Weekend

Well, this weekend was fun & relaxing. Taralyn got in on Thursday & sadly, I had to go to class. Friday we got our nails done & had lunch at our fave local place, The Grind. We went to a pizza place I wanted to try, Delfina.

On Saturday, we tried something new for wine & went south. We went to Cupertino & Saratoga. It was so hot here - 90 IN the city. That is unheard of. No one knows how to handle that type of heat. We dont have AC and it is never that hot. Anyway, we went to Pichetti Winery and had a picnic lunch.





Then, we stopped at Carvel. Then, onto Cooper Garrod. They had a huge horse stable, too. Of course, I had to go and bother the horses. I think they wanted me to pet them, or they wanted to bite me. I was reminded how when I was younger and camping with my family & I wanted to pet the goats. My mom said no, you'll get bit. However, I did want I wanted to. I was singing to the goats & got bit. So, I didnt pet the horses.





After wine and ice cream, we went back to SF and wanted to try a mexican place we had seen on a local TV show - El Tonayense. It was awesome & so cheap. 2 tacos and a beer for $7.50! How crazy is that.

On Sunday, we walked over the GG Bridge. After it was so hot on Sat, it was back to normal 60 degrees and foggy for the bridge walk. Got some cool pics though.







Then, we went to the Giants game where it warmed up and got sunny. Plus, the giants won so that is always fun.



Now onto a 3 day work week! woohoo!

Thursday

Today starts the weekend for me. Taralyn is coming tonight for the weekend. Unfortunately, I have class tonight so I am picking her up, we are getting a quick dinner, and then she is going to the student union while I go to lab. Ugh! Oh well - she has to study too so it works out.

I am off tomorrow. We are going to do a free walking tour, get mani/pedis, and relax! Saturday we are going to try some wineries south of SF. It is not as busy as Napa & it's cheap tastings!

Have a good weekend!

Wednesday

Today, I worked from home & it was great. Working from home mid-week recharges me. I feel like I can relax a little, sleep in, and just be home and comfortable. Especially after getting home from school at 1030pm! I didn't wake up until 8am and it was a struggle.

Anyway, Evie was bad today. It was nice out and we were taking a mid-day walk. We sat down in the park and enjoyed the sun. It was time to go & that naughty thing did not want to go home. She was looking at me wierd & her ears were back. I went over to her to pull her to say, let's go. She growled at me!! It was a little growl but it said so much. It said 'Im the queen bee & I say when we leave.' THIS, my friends, is a problemo. I am sure that Erik and I are helping her to be a dominant dog. We let her on the bed. On the couch. That shows them that they are equals. We go through this a lot - of course, I pulled her, sat her down & told her NO. The rest of the day she behaved.

So, now I want her to sleep in her own bed tonight. She will cry. She is 3 1/2. She needs to grow up and get knocked down. I am queen bee. She is princesa.

The other thing she does is bark when she wants to play. You can't ignore her b/c she barks for 5 min straight. Not OK for living in an apartment. Shaking coins does not work. Spraying her with water does not work. So, now I am going to try Binaca. Yes, breath spray. The Trainer told us to do this - spray them once & say quiet. They will get it.

Don't let my cute face fool you. I am naughty.

Car Payment

I was looking at my finance sheet tonight and realized - I have no car payment. I had to check the Honda site again, just to make sure it said $0 due. That is a really good feeling!!

Fibes and Tizzzzooos

I had class tonight. I realized bringing the book is very helpful to read along with what he is saying. Tonight, we talked about Tizzoos aka Tissues. you know - skeletal, cartilage, cardiac, dense, etc.

Anyway, the Prof. does not say 'Fibers'. He says 'Fibes'. Tizzooos and Fibes.

Ankle

Well I went to the DPM today to get my ankle checked out. It is sprained. It is a low level sprain but they gave me a little compression sock to wear for a few weeks to keep the stress off of the ligaments. I am overly cautious when it comes to my feet since they were so expensive - aka my bunion surgery 10 yrs ago.

Anyway, everything out here is high tech. From the self checkout at the library to the x-ray machines at the doctors. She took a few xrays, put them in this machine and they instantly came up on the computer screen. Then, she gave me a DVD of my xrays!! isnt that crazy! Remember those huge films you would have to cart around if you had to bring to another doctor?

City Life

I get why people leave city living for a quieter, more simple life. It's too much sometimes. There is always something going on, something to see, a new place to eat, shop, etc. It's hard because you want to do everything but your wallet thinks otherwise. It's like sensory overload sometimes. I know why people move east to the suburbs - to have a quieter life but be close enough to the city to enjoy it on their own terms. City living is exhausting.

We are holding out for right now. My school is south of the city so moving out of the city makes no sense right now. Plus my job is in the city. I guess ideally, we move depending on if I get into school (which I cannot even apply to for another year or so!) Plus moving south is like living in the fog. Its worse down there - its gray, thick, foggy. Gross. Erik loves living in the city but I wonder if he will get tired of it, too.

I guess this semester is going to be hard so I will not be able to do a ton of things anyway so that is my break from the craziness of the city. I want to live in NY before I die but I think I would choose Brooklyn over manhattan in an instant.

Monday

Today was a busy day. First of all, our event company is in town because they brought our Green Works event to the office. You can see the event if it rolls through your town, HERE.

Then, our president was in town so we had lunch with her. I was literally in my seat at work 3 hours and we left to have dinner with the clients. We went to this restaurant that I love....Salt House. I had the tuna tartare app, the heirloom salad, the halibut, brown sugar ice cream and lots of wine. It was so good.

A nice start to the week. Tomorrow, I am going to the podiatrist for my ankle and going to class. Blah! At least I will be home a little early and can not have to rush to walk Evie and get to school. Plus, I can work from home on Wed which means sleep in! :-)

A's/Yankees pics

Here are pics from when the Yankees won 7-2!

Sunday

Ahhhh another relaxing day. I got so much of the 2008 scrapbook done that I think I could finish 08 in a month or two. I really do not do complicated pages at all so I work fast. I remember when I started scrapbooking back in 1997 and it was so simple - stickers, paper, pens. Now, I see so many 3D stickers, ribbon, buttons, tons of embellishments you can put in the book. I don't have the patience. That is why I like scrapbooking over say knitting. I see immediate results! I have to keep scrapbooking for the rest of my life. It is the only way I can remember things!!

Yesterday, I made brownies and a yummy cobbler. We had a ton of blueberries & strawberries so I used those two for cobbler. I made 2x the amount of topping so it was soooo good.

Evie made me crazy today. All she does is bark at me. I really do not know how to tire her out. We could walk for 3 days straight and she would still bark. There were no doggie friends out. I can't put her on a treadmill. I can't send her to camp every day. I think she needs to start playing by herself. I mean, most dogs do not get attention 100% of the freaking day!!

My ankle is killing me. It is throbbing. It has been a week since the injury so I think I am going to go to a podiatrist. I am sure I just pulled something but now I am starting to think that what if I tore something a tiny bit and by using it too much, I am making it worse? I don't know. I am planning on pulling out the anatomy book to self diagnose before I go in. I know I need xrays in a few views.

Friday

Yesterday, it was gorgeous here. Sunny & around 80! I got out of work early - 1pm, to go get my hair highlighted. I haven't had it highlighted in MONTHS. Like almost a year. I felt like it was getting a little drab looking so I made an appt at the SF Institute aka the Paul Mitchell School. I love going here - they do such a good job. Highlights at a regular salon in SF would cost me about $150. I got them for $60! Unreal. I love how it looks. I will have to take a pic & post. Erik says he can't tell the difference. MEN.

After the hair, I came home and took a nap. I am telling you - some Fridays, I cannot function. It is like the stress of the week starts to drain from my body and I get a headache & soooooo tired. I literally got into bed for an hour and slept.

I pulled out all of my scrapbooking stuff last night. I really wanted to finish 2007. I only had a few pages to go. So, I finally got all of the pics in there. There is a lot of journaling & captioning to do but all of the pics are there. Now, I am starting on 2008. 1.5 years behind schedule. I hope to get 2008 done and then have 2009 done by the end of 2009 to get back on track. We'll see. Now that I am taking this super hard class and oh, have a full time job, who knows when I will scrapbook.

Evie Boo

here are two new pics of Evie being a froggy girl



This is the 'Mommy pleeease play with me look'


Riding in the car & getting sleepy

Crazy of the Day

I had my own crazy of the day yesterday. Got on the bus, walk to the back. There is an older black man sitting there saying 'i want to die' over and over. he wont stop. he is saying all of this other weird stuff but 'i want to die' is all iremember. This other younger black guy comes on and sits next to us. He told him to call a hotline for help and then i heard him whisper, stop saying that! Its so strange b/c you wonder - is this guy serious, does he seriously need help or is he just a loon? Well i know it is not my job to help every person in SF so I just ignored him.

My Sisters Keeper

I am currently reading My Sisters Keeper. I cannot put it down. Seriously, it drew me in during page one and that was it. I haven't read any of Jodi Piccoult's books. I know some people are die hard followers but this was my first book I read of hers. I know the movie came out but wanted to read the book. It is really good but I know the 2nd half of the book will be moral questioning and reading about tough situations.

For those of you who do not know, the book is about a family with a daughter who has leukemia. They had a 2nd daughter and did genetic changing(?) to her so that she would have the same cells as her sister so that she could be a blood/marrow/organ donor to her sister. Once the 2nd daughter turns 13, she realizes she does not want to be this involuntary donor to her sister anymore - now what?

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Yankees!

Tonight, Erik and I are going to Oakland for the A's/ Yankees game! I hope it is not freezing out & the Yankees WIN. They lost last night 3-0.

Ankle!!

Our park has a lot of divets in it thanks to the moles that make holes and dogs running and digging. Yesterday, I was out with Evie and she was running around with a few boxers. I hit a hole and turned my ankle. My foot basically turned under me. It hurt at the time but not that bad. This morning, I could barely put weight on it! It is swollen and hurts to walk!! :-(

Answer Man

Tonight, I watched the Answer Man. Very cute movie. It's the story of Arlen, a famous writer, who is shut off from the world and Elizabeth, a chiropractor who is new to town. Arlen needs Elizabeth when he throws his back out and needs her to adjust him. They become friends but Arlen's baggage gets in the way. However, he comes around and they learn more about him.

It was a sweet movie and it's on demand. Recommend!

Crazy of the Day

In honor of the board game's 60th anniversary, San Francisco's Lombard Street will get a sweet makeover on Wednesday. The crooked street will transform into a giant Candyland board. According to SF Appeal, "The street will be closed to traffic as children from the University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital participate in the game as colored game pieces and interact with life-sized game characters, according to organizers." (Why do only children get to play?! Bah. Nevertheless, it still sounds seriously awesome.) The game, introduced in 1849, was designed by Eleanor Abbott, while she was recovering from polio. Candyland's first ad's promised parents that the game fulfilled "the sweet tooth yearning of the younger set without the tummy ache aftereffects." Some alterations to modern versions of the game include changing the name of Queen Frostine is Princess Frostine, which is stupid, and renaming Molasses Swamp to Chocolate Swamp, which makes sense because no normal child should know what molasses is. Wednesday's event will also feature a big party and delicious cake.

SF IST

Saturday

Yesterday, we went up to Napa to celebrate Amy's birthday. It was SO hot up there - 90 degrees! We were sweating but it was nice to be hot for a change. We went to 4 wineries and had a great dinner at Mustard's! Mustard's is soooo good. We had the heirloom tomato salad, onion straws, mahi mahi and the raspberry/peach cobbler - oh and a bottle of wine. Delish.


Mumm for Champagne!

Champagne.

Merryvale

Amy & I


Gina & Amy

Gina & I at Alpha Omega

Amy & Erin at Alpha Omega. So pretty outside this winery!

The grapes are almost ready for harvest!

TGIF

Last week, flew by. This week, dragged. I spent the entire day at the Client today. Meeting. Meeting. Lunch. Meeting. Presentation. Meeting. Home. Ugh. Tomorrow though - I work from home again. I guess that is the luxury of working in an office of 3 and when 2 are off for the day.

My plan for tomorrow night is to do....NOTHING. After two packed weekends, I am glad to have a night home.

Saturday - I am going up to Napa for Amy's birthday! We have a fun day and dinner planned. Woohoo.

Sunday - Not sure what I am up to but there is a FREE SF Ballet performance in GGP. There is a summer music fest called Stern Grove. Each week, there is a new & free performance.

Looks like we will have nice weather which is great!

Crazy of the Day

BREAKING: Right outside the recently crumbling Hibernia Bank building at Jones & Market, a flood of brown water has erupted either out of a storm drain, or out of the building itself, or out of some pipe just up Jones Street. Prepare to be wading in shit if you have any errands around Civic Center BART. Buses and cars are currently plowing through the sludge up McAllister, but it is spreading toward 7th Street and no one has stemmed the tide...



HOpe this is cleaned up by the time I have to get home!

Evie Training

Here is a little video of Evie working on her skills. I will try to get one of her playing dead. She is still learning. haha

Crazy of the Day

Interrupting a particularly sitrring Maury to spread the word, KTVU tells us that a roller coaster at Great America is stuck, trapping around 30+ people more than 100 feet above the ground. Yikes. Invertigo, the name of the ride, "soars 132 feet above the ground, inverts the riders and takes a 72-foot-high vertical loop." Capt. Scott Kouns said the San Jose Fire Department said, "One of the roller coasters had a malfunction and there were some people that were trapped on the roller coaster." Rescue crews are now on the scene. They're using cherry pickers to pluck trapped riders off of the ride. There have been no reports of any injuries. (Reports of soiled pants? Most likely.)

San Diego!

I am home from San Diego. It was so much fun. I got there on Friday and stayed with my friend & big sister in Theta - Alex. Our friend MK from college came from PA and also stayed with Alex so it was party time!

On Friday, we went out in La Jolla and go to see Kirsten(the Bride):



Me, MK, Alex

Big & Little

MK, Alex, Kirsten

On Saturday, we went to the Broken Yolk for breakfast before going to the beach!




Then, onto Pacific Beach - It was so warm & sunny!!





The wedding was held outside on the water. It was so pretty. It was held at Pacific Union Pocket Park behind the Museum of Contemporary Art. The Reception was held at the Grande Colonial Hotel.