bipolar meter: 8.8889

So I have finally gotten a chance to organize my wedding photographs, and you are the lucky recipient.

I have decided that this is perhaps the perfect time to sign off on bipolarbiweekly. I feel like I've outgrown the site. I started it at a very tumultuous time in my life, which involved lots of ups and downs. Now, not so much (except first thing in the morning, when everything is still pretty bad). So, after 5+ years, I will say goodbye to bipolarbiweekly. You can keep updated on my adventures at our new photoblog. Thanks for the memories.

bipolar meter: 9

My wedding was so perfect that I was amazed at how perfectly it went. My brother-in-law said that I smiled for six hours straight. I never had a moment of annoyance or tiredness or crabbiness. I was a little anxious before the ceremony started (not about getting married, but about how the wedding would come off), but then it was just like floating on a fast-moving river. The whole weekend was great, starting with the rehearsal dinner where there was not one but two versions of "Jesse's Girl," then drinks and fun at the Land Ho!, then a heavenly morning spent alone in Wellfleet with a walk on the beach, then the excitement of the wedding with lots of dancing, then the Sunday day at my house with beach time, Capture the Flag, BBQ, shark-shaped cookies, and a bonfire, ending with dancing to the ever-classic Sister Christian. It was everything I ever dreamed of.

Pictures are forthcoming, but they haven't arrived yet from the photographer.

After the wedding, we went to Greece! Greece was also fantastic, aside from my bag being lost for the first three days (I was saved by the Zara in Athens and ended up with a very cute skirt and t-shirt). We started off in Athens and then traveled to Santorini, Sikinos, Ios, Milos, and Crete, before heading back to Athens to spend our last night watching opera in the ancient theater in the Acropolis. Greece is so beautiful. But I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

bipolar meter: 6.9 (because of the extreme tiredness)

Tomorrow I head to Boston for the wedding! It is crazy to think about. Packing was a nightmare but I managed to get everything into a very small rolling bag (fits in the overhead compartment) and a backpack. This is quite impressive since I am going away for a month--a month that includes my wedding and my honeymoon. I may be the most impressive female packer in the world. But seriously, how much stuff do you need to go to the Greek islands? A couple of sundresses and t-shirts, an absolutely adorable bikini (I had to splurge), and flipflops.

Jesse graduated from business school today. I am very proud of him. He doesn't have to start his new job until mid-October, so I am also somewhat jealous of him. But I am very excited about having a month off of work! If only I could figure out a way to bring the kitties with me....

bipolar meter: 8.64

I started the festivities with a yummy dinner of brie baguettes and tomato soup at Salt Bar with Holly and Catherine (after ordering a bottle of wine, I had a momentary twinge of my-god-we-are-drinking-wine-and-not-beer-are-we-getting-old, but after the second bottle, I was like, I love wine. Wine is better than beer. California has made me a total wine snob.)

On Saturday, Catherine and I braved the pouring rain to do some shopping after fortifying ourselves with brunch and I picked up an extremely cute dress to wear to my wedding shower. Then my friend Alyson arrived and the two of us went shopping in the rain before taking refuge in a wine bar. More wine.

Then the bachelorette began! Catherine and Holly had decorated Cat's apartment and it looked very cute and fun and included a tiara with a veil perched on one of the many heads in the living rooms--I do love tiaras. Guests arrived, we drank champagne, I opened presents, I put on one of my presents from Holly (a fantastic shirt that says "Jesse's Girl") and then we headed out for Cuban food before hitting the club for a plethora of 80s dancing. During the dancing, a surprise guest was announced: a Journey cover band! I was beside myself with excitement since I secretly (or not so secretly) love Journey. They had the volume turned up way too loud, but I still shouted along. More dancing, more Journey, and then off to the bar across from my old apartment. Then a few of us headed back to Cat's apartment and sat around in our pajamas talking--it was very reminiscent of a sleepover and the perfect way to end my last night of freedom. (Highlight of the day was when I talked to my mom that afternoon and she told me to have fun at my bachelorette party and "enjoy it while you can." I was like, umm, okay, so it is all downhill from here? She says now that she didn't know what she meant, but it was very funny.)

On Sunday, more rain, brunch, movie, and then I headed to CT to "work" and hang out with my mom. It was great to spend quality time with my mom: we went to the Container Store, ate burgers, searched in vain for the ring pillow from my sister's wedding, and instead found my mom's garter and the price tag for her wedding dress: $115! (And it is a really beautiful dress.)

On Tuesday, I headed back into the city to shop and eat lots of artichoke dip with Holly and Catherine before heading to the Cape, where I had to put my pulled-apart house back together again. After 2 1/2 days of unpacking boxes, hauling giant garbage bags, washing dishes, organizing cupboards, and having my hair and makeup trial, I headed to Boston to celebrate my mom's birthday with my sister.

The next day, I went for my so-called final wedding dress fitting, only to discover that I have lost even more weight. (My seamstress said I cannot lose any more, but I don't even know why I am losing weight in the first place. So this week, I have been eating Italian subs, hot dogs, and gelato. Maybe it will help.) Now I have to have another final fitting the week before the wedding. AHHH. Then I went to my brother's place for my wedding shower. My sister-in-law and sisters, as always, had done a beautiful job of decorating the house and it was a fun, nice event with very tasty cake. It was strange being the center of attention and it kind of freaked me out, especially when I was opening all the presents and everyone else was just watching me.

To end the weekend, I headed back downtown to have dinner with my friend Jamie before crashing at the airport hotel to catch my early morning flight back to CA. It was a crazy but wonderful week and I am happy to have so many caring and thoughtful friends and family members.

Only a few more weeks to go!

bipolar meter: 8.87

In the past three weeks I have been to Catalina for my birthday (so beautiful), Cape Cod/Boston for wedding planning (we got a ridiculous amount done), and one Easter weekend here in the rain (because that's all it has done here for three months).

But now--now it is sunny! And this weekend I am heading back to the East Coast for an entire week! Saturday is the big bachelorette and the next Saturday is my wedding shower. In between I will be attempting to work 8-hour days from my Mom's house and heading to the Cape to try and pull the house back together after its latest construction project, plus have my final wedding dress fitting. I tried on my dress with my veil the last time I was in Boston and it was really exciting. Yay, parties.

bipolar meter: 7.7

In other random news, this story about a crazy cat is fantastic. It reminds me of my beloved boy Iggy, who used to attack people for no reason too.

bipolar meter: 9.5

One year ago today, Jesse and I got engaged! We went back to the Russian River Valley to celebrate. The weather wasn't quite as cooperative this year, but you can't really complain about a little rain and chill when you get to spend the day drinking wine. Hard to believe I will be a married woman soon. I still feel too young to have a real job.

bipolar meter: 7.4

Thanks to Crate and Barrel, I know now that there are "only 87 days until the big event!" But things are under control.

No decisions on whether to wear something glittery in my hair or not, but I had fun shopping for hair accessories in NYC with my mom and Catherine (bridal hair accessories are EXPENSIVE, like everything else associated with weddings). Trying on tiaras is always great, even if they are ridiculous.

But, I am slightly blonder these days thanks to getting highlights for the second time in my life. I like them and feel a little movie star-ish, but I'm still deciding whether I want a repeat performance before the wedding.

Thanks to Catherine, I have found my dream wedding cake. The only question is if it is dairy-free so it won't kill Jesse...

bipolar meter: 9.1234

During the last month, I worked. And worked. And worked. But in between all of the working, I did some fun things....

Sundance, baby!

I was very happy to see snow again.

The best thing about California? Hiking in beautiful winter weather.

Chinatown during the Chinese New Year parade.

I always love the dragons.

Near the end of Jesse's all-day birthday celebration.

The kitties are more adorable than ever.

bipolar meter: 6.7

Maybe I should stop dustbusting spiders. You never know how it might come back around.

bipolar meter: 5

Jesse is off for two weeks in Thailand. It's funny: I lived alone for years but you really get used to living with someone. I can't believe how much I miss him.

Plus, he makes me dinner every night (I mean real dinner with a main course and two sides) and I don't know what to eat without him. I've had leftovers for the last two nights--and I hate leftovers--but tomorrow I'm in trouble because there is nothing left to eat. Except the kitties.

I wish I could be in Thailand. Or at least not working.

I wrote this really long post the other night about my holidays but then my computer crashed and I lost the whole thing. That was it. Not nearly as bad as what happened to Holly, but still annoying. So in a nutshell, I had a GREAT holiday season and lots of fun seeing friends and family, celebrating the 30th birthday of Cat, and trying on my wedding dress and picking out bridesmaid dresses.

And I got so much great loot! I don't know why I got so much when I'm about to get more presents than ever before in my life, but my amazing mom bought me the Kitchenaid mixer that I have wanted since I was 12 (seriously), and Jesse bought me a portable DVD player for all of our cross-country trips, and I got a ton of other great presents. I love the holidays, especially since I get to celebrate two now--Christmas and Hanukkah. And Jesse survived the family holidays and our insane trip plan (San Francisco to NYC to Simsbury to Wellesley to Boston to Wellesley to Boston to Wellesley to New Canaan to NYC to San Francisco). Love it.

I can't believe that this is the year that I will become a Mrs.!!!!!!!!

bipolar meter: 8.5

bipolar meter: 8

There are few things in life as nice as having two kittens curl up on your lap and put their little paws in your hand.

I found some shoes for the wedding. Hooray! So satisfying to be done with that. I am getting excited to have my dress fitting. Hopefully, I will love the dress as much as I did when I picked it out back in August.

Seems strange to think that I will be back in NYC on Thursday--it has been ages since I've been there...

bipolar meter: 5

Tupelo has also given up on shopping for wedding shoes.

Shopping for wedding shoes is TERRIBLE. There are so many awful things about it:

1. I hate shopping for shoes at any time
2. Department stores give me the heebee-jeebees (all those little tables of shoes scattered about...no way to tell where to look or what you have already seen)
3. Every major department store has stopped carrying wedding shoes
4. The current shoe styles have ridiculously high heels and/or pointy toes that make them look like witches' shoes
5. I have arthritis in my big toe and can't wear high heels
6. I never wear heels, so I am too uncoordinated to wear high heels even if I didn't have arthritis.
7. The shoes that I like run from $300-$800
8. There is no way I am going to spend that much money on a stupid pair of shoes
9. Stores keep telling me to look online, but really, it isn't that easy to pick out shoes online
10. I need shoes by December 27 for my wedding dress fitting

I basically don't know what to do. I have been to seven stores and looked online for hours. Misery. I may go barefoot. If only this once, I had the pro-shoe-shopping girl gene.

bipolar meter: 7.998

I don't have much interest in keeping up this site. I'm trying to cut back on my internet use at home so I can concentrate on other things like reading, playing the piano, working out, and playing with my kitties (who now like to play in the fireplace--lots of fun for me). We will see.

The kitties and I are watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer right now. Othello got so excited about the animated bunnies that he jumped down, ran over to the TV, and clawed at the screen. I love Christmas.

bipolar meter: 8.808

bipolar meter: 8

Our wedding planning is going very well and my mom said she had never seen a more organized bride. (This isn't really surprising since I am an organization/detail freak.) It is really nice to be ahead of the game. The next biggest hurdle: finding a non-hideous bridesmaid dress (and someone to do my hair).

bipolar meter: 8.4

bipolar meter: 7.000

bipolar meter: 9

It is very hard to capture the essence of kittens through photography. You can't show the insane amount of energy that they have. These two can chase each around and around the apartment and never seem to tire. Then they will crash all at once and sleep curled up together. Ten minutes later, they are chasing each other again. Their energy is amazing.

bipolar meter: 9.878

bipolar meter: 9.878

I did burst into tears tonight after I saw a picture of Iggy because it made me realize that no kitty will ever replace him in my heart, but these two adorable little ones will go far. I am so happy to have a cat again, and two is even better. They are so cute when they play together. I can't wait until we can let them roam free (the shelter recommends keeping them in one room until they settle in since they are pretty small). Now we just have to finalize names.

bipolar meter: 8.778

Well, kids, I'm coming to you live from lovely Portland, Oregon, on a much-needed break from work to attend a conference. Very, very excited to be here as two of my good friends are also at the conference and I have a huge room on the top floor of the Hilton with amazing views of the city skyline.

The last few weeks have been a sucky blur of work, work, and more work. But who wants to talk about that? Last weekend, Jesse and I headed back east to attend a great wedding (yes, all I do is go to weddings), and then my mom threw us a very nice engagement party for our families. The parents all got along and we got lots of good presents. Yay. I love seeing my family.

Plans are in the works for us to move back east...nothing is entirely decided yet, but it looks like we will move sometime next summer or fall...in my heart, I'm just not a California girl.

bipolar meter: 6.026

My trip away also gave me a break from the hurricane coverage. I couldn't tear myself away last week--it was so hard to believe that it was happening and horrible to watch. I've volunteered to be part of an emergency preservation assessment team if I qualify. I would really like to help.

bipolar meter: 8.333

Home again, home again, after a ten-day tour of New England that included quality time with the family on the Vineyard (all 18 of us in one house), Holly and Nate's beautiful wedding, a trip to Portland, my favorite city in New England (where we randomly ran into George and his fiancee), and a quick stop in Boston to buy me a wedding dress. Every time I think about my wedding dress, I get all butterfly-y. It really is the perfect dress.

It was a fantastic vacation and I had so much fun seeing my family and friends that I have been homesick and depressed all week. But today we had drinks and crazy Polynesian food with Leanne and John at a spot overlooking the Bay and I am back to enjoying being a California girl.

bipolar meter: 1

July 25, 1985 - August 8, 2005

bipolar meter: 3.333

The kitty and I are very sad. We are spending our last night together. After more than twenty years, I have to say goodbye.

bipolar meter: 4

bipolar meter: 8.88820

Happy 20th Birthday to my kitty! It is hard to believe that we have been together for so long. I can't really imagine not having him around. Maybe he will live for another twenty.

bipolar meter: 8.002

bipolar meter: 7.7676

bipolar meter: 7.9980

Tahoe has restored my equilibrium. That, plus inhaling many, many M&Ms at work today.

bipolar meter: 6.799

Life is nuts. A one-night trip to DC last weekend, a huge work project with an impossible deadline, more weekday and weekend plans than I can manage, more friends getting engaged, a cat with issues turning 20 in a few weeks, and wedding planning that's going nowhere looming in the background (because when can I possible take the time to pick out paper for save-the-dates?). I need a mini vacation from my life.

And yet, we are having many fun summer adventures (including an amazing boat trip under the Golden Gate Bridge--as terrifying and exhilarating as a rollercoaster) and I'm looking forward to my August vacation back east. It's hard to believe that Holly and Nate will be getting married so soon! And even harder to believe that I have now lived in California for almost a year...

bipolar meter: 8

bipolar meter: 8.332

I've shaken off the homesick blues. Yay! Last weekend, we had fun in the park celebrating John's 30th birthday. We played lots of sports, put on animal masks, and drank beevos (ha--I haven't said that in years).

Last night I spent three hours in the kitty ER. The little moo was dragging his back legs and they were worried that he might have thrown a blood clot. My poor baby--no blood clot, but he is severely anemic, potassium deficient, and has heart problems. I wish kitties didn't have to get old. But I am giving him new drugs that should help.

bipolar meter: 6

Anyway, NYC was a whirlwind of fun. It was so wonderful to celebrate with Holly and see the happy ending that I've wanted for her since we were mere assistants at NW.

My engagement party at Loreley was really amazing. I had friends from all different parts of my life (high school, college, jobs, grad school, two ex-boyfriends) plus all of Jesse's friends, and it was almost overwhelming to see them all together. I only wish there had been more time to talk to everyone. It was a little like a dress rehearsal for the wedding!

bipolar meter: 8.9

My trip to NYC last weekend was stupendous. Truly fun, and touching, and exciting, and a little bit scary (I'm not old enough to be a WIFE). I was so happy to see my friends after a long absence that I burst into tears on the way to the airport. Ah, East Coast, how I miss you sometimes.

bipolar meter: 8.2229

Yesterday we released 1,000 ladybugs into the wild. We are hoping they will eat the aphids on our lemon tree. I really wanted to take pictures of the red-and-black frenzy but we had to do it at night so they wouldn't fly away immediately.

I'm so excited for my trip to NYC this weekend! I haven't been back since November and there will be much frivolity celebrating our engagement and Holly's upcoming nuptials.

bipolar meter: 6.79

bipolar meter: 7.864

bipolar meter: 9

One year from today I will be getting married! It is kind of hard to believe but very exciting. Tonight I head to LA to meet Jesse (who has been wandering the deserts of Death Valley and Joshua Tree while I work) and we will celebrate So-Cal style, whatever that means.

Happy three-day weekend!

bipolar meter: 7.99

bipolar meter: 7.709

My visit to O-H-I-O was quite delightful. We went to the very cool National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, watched Jesse's sister head off to her first prom (it is so cute to me that girls still wear those 1950s-esque wrist corsages), and were feted as the married-couple-to-be at an engagement party that featured two cakes, May wine, and possibly the best cookies that I have ever tasted.

Plus, I got to show off my ring for the first time to Jesse's family. Umm, am I not supposed to say that as a modern woman of the 21st century?

bipolar meter: 7.2

bipolar meter: 8

Well kids, the wedding planning is underway. Yes, it is far in advance but things book fast, and this way I get all of my first choices. Yay. One of the strangest things I've read about wedding planning is that you are first supposed to pick your bridesmaids' dresses, then figure out your "colors" (having colors is a big thing) from there. This seems so backwards to me. I know what colors I like and what flowers I like and those things are a lot more important than the bridesmaids' dresses. For example, if I want a red wedding, I would just go find red bridesmaids' dresses. Not find a dress and be like, of course, I have always wanted a wedding with lemon yellow tableclothes and yellow flowers. It is scary how you start to get sucked into weirdness about matching everything.

The kitty took his semi-regular litterbox avoidance to a new level while we were on the Cape last weekend. When we got home I thought thirty cats had camped out in the apartment, but it was just him. Ah, the joys of having an ancient kitty. He is much better behaved when I am around.

bipolar meter: 7

bipolar meter: 6

Umm, so last week someone tripped me on the BART escalator simply because I asked him to move to the right so I could walk down (lazy bastard) and I hurtled down the escalator head-first only saving my face from destruction by grabbing some random guy. Instead, I landed on my knee and it is now bruised and marked by gridlines. Accident? I don't think so.

My Shuffle also started acting crazy last week. It would insist on playing the same three songs over and over and then it started chirping and turning itself off. I brought it to the Apple store expecting them to tell me to reinstall some software but instead the guy was like, oooooh, that's no good, let me get you a new one. So now I have a shiny new Shuffle. Hopefully, this one will last longer than two months. But I was impressed with the Apple people because they gave me a new Shuffle with absolutely no hassle.

And, finally, I'm bored at work right now. I've been stuck at my desk for too long. So I'm hoping for better things going forward. Like a nice weekend of sun.

bipolar meter: 7.634

bipolar meter: 7.74

You know, I just don't have much to share on this weblog anymore. Being happy = boring entries.

After the initial wedding planning frenzy, things have settled down quite a bit. I've been good and haven't gone dress shopping yet; I want to leave something fun to do this summer or fall. (I have been shopping for dresses to wear to other people's weddings, but I haven't found anything yet.) We are heading back to the Cape in May to look at photographers, florists, and DJs--it feels crazy to get it all done so early but the competition is fierce!

Other random things...

I finally acquired Fiona Apple's unreleased album which makes me happy since I can't find good music lately and she is one of my favorites...

Discovered two amazing books: Cloud Atlas and The Kite Runner. The latter is painful and difficult to read at times but it is an absolutely astonishing novel. I read about two books every week and it is definitely one of the best I've read in the last year...

I've been on a mission in the past few weeks to acquire some new items for my wardrobe: shoes (for work/going out), a new pair of jeans, and a new spring coat (I'm still wearing the one I purchased when I worked at New Woman about 10,000 years ago). My mom sent me a check for my birthday and she said that I should use it to buy shoes since I own almost no cute shoes, but I really, really despise shopping for shoes. I can't wear most heels because of my big-toe arthritis so that takes some of the fun out. The jeans thing is even more ridiculous. I decided that I would spend the money for a pair of designer jeans (within reason) but I can't find a single pair that I like. First of all, I do not want stretchy jeans and it is very hard to find jeans now that aren't stretchy. Secondly, I have no ass. I need to find out where I can find a pair of non-stretchy jeans that aren't too low cut and fit no-ass people well. All I do is go to stores and try on clothes and never buy anything, or I buy something and return it. I need help. What kind of girl am I? I wish I had a personal shopper.

bipolar meter: 8.02

bipolar meter: 8

bipolar meter: 7

I got some great presents including two of my favorite movies (When Harry Met Sally and American in Paris), two gardening books (since I have no idea how to garden in this crazy Bay Area climate), a charger for my Shuffle, a raspberry-colored spring coat, noise-cancelling headphones, and a check from my mommy to buy fun shoes. Yay! If only I liked shopping for shoes...

bipolar meter: 6.7

My trip home-ish was great. I met Caty and Rich's adorable baby girl, found a place to have the wedding, met up with Carrie for burgers and fries, and had a fun Easter with all of my babies. I am so excited about the wedding venue! It is a relief to have that set since places on the Cape book ridiculously early (for example, the place where we are having the wedding has already booked every Saturday for June 2006).

Apparently, to achieve wedding nirvana, a reception must now include a chocolate fountain. To fully appreciate, I recommend watching the fountain video (click on the black button).

bipolar meter: 7.612

bipolar meter: 7.998

Not much new to report here. The kitty took a trip to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. This is good news because the vet was worried that his kidneys were failing. Instead, we are going to try him on arthritis medicine to see if that helps the litter box situation (it may be painful for him to step in and out of the box--I also bought him a new litter box with lower sides). I'm glad my little one is okay.

I'm heading to New England on Friday but I can't believe it is still snowing there! It is normal to get a freak storm in the early spring but it isn't usually snowing non-stop from December to April. It will be hard to visualize a summer wedding when we visit venues on Saturday if they are buried under 12 inches of snow. But I am excited to meet Caty and Rich's baby girl for the first time and see my family, especially my babies. I just hope Jesse isn't overwhelmed by the large family Easter insanity...

bipolar meter: 6.523

Sick.

Bad work week.

Crazy cat who now pees anywhere in the bathroom almost daily. I know he is extremely old and all, but I am extremely tired of constantly cleaning up his pee. If only they had kitty Depends. (I put him in his litter box for this picture.)

bipolar meter: 9.5

Soooo, I chopped most of my hair off. I had been planning to cut my hair short for awhile, but as soon as the hairdresser had cut one 4-inch section off, she said "you know, most brides-to-be won't let me touch their hair, I'm surprised you are cutting yours so short." My stomach dropped and then after I saw the haircut, I went into a panic thinking I had failed the first bride test (plus, I didn't like the cut). But Jesse said he loved it and convinced me that it would be fine because I have over a year to grow it out. I guess he is learning his role as a groom-to-be: calm down your insane fiancee when she is freaking out about nothing. And once I "styled" my hair myself (a.k.a., do almost nothing to it), I loved the cut too. It is so much easier to deal with short hair.

bipolar meter: 9.9

My temporary photo solution is to delete some cat photos (sorry kitty!) and live with broken links for awhile.

Back to the engagement story.

We decided to go hiking last weekend and I mentioned going to Point Reyes National Seashore, since I had never been there. Jesse was psyched because this is where he had planned to ask me all along (he must have used some Jedi mind tricks). He picked out a hike to Alamere Falls where there is a big waterfall going down over the cliffs to the beach. He didn't tell me where we were going so it was a nice surprise to see the waterfall when we got there.

We climbed down to the beach and Jesse asked me to climb up on some rocks along the cliffs so he could take my picture. The rocks kept sliding down on me (it was very crumbly shale or something) and I thought I was going to be killed in a rockslide so I was like, forget it, I'm not doing this. Jesse was like, no no, it's fine, try again, but I finally gave up, and when I turned around, I saw him writing in huge letters in the sand: "Will" and I kind of got the picture and climbed up on a little rock and watched him spell out the rest. After I said yes, Jesse broke out a half-bottle of champagne he had hidden in the backpack and we drank on the beach.

The proposal was absolutely perfect (love the beach so much) but there was more! Jesse told me he was taking me to wine country in Sonoma for the rest of the weekend. We stayed in a cute little inn and on Sunday we went wine tasting. It was barrel tasting weekend so there were lots of fun festivities.

I couldn't believe Jesse had managed to pull off such a big surprise (he had packed my stuff in a bag, secretly left food for the cat, etc.). Definitely the best weekend ever. Being engaged is great.

bipolar meter: 10

I am having serious issues with my photo hosting (basically, I ran out of room) so I have to figure out another solution. So no pictures yet...

bipolar meter: 10!

My boy Jesse asked me to marry him yesterday. Of course I said yes! I am insanely happy. There are many pictures and stories to share, but after a full weekend of hiking, wine tasting, and several hundred phone calls, I am going to call it a night. More to come...

bipolar meter: 7

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day.

bipolar meter: 6.5

Insane story about "sperm theft". The best quote: "She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift--an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee," the decision said. "There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request."

bipolar meter: 7.001

The DR was great. A beautiful beach, great friends, and boozy, sunny afternoons...

bipolar meter: 6.2 (post-vacation depression)

Home after 18+ hours of travel.

bipolar meter: 5 (because of a brutal hangover)

We celebrated Jesse's birthday with much frivolity. Jesse was very excited about his Spiderman pinata and managed to crack it open in only three swings. Unfortunately, someone introduced the game of spoons in the after-midnight hours and I was bad at it and had to drink many rum shots. Needless to say, that was a very poor idea. I have been paying the price all day.

But, tomorrow I head out on my marathon journey to the Dominican Republic with Leanne to celebrate Holly's 30th! Yay, beach!

bipolar meter: 8.2

Happy 30th Birthday to my boy Jesse! You know it is true love when you wake up at 6:45am to make your boyfriend muffins for his birthday.

Birthdays are in the air, and it is just a few days until I head to the DR for Holly's 30th. My possibly inappropriate blue terrycloth Target skirt is packed and ready to go.

bipolar meter: 7.113

bipolar meter: 7

bipolar meter: 7.223

bipolar meter: 6.987

bipolar meter: 6.001

So it isn't freezing and snowing here, but it is raining. And rain is depressing and not pretty like snow. So here are some Mexico pictures to boost our spirits.

And one picture not from Mexico...

bipolar meter: 5.89

bipolar meter: 6.857

bipolar meter: 7.6

I love my new neighborhoodie. Thanks Jesse's mom!

bipolar meter: 7

bipolar meter: 6.22

bipolar meter: 7.416

Iggy now has his own site.

bipolar meter: 7.65

bipolar meter: 8.01

bipolar meter: 7.7

Then we took my new bike out for its first ride. It was so much fun! I looooooooooooooove my new bike.

bipolar meter: 7.038

bipolar meter: 7.44

bipolar meter: 6.88

bipolar meter: 6

bipolar meter: 7.34

Yay! Jesse's home. Last night we had a feast and did lemon drop shots (which I haven't done in awhile). Today was very yummy pizza and beer with Leanne and John. See, Berkeley can be cool even though it is on the wrong side of the bay.

I am very happy to have my roommate home. And so is the kitty.

bipolar meter: 6.77

bipolar meter: 5.97

bipolar meter: 5.88

Jesse is still in Mexico with the digital camera but I got some photos from New Year's (which we took with a disposable camera). It was one of the best New Year's I have ever had! We drank tequila and Sol and danced to a salsa band for almost the entire night. We had camped on the beach the night before so I woke up the morning of the 31st and jumped into the Pacific. It was pretty incredible. I really love Mexico.

bipolar meter: 6.875

bipolar meter: 7.23