29 & Single

After laughing with Sue (my mom) about it she suggested a blog post recounting a recent event…

A couple of weeks ago I found myself alone on a Friday night drinking a glass of wine and watching the end of “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

Welcome to 29 and single:)

Coronado, San Diego

Yet another lovely adventure with Punky.  This time we headed south for some fun in the sun…Coronado.  I thought it was an island until I found out it wasn’t.  Although it was more interesting as an island I still found it quite lovely as a peninsula.  Being 29 and not interesting myself, I understand how it must feel.

Here’s Punky and I starting our adventure at Pei Wei – where most of our adventures start.

The main reason I wanted to go to Coronado was to drive over the bridge.  Everything else was just gravy – as they say:)

Anna and the captain…

Our adventures always include frozen yogurt.

…and clocks.

Love these pictures of Punky.

What the fork?

And then the bridge took us back to the mainland and home:)

It was a lovely day.

Start Hair School

Today marks the fulfillment of a dream come true – start hair school!

It doesn’t take being around me for long to know that I love hair, especially mine.

There were 3 things I consistently wanted to be when I was a little girl:

An astronaut

A ballerina

And a beaushican (I had a little bit of trouble with beautician)

Once I realized I probably wouldn’t be accidentally launched into space during Space Camp and I’m not smart enough for NASA , I gave up on that dream.

And there are several reasons the ballet was never going to work out…so now I just enjoy watching the ballet.

That leaves me with hair.  I’ve never had a reason to let go of this dream and the passion has only gotten stronger as I’ve gotten older.  I’ve never held onto something so tightly and so loosely all at the same time.  I’ve spent hours daydreaming, praying, planning, and wondering about it.  Over the years I’ve always just released it to God and trusted that if it was meant to be it would all eventually work out.

Two and half years ago during Seminar 1 of my Arrow Leadership Program we were posed with the question, “Is there a vision burning inside of you?”  I was waiting for some new revelation or noble passion to emerge but instead all I could think about was one word, HAIR.

On that day I felt permission to dream about it again.  It never seemed to make sense how it could fit into my life without changing everything I also loved.  Over the last couple of years I have continued to trust in God’s timing and allow him to deepen the vision he’s given me for an eventual salon in my neighborhood in Costa Mesa.  The vision and the dream is exciting but none of it can happen without first going to school.

Today I start at Paul Mitchell The School in Costa Mesa, another dream come true.  I wanted to post a picture in my first day of school outfit but technology isn’t on my side right now…I’ll just have to do a school outfit photo shoot soon.

I got to go back to school shopping this year.  Rarely do I get to legitimately say, “I need to buy more clothes” and especially, “I need to buy new shoes” but my all black dress code called for some new threads.  My fall look is entitled “Fall Mitchell” (thanks Punky:).  I’m sure this won’t be the last of my blogs about hair school, before long it may even turn into a hair blog…I have to think of something after I turn 30.  And since I’ll also be interesting by then it better be good…

FAQ’s:

What about your job at Mika?  I will continue full time as the Director of Operations at Mika.  I love my work and my community and plan on staying with Mika through school.  I will be working 7am – 3pm starting today.

When can I come in to get my hair done?  I should be on the floor somewhere in the range of December…

How long is the program?  The part time program is 20 months, I will graduate June 12, 2013

When do you have class: Monday – Thursday 5-10pm

How do you anticipate performing in compared to your classmates? I plan on being valedictorian (yes, it’s possible, I already asked)

Are you going to do crazy things to your hair, get more tattoos, and wear dark eyeliner?  Only time will tell…

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way!!  I’m so excited!

Be Cool…even if only for a night

I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit wishing and trying to be cool.  Somewhere in my 20′s I recognized that I just wasn’t.  I’m ok with being a little different, maybe a little bit nerdy and sometimes just weird.  But last Monday, I was cool.

Monday morning, I woke up on the sand bar in Mexico, had breakfast around the campfire, took down the sail to my best friend the catamaran and made my way back to Orange County just in time to shower, eat and head to my little sister’s house for a private backyard concert from The Preacher’s Sons, a guy from Bryan John Appleby and The Head and The Heart.

Punky pulled off a good party with her housemates.  She, probably more than me is actually the cool one.  Diana and I might have been the oldest ones there but we had a kick “a” time nonetheless.  There weren’t more than 100 people there and the quality of the music was fantastic.  Here are a few pictures to highlight my coolness…

Luke from Bryan John Appleby

Just Di and I

Me and Punky

I enjoyed being cool, I might try it out more often.  If nothing else, I think this puts me a little closer to interesting.

Get a “big girl” bed

My “list” for before I’m 30 is mostly just things I happen to do while still in my 20′s.  On the official “list” however was to graduate from my twin bed to something bigger…anything bigger, really.  On Friday, September 2, 2011 I got my first queen sized bed with 8 months to spare.

The night before I was picking up my bed I realized I didn’t even have any sheets for it.  I headed to Target at 9:30pm and was a bit overwhelmed by my selections.  I wanted to buy the cheap ones for pure economic reasons but I kept saying to myself, “you’re 29, not in college, buy the good sheets.”  So I did.

It feels good to be a “big girl”

Learn to Sail (and The Sandbar, take 2)

It was another lovely weekend at “The Sandbar” in Mexico.   Crissy, Michael Moses, Layla and I set out on Friday afternoon for our last summer 2011 adventure.

Good friends, good food, good weather, good times.

My personal highlight of the weekend was learning how to sail.

I went sailing a few weeks ago with my friends and mentors Bob and Carol Kraning on their beautiful 34 ft. sail boat.  I’ve been out with them several times but this last time I caught the sailing bug and decided I want to own a sail boat.

So last weekend when I had the opportunity to learn, I didn’t waste any time.  There is a nice catamaran sailboat that stays on the sandbar that soon became my best friend.

 

We arrived on Friday night and by Saturday morning I had my first and only lesson and took the thing out by myself.  The rest of the weekend consisted of me taking anyone out who wanted a ride.  On Saturday afternoon, Rick and I attempted to forge the open seas of the ocean but the waves won out and we had to head back to the bay.  It was a good effort and we decided we’d try again next year.

 

In the last 3 weeks the “What About Bob?” quote about sailing has become a regular part of my vocabulary.

Bob: Isn’t this a breakthrough, that I’m a sailor? I sail? I sail now?
Dr. Marvin: Keep sailing, Bob!

The rest of the weekend was pretty rad as well.  We went to bed when we felt like it, woke up sometime after it was light, ate amazing food and made up songs around the camp fire.  I opted to wait to try wake boarding till next year.  One water sport at a time is good for me.

On the way home we stopped right under the Jesus for lunch at Taco Surf.

I already can’t wait till next year!

Reading for Pleasure – “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

I’ve always considered myself a reader but the better part of my 20’s neglected the category of fiction.  The last year or so I’ve tried to take up reading for pleasure more and have done an alright job.  This summer my reading project has been The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  I had several people recommend them and Abs had the books to send me so it seemed like a good idea.

I just finished the 3^rd and final book, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest and enjoyed it immensely.  They are a bit dark and intense and I love every bit of it.  I wouldn’t recommend them for everyone but a good read if you’re up to it.  For instance, I don’t think Sue (my mom) would much enjoy them, but then again I’m not always rushing to keep up on her book list either.  They are a long ways from the Christy Miller series of my late teens and the heroine of the story is definitely no Nancy Drew.

I’ve started to Netflix the Swedish movies before Daniel Craig hits the big screen with the English versions.  He’s a much better choice for Mikael than the Swedish guy.

 

Let me know if you want to borrow the books, I’m feeling generous.