I would say the month without a credit card was a rousing success. It’s nice to know that I can survive, hell throw a HUGE ASS PARTY, using only cash. It just meant that I usually had large sums of money on my person, which tends to make me nervous. But sometimes I would keep different amounts in different wallets. I think in the future I’d like to use my credit card for large purchases, and maybe gas (which I guess IS a large purpose nowadays), and try to use cash more.

So July is going to be double duty. First off, I’m tackling something that I’ve become rather dependent on in the last few months: caffeine. I could easily blame the late-night boyfriend for this one, but the truth is, I’m a big girl and I can go to bed whenever I want. I just don’t. There’s also the whole enjoyment of coffee in the morning for me: I come to work, I get my coffee, I sit and read my email and news. This morning I tried it with herbal mint tea. This may work. The big test will be about three in the afternoon, when I usually have a soda when times are rough. It’s really too bad that most caffeine free sodas make me gag (except for root beer. Damn, now I want a root beer).

As for the second bit, it’s something I’ve lifted from kfan. I’ve had a long standing rule about televisions, phones and computers in bedrooms, but recently, they’ve snuck in. I think someone might call before I fall asleep, I leave my cell phone on my nightstand. I’ve taken to watching Venture Brothers tucked in, and my laptop is found on the floor next to the bed more nights that I can count. This is NOT helping me sleep. I stay up late, saying “Oh, I’ll just check this one more time” or “I’ll just play one more round of Scramble.*”

So, to sum up, July is the month without caffeine and the laptop in my bedroom.**
* This is nearing a serious addiction. I’m serious.
** There is an exception. I really mean this on school nights. Trevor and I have a long-standing tradition of watching Infomania in bed together on Friday nights. I’m not willing to sacrifice that. But not during weeknights!

Bedroom Wall, originally uploaded by maceelaine.

I have a lot of art, it’s true, but nothing looked right in the bedroom. I struggled for a long time trying to find how to brighten the room a little (I get almost no outside light), and make it more… you know, ME.

Yes, wall decals are very trendy. But they’re also an easy way to make an entire room look happier. I am very satisfied. And the part that took the longest was Trevor and I moving around the little poofs, trying to figure out where they looked best without looking too ‘placed.’ Because even when I try to put things up randomly, they look equidistant and arranged. Gah.

There’s also a nightstand now! I want to put a plant on it, but first I have to find a plant.

The wall decal was bought on etsy, here. Nice people, good video for application, and speedy delivery.

DSC_0305, originally uploaded by ozreiuosn.

I am a total sap, its true. I’m so glad Oz captured this, though. I love this picture.

So, when I gave Trevor my number, I made some joke about traditionally waiting three days to call. Which he took at face value. It remains to be seen if he thought I was serious, or if he just thought it would be funny. I turn my cell phone off during work hours, so for three days I would nonchalantly* check my phone during lunch and directly out of work.

Finally, Wednesday, I get out of work, and there’s a message that starts with “Hi Mace, this is Trevor, the short order cook.” I recently found the page in the notebook I carry in my purse that has where I wrote down his number. With a little heart.

Man, I’m even making myself sick. But just one more, and this story is done. Well, this part of it.

* This is, of course, a lie.

So when it’s one in the morning, and you’ve just gotten back from a rather late night dinner with your beloved, and you’ve been drinking, and you find a slug just in side your front door, WATCH WHERE YOU SWING YOUR HEAD when you throw it out the door. Because the door frame HURTS. IMMENSELY.

I am using this as my excuse as to why I am still in bed at twelve thirty on a Saturday. I’m going to go back to watching Venture Brothers, thank you very much.

So, out of (bored) interest, I thought I’d check out who else tags their posts with ’squish.’ In MY world, squish is a word describing the general melty and happy feeling, usually (but not limited to ) dealing with love and relationships.

So I ended up here. (nothing NSFW)

I guess I forgot that squish actually means something to other people. And by people, I mean foot fetishists.

Sigh.

DSC_0757, originally uploaded by ozreiuosn.

Ah, Pride. I do love a good parade. And people having an extremely good time. I met Oz and Angela for the parade and to wander around afterwards. Oz took the wonderful photo above moments after I literally ran into a large hairy man who was very nice and gave me a rather lengthy hug when I apologized. It’s one of my favorite pictures of me.

As is usually the case, after a few hours I suffered from too many people and too much sun. I had only recently moved to San Francisco, and hadn’t used the Muni system that much, but I knew that to get home, I could take any train EXCEPT the N. As I came down the steps of the Civic Center, there was a train about to leave, so I hopped on, and damned if it wasn’t the freaking N.

I had received a call earlier in the day from Tanya, letting me know she and several of our friends would be picnicking in the park. I was heading her way, and didn’t feel like wrapping my brain around how to get home just yet, so I called to make sure they were still there. Tanya was pleased that I could make it, and with a very specific pause, said, “Trevor’s here, too.”

Oh jeez. I had been in the sun, my hair was a mess, and I wasn’t sure if I had any makeup on. Plus, I was dead tired. But I headed on over anyways, and had a lovely time laying in the shade.

(I took this one)

Trevor and I were very pleasant and talkative, but it almost seemed like we were doing what we could not to touch each other, which confused me. Being Mace, I started to worry. Was last night a fluke? Had he changed his mind? Had I somehow in the last 15 hours made a horrible impression? (It can get very strange in my brain.)

After dinner (my plan to go home straight from Pride totally shot, it being now SIX HOURS after I planned to be home), I knew it was time to get back to my house. I said my goodbyes, and was about to walk out the door without even hugging Trevor when he grabbed my arm, swept me up, and gave me a hell of a kiss right in front of everyone.

I walked home in quite a daze.

(courtesy of Nomi)

(He still didn’t call for three days.)

, originally uploaded by nomi maybe.

Despite our best attempts at lallygagging, Tyler and I arrived at Tanya’s birthday party pretty early. I have to admit, I was very nervous. I had been not-so-subtly getting facts about Trevor all week. I thought I has been sly, but in retrospect, not really at all. The night before, at Jenny’s graduation party, Tanya had basically announced to the entire room that I would be making out with her roommate the next evening. Such pressure!

As luck would have it, Trevor opened the door. I think this took us both by surprise. There was a pause, and then, “Oh. Hi.” I quickly ducked out, mumbling something about seeing if the girls needed help getting ready. Luckily, they did, so I could calm down. (He’s just that handsome, you know?)

Trevor kept himself busy, making potato chips from scratch in the kitchen (he’s handy that way). This meant that if I wanted to talk to him, I had to go over there. So instead, I sat in the corner and had a couple of drinks. Sarah insisted that he kept peeking into the living room to see where I was, but I laughed off the idea*.

The whole nerves-and-peeking ordeal was so reminiscent of middle school that it made me laugh. I finally got up off my butt and went over to talk to him, but he kept getting distracted by drunken party goers demanding more salty snacks. I assumed he wasn’t interested anymore, despite what all of my friends said.

Finally, the potatoes were gone. And he sat down next to me. He had to jump up again pretty soon afterwards to help with the night’s party star. We couldn’t find another friend of ours, who was sending me text messages that made no sense. (Invokatu!) It was starting to get comical. I was starting to get tired.

Tyler had to walk back to the Kezar lot to get his car, so Trevor kept me company out front. Lucky for me, but unlucky for Tyler, the attendant was MIA, so I got some extra time alone with the boy.

I said something about how cold it was, trying to make conversation. Trevor wrapped his arms around me, pulled me in close, and kissed my forehead. I looked up in surprise, and he gave me the first in a year of sweet wonderful kisses**.

And then he didn’t call me for three days.

*She was totally right. In fact, he used cooking as an excuse to hide his nerves about talking to ME.
** With Tanya spying on us from her bedroom window, evidently.

Sutro Gardens / Sutro Baths, originally uploaded by maceelaine.

I had locked myself in the house all last week, cleaning, trying to figure out how to hang art without putting huge holes in the wall, and trying to remain calm. But all went well, and on Sunday afternoon, I was ready to NOT BE IN MY HOUSE.

Inspiration struck, and my favorite boy and I headed over to the edge of the city, where it was a little windy and definitely not hot. It felt good to stretch my legs and feel the sunshine, and take some pictures for the first time in ages.

More photos can be found here.

Dear Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale,

Photo by Pepsipimp here. Excellent work.

You are the best soda I’ve had in years. You completely knock all those overly sweet brown messes off the shelf. You are light and effervescent, with a good flavor of both ginger and green tea, two tastes that I adore. I can imagine so many hot afternoons in each other’s company. I’ll try and ignore the fact that you have the same amount of sugar and calories as regular sodas, because YOU ARE SPECIAL AND WE ARE IN LOVE.

I bought you for the party this weekend, and all 12 of you are gone. I am sad.

<3,
Mace