my people depart.

Our place has felt a bit empty since our friends left. The apartment was at full capacity last week in the best way possible and I miss their pallets on the floor and the extra toothbrushes in the bathroom. It felt like summer camp being all together and, much like Sarah's time here, the week flew by. It meant a lot for them to make the trip out - it's expensive and a long way to come and I'm so thankful they did. Love you friends.

Here's the all-star lineup if you don't know these people very well:

       1. Lauren/LaViss: triathalon-doing, outside-enthusiast, med-school student, early riser, and runs as fast as boys (really). Grew up with brothers and knows a lot about Pokemon as a result. We met the very first week of college & email each other pictures of baby animals frequently. 

       2. Caroline/Liney/Miami: Spanish-speaking, travel-loving, witty-as-they-come, genetic night owl with an affinity for international food and humongous dogs. Also keeper of many hilarious stories as the most ridiculous things happen to her. Has a large crush on South African comedian Trevor Noah.

       3. Nick/Nicky D/Tron/DaBrat: awesome story teller, law-school bound, loud-laugher, and a surprisingly huge fan of "So You Think You Can Dance?". Falls asleep within the first 15 minutes of all movies, talks in his sleep, and is incredibly nice and positive. Nobody dislikes Nick.

       4. Me: I have never received a nickname and yes I'm bitter. 

Here are a few pictures of our time together: 

Outside of Musee Mecanique. Nick and Caroline messing up the photo op.

Finn scored us tickets to a Giants game. The stadium is beautiful!

Nick and Lauren enjoying the cable car ride. Nick befriended the brakeman and even asked where he lived. 

Lauren matching a mural in the Mission.

4th of July in Golden Gate Park.

Maybe my favorite excursion of their time here: we rented a car for the day & drove to Muir Woods, Marin Headlands, and up the coastal Highway 1. It was so beautiful and we had windows down & Paul Simon playing. I had fun driving on the winding roads & we pulled over several times for the views. 

"Do something interesting with the fence!"

I pulled over and these 3 all instinctively ran down the hill to the cliff's edge with no discussion. I love this shot.

Awesome shot by Nick. Lauren is in the corner.

Not pictured: breakfast for dinner & chocolate chip/peanut butter chip/banana pancakes, our evening at a real life speakeasy, playing with dogs in Dolores Park, a chipmunk eating out of Nick's hand, fireworks at Ghiradelli Square, the farmer's market, a traveling circus show, and me doing this after they all left.

. . .

a movie pick-me-up.

Today I felt a little down. Nothing too serious, just a culmination of small things that had me off my normal cheery state. Mostly I'm eager to work again and keep hoping I'll enter the working world very soon. Even now, something I'd love might be right around the corner (fingers crossed) but it's the continuous state of waiting for the unknown that wears on me. That on top of some basic home-missing and a lack of creative inspiration for the day (and perhaps some dehydration) made me a little Charlie-Brown mopey.

So I went to the movies! 

I saw Wes Anderson's most recent Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson has also directed Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rushmore, The Life Aquatic (and many others) & has a very distinct aesthetic quality to his films that I really like. His sources of narration are creative, every detail is intentional, the framing of shots is very photographic, and his direction with film work is sometimes literally linear, panning left to right like a story book. Even the coloring of his films is so unique, which you can kind of see in screenshots below...

I enjoyed myself immensely. Normally we wait to see movies once they're in redbox, but this was a needed special treat that helped turn my day around (along with some videos of my parents' dogs). As far as recommending people to see it, it just depends on the person. I love Wes Anderson movies but my sister, for example, does not. His style doesn't suit everyone so here is the trailer if you'd like to get an idea of it. 

If anyone else has had a down day, I hope you feel better soon!

. . .