Friendship Phases

I am at a strange place. There are certain aspects of my life right now that are so incredible. And then there are others that are unfulfilled. Friendships are in transition. I've spoken to a lot of people recently who feel like there's "something in the air" with life.

I've always been a "keep in touch"-er. But at the ripe old age of 28 I'm just getting a little sick of making all the effort. It stinks to see people fall by the wayside. And I want to fight for them to be a part of my life...but you just can't make someone do that. I end up at the end of the day feeling very frustrated and unbalanced.

There are friends from college that I tried to keep in touch with...periodic phone calls (typically voicemails left and unreturned). Now that we're closing in on 6 years out of college I think I'm just a little worn out. Le sigh.

But when do you call it quits? Do you have friendship "break-up" talks? I don't know the formula.

Bottom line, I am very lucky to have some amazing friends in my life. And I think I have more than the average bear that I can count on...there's just a couple voids right now that I'm feeling pretty deeply. Hopefully hurt can be healed and something can be learned through this. But right now...I'm just sad.

Fall or something like it

The weather has been really weird here. Last week it rained in the midst of some super hot days and one semi-chilly day. Today it was 92 degrees...um, it is October. I'm in a tank top...what is wrong with this picture? Sometimes I miss "fall"...but it's fleeting.

This weekend my friend Darren had his bday party and we drove down to Orange County to hang with everyone. Per usual we had a great time. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Darren and his wife Chelsie...love them. Coolest parents I know.

Me and the birthday boy, Cowboy Darren

Steve and I accidentally had coordinating ensembles...so goes a couple of "prom" photos.

One pose isn't enough...obviously.

There's the winner. <3

A weekend of Louis

The boys love each other. :) It is slightly adorable.

Look what I can do! For chicken sausage!!
I sit so very nicely when there is yummy-smelling human food close by and friendly people who feel sorry for me after being at the vet.

This picture is for my dad....my boy and I walked around the Grove/Farmer's Market for awhile Sunday afternoon and were looking through the cheap Hollywood touristy gifts. One was a bunch of personalized license plates. They had Brendan and Cameron and names that aren't that common, but no Molly. The next turnstile had dog ones for you to buy that said "My Best Friend" and then a dog name. I turned it around and said, "What, no Molly here either??!" But then I realized...Molly was the only name that was sold out. Ha. My name sure is popular with the canines.

Louis the pug has been itchy, poor guy. So Saturday meant a vet appointment for Mr. Pugmire. He was very brave but his tail went straight in spite of us reassuring him throughout the appointment. That's a typical pug trait..straight tail instead of a curl when tired or sad or nervous.

Afterwards we went to Hugo's and Louis was thrilled with his bites of sausage. He was a good boy.

Tattoo too (I mean two)

Katie channeling her inner-actress to capture a photo of "pain" before she began getting her tattoo. P.S. this was her 6th tattoo so she couldn't have been less nervous.

Our parents gave us animal nicknames when we were young. We both liked the idea of remembering our parents in this way. KT was "turtle" because she can be slow and stubborn when she wants to be (she should still be called this by the way... ;)).

Getting my first tattoo I was pretty nervous. I didn't know what to expect pain-wise. This one hurt more (must be because of the placement of the needle on my foot and the fact that the skin is so thin there). When people see my wrist tattoo they usually say "ohh, did that hurt?" and I'm not lying when I say it really didn't. The Rat tat healed much quicker though.


The finished product...I'm Molly Rat or Ratty or just Rat. Why? Because I'm a mess. I think this might've originated from Templeton on Charlotte's Web maybe since he was into everything and liked food and made a mess. :) I love it.

The love of music...permanently

When you love something or someone it's almost hard to explain to anyone else exactly how it makes you feel. My sisters have both gotten tattoos over the years that mean something to them. Sarah has drawn every single one of hers (not that hard to believe considering her artistic talent) and Katie's are all well thought-out with symbolic or familial meaning. I had been tattoo tempted (if that's a phrase) for a couple of years but just couldn't pinpoint what I wanted. Anyone that knows me knows that most of my extracurricular activities center around music. I love going to shows, supporting local bands, finding new musicians, listening to music. So I started thinking about something that would encompass that. I was at a loss. I didn't want something generic like a music note. I also didn't want something that made it seem like I myself was a musician (although I played a mean clarinet back in my day and I will love to sing harmony until the day I day...and probably beyond) like a microphone or a guitar or something. So I hit a brick wall as far as designs go.

I started contemplating getting a mixed tape...hmmm, kinda boyish. I thought about an old-school record...then I heard that tended to end up looking like a steering wheel because it is hard to get the variation of the grooves to come out in black ink. Thought about an amp. Then there was a design of headphones that I liked but it was still sort of plain. One day while at work, my friend sent me a design she found...YES, this is it!! I loved it. It had the headphones, it had love, it had heart, it had the beat, and it had the idea that all of those combined make me who I am, a music lover.


The song "Beautiful Beat" by Nada Surf reminds me of my tattoo when I hear it...when they played this last Saturday he said, "This is a song...about songs." :)

***********************************************************************************
If I could get anything done
Maybe I'd hold still
I'm trying to levitate I'm
Trying to leave the ground
Tryin' to remember when I could
Fix anything with sound

I believe our love can save me
Have to believe that it can
I want to redirect myself with you
Do you understand?

Beautiful beat, get me out of this mess
Beautiful beat, lift me up from distress
*********************************************************************************
Sometimes I really do feel like a song can make everything better. And I love lyrics. Which is why I will never regret this tattoo. Music makes my heart beat....

Another weekend of music

Friday's enjoyment was Rob Dickinson at hotel cafe...he is amazing.



Saturday was Nada Surf at the troubadour. Luckily two of my guy friends are equally in love with this band and Cooper joined because it made me happy. Good times! Good band!

Arthur the great

I love this animal. It will continue to crack me up that people in my neighborhood are scared of my dog...he is the biggest softie you can imagine. We went to the vet for his yearly check-up and he now weighs 70.3 lbs. But don't tell him that...he thinks he's small. At the vet he was sitting on my foot. :) Arthur arthur, love of mine.