Crazy little pups think they're so cute.

A digital/analog life balance.

This week I did something I thought I would never do. I disconnected my blackberry from my work e-mail. No more compulsive checking of e-mail. No more replying to art directors or account managers during dinner. It's a bit liberating. It is the second step in my digital cleanse, in my quest to regain a digital/analog life balance. (The first step was making the temporary switch from iPhone to Blackberry) I found myself often in a panic at first, kind of like that feeling you get when you realize you've left your cell phone at home, like something is missing.

Between Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, e-mail, texting, photo messages, AIM and who knows what else, I rarely had the time to enjoy life because I was so busy cataloging it. After arriving at a restaurant, my group (BF, sisters, etc) would sit down and promptly take out their respective iPhones to check-in using their location-based app of choice. When dinner is served, again the group takes out their phone to snap a pic to tweet or post on Facebook. When dinner was over we'd be back on the iPhone: searching Yelp for a nearby dessert stop or checking Twitter to see who is where. It got to be sooo silly.

Now that I am no longer an iPhone user, I am always on the outside looking in. The one tapping her foot impatiently as she waits for the BF to finish checking his Google reader before pushing "play" on the DVR. The one twiddling her thumbs as the sisters check-in on Gowalla before ordering their dinner. I see all of these actions and how much time they take and shudder as I realize I once was just as addicted to tapping around the iPhone for no apparent reason.

My life is still mostly digital: I stream Pandora from the iPod as I cook, I watch all of my shows on the DVR or Netflix streaming, I sit in front of a computer for 10+ hours a day and document my life via blogging. But when it comes to connections and communication, I am trying to focus on old school analog approaches. Calling instead of texting. Meeting for lunch instead of chatting over AIM. Watching a musical instead of a movie. Going to a store instead of buying on Amazon. It's amazing to think of how much digital technology has changed our lives in the last 15 years -- I am just trying to capture some of that back!

Well, just until April when they release the iPhone 4G and I hop back onto the bandwagon.

(Dolphin) Watching

Last weekend the BF and I went whale watching in Newport Beach. It was the perfect weekend-morning date after a long, hectic work week. You kick back on the deck with a beer and stare out at the gorgeous coastline (read: gorgeous beach houses on the Newport coastline) with no cell or 3G signal to distract you. (Although I still attempted to tweet)

I was a little disappointed that we did not see any whales even though it was prime grey whale migration season but we did see 6 different types of dolphins and some lazy sea lions.

My favorite part, though, was staring at the coastline. There was something peaceful about swaying on the water, being on the outside looking in. Aside from gorgeous houses and architecture, it was amazing to just take a timeout and think about what a great city I live in. Where else can you see surfers on the beach in the foreground and snow-capped mountains in the back?

Let's Run

I am heading out to Brentwood for my favorite run. I have never been a runner (in fact, I'm more of a jog-walker) but I do enjoy the solitude of being left alone with my iPod and running shoes. Tonight I am introducing my little sister to my favorite route, 2.2 miles around the Brentwood Country Club. When I lived in Brentwood I used to jog-walk this route because it was the easiest on my knees -- almost the entire thing is a dirt path. It gets a little dirty when it's muddy so I try not to take Lulu with me unless I had plans to give her a bath anyway.

I think the funniest thing about this route for me is that I always start at the same place and go in the same direction. I find comfort in the fact that I slow down in the same places and push myself to the same corners. I love that running syncs you up with your body, so that you find comfort in the familiar. Your knees and hips give you immediate feedback. You know which muscles are weak and which ones need work.

The soundtrack for tonight's run will be Alicia Keys: The Element of Freedom.

Happy New Year~

I had dinner wtih family at my great-grandmother's house before heading up to Brentwood for countdown + drinks at my sisters' apartment. Sigh. Do I miss my black hair?

Trying to ignore the box of Sprinkles, calling my name.

I'm the oldest in my generation... here I am chillin' with a bunch of my uncles.

Cutest little cousins ever -- we like to mix things up!