Friends

We went out last night and saw all of our friends again. I was sad. I miss everyone. I hate being so far away.


Yes, we brought our own food in - cupcakes & smartfood

Souk, Erik, Eva

Me & Marla - We have known each other 17 years. Unreal

Marla, Me, Jess

Taking shots because we were depressed about leaving

Erik, Jess, Erik

Erik's Party

Here are pictures of Erik & Jaime's 30th Birthday!

Back in SF

We are back in SF. It was really hard to leave and I cried, of course. We had a good week seeing everyone, eating GOOD pizza, and having fun. Here are some pics....





























































Here is what a real sandwich looks like on a hard roll with Boars Head meat!!

Monday

Today was my last day of work for the week. We are going to be on a flight at 6am to go to CT. We will get in around 4pm. I am finishing packing right now. I went to the store to get a few snacks. I didn't take a bag when I left the store across the street so I probably looked like a binge eater since I had goldfish, chex mix, etc. oh well.

I am reading this book right now, Tweak. If you remember, I loved the book Beautiful Boy. Well Tweak is written by the son's view of his addiction. Beautiful Boy was the father's story of his son's addiction. It is really really crazy what this kid goes through. I cannot ever imagine living like this - just living to get high and doing anything to get drugs.



Well, I am sitting her blogging instead of going to the get the laundry. I am also watching Dancing With the Stars. I am rooting for Shawn Johnson, US Olympic Gymnast.

OK have a good week!

Crazy of the Day

While a gaggle of Girl Scouts were selling cookies in Burlingame on Sunday afternoon -- is it that time of year again already? -- a vehicle accidentally struck them and a few other people, according to police. The collision happened on Chapin Avenue after a 58-year-old man was trying parking his car, accidentally stepping on the gas rather than the brake. He wasn't charged with a crime. According to reports, "[f]ive people were taken to a hospital" and "[a]n 8-year-old girl and her mother are in serious condition at Stanford Medical Center with leg injuries." No other injures were reported.

(sfist.com)

PRS & Chip

I LOVE the show, Paranormal State. I especially love the psychic they bring on their to help them out, Chip Coffey. He is ALWAYS right about what is going on in the house, with someone, and without knowing anything - can tell you what is going on in the house. It is creepy.

I definitely believe in this stuff although I never want to see a ghost and am scared of them! I have gone with friends to visit a haunted graveyard at night and I couldn't even get out of the car - I was frozen!!

Anyway, this post is really just to profess my love for Chip Coffey. If he is ever in the Bay Area, I am meeting him!

Sunday

Today I worked at the gymnastics gym all afternoon. I did 5 parties in a row which is a lot but I would rather drive down there for 5 parties than 2. The kids were all pretty good today. I always go out and get them in the little lobby area and have them line up. At one party when I did that, this little outspoken Asian kid came up and hugged me and said hello. He was mr. chatty all party but he was amusing. Kids love to tell you things - one told me he is going to India, another told me about his new baby brother, etc. It was a good day though - this type of work is fun and doesn't feel like work.

More Wigging Out pics

Birthday Dinner!

Last night, I took Erik out for his birthday dinner & gave him his gifts since his birthday is on Tuesday. We went to Umami for sushi and it was so so good.

Yesterday, we cleaned hard core. I mean, we moved the couches and swept and vacumed. Luckily, we didn't find anything too crazy under the couch - mostly dry dog food. Anyway, we washed the pillow covers and the couch covers and just scrubbed. The carpet company picked up our carpet to clean. So, we everything will be nice and clean when we come back next week.

Lucky Deal

This is a really good deal from Walgreens!

Last Night...

...was SO much fun. Betsy had her birthday at this place called The Playground. Now, Asians LOVE karaoke and apparently in places like Japan, you can go out to a bar, get your own room and karaoke machine. Well, in Japantown you can do that too. We had this cool room with the karaoke plus a phone to call downstairs for drinks and food. We drank a lot of 'OB' - Oriental Brewery aka Asian Bud Light. We all had to wear wigs which made it more fun. Here are some pictures....There are a lot more to come. By the end of the night, we all switched wigs.




Greg with this mohawk/looks like a dead animal wig

Jun posing Top Model style



These were 1.6L jugs of beer!

I look like a crazy lady

Wigging Out

Tonight, I am wigging out. Literally. It is my friend Betsy's birthday & we are going to do karaoke in Japantown. She requested that everyone wear a wig. Mine is reddish & curly. It was called the Marilyn Monroe but I think it also looks like Dolly Parton in Working Girl. I will definitely post pictures for you.

Tomorrow, we are cleaning the house so it's nice and clean for when we get back from CT. AND, I am taking Erik out for his birthday. Sushi time!!

FRIDAY

Ugh more work dramz today. I swear, I need to keep a paper bag with me at all times so I don't hyperventilate. We had a meeting with our Prez about the business & our boss leaving & getting a new one. I just feel like everyone is worried. Even though they say we are fine & the biz is fine for SF, I don't believe it. I think this is why I grind my teeth.

Jcrew Sweepstakes

Want to win big from J.Crew? Click the image to enter to win.

Jon plus 8 minus Kate

Have you guys heard this story yet? Rumors are swirling that there is trouble in Jon & Kate land. Apparently, Jon was out partying. Check out this picture of him.... I mean, who knows what is true & what isn't. I imagine they would stay together - 8 kids, you sort of have to. Maybe they should quit the show though & focus on their marriage, not their fame.

hmmm drunk & partying??

$1.50 for Glamour!!

WOW

MOLD

Ok everyone, this is gross. Here we go.

So, my closet is actually in the bathroom since its larger than the one in the bedroom. Fine.
Our bathroom doesn't have a fan. Fine.
I store clothes, shoes, bags in the closet in the bathroom. Fine.

Well, one of my canvas bags filled with wintery items like mittens fell down off the top shelf. So, I got the stool out last night & climbed up to put the bag up. But, wait a minute. What are those little black dots on the bag....it smells musty...it's MOLD.

Holy crap. I pulled out all of the other canvas bags up there(why do i have so many) and checked them all. A backback bottom was covered in mold. GROSS. The Vera Bradley bags smell musty. I threw out probably 5 bags. The rest got strewn across the living room and sprayed with Lysol.

No more bags in the closet. Actually, I am giving away and/or selling 1/2 of them because if they are shoved up in the closet, I don't use them or need them!! Impromptu cleaning out of stuff. Oh and this happened at like 1030pm last night. So, when Erik got home at 12, I was up & going crazy cleaning.

Friday

Since I am password protecting this blog as of Friday, email me if you want the password:

pinkpolkadotdiary@gmail.com

Another Oprah episode

On Oprah the other day, she talked about how a child is affected negatively when they are neglected. She showed a few cases of kids left in a room with no parenting, affection, starved, neglected, etc. She had a child psychologist on the show that said there are more neglected kids in the US than those who are sexually/physically abused.

One example was a girl who was kicked out her house at age 3. She lived in the backyard with the dogs. She acted like a dog when she was removed from the home 5 years later. Another was this little girl named Danielle in Florida who was neglected. When she was rescued by the Police & went to the ER, she was afraid to be touched, wouldn't look at anyone, and could only speak like an infant - she was like 5 or 6 years old. How sad.

Did you know the major architecture of the brain is created by the time you are 6? When you are neglected, your brain does not form properly. So this poor little girl's brain did not form properly thanks to this neglect. So so sad.

Oh and...

I will miss Evie so much when I am gone. Erik is dropping her off at her camp. Good thing because I would cry. I would hug her and kiss her and say Mommy loves you like 800 times and then run out and cry in the car. I know it. So, he can bring her. She will be happy. She loves it there and loves the owners and the other dogs. Plus, when she comes home, she will be TIRED.

Next week

I am getting excited because next week we are going back East! We will be in CT from Tues-Sun. It is Erik's birthday so we are going to home to see our families & friends. It will be good to hit up our fave restaurants, see everyone, and have fun. Yipppeeee!

Rice

I like rice but not couscous. Couscous is ok but its the texture. ick

Pictures of Evie

Here is a funny picture of Evie. Look how she is laying on the pillow. nutty.


I got Evie a St. Patrick's Day collar at Old Navy for $5!

The Purple Shirt

I am finally getting a few pics off the camera. For those of you who know about The Purple Shirt well, I finally wore the dang thing when Erik and I went to Citizen Cake.

Freedom to Marry

The CA Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Prop 8 tomorrow. They could overturn the current ban on gay marriage. As you all know, I fully support the RIGHT for anyone to get married - gay, straight, transgender, purple, black, white, pink, blue. I don't care. In my mind, it's human rights - not gay or straight - to be able to marry who you want.

The helicopters were circling tonight around 6pm because rallies in the Castro and City Hall were taking place. Sean Penn was even here (yesterday, I think) to support the freedom for gay marriage. The fact that Prop 8 passed with 52% of a vote is crazy. Even Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger are getting around 'No on 8'.

Privatizing

Hey Everyone - I decided that I am going to make this blog private. I'm going to make it private as of FRIDAY so if you want the password, let me know. Thanks

Reese

Doesn't Reese Witherspoon look great here. It looks so not like her.

Cool article

Did you know that Google was not the original spelling of the company? Do you know what Lego stands for? How about Tupperware. Fun article in NY Daily News today about how companies got their names, HERE.

WOW - Quote

How appropriate is this quote for right now - work, the economy, LIFE

Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.

—attributed to Arthur Schopenhauer

Drama

More work drama. Our head boss is leaving our SF office. Change is the constant these days. That means there will be 5 of us here. 5 girls. Women. Isn't that crazy. All of our clients are women too. We can thank Women's Lib for that!

The Oprah/Suze Orman Challenge

Suze Orman was on Oprah today talking about how to live a simpler life. Here is her challenge to everyone:

• Don't spend any money for a day.
• Don't use your credit card for a week.
• Don't eat out in restaurants for a month.

I really like the advice of one author:
Want to start simplifying? Mary says you shouldn't think of the process as a punishment. "It can't be, 'Oh, you're taking this away from me,'" she says. "It's: 'What am I opening up? What am I going to gain from this experience?' And with this experience, you gain the appreciation for the things in life you are so blessed to have."

And this from Oprah,
Oprah says people should strive to have less stuff with more meaning. "That's the goal this year," she says. "I want to ask everybody, no matter where you are in the world, to make your own pledge."


This seriously is hitting home with me. When I think of how much stuff I have, I feel almost bad about it. There are people out there with NOTHING. Now, I have made changes in my life this past year to cut down on having stuff. I don't buy books - I go to the library. I always bring lunch to work except for once a week. We do eat out 2-3 times per MONTH(not week like i said before) but we enjoy it. Plus, we don't buy 7 days worth of groceries and then let the food go to waste. Still, there is always ways to make life even more simple.....

JT does JM

Justin Timberlake was on Jimmy Fallon last night mocking John Mayer. Funny!

Jason is the world's biggest Jackass

Wow. This season's bachelor, Jason, is a real classy guy. Dumping your 'fiance' on national television is really nice. I knew everything that was going to happen because the entire story was on the internet. If Jason really wanted to dump Melissa, he definitely didn't have to do it on TV! And then there is Molly who is already jumping back in his arms. Get some self respect, girl!

I like this article that says, what will Jason's son think about how you treat women?!

Hmmmm....

Do I know you in Queensland, Australia?? Also, who are you that lives in SF & reads this besides betsy & amy???

Books

I read 1/2 of the Zookeeper's Wife. It is set in WWII in Poland and is about a couple that owns a zoo. Once the war starts, they begin hiding Jews in their zoo. They are not Jewish but helped a lot of Jews escape. The problem with this book is that it is written in the 3rd person. I like books written in the first person. I loved Anne Frank. I felt connected to her as she told the story. This book is told based on diaires, intereviews, etc. It almost seems like the author was so worried about misinterpreting the 'data' she had that she was overcautious in telling the story. The problem with that was that you didn't get to really understand the characters.

I am now reading 'Here's The Story' by Maureen McCormick aka Marcia Brady. It is her autobiography & it is so good. Did you know after the Brady Bunch, she became a coke addict? Unreal. It is a quick read and a good story.

oh and also

my hair is complete mess today. there is no controlling it in the rain. get the bobby pins out - stat!

Rain Rain

It is raining today, again. It IS the rainy season so we will be dealing with this for the rest of the month. Thank God we do not have the snow like the rest of the country. I want to move somewhere where there's minimal elements. Maybe San Diego. Warm, Sunny.

Tonight is Bachelor Finale. Can't wait. I just went to the dentist to get my mouth guard adjusted since I am taking it out in the middle of the night! I had to walk in the rain, to the dentist & back. I stopped & got a white chocolate mocha though and that made things better.

I have a good lunch too. Salad with butter lettuce and lemon pepper tuna. I love butter lettuce. Oh and my fave dressing - 4 Seasons. You know, that stuff you make at home. So good. No soda. I went 2 days w/o soda then 2 days with soda.

Crazy of the Day

The body of a 44-year-old man was discovered inside a bathroom at the San Francisco Bloomingdale's complex on Friday. Patrick Callahan, who was homeless, "was found in the morning when employees opened the store," according to AP. While the exact cause of death has yet to be revealed, "investigators are also trying to determine if Callahan broke into the store and hid out in the bathroom, or if he was there before the store closed and fell unconscious." A Bloomingdale's spokeswoman described Callahan's death as "very sad."

(sfist.com)

Sweepstakes Galore

I found a bunch of sweepstakes today in the coupons of the paper. Here you go. Click on the pic to get to the sweeps site:


















Win a Staycation from Febreze: