swan lake

I've become somewhat of an exercise freak as of late. I have my little 5 lb arm weights that I do every night before I go to sleep (that's the only way I can remember to do them!) and have recently started biking with my boyfriend, 10 miles round trip, at least twice a week! We take this awesome trail that passes by 2 great man made lakes. Tons of ducks, geese, coots, squirrlies....and a SWAN! What the heck?! I'm pretty sure a swan isn't native to these parts, so it's pretty interesting! He's been there a few months already, seems to like it. This time we managed to snap some shots of the beauty!





So gorgeous & elegant! Iphones take pretty good photos.



Hee hee!
I'll get some shots of the lake & trail sometime soon before it gets wintery! You can see me in all my biking glory, 40 year old virgin style. Ha!

Her name is Romy, she is a kitty...

...(Sung to the tune of Copacabana....)

Just because she means the world to me, and she's turning 10 this fall, I'm sharing my gorgeous little fluffball with you! Romy (yes, after Romy & Michelle) knows just how to cheer me up. Like a little puppy, she comes running to greet me at the door when I arrive home, she loves to follow me into the bathroom when I pee, and she has the daintiest little meow, except when she's hungry... I have a cat magnet that I found that reads "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy!" Haha, that's totally my kitty.









...and Romy trying her go at modeling. Excellent leg placement!





The story on how I obtained her is pretty neat. When I was 19 (wow, I feel so old!) my friend Herby and I went to the flea market and came across this lady with a FREE KITTENS! sign. My first time living away from home and with no cat, I HAD to get one! She gave us her address and we headed over there a few days later. This woman was *totally* the epitome of "crazy cat lady"!!!! Seriously, her whole house was covered in plastic and there was probably about 20 cats, who had all had kittens at the same time. She said they were all free, except the Siamese, which were only $20. I felt like a kid in a candy store!! I have a weakness for tuxedo cats, and when I saw little Romy, I knew she was the one! My little baby kitty!

Soooo...... SHOW ME YOUR PETS!! Post a photo, I wanna see your babies too!

oxox Jen

Adventures at The Monterey Bay Aquarium!

So we took a day off and headed over to my favorite town Monterey today to check out the Aquarium. I've been going here since I was a kid, and I never get sick of it. Honestly, the best aquarium I've ever been to! I was extra excited this time, since they have a temporary Great White Shark in one of their tanks, along with a new seahorse exhibit! Sea life nerd!

Jellies!



There she is! She's up from San Diego I believe they said. Only about 10 ft. long, and shy, so it was hard to get a clear shot!



The Secret Lives of Seahorses! Look at how HUGE this one is!! Hahaha, jk it's video!



Potbellied seahorse. Looks like someone had too many beers, and passed out! :P



No camera trickery here, this little dude was seriously this bright red!



I matched the seahorses! I've got the blending in thing down.



Seadragon Horse! So mystical and fairy-like!



I'm so stoked that they have Cuttlefish again! They're my favorites! Part of the squid family, they swim funny and have old man mustaches! Love their sleepy eyes too!



Asian River Otters, so cute!



Sheep Crab! This guy was seriously almost the size of a Soccer ball!



They have this awesome rounded walkway that shoots water out every few seconds. I'm totally catching this bitchin' barrel, bro!



I want her job!! Oh, and for those Star Trek nerds..... Star Trek 4 anyone? It's funny how mixed up that movie is. The Aquarium is the "Institute" and they made it right north of San Francisco, which in reality, Monterey is about 2 hours south, haha. movie shot (note SF in the background & whale in the tank) vs. reality (the tank is really super shallow!).



Afterward, still in an adventurous mood, we went and checked out the Wax Museum's "Spirit of Monterey", hahaha. It was pretty ehhhhh, but had some great costumes & a whorehouse!





Random Sea Otter spotting! Grubbin'



Cutest candy storefront ever! On Fisherman's Wharf.



Topped off the night with a gentle rainstorm, and a giant ice cream cone! nom nom nom!



oxox!

Kawaii!

So last Wednesday, my friend Amy and I headed out for vegan sushi (deep fried avacado rolls, mmm!) and to check out the cute new Harajuku "mall" in Japantown. It's a rotating collection of actual Harajuku stores inhabiting one of the buildings in SF. I was impressed by the collections of little cutesy plastic animals, lolita dresses, the wooden platform shoes that I've been dying to own, and super chunky plastic jewelry! Made me feel like I was actually back in Tokyo, just a TAD less crowded, hehe.

The craziness of the actual Harajuku (Takeshita st):



Wall of cute Harajuku photos, and announcements of their SF stay:



Jen the jolly giant!



Making friends:



The parking lot across the street had an awesome Japanese garden photo taking spot! I could almost SMELL the cherry blossoms over the pee in the corner!



"Where's Amy?"



and just for laughs (see this post):



You can check out all the KAWAII adventures of 6%DokiDoki over on Amy's blog!

whoops!

My friend Amy and I were thinking yesterday, it's funny how when everyone turns 18 they think "YES! now I can mutilate my body!" Hordes of embarrassing tattoos and piercings take place shortly after. Luckily, I've always played it safe with mine, no hearts with crowns, no Calvin & Hobbes, or Marvin the Martians. I thought I was slick until I went to Japan....



Cute, right? That's what I thought too! So cute that I had to get a tattoo of the loving pair. What's not to ooooh and aahhh about an adorable mother cat carrying her little kitty??



Too bad it's the JAPANESE VERSION OF UPS!!!!! Yeah, I pretty much got the logo of the most popular Japanese shipping company on my hip! HA! I read that's it's as popular as the Coca Cola logo is in the US. Nice. No wonder when I showed my friends in Japan they all pointed and giggled, in that cute big-eyed KAWAII style face that I love. Oh well, I still think the tattoo is the best! Maybe I'll write the company and become they're new spokes model. ;)

Adventures in Newport, Oregon!

So last month we headed up to Newport to celebrate Eric's dads birthday! Nothing like drinking beer, eating, watching the waves, drinking beer, seeing aquariums, drinking be.... you get the idea. Funny thing is, I don't even like beer! But for some reason, the Rogue brewery (Dead Guy Ale, anyone?) up there always calls my name. How can you NOT want to try Mocha & Chocolate Ale!

So here's some of the highlights from my super fun & relaxing week in (perfectly weathered) Newport, Oregon!

You head to the Rogue Pub and the bartenders hand you out free samples like there's no tomorrow!



Our shots all lined up, before the beer bellies showed:



Giant vats of burrr:



Bruce (the dad) has the BEST view of the beach out the bedroom window!



Working on my hummingbird photographing skills



Karen (Eric's sister) & her son Coal on our dinner cruise boat:



Don't you just want to pet them??



The trees and river were sooo green! I felt like I was in Disneyland



Wino & Beero



The Captain of the ship let me cruise the boat for awhile. Not so wise after a few wines... (I kid, I was sober. I think....was that land I just went over?!)



They caught some crabs for us to check out. No worries, they were released back into the water! Ron & I holding the victim.



Awww, isn't she a cutie?



Took a stop at the Newport Oregon Aquarium. This guy was especially funny. Facing the wall with his trail of poo. I think he was embarrassed.



Puffin!



HELP! I'VE BEEN CAPTURED BY A GIANT SQUID!!



HELP! I'VE BEEN EATEN BY A GIANT SHARK JAW!!



Finding the meaning of life in a huge starfish



"Hey! Who ate all the Cheetos?!" I think I know who!!!



There's also a place about an hour or so south of Newport called Sea Lion Caves. Amazing. You go down an elevator (yes!) in the side of a cliff to check out these silly guys. The stench is like rotting sewage, and it sounds like Mordor from Lord Of The Rings.



Newport is such an amazing seaside town. Easy going and filled with nice folks that seem to know each other. I hit a few quaint thrift stores while in town as well, scored some nice vintage dresses. Unfortunately we didn't have time to skin board or fly any kites this year, there was ZERO wind! Next summer!

oxox.