Birthday Weekend

These pictures are really out of order, but here was my day yesterday.

People Magazine's sexiest man alive.

Me ottering with a wakeboard.

You would only know by Libby's expression that we are all peeing.

I tried wakeboarding, stood a couple times, and almost immediately fell over. We tubed once the water got too choppy, which was hilarious. Everyone does funny things while they do stuff like that. Mine is howling with laughter to the point I can't hold on anymore.

Conrad took me to Buca di Beppo for dinner, where I got a free brownie and everyone sang to me.

Then this morning, he made me breakfast in bed (toast with nutella, eggs, milk, diet pepsi, and ibuprofin). I should turn 21 every day if its this good! I'm sunburned, sore, and totally happy.

PS - I finally had a successful thrift store trip. More on that later.

Padre's Game

Tonight Conrad and I are going to a Padre's game. I'm not a fan of the Padre's, or baseball at all, for that matter, so it will be really fun as long as no one actually makes me watch. I'm sure the evening will be full of expensive food, standing when everyone else stands (even though I don't know why), and laughing and smiling. I've noticed that we do something fun almost every night, but I rarely write about it.

We visited Conrad's aunt and uncle who are camping really nearby. It was fun to talk to them and eat really high-end camping food (gourmet meat loaf, strawberry-pistachio salad, and mashed potatoes, finished with banana chocolate chip muffins that I brought). Seriously, who eats like that when they're camping?

Anyway, I had another unsuccessful trip to the thrift store today. I found one right off the freeway, so I stopped in. They had tons of good stuff, but it was all over $5! Maybe I'm being too picky, but I really want to find things that are ridiculously cheap. So I left empty-handed, went home and watched a couple episodes of Mad Men, and got ready for the game (by "got ready" I mean put shoes on).

Here I am, waiting in Conrad's office while he finishes up his 30-minute meeting - that started over an hour ago - blogging the time away. I'll let you know who wins the baseball game tomorrow, though I'm sure most you care as much about baseball as I do.

Thrift Store Hopping and Wedded Friends

Today I went with my neighbor Lindsey to several thrift stores around Oceanside. Super fun, except they were all disappointingly expensive. I was hoping to find a bunch of ugly stuff for really cheap, then fix them up with my trusty sewing machine, but everything was over $5. I guess I'm gonna have to really dig in order to find some treasures.

Afterwards, we got burritos - my mouth was happy but my stomach was mad - and came home.

News on school: I added the French class, and I accidentally showed up for the English class that doesn't start for another 2 weeks. I guess I'm a part-time student now.

Life is so, so good.

Also, a HUGE congratulations to Elyssa and Chris, Basia and Joe, Brett and Bethany, and Jared and Shabnam for tying the knot recently! Very happy that so many of our friends now know the bliss that is marriage.

Back to School

So, really last minute, I applied to a community college, just to see if I could take any more transfer classes before I can try to get in to UCSD. I got in (of course, all you need to go to a JC is a pulse), and was able to enroll in an English class. I'm gonna try to add a chemistry class and a French class this week. Classes start tomorrow. What ever will I wear?!

A song from my Oma

When we were little, before my Oma left on her mission, she lived only a couple cities away from us, which made it easy for her to visit. We loved it. She would bring us golden raisins (for some reason much less gross than black raisins), beads to make jewelry, and do fun stuff. She was always singing songs to us that she remembered from when she was a little girl. She told us bedtime stories about her childhood, friends she had, growing up in Indonesia during the war (WW2), and describe the clothes her mother wore ("she looked like Katherine Hepburn, with her long, straight blazer and trousers, and she would put her hands deep in her pockets and hold a cigarette between her lips, so stylishly. She wore a cloche hat..."). I don't remember some of the songs she would sing us (one was about an Easter Bonnet), but our favorite one i remember.

Bayou, Bayou,

Bayou baby bunting,

Daddy's gone a-hunting,

To catch a little rabbit skin

To wrap my baby bunting in.

Oma would sing that verse over and over really softly until we fell asleep. I think her stories and songs have a lot to do with how strong our (all the Wilkinson kids') relationship is with our dad. She had several bad marriages, so in her eyes, my dad was the strongest, most reliable, most loving man on earth. It showed when she talked about him, and we learned it that way.

LIFE LATELY

Conrad at Cardiff. Love him.

I finally painted my blue wall! It's way brighter than I thought, but I like it. I had no help from Conrad, which means I moved a very heavy dresser by myself, and did all the detailing by myself. I stood on a stool to paint where the sealing and wall meet, and a bunch of spiders were crawling around my face. I almost fell off the stool because a web brushed my nose.

DEAR CRUSH...

Who do I have a crush on? Seriously? I think about this all the time and I can't come up with anyone! There's tons of people I have crushes on. Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Conrad, etc. I really allow myself to have crushes on people (I think its healthy to find other people physically/intellectually attractive). Almost everyone I know, actually. Here's to the sexiest person in the world, aside from my husband.

Dear Steve Zahn,

You're great. So glad you stay out of the Hollywood eye, and chose to have a family over partying, etc. great example for fans. I think you're one of the handsomest men alive.

Thank you.

Tess

PS. You remind me of someone but I just can't put my finger on it...

A photo from 10 years ago

My family in a canoe in our pool (that was barely bigger than the canoe).

ODE TO WES ANDERSON

Today is the day when I tell you all about my favorite movie. Except, I can't choose just one.

I will however, say that Wes Anderson is my favorite director. Like many directors, he has a 'crew' of actors that he commonly works with. Luke, Owen, and Andrew Wilson, Angelica Huston, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Adrien Brody are some. His films, in order of my liking:

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) - i've probably seen it 20 times

Rushmore (1998)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

Bottle Rocket (1996)

He also has 2 short films, one that goes along with Bottle Rocket by the same name, and one that goes with The Darjeeling Limited called Hotel Chevalier.

He's coming out with another movie next year called The Rosenthaler Suite.

A total genius.

I also like 'thinking' movies like Children of Men and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Mirrored Patio Table

This is my latest project:

I took an old patio table that my mother-in-law gave me, bought a TON of small round mirrors from Michael's and Jo-Ann's, used wood glue to tack them on, and let it dry overnight.

The next morning I applied pre-mixed grout in all the spaces between the mirrors. I didn't buy any kind of professional applicator, so I ended up using plastic spoons - the only thing that would spread that I didn't mind throwing away/ruining. Now it looks really cool! Its also up for sale if anyone's interested.

Yesterday my sister came to visit. I was so happy to have her over. We went and toured the cosmetology school, which on the outside looked nasty with extra nasty. But inside it was cool, and I felt like I could be comfortable if I went there. It's really expensive, so we're still unsure if I'll go there.

Finding that special shade of blue

Our apartment is super dark, in color and in sunlight amount. I've been wanting to paint it a really pretty blue to lighten everything up, and give our home that true, beachy, Mediterranean feel. So today I went to Home Depot to find the colors I need, with the idea that my color would be really easy to spot.

In my head, I pictured myself walking into Home Depot, strutting obliviously past the greasy men who were blatantly staring at me, right towards the paint area, where I see my perfect shade of blue, huge and bright among all the other drab blues. A gust of wind from somewhere blows my hair into waves, and I feel illuminated as I purchase - for a very reasonable price - that blue.

What really happened was this: I walked in holding a sandwich, half-eaten, with mustard on my shirt and in my hair, wearing a high-waisted skirt that makes me look fat (and for some reason I keep wearing it) and dirty shoes. I clunk past grease-balls of men who don't even notice me (it must be that ring on my finger. Married ladies, have you noticed that the ring seems to repel men, attractive and not?). I stomp around like a lost little kid (because that's what I am), and finally find the paint section. I push my unneeded cart into the crowded area, take up 3/4 of the aisle, and stare at the wall of tiny paint samples for 20 minutes, without moving.

I did not purchase my paint today. I have realized what I am dealing with, and will be more prepared upon my return to the Home Depot.

My other projects are, as of today, postponed for lack of materials. Can you please suggest some craft stores other than Michael's?

Later in the day I went to my in-laws' house and laid out with my mother-in-law and talked about the wonders and pleasures of life.

Some people get really awful in-laws who remind you of Everybody Loves Raymond.

I'm not one of those people.