Full House

Calling all children of the 80s...can anyone identify this picturesque scene? Ok, well I gave it away in my title. It's the park and houses at the beginning of Full House! Can't you just picture little DJ, Stephanie, and those Olsen twins before they were corrupted by pop culture? Here in SF, this row of Victorians is called the 'Painted Ladies'. The park goes by the name of Alamo Square, and they are (as you can see) atop of one of the many HUGE hills here. Speaking of full house, my month of company starts this Friday. I am so excited! Naomi from Nashville is kicking off the fun, and I can not wait to eat through this city with a fellow 'foodie'. She is a 'go-er' as well- we'll be out of the house and on the town as early as possible. Oh, and by the way, I LOVE Cardinals Baseball.

I LOVE MY TEAM

YAY CARDS! WE ARE HEADED FOR THE WORLD SERIES!!! My Cards scrubs are washed and ready to be worn on Saturday as we take on the Tigers. Woohoo!

San Diego and the PCH

I've had the last 5 days off! What a great time. Thursday I left the city by the bay to head down to San Diego to see my cousin Kelly, his wife Jen, and their 3 year old...little Chloe Cooper. We had a great time relaxing, and we went to the Miramar Marine Corp Air Show. It was awesome; highlights include all sorts of fighter jets and my favorites the Blue Angels again! Kelly is a Navy Seal so he explained everything; he is so cool, and his stories are incredible. It was so nice to be with family. Cooper Girls. Chloe is so smart! She amazed me all weekend, and she is the best cuddler. I want a 3 year old!
I left San Diego and headed up Hwy 1 the Pacific Coastal Highway. It literally follows the coastline the entire state of California. In general, the further north I traveled the more beautiful it became. This is the view in Malibu from Pepperdine's campus.. I can't even imagine going to school there! Other highlights of cities: Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, San Simeon (Hearst Castle), Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco....
I stayed Sunday night in Morro Bay; early this morning I woke up and took a stroll down to the coast. This is the historic 'Morro Rock'. It is huge!
Somewhere along the PCH
Elephant Seal Vista Point. Apparently they are always at this stretch of sand. They mate and raise their young here too.. man are they loud. According to the plaques around the point, most of the seals present this time of year are the 'juveniles'. The adults (male and female) will start coming back around Dec 1 to start the mating season.
Isn't this breathtaking?
The Mission at Carmel.
'The Lone Cypress' in the the 17mile Drive of Pebble Beach. These Cypress are all over north California. This tree has lasted on its perch for over 250 years.
Final Stop of the day was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the only exhibit that actually allowed flash photography, therefore it's the only one I grabbed. I would love to show you the octopus! It was actually really gross looking.. but I learned that they can taste with their suckers, and they can distinguish between different humans. Also, they all have individual and distinct personalities; and the color of their skin changes to depict their mood! Those were my favorite facts. The aquarium was just fabulous. There was a tank with a great white shark and bluefin tuna weighing in at close to 600 pounds!! I have never seen anything like it.

What better way to end a road trip than to come home to San Francisco! I am so grateful for the opportunity to explore this beautiful part of our country. It is breathtaking and unreal. I would highly recommend it... I can't wait to drive a bit more north!

The Marina

San Francisco is full of little neighborhoods. My area is called the Marina. It is safe and relatively clean and so beautiful! I am about a block away from this street.. Marina Street. It runs along the SF Bay. I run along it.. beautiful
Just a shot from the GG. I walked across it yesterday (through the middle of this cloud)!

Fleet Week and Ferries

Fleet Week is part of the Red Bull Air Races. These races happen all over the world, and the only time they are in the US this year was San Fran this weekend. Pilots from all over perform the 'course'. They have these blow up cone type things (see the white above). The planes fly in and out of them twirling and rotating as they pass through the middle of the cone. This took place right over the SF Bay with the Golden Gate in the background. What a fun community event! The afternoon was complete with a 45 minute performance by the US Navy Blue Angels. I don't think I could ever tire of watching them. Someone did a great job on the soundtrack as well. Everything from U2 to Collective Soul to Travis Tritt. I felt so proud to be an American. I was thrilled.
I like this pic because you can see the big screen TV across the Marina with the city in the background. This is my neck of the woods... the Marina! I will post pics of that later this week.
This is the Ferry Building where the ferries come in and out. Today they had a huge Farmer's Market outside, and inside are specialty shops; ie mushrooms, cheese, herbs, tea, bread, oysters.. all have their own shop! Delicious. Rachael Ray did a great job including Acme bread in her 'Tasty Travels' review.

On Life

I love my team. Cards are 2 up on the Padres in this series. It's the October clean slate club, I suppose, and they are doing well with that! In general, life is good. How are you? Know that this entry is a combo of over-tired, sentimental, still out-of-my-comfort-zone, stream of conciousness thoughts. Usually when I am at the point that requires Ben and Jerrys, I wouldn't post.... but here are some of my thoughts from the last few weeks! I worked a full week of nights this week which I have not done in 13 months. I have not missed it one single bit. I've had a constant Headache since Monday and in the last 96 hours, I've worked 40 and slept 15..whew! My body does not work well in this setting! Glad it's a temporary thing. I don't even know why I am complaining about it. I have everything to be grateful for, and I work with people daily who remind me of that. Working with oncology patients is the most humbling thing I have ever done... and it is just one small piece of oppression that this world suffers through. I can't help but think of what I have experienced in my 2 years of nursing mulitplied by a whole world of illness and suffering. Our world is so broken but so beautiful. I appreciate so those in my life who consider the whole picture like that too! I appreciate so much those who get life and stop to think about their blessings occasionally. San Fran has much more of a 'travel nurse' popluation than Boston; talk about an interesting group. I find them to be a pretty demanding group of heavy partiers that say f*$k every other word. Is that a weird stereotype?! So meeting all sorts of new people sometimes makes you even more thankful for your already-set amazing group of friends and family. I still find UCSF to be a bit behind the times, but I enjoy learning the quirks in the system and meeting new, passionate nurses. The staff on 11Long (my floor) are very helpful and engaging which is wonderful. I am enjoying this experience thus far, and much looking forward to the day where it feels like my daily life instead of this weird unknown akward moment! I have Friday and Saturday off with many intentions of great exploration and hopefully some good running (my official 2nd week of training has been a bit slow). I am sure that if you are reading this you are in my thoughts and prayers! Take care. Oh, and please enjoy these couple of pics of the Pac ocean from last weekend. Very gloomy but majestic and romantic.

Guster is for Lovers

I LOVE GUSTER! Went with some friends of friends from out east to the Guster concert in Berkeley last night. Berkeley is the epitome of a left wing college town. (No surprise there). The show was just wonderful. They played every song I could hope for! Other events of the weekend include Golden Gate Park, Bridge to Bridge 7K (benefiting Northern Cal Special Olympics), and some time at the Pacific Ocean. Pics to follow this week most likely. Another highlight of the weekend was catching up with friends. I was truly blessed with great phone conversations which just warmed my heart. One more thing- Claire and Carrie both turned 25 this week. Happy Birthday girls! I remember our 21st birthdays like they were yesterday! (Believe it or not). Time flies, and I am so grateful for you.