it doesn't cost a thing to laugh

"So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun..."

~"Stop this Train", John Mayer

This weekend was non-stop action, so I'm taking some time to debrief at work by listening to Mr. Mayer, which always seems to calm me down.

I turned 23 on Sunday. It's kind of an anti-climactic age, but I had fun celebrating it none the less.

So the India.Arie concert was Friday and she is absolutely amazing in person. I know I seem to write this about every musician I see in concert, but what can I say, I just must have superb taste in artists that can knock your socks off when they perform live! Anyway, she played for over two hours and the most surprising thing to me was that after her second or third song, she prayed over the show and asked that God would use her lyrics to emotionally help people who were going through a hard relationship, just like she did a few years ago. When she sang "Wings of Forgiveness" (my fave song on her new CD), I teared up because you can tell she really does believe what she's singing. Sidenote: The Fillmore is a fantastic venue, if you have a chance to see a show there, DO IT!

Our Halloween bash was Saturday night and it was great to have such a random mix of friends there. And the winner for best costume? That honor goes to Brad Steiner and Kristen Jones for embodying (literally) "Fiddler on the Roof". Other costumes included Johnny Cash and June Carter, Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Captain Jack Sparrow, Robin Hood and his fair maiden, James Bond and his mistress, a Dodgers fan, a Sac-town thug, and Sydney Bristow from ALIAS! A full roster indeed.

Yesterday was our big family housewarming party and that was a lot of fun as well. We got to show off our place to various cousins, aunts and uncles, both of our grandmas, and the rest of our family. It really was a huge blessing to have so many people from both sides of our families there to celebrate with us.

Another dynamite weekend....all I can say is "L'Chaim!"

Our families celebrate our new home with us

Hello, old chum

Here's what I bought today:













Time to become reacquainted with an old friend. It's been far too long.

these are a few of my favorite things

1. Product (RED).
This is an amazing idea: getting a bunch of big corporations (GAP, Motorla, Armani, American Express, Apple) to create "RED" products and donate HALF of the profits of these products to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa. Bono, you are brilliant....taking advantage of Amercian consumerism and spinning it into good! I proudly bought my Product (RED) shirt yesterday from GAP and I love the fact that all the shirts were produced in Africa, which also creates the added bonus of increasing economic development in the country.

2. A fun haircut.
I've been wanting to get a haircut for some time--I haven't had one since May. However, I wanted to make sure I could find someone who would share the same glorious vision I had for what style I wanted. Megan recommended her stylist, Dawn, to me and she was awesome! She gave me exactly what I wanted and she only charged $30. I think I've just permanently upgraded from my usual trim at Great Clips.

3. Surprises from my hubby.
So David and I were talking about doing something on Friday to celebrate my b-day and then he gives me this weird look and starts mumbling about how he has something to tell me. This was kinda freaking me out a little, and then after 10 minutes, he says "look under your pillow". Well by golly, there were two concert tickets to the India Arie show on Friday at the Fillmore!! He told me how he had bought the tickets for Amy and I to go, since he knew I'd have more fun at the concert with her since we are both huge India fans. How cute is that?!?! I love how he totally surprised me, and now I get to go to see one of my favorite artists in my favorite city!

My (RED) shirt, my new haircut, and my hubby = happy Kelli

Running to catch up again

I haven't had this busy of a week in a while. For the majority of the nights the last seven days, I've stayed up past midnight---which wouldn't be that big a deal if I didn't have to do the whole 'work' thing. Blast you, alarm clock and your tortuous beeping! However, the loss of sleep was well worth it. And here's why:

Monday- ADX Rush Tea => it felt so good to be back at DCCC with fellow alum Rach, Bron, Megan, and Jodie. And I want to give a big shout out to Mrs. Jackie Caro's amazing coffee cake...yum!

Tuesday- Trivia Night @ Sophia's => Who thought that spending two hours answering 40 trivia questions ranging from reality shows to Greek mythology would be thoroughly enjoyable? It was a DHS reunion of sorts: myself, Amy, Susan, and then two guys who I literally haven't seen since high school. I'm definitely looking forward to more Tuesday Trivia nights and who knows, one of these times maybe we'll even get above 10th place!

Wednesday- ADX Pref. Dinner => all I can say is that I chose a great year to be co-advisor because the group welcomed 8 awesome pledges. I also got to know several of the newer girls who pledged last year through random conversations over dinner....I can't wait to get to know everyone better!

Thursday- Steve drove down from Chico for (what else?) a concert and stopped by to see our house. He told me about how he's going to go to this film festival in SoCal in a few weeks and wanted my opinion on what seminars to take. Man, am I jealous. Oh yeah, and David's dad drove up to help David with the patio. He thought he was just going to stay the day and leave around 6, but let's just say the project took a little longer than expected....

Friday- David and his dad spent another full day working on the patio and it makes me exhausted just thinking of how exhausted they were after they finally finished. Exactly an hour after they stopped working, we were in the Woodland Opera house with our bible study peeps watching the community production of Fiddler on the Roof. Besides the uncomfortable seats, I was very impressed with the cast's performance and it quenched my thirst for some showtunes.
Saturday- had a mini-housewarming party with my parents and my Aunt Becky and Uncle Chuck from Huntington Beach. I felt so proud to show them our house now that some of the rooms are painted and we finally got a second couch that really makes the living room look all grown up. It was a fun evening.

Well just recounting the week's events makes me realize the blessing of being surrounded by incredible friends and family! But I'm tired. I miss my bed and the fun times we used to have. So it's time to go catch up and prepare for the upcoming week---at the end of which I"ll turn 23!

what happened to big petticoats and fancy gloves?

I wanted to look nice today. Which for me, meant wearing a knee-length brown skirt, and a cute pink tweed blazer with some champagne color 1-inch heels. I found it comical that throughout my entire day at the office, I was asked repeatedly "What's the special occasion?", as if looking respectable at work indicated that there must be some huge celebration occurring somewhere. I even got asked by one of my supervisors, "Did you have an interview somewhere else today? Because if you did, you can always tell me." And she wasn't saying this in a joking sense, she was seriously worried that because I wore a skirt and heels to work, I must be interviewing elsewhere. I guess this is indicative of UCD work culture, its completely normal to wear jeans and a sweatshirt to work (unless you work with the big-wigs in the dean's office). And this is just dandy, I love the fact that I didn't have to go out and buy hundreds of dollars of work clothes because I can still wear the clothes I wore during college to work. But every once in a while, a girl just wants to get all dolled up....is that cause for alarm? Sheesh!

P.S.- The fall mix for 2006 is completed. Just throw a blank CD at me and I'll burn it for you!

just keep me where the light is

----This is a post I started on Sunday, but didn't finish until now----

Went and saw Mr. Mayer on Saturday. He was co-headlining with Sheryl Crow, but I definitely thought he would be playing last. Sadly, Aubrey and I were dismayed when John came out before Sheryl, which we were almost certain would mean we would get no encore performance from him (which is the best part!!). Unfortunately, we were right, but he still played a decent length set and was worth every penny.
I have a particularly unique bond with John’s music because I feel like as I’ve matured and made the slow transition into adulthood, his music has simultaneously done the same. I first saw him at the Greek in Berkeley back in August 2002, just as his catchy pop single “No Such Thing” was becoming big. Heavier Things came out in September 2003 and showed a more introspective and musically diverse side of John. Last year, a huge change in John’s musical repertoire was concurrent with a huge change in my life---getting married. The John Mayer Trio album was released in November 2005, and it definitely didn’t sound anything like the same guy who did Room for Squares. Anyone who has read articles on John knows that his passion is the blues. The album with his trio clearly exhibits this, and it sounds like he has found his home in a musical sense.
Then comes Continuum. For me, it’s been an acquired taste. However, this isn’t a bad thing—it demonstrates that John Mayer challenges himself to grow musically and the end result is truly rewarding. This is the most stripped down of his records, and this allows him to really bare his soul, talking honestly about the reasons for our generation’s apathy (Waiting on the World to Change), his fear of aging (Stop this Train), and the brokenness experienced in past relationships (Slow Dancing in a Burning Room, In Repair, I Don’t Trust Myself). Now it’s in my cd player non-stop and I enjoy soaking it in, one track at a time. And I realize as I listen that this is why I praise God for music, it’s ability to help me process life and all of its changes. And I look forward to what stage of life I'll be in when the next Mayer album is released.