Insanity in a Flash!

Sunday evening I was unloading groceries from the car, when the sound of screeching tires and snapping branches filled the air. I looked up towards the busy country road that runs parallel to our house when a car came plummeting down the embankment into our yard, through the trees, and smack dab head-on into our well tank! I could't believe what I just witnessed - it was like a dream where the pieces don't fit quite right and images are blurred and distorted. My initial reaction was to scream for Steve who was in the garage nearby. I don't recollect what I was screaming but I am sure it was mostly "oh my god!" Steve came out of the garage wearing his earmuffs and couldn't hear a word I was saying. He saw the panic on my face and tore off the ear muffs and somehow I was finally able to blurt out "someone just crashed into the well!!" He ran towards the car to see if they were hurt while I ran into the house to call 911. 

Some shots of our well tank and hops bed and trellis before...

The CHP, ambulance, and fire truck all arrived in about 10 minutes. The driver of the Jeep was amazingly, and so thankfully not hurt. He was alone in the car, driving back from an afternoon with friends. Drinking. The police officer gave him the full sobriety test and he had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. 

While we were all waiting for emergency response to arrive, the driver kept apologizing to us, which made me feel for him. He was on his cell phone with a friend, asking for help and holding his head in his hands. He knew he made a huge mistake. I was relieved for him that he had a friend on the line to be there for him. (Steve argues all he wanted to do was get someone to pick him up to get the hell out of there!) As much as I felt bad for him, I knew that wasn't the right feeling to have in that moment. He really could have hurt someone. He damaged a lot of our property. Now, we had no running water on a Sunday night before a long work week. And lots of precious time spent on our beloved yard down the drain. He was taken away in handcuffs and it was his own bad decision that led him there.

Here you can see the path of destruction. He knocked down a catalina cherry tree and a few myrica trees, planted by Steve just a few years ago.

Our beautiful trellis snapped into pieces.

The hops bed devastated.

Now, we must deal with the aftermath of this insane event, as we try to clean things up and repair what was damaged by this stranger who, in an instant, changed the course of a typical Sunday evening at home.

Don't drink and drive!!!!!!

On Being Young and Funny

As I woke up this morning to get ready for work, I breathed in the distinctive fall-time chill, and was transported to early mornings years ago when I was young and funny. I laughed out loud at the memory of my younger self getting dressed for the day...in bed! Yes, on those very chilly mornings, waking up just minutes before class, I would often get dressed IN bed. How ridiculous I must have looked under the covers squeezing into my jeans while laying down, lifting sweatshirts over my head trying not to let an elbow or a shoulder emerge from the comfort and warmth of my sheets as if being cold was the worst thing that could ever happen to me. Today, my bed seduces me with its fluffy pillows and plush blankets and promise of rest, but never, of course, do I look at my bed and think, "gosh what a great place to get dressed."

Hot August Nights

Back in August I took a solo trip to visit the fam on Ryan's turf in Reno. I haven't been to Reno in ages and it was nice to finally see Ryan in his world. The weekend was a blast. We were there during Hot August Nights, Reno's huge annual classic car show which is always a hit. Ryan took us to a local pizza joint, showed us his house and we met his puppy love, Ella. And you can't go to the desert in the summer without lounging poolside, so that's what we did, complete with Strawberitas! My dad taught me how to play Pai Gow poker (so cool that the dealer can help you and you get paid when another player wins!!), we filled up on a traditional casino buffet, and we were wowed by the $1 beers!! Sunday we went to a Reno Aces baseball game where we hooted and hollered and stuffed our faces with hot dogs and popcorn. It was a whirlwind weekend full of love, laughs, family, and awesome cars and I was so happy I was able to spend some quality time with my sister Cassie's lovely little family, brother Ryan, and Dad and Leslie! 

Washingtonia Robusta growth rate

We planted our first palm trees in 2009 right after we moved in. This is a video showing the growth rate for two of our Washingtonia Robusta palm trees. We took photos every year in August... and look at 'em grow!


Palmy from Jaime Dwight on Vimeo.

Central Coast Celebration

A long overdue thanks to my sweet family for traveling so far to hang out with us at our home and join my mom and I at our third John Mayer concert! It was one of the most memorable weekends of summer and I miss being with you.

Tiny baby lizzy!

P.S. if you haven't checked out John Mayer's new album, it's lovely! I even like the twang...guess I'm getting old. ;)

xo!

Reflecting on a friendship

After two years, my best friend (my soul) and I finally reunited. Her face, as she walked towards me, appeared like a bright light, a spark of yesterday. Her hug, a squeeze of home. Just to be near her and her little family for five minutes was all I could ask for. Of course, more time is ideal, but isn't that true of every good thing in life? More time with that person, with those people, at that place, more time to just be together. Just to sit and talk, or not talk. Like that saying, "too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

Time together is precious and fleeting. It's normal and lovely and comfortable and awkward and brief. It is filled with apologies and don't worries. It is filled with smiles and laughs. Of learning the new and catching glimpses of the old. But more than anything, time with my friend is full of love. In her sweet voice you hear care, you hear worry, uncertainty, but always love.  Her time is filled with more than just friends, staying up late, playing drinking games, dancing, music, and acting silly, like way back when. Now, her time is filled with life. Soft, squeaky life. 

Heather, thank you for giving me time to spend with you. To just sit with you and love on your Hanalei. Thank you for including me in your plans and don't think for one moment that I didn't understand or appreciate you when you had to be a mom first. I loved seeing you that way, and I look up to you more than ever. (And I say ever, because I have always looked up to you, my strong friend).

Until next time when I am lucky enough to hear your voice tell people that I am your friend, to twist our arms together as we walk along, and to sit and watch you be you - the person you were destined to be!

I love you, Bug!

Be in my heart

Six years ago, Steve and I fell in love in Chicago. On somewhat of a whim, we decided take our vacation to the Windy City because for the past 6 years it has been tugging on our hearts. And while searching for our favorite memories, we made new ones along the way.

We spent most of our time reveling in Chicago's warmth! The warm air embraced our skin and cuddled us up. Hey, cool - it's raining and STILL warm! It's past 5pm and it's STILL warm!? Wow! I just woke up and I am already WAAAARM! Hi Shorts, nice to see you, it's been a few years since I've felt so WARM! Let's hunt down every quaint patio in Chicago so we can stay outside in this warmth! We devoured every warm drop.

The only touristy thing we did was visit the bean!!

Can you see us?

We ate pizza every day! We didn't get to town until about 10pm Monday night and walked straight to Pizza Uno where we waited at least 90 minutes for a seat and pizza. It was soo worth it! There's nothing better than deep dish Chicago-style pizza, sangria, and your true love to share it with.

Another night we met up with Steve's cousin, Paul who took us to Gino's East for pizza. Here, we learned that there are many restaurants in Chicago where you can BYOB!!! Yes, BEER! We couldn't believe it that we were allowed to stroll into a neighboring bar to order a 6-pack of beer TO GO and drink it on the patio of the pizza place! Gino's even put our beer in their fridge to keep it cold for us! 

Our favorite pizza spot during our 2007 trip was Eduardos - the place I order pizza from for special occasions and they ship it frozen from Chicago. Well, we were finally back to get it fresh and we could barely find the spot! Well, it has since turned into an Eduardo's wine bar, where they stopped serving deep dish pizza and now serve artisan flat pizza! BOO!! So we had one tiny appetizer and a drink (on the patio!) and sulked out of there.

And finally, on the last night, we were wiped out from a day of sailing on Lake Michigan and ordered pizza take-out from Pizza Due - our second favorite spot.

Here is the famous Chicago water tower. This was one of the only buildings to survive in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It stood as our landmark for getting around the downtown area because our hotel was just around the corner. 

Steve's cousin took us sailing on Lake Michigan. We'd never get another opportunity like this to see Chicago from such a neat perspective! Thank you so much Paul for taking us out and showing us just how cool Chicago really is! Besides the seasickness, we had a blast!!! It was so nice meeting Paul and getting the behind-the-scenes tour of his awesome t-shirt company, Ript Apparel. 

My cousin Zac and his wife Kate also live in Chicago and it was such a treat to visit with them while we were there. Zac is a chef at the Four Seasons and he gave us a grand tour of the kitchens. It was absolutely amazing and impressive how many kitchens and staff there are! We also met up with them in their cute tree-lined neighborhood where we took a nice walk to Wicker Park and tried bone marrow for the first time ever! It was...delicious!