Busy Getting Busy... You Know... Or Not.

So it's been a hot minute. Not quite a hot minute, but a little over a month since I've shared any adventures of my time in California. 

There are a few reasons why it's been so long:

1. I was busy doing things so that I'd have interesting things to write about. 
2. I was busy working out. All the time. Six days a week. 
3. My job started expecting more of me, and I became busier than originally anticipated. 

Whatever my terrible excuse, and it truly was nothing short of an excuse, I have a little bit of time to cover in order to update this silly sham of a blog on what I've been up to. 

April ended, I turned a year older, and some family came to visit. 

It was nice.

Shortly afterwards, my friend Sandie and I decided to appear as zombies in Run for Your Lives, the zombie-themed 5k that I originally participated in the previous summer in Pittsburgh. 

We looked awesome. 

We spent a delightful evening in rural Sacramento followed by an even more delightful morning and afternoon chasing runners, being zombie-like, and sweating. It was 98 degrees out. It was totally worth it, we had a good time. And on the way back, we discovered the best sushi in the bay area. I dream about that place. It's nearly an hour away, but I want to go back pretty much every night. 

I crashed my first party! It was a lamb roast. The only weird thing was the tree growing in the shower. But once again, another great time. 

At the tail end of May, I had the busiest Memorial Day weekend ever. Highlights included a trip to beautiful Sonoma...

...which featured one of the most fantastic meals I've had in awhile at a small restaurant called 'Girl and the Fig'...

And a Memorial day spent going to way too many barbecues. More recent adventures included a 1920's-themed party...

And a really lovely trip to explore Chinatown and the annual North Beach Festival...

I've gotten to know a little more about the area, a little more about the city, and I actually like the people that I spend my time with, instead of spending time with them because I don't know anyone else in the area. It's not a large group, but I'm truly appreciative of the people that put up with me here. 

Although some of them are leaving. 

Rachel and Dave, my fantastic first friends here are making their way to Pittsburgh as we speak in order  to make a life in a city with a reasonably-priced housing market (that and the whole exciting new job thing... but... whatever). Those are some folks that I'll definitely miss. Because they understand the Midwestern-y Cleveland-ness that flows through my veins. They understand why grilling is an important fixture of summer, they understand that the best bars are unpretentious, and they both understand and utilize sarcasm. Some of these things are in scarce supply in the area that I'm living now, and I'm worried that this California sunshine and positivity will slowly replace the murky Cuyahoga waters that run through my soul. Losing them to the east sucks, but I think that in Pittsburgh they'll find the happiness that wasn't quite connecting out here. 

Additionally, the previous-entry mentioned friend whose couch I've crashed on, whose fridge I've raided, and whose drunken company I've adored is going to be traveling abroad for several months... but not before asking me to move in (it's not going to happen, but it was sweet of him to ask). 

I'm bummed. I'm just bummed. I know he'll be back soon but I'm stuck here thinking, "There's a person in this state that I'm not related to that loves me enough to want to live me with me... but they're not going to be around until there's snow on the ground back East". He's here until the end of the month... but I guess I'll have to find someone else in the area that considers Drunk Adrienne to be entertaining in the meantime. 

But it's rough. Some of the major people here that ask, "Are you okay?" and mean it are going off to different places. Keeping my spirits up has been hard work, but staying busy helps, and my re-dedication to keep running has done a fantastic job at eating up my free time. This past weekend included my first 9 miler in quite awhile, and shockingly, I didn't feel like complete crap afterwards. 

I know that this writing has been disconnected, sloppy and lacking in style. I promise some better writing on my upcoming vacation. 

Going to go pop a blood blister... running all the time has some interesting side effects.