house and get the last of our things out of there/talk to her about our deposit, etc. That was sad. Couples were coming over oohing and awing at the view and the cute little cobblestone street, just as we had a year earlier. Just when you think it’s the final chapter, it gets even more final.

Then after Matt came over & showed me a few things on my new system, set up remotes & such – he left and I watched I am Sam on my new DVD player. I think that is the SADDEST movie I’ve ever seen (actually this is a close second to Dancer in the Dark, which I couldn’t even finish I was crying so hard I couldn’t see through my tears). Granted Sunday I no doubt had major tears and sadness due to my overflowing feelings about Matt & I…. and I think a little PMS, too…. but oh my gawd I have never sobbed soooo hard for so long in my LIFE. I couldn’t breath… and eventually had to take a break it was just totally sending me over the edge. oy…

After the movie I could do nothing but sleep my emotional exhaustion away. I curled up on my new couch and tested out it’s “nappability”. The best part was that without a throw blanket I was warm and comfortable enough to sleep for 3 hours there. Very nice. I awoke only to take a relaxing bath, eat a bowl of my favorite ice cream and go back to bed. Happy Birthday weekend to me.

My birthday weekend

… is in full swing! Yesterday Matt & I had a nice birthday brunch at our favorite breakfast place Just for You. And then I spent the rest of the day scrubbing the heck out of the kitchen at our old place on Lundys (that refrigerator has never been cleaner!!) all to come home & organize & clean my place like a tornado before my brother, Max showed up. He lives in Santa Cruz and has come up to party w/ me for the weekend, which is soo cool. He’s awesome.

So lastnight Max, a few close friends and I had a yummy dinner at 2223 Market. Very good food and yummy wine (expert wine selection compliments of Stig :) Our super fun party night, however, is just a few hours away… as we’re first hitting Scott’s BBQ w/ Jee – and then over to Jane’s for the big shindig. I better get in the shower!!!

Oh & for the record, Miss Millie’s has the WORST service. Max and I went today and waited an HOUR for our breakfast!!!!! AN HOUR!!!! So frusterating. But then I went for my surprise 1pm apt w/ Michelle and it was a massage!!!! Aaawww Yaaaa!!! It was dreamy – and much needed since I’ve been moving so much, I’ve been so sore!

FYI – I am having connection issues at home (using my bro’s laptop dial up right now) so I hope to be on email tomorrow and to upload some pics, but maybe it won’t be until Monday. Warning, geek talk: I’m connected through a router downstairs and as I boasted a few posts ago, I crimped the plugs on myself. But unfortunately it’s not working :( So it’s either my poor crimp job – or the DHCP settings are messed up. My neighbor can get on just fine – so it’s either how she has her DNS set up, the settings – or the ethernet cable coming up here. Something like that = I’m sure real techies are like DUH! So if you read this & you’re super smart & have suggestions for me = by all means tell me!!

Signed,

the newly 28 year old willo

my birthday is aaaaalmost here!!!

I’m a big little kid when it comes to my birthday :) I’ve never been afraid to remind people weeks in advance “My birthday is coming!!” It is such a fun day and no matter what, any day where friends and family are thinking of you & wanting to send you love and gifts, it’s a day to bathe in all it’s glory. *glow*

Jake, my co-facilitator/editor at BAMboozled, was super sweet enough to bring me a cake lastnight to the meeting!! That was SOOO thoughtful!! Even though, I’ve been trying to cut down on sugar, I had a sweet lil’ piece anyway. It was yummy! The best part is what he wrote on the cake: “Fearless Leader We ♥ Willo” How sweet is THAT?!!! He’s awesome. And the kids were glad to partake in the fiesta :)

Everyone’s been asking me what I want (which I love cuz I’m such a huge supporter of efficient shopping – if you’re going to shop at all – so as to not fill people’s closets with horrible gifts they’ll never use, that’s not very environmentally friendly!) So it’s very kind of you to ask, sweet friends and family of mine! Over in my “wants” list there to the left, you find a link to my Amazon Wishlist, and a link to the spendy frivolous thing I’d love to have (but probably won’t get) is a Fisheye Lense for my beloved Nikon 5700. This year all my gifts from my family will probably be practical – home stuff & the like – which is great cuz that’s what I need! Rugs, curtains, a throw for my couch, etc :). Anyway – I never expect gifts on my bday… I’ll take a lovely big bear hug any day!!

Speaking of home things, I bought a red couch!!!! It’s not the greatest thing, but it was super inexpensive AND it folds out to a bed – woohoo!! It was originally bought from Cost Plus – it’s called the “Red Manhattan Sleeper”. The best part is that it’s just a foam fold out so it’s not super heavy. However, that means that it’s foam cushions, which is just sorta cheap (not any super expensive down filled overstuffed couch or anything) but it was cheap & it’ll do the trick for now. Oh – and this weekend I’m selling my futon AND my filing cabinet (exchanging it for an office chair maybe). Yaa craigslist!!

Also, I’m still debating whether I should let go of the coffee table I love so dear (cuz it’s taking up to much floor space in my little place), thinking maybe I’ll use it as an entertainment center instead of the entertainment center I’m using now – OR I could just get a smaller entertainment center (more vertical so it doesn’t take up as much floor space) and then maybe I could keep the wonderful cutie coffee table?! Decisions, decisions! Ok – don’t wanna bore you with any more of THAT!!!

Alrighty – off to have some lunch & humm around my day as the clock ticks closer & closer to my bday!!!!! wahooo!!