Une Nuit Parisienne...

A night in the life of the city of light....

I love that there are places in the world that come alive at night - to me it means that there is room in this city for people who aren't exactly like Mr. Nine-to-Five.

Take note, Orange County - take note.

Une nuit Parisienne (Paris by night) from manemos on Vimeo. Courtesy Tralalere!

Oh... and I'm back in Haifa!

Use It Or Lose It...

A bike.

From someplace I forget on the interwebs.

In 2008 my driver's lisence expired. I had every intention of renewing my driving privileges upon return to California - but then I realized that I'd have to hang out with 300 of my closest friends for 6 hours in the mind-boggling bureucratic and maze-like nightmare that is the department of motor vehicles. I decided that I didn't have enough patience for that kind of thing...

Except I've been in southern California for 4.5 weeks. You know - the place where nobody walks? Yeah. That one.

So I dusted off the bike hanging out in my parent's garage and took it for a couple of spins around the neighborhood.

Friends, it appears that I now suck at riding a bike. Oh... I remember how - the adage is true. But I find myself wanting a cushier seat and wondering why (oh why!) is it so hard to peddle this thing!?

Sigh.... I guess I'm not as ready for Copenhagen as I thought, huh?

A Buck Ten...

Yesterday - for those of you not addicted to the weather channel - was the hottest day in the history of Southern California. Okay... so it was the hottest day on record in downtown L.A. An entire 113 degrees!

For those of you not in the Fahrenheit world that is 45 degrees! It was even 108 in San Clemente - and 110 in sunny Mission Viejo.

And I thought that I'd have to spend my whole vacation in a cardigan....

Saba Y Yo.

Naturally Saba and I found ourselves at the buck of star for a mid-evening cuppa reunion... because this is the OC and there's so much going on. Okay - that was out loud. I shouldn't get mad at suburban/lights out by 9 lifestyle - I'm technically its product.

But I'm almost finished packing for my flight home to Israel tomorrow - and I'm actually really happy to be going back. This doesn't mean I won't miss my people - but it's going to be really nice to get back in the swing of things, so to speak.

Out.Loud.

Channeling my inner-Delilah....

Courtesy Le Love.

Tonight's post is dedicated to all of the people who never thought I'd say it... or mean it. You know who you are.

What Women Want...

I had a conversation with my mom this morning... we were trying to make a decision, and it came down to two lines:
"Just tell me what you want."
"Well... sometimes I don't know what I want."

...and this is the sad, bleak truth about so many women. We've been conditioned to not want anything - to not have any desires (beg to differ? I'm getting there.) - and to really be passive participants in our lives. To the point that we don't really know what we want.

The goal is to create a global community of active thinkers [except for advertisers - they're totally cool with the passive and malleable edition. More thoughts on this topic here.] - dynamic participants and agents of change for a better world.... And too many of us "just don't know".

This is why I've begun making lists about the things that are important to me - things I can be really passionate about - in the hope that I can start to recognize patterns of interest and areas I feel confident and capable. Because the fact that have no idea what I want to do is, frankly, daunting and more than a little terrifying.

Am I hoping that Dr. Ross will show up in his fancy doctor's costume, place his electric hands on my heart and BAM! - I wake up with a clearly defined and fulfilling career path? No... I've never really been that in to George Clooney - I know... I'm probably alone in that. But I would love for a little strike of inspiration.

...I think that might just be up to me, though. Clear! [insert little E.R. sound effects here.]

Super Top Secret Ninja Powers...

I got to hang out in the park today with my brother, my folks, my dad's in-town siblings & spouses, my in-town cousins/spouses and their awesome kids - plus 200 of their closest friends, an awesome live band and a giant yellow fin tuna in Laguna Beach for the annual fish fry my uncle hosts.

Image courtesy The Innocent Have Been Changed

But the highlight of the day was a conversation I had with my cousin Kyle's 4 year old son. He was very excited to see that the band playing in the park and a kid on drums (he was maybe 12 or 13 - and really good).

"Look! A kid!

"Yes, cool! Do you think that you would like to play an instrument when you grow up? Maybe the drums or a guitar?"

"No. I'm going to be a super hero."

"Oh yeah? What kind - what will your powers be?"

**After some serious consideration**

"I will be able to eat carbs and not get fat."

Okay - I could be projecting... it's possible that he said CARS (a la the Transformers, or something) and I heard him wrong. Um... the band was loud?

Reunited...

Niloufar, Jean, Aimee, Sanaz

Irvine? Check. Friday night? Indeed. The only thing open until 9:30? Starbucks.

Sigh... I know. 9 freaking thirty. For my international friends: meet the real real OC.

Thankfully I was able to catch up with some super good friends of mine. Cheers!