Chemistry 101: for a good time

2am bedtime + 5am alarm + 8 hour workday + the standard “not in the mood to work because it’s Friday” sentiment = bad.

However, if it's necessary to see her...

...well, count me in. Because fun company (them, them, and them and Ashlyn) + great music + amazing performers + fabulous venue = good. Very, very good. And last night was very good. Even if today is bad.

Other highlights of the show included the following:

• A general “bitchiness” among the crowd.
• A certain girl in front of me who was determined to fight someone.
• The guy who didn’t appreciate a Certain Girl blocking his girlfriend’s exit and decided to slap said Certain Girl
• Ashlyn “letting her hair down” and later vowing to be meaner
• The token Frat Boys and Dirty Girls who somehow always show up at these sorts of shows, even though they seem horribly out of place and uncomfortable/awkward the whole night. (Well, I should clarify that the Frat Boys seem awkward. The Dirty Girls consistently get super drunk and manage to dance, flaunt their oversized boobs, and tease their peroxide loaded hair simultaneously before puking against a wall or all over themselves before the set ends. Classy.)
• Man cleavage. Lot’s of man cleavage. Thanks LA hipster boys for being so consistently uniform in your American Apparel deep v-neck tees. It wouldn’t be the same without you.
• The girl to my right that wedged her way into the middle of “our group” and then proceeded to sweat profusely all over my arm while standing completely still. (Seriously, how does one not dance even a little?! It’s The Sounds for goodness’ sake!)
• My cute husband dancing, jumping, and singing (yelling?) along
• the revamped Palladium
• Kenny being refused admittance to a 7-11 restroom after being thoroughly looked up and down by the night manager (for real)
• driving directly across the street to a Chevron so my husband could relieve his bladder
• The Sounds pretty much killing it. Awesome.

Adam, Erin, Ashlyn, Elise, Skyler, Jill, Kenny (not pictured: Jeff and Nicole)

One year older

Today, this girl (pictured here with her man - post the annual Muddy Buddy race) turns 27. Go here and leave her some birthday-lovin'. (I don't care if you know her, just do it. 'Cause everyone deserves some love on their birthday.)
Happy Birthday, Elise!

On Settling.

This weekend (in mid November) it was 95 degrees in my town, and windy. Less than 10 miles from my home huge wildfires raged rampant and consumed hundreds of homes. Where were we?

Here.
Well, specifically here:

In Mammoth Lakes, CA enjoying the first turns of the season and some cooler weather. (If I hadn't received hourly updates from evacuees all weekend and if we hadn't driven through some of the devastated areas on our way home, I might gloat...but that would probably be in poor taste.) Anyway, if Orange County/Southern California doesn't cool down and stop burning sometime soon, I'm guessing my first home purchase will be a condo/vacation home in Mammoth. Seriously, why do we live here?

Skyler & Elise

Kenny and Jill (critiquing desserts at The Mogul)

A grown-up kid

I'm fairly certain that adulthood doesn't come naturally to most. At least it didn't to me, although I think I fake it pretty well. (Just know that I'm constantly repressing some level of immaturity and/or selfishness.) In building a home, marriage, and career I often feel that I am simply "playing pretend" as I mimic things I've seen various adults/actors do. In fact, for the whole first year of my current job, I was on edge, feeling certain that at any moment my superiors would suddenly see through my act and go, "wait a minute, who is this Jill girl? I think we've hired a child for an analyst! Quick, do something before the stockholders find out!" (It didn't help that I was a good 15 years younger than the youngest colleague in my office...)

Then there are the moments when I realize that yes indeed I am an adult. For example, a blatant disregard of consequences is no longer a hallmark of my character. Threats of bodily harm suddenly loom present and real, thus keeping me in check when pursuing adventure (which is rather ironic since I NOW finally have health insurance - also very adult of me). A good night's sleep or an evening at home is now cherished as a treasured gift from On High. There was the time I discovered the perfection and beauty of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and eagerly sought out more and more things to clean - on a Friday night no less. (Yeah, I was definitely an adult then. Or maybe just someone desperately in need of a life.) It was very grown up of me when I avoided opening last quarter's 401k statement. (Yikes. Worrying about retirement is definitely adult.)

And then there was the time, just last week, when my father-in-law (the one who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease) mentioned his final wishes and living will to an audience of his wife, three oldest children, and their spouses. I don't know what I was in that moment. I felt adult contemplating the reality of losing a parent, but was still childish in my confusion, and (I'll admit) in my fear of death in general. I felt grown up as I wondered how exactly I was to be a dutiful/respectful/supportive daughter-in-law as well as a supportive wife to this man's son, who I love more than I can comprehend. My adult self put my own concerns on hold momentarily as I silently sent my love and concern to the other family members in the room. And I think it was the adult part of me that ached for my yet-to-be-conceived children who will probably never know their father's dad. However, despite all these grown-up emotions and thoughts, the child in me yearned to be held and soothed, preferably by my mom, who I called as soon as I was alone. I don't know which part of me will play the larger role as this all plays out - the child or the adult - nor do I know which I'd prefer.

I do know that Disneyland was the best place we could have spent last weekend - the place where the distinction between adult and child is blurred and is frankly unimportant as everyone - child and grown-up alike - is simply interested in a good time and in creating good memories. So, as much as the kid in me loved getting to go to the front of all the lines (thanks to my father-in-law now being confined to a wheel chair), the image I will probably remember and cherish most is that of my little nephew sitting on my father-in-law's lap while his grown son (my husband) pushed them all over the park while we girls/women just struggled to keep up with them. It was a good day - a good weekend. Whether child or adult, I can appreciate that.

Mood: reflective (a.k.a. not much to share today).

Remember the Yelle show? Here's some pictures (stolen from Nicole's blog). I wish we had video of us all dancing, but if you'll notice Jeff's sweatiness in the last photo, I think you'll get the idea.

Hudd & Amy

Me & Kenny (cheesing it up for the camera)

Jeff and Nicole It's nice to have fun in-laws. It's even nicer that I can still say that after spending all weekend with them. They're pretty rad.

Sabotage.

I think the women in my office have it out for me. Why else would they continue to leave HUGE bowls of candy every ten feet? And who decides that a random Wednesday in early November calls for ice cream sundaes and root beer floats - in the morning, no less? Don’t they remember the death of my Self Control last Memorial Day? I mourned over it for weeks and even eulogized it on this very blog. It was a sad time for me as I thought of goals that would forever remain just out of reach and the fun times I could have had admiring my toned self in the mirror. Unfortunately the copious amounts of leftover Halloween candy I've been consuming aren’t offering me much comfort. (sigh.)

I work with sadists.

Wow.

Looking for a fun way to burn a ton of calories? Just go see Yelle perform.  It's guaranteed that you'll dance the whole whole time...unless you're just lame, in which case I can't help you.  (And if you get to see them at a venue as good as the Henry Fonda, even better.)
Thanks Hudd, for always hooking it up.  We had fun.