Black Friday: Out of Control

Worker dies in Black Friday store rush

VALLEY STREAM (WABC) -- A Wal-Mart employee died and four others were hurt in the Black Friday rush to get into the Valley Stream store this morning.

The injuries occurred as the shoppers crammed into the Wal-Mart when the doors opened at 5 a.m.

Police said the shoppers knocked the man to the ground at 5:03 a.m., three minutes after the store opened.

A 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee suffered an apparent heart attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Happy Turkey Day!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

— John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Ok

OK - I took Evie to Buena Vista Park and she played with dogs and we hiked up the huge hill and she was huffing & puffing and her tongue was hanging out. Now, we are home and she is asleep on the couch. Just an hour of sprinting around and she is good to go. I guess I will keep her. The SPCA has enough dogs. I'm kidding. You all know I would never get rid of Evie. I adopted her from a shelter! She is still a crazy puppy-ish dog.

Now I am just finishing cleaning and then we pick up Kimmy soon! Hurrrrrray!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!! Gobble Gobble

Evie - On Thin Ice

If Evie is not exercised like someone training for the Olympics, she is full of energy. The problem is that its dark at 5pm. There are hardly any dogs in the park to run around with, she can't be off leash(but she runs on her looong one), if you walk her its not enough, if you run with her its not enough. We can't take her to camp daily because 1)too expensive 2)too far away to drive down & back with work.

So - I am stuck with a dog who is a looney toon. Every night at 8pm, she loses her shit. She is barking and jumps. You take out a toy, she ignores it bc she just wants to wrestle with you. I take her to the parking lot and throw a stick for her b/c the only place she will play with the stick is in the lot, not the park(weird).

Today, I threatened her that I would take her to the SPCA. I said this to her. I dont' think she understood. I told her if she wasn't good, Santa won't come. No response.

I got this from: This is what I meant by that

Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial –I don't like cutting trees down for entertainment

3. When do you put up the tree? This year, maybe the 6th or 7th

4. When do you take the tree down? Jan 2nd

5. Do you like eggnog? GROSS

6. Favorite gift received as a child? No idea. Maybe a Cabbage Patch Kid or Nintendo & Mario 3

7. Hardest person to buy for? ERIK

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom/Kimmy

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, Erik and I dress up and Evie is baby Jesus. Ok not really.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail! Email is tacky

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmm no idea. Maybe a green suede purse when I was about 14 from an extended family member

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? So cliché but Charlie Brown’s Christmas and Home Alone

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Before Thanksgiving

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no. But if we are forced to do White Elephant with the Clients, I am putting the yogurt maker I got last year in the mix.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Apple Pie

16. Lights on the tree? Yes but white only

17. Favorite Christmas song? This year - Step Into Christmas by Elton John but normally anything Bing or MitchMiller (Must be Santa) and Suzy Snowflake. Oh the list goes on.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? The past two years, stay in CA. Next year, CT

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Red bow

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Oh goodness, maybe the fact it doesn’t last long enough

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My Little Mermaid ornaments

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new fleece jacket since Evie ate the pockets out of my old one and for my 401K to bounce back and for the economy to turn around and for world peace

Pilgrim Hat Cookies

Step 1




Me, looking crazy

Almost done

Chocolate Hats

I never took a picture of the finishing product, but here is what they look like:


I dropped them off at Erik's work to enjoy because even though I love making these, I've never eaten one and probably never will!

McDonald's - We did it

You know how we wanted McDonald's? Well, we got it. I got the chicken selects. I have a stomachache now, just as predicted. Oh well, it tasted good. Now, I won't want it for another 2 years.

Fun Week

I am so excited for this week! Today is my only day of work. Tomorrow, I am off and Kimmy arrives tomorrow. I can't wait. We are going to go to dinner tomorrow & Erik's hockey game. She is here until MONDAY. YIPPEE!!

I can't hardly do any work today because I'm so excited for the week and Kimmy and Thanksgiving and turkey and no work and Christmas music!!

Mouthguard, finally

Well, I went for my 'fitting' for my mouthguard today. It is basically this bulky, hard plastic retainer type thing for my top set of teeth. The dentist kept putting in & out of my mouth, marking it, shaving it down...Then, he had to put this NASTY goo on it. You know what a nail salon smells like - acrylic nail powder? That is what it smelled like and TASTED like. He put it in and it burned my tongue and went down my throat a little. YUCK. I tried to think of people in worse situations other than my own for those 2 minutes. Now, I am the proud owner of a very expensive mouthguard that I will wear at night to hopefully stop the grinding & the pressure on my gums so I don't have to pay like $50,000 for new teeth in 10 years!!

Weekend!

This weekend was fun & busy!! On Friday, Cristin and I went to Domo for sushi and it was SO good. Then, we watched the Santa Clause. Yep - before Christmas.

On Saturday, Erik and I took Evie to training. Then, we went to lunch and stopped by this surf swap show. At night, we went to Ozumo for sushi. I am sushied out!!

Today, I went food shopping at 730am. Yep - I wanted to beat the rush of people buying stuff for Thanksgiving...Then, I made pilgrim hat cookies for Erik to bring to work. Pictures to be up soon. We took Evie on a hike in Corona Hts. Then...I headed to mall to get some Christmas gifts AND we saw The Secret Life of Bees. The movie was good but the book was much better. I recommend the book.

Now it is on to ONE day of work! I am off on Tuesday and KIMMY ARRIVES. The excitement mounts.

$25 Haircut

Remember when I said I was going to the Paul Mitchell school to get a haircut? Well, I got it. It cost me $25 with TIP. Unreal. The guy did a good job. I told him what I wanted & brought pictures. He is a student but there are Supervisors that come and check everything out so you do not leave there if you don't like your haircut. They also will not even start cutting until the supervisor approves what they are about to do.

I almost died when the woman near me who got her hair HIGHLIGHTED paid $50! Unreal.

I will definitely go back. You cannot beat a $25 hair cut.

Evie at Training

Here are some pictures of Erik & Evie at training today. During a break, he brought her over to me and I took them.






Froggy Dog



Rolling in the Grass

Pictures with Evie

Random pictures we took last week of Evie.



Evie is the Baby

This one is like, "Dad.....put me down"

Evie standing. ha.

BABY

Ashlee Simpson had her baby. She named him:

Bronx Mowgli Wentz.

MOWGLI as in the kid in the Jungle Book.

"I'm a mancub"

Kota

I went to Target tonight and saw this....

For $269.00

Do you know what it is? It's Kota an animatronic, life-size baby dinosaur. It stands over 3' tall and comes to life with realistic sounds and motion. It responds to your voice and touch with roaring and laughing sounds, and expressive tail, head, eye, mouth and horn movements. It also plays four different adventure-themed tune. For $269.

Oh and when you think this dino has worked up an appetite, be sure to feed him his leafy snack — it really sounds like he's munching on it!

Lazy Mayze

Evie's nickname for the morning is Lazy Mayze. She is so lazy. This morning, I got up to run and tried to get her up at 730 when I got back. Nope.

I tried again at 8, 830...Erik was still in bed & so was she.

9, 930....no movement.

10:15 - she gets up!

Now, she is asleep on the couch & twitching like a mad man. I love the smell of the inside of Evie's ears. Is that weird??

Hallmark Channel

The Hallmark Channel is also doing a Christmas lineup. They even have a movie with DJ Tanner!!

McDonalds

There is a McDonalds right next to my office. We never go. We always see people going there, the place is always packed, and people bringing it back to the office. I haven't had McDonalds since December 2006.

We want McDonald's.

We set a date to go. We are going on Monday, 11/24. However, now this calorie thing is happening. But, guess what. I went on McDonald's website and looked up the calories. 4 chicken nuggets and a medium fry is only about 400 calories. I know, the fat, etc aren't good but still - that is not that bad.

No Bailout

To add to my rant on the Detroit automakers, how about the fact that the 3 big CEO's took PRIVATE JETS to DC to cry poor to the government about their companies. Maybe if they didn't buy jets that cost $35MM in the first place or pay $20K in gas to get to DC, their companies would be better off. MAYBE if the CEO's didnt take $16M bonus every year, the company would be doing better. MAYBE if they had thought hybrid and smaller, they would be in a better place. I know Obama is in favor of bailing these idiots out, but right now, I am not. Teach these corporate AHOLEs a lesson!!!

One Warm Coat

In early December, we are going to a party at the Aquarium by the Bay. The entrance fee is... a coat.

If you are cleaning out your closet and want to donate a coat, you can ship it to me & I'd be happy to donate it. Or, if you don't want to ship it but want to donate. Go here to find out where to donate your coat locally.

1.5

I got up and ran another 1.5 miles today. I will have to start doing 2 loops next week. Then, I can just do 2 loops and try to get better at doing 3 miles before the 5K.

Yesterday, I kept my food/calorie log. By 5pm, I was starving. I said to Cristin, when you are trying to lose weight, do you have to starve? She said, yes! That is why people on diets are always in bad moods. I think an easy way to snack is to eat vegetables during the day....

Anyway, its 55 and foggy here today. Blah. I am working from home which is always great. I have to go to Petco(where the pets go) today. I also want to go to Target to get 2 gifts I need down there. I saw the Target ad that will be coming out for next Friday...do you want it? it has goooood stuff in it. Here is the front page. Get excited!

Casting Calls

CASTING CALLS—Food Network's upcoming show, Dear Food Network, will be filming in San Francisco and they're looking for fans of Guy Fieri and Giada de Laurentiis: "Love to watch the Food Network but can’t cook as well as your favorite star? Now’s your chance to have your Grilling question answered, possibly even in-person! Inspired by letters from fans, Dear Food Network features top chefs answering your cooking concerns"

Sweepstakes

It seems like everyone is doing a sweepstakes right now & giving away a lot of stuff.

Here are a few:

1. Rachel Ray is giving out a new prize daily but you can enter daily to win that prize for a week. It's very easy to enter because they add up all of the prizes for you every day. Click Rach for the sweeps.


2. Women's Health is giving away prizes daily


3. Win a trip to LA and a makeover from Real Simple


4. Win Free Dental for Life ($25,000)

Cute Sign

I love this sign from LLBean. I want to get one that says our CT town. How cute!!

Tight Pants

Back to the calories thing, I know I have gained weight in the last year because these jeans I bought almost 1 year ago are tight in the waist. I had a freak out on Erik last night who is Mr. Healthy and works out and does yoga and eats well. I was like, Ive never had to worry and now I have a pot belly!!

So, this morning, I got up and ran 1.5 miles. I am awake anyway at 630 so why not get it over with. Its too cold and dark after work. So, I did. I ran the entire time which is good for me.

I realize I need to cut back on the cheese, cereal, beer....

Save Detroit

I think it is completely, utterly, ridiculous that the 'Big 3' are going under and begging the Federal Govt for $25BILLION dollars. It is not the consumers fault that GM kept making huge, gas guzzing Tahoes for the past few years when gas prices were up and no one could afford gas let alone to buy a car. Instead of realizing we have an energy crisis and looking into alternative fuel and hybrid, smaller cars, they just kept out pumping out the huge cars. They are stupid & should have made changes 2 years ago. I know that if GM goes under, then car prices go up and imports come flooding in but I think these companies need to start learning a lesson!! What's next - will groceries stores start begging for money, how about clothing stores? Did Mervyn's call the gov't? No. They filed bankruptcy and closed stores.

Calories

I have known this forever, but it is really coming together in my head that if you eat a lot of calories and do not work out - you gain weight. I have never had to worry about this in my life and suddenly I do because I am no spring chicken anymore and my metabolism is slowing down. That means my jeans fit tighter.

I can not just have a goal of 'be fit' because I won't do anything. I have to have a specific goal like - burn 500 calories per day. That is not hard. I think the food thing is less of an issue that exercise.

I went on this site and did a calculation to see how many calories I get per day and I should only eat 1500!! That is nothing. Wah. Anyway, I finally am understanding what those magazines mean when they say keep a food journal. I could definitely see myself having one & marking down the calories next to everything - then you know if you are in your range.

Counting calories is like a budget for your body!!

Foggy Morning

This morning it was foggy out so I thought I would take some pictures so you can see what it looks like. It covers the buildings & you can't see down the street.

Foggy Park

The leaves do change & fall here but not as colorful as New England

May sitting because she knew I wanted her picture

Foggy buildings

Miss May sitting nicely. She looks quite perplexed at 730am

Here is how it works when its foggy -
730am - Cold and foggy so you think, I'll wear a sweater
830am - Sweating on the bus because the sun came out and the fog is gone
830-4pm - Warm-ish and sunny out. Think its warm out still
5pm - Walk outside to wait for the bus and freeze because its cold and the fog is back.

Blazers...cheaper

Thanks for the Ann Taylor Loft tip. Check this out for $89 plus there are coupon codes out there for like 20% off or $25 off!

Me & Evie

Here is a cute picture of Evie and I that I found. This is from January.

Blazers

I love these blazers but at Jcrew they are over $200. Where can I get blazers that are cheaper but good quality?

Tuna in a Bag

Have you seen that tuna now comes in a bag? I bought it this weekend and had it for lunch today in salad. It was good. It was much less messy & less watery. It is more expensive than the can though - like $2.29 for the bag. I still think its weird that fish can be canned & unrefridgerated and be OK to eat.

Christmas Classic

Erik and I are going to sign up for the Christmas Classic 5K which takes place in Golden Gate Park on 12/21. This will get me running for the next month. One loop around the entire Panhandle is about 1.5 miles so doing that twice is a 5K-ish.

I TOTALLY need to get socks like this in order to do the run.

Cathedral Christmas

I am so excited. We just got tickets to go see the Boys Choir at Grace Cathedral in December! It should be good & festive. Remember in Home Alone, the mean old man's grandson sang in a choir?!

Sarah Marshall

I finally saw 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. I thought it was funny & pretty good so I recommend.

Fa La La

I just saw that Lifetime is also going to run Holiday movies starting 11/29. It's called 'Fa La La La Lifetime'..There are sure to be some good ones on Lifetime!!

Weekend

Saturday was sooo much fun. Fri - Sun it was ike 75 degrees out! On Saturday, we took Evie to training in Berkeley. Then, Erik took me out to lunch. Then, we went sneaker shopping on Haight St for Erik but I ended up getting a pair of flats for 60% off. Then, we took a nap and finished the day at a bar with our friends, Betsy & Greg.

Today, Erik and I did a beach cleanup with Surfriders. We helped to clean up Ocean Beach. There was some pretty random stuff on the beach like socks, among the bottle caps and plastic wrap.


Plastic water bottles should be banned. Seriously. We have Brita pitchers, nalgene bottles, etc. Just use the faucet and fill up your bottle. Also, ladies, plastic tampons do NOT go in the toilet. They go in the trash. We picked up a few of those, too and that is gross & hurtful to the ocean!

Shoes

With the Gap F&F coupon of 30% off, I got 2 pairs of flats there on Friday. So cute.

Stuffed Shells

I made stuffed shells last week and the recipe definitely made it onto the the 'Dinners we like' list. I put peppers, onions, spinach, garlic, ricotta, and mozz. cheese in them. I used a 'hot pepper' Classico sauce. They were delish. I added ground turkey to half of them for me and they were really good.

Friday

Lately, there are just some days when I feel like, I wish I was home. Home was easier. Home we had more friends and people around. Of course, we have friends here. But, when they aren't around, there is no Mom & Dad's house to go hang out at. I do think it is because we've been here one year, the holidays are coming, etc. I haven't felt like this in an entire year. We have a lot of visitors in the next 2 mos though - Kimmy, Dad, Maharla, & Sarah. Yippeeeee.

Anyway, on Friday, Evie and I chilled. We did that walk in GGP, went to Safeway, watched TLC. I love to hate that show 'Say Yes to the Dress'. Do you ever watch that show? I'm sure my opinions could change when it is my turn to get married but I cannot believe those girls pay that much for a wedding dress. They walk into that NYC store with budgets of $4K, $6K, no budget. I mean, the 'cheap' dresses are $2K. I cannot imagine that. When I watch that show, it makes me want an empire waist dress that is NOT strapless and has minmal beading and minimal CRAP on it. Something that I am not tugging at for 10 hours. Oh, and costs like less than $1,000. I think I might be getting my dress at J.Crew.

JCREW $395

Pashminas, revisited

Remember how I wanted a new colors of pashminas? Target. $12.99.

Only in SF

Here in SF, we see a lot of random stuff & people of all walks of life. Here are two:

1. Every morning, this perfectly normal looking woman walks from her house into our park. She walks right up to the big statue in the middle of the park, sits down, and smokes weed. This morning, she must have been smoking some good herb because I could smell it from the second we hit the edge of the park.

2. After work, Evie and I took a long walk into Golden Gate Park. GGP in itself is like a small town & there is always something different going on in every corner. So, we walked through and there was a group of people playing instruments, drums, and people dancing. People were just sitting on the hill watching & listening. Evie and I just sat down too, watching everyone. And, I thought...only in SF.

Subaru

As of August, my civic will be PAID OFF. I cannot wait. Although I have zero interest in having a new car or car payments, I saw an awesome car today. An all black, Subaru Outback. I know its sort of a sporty wagon but I think it would be perfect for us. It would fit the surfboards for Erik, Evie, etc....

I would NEVER buy a new car in this city so we could get it a year or two old. However, it's expensive. Like over $20K. Maybe in a few years....

Attention

I think it is so annoying to be around people who are so insecure and need a lot of attention that ALL they talk about is themselves. They cut people off to say their story. They don't let people get their story fully out of their mouths before they are running theirs. They one up people. They can't be happy for others b/c that means they don't get attention. ANNOYING & RUDE.

Not Sleeping

I am not sleeping right. I fall asleep on the couch, get into bed, and can't sleep. Or, I fall asleep in bed and wake up at like 1am and feel like I toss and turn til 5. It sucks. My back aches. I think I am tense in bed because I am stressed out. I am thinking about classes and the economy. They laid people off in of our offices yesterday. Scary. Lots going on in my head.

One Year

It has been one year since moved to SF. This past weekend, I said to Erik, can you believe it has been a year since we were driving across the country. Yes, the 3 of us packed into the Civic and drove across the country. It seems so long ago yet I also can't believe it's been a year.


Denver

The Great Plains

This weird Buffalo Bill museum in Utah

Last Dunkin Donuts for a looong time

Dog is my co-pilot

Things have changed over the year but also stayed the same. Erik got a job & joined a hockey team, I ran a half-marathon, & Evie made so many doggie friends. I remember this time last year, it took us like hours to find the grocery store and shop because we had no idea how to get around nor did we know what to buy. Now it takes 30 mins and we go with menu and shopping list in hand.


Team In Training

Emerald Bay 12K

TNT 5K

I was scared to let Evie play with dogs in the park & now she knows most of them and goes out to say hello and play. She also loves her camp and knows everyone there.

Santa Cruz - 4th of July

I remember saying, no one ever looks familiar here. We will never know anyone here. And, now we do. We know dog owners, and people from Team in Training, people from work, and people in the neighborhood. When I go across the street to the coffee shop, I can stop to pet the dogs and chat with the owners. It's funny how even people you see on your bus every day are a familiar face even though you've never spoken!


17 Mile Drive - Monterey

We have all grown closer too. The first 3 mos were so hard - Erik and I living together, Erik living with a dog, the three of us in our little apartment. Then, it got easier. We got a routine. We learned our way around, we got comfortable in our neighborhood. Evie got used to us & trusts us and listens better(sometimes). We know the places we like to go and don't like to go. We know how long it takes to get places. We know what the weather will be like, where the cheap gas is, best nail place, and our favorite sushi place.


So onto year two. There is so much more to explore, and things to see in the city, state, this side of the country. More people to meet and places to go. At least starting this year, we are all set.