Did I mention....

...that I am head over heels for this cutie? (I especially love his little eye brows).

Just a little hello from Carlos th e Swiss Mountain Dog.

"Joyful, Joyful, Joyful, as only dogs know how to be happy with only the autonomy of their shameless spirit." -- Pablo Neruda.

What a truly wonderful weekend...

Weekend Highlights:


1) Japanese Lunch in the tatami room at Fuki's on Friday for Keite's B-day---totally brought back memories of Japan.


2) Delicious Dinner with Lindsey at her adorable apartment in San Jose. Noodles with peanut sauce, peppers, cabbage and carrots! I am inspired to try a recipe this week. I'll let you know how it turns out.


3) Playing Settlers of Catan & Killer Bunnies with Kat and Lindsey.


4) Participating in a Stanford Study about Hapa Values.


5) 10 Mile Run to the Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto.


6) Making a big dish of home made Veggie Lasagna.


7) Sunday morning Yoga



8) Hiking at the Dish with Kat, Lindsey and Erik.


9) Lots of 4 person Long Arm photo practice--thanks to Lindsey's long arms!


10) Tour of Google! which I have to say is amazing! Couldn't take any pics of the inside, so you'll just have to trust me---it's incredible! Here are a couple pics of us on "campus." Love the one of us posing for the windows -thanks for the mirror windows Google, very convenient!


***One note in particular about the weekend. I have to say that I have really been missing my girlfriends in the past couple of months and I feel so blessed to have been able to reconnect with Lindsey and Kat recently--they are both such kind hearted, creative, intelligent and vibrant, full of life people. Oh and have I mentioned that both of their rooms/apartments are covered in canvases of their very own beautiful paintings---I am totally inspired to paint!

Good quotes and Great runs...

(Totally random picture that has nothing at all to do with this entry :))

Have I mentioned that I really enjoyed the book I just finished, "Happens Every Day?" Perfect book for my current situation, I could really relate to the main character Isabel as she watched someone she loved fall out of love with her. My heart broke when she recounted the first time her husband used her name instead of their pet names, when her husband's tone changed from a loving one to a somewhat cold and distant one--I remember how much it hurt to hear Joe call me Sarah instead of Baby or when I could hear in his voice that he didn't want to be with me. In the end though, her story was uplifting in so many ways and has given me some more hope that things are going to be okay. One of my fav. lines is the very last line of the book and I would love to share it, but I don't want to be a spoiler. If you are dying to know, you can leave a comment and I will tell you.

Here is another one of my favorite parts that I just have to share,

"I thought if I could get such a kick out of these pancakes, I hadn't died. He hadn't killed me or destroyed my ability to take pleasure in life. I could taste something heavenly and feel joy, even if only for a second. That pancake meant I would be okay. It gave me courage and hope that even on the darkest day, there is a way to see light and feel the beauty of the world. Sounds corny, but life can be glorious. Remembering that during the lowest, saddest times is imperative if you want to get back to the highs. But you have to look. You have to remember to remind yourself to look."

This woman is totally in my circle!!!! I love the way that she worked so hard to find beauty even amidst the pain! I think that was one of the first coping devices I turned to when this breakup happened and this is evidenced in my first few blogs after the breakup, with my simple pleasure lists. It's becoming more natural now to see the good, but at first I kind of forced myself to take note of the good things that still surrounded me.

On an unrelated note, I went on a run with the group at Runner's High (what a great name for a running store) and met some cool people. One guy's wife was a travel writer for Sunset....can she please come next time! And we ran into the managing editor for Sunset...maybe my dream of working there will actually come true one day!

Sushi in the City :)

An Army of Sushi soldiers :)

Had a really fun night last night! I took the Cal Train up to the city, which I love, especially because it is free for me being a Stanford employee! It was nice to be on a train again, reminded me of being back in Japan and it was so fast! I left Menlo park at 6:00 and arrived in the city at 6:39 and just kicked back and finished Happens Every Day, which I absolutely loved and will blog about later. Makes me feel like I could easily live in the city and commute via Caltrain to work. Although to be honest, I really love the Menlo Park area and definitely prefer the sunny weather down the peninsula. Anyways, I rode up to the city to meet Kat, a friend who works in the SOMA area. A girl named Laura and her boyfriend Martin (who we graduated from UPS with) invited a bunch of us over to roll our very own sushi at their beautiful Victorian home in the city. I had a blast and got to reconnect with a bunch of people I went to school with which was really neat. And the sushi making and sake drinking was very fun! Here are some pictures of the night....Kat and Eric

Laura - one of our hosts and Dave.

The SPREAD!!!!

Quote of the day...

"Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours. - Ayn Rand

Another favorite passage....

This book is chalk full of them and I can hardly put it down.


"I think you just have to make these great big mistakes to learn. And then I think the key is to think hard about what you want to have and want to avoid before you fall in love again. Once you are in love I don't think you have a lot of choices. you just have to ride it out. That's it. Love gives you no choices."

Just when I start to feel really down and out...

Inspiration comes to the rescue!!!!


Have I mentioned that I have the greatest boss on Earth? I walked in to her office to say hello today and she gave me a book that she brought in. It's called, Happens Every day and it is a true story about a woman whose husband leaves her. I know, I know, sounds like a depressing man hating book, but the reason she gave it to me is because it has a happy ending. I love what a positive person she is.


I started it tonight on the elliptical, which I resorted to after I got locked out of my Stanford Hospital Volunteer Orientation because I was 10 minutes late...I was bummed about that, who knew a million Med Students were going to show up and pack the room to the gills. I will have to make sure to be on time next month.

So anyways, I got to start the book and I am in love with it and almost upset with myself for writing instead of reading right now, but I just can't help it, I had to share about it.

One of my favorite parts so far is when the author is describing what it felt like to have to move home with her two young sons after the divorce and she and her father are having a conversation and he shares a quote with her that Adlai Stevenson said about Eleanor Roosevelt at her funeral, "he said she was the kind of person who would rather light a candle than curse the darkness."

I love that quote, I started crying on the elliptical (I'm definitely pre-menstrual right now). Sorry if you reading this dad.

Changing the subject a bit, I am also reading 3 Cups of tea right now. It's been a bit slow going for me to get into it, but I had a little break through yesterday and it's finally bringing me in.



There was a beautiful part that I read yesterday when Greg (the main character) meets the woman he is going to marry and the conversation they have at dinner after spending the day together.

"Welcome to my life, " Tara said.

"Welcome to my heart," he said.