scripps ... 10 years later

margaret fowler garden

most of the people i've met before or after college would never think of going to a college reunion. it's hard to explain how our small women's college, set amidst four other small co-ed colleges, fostered such a strong bond between classmates, to the campus, and to scripps as a college.  sometimes i still find myself trying to describe the reasons for these ties, e.g. such as when i was attempting to explain why i was in fact traveling back to my college, no not my high school, for a reunion. 

was it because it is a women's college? the point it was in our lives? the traditions? the rose garden? the spanish colonial revival style architecture? the people? professors? because ellen browning scripps believed that the "paramount obligation of a college is to develop in its students the ability to think clearly and independently, and the ability to live confidently, courageously, and hopefully?" but usually i'm satisfied knowing that at least the people i share scripps with understand.  everyone has these things, the kind that 'you had to be there' to really get, and scripps just falls into that bucket ...

the claremont colleges:

scripps is the campus in green

i don't even have that many photos from the weekend in claremont, so i'm documenting it with notes while i still remember it.  mostly it was just wonderful seeing so many faces from the class of 2001.  overwhelmingly, i walked away feeling it just wasn't enough time to re-connect, or spend time, with enough people.  but it certainly gave me a chance to see friends i don't get to see very often.

bits and pieces of what the weekend held ...

* wine tasting at a wine shop in the "new" village: perfect way to squeeze in time with holly, nicole, lara and katherine before reunion events.

* quick stop at nana & pa's: it's not a trip to claremont without saying hi to holly's grandparents!

* reunion wine tasting event on the old elm tree lawn:  it wasn't as intimate as the wine tasting event in margaret fowler garden at our 5 year reunion, but the sun was shining and it was gorgeous! wish i'd taken some group photos!

* class of 2001 gathering at back alley pub: surprise drop in visit from an old friend, derik from mudd.  got to catch up with him and jess, whom i spent a lot of time with back in the day!

* shuffling over to 'the press':  re-visited an old favorite with courtney, though i didn't stay long and ended up in sarah's room drinking coconut water.

* early morning walk to the village: got up on my own at the crack of dawn.  the walk was pretty and it smelled exactly like claremont! sweet, woody and floral. stopped at the old bagel shop, then walked through the campuses.

* yoga class in the new fitness center: the alumna teaching it was over 70 and looked fantastic.

the new sally tiernan field house:

pretty sure i could have gotten some GOOD studying done here!

would have been the perfect place to meet up with a core study group over iced chai from the motley, right?

* brunch with old friend: there are so many cute places in the new village.

* met up with the girls as they finished brunch at walter's: where they are still making the same fries. did holly see the old rugby coach there?

* more walking around campus with the girls: we walked through seal pond courtyard, browning, dorsey and margaret fowler garden. can't get enough.

* said hi to more scrippsies at the pool: sarah, courtney, sarah mac, jess, and liz spent some of the afternoon at the hotel pool.  i could have used a dip in the pool myself.  loved being able to walk around and friends would just appear.  one of the best parts of college, and one of the best parts of reunion!

* champagne reception: got ready with nicole and lara, and when we got there, the garden looked beautiful. class photo time.

* president's reception: were there really TWO receptions before dinner?  again, wish i had some photos from this pare of the evening.

* reunion dinner:  lovely live music, but could have used a nice cover band to get people up and having fun :)

* after-dinner walk to the village: we ended up at the wine place again, after a stop at the outdoor fire pits at the cute new hotel's lounge.  there were some people from cmc and the guys' rugby team there that i totally knew, but it'd been so long, i just didn't even talk to them.  i was in such a weird mood!  maybe just too much reminiscing for one weekend already?

* spent morning poolside: the best way to start the day, i got to spend some time catching up with lara

* more brunching in the village: so happy to brunch with hol, nicole, lara and kat one last time before leaving ...

* text messages from lara: and how can i forget that lara was almost detained by TSA for the chemicals they found on her (which she attributes to residue left behind by that early morning dip in the swimming pool!!!)

the rose garden.

until next time, scripps!

santa monica, how your cool breeze tempts me

leading into our scripps reunion, i landed in california early to spend a day with sarah lyman in her neck of the woods.  it was a whirlwind 24 hours in santa monica, but sometimes that's all you really need to give your soul a little boost! i didn't think i needed any 'boosting,' but man, after filling myself with sweet sunshine, the smell of the ocean, window shopping, yoga (at one of my fave studios!), coconut water, seaweed salad, cookies from la grande orange, a toes-in-the-sand walk, and brunch, i felt like i could just float away, i was so happy. 

of course i missed my little bundle of pipes, but as i was more than half the country away from her, there was no point in thinking about getting home early to see her before bed.  and while sadly, this too meant that there would be no smiling baby to wake up to in the morning, it also meant no packing a diaper bag before leaving the house. all this freed up my mind to think about other important things like, "which chick flick should sarah and i watch tonight?"  it was nice to get away & i knew p & P were having a great daddy-daughter weekend. 

sarah was a lovely host and i am in love with her beautifal street and hip studio:

4th Street

fresh ocean air drifts through the front door!

smart layout leaves sarah's space feeling light & airy

(sorry, that's my suitcase with contents strewn all over the place)

i am in love, LOVE, with her dresser!

i think she said it's from her childhood.

and that is the most comfortable bed, ever.

(again, that's my stuff all over the place)

living room area looks to the media center

and last, from here you can steal a glimpse into the clean white kitchen

sarah told me her apartment was really dark. 

does that look dark to you??

i didn't think so.

i loved it!

this hair

this hair loves dry bar, a blow-dry-only salon in brentwood (and other southern california, ny, and tx locations).

in additon to picking me up, shopping with me, and housing me before reunion, sarah also introduced me to the little gem.  their magic blowdryers zapped the frizz, their shining curling irons smoothed the chaos, and i walked out feeling fabulous.  i'm still swooning ... a big thank you, thank you, thank you to sarah for all the pre-reunion fun. 

p.s. i really want to open one in chicago. who wants to go in on that with me?

christmas vacation part ... kazillion (last part, i swear)

after san diego we went to stay at courtney's house in san clemente for a night. and not just any night, but new year's eve!  courtney and pete put on a great party and we got to stay in their guest room.  so perfect with the baby!

this was piper's chance to meet coutney, peter, alex, sidonia, slyman, smac and dave!  and on new year's day, alex crowned her 'baby hyper.' 

scripps girls and sunshine, such a perfect start to the new year!  thanks to the wucetich clan for having us, and to everyone (incl. other guests) for letting us use the guest suite!

for the record, i tried to steal pics from katherine's album, but the files won't save to my computer. bah humbug.

laura, shay, me, piper (5 mos), melissa, brook (7 mos), meghan, myles (9 mos)

back in orange county, i met up with some friends from high school.  my friend emily on the right didn't bring her kids, so she held lil' pipes for me.

and after two nights back at my dad's it was time to go back home.  as we were making our descent back into chicago, piper was mesmerized by the view.  i mean, look at this girl.  glued to the window. or maybe just holding on for dear life?

bye bye orange county, hello chicago!

christmas vacation: part 9 (seaworld!)

my seaworld client gave me and patrick tickets to take baby piper to seaworld san diego.  i hadn't been to seaworld probably since i was a little girl.


i wondered how much piper would reallybe able to notice what was around her ... i mean she would only be 5 months old ... but she loved it.  LOVED.  she was having such a good time, she forgot to eat.  we had to remind her.  and that baby never forgets to eat. 

it was a cool and crisp day at the park.  we visited the fishies, the sharks (i was excited for that one), the flamingoes, some seals, the shamu show, a walrus and the belugas.  piper liked the belugas best.

was so much fun to see her taking it all in!  and i really have to wonder what goes through a baby's brain. 'jeez-uz, what the heck are all these things???'

couldn't believe how many strollers were there! oh my! and wish i would have known that apparently you can bring a picnic in.  although with free tix, i guess it wasn't so bad to purchase some food while we were there.  thanks seaworld!

kind of thought that bird was going to attack piper.  is that a piper?  sheesh, i don't even know.
no, no it's not.  i think its an egret. crap, i didn't read the sign.

she's tracking the baby beluga that was swimming by.
totally into it.

she was even into feeling the polar bear ice - brrrrr, cold!!! it feels like chicago!

seaworld = success for a 5 month old!

christmas vacation: part 8 (swimming)

** piper's lil swimsuit is from aunty amber in maryland - it was from when pipes was a wee babe, and 0-3m in size, and LUCKILY it still fit at 5m!! thank you amber, who knew we'd get to use it again in december?!**

the pool was kept at 88 degrees.  like tropical waters, it was the best feeling.  sure, outside the air was mostly in the 60s ... but when you have a warm pool plus a 103 degree hot tub at your disposal, no matter!

 jenny and the pipes

kiira videotaping the pipes.  look at those naftulin girls with their slim tummies!

christmas vacation: part 6 (sd v. chi)

it was heaven! we were just a few blocks from the ocean!

let me remind you what lake michigan looks like this time of year (stole from internet):

 california:

chicago:

california:

you get the picture.

christmas vacation: part 5 (san diego)

after a flight, magic mountain, fashion island, christmas eve dining, christmas day brunching, and a visit to pasadena, we headed down to san diego to visit with patrick's aunt judy, uncle jeff, uncle kip, and cousins kiira and jenny.

they rented a house in la jolla for the holiday,

and invited us to join for several days!

i guess they rented it from ray kroc's grand-daughter.
10 points if you know who that is before clicking the link!

it was a full house the first night we got in - complete with visitors!

'reverand' flansburg (patrick's family friend who officiated our wedding ) lives less than a mile from the rental.  so he and his girlfriend stopped in for a visit.  he and his girlfriend are expecting and we had just heard the news, so it was quite exciting to meet kari and give congratulations.

piper also got to meet my college friend amber and her mama b. they had just gotten back from mexico, and were staying at amber's dad's house in la jolla, also just about a mile away. with all the chaos of our own arrival, bedroom switching, people in and out, and a very tired baby, i didn't get a picture of me and amber!  but so glad we got to see them before their early flights out of town the next morning! the chance to see them had pretty much everything to do with us driving down monday afternoon instead of waiting until tuesday.

quite a first night in sd!

christmas vacation: part 4 (a godmother)

after a night of competitive gaming (a game called trains, i believe it was), i let patrick off the hook for a day and went with my dad to pasadena to see my godmother and introduce her to miss piper. 

i hadn't seen her in AGES.  i don't know how long it'd been.  maybe since i was in high school at some point?  but until i was 4, my parents rented an apartment from the small complex she and my godfather owned.  so she knew me very well when i was a little girl, and often watched me.

fittingly, her husband was my godfather.  he passed away while i was in college, and i wasn't able to make it to the service. al was a musician during the big band era and played and arranged for artie shaw, worked with billie holiday, and arranged music for various big band era songs, writing tony pastor's theme song, blossoms.

my godmother's name is dovie, but we call her dee.  she fell for al while he was touring.  she was a groupie! and they traveled all over the country as he played music.

dee and al weren't just my godparents, but my MOTHER's godparents, too! 

how cool is that?

and dee is just the cutest!

she's over 90 years old!

we also got to spend time with dee's daughter, julie, and her husband, king. yep, his name is king!  and their parakeet, sweetie.  they were the nicest people ever.  they ordered in a big family style chinese lunch and we ate and laughed as we all got reacquainted and got to know each other a little better. 

christmas vacation: part 2 (sightseeing)

the next day, patrick and i joined my brother and his girlfriend at magic mountain.  ryan and wendy both live in chicago, but were also visiting so cal for the holiday.  pipes stayed with grandpa frank while we screamed our hearts out on roller coasters!

the little bro and i are at odds regarding the scariest ride of the day.  i say x2, he says tatsu.  both were freak-out fun rides.  but x2 was freak-out-i'm-gonna-die-love-it-hate-it-want-to-cry-let's-go-on-it-again scary.

kinda wish i'd bought one of the cheesy ride pics, but we were too busy running from ride to ride like kids in a candy store.  actually, that was just me.  i was sooooo excited. so to quell your want for a ride pic:

here's justin bieber at magic mountain.

how did his hair not get messed up?

---

exhausted from the previous day at magic mountain, patrick and i woke up early the next morning to take piper to fashion island to visit mr. santa claus on christmas eve day.  piper wore the same dress that i wore to meet santa for the first time, when i was 5 months old, 31 years ago. 

morning at fashion island

my twinsies

making herself at home with big red.

cheking out the koi pond

shopping at anthro with the pops

family pic!