You wish your dad were as awesome as mine

Dear Dad,

Eight and a half months ago, I wrote a letter I don't think anyone ever wants to write.

Seeing as tomorrow is Father's Day, I felt it only fitting I write a letter to you. This is one of those letters I actually want to write...because as I write this, I know you'll have the chance to read it and to (hopefully) understand how much Chris and I love you. You are the best dad ever, no hyperbole here.

Dad, though I'm going to try, there really are no words to fully express how grateful I am for you, so I likely will opt for some embarrassing photos to detail your awesomeness. You are my hero. I don't know that many daughters are lucky enough to have the relationship I have with you; I guess it's one of those perks of cancer and Alzheimer's?

So here goes, the start of an unending list of things I thank you for.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for...

-taking care of Mom and always showing her how much you loved her

-taking care of ME and putting up with my absurd tears when my hair fell out

-taking care of Chris and making sure he always has some obscure kitchen-item in his house, be it a blender or Ronco rotisserie oven so he can set it and forget it!

-taking care of Chloe and feeding her lots of popcorn even though she was kind of the devil and ate dust...

 (have you noticed you do a lot of "taking care" of people?)

-having the coolest facial hair and sideburns possible of any person ever

-taking Chris and me to Indian guide and Indian princess stuff...and wearing this cool Cub Scout leader outfit...

-refusing to buy me a dog

-making sure there was photographic evidence of Chris dressed like this:

and this:

and this:

-putting up with me when I was a baby and stopped breathing and was cool that way...

-making faces like these in photos:

-always ensuring I get a good steak dinner at least once or twice a year

especially around my birthday...

(and thanks for being cool enough to try to order shots of Jager to start my 21st birthday off the right way)

-coming to my graduation dressed like this (damn shingles), because I still laugh when I see this photo:

-never buying me a Kate Spade bag (well, maybe thank you for this...)
-inspiring me not to clutter...

...while also teaching me how to be OCD about loading a dishwasher

-keeping far too much expired stuff in the fridge or freezer so Chris and I can feel productive and useful when we go home
-taking me to Opening Day every year growing up
-NEVER giving up on the Cubs and making sure Chris and I were (and still are) both die-hard fans

-being old enough to have black-and-white photos of yourself

-saran-wrapping my PICC-line so I could shower when I was sick
-getting me whatever food I wanted whenever I wanted it when I was sick
-scaring that nurse so much she probably cried the day my PICC-line was put in
-ensuring we always had the next disk of Friends each day we went to the hospital (oh yeah, and waking up early every day for 9 weeks to drive me to the hospital and sit with me through chemo...that was kind of a big deal)
-since chemo, quoting Friends like you're a 28-year old and watching it every Thanksgiving with me

-letting me stay home on "Daddy, take your daughter to work" day and ordering things from Amazon.com instead
-test-driving this car after I suggested it...

-letting Chris and me grow up in a house this absurdly beautiful

-getting me a MINI so I could be like Charlize Theron in The Italian Job
-picking me up from school after you "may have had a heart attack" (don't do that again, please)
-buying me absurdly expensive sunglasses and glasses despite my inability to take care of them
-taking me to Germany

-being Stan, the Hot Dog Man

 -being the most awesome dad ever

I'm not sure if you caught on there, Dad, but what I'm saying is: You're amazing. I am so thankful for you, and though I will try, words will never be able to tell you thank you enough.

Happy Father's Day.
Happy Anniversary.
Mom would be and is so proud of you.

I love you.

Love,
Alex

"And what lies behind me will not define me... I tell myself nothing can stop me now."

On the heels of my last post, I have to say that music has a stickiness that I don't think anything else has. I've always found a song appropriate to fit each crazy (crazy awesome or crazy ridiculous) part of my life, and though I know that my olfactory may technically have the longest memory (thank you Mr. Sprague), music always seems to be the stronger memory.

So here goes, retracing my steps for the past year or so (excuse the fact that the last 3 songs included are also featured yesterday, but they're awesome, and I put different versions of them so it's okay). I could do the past 10 years (remember that fun post, What will 24 bring?, well trust me, there's a song for each of those crazy moments in my life), but meh, let's go with the sentiment from the title of this post and remember: nothing can stop me now. Yeah, it's been a crazy heck of a decade, but here goes. So far, 25 is pretty awesome.

Moving to LA

You can do this, you can do this; you are not a lunatic.

Crazy would be changing your mind.

My Beginning of the School Year Song

Dear my amazing students, The world is yours.

Music makes my heart happy...

...goodness knows I was blessed with my mom's voice (not the best...), but gosh I adore music. Very little impacts me more. So, here are ten songs I can't stop listening to:

(Just FYI, it's 5:30 in the morning--so yes, these songs are for the most part acoustic and calm...but then again, so is most of the music I listen to.)

Dear James Taylor and Carly Simon, thanks.

This has been one of my favorite songs for a little under 8 years now. That's weird to say.

I think I like guys with their guitars best...and then I listen to Brendan James.

What Do the Contents of Your Car Say About You?

I picked my car up today from the amazing MINI place I now will forever take my car to, MINICORSA. The guy, Danny, who works there is beyond nice; he waited for my car to arrive on Wednesday, and today I picked it up, and it was of course working wonderfully!

As I hopped in my car, I noticed a couple random cheerios on the floor carpets (I shared my snack with Chloe on the drive back--she apparently didn't like it), which led me to think: What do the contents of my car say about me? If someone looked through my car, what would he/she think?

A photo of things found in my car...

So what does it say about me that the following items can be found in my car?

• Loose CDs and empty CD cases: Note that one is Adele+Eliza Doolittle, the other "Songs to Make You Smile" from Kristin for our after school beach drives (or for me when I was trying to smile on my way to work with people who sometimes weren't very nice) last year
• A flashlight: for emergencies. I don't know why I don't have other emergency stuff; a flashlight just seemed very practical and fit easily in the side of my car door.
• An empty makeup case--in theory, I might try to look nice sometimes.
• Headphones for my phone
• Random cards that were placed on my car while it was parked--I get a new one nearly everyday at work
• My hairstylist's card--FYI Monica at The Establishment is amazing!
• Little cards from my iced coffee. One medium, sugar-free vanilla iced coffee please to help me survive my early mornings! Apparently I can earn a free one if I put the stickers all on one card...
• A straw--sometimes I order a water, an iced tea, and an iced coffee. That's what we call a rough morning...and a morning when I can transfer straws from water to tea and have one left over.

Top Ten Reasons I Like Not Having a Car

My car decided to be a punk and die on me.

As I said yesterday, my car and I have a love-hate relationship. I love it. It hates me.

Tomorrow, AAA will be coming to tow my car to an auto shop staffed by the most relaxed, chill car guy I've ever met. I discovered (and by discovered, I mean I found via yelp) this great MINI place when I moved down to LA and my car died on me in August.

Unlike the previous MINI dealers who were crazy in Mountain View (a year and a half ago, when my tires almost blew out...), this guy gladly called up Uncle Sandy to give him the details on what was wrong with my car, and Sandy approved.

As tomorrow will be yet another day my car and I part ways for a brief while until I pay the ridiculous bills that I fear will be sent my way, I decided to come up with a list of reasons I like NOT having a car. Yes, my dear MINI, I am ending the love. I currently hate you a little, and so I offer you...

Top Ten Reasons I Like Not Having a Car

10. I don't have to $4.49 for premium gas that apparently does little to keep my car in prime shape.

photo source

9. I have yet to trip today. I tripped several times getting in and out of my car this weekend. Not sure why; I'm not very graceful. It doesn't hurt too much when a cute guy helps me up, but it's not exactly a proud moment either.

photo source

8. If I lose something (which I do all the time), I know one place it can't be: my car. I regularly leave my sunglasses, keys, wallet, glasses, or one of my phones in my car. Now I have one less place to look.

7. Nothing stuck on my windshield or car door when I leave school. I have accumulated lots of little ads for companies around my school. If I park my car anywhere in LA for more than an hour, I find I have some type of flier awaiting me upon my return.

At least I don't have papers like these on my car everyday...
photo source

6. I don't have to worry about losing my car keys...