a most agreeable morning

We just had the most delightful morning, jaunting about the neighborhood. We made our way by residential streets to The Coffee Pot, a local coffee stop on Sunset (new to us). The sun was out, the air was clear, and shaded areas were pleasant enough for a light sweater. Meandering through the hills of Echo Park, we found these friends:

After stopping at The Coffee Pot for a Strawberry smoothie and some good conversation, we made our way down to the lake for a nice walk amongst the local wildlife.

To finish the trek, we stopped at Chango for my favorite breakfast burrito in town. Jeremy found the LA times and I found a flier about someone who teaches piano lessons in the neighborhood.

The walk back was as pleasant as it all began. What a lovely thing it is to live in Los Angeles.

In other news, Jeremy is now the owner of a 1971 Honda CB 350. It’s red and black. Well, see for yourself:

We love it. I mean how could you not? We’re dying to tool around town on it together, but Jeremy is still in his permit stage of motorcycle licensure (which means no riding with a passenger) and I still need a helmet. For now, it’s a great way to get Jeremy to run a quick errand.

fall’s coming… i better catch you up on our lives

I’m excited for fall. Ready for the cool weather. And it’s sort of been making its way here. The ants are finally beginning to disappear, the evenings are bringing cool breezes into our apartment again, and we have actually had some cloud cover recently. I’ve been drinking more coffee and even getting to wear my fleece sometimes. And it’s September. So it’s actually almost officially fall. I thought there were a few things I should catch you up on.

For one: Jeremy and I are officially small group leaders!

Actually, technically he is the leader, but I am equally excited about it! We had our first night a couple weeks ago, and we have such a great group of people. Some we’ve known for a while now (from the last season of the EP Small Group) and some we’re meeting for the first time. I feel so blessed that God brings so many wonderful people into our home each week.

On a completely different note, we sold the Mazda! This is me kissing it goodbye:

Unfortunately, I will be kissing it “hello again” this afternoon. The day after we sold it, the people who bought it called us and told us it was smoking when they got it home. Apparently they took it to a Pep Boys who told them it would cost $2000 to fix. That estimate turned out to be a bit of an exaggeration, but we’re taking it back anyways. Boo. We’ll take it to our own mechanic, get a list of what it actually needs done, and get back to re-selling. That was quite a downer for us. I loved the Maz, and it was a little sad to see it go, but we were kind of hoping that would be the end of it.

Fortunately, that very same day, I found a BIKE! Jeremy and I drove all the way to Simi Valley for this little number:

I love it. I couldn’t be happier. It rides smooth and the frame is just my size. Our bike guru friend Austin says it’s a great find. All it needs is a new set of tires. Jeremy and I are going to Santa Monica today to spruce up our bikes so we can finally ride together again! I’m super pumped.

Aside from all that, my work is in full swing and Jeremy is just finishing his second week of school with his new batch of Cochran kids. His days and weeks are still incredibly exhausting, and he’s already had those days where nothing seems to gel quite right at school, but he’s keeping it together like a champ. I think it’s helpful for him to compare the year with his last school year. It feels 100 times better, easier and less scary. But it’s also a bit more discouraging to be running into the same problems he’s been seeing now for more than a year. He knows how to balance his life a little better now, and I’m sure he’ll reach TFA’s goals with his classrooms again this year, but it’s still Gorilla warfare.

Well, folks. That’s about it for now. I’d like to remind everyone from far away that we love it when you come visit us, and there’s always plenty of space on our livingroom couch for you. Much luv to you, fams and friends.

Lepidoptery and Lovely Fridays

Good news. You’re about to read an especially upbeat blog post. Quite a contrast from the last I think you’ll find, thankfully. Why? I suppose it’s because I’m in an especially pleasant mood. Oh–but before we go any further, I should tell you upfront that, while this is a good-mood post, it is not a premeditated post… and you know how that can be.

Well. It’s Friday. 4:53pm on Friday, to be exact, and my husband and I are in a cool and inviting Barnes and Noble. There’s a grande iced Carmel Macchiato (only 1 shot of espresso, if you please) in my belly and the Manual of Perioperative Care in Adult Cardiac Surgery in my lap. Since seeking out mainstream air-conditioned places to congregate requires a trip to Glendale, we of course had to stop in our favorite store to exchange some knobs for these:

and to pick up this month’s incentive/reward for meeting my quantitative goal:

I was supposed to work night shift this evening as well as tomorrow night but one of my preceptors called in sick so instead I’m working the day shift on Saturday like a normal human being.

All this lead to a lovely Friday at Barnes and Noble with Jeremy. Jeremy, by the way, has been looking through books here related to his new hobby (“life calling” is maybe a more appropriate term). He’s becoming a lepidopterist. I plan to become one as well, although he is blazing the trail first for the rest of the family. You’re probably wondering what the hey a lepidopterist is. These are the people that study, find, catch, and travel far and wide in search of rare (and common, of course) species of butterflies. Jeremy’s goal is to eventually have an office filled with cases of butterflies from all over the world. (You can apparently buy these pre-made, but what’s the fun in having them if you haven’t made them yourself, right?)

The only other recent news is that we sold the Schwinn so I’m officially on the hunt for an Erin-sized road bike. For those of you wondering, Monica Flannery is getting along just fine here. Her legs even appear to be getting better (no progress on the druling problem, unfortunately).

ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner

Well, people. I’m glad to announce that we have found a new friend to replace the Centurion. Feast your eyes on the fuj:

Apparently–technically–this Fuji is actually better than the Centurion. And I have to say… that Centurion-shaped hole I told you about has been pretty well filled with this here bike. There’s just something about that no-nonsense brown frame that says, “What? I’m just a bomb vintage bike. I’m so awesome I don’t need flashy paint to make it look like I am.” I just can’t get enough of this bike. I mean, here, check it out from another angle:

How can you help but have respect for that thing? Heck, I wish it was mine.

On another replacing-stolen-things related note: Wednesday I got a new wallet because my old one got stolen at work. I also got a new bank account, drivers license, RN license, credit card, and a host of other things that aren’t nearly as fun and that I’m not going to show you a picture of. Here’s the wallet:

Not bad, right? So life goes on. Just thought I’d update you on our new finds. Next on the list is operation sell Erin’s Schwinn for a women’s roadbike.

trendy

The other day I was riding in my car when I was suddenly hit by the striking realization that my sunglasses have officially gone out of style. No really, they’re terribly out of style. I’m not the kind of person who cares (or notices much, for that matter) when something of mine is not the trendiest thing out there. But these sunglasses are painstakingly obviously out. of. style.

So. I decided to take matters into my own hands and purchase myself some aviators. (I don’t know if aviators classify as ‘in style,’ but I don’t think they technically ever go out of style… and I’ve wanted to look that cool for some time now.) After a wonderful weekend with some friends, I came home determined to find the exact gold-rimmed Banana Republic aviators one of my friends had purchased. (I tried them on. They made me look awesome.) Imagine me in these babies:

Now imagine me in those babies with no money in my pockets. Because that’s what I was going to look like had I bought these off amazon for a whopping $80. I have a moral objection to spending above $12 on a pair of sunglasses for me for this reason: I’ve been known to step on, sit on, and/or misplace every pair of sunglasses that have ever lived as mine (with the exception of the really out-of-style ones that are still sitting in my car).

So. Struck down, but not destroyed, I came up with the clever idea of searching “aviators” on amazon, instead of “gold-rimmed Banana Republic aviators.” And I came across these babies:

And when I say these babies, this time I mean these as in this-order-comes-with-three-pairs-for-the-price-of-one at only $2.06 + shipping. shaBAM! (Yeah, so they look a little bit more like they belong to an old school dirty cop. What of it?) Will I always be longing for those ridiculously-pricey-but-make-me-look-awesome aviators from Banana Republic, or did I come out ahead? You decide.