Popsicle Madness

I have gone frozen dessert crazy. For Reals.  Not only do I have 5 pints of Ben & Jerry's in my fridge, I have also been making popsicles with my birthday present from Kris nearly daily.  I understand that a diet consisting almost entirely of ice cream, popsicles, and coffee is not healthy.  This will not be a factor I consider while I continue to eat those three things.

*National Creamsicle Day is August 14!*

To the important part of this blog post, right?  Here is a list of the many popsicles I have made!
1) strawberry lemonade iced tea
2) orange creamsicle (batch one)
3) orange creamsicle (batch two with more vanilla!)
4) butterscotch cream with salted peanuts
5) straight butterscotch
6) orange
7) iced tea tops, orange bottoms
8) I have a bowl of cream mixture in my fridge and am thinking chocolate cream

The options are endless, the fun is fun (obviously), and the Jessica is pleased.

Side note: Kris and I have been watching A LOT of Star Trek, and I find myself wishing to make Star Trek inspired popsicles.  Like Picard Peach, LaForge Lemon, Watermelon Worf, Crusher Crushed Cherry Cream, and Tribble Chocolate Fluff.  I am not sure my lifestyle is awesome or incredibly depressing and so I will go with the first!

Any ideas for more flavors?

Grown up birthday: no bounce house, no singing, all good times

My 23rd birthday has come and gone and in its place I have some fond fuzzy memories of the weekend to keep me happy until next October 14 rolls around.

Kris was awesome and created a surprise BBQ for me! Well almost a surprise, he told me two hours beforehand so we could go to Costco and get upwards of 200 dollars worth of meat and alcohol. What can I say, the boy knows how to throw a BBQ.

Many of my new and old friends showed up, coming from Tahoe, Albany, and the city, I imagine they all shared entertaining travel stories and a love of smoky tri-tip. Also I received some awesome gifts! Mostly wine, but one pint of super delicious Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk!

The night passed without problems and only one guest left looking a little worse for wear. The next morning in true Berbert fashion we had mimosas and went shopping at target!

The rest of the weekend is a blur of dancing, mimosas, hanging out with Alexis and Jaymi, more mimosas, tater tots, movies, and of course more mimosas.

Now I'm off to write thank you notes like the good little girl I am, watch my cat try to chase invisible enemies through the apartment, and drink some fresh ground Peets sumatra coffee (a gift!)

I swear, I have no cash sir.

Walking home from my bar job at Nick's Lounge on Sunday, Kris and I were approached by a rather inebriated gentleman who first wanted cigarettes, then wanted a meal, and then just wanted to get drunk. He asked if we had any cash and when we responded honestly that we were actually short on funds too he looked at us like we had been caught out in some huge lie.

This made me think, can we actually gauge how much money a person has (a) in the bank, (b) in their wallet, (c) stuffed in their socks, by how they appear to the world.  I think not!  If you looked at me and tried to determine my ability to pay rent, there would be no questions; I dress well, have a new iPhone, have a pet, enjoy eating meals out, and have a whole lot of awesome ikea furniture.  But its impossible to say what was bought for me or by me.

So maybe people are just really good and pretending to have money and we are all poor?  I doubt it, but that does make me feel a little better about looking for a 4th job.  And in the meantime, I will keep going out to eat at delicious restaurants (on my boyfriends dime.)

Berkeley is the best city ever: part deux

The weather has been less than cooperative, its glum and moody and keeping me from riding my BRAND NEW AWESOME BICYCLE. But, the city is still pretty cool.
Why you ask? Because Berkeley gives away a free helmet to all Berkeley residents! So I went and got mine and am now one step closer to biking my way around town.

EDIT 10/5/11:


I woke up feeling kind of gross and headachey for no reason. After falling asleep at 11 last night I was still unprepared to get out of bed at 10am, but I looked outside and it was blue skies and puffy clouds so I got up, ate a bowl of cocoa puffs, and hopped on my snazzy new ride!  5.2 miles in 30 minutes from here to Anthropologie and back.  I went on San Pablo for about 4 blocks on the way home and got to go SUPER FAST!!!! but the rest was a nice leisurely ride with lots of stop signs and slowing down for approaching cars.  


I got drizzled on about half the time, it was super fun though.

Washingtown, aka the funny named laundromat I will frequent.

So before my dad came out to visit I gave Kris a little break.  In return for him doing laundry once a week, I would do all the other household chores (even the kitty box, which is gross).  But what did he do with this wonderful freedom?  Did he take it upon himself to clean our clothes, sheets and delicates once every 7 days? No, not so much, in fact. . . not at all.  So when I looked at the laundry bin 2 days before the parental visit and realized there was a friggin ton of laundry I knew there was only one option.

That option was Washingtown.  I carted a full laundry hamper, 2 plastic laundry bins and a backpack full of dirty clothes to a public place filled with machines.  At first I may have tried to put detergent in a dryer, but instead of being scolded and turned away I was just laughed at a little by an older woman who helped me out.  She explained that "no, one can not just use dryers because they are big and machiney," those weren't her exact words, mostly because she didn't say "machiney."  First you must use the AMAZING 55 POUND WASHING MACHINES!!! These things are literally magical.  you dump in 5 loads of laundry and presto-changeo, 30 minutes later some clothing all ready for the dryer.

Now to the important part.  I knew there was a reason that I was immediately drawn to the giant dryer.  Perhaps it is because they are large enough to fit a full size human in for a comfortable nights sleep, perhaps because they look a little like a time machine, maybe it's just because I like to pretend I am only a little kid and technology is too big for me to use, who knows?  But once that machine turned on it was like a fantastical journey into the swirling and twirling of colorful shirts and panties!  I wish I could have brought along someone on acid, or maybe a cat, because I feel like this machine would pretty much make their lives complete.

Which leads me to the end of my story, the laundromat and I are now acquaintances and hopefully I will return within the week to have another adventure with the wonderful dryer.  But in the meantime, Kris has lost what could have been a good deal.  And, although now he probably still won't do any of the house chores, I can assure you he sure as hell will be cleaning the litter box!