My Phone

Evie barfed on my phone yesterday & it is dead. I am getting a new one though in the next day or so. If you need to reach me, ummmmm email me?

This movie looks hilarious

I'm Voting Republican

Evie in the

We let Evie run through the mud yesterday. She had so much fun.

Evie Actually Fetching

Evie hates to play fetch outside with a ball. Everyone has these ball launchers and their dogs go crazy for them. Evie has one that she will fetch about one time and then ignores it. However, if other dog owners have them, she goes crazy.

She goes crazy only because she knows a dog will be running for the ball and she wants to run with them - she could care less about the ball.

Erik had this great idea to put a treat in the ball and throw it for her. It worked!!! Here is a video of her actually playing fetch & she looks like she enjoys it. Sorry, it is sort of shaky cam and somewhat boring.

Who Loves The May May?

The Love Guru

The Love Guru = Career Suicide

This movie was absolutely horrendous to the point that we walked out of the movie. It made no sense, had all of the stupid Mike Meyers faces/innuendos, and was just awful. We asked for our money back but it was after 30 min into the movie. I'm probably writing a letter to the theatre to ask for our money again. It was beyond bad.

On a better note, I cannot wait to see these movies:

Financial Planning for Women

Over the past five years, the market has grown for financial advice directed specifically at women. Independent women are financial planners’ newest target.

But what makes women different? Elda Di Re, a partner in Ernst & Young’s Personal

Financial Services group says she thinks women, even if they work, often still imagine that a “white knight” with money will come and carry them away. In anticipation, “they worry about having the right kind of clothes, the right kind of shoes, the right handbag.” Women also live longer and are more likely to die alone, than men. And Ms. Di Re agrees with the idea that they find conventional financial planning advice unappealing.

Around 40% of the women who participated in a study released today by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America said they found information on financial planning and investment either too complicated to understand or too boring to follow.

Solutions to this problem vary. Ms. Di Re says women should start paying more attention to their companies’ benefits. This goes for her own employees, too. “Every time I give out raises I ask: ‘Are you contributing to your 401(k)? Are you contributing as much as you can get matched?’ I am surprised by the answers.” She also recommends sitting down at least once a year and mapping out a balance sheet to figure out assets and liabilities, cash flow and net worth. Other financial planners have found women respond better to an entirely different format.

Ameriprise Financial tries to get women engaged by using fewer numbers and more emotional language. “It’s not just about finances,” says Elda Macias, director of market segment at Ameriprise. It’s about: “What do you want to do? What do you dream?” One tool Ameriprise uses is the “Dream Book,” a booklet given to women and couples containing questions like “If you could do anything, time and money aside, what would it be?”

“Men think about money like a river,” says Arika Larson, who runs a firm called Women Be Wise and helped Allianz with its focus on women. “It’s always flowing in their mind. Sometimes it’s just a trickle but they know the rains are going to come.” By contrast, Ms. Larson says, “Women think about money more like a lake. This is what I’ve got, this is how much I’ve got and if I give you some I’ll have less.”


**I've read finance books and I do not agree that women think some prince is coming to save them. Women think and feel differently about money in general. One big reason for women is that t scares some - all of the numbers/math/definitions of funds. They are worrying about other things like their kids & school. They will gladly give the finances over to a Husband if they can. However, some are completely different and have a firm grasp on finance. Suze Orman is one of the money masters and she says NO MATTER WHAT, if you have a husband who is a millionaire....the woman in the house should know exactly what the family finances are from the mortgage to the light bill. It is NOT OK to be in the dark about these type of things. I agree with Suze on that one for sure. ***

Chinese Women Rule as Athletes

The Great Women of China
By MEI FONG and LORETTA CHAO
June 13, 2008; Page W4

BEIJING -- Here is China's secret formula for topping the Olympic medal tally: two X chromosomes.

New Miley Cyrus

California Agency Outlines Plan to Fight Global Warming

The California Air Resources Board announced today that they have developed a plan which will reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, from projected levels by 2020 or about 10% from today’s levels.

The report estimates that this means reducing state average individual carbon emissions from 14 tons per year to 10 tons per year. The long range goal of this plan is to reduce emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050.

Adios, North Pole

According to the informal betting pool among scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado there's a 50/50 bet that the geographic North Pole will melt away completely this summer.

The ice had retreated to a record level in September when the Northwest Passage, the sea route through the Arctic Ocean, opened up briefly for the first time in recorded history.

According to the center's senior research scientist, Mark Serreze, specific weather patterns will determine whether the North Pole's ice cover melts completely, but the speed at which the projections for total ice loss at the pole have increased is really disturbing. With many scientists predicting just a few years ago that total loss would not occur in summer until at least 2050.

(www.treehugger.com)

Big Green Purse

“Women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the marketplace.” That’s an astonishing statistic. It’s so incredible that Diane MacEachern wrote Big Green Purse to inspire women to use their spending dollars to help protect the Earth and to send a message to manufacturers that consumers want environmentally friendly products.

Big Green Purse explains in twelve chapters, how some seemingly insignificant decisions can make a difference, leading to bigger shifts in everyday habits and a cleaner planet. The book starts with easy to understand explanations of issues and concepts. MacEachern breaks things down, like the precautionary principle, chemicals, climate change, and air and water issues so that anybody can understand it, yet she doesn’t over-simplify things.

(www.treehugger.com)

Young, Fabulous & Frugal

There is a good column on Kiplinger.com about 'Starting out'

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/starting/archive/2008/st0618.htm

Waterfalls in NYC

FALLS TILL THE FALL: A tour ship passed one of the four New York City Waterfalls beneath the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday.

The project, designed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson, consists of four man-made waterfalls around the city that will be on display until mid-October 2008.

RAT!

Ick. We saw a dead rat on sidewalk today. He was huge. Like 6" long. This is a pretty clean city & we hardly see rats. Gross!


(BTW, the only reason I have a pic of this is b/c I had my camera with me this AM to try to get another picture of Evie & Maybelle)

Another Evie picture

So cute. She just woke up.

Wasabii

Evie's friend Wasabii is the one without the t-shirt on

Airline Trouble

Major turbulence ahead for airlines

America's aviation system could be at risk of collapsing by the beginning of next year.

Wildfires

There are 700 fires burning in CA right now.

Health Advisory: Wildfires
Smoke from wildfires in northern and central California is currently affecting air quality in the Bay Area. Air quality in portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Solano, and Sonoma Counties is forecast to exceed federal health standards on June 25 and 26. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is advising residents in areas affected by the smoke to be cautious and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities. For more information about local wildfires, see the CAL FIRE website, and the USDA Forest Service. For general smoke and fire information, see our wildfire safety tips and CAPCOA’s Smoke Impact information and resources.

Barking Dog!

Evie was being so strange tonight. I took her to the park after work and she was running with a bulldog. The bulldog tripped over himself and he laid down and was whimpering. All of the sudden, Evie ran over to him and started barking. Went up to the dog's owner and barking barking barking. We walked away and she was barking non-stop. At nothing. At people. At another dog. Came home. Barking. Non. Stop.

I have no idea what her problem was. She spent from about 730-9 staring out the window barking too.

Finally, she stopped and at about 1030 wanted to play with her toys. Maybe she was trying to tell everyone about her dog friend getting hurt. Who knows. What I do know is that it was annoying to listen to!

Finding dogs and people to bark out through the window

I think she thinks she is a cat. Look how depressed she is because I told her to stop barking.

Evie's Friend Maybelle

I tried to take a picture of Evie and Maybelle the other day but they wouldn't sit still.

Gone Baby Gone

Last night, Erik & I watched 'Gone Baby Gone'. This is from the same author that wrote 'Mystic River'. Ben Affleck directed and I think it was up for an Oscar this year. It was really good.

Free Carabiner

This morning, these girls were standing on the street corner in North Face gear carrying back packs. They were promotion girls passing out these cool carabiners that had cards attached. The card drove people to a website to enter to win a trip to British Columbia. So, of course I entered and kept my free carabiner!

Pride Weekend

I think this month is LGBT pride month & this weekend is 'Pride Weekend'. Not sure what it truly means will happen here this weekend but the flags are on every street corner. I think there will be major parades.

Perez in SF

Perez Hilton is going to be at the mall in SF on Saturday. I am definitely going to meet him and get a picture with him!

Finally....CA Plates

Finally. We have California license plates on the car. It only took 6 mos for the DMV to send them to us!!! I hate our plates too.

It has weird letters like J, U, C, S, O in there. So stupid. I'm not ever going to remember it.

Pilates Fusion

After work, I went to a Pilates Fusion class at the gym. It was like ballet with abs. It was fun, not THAT hard, and the instructor was great. Plus, my back feels amazing afterwards! I will be going back next week.

Piggy Cupcakes

I saw these on another blog. Are these the cutest or what!?

USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials

THIS is our olympic gold medal hopeful, Shawn Johnson. Check her out on beam. It looks like she is on the floor!

Magazines - Waste of Money

So, I LOVE magazines. I love reading them, looking at all of those pictures, and getting ideas of new products or places to visit. However, I get so many magazines at home that I barely read. Especially US Weekly, I flip through it in 5 mins and throw it in the magazine pile at work. Why am I paying $50/year for a magazine subscription when I can look at all of the pictures online?

The other magazines I get are Real Simple(love), Shape(I didn't renew), Domino(Why?), Us Weekly(Gasp! I did NOT renew this one), and Food & Wine(this one sucks!) Looks like the only one I really enjoy reading is Real Simple.

I am going to not renew the other ones when it comes time. Once the issue comes out, the magazine posts most of the content on their site anyway so what is the point of paying for a subscription!



In


Out

auf wiedersehen Us Weekly

Weather

The weather is back to normal. It was 55 here this AM and is probably 60 now with wind.

Just Cure Cancer 5K

Today, Erik and I ran the 'Just Cure Cancer' 5K. It was put together by Team In Training. If you wanted to, you could sign up for the Nike Marathon for only $20! However, I am going to wait and sign up for TNT next Spring. I am going to see if I can volunteer in the fall though with the team.
The course was through Golden Gate Park. It was a pretty easy run and took us about 30 mins.



Me & Erik


20 Years of TNT!


Waiting for more finishers


"Lunch" was served after the race around 1030/11am

Yum-O. Asqew Grill was there to serve lunch

Safeway Card

When we are at the grocery store, I give the Safeway card to the cashier after she is done scanning everything. I do this because I like to see how much we saved in one lump sum. Usually we save around $30 because we do buy things on sale. Today, we had our highest savings yet, $55!! I couldn't believe it.

Still Hot

It is still hot here. It was probably 85-90 today & yesterday. This morning, Evie and I went for our morning walk. Then, she came in and was so hot, she laid down again. She didn't even want her breakfast. I know this hot weather is normal for summer everywhere else but we are not used to it! Its supposed to be mid-60's-70's again tomorrow.

Here is Evie hot this AM. I think she is playing dead.

Car Wash

Our car is Filthy. It gets dirty sitting under this tree on the street. It gets dirty when Erik drives it to the beach. Its just gross. Today, at the gas station, I washed the windows with the squegee thing. Then, I thought it would be a good idea to do other parts of the car. Bad idea. When you use the squegee thing on other parts such as, the trunk, all it does is spread the dirt out evenly on the car. This equals a bigger mess. Now, we're going to get the car washed.

Erik's Phone

Erik has a phone again so if you need him, you can call his number.

Hot Friday

It was 85 here today and it was HOT. So hot that as soon as we got outside, Evie started panting. She was rolling the mud today & laying in it. Then, she got a bath. Then, she laid on the living room floor and went to sleep at 5pm so I did too. Yes, on Fri night, we both slept from 5pm-7pm.

Check out this funny pic of how she was sitting the other night. So weird sometimes.

Weekend

This weekend should be low key. We are going to check out the Indiana Jones movie and this 'Savor the Square' Fair at Ghiradelli Square. It is supposed to be nice here this weekend!

Have a good weekend!

Sierra Club to Endorse Obama

The country’s largest grassroots environmental advocacy group, the Sierra Club, plans to throw its support behind Senator Barack Obama on Friday, capping off a week when Senator John McCain unveiled a series of new energy policies that angered environmentalists.

Carl Pope, the executive director of the 1.3 million member group, will announce the endorsement at a joint press conference with the United Steelworkers union in Cleveland. The two organizations are part of a Blue-Green Alliance working to create American jobs and a greener economy.

In an interview, Mr. Pope said that Senator Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, supports the “strongest set of positions that any candidate has ever offered” on the environment.

NYTimes Article

Local Twins Weighing 23 Pounds State's Heaviest Ever

A set of twins delivered at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem on Tuesday are the heaviest set ever born in the state of North Carolina and possibly the second-heaviest set born in the United States during the last 100 years.

Hot Here

It is Hot here. It must have been 75-80 today. yes, that is hot for us. The bus was awful this morning. It was packed. I was smushed up against someone. I thought about how close you get to people on the bus - literally you are body to body sometime. Its funny how everyone doesn't care when you are on the bus but if you stand that close to someone at any other time, they have a fit.

I find it mildly amusing/annoying when people 1)are in the back of the packed bus 2)dont get up early enough for their stop 3)PUSH through the crowd trying to get to the door 4)Stand there and yell 'back door' when really they should just step down to open the door themselves. I also love when people do that but we are not at an actual stop. That is the best.

Needless to say, I was sweating when I got to work.

The Library

I went to the library today and found out that SF has a huge one. It is very modern too. We have self-checkout for the books!! No more standing there while the mean old library lady takes that little card out of the back and stamps it.

Anyway, this is another way to SAVE. I took 3 books out and if I bought them at Borders, it would have cost me about $15 a piece. The library is on my bus route too so I just have to hop off, get my books, and get back on the bus to get home.

Also, on my way home from the library, I saw an interesting character on the bus. She was an old woman probably in her 70's. She had on a furry leopard print coat, her hair was frizzed UP, and she put her lipstick on all by herself - it was all around her lips. You know what I mean? Like how you put it on when you were 5? I know, I know - it is mean to say, she is old. But, it was a sight.

Classes for Evie

I found some great classes for Evie to sign up for at the SPCA. This includes further training on ignoring distractions, learning agility aka going through obstacle courses, and learning tricks class. I think that would be so fun for her.

Love this

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

— Mohammed Ali

Rainbow

This is so crazy. Last night on AC360, they were discussing & showing clips of the Tim Russert Memorial Service. At the service, they played music from Tim's iPod. The last song played was 'Somewhere over the rainbow' - you know the ukelele version? When the service was over, there was a huge rainbow over the building. I do not think it was just a coincidence.

So many people attended the service including McCain, Obama(who sat next to each other), the Clintons, Dan Rather, Wolf Blitzer, etc. The journalists were on CNN too and they said that people are saying that this is how they felt when JFK died b/c Tim was such a great person.

New Balance Ad

I love this new New Balance TV spot.

Evie's new bone

The other day, we went to Petco & I picked up this bone for Evie. She wanted to hold it in her mouth the entire 15 min ride home. When we got home, her tongue was dried out. ha.

DAVID BECKHAM!!!

The SF Macy's had the honor of hosting DAVID BECKHAM to launch his new Armani underwear ad & line to be sold at Macy's. Bailey and I left work early to go try to get a glimpse of him! We were probably 100 feet away from him. He literally spoke for 10 seconds and then signed autographs for people who had spent $200 on Armani clothes in the past week or something.




Hotness about to be unveiled







David will grace Union Square

Cooking Event

Back in March, our team did a 'Team Cooking Event' at this great kitchen in Oakland. The Chef who owns it, Terry Paulding, actually had the 1st season of Top Chef filmed there. She also trained the animators on the movie 'Ratatouille'. Here is a pic of us as Chefs for a Day:


(Me, Cristin, Lauren, & Jenn)

We met Emily Giffin!!!

Emily Giffin, author of 'Something Borrowed', came to Books, Inc. in SF. We went & met her!!

McCain Seeks to Break With Bush on Environment

Senator John McCain sought to straddle the divide between environmentalists and the energy industry on Tuesday as he called for conservation along with more refineries, more nuclear power plants and lifting a ban on oil exploration off the nation’s coasts.

“His decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.

Click HERE to read the article about the flip flopping Republican.

Bush Calls for End to Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling

Is cheap gas worth the risk of putting the environment & animal lives at risk for cheaper oil?

The highlights of this article:

• President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling and open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, asserting that those steps and others would lower gasoline prices and “strengthen our national security.”
• The president’s move to end the ban on offshore drilling reverses his longstanding position on the issue. Together with the other proposals he laid out on Wednesday, it underscores how $4-a-gallon gas has become a major issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. A growing number of Republicans are lining up in opposition to the federal ban.
• The party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, used a speech in Houston on Tuesday to say he now favors offshore drilling, an announcement that infuriated environmentalists who had long viewed him as an ally.
• “This week’s flip-flop on offshore oil drilling by President Bush and Senator John McCain is nothing more than a cynical campaign ploy that will do nothing to lower energy prices, and represents another big giveaway to oil companies already making billions in profits,” Mr. Reid said in a statement.
• In a speech to the United States Chamber of Commerce last week, Vice President Dick Cheney said, “We should hear no more complaining” from opponents of domestic drilling, whom he called “part of the problem.”

The future First Lady on The View

Check out Michelle Obama on The View today.

Great Quote

A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life."

--Suze Orman,
American finance expert

Hairspray was....

...AMAZING, as usual. We had great seats. Orchestra, Row O. I love love love the musical and the songs. In my next life, I WILL be Tracy Turnblad on Broadway.

It will take all of my might to see a different show in NYC other than Hairspray when I am there next month!

The Morning Bus

Today was an annoying ride on the SF Muni!! I must have had a new driver b/c he was saying 'Good Morning' to everyone when they got on. He was not a disgruntled driver, yet. Then, he also used the stupid little PA system on the bus to announce every stop. The old drivers just assume you know where you are going & if you don't, don't ask them. Then, this guy kept saying, 'Move back, there is room in the rear' People kept squishing back as much as they could and finally, they got mad.

People were saying 'Do you want me in this guys lap?" "Why dont you come back here and see how much room there is!"

Finally, we reached downtown and people started to get off.

However, I think the following people should NOT ride public transportation:

• FIDM students carrying their 'portfolios' and don't want them touched
• People who are clausterphobic
• People who don't want to be touched
• People who don't shower
• People who can't handle the stop & go of the bus
• People who get mad when it's raining and they get wet by someone's umbrella

Unreal

Check out this pin that was sold at the Republican State Convention in TX last weekend.




Click HERE to read the article

Tonight I am going to see....

HAIRSPRAY. This will be my 3rd time seeing it on stage but I love it!!

Hooray for Coffee

Study shows coffee lowers heart risk but not cancer deaths

Drinking up to six cups of coffee a day may lower the overall odds of dying prematurely, mainly because it cuts the risk of dying from heart disease, a study released today suggests. But the study found that heavy coffee drinking doesn't cut your chance of dying from cancer.