update on what's going on :)

1. New car / old car



Steve likes changing his cars... and it was time for him to do so. he suggested Michael take over the car payments and get his car, which we did.

then i got to test my driving skills on it and oh my god that's a "beast"! the car is very sensitive to every turn of the wheel, slight change in pressure... and that's exactly how i was trying to drive the old car! Michael was surprised how good i was doing at driving this one. And it had been a while since we practiced. The car has 2 doors, is small, and the wheel is of Irina-size :)) i'm very comfortable driving it... so we will definitely keep this car! We will keep the previous one too in case both of us will be going in opposite directions the chance of which is pretty low but it could happen.

2. "my first american birthday"

july 24th.. me, Armine, and Armen were all born on that exact same date of the same year. the funny thing was that me and Armine were discussing it 2-3 days before and none of us felt like doing anything at all.

so what did i do? well i received my gifts from Michael at 12.01 am :D he got me a very elegant bracelet and... a huge crafting book by Martha Steward! i got so excited that.. went to bed at 5 am. and got up around 7. because mommy transferred some money so that i can go get a gift on that exact day. she has and is continuing to spoil/indulge me :)) then we went to dunkn donut (yum-yum donut's american variant) .. to get hot chocolate and our favorite donut. then Michael went to work and i tried going back to sleep and i couldn't! i watched a movie, played some, did girlish stuff and felt that i was tired but just couldn't sleep. after i talked to mom i made myself go to bed and finally fell asleep for an hour i guess. Michael woke me up when he came home and we went shopping for craft materials and clothes.

3. Quilling

then we came home and i finally got my hands on crafting! i'll make a separate post about know-how of this new craft that i'm fond of. it's called quilling. you make stuff out of paper... here's the final result of the project:








it's EASY and FUN to do! and there are so many creative ideas! like i said i'll get back to this and make a detailed post on the other blog. i'm sure when Nicole comes back from France it's what we will be doing :)

4. yeah Nicole went to France - her college organized a 10-day trip for photographers. i was very excited for her! and she LOVED a lot of things there! she's getting back on tuesday and i just can't wait to talk to her and look at all the photos she took, and listen to all her stories!

yeah getting back to the birthday thing - Nicole's not being here was one of the many reasons why i wasn't in a particular mood of celebrating. Brian and Linzy left on that day too i think - to some ocean beach somewhere :) so going out will be on the next weekend. and i think i know what's going on... i asked Michael to go to a certain place but he told me not to ruin surprises and that he was already planning exactly that :D hehe so i'll pretend i have no idea :D:D

5. yesterday we went out with Dave and Pat. they took us out for dinner as a birthday present and Dave drew me a cute birthday card with colored pencils. Janet gave her gift to Pat to give it to me - i didn't know but she actually makes bijoux - she made earrings for me. when things like this happen i remind myself that people are full of surprises :)

6. another long-lost buddy and me got reconnected. Rolen Romanes. not many from my friends know him because when i was talking to him i was hanging out with other people which was sad but oh well. He is from Philippines and moved to LA as a kid. he is a comic book style artist, and we used to be best friends. he even drew a couple pictures with me :)) here's one



and while he was drawing i was helping him with math :))

his illustrations are available on his facebook here

7. with friendships it's funny how people say "friendship tested by years" yeah i think now i know what it means. there are friends who used to be so close and then for some reason we went different ways and then several years later met again and resumed from where we left.. it's always wonderful when this happens. sometimes when it's a childhood friend you think it is what will happen when you meet again and it doesn't. you find out that it's a completely different person, or that you are a completely different person and that you 2 are strangers and have nothing to share except for the years of childhood friendship. disappointment.. i'm lucky, really really lucky to have all the great friends that i do :) and in the great majority there was no disapointment or separation.

8. while making this post Armine was asking about it and told me to add one or two lines from her. i asked what? she said she was kidding but i insisted. so she said

-graaaa pulimyotchik! :D

if you have questions, address HER with those and not me - i'm as much surprised as the reader is :)))

okay that's enough :D i'll make a new post soon :D everybody have a nice Monday and don't hate it :))))

the beach

last weekend we went to the beach the first thing in the morning. we went with Brian and Linzy. they weren't going to take a swim so all we did was lay in the sun and relax. there is more to the beach than meets the eye.. it's one of the best places to watch people... then me and Mike took a short swim and went home.

Mike managed to get a sunburn :)) then later around 5-6 pm Nicole messaged me asking if we'd join her and Steve on the beach :)) i was in doubt and then decided to go.

we went to a different beach and it was so different! we actually stayed in water almost all the time! and the beach itself.. it didn't get deeper and deeper as you went further but instead it stayed the same! i felt more confident and started regaining my swimming powers :)) the other thing was.. there were no big waves so we could swim uninterrupted across the shore.

Earlier Mike showed me how to flip in water. i somehow managed to do it right.. it felt weird though - for a moment i couldn't understand where my head and where my tails where :)) then later as if it wasn't enough Steve was teaching me and Nicole to stand on hands in water. the couple of times that i managed to do it sort of right i just touched the sand underwater! then we were throwing american football ball to each other and it was fun!

those were 2 different kinds of beach activity and both were fun in their own ways... but i personally prefer the second one :)

Put-in-bay

and finally here is a post from me, and this is gonna be a post about one of my best days in America, about new experiences and adventures...

9.00 am. me and Michael arrived at Steve's and Nicole place. they were doing last minute preparations.. well Nicole was at least :)) then we got into Steve's car. Me and Nicole were on the backseat. we adjusted the seats and could relax and just watch the clouds and enjoy the drive.




at some point i fell asleep. when i woke up i saw a lot of boats around, and places renting boats. but we didn't slow down. so i figured it wasn't the place yet and went back to sleep.

and then we arrived... and i found out that we are going to take a ferry-boat to put-in-bay which was on an island! i had never been on a real boat or on a real island before! cedar point doesn't really count - there was a bridge and it was too close to the mainland anyway. i got so excited! and then i got a little bit worried because i felt underpacked. Me and Michael left the place free as the wind - without any bags or basically anything except my cam bag, sunglasses, and money :))) i was wondering if we'd need swimsuits. but then i decided that we would be fine and would find a way out of anything. Meanwhile it was our turn to get the tickets to the ferry. While we were waiting for the ferry itself me and Nicole were playing with cameras and taking photos... while our boys had to tolerate our buzz :))



and then! i walked on noard the ship! it was amazing and exciting! we waited a couple of minutes because some people were also taking their cars to the island (not to walk i guess). and then i experienced what it feels like how the ship rocks on the waves! i loved it so much! there i was with the wind in my hair, staring at the horizon.. there was our boat, the lake, and the sky, and occasional little islands of land here and there which seemed to be a joke in this vast water space.



there were a lot of people around but i felt detached and peaceful. well and over-excited i suppose. There were some "wave-riders" around our ferry. one of the motor-boats was carrying 3 girls who would scream every time the motor-boat would jump up-and-down.



Then we arrived at Put-in-Bay. i felt a little bit sorry that i had to go off the boat already but curiosity and the itch for new experiences and adventure made me forget about everything else once i set my foot on the island.



the first thing i saw was the lighthouse. those still make me happy and make me aww but i guess i'm the only one to do that. everybody else hass seen them so much that their eyes slide right past them... then me and Nicole ran into the first gift-store. there was a lot of interesting (and waaaay over-priced) stuff there. the one thing that stole my heart was a sail-boat made of shells (big ones). it was amazing... while we were in the store the guys were figuring out the transportation issue. the bus just left, and we didn't want to waste time on waiting. we looked around and saw a taxi-mini-van... with parrots with "parrot party" name on it. we picked inside and yes! there was a parrot there! one though but still! we were the first passengers, but in a second the mini-van was full!

the parrot was an african gray with clipped wings. so anybody could get it to sit on the arm and feed it with sunflower seeds which the driver would give out.





the driver was Dan. he gave us his visit cards which read "Dan-The-Man" :)). we were the last to get off and he gave free beads to me and Nicole - purple and green respectively. it was sweet of him.

Then we went to another gift-store and i saw... shark tooth necklace! but i ended up getting the other one - with a pirate sign on it.

then we bought a ticket for a so-called train. for armenian readers it was pretty much the same as the one carrying you from Mashtoc prospect to Kids' Railroad park. it worked as a route taxi and you get a sticker which you stick to your shirt. and you can ride that train as many times as you want during that day. also the driver tells facts about the island and some of its history.



so what was there on the island? oh god! a LOT! wineries, caves, crystal caves, butterfly house, chocolate factory, a tower, hotel, restaurants, and even an airplane line! i wish we could go to all of these.. but oh well - we will definitely go back there and will probably stay overnight!

the first thing to see was cave under the ground with stalactites and stalagmites! the entrance was through a little shoppe were you could get jewelcrafting supplies and basically what miners could find :) and of course some other stuff... pirate stuff for example.



so we went down, under the ground...



it was cold and damp there... a place that has never seen a ray of sunlight.



why does the sign say "Lion"? they say when you stay in there for long and stare at the same spot for a long time your imagination will find shapes... a better example was the owl.



The stalactites disappointed me.. they were tiny.



here are the photos of 4 adventurers :))



Steve's photo is from the other cave - the crystal one. that one was smaller and more interesting and beautiful...



Right after that cave we went to the winery. the tour wasn't really interesting - too many details on how and who makes those wines. then everybody got one free sample. we all got different ones to taste 4 kinds. the wine i tried was really good - it was semi-dry. Michael got a really, REALLY sweet one. it was impossible to even try it :)). Steve got a semi-sweet one as far as i remember and that one was pretty good too.

and there were interesting souvenirs there:



in between we went to the store of the butterfly house but didn't tour it as we were running out of time.



the last thing we saw was this tower..



me and Michael didn't go up and just sat down in front of it, right on the grass. it was nice to take the sandals off and just let the feet rest. we were talking about boats, islands, and pirates. after all those experiences it suddenly hit me - the pirates! i was never really interested in them and didn't care, but oh my god! i suddenly understood sailors and pirates... well pirates are mmm let's say more interesting. i know i am romanticizing but what's the big deal? i would make a good pirate and keep a scrapbook and put a little trinket from every person i killed or robbed. just kidding. :D

when Steve and Nicole were back it was time to leave. i didn't want to go but on the other hand i was to get on the ferry boat again! but as soon as we set sail i started missing that wonderful place called put-in-bay. the sun was setting, and it was a beautiful end to a wonderful day.









for more about put-in-bay you can visit their official website

for more photos you can go to my flickr, Nicole's flickr and my picasa album