Laguna

Reunion with the Ah's! All of us:

















Melinda, Hannah, Corina






















A very different beach than the one I was walking on Wednesday:

Driving North

Through the Grapevine: snow in the shadows on the hills.

Roommate reunion

Yoori was my roommate in Whittier for several years before I moved to the Bay area. We got together to catch up over Thai food last night, only to find that our favorite Thai place is closed on Tuesdays. Bummer.


We had fun with PhotoBooth, though.

Reunion

Coffee in Costa Mesa with friends from South Africa. (Not quite as cool as eating Chinese food in Swaziland on the way to Mozambique from South Africa. But we never did get to do that.)

Let me get your cell phone number...


Melanie, me, Melanie, Katie

Reading

I've been experiencing that small anxiety that other avid readers may relate to--the fear of running out of reading material. The bulk of my library is in boxes in my parents' garage. I brought a (very) small handful of books back with me from South Africa, specifically these two, which I am currently reading.



The rest of my books from South Africa are somewhere between here and there, and will ostensibly arrive in mid-December. If the South African and United States postal services do what they are supposed to do, anyway. In the meantime...I need books. Well, today I managed to forage in the garage for the box of books I'd thought I might take to South Africa but didn't. I knew those were more easily accessible. And now my reader's mind is more at ease, with this modest pile to choose from:

Wedding

This is why I left South Africa a few days early...

Choir friends reunited for Hannah's wedding: Sarah, Melinda, Hannah, Corina, me. I like how we all have red-eye and our outfits are color-coordinated.


All of us minus the bride:


We didn't settle the question of whether it'll be Melinda or me who gets married next--we're the only ones left. But then, I left before the bouquet toss, so maybe I successfully handed that (duty, joy, privilege, responsibility) off to Mel.

Sunday

"Barbara and the Boys", SoCal edition. Or, "Barbara with the Wylde Men."

One last beach trip

Huntington Library & Gardens

It's amazing we don't get kicked out of places like this.

Baby Dell goes to Olive Garden

Baby Dell decides he doesn't like Olive Garden.

Relic of the past

I came across this in my parents' desk while looking for a mailing envelope. Proof that my family is incapable of throwing anything away. I am amazed that this made its way BACK across the Atlantic more than 10 years ago (my fault), and is still hanging out in my parents' desk.

On my dresser

Have you ever received a pop-up Christmas card? I didn't think so.

Reunion

This was taken at my going away party. I was in orchestra at Biola with these girls, many years ago. (Yay for back stand second violins...and a violist!) It's been years since I've seen them--it was awesome to reunite and catch up.

Haircut

Another PhotoBooth venture. Maybe when I get to South Africa my daily photos will be more interesting.


The woman who cut my hair asked me if I had colored it. I was expecting a lecture on how one shouldn't color one's own hair, but instead she said: "You did a good job!" Nice. Especially when it was one of those 8-10 washes things, a good 2 months ago!

Packing

1/2/07

Heather, Barbara, Heather (or, Fun with PhotoBooth)

1/1/07

Clock Tower, Santa Monica