A Bittersweet Symphony

I'm sitting at TOMS HQ and it is so good to be back! Reunited with friends and stationary, at least for a while. So now we are processing our travels. And a process it is... I've really been everywhere. After this tour, I will drive 4 hours to meet someone for lunch and then turn around and go home. I mean, after driving 24 hours straight 8 hours of driving in one day is nothing.

How am I feeling about going home? Truthfully, it's a little bittersweet. I'm super excited to fly home with Katie and see my mom and dad and Pec. Stoked about hanging out with Charity and Angela, eating some Salt Lick and going dancing! I'm ready for my body to go into hypothermic shock as soon as I jump into Barton Springs. The cliffs of Lake Travis are calling my name. But at the same time, I'm leaving LA. 3rd Street Promenade all day, Venice Beach for sunset, Malibu on the weekends, wineries in Napa and the most amazing fresh strawberries on the side of the road, 65* at night and beautiful during the day! So yes, I am sad to leave California.

People ask why I love LA so much... "there is traffic?!?!" "everyone is so superficial"... yadda yadda YADDA! I just tell them: number 1, I am either going to sit in traffic in Downtown Austin, or sit in traffic on the PCH next to the beach. number 2, there are superficial people everywhere. and number 3, LA is this huge city on the beach that is totally chill and laid back. Everything I love is with in 2 hours of me. I can be at Butterfly Beach in 1.5 hrs, hiking in the mountains of Topanga is 30 mins or working out at muscle beach in 15. Perfection!

the past few weeks...

Let's talk about the past few weeks! I don't even know where to begin, so I guess I will begin at the beginning. Have you heard about The Rescue? Did you hear that Oprah rescued Chicago 6 days after it had begun? Well, if you haven't I will tell you about it. The Rescue was a peaceful demonstration to raise awareness for the war in Northern Uganda and Joseph Knoy's abducted child soldiers. We were to meet at one location and "abduct" ourselves. We then marched to another public location, in my case we marched to the Arch in St. Louis, and set up camp and waited until a federal politician or A-lister came to our rescue. (side note: Spending the night under the stars in downtown St. Louis worked out perfectly as we had no where to stay that night...) This was done by them coming to the site and giving a statement of support. There were 100 cities around the world involved and 6 days later, 500 people were in Chicago. Their dedication paid off when Oprah rescued them and segmented a spot for the Invisible Children film makers to make their case. Do you know how huge that is?? Just think about how many people watch Oprah. I mean the amount of power the woman has is ridiculous and she told all of her viewers to look up InvisibleChildren.com and watch the documentary. Harpo wins in my book!

After The Rescue, we started making our way back to the West coast. Drove half way to Albuquerque where Justin had to catch a flight back to Nashville for a wedding and Carolyn and I drove the last 14 hours just the two of us! We didn't get tired until the last 4 hours of the trip. I would say that's pretty good! The best part about being back in Cali - STAYING WITH THE HAMMERS!!! Yes you heard me we got to spend an entire weekend with Mike Hammer's parents! We also go to meet his grandma and she is precious!
(The van parked in front of one of many roadside attractions we encountered along the way...)

We are now back in San Francisco staying with the Maxey's! Great family! They introduced us to some amazing Indian food... it might be my new favorite cuisine!

Today is Cinco de Mayo... we will see what San Fran has in store for us tonight!!!