we have 3 new charter members of the adventure club by way of Switzerland and Hawaii!
my friends David and Alexandra came to visit this last week. we hung out in modesto for a night,
spent the next day in san fran, and then headed down to L.A. to universal studios' horror nights and dragged my
friend elyse along with us! it was 3 of the funnest days i've had all year :) i just love them all so so much <3


we started with dinner at tresetti's on saturday night... 

and if you've ever wondered "how does shelly decide people are worthy of being her friends?" (i said it. you heard me.) here's how i decide- if i leave to use the bathroom and come back to mysteriously find a picture like THIS on my camera? we're friends. wonder no longer.

i just LOVE them. they're such a fantastic couple. together for 8 years and he still looks at her like this ALL. THE. TIME.
<3

and then of course as the night moved on... we had.... more fun...

going......                                                                          going......

GONE.

time to head home ;)
(sorry for chopping your head off, david! it won't be the last time i do it :/)

then the next morning after taking the dawgs for a swim and some delicious waffles, (and an hour of me looking for my flip cam), it was off to san francisco in their convertible!!! WHOO!!!! <3

preserve the hair...

the most GORGEOUS, and friggin HOTTEST day in san francisco i've EVER seen <3

then we trekked to pier 39, naturally.

and after david saying "you want a smoothie? anybody want a smoothie?" about 500 times, we stopped for a smoothie.
and waited 500 hours.

then david got "uh huuuhhhhhhhhhh"'ed in the sock shop, so we decided it was time to leave.

so we checked them into their hotel, and i wondered if we could go up to the roof, so david went running and we followed through 30 pounds of nasty garbage idiots had left on the stairs.... and there. it. was. the most BEAUTIFUL sunset.

and... for some reason.... david thought he needed to kneel to make it in the frame for this picture. 
it kind of killed me for the next 10 minutes.

but it was a GORGEOUS sunset, so we caught half of it on the roof....

and then went geo-caching on the pier to see the rest of the sunset... these pictures don't do it justice at all.
it was the most incredible sunset i've ever seen. it was like the entire bridge was on fire and the clouds were the smoke rising from it.... we stood and watch the ENTIRE thing until it was dark. <3

then i had to go home and get some work done while they had fun in sf for 2 more days :( BOO WORK.
but THEN, they headed down to LA on tuesday, and on THURSDAY, elyse and i met them at universal studios so we could all go to------

and BELIEVE. ME. it lives up to its name.
wow.

to loosen the dread of our impending death, i decided we should have a cheesy photoshoot while we waited.
so we WENT for it.

and then i accidently copied elyse because im a horrible person with no recollection of what happened 2 seconds ago.

so i had to try again. and again. but i still sucked. so i gave up. im usually pretty terrible at executing my own ideas.
yeah. thursday was no different. hello ENTIRE boobs.

too bad david wasn't tall enough for any of the rides.
and too bad my ticket was in someone else's name... who's suzannna?

so then it was time to line up to die, and the 3 of us were AB.SOLUTELY. TERRIFIED. before it started.

i BARELY. LIVED. through the first zombie attack, second zombie attack, the scream slayings, the 5 mile hike, the 3rd zombie attack, the 4th zombie attack and the 5th zombie attack, but somehow we made it to the jurassic park ride!!!
Ride number 1.....

ride number 2....

ride number 3....  (yes my shirt says "Don't Hassle the Hoff" with hasslehoff's face on it... i thought it would protect me from the murderers. it didn't.)

and ride number 3 or 4... i don't remember... needless to say, these pictures are all entitled "soaked".

these are 2 of my favorite pictures i've ever taken.... for 2 VERY different reasons...

about 4 hours into it, i'd had enough. so elyse and david went back for more zombies and torture, while alex and i had our own little photoshoot.

The Simpsons ride was the coolest thing we did all night.... david and i almost barfed, but ya know. whatever.

and then a few more terror heart attack houses and elyse and i were OUTTIE. david and alex stayed longer, but not til the bitter end, which i think was good for all of us. elyse said they line all the scare zone actors up at the exit and you have to run through all the zombies, scream killers, midget terror clowns and chainsaws to get out. HAIL NO.

after a night with ABSOLUTELY NO SLEEP, we were up at the crack of 10 and gone again :)
isn't elyse beautiful? and isn't my pizza AMAZING? half chipotle and half carmelized onion & pear under salad.
WOW.

and then.... wait for it... wait for it... SKELETON GLITTER GLASSES AND DREW BARRYMORE!!!!
DREAMS COME TRUE IN HOLLYWOOD!!!!!

then, i got the v.i.p. tour of the liberty hotel, aka the best hotel in the world... during which david must have said "don't make fun of our hotel!" about 20 times. it was like the dublin rape hotel all over again...

(how INCREDIBLE is that picture up there? without a doubt my FAVORITE of the entire lot.)

and then it was time to say goodbye to two people i've grown to love so very, very much.
they are two of the sweetest, funnest, funniest, most adventurous, kindest, most giving and generous people i have 
EVER met in my whole life. i missed them so much already, i cried the whole second half of the way home (of a 5 hour drive :/  that's a lot of crying... i had to change my contacts when i got home.) 

they flew back to switzerland today and i don't know when i'll get to see them again.
when i go THERE, i guess! switzerland 2012- here i come!!! 
cuz GOODNESS knows, i can't go a whole year again without seeing them. not now.

friends come and go. but kindred spirits are rare. and i found 3 this week. and im never letting them go <3

WHAT were we doing?
stay tuned! <3

hit play up there, and then hit play down there.
yeah- down there. i said it. hit it.

and then of course... THIS amazingness finally got finished :)
YES. <3

yesterday was the first official trip of my newly formed ADVENTURE CLUB!
meet members marilyn, baylee, michele and yours truly.
we went to santa cruz yesterday and what started out as a calm and collected girls day,
turned into an all out fight for our lives in cross current undertow quick sand ocean rapids. 
ok it was scary but not that bad and we ended up just getting really wet.
it was amazing :) the pictures pretty much speak for themselves...
i can't wait until next month: yosemite river rafting <3