San Francisco Pride

Today was San Francisco PRIDE! I drove down to the city on my motorcycle on Saturday. I spent the afternoon with my friend Brandon. That evening, we went out to the "Pink Party" which is essentially one huge party up and down the Castro district. The streets are blocked off and everyone is walking around in the street and going to and from the bars and snack shops. We stayed mostly at the Cafe and also hit up Hot Cookie for Brandon's favorite M&M cookies and I had a peanut butter fudge bar. It was so much fun being able to drink and have fun in the Castro and then just walk to Brandon's place a few streets away.

Saturday morning came all to quickly and I had to get ready for marching in the parade. Having my motorcycle in the city was wonderful. I drove Brandon and me down to the end of Beale street and parked my bike there. Just a few blocks up was where the Sonoma State University float was waiting to start. I had an absolute blast handing out sunglasses and beads to the crowd! Adam wore the Sonoma State mascot head "Lobo" the Seawolf. He did an awesome job of dancing and getting the crowd going. The parade went by so quickly, as a participant. At the end, I found Brandon and we walked around the Civic center and watched the crowd for a while before I had to head back home to Sonoma county for Stefanie and Janina's 24th birthday BBQ. It was a fun weekend!

100 Miles

One of my goals for running was to run over 100 miles in a month. This June, I finally realized this goal. After back to back jogging days this month (except Sunday) and trying not to miss any work day jog or Saturday run, I finally did it! As of the 25th of June, I was at 106 miles! There's still a few days left in June, so I'm shooting for 125 miles. We'll see if I make the new goal. I'm still unsure about the Santa Rosa Marathon in August- but if I do it, it will be a realization of my utmost jogging aspiration; jogging 26.2 miles at once.

Katie's Wedding Day

Today was a busy day! I started off the day meeting Joe at Starbucks for coffee. It was nice catching up with him. He was really excited for the Britney Spears concert next weekend in Portland. Then I went to PF Changs in BODO to have lunch with my friends Kris, Kimberly, Mandy and Jami. It was nice just chatting and hearing how things were with everyone over a delicious lunch! All too soon the lunch hour was up and I headed home to get just a few more hands of hearts in with my parents. Then I got ready for Katie & Tim's Wedding! When I got there Jennifer and Justin were already there, with camera in hand. Most of the guests I knew from Esthetic Evolution that weekend. It was so nice seeing Katie's family and friends come together to support them in their new union. Katie's father walked her through the crowd and handed her off to Tim. The officiator rang a gong three times and then light some paper on fire ceremoniously, attuning the space around them. They each said their vows and before I knew it they were kissing and smiling for the cameras.

A beautiful kiss! I love you both so VERY MUCH!!! I'm looking forward to our upcoming yet-to-be-planned trip in Northern California somewhere amongst the redwoods.

That night I picked up Joe and we went to Edwards 22 Cineplex to catch the Green Lantern! It was amazing. Stood up to all the hype. I'm going to go watch it again as soon as I can! What a fun, relaxing, connected weekend I had in Boise. I'm very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Esthetic Evolution

This weekend I flew to Boise for several fun events, the first of which was Esthetic Evolution on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. This was my third time attending. First time in 2008, second time in 2009. I missed 2010 but was back for 2011! Before heading up I stopped by to see my friends Matt and Jimmy, then headed over to Shannon's house for a jog along the Columbia Village / Surprise Valley cliff. We got in a good four miles and it was wonderful catching up with her!

I drove up to Twin Springs resort which is past Lucky Peak and Arrowrock Dams in my Dad's explorer loaded up with an air mattress, camping supplies and enough beverages to down an ox. The first night was perfect because I had a few drinks, talked with random people and danced until the bars close (that's about as late as I can stay up). I woke up Saturday morning with my camera neatly hanging from the clothing hook. A bottle of empty water next to me. My car keys next to the water. My shoes were on a plastic bag in the back seat. Perfect. Had a nice day walking around the campsite. Katie and I walked up the hill a bit to get a picture of the camp end to end.

On the far right is the main stage and on the far left is the second stage. It was the first year where it was overcast and cloudy for one of the days. Normally it's so hot you can't stand to sleep past 8am.

Saturday night was a total blast! Jay made a fire show for Jessica's birthday complete with led balloons. They were also strung up in a row of hundreds of balloons and were atop the nearest hill. I got up bright and early Sunday morning and headed back to Boise for Father's day. It was a wonderful weekend with Katie, Tim, Aaron, Shawn, Tashauna, Jay, Jessica and all the other party goers.

Chuck Visits Sonoma - Again?

Yeah, I'm as confused as you are on this one! For the second time in only two months my little brother was back in Northern California. HaHa. It's really not confusing, and he's really not here just to see me. He and my co-worker and good friend Emily are now dating! Awesome! Emily already had plans arranged for a concert this Saturday night. So Chuck and I got to go to the City (specifically in the Castro) for some food, drinks and a night out on the town. We had dinner at my favorite restaurant, the Sausage Factory. I snapped a picture of him because his eyes were as wide as saucers. He said it himself, it was "so weird seeing so many gay couples". The only two women in the restaurant were helping seat guests. All the customers were gay men.

After dinner we hit up a few of my favorite places- the Lookout and the Cafe. I had some good drinks and enjoyed the music. It was really cool hanging out with my brother in the Castro for the first time.

National Running Day

June 1st is National Running Day. I wasn't able to jog with my co-workers at lunch like we would normally do- we all had other plans. After work, I went and got a hair cut, then got groceries. When I got home I decided to go for a jog. I tried to get Emily to come along for a short four mile jog, but she still has sore legs so couldn't go. I started out and ran down a long path behind the house. Then decided to go to the expressway (there are beautiful pine trees all up and down it). Then I thought, well maybe I'll just jog over to Sonoma State. By then, I thought "Well, if I jog further south around the park and then meander back...I might be able to go a half marathon". So that's what I ended up doing, in honor of National Running Day, I ran a spur of the moment half marathon. NICE!