the best points for me were:
getting lost on the way up-WITH GPS-so not truly lost, but when i plugged the address in it gave me three routes to choose from. i picked the one with the least amount of miles, but it was the third least popular option. it was 1am and we were somewhere really dark on a two lane road. exactly the type of place a dude with a hockey mask and a chain saw would hang out.
we got there about 2am and crashed pretty fast.
friday we slept in and met up with everyone for a free loaded lunch. we went to hambly studios and met allison kreft the designer.
we hung at the pool for a bit, then went to santana row-this super cool spot in san jose-shopping, etc. emily got some kick ass jeans from anthropologie-i begged her to get them even though they were spendy.
we ate at blowfish, a sushi place with many hot people hanging out. emily and i whispered about how cute the guys were and wished we were single for about five seconds until grace brought us back to reality. just kidding babe, i love you!!!!!
we went home after and i went to ali and cathy’s classes to hang out and talk to people. met some great women and had a good time checking out what everyone was doing.
woke up saturday (late again) got ready, went down for another free loader lunch. then me and emily, grace and elsie went back to santana row in the daytime. for more shopping. the parking garage had drabby puke 70s green brick walls. i was all over them like white on rice. elsie took a bunch of pics of us against them.
we went to the container store and dropped a load. or at least i did. oh and my best friend from high school, jalayne, met up with us and walked around. it was hot! we found a little japanese stationary store (mai do) and had fun in urban outfitters too.
this is where shannon montez showed up, and we went out to dinner at maggiano’s.
dinner was cathy, dan, me, shannon, grace, elsie, carrie, ana cabrera (associate editor of scrapbook answers and friend to emily), emily, ali, and dona (friend to ali).
three bottles of wine and family style italian eating. SO FREAKING GOOD. good conversation. lots of laughing and baudy-ness. my favorite kinda time.
back to hotel. up late talking.
saying goodbye.
sunday morning more goodbyes. after cathy left i had a little sob in the bathroom. its always so hard to say goodbye to her. at least emily was there with me still.
THEN we drove to meet jalayne (HS BF) and drove into berkeley. hung out on telegraph ave for a bit.
had lunch at the grateful cafe where our waitress was either IMPERIALISTICALLY high on X or really really stoopid. we had to order our meals like this "i am joyous" "i am ravishing" etc. cool in theory, but a little silly. it was a raw place. organic, etc. i was so out of my element. but two of our dishes were amazing. (one tasted like rotten garbage.)
at one point the waitress floats over to us and asks, glassy eyed "i want to give you guys your space but would you mind if i asked you our question of the day?" sure we say. "what do you want to be remembered for?" i look at emily. ummmm i say. ummmmm. and emily perfectly responds "we need some more time to think." as glassy eyes walks away emily says to me " i want to be remembered for punching the irritating waitress." and i say " i want to be remembered for taking my kids to mcdonalds everyday." i so wanted to tell her i had mcdonalds for breakfast. lol
the best part of all was when the people at the next table ordered. the woman ordered "i am insightful……." and our waitress says, breathy and high, "ohhh good choice for you. you are SO insightful."
jalayne and i collapsed into a ball of giggles at that one.
so then we were going to go to the city (sf) and shop at h&m, but it was 5pm and we had a long drive so we went home to drop jalayne off. but of course had to hit up target and mcdonalds just once more to balance out the trip.
and i just have to say that this girl:
i love. i am so lucky. she is wonderful to me, and for me. she makes me happy. and she makes me feel young. and special. and she will eat raw vegan with me for one meal, and then cow down on mickey d’s later on. she makes me feel good about myself, she tells me to embrace my womanly body, and she most of all accepts me. all of me. no questions asked.
i love you emily. thank you for a GREAT weekend.
WOW
that was worth the wait
what a beautiful trip!
:)thanks for sharing
What a great friendship. And what an awesome trip!! These moments are to be cherished and scrapbooked, of course!
I am trying so hard not to be green with envy!! (Similar shade to those walls in your photos! LOL!) What a most fabulous weekend, with fabulous shopping, friends and experiences!!! Wow! So glad you had such a great time!
i’m all teary eyed just reading about you and em’s friendship. i think we all crave a friendship like that. lucky you.
beautiful pictures.
love, jill
Thanks for sharing your great weekend…what fun! At my age (64) I don’t do weekends like that anymore, but I sure do enjoy funky shopping trips with my daughters when they can get away for the day. Do it while you can!!!
loved this blog entry — especially the tribute to your AWESOME friend — you are truly blessed to have someone like that in your life
Wow…sounds like such a blast! The green wall is that perfect shade of “avocado” and your story about the grateful cafe has me laughing still!
Completely. Totally. AWESOME. Thanks for sharing your fun weekend with us. Sounds like a blast. I can only hope that such fun with my own friends lies in my future.
SO great to connect with you in SJ Tara!! Sounds like you did Nor Cal right!! Glad you had fun!!
Lisa
Em sounds like a great friend, you are blessed!
wow- sounds awesome… :)
What a wonderful trip and what a wonderful friend you have. I wish I was so lucky to have a great friend like that!!
Well thanks a lot…now my cute make up is ruined because of you and Emily.
I’m so happy that you got lucky enough to find a friend like her, AND happy for her that she found you.
What struck me the most is that she makes you feel good about you and who you are, and your gorgeous woman/mother of four gorgeous kids body.
I’ve never had that in my 34 years of life. It made me feel so sad for me BUT soooooo happy for you. I hope you get to enjoy that friendship for many many years to come (pause for more kleenex).
I like you a LOT. And I will not rest until I have enough cash for a trip to Cali to be photographed by the woman I know will very soon be recognized as one of the greates photographers in this country.
Thanks for your post.
Your biggest fan,
Ana Magloire.
Sorry for the loooooong post but I had to.
sounds amazing…it is awesome to have great friends!! :) You have some rather awesome pictures there. :)
Thank you for sharing! Very inspiring! Next time I travel, I’ll be open & free like you. And your friendship with Emily… you truly are one lucky girl. Friendships should be uplifting! I met Em when she taught at Oasis one time, she is really nice & funny.
You know how they say you should laugh some everyday? Well, I didn’t expect to get my biggest laugh of the day reading your blog. I just expect to get inspired by your BEAUTIFUL photography every day. Anyway, the line about wanting to be remembered for punching the irritating waitress was priceless. I laughed out loud! Thanks for a great laugh and for sharing the always great pictures and your stories. It IS great to get away with the girls, and to have girls to depend on. Friendships are priceless!
Wow.. that sounds like an awesome freakin trip, loads of girlie fun.. ( have to say I am a bit jealous ) You are so lucky to have found some really wonderful friends. They truely are a gift in life..
You inpire me more every time I read your blog.. sounds kinds of cheesy I am sure.. but man, you seem to have your S_ _ _ together and with an awesome personality to boot.
E
Love the pix in Berkeley. I grew up there and haven’t visited Telegraph Avenue in a long time…such a funky, weird place. So fun to hear about your adventures. I am glad you have totally awesome friends…I can just imagine what their blogs say about your friendship to them. :-)
Sigh… all these scrapbook celebs right in my own backyard and I missed them (I’m a block from Santana Row.) Glad you all had such a wonderful time here. =)
I am so jealous of your weekend away. It looks like you had the best time ever.
I’m going to be taking a class taught by Emily in August at my lss. I’m so excited because I love her work and think it will be a lot of fun. I’ve never taken a class taught by a “famous scrapbooker” so that is kind of exciting.
I’ve snooped onto your blog by referal to check out your AMAZING photography….and yes it is AMAZING. You seem like such a fun person. I just wanted to say that the compliment to Emily was very cool. She seems like such a cool person and if she helps you feel wonderful about yourself, just way you are, than she is even better. Have a great day!
i am so freaking jealous. looks like you girls had a blast.
smiles,
ria
Definitely a post worth F5’ing for.
Aren’t girlfriends the best!! I loved reading about your trip and all the cool places you experienced. and ….you are just “soooo insightful”!!!! No wonder I come visit your site every day! heehee
what a great weekend you had! i was at cku-a san jose with my sister and i have to say i came away with the same feelings about my sister that you have about emily. my sister and i really connected in a way that hadn’t occurred for a long time. plus she got so excited about scrapbooking that i now have a long-distance scrapbooking bud. thanks for your post.
All women need a friend like that. You are so very lucky!
you may have just had the best girlfriend weekend EVER! I want to be a member of your group. A groupie. that’s me!
What wonderful sounding GIRLY-FRIENDSHIP kind of FUN! Sounds like you all had a FANTASTIC weekend! Nothing like hanging with the girls no matter what it is you are doing. It is grand therapy I tell you, and I am sooooo due! LOL!
Thanks for sharing tara, great fun pictures.
I agree with you, Emily ROCK, have had the pleasure of meeting her a few times.
helle
fun! fun! FUN! Thanks so much for sharing! I am so glad you had an amazing time with great friends, that’s so RAD!
Awesome post…thanks for sharing!
Too cool! I am so glad that you had such a great time and you were with people you love! By the way I think your hair looks just fantastic!
What can I say… but you girls know how to have fun. It was so much fun even just reading about your adventures. This is what scrapping is all about… connecting!! Em is truly an inspiring girl too huh?? xoxo
This post totally made me cry.
YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL> that photo of you and Jalayne… in the cafe. YOU LOOK LIKE SUCH A HOTTIE…. HOT TEEEEE !
You and Emily are obviously angels for each other…. and that is a beautiful thing.
Reading the blogs of all you talented women is so inspiring! Joy creates joy. That is for sure.
Thank you for sharing so beautifully.
Bx
it was so fun reding about your fun time in my neck of the woods!! happy you made it home safely :)
now go scrap it, girl!
Now THAT sounds like absolutely awsome girlfriend time – how wonderful!
i love you. i miss you. thanks for the laughs!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time – the photos are amazing.
Awesome pictures! Love the green wall. Sounds like a very fun time.
What girly fun! I can only hope to have a weekend like this someday… when the world aligns and everyone I know and have fun with can all be in the same place at the same time. I love living through such a fun person – till I can make my own fun.
hey chica…it sounds like a way cool weekend. You sound so refreshed! Those jeans ARE so cute! You were BUSY!!
that was freakin’ awesome!
It sounds like you are surrounded by loving wonderful friends and most importantly that you recognize that and are thankful for them.
Two things:
1. you make everything look fun
2. your hair is too damn cute!
oh yeah, and your photography’s not so bad either…
:)
miss t your hair is a rockin’!
tara, thks for sharing it all with us.
You are so blessed.. to afford the time the $ etc to travel and visit with such awesome ppl.
Soak it all in, then scrapbook.
Tara- love the hair girl!!!
Sounds like a total chick weekend!!! What fun!!!! Girls know how to kick up thier heels and have a blast. looks like you all sure did!
Awwww!! I agree with Sue…..count me jealous and wanting in on that kind of girlfriend fun too. How wonderful that must have been.
TFS
~M
*jealous*
if i ever go to san jose, i am finding that green wall.