Loganing

Time for an update! Feeling a bit glum today, so disregard if my descriptions sound a bit damp. It's been a busy summer! Now that it's September and my summer staff are gone and summer camps are over and we are moving into school-year type duties at work, I can officially say that this summer tested me a bit past what I was probably prepared for. I coordinated and prepped all of our summer camps and on-site programs (tours and stuff), managed two full-time summer staff and two full-time interns, trained and managed 15 or so education volunteers, along with helping with whatever the crisis of the day was. Many weeks were 45-50 hour weeks, and I felt a bit like I was just holding on for dear life and trying not to screw up too much. Which I didn't! Yay! I learned a lot, and have changes I'd like to make for next summer. But I'm incredibly grateful that summer is over. Andrew had summer school and took Physiology and its lab, and rocked it! It's neat to see how the classes he is taking really build upon one another. It's getting harder and harder to win debates with Andrew. This is becoming a problem. July 31st was our two year anniversary! Crazy! I made a scavenger hunt for Andrew (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49088378@N08/sets/72157630843057344/with/7686490580/) and we had a great dinner at Faustina's, a restaurant downtown that we hadn't been to before. A friend gave us a gift certificate to the restaurant a while ago, so we decided to give it a go. I had something called a 'braided salmon crown', which was in fact a long flank of salmon cut into three lengths, the lengths were braided and arranged into a circle and then the crown was poached in white wine. Incredible! Andrew had some lamb that was to die for. Dessert was creme brulee (awesome) and the most heavenly blueberry souffle. The end of my last super busy summer week came with a trip to Palo Alto for the wedding of a friend (the one I made the Bridal Shower for One video for). The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and it was a great celebration. I got lost in downtown San Fran Thursday night while trying to navigate to a bridesmaid dinner in the city, while Andrew took our stuff to our hotel in Palo Alto, because we had just landed in CA. Cell phone technology is amazing, but only works if the phone has battery, and I found myself with a dead phone shortly after getting off at a wrong bus stop and was nowhere near the restaurant. Found a bar, got a beer, sipped it to chill out (read: avoid full tilt panic) while the bartender charged my phone and chatted with me. Called Andrew when my phone had enough juice, flagged a taxi and got to the restaurant! Wedding stuff was Fri and Sat, I sang in the wedding (TERRIFYING!) and we got back to the hotel late, full of great food and happy/exhausted. Slept like stones, woke up the next morning and returned the rental car to the airport. Then went into San Fran! I have photos, but I'm still not done compiling them yet. Right now they are strewn between my little lap top, Andrew's cell phone, my cell phone and Andrew's computer. We got into San Francisco early afternoon, checked into an INCREDIBLE hotel that had a strong literature theme throughout (Hotel Rex, so cool, thank you Sue and Will!) and then got out into the city. We walked over to Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, got lunch along the way, then walked around the city a bit more until we went to go see Beach Blanket Babylon (holy crap, there is nothing one can do to entirely prepare for that experience, it was hilarious and wonderful and flooring and bizarre). We then went to the pier, got some clam chowder, went to the Museum Mechanique, got some hot chocolate and walked back to the hotel. Unconscious in minutes! Next morning, got breakfast at a 50's themed diner with a hilariously grumpy hostess, which we went to when we came with Loni in college, and then went to the MOMA. Explored the entire thing, seriously enjoyed the Cindy Sherman exhibit. Found a little cafe for sandwiches on our way back to the hotel, and then hitched the BART to the airport. That's the short version, missing the cute little anecdotes, but it was a great trip. Much needed. I'm still feeling a bit starved for travel, Utah feels a bit stifling at the moment. Saturday was International Vulture Awareness Day at the Aviary--it went really well, lots of vulture celebrations. Yesterday Andrew and I went to do trivia at a pub with a few friends, and ended up getting 4th place. I expect we will only continue to improve as we go more. Ok, that's totally hodgepodge, SO poorly organized, but a huge mess of updates. Pictures will one day follow.