this has been a good weekend. i like starting a week and being able to say that about the previous few days. i had thought that it wasn't going to be anything of note, but i ended up doing way more than i anticipated.
 
friday night (friday was, of course, my lovely best friend setareh's 26th birthday), a smattering of friends attended the john mayer/maroon 5 concert at shoreline. we all had lawn seats thanks to bill graham presents' cheap ticket deal, but it was fun being out there lounging on the lawn and having room to move and dance and wrestle around. maroon 5 is a fun band but i found myself drifting in and out of paying attention to them. i did like when the regular drummer (who is injured currently and not drumming, although evidently travelling with the band) came out and lead-sang/guitared to ac/dc's "highway to hell."
 
john mayer, on the other hand, totally blew me away. i like his music, but i wouldn't call myself a fan. however, i have now discovered that he is an amazing guitarist. because his voice is his selling feature, you don't really know what his skills are otherwise. he had some jam sessions in the middle of the concert, and it was really incredible to watch and hear. he has some mad skills on the guitar (as does his back-up guy, whose name i can't remember) and it quite impressed me. he also did his encore set of three songs with just himself and an acoustic guitar, seated in a chair at the front of the stage. i love that. he sang one new song called "tracing," which i loved. it got me somehow. music doesn't do that to me very often. i mean, there are songs i love and can listen to over and over, but it's not often that i hear a song and feel the lyrics. don't mean to be trite, but this song was like that. i don't think it's out on anything yet, so you can't even hear it. too bad, but something for you to look forward to. (i also like "daughters," which he didn't play, and "why georgia," which he did.) hmm, maybe i should buy the new john mayer album. that's really the idea, isn't it?
 
saturday ended up being jam-packed! attempted shopping in morning with setareh before heading off to the earthquakes game at 1pm. quakes won, quakes won!! after a three-game losing streak, it was quite lovely to see a W in our column. of course, this is the first time in a long time that we've been able to field (almost) our full starting lineup. and what a difference it makes! brian ching had a rocketfire game with two goals (and almost a couple more!), handing him MLS player of the week accolades. joe cannon, love him, but did he ever look nervous to be back in san jose. sorry joe, you've been replaced. can't say enough about our guys because they put together an outstanding performance on the field, against a team that always gives us trouble. yay quakes!
 
then i headed out to saratoga for a bbq with crazy woman kristin, her husband jonathan, their horse of a dog diesel, and kara and friends. they always make whirlwind trips through the south bay on their way up to northernmost destinations, so they're hard to catch, but i'm glad i got to see them for a little bit. met up with og for a relaxing night of pizza-and-movie, which i think i needed by that point!
 
sunday actually was some relaxation interspersed with proposal reading. blah. dinner with some friends at celia's... yum! and some venting, which appeared to be needed. :) then today, i had a san francisco bay joint venture meeting at the don edwards refuge in newark, followed by a workout at axis and some of stephanie's famous gruyere and prosciutto pastry pinwheels for dinner. yum! i think i ate way too many of them though. stopping at axis gave me some much needed cardio exertion and some much needed guidance from liz. onward and upward...