Another Grocery Store Run In

So today I ran by the grocery store to pick up a few things for an event that's this weekend. As I'm walking with my cart toward the cash register to pay, a man (33 -36ish years old?) approached me and asks if I could help him with something.

He says quietly, "Can you help me pick out some flowers for me to give to a woman. I just want to let her know that I think she is beautiful."
Being the romantic that I am, I agree.
I ask all kinds of questions, "Are you dating her?"
"No."
"Does she know you?"
"No. Not really."
"Are these flowers a means to ask her out?" (if so... barf. I'm romantic... not cheesy!)
"No. I just want to tell her that I think she's beautiful. Really that's it. I'm just not good at the picking out part."
I think I made some dumb joke that went something like "picking out the flowers or picking out the beautiful woman?" I can't remember what I said but it didn't get a laugh... not even from me. I quickly change the subject - flowers.
So, I tell him to go with the pretty autumn-colored gerber daisies. Not too many as to overwhelm her, but more than one. And gerbers are cute and sweet... not a hugely romantic flower that could potentially scare her away. Yes, I analyzed the flowers. So he (we) picked out 5.

We get in line together... I let him go in front of me because he only had 5 gerber daisies and I had a cart full of things. He pays but continues to chat with me, so we ended up walking out together.
As we're crossing the parking lot I say, "Well, good luck with the flowers. I think she'll love them."
He replies, "Here. I want you to have them." He begins to hand them to me.
Very confused, I say "What? No! I like them but you should give them to her." ("her" never had a name.)
He smiles and chuckles and said, "I think you're beautiful and I was picking them out for you the entire time. I just wanted you to have what you liked."
I must admit, part of me wanted to roll my eyes and say "Gross! This was so cheesy!"
But... I couldn't help but smile. This was one of the sweetest, most sincere gestures ever. "Wow. Thank you. I don't know what to say... I'm very flattered. Thank you."
"Well, I couldn't pass up the opportunity."
I, of course, quickly lighten it up and start rambling about my confusion... I basically retold the entire walk to my car to him as if he hadn't been there. I'm such a dork.
He then says, "It was very nice to me you, ???"
"Andrea." I reply.
"Andrea, very nice to meet you. I'm Brandon. I'm going to go inside now to get my shopping done." He smiled the entire time he spoke.
"Okay. Have fun! Maybe you'll find another beautiful woman in there," I jokingly yell to him as he walks away.
He turns around, smiles and says, "I think you're it. I've never done it before and I doubt I'll do it again. I was shaking the entire time."
He pauses.
"Bye, Andrea."
"Oh, bye Brandon. Have a great day."

And that was it.

So now I have 5 gerber daisies sitting in a little vase on my desk. And every time I look at them... I smile.

Ugh...

My apartment was white. Now it looks tan.
My eyes were white. Now they're red. And they burn.
My car was gray. Now it's gray with a beige coating.
The air was clear. Now it has gray and tan flurries floating everywhere.
Streets were clean. Now there is a pile of ash against every curb.
My lungs were whatever color lungs are. Now they are black.

Here's why:


Yep... this is the air I'm forced to breathe. This photo was not doctored... it was taken on the freeway by my house. You are not seeing fog or clouds. You're seeing smoke and ash... a thick haze - constantly! You know it's bad when you can look directly at the sun in the middle of the day and the only thing that affects your eyes are the ash flurries.

All I want to do is step outside where it is 56 degrees with a clear blue sky and a bright sun and take a deep breath.

We're Surrounded!!

First of all, thanks for all of your emails, phone calls and prayers. I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you yet. I'm okay. My family's okay. And there is no extreme danger right now.

But it is crazy here! Crazy! I can't explain in words what it's like. At first I didn't believe it would get this bad (even made light of it)... but it did. The Orange County (arson) fire is very close to my house, now closer to my parent's. We can also now see the San Diego fire making its way north to us... it's a huge blaze in the distance. I came to my parent's house tonight to be sure they were okay. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as I was driving toward their house. So, I got out and snapped some pictures with my mom. These pictures were taken about a block from their house. Keep in mind that they don't capture the intensity of this fire at all!

Several friends have been evacuated and if it keeps up, my parents will most likely have to as well. The good news is that the winds have died down, so it's more likely that they won't. I've had one friend who lost his home in this fire. The damage it's done is just unbelievable.

It seems that everyone is in a state of shock right now; it's all people talk about and think about. It's sad really. However, as cynical as I am about the OC, it's been cool to see the community pull together in this. Some of the rescue centers are full, so people are even opening up their homes to complete strangers. Seriously, thank God this isn't worse than it is. It's definitely horrible to lose a home, I'm sure, but at least the people have remained unharmed. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers.

Ring of Fire

In case you don't watch the news and don't talk to those who do, I just wanted you to know that LA and Orange County are burning down as I speak. One wildfire is only about 5 miles from my house. We're okay though. The smoke smells, my eyes burn and you can see flying ash. And there are hurricane force winds which makes the fires difficult to contain. Yikes!

UPDATE: Now there is a fire in Ladera Ranch... a small city where I work. The fire is less than 1 mile from my office. We'll be fine. But the OC residents are FREAKING out right now. Firefighters are guarding the residential areas and don't forsee any structural damage. Maybe I'll get some outdoor seating at lunch today! :)

NEWEST UPDATE: Now I'm on fire.

My Blog is Oh-So Fun!

In case you haven't noticed, if you look to the right, I have some cool new features on my blog:

1. I have a weekly poll. Please check it out and vote.
2. I have a weekly photo. These will be random... some personal, some not.
3. I have an "I Dreamt Last Night..." section. This, I assure you, will be interesting - sometimes. Sometimes it will be quite funny. Other times it could bore you to tears.

Please enjoy my blog.

Oh, and it won't always be blue... I can only be blue for so long. I'm looking into other things.

Elizabeth Taylor's Wisdom

This is how I'm going to answer the "marriage" question at my 10 year reunion next week.
(I promise that this is worth the entire 22 seconds!)

A Fine Frenzy

Please listen (and watch... but most importantly, listen) because this is really good. It's a good song to cry with.

Love the music.
Love the voice.
Love the lyrics.
Love the emotion.
Love it all.

Men and Details

My friend, Alan, left a magazine at my house a couple of days ago. The magazine is called Details and it's to men what InStyle is to women.

I picked it up tonight to read an article and was thumbing through the pages to get to the actual article, only I couldn't stop thumbing because it smelled delicious. Like a beautiful man.

There must be several advertisements for cologne, but I wouldn't know because I'm not reading... I'm just thumbing... and sniffing.