The day has come: my Parlor Sparrow!

At the start of 2013, I, trapped miles and miles from any semblance of decent skiing (see Sugar Mountain), began dreaming of something that seemed incredibly silly and farfetched: designing and skiing on my own pair of skis. Now, as 2013 draws to a close, I have to keep pinching myself as I sit and stare at the pair of purple/yellow Sparrow Parlor skis sitting in my SF apartment.  

These birds, my friends, are mine in a very special way -- in a months-long process, I brought them to virtual life in Photoshop, and the Parlor guys brought them to real life in their Boston workshop. Pretty surreal. They're so beautiful, and in all honesty, I'm kind of scared to ski on them for fear of ruining them! I am, after all, a fairly reckless skier. Ack!

I can't really recall many other occasions that caused me to feel much prouder than I am right now. Being able to create something like this has been so different from anything else I've done (which, granted, isn't much, but still), and it's just been ridiculously rewarding! AHHHH! Thank you Mark, Pete, and Jay at Parlor for taking on Sparrow and Heron -- it's been a true pleasure. And I haven't forgotten about you, Mary! 

If I see anyone with either of these babies (or any of the other awesome Parlor skis available) on the slopes, rest assured that I will chase you down and proceed to, how shall I say this gracefully... lose my shit! In the best way possible, of course. :)

Xplosion

Step 1 is over, I'm a year older, I've moved into a new place, and I've finally started my fancy research position (which has quite quickly reminded me that I actually hate working)... whoa, it's an explosion of big events! To celebrate all this, I'm taking a step away from the pastel kick I've apparently been on: 

"Xplode"

P.S. After this, I'll also be done with my gratuitous and inexplicable use of the letter "x."

Back to basics

Wow, what an anticlimactic ending to a months-long ordeal, haha. Whenever I spend a long time preparing for something important, I always expect jolts of pure, unbearable happiness and triumph to rip through my body when I'm done with that thing. Yeah, that rarely happens. At the end of my exam, I just felt beaten up. So I went shopping. :D

Now I have no responsibilities... minus all of the paperwork and administrative hoops I have to jump through to finally kick off my research. Ha! Exciting and dreadful. 

What will my life in SF look like from this point on...? Time to get crackin'!

"Basix"

Zen

Step 1 is finally here, and I'm doing everything in my power to remain calm. I'm so scared to wake up tomorrow, but I'm also SO EXCITED to get it over with! Now, excuse me as I fake a zen state by bingeing 'Breaking Bad' until I can't keep my eyes open anymore. Ha! 

"Zen"

Crystal... meth

I've become re-addicted to 'Breaking Bad' -- now that I'm winding down on the study front, I finally have time to do fun stuff (ok fine, I'm lying, I've been streaming other shows and doing other things and on the whole getting dumber instead of smarter). But man, I can't believe that I forgot how pretty Walt's blue meth is!

"Heisenberg"

Off balance

Where's my sense of balance?! I can't wait to get my life together once this horrendous Step 1 is out of the way. There's a gigantic, sunny, beautiful, flashcard-and-question-bank-free world out there, waiting for my havoc! >:)

"Kilter"

Modern art

An afternoon amongst masterpieces yields my MAGNUM OPUS! Lol, really I just craved some Mondrian cake, which I will NEVER get to eat because the SFMOMA is closed for the next 3 years.

"Nredom"

To friends

I've been here for almost 2 weeks! Hard to believe. There's really a ton to do in the city, and I'm so happy to have such great people to explore it with. Here's to friends, old and new!

"Amité"

Shifting

So much has changed in so little time! Almost everything about SF is simultaneously refreshing and daunting, from the great food to the beautiful buildings to the steep-ass hills (my legs are seriously sore ALL THE TIME).

The public transit system, though, is an absolute nightmare -- the buses are constantly late and painfully slow, and the drivers seem to have the power to randomly boot everyone off the bus for no reason. All this crap, along with the uneasiness that comes with waiting at bus stops alone at night, is something I'll have to get used to... I don't have enough money to cab every where, and I absolutely REFUSE to attempt to bike around (there are large hills and trolley tracks and cars and crazy hobos wherever I look!!!). I'll probably remain lost and confused for quite a while, but I WILL get the hang of it.

The weather is also particularly challenging. It's been consistently gorgeous outside during the day, but the nights are insanely chilly, what with the wind and the fog and my thin blazers/cardigans... I don't know if I can bear to become someone who lugs a puffer around all day just to have it on hand at night. I might just have to get fat, which, given all the delicious food I intend to consume, probably won't be hard to do. 

Also... it's SEPTEMBER ALREADY! WHHHHHATTT. September in a new city... let's do it, baby!

"Shifting"

SF! SF! SF!

My SAN FRANCISCO adventure is right around the corner! Feeling giddy and empowered! Whooooooo!

"SFO"