Colorado and California

I've had an eventful-voyage-filled week. So many miles traveled, I feel like singing Johnny Cash's song: 

I've been everywhere, man.
I've been everywhere, man.
Crossed the desert's bare, man.
I've breathed the mountain air, man.
Of travel I've had my share, man.
I've been everywhere.

In that week of travel, I was on 7 airplanes,3 different airlines. 

The flight attendant instructions were like a continuous mantra: Prepare for takeoff.  Turn off all electronic devices.

Seat belts must remain fastened. Prepare for landing.

However, all that air travel allowed me to visit 3 different cities and 3 different friends. So here's the story...

First Destination: Durango, Colorado. 
Time Spent: 3 nights

Friend visited: The bubbly, city-turned-nature girl and my BFF, Celeste

Favorite places: Carver Brewing (for breakfast), the mountains and the rivers

Description in a sentence: "All good things are wild and free" --Thoreau

Key Words: Genuinely friendly, Healthy,  tranquility, Mother-Earth, Organic, "Energies", "The Universe", Gluten-Free, Vegan, Incense, Bucks, Mountains!
My most frequently repeated sentence: "The people are so nice!"

Second Destination: San Diego, California. 
Time Spent: 3 nights

Friend visited: the lovely witty and loyal Andrea

Favorite places: Azucar, Counterpoint, Hamilton's (THE BEST BEER SELECTION and knowledgeable employees); El Camino; Starlight (cocktails!); Vin de Syrah (decorated like Alice and Wonderland)

Description in a sentence: "I'd rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona"-- Lucile Bluth, Arrested Development

Key Words: : Sunshine and wine, Party!, beauty, appearance, youth, high-heels, out-going, Airplanes, beach bums, chill, surf and  skate, sandy, California-centric (as in thinking there is nothing else but California), "You stay classy San Diego"

My most frequently repeated sentence: "Why would any body leave this place?"

(Azucar: cuban food and pastries. DELICIOUS!)

Vin de Syrah--Take the virtual tour to see it! (decorated like Alice and Wonderland). This place is the most amazingly-themed bar I've ever seen. If you're in San Diego and don't go to this place, I will slap you in the face!

Counterpoint (great wine bar, cute staff)

El Camino (great for drinks. Awesomely garish decorations and atmosphere. Good service wearing cute ruffly, pink skirts. Delicious Aioli and sauces. But the food-food was just okay). So go for cocktails and chips.

 Where's Andrea? See if you can find her.

Third Destination: San Francisco, California. 
Time Spent: 2 nights

Friend visited: the radiant and always enjoyable Ali

Favorite places: Bi Rite (icecream!),Medjool (roof-top terrace); Dosa (South Indian); Cliff House (quite touristy, but great for the scenery. Just go to the lounge bar and get drinks and the popcorn shrimp with lemon aioli. YUM!) 
Description in a sentence: "There's a whole generation with a new explanation. People in motion people in motion" --from the song "San Francisco" by Scott McKenzie.
Key Words: Cultured, diverse, Indian summer, colorful, creative, expensive, progressive,  political, accepting, innovative, young entrepreneurs,  America's European city, hills, bikers, taxi-drivers with american accents, hobos, hipsters, optimistic, Smug-alert!

My most frequently repeated sentence: "I wanna move here!"

Now I know why so many songs were written about California!
  
" Well, I wish I was in Frisco in a brand new pair of shoes/ I'm sittin' here in Nashville with Norman's Nashville blues" -- Gillian Welch "Wasted on the Wayside"


"I'd like to rest/ My heavy head tonight on a bed/ Of California stars/ I'd like to lay my/ Weary bones tonight on a bed of California Stars."--Wilco and Billy Bragg

More than anything, it's great to see 3 of my friends be so bold as to move across the country and find the perfect city for them. That, my friends, brought me a lot of joy.

20 Favorite Arrested Development Episodes

Months ago, my little sister tickled me pink by requesting my top 20 favorite Arrested Development episodes. I couldn't have been happier if she had asked me for real life advice. Full of motivation, I immediately jumped on the project by re-watching each season, believing I could spit out a list within two days of her request. Yet, indecision stopped me in my tracks, as I realized choosing my favorite AD episodes was like choosing between your 53 children. I would chose and then erase, always unsure of my decision. I kept postponing the list of the top 20 until now. Without further ado, here you are lil' sis, dedicated to you, the top 20 AD episodes: