Hello, dear readers! Happy New Year!
Let's revisit my Great Vacation list and see how much I have accomplished! Well, Italy was great. Cold, rainy, and sick (Well, I was sick. Italy was not). Beautiful place. Rolling hills. Tuscany was beautiful! So, I've only been at half capacity this week. But, let's recount all the fun I've had:

[X] Watched Garden State and ate hotpot. Great movie. Great food.
[X] Spent the day with Jason. Sushi House, Berkeley Bowl. Bought a new Cal t-shirt. Wanted to get the Cal t-shirt with Calvin (a la Calvin and Hobbes) peeing on a BCS logo, but I didn't.
[X] Stuffed mushrooms and made a big piece of yummy beef with Bev
[X] Chili and cornbread, knitting, Lost, and Alias with the greatest gals in the world.
[X] Lunch in the City with Mary. It was actually sunny and blue in SF! Shopping. Keeping Mary from going back to work. Talking about people on the special school bus
[X] Brunch with Allen.
[ ] Wedding Tour 2005 kick-off with Jason & Marcia's wedding tomorrow. Can't wait. Will be GREAT

And from my previous list with 2 weeks left still:

[X] Hang out with my family - Could still do more of this, though.
[1/2] Hang out with friends, A LOT. Knitting, watching Gilmore Girls, drinks, dinners, lunches, coffee, movies, bowling, anything! - We've only just begun...
[1/2] Hang out with Jason - Not nearly enough..
[X] Sleep - 10 hours a night is G-R-E-A-T
[ ] Apply for fellowships/jobs for fall - Do i hafta?
[ ] Catch up with Chanthip - I think I missed her...

Things that still need to happen:
[ ] Fight Club and Braveheart with Bev, so that we can be on Allen's list of friends again.
[ ] Seeing Jen and Maria in Napa
[ ] Sitting around more with the girls
[ ] Seeing Janet
[ ] More time with the fam
[ ] Movies movies movies: Ocean's 12, Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda. Anyone wanna go with me?
[ ] Falafels! Indian food! Mexican food! Chinese food! Korean food!
[ ] Dancin'
[ ] Double dating
[ ] Finishing my 2 books in progress: Siddhartha and the Namesake
[ ] Knitting

ok. that's it. boring.

HOME!!!!! (warning: boring post)

It's great to be home!!! I've been home for less than 24 hours, but I've done so much already! Went to Superbowl with Allen straight from the aeroport. Ran into my sister there. How random. Went to see B-ev. She made us eat cookies. They were yum. Good to sit around with friends, feeling comfortable, talking about nothing and everything, planning future hangouts! Dinner with the fam. Beautiful flowers from Jason(!) . Went to Christmas in the Park (!!) with some of Allen's friends. Went and looked at the ice skating rink at Downtown Ice. It was nice..but super crowded. Maybe I'll get to iceskate in January or something! Watched White Chicks. It was funny. super random. I was so tired, though, that I don't remember much of it.

I can't explain what it's like...this sense of home. Of belonging. Of knowing. Of loving.

Off to italy! YUM! Have a Merry Christmas and a very Hapy New Year!

It's going to SNOW! Just in time for me to see it and then escape to sunny California for a month! YAY!

ten random things about me:
10. I love Italian food.
09. I want to take piano lessons again and learn how to play the harp
08. I love changing weather: fall, spring…0
07. I ran into some friends from Cal at the top of the Eiffel tower
06. I love a little verbal sparring
05. My voice goes up in pitch when I talk to strangers
04. I own too much stuff (read: junk)
03. I’m a crazy multi-tasker. Cooking, phone, email, work, IM, read (ok, not ALL at once)
02. My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby
01. I use food/cooking to show people that I love them

nine places i've visited:
09. Troy, Michigan (where I was born)
08. Troy, France (pronounced like twa)
07. Paris…and Paris…and Paris….
06. Washington, DC
05. Banff and Lake Louise. The most beautiful piece of nature I have ever laid my eyes upon
04. A lot of national parks as a kid with my family: Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Bryce, Zion, Jasper, Yellowstone…I’m sure there are more. I heart national parks
03. Park City, Utah
02. Baltimore (am I just visiting? Maybe)
01. Tiburon

eight things i want to do before i die:
08. Raise a family
07. Get married
06. Take a big risk
05. Make sure the people I love know that they are loved
04. Learn to sing better
03. Drive across the country
02. Go to Greece
01. See my sister be so successful

seven ways to win my heart:
07. Be a good listener
06. Love your mother
05. Be a loyal friend
04. Verbal spar with me
03. Give great hugs
02. Know that love is a scary thing, but be willing to take those chances
01. Be yourself, no frontin’

six things i believe in:
06. old friends are the best friends
05. no regrets. You are where you’re at..and that’s that.
04. it’s never too late. Just do it.
03. it’s all about heart..intentions..motivation…
02. cheap-ass weddings (ha!)
01. God

five things i'm afraid of:
05. Earthquakes
04. Losing control while driving in the snow
03. Losing control
02. Being left
01. Giving my heart to someone

four of my favorite items in my bedroom:
04. My reading chair and the associated pink/red napping blanket
03. Photo of my family
02. Henry, my teddy bear
01. Down comfoter

three things i do every day:
03. Talk to Jason
02. Eat
01. Think about my mom

two things i'm trying not to do right now:
02. my clinical epidemiology reading
01. my epidemiology of HIV work

one person i want to see right now:
01. y'all know who...

We are a house of true Bears.

Well, Eva and I are. I have not watched a Cal football game with O since the Cal-UCLA game. Eva is awesome. Eric should be so proud.

During the game today:
"Those Texas people [fans who drove to the Cal-S. Miss game] make me so mad! They’re not as good. They should just suck it up!" - Eva.

SO AWESOME.

Where was Olivia? not home. Haha. I'm so busted for ratting her out. But, Karen, this is for you!