Grillin' Out

just want to say thanks to everyone who read my last blog. i hope it was enjoyable. i'd like to send a special thank you to nicole for our convo on the 4th of July. seriously, really encouraging.

so, my californian adventures never stop.

first things first: the much anticipated michael cera pic:

but really, i'm kidding. this is just jon's co-worker, mitchell
seriously, though- it freaks me out how much he looks like him...
also, mitchell is a great guy

moving on: we just had 4th of july! i didn't see a single firework. i can only imagine california is not too excited about fire in general... understandable.
i think the only thing you really need to know about 4th of July in San Jose is:

LET FREEDOM RING

if i'm not mistaken, nate is jon's oldest best friend, and by that i mean they've been friends the longest. nate's not that old. also, it's not hard to understand how they've stuck together through the years with a jacket like that, right? he's married to a great woman (the aforementioned nicole) and yet we somehow have the hardest time making dinner plans as a group. regardless, they're really cool people. definitely some of my favorites i've met since i've been here. i immediately liked nicole because she's done an amazing job decorating their house (they even have framed album art and concert posters in their living room). and i immediately liked nate because we're both PC people. yeah, suckers.

4th of July was actually pretty great. Jon's friends Kevin and Dave came to visit from LA (we're going to visit them this weekend!). the party we went to was at an old cherry orchard. i've yet to find out if "old" means "its been there forever" or if it means "it USED to be a cherry orchard". either way, everyone said "old cherry orchard". it was also my new friend cait's birthday. her husband, dave, is one of jon's other oldest best friends. he just graduated from the fire academy last weekend. the people we're surrounded by are really just great people. also, at 4th of July, there was a big bon fire and a dj. crazy californians.

Jon and i went to his co-worker, Johnny's wedding reception a few weeks ago:

til death do us part

his friend johnny is a great guy and apparently married a great lady. it was the cutest thing: at the reception i found out that they met by working and sharing a desk together. someone referred to it as "totally pam and jim" and i thought that was a GREAT way to refer to any good relationship. also, at the reception there were 3 kegs of beer, a (literal) home made lemonade stand and home made pies from the bride's parents (and thier garden). it was beautiful and amazing. loved it.
i've actually been part of several great barbecues since i've been here. tony and kelsey had a house warming barbecue the other day. i think my fondest barbecue memory is from weekend before last, though. one of jon's friends, jeff, is a dentist and also one of the nicest men on earth. i told him my mouth was hurting from grinding my teeth and that i really needed his help. he only slowed down on the ribs he was eating long enough to say "open up". i showed him my teeth problem and he said he could help me fix it in a few days. it was great.

3rd eye blind played a free concert in downtown san jose a few weeks ago:

according to ben there were 100,000 people there. this wasn't true, but i didn't want to get lost, none the less.

so when i heard 3eb was playing a free show, i thought that was cool. it was only later that i realized just how many good, hit songs they had. just to mention a few:

semi-charmed life
how it's going to be
jumper ("i would understaaaAAAaaaand")

also, while telling this story and thinking of these songs, i realized just how much matchbox 20 sounds like 3eb.

on July 3rd, Jon and i left town and headed to Monterey:

shirt: dasha; sunglasses: target; scarf: great grandmother

jon and i got into a pretty big fight about a bathing suit and two towels. i'm happy to say it ended rather well. we played patsy cline and enjoyed the view:

you wont find that in Tennessee

we ended up at seaside, near monterey and headed to santa cruz afterward to meet up with kevin and dave. while there, we saw an art show featuring blaise rosenthal. it was great, i think we all enjoyed it.

dasha is going to be in LA this weekend, so Jon and i will be, too. I miss nashville. I hope dasha brings some southern vibe with her.