For the Talls.

Can we just talk about something here? You know, the giraffe in the room? As in, me.

This picture tells me three things.

1. A giraffe truly is my Soul Animal. I mean, that arm of mine. Jesus.
2. Giraffes are freaking magical creatures. Like unicorns, but with two horns and that is significantly more horns making them cooler.
3. I need to better match my foundation to my actual skin color. GOOD LOOKING OUT, FRIENDS THAT SEE ME EVERY DAY.

This photo was taken during a brief recess during training I attended in Tampa, Florida. Tampa, I have learned, is my Soul City. Because, not only did I locate a Steak and Shake, I also found a Beauty Depot right next door to a Meat Depot. Attached to each other. Imagine walking through the wrong door! Have I mentioned I'm tired? Florida is full of blogging gold and I may just move here for a few months to gather some content. I'll become the Ernest Hemingway of Tampa. Because the roadside dinosaur museum was calling my name and I need to see if they are hiring.

But really, I will be flying home today at a time that I didn't even know existed. And although it has been exhausting, sometimes you just need a baby rhino to remind you why you love your job.

Asserting dominance.

For the first time, in a long time, we will not be mentioning the "w" word here on this blog. No, we did not witness any unions this weekend, but we did go nonstop from Friday to Sunday. Justin's brother and fiance were in town, and it was nice to spend some quality time getting to know them a little better. And by quality time I mean watching the worst movie ever made and witnessing the brothers' Bane impressions until I forced Justin to call it a night.

Saturday we all went to the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park to sweat all the sweat in the world. We will not talk about the "w" word for a while, but we will continue to talk about sweat until this heat breaks. We arrived just in time to see the gorillas emerge from their den/cave/air-conditioned suite. The great thing about the park is that most of the animals are not behind glass or fencing, so you really get a good look at them. When the big male came out, we all gasped. It was unreal. And then he took this posture and we all watched in awe. What will he do next?

And then he proceeded to take a shit and look around at us, forcing eye contact as he continued to do his business. We get it. You are dominant. You can stop now. Or go behind a bush! We were ready to run in case he decided to further assert his dominance and throw it in our direction. Luckily there was this little guy to make up for getting figuratively shit on.

BABY GORILLA. I challenge you to find something cuter. Oh, wait I already did. There was also a baby elephant. If we could have put those two together, my heart would've exploded from glee.

After a few hours of sweating and looking at really cool animals (some critically endangered, but I will spare you the talk about how we are all ruining the planet but omg did you know that only 7 northern white rhinos remain in the entire world, all in captivity? SEVEN), we went home to de-sweat and switch gears to celebrate a friend's birthday.

This is becoming one of those "and then" posts. And then we finished season 2 of Sherlock Holmes and my mind was sufficiently blown. And then we went to buy halloween costumes and giggle over the male models on the packaging. And then we completed yet another weekend of busy-ness and awesomeness. And then I realized that I have issues concluding posts. Boop.

A three-hour tour...

I'm finding it incredibly hard to believe that this weekend is over. Forgive me if I sound a little grouchy. I haven't gotten this much sun since 2003. Two days in a row in the sun? I'm a goner.

Saturday we celebrated Justin's best friend's birthday (also Justin, for those of you playing at home) by riding around in a boat on the bay, drinking beer, and stopping at bars to drink beer. It was incredible. It was a beautiful and breezy San Diego day spent with hilariously enjoyable company. I'd love to tell you more, but I don't remember many details.

The winningest shirt ever.

The winningest boyfriend ever.

Saturday night, bestfriend cousin arrived with tiny cousin godchild Riley. Jmeoww was thrilled to have the company of a tiny human and expressed her happiness by hissing. Every 3 minutes. She is such a pleasant creature. She also jumped out of the window onto the bed to stare down Mandy, just in case we forgot who was really in charge. By morning, this is what poor little Riley felt she had to do to protect herself. We really need to work on being nice to company...

While Mandy was at a bridal shower, Riley & I went to the zoo where we met up with my sister, my niece and my nephew. I hadn't seen any of these little monsters in nearly a month and I was dying to see them! While the zoo seemed like a good idea, it in fact was not.

These little things make my heart infinitely happy.

Besides the fact that it was one-million degrees outside, the World Famous San Diego Zoo also happens to be the most confusing place on the planet. It was also built on a very hilly terrain. So as you are trying to figure out how to find the damn hippos even though the sign is telling you to go six different directions, you have to choose to fly down a very steep hill or truck up the opposite direction. All in the middle of a jungle setting. With birds. They even FORCE you to go through an aviary at one point. Filled with giant, disgusting birds flying at your head. It's a little frustrating. And by frustrating I mean awful. And because we were situated at the center of the sun, the animals were smart enough to stay in the shade out of our view. Bold move, animals.

Needless to say, it wasn't the best idea to go to the zoo in the middle of summer. However the kids had a great time, and I got to have some love time with all of my babies. And that's all that really matters.

Linking up with Join the Gossip, Sami's Shenanigans, & five30three for Weekend Update!