These first two weeks of summer have been crazy, so so crazy... Sorry for my lack of a better vocabulary, but I'm so sleep deprived right now that my thought process has been diminished to that of a 3rd grade.  why am I up then, you may ask? and I would answer,  I don't really know... I guess it's just that so much has happened in these past two weeks, I feel the unsettling need to jot it all down, document it somehow, remember it you know? Its been those kind of weeks...

So now I'll attempt to reflect with photos & words
(photos that,sorry, aren't the best because a. they were taken on my crappy not iphone, and b. because they were in the heat of the moment..)

-A first day out of school bonfire in my backyard, with wonderful people who like to have shopping cart races in parking lots, and drink grape cool aid. Oh and who without any shame, profess their love for 4 Non Blondes- Whats up and belt out the lyrics with me

- A bbq at an old friend's house turned into yet another bonfire where I tasted the best salsa on the face of the planet as well as viewed the ceremonial burning of a school year's worth of homework... very therapeutic

-Being invited by a sweet friend to an amazing Cambodian family bbq where it felt like I was being transported into the deep south. Complete with cold beer, rickety bikes, huge vegetable gardens and old homes on roaming plots of land... she lived in an area called "Sleepy Hollow" . enough said? 

Later, for a fathers day dinner, we went to a little bbq restaurant called Johnny Rebs, recommended by my sweet friend of course, where the southern feel of the day was amplified by a thousand. It was like a southern vortex in the middle of southern California. It was amazing. 

-The Summer Solstice:

 Spent at the 2nd street Stroll and Savor with an amazing group of friends laughing and eating and enjoying the great scene. My favorite Solstice yet. When our tickets ran out, we skipped over to a wonderful uber-modern playground (those playgrounds are quite impressive now) where we spun and jumped and laughed like crazed children... When night rolled around we made our way over to the beach, and kicked off our shoes, dipped our toes into the soft sand and plunged into the ocean... It was so warm and wonderful and we splashed around and screamed and went crazy...It was beautiful. Everything was a pale blue color under the crescent moon, and the city lights were shining in the background.  The beach seems to be even more beautiful at night

-My first couple weeks of my new internship:

(visiting the construction site of the building we are renovating)

I'm one lucky girl. I love my new job. My funny coworkers, my fabulous boss, the envirorment, my duties. a few highlights: my first project was to take photos of murals around the city, and my next major project is planning a party where yes, the mayor is invited. Oh, and they even provide exercise balls for us to sit on at our desks if we should decide that we want to strengthen our cores while answering phone calls

- Getting my eyebrows threaded in little india town, then going out for vegetable masala and chai tea with one of my best friends.

Then making a huge mistake of buying the Indian version coca cola soda (a.k.a. a Thumbs Up) solely because I heard Liz Gilbert write about it in Eat, Pray, Love. It tasted like sugary, bubbly, toilet water... those unfortunate indian children

-Celebrating one of my best friends birthday with a semi-successful surprise party planned by her mom. We went bowling for hours and told each other tons of secrets...because really, what is bowling without secrets?After that point, the night seemed to escalate into crazier and crazier events...We walked around her city afterwards where we sipped out of old-fashioned glass soda bottles, decorated random city landmarks with streamers and confetti, jumped over fences, looked at the stars, went a little wild on freeway bridges... we may have ended the night with a moonlit skinny dipping session...Maybe it was the soda? 

(sorry for the blurry photos, they seem to resemble the night) 

-a family picnic where my cousins and I formed some kind of Filipino army and spent an hour trying to hit my brother with a water balloon. we failed of course, my brother is a super human ninja. 

and O M G. 

we had the privilege of  viewing one of the great cultural phenomenons of our time. 

**LARPING!! **

They came marching into the park and began their battle before anyone knew what hit them. Clad with armor, swords and shields made out of cardboard... I was speechless. 

All I got was this fuzzy cell phone video. 

Summer, ,
so far you have been weird and beautiful and wild and glorious...everything that I love.