Seattle Pics

Finally, here are our Seattle pics. We went from July 2 - 6th. We rented a house on the Puget Sound and were 15 mins from the city. It was great to go from the city during the day to the calm, peaceful house at night.

Pikes Place Market














Loved that this port-o-let was called the Honey Bucket




Happy Hour in Pioneer Square

$7 Haircuts

You know how I go to the Paul Mitchell school for $20 haircuts. Get this deal - This is unheard of.

Free Sample

Go here for it!

Give a Day, Get A Night

GO here - for info.

Weekend

Ah the weekend is here. Tomorrow, we are going to the Renegade Craft Fair. We went last year too; it's pretty good. I am hoping to get a little gift for my friends baby who is already One next week. I hope it's nice weather this weekend. It is supposed to be sunny and in the mid-70's. Exciting.

Not sure what else is going on this weekend. Happy hour tonight!

Psych Class

I am taking this psych class online. Its 20 days long. Every day an assignment is posted at 6am. We have until 10 pm to do it. It is sort of crazy. It's not hard work but you have to write a few paragraphs every day.

DIY, again

Remember I said I was doing that DIY project with my Mom. Well, the curtains arrived & they look great. Here is the before & after -

Thursday

Today, we left work at 1pm. We took the ferry to Sausalito for lunch at Horizons. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the bay. It was awesome. It was HOT out up there, around 80 and sunny. Of course, I whipped out the 50 spf. ha. Lauren &I split our lunches so we had fish tacos AND a salmon sandwich. So good.




View of Alcatraz in front of the city

Missing bridge! Check out how 1/2 of the bridge is in the fog

Jenn, Lauren, Me. Jenn clearly not paying attention

So pretty!

LOVE this quote

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."
—Judy Garland

I got...

invited to Vera Bradley's 100th Birthday. The SF Vera B. store sends me all sorts of stuff - invites to these parties they have AND they call me. yes, they do. I don't even shop there that much. Maybe 2-3x per year for gifts. They call to tell me about new products and stuff. You'd think I was there weekly for that type of customer service!

Anyway, thought that was funny. I might just go to this b/c it is right after work and there are free gifts.

Finally

I am finally home. Was supposed to leave Denver at 330 & get to SF at 5. Be home by 6. Nope. Delayed flight for 2 hours. Left Denver at 530. In SF by 7-ish. Super Shuttle home by 9. ICK. Never taking SS for work again. I should've taken a cab. I do not know WHAT I was thinking. Anyway, I am home in time to eat, shower, get my psych homework posted online, and go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be so busy with work PLUS our director is in town so I think we are leaving early to do lunch in Sausalito. Ughhhhhh. It is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's tomorrow. Woot!

Book Review: Name all the Animals

I am just finishing another book. It is a memoir called, 'Name All The Animals'. Per Amazon, it is a book about....As children, Roy and Alison Smith were so close their mother called them by one name: Alroy. But on a cool summer morning when she was fifteen, Alison woke to learn that Roy, three years older, was dead. While her Catholic parents wrestled with their faith and their grief, Alison made the mourners coffee, went to school to be taught by the nuns, and - being all her parents had left - set about coping. But underneath run her private rituals of mourning, her increasing idiosyncrasies, unnoticed by her parents trying to heal themselves and teachers anxious to be kind. Until suddenly, Alison begins to realize something's wrong. This is a book about grief, but it's also a love story, about Alison's love of her brother, of her childhood, and finally of life.

I just love love love memoirs and hearing other peoples stories. This author starts out with such a tragedy in her life and then the book moves to explore her life. It has a lot of interesting twists & turns. I recommend!

Rioja

We went to this awesome place for dinner called Rioja. If you know Denver, it's on Larimer St. Super cute. We had bottles of wine, amazing appetizers, dinner, and dessert. My fave appetizer was the tuna tartare. For dinner, I had the sea scallops which came with a risotto with snap peas & asparagus. For dessert, I tried a smores pot de creme. Basically, it was a little pot of smores with 2 graham cracker sticks. So good! If you are in Denver ever, come here! You will love it.

Bastille Day

why does everyone care about bastille day? it has nothing to do with us. correct me if i'm wrong. ok thanks

Denver

I am here in Denver. I flew United on a HUGE 747 that had 2 floors. I wonder if it came from Europe or something. We all had bumpy flights coming into to Denver. The good news is, on a huge plane like that, you feel less on the landing.

Anyway, we are staying at a really cute hotel called, The Curtis. I feel like I am in the Brady Bunch home. Here are some pics:

Kate's Turn on Match

Kate Gosselin Match.com Profile Video - watch more funny videos

Book Review: Time of My Life

I read a book this week, 'Time of My Life' by Alison Winn Scotch. This is a story about a woman in her mid-30's, married with a baby, who is questioning her life. In a very 'It's a Wonderful Life' fashion, she wakes up one day and it is 7 years in the past. She has the chance to do things differently, and recourse her life. But, can she? Is your life the way it should be for a reason? If you could do it over, would everything just happen the same way?

Cute book. Bring it on a plane or for a light, fun read. It was OK but wouldn't read it again. Plus, the book is a big build up with a bit of a weak ending.

Dog Food

I went to Petco today to get Evie's food and learned that Petco is no longer going to carry it. She eats Pet Promise. I started feeding this to her over 2 years ago & liked it because it has no animal by products in it, no rendered meats, no artificial stuff. Now, I have to get something else.

I was comparing the ingredients from Pet Promise to other bags at the store. Iams, Eukanuba, Sciene Diet are all horrible to give your dog. They all start off with 'Chicken Meal' or some sort of 'meat-meal' which is gross. I actually don't think Purina is a good food either but I saw Purina Pro-Plan which has very similar ingredients to Pet Promise.

So, I came home & checked it out online. Not recommended. Then, I checked Pet Promise, and the site didn't recommend that either. Something about Soy and corn being in the food. Great. I might go to a specialty store and see if I can get this Canidae that I've heard so much about. It is -

All Natural Holistic Benefits

	High Quality Chicken Meal as the Main Protein Source
	All Natural, Human Grade, Holistic Pet Food
	Natural Ingredients Plus Essential Vitamins & Amino Acid Chelated Minerals
	Naturally Preserved Herbal Formulation
	Excellent Palatability - Dogs Love CANIDAE®!
	Contains Skin & Coat Conditioners to Maintain a Health Luxurious Coat
	Balanced Omega 6 & 3 Fatty Acids
	Wholesome Nutritional Brown Rice & Diversified Carbohydrates
	Superior Digestibility
	Guaranteed Viable Micro-Organisms
	Guaranteed Enzyme Activity to Help Break Down Cellulose
	Made the CANIDAE® Way with Superior Quality: No Corn, Wheat, Soy, Grain Fractions or Fillers and Naturally Preserved

Weekend

We had such a fun, packed weekend. I am ready for bed & for a busy week ahead. On Friday, we took Erik's family to a great dinner in North Beach. It is our favorite place to go.

On Saturday, we spent the entire day in Napa, hit up 4 wineries, and had a great dinner at Mustard's.

Today, we had brunch at Farmer Brown and went to the Giants/Padres game. It was so nice, warm & sunny weather all weekend. It was great. I have pics but will post later this week hopefully. I still have to post Seattle.

This week is going to be so busy. Tomorrow is jam packed then I go to Denver for work on Tues & Wed. Next weekend, I am SLEEPING!

Constitution

Does the Constitution already make gay marriage legal? According to the 14th Amendment, it looks like it does. This amendment was put into place so that interracial couples could marry. It does say race a few times, but it also says marriage is a basic civil right...MA is suing the US Govt for not allowing gay marriage in all states. We'll see what happens!

“Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/does-the-u-s-constitution-already-make-gay-marriage-legal/legal-issues/2009/07/09/4137

Back to School

My psych class starts on tuesday. It is Developmental Psych, is totally online, and only lasts for 20 days. How awesome. I have never taken an online class. I got the book the other day. I hope its not too intensive!

Friday!!

What a big day.It's Friday. And, the Luna's are coming!! They are here for a visit from today - Wednesday. We are going to take them to Napa tomorrow and a Giants game on Sunday. It will be a fun weekend!

Last night, Amy & I had a great pizza dinner in North Beach. The restaurant is pretty new & called Tony's Pizza Napoletana. They have NY style pizza and.....NEW HAVEN STYLE PIZZA. What what - CT Represent! haha. We didn't get that one. We had margherita and it was delish. We'll be back.

Thursday

I'm so excited. Tonight, Amy & I are going to pizza in North Beach. It's a new place called Tony's but apparently Tony is famous? I guess he was on Food Network or something. Anyway, he has a pizza making school but just opened a new pizza place in SF. Everyone is raving about it. I hope it is East Coast style pizza!!

Also, thanks to Amy, here is a funny video - Can you believe Jon Gosselin is already on Match.com? hahahaa

Match.com-Jon Gosselin - watch more funny videos

Crazy of the Day

California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Wednesday she sees stalled negotiations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over closing the state's $26.3 billion budget gap resuming by Friday.

California has been burning through its cash without a budget agreement and is issuing IOUs for tax refunds.

The legislature is being urged to consider taxing marijuana to help raise revenues.

Bass, a Democrat, and Schwarzenegger, a Republican, have been at odds in recent days over his demands for overhauling some state operations with new rules, including some to root out and prevent fraud in the state's welfare system, as part of a broader agreement for balancing the state's budget.

Cha cha cha

Well about once a month, Evie gets sick. I don't know if she steps in something or eats something or what. So, today she is quiet and laying around. I knew she was sick. We went out side around 630 and she had diarrhea & puked. She puked a huge pile. Then, she looked like a drunk. She was like swaggering around as she lined up to puke again. It was gross. After it all came out, she was fine. She wanted to run around & play. Then, we got home & she wanted to go to bed. At least we have Flagyll on hand for this problem!

Anyway, my camera decided to stop working 1 day before Seattle. It is a Canon power shot A560. Well, I went online to see how I could fix this 'lens error'. There are so many message boards about how to fix your camera. I found some funny advice that I am going to try:

• On my Canon powershotSD600 lightly slammed it against a tv remote control and the lens finally popped out! I m so thankful! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• I used tweezers to pull the lens out while trying to pwer on and the came free. Now the camera operates as expected with no issues
• Hit the mini-usb port against the table (gently) did the work. The camera works fine now.
• I used a combination of Katie's solution (holding the camera parallel to the floor, lens facing up, and physically twisting (but carefully!) the lens rings while turning the unit on. It took over a dozen power-ons, but each time the lens body was able to extend slightly further out and the lens cover would open a little more. I also shot some compressed air into the body (from a air can for PC cleaning) AND did all of this while in a hot/moist bathroom.
• What i learned is to adjust the normal state of lenses and to push it a little bit until it fits.
  I used a knife to make the aluminum cover of the lenses to fit in.
• my camera has worked since i smacked it 25 to 30 times on a soft fridge magnet strip.
  i hit it on the lower right corner looking from the back of the camera.

Dismissed

Well, the dog saga is OVER. I dismissed the case, I've been paid. Thank God. I'm tired of dealing with it all.

I drove down to the courthouse today around 3:30. What a mess it is down there. It's right near city hall & a museum & downtown.

A)I hate driving during the day. There are so many people. B)I hate driving during the day. There are so many busses. Tour buses, regular buses. It makes me NUTS. C)It took forever in the court house because there were 3 people in front of me filing new forms which takes the clerk about 20 mins per person. D)I went to the library because they said one of my books on hold was ready. It wasn't. It was a mistake. Oh well, I returned two others at least.

Annnnnd, it's almost Thursday.

Cute Water Bottles

LL Bean now has 1)the metal water bottles 2)WITH a sport cap 3)WITH engraving. Um, a pink water bottle with my initials on it....yes please!

Wednesday

Wow, its Wednesday already. Wooohoo. Last night, Erik didn't have to work so we went to the Little Chihuahua for dinner. I had a salmon taco - so good.

Today, I am working from home. I had to go to my co-workers house, Lauren, to pick something up. She is the one who owns that little dog, Beans. (see pic)


I brought Evie in the car to go to Lauren's and the dogs met each other. Beans is about the 1/8 the size of Evie. She was jumping on Evie and Evie was ignoring her. Then, Evie played with her a little. She was doing her usual moves of pushing her face into her and biting her legs. She was very gentle with Beans. She is better with small dogs & puppies than dogs bigger than her. I think she has a size complex.

2 mags, $10

Here is a deal - Get 2 Martha Stewart magazines for $10: Body & Soul and EveryDay food.

Progressive Marathon

The SF Marathon is coming up on 7/26. You can run a full, pick a half, or do a progressive +5K. What is a progressive marathon?Well, here is what you do. Print out the log, run 23.1 miles BEFORE race day and then do a 5K on marathon day = 26.2 miles.

I am going to do this. I am going to start tomorrow and I only need to run about 1.5 miles per day from now until race day. Then, On 7/26. I get a medal. I think this sounds so fun!

One more to go

Wow. I cannot believe it. I bought my car brand new, 5 years ago. It had 7 miles when I left the lot. Now, it has about 97,000! Anyway, the WOW part is that as of 7/30/09, I will be the owner of my car. Yes, my car loan will be PAID OFF!! Yippeeeeee!!

Fever Pitch

This movie is on demand for free. I cannot stop watching it. I love it. Its just cute & sweet. I love Jimmy Fallon & Drew Barrymore.

HUGE SW Sale

HUGE & Quick Southwest Air sale -

Check out Southwest’s massive fare sale. One way fares are $30 if you travel up to 400 miles, $60 for up to 750 miles and $90 for more than 750 miles. Fares are only this low for 48 hours - and many of the best flights are going quick!

Caveats: you must purchase the tickets on southwest.com or swabiz.com. Sale ends July 8, 2009, 11:59 p.m. P.S.T. You must travel September 9 through November 18, 2009. Travel valid every day except Fridays & Sundays.

Tuesday

How great is it that I go to work today & it is already Tuesday! Evie is sooooo happy to be home. She fell asleep in her blanket last night, on the floor. That is how tired she was. She didn't want to get up this morning, at all.

I chipped my tooth this morning. I got up and went for a short run. This dog, Nick, that we see all the time was out. He was so excited and jumped on me and my tooth chipped a little bit. Oh well, you can't really see it.

Crazy of the Day

A Parks & Rec crew was cleaning out a homeless encampment yesterday, near the corner of Sunnydale and Persia Avenues in McLaren Park, when they stumbled upon an extremely stinky tarp which turned out to contain a severed human leg. No word on any identifying features of the leg, or the gender or age of its owner. But it does have us thinking: foul play, or back-alley (in this case backwoods) amputation? Let this be a gruesome warning to the uninsured!

Seattle

We are back from Seattle. We had a great time. The house we rented was perfect for us & right on the Puget Sound. We had a deck where we had dinner & an amazing view of fire works. We saw Seattle and some WA nature. I will give you the full itinerary and photos soon!

Crazy of the Day

If you've ever been to SF, you may have seen this guy - the cat, rat, dog guy. Weird. The owner of these fine animals is Gregory Pike. He was brought to court & fined for causing obstruction on the street for people stopping to look at this.

Now, he's leaving town. Pike said he was fined $236 by a San Francisco Superior Court judge for the public-obstruction charge, which was filed several months ago. He said he does not plan to pay up. Said Pike after the ruling, "Is it illegal to be so good at what you do that you draw a big crowd?" He added, "That doesn't sound right."

Pike has trained a rat to stand on top of a cat that stands on top of a dog. (The animals' names are Mousey, Kitty, and Booger, respectively.)

Is it MJ???

It's buzzing around that during this interview, a ghost was seen in the back of the video. Around 8:15, they will point the camera down the hall and you will see a shadow walk through. It is freaky!! Who knows if it was a shadow or something but I want to believe it is Michael Jackson!!

Freaky but Funny

Little Bee

I just finished this book, Little Bee. This is the story of two lives intertwined. Little Bee is a Nigerian girl living there during an oil war. Sarah & Andrew are a British couple who vacation in Nigera. They get wrapped up in the strife and Little Bee. They do something drastic to save her life. LB ends up in England intertwined with the couple again.

I actually don't recommend this book. I like the way it was written - one chapter from LB, one from Sarah. I just thought the story was boring. If you want a story about someone running from war, read this - A Long Way Gone. Memories of a Boy Solider.

Happy 4th of July!

We're off to Seattle in the morning. Happy 4th of July!!

Done

Done. Got the $$ from him. Will dismiss the case early next week. Both dog bite sagas are OVER.

Update

Well, looks like my days of playing Elle Woods is over. I settled with the Dog Bite Man. I did not dismiss the case yet. I said I need payment before I can dismiss. That way, if he doesn't pay, we go to court. I figured this was the best way to go. I could go to court and win the whole amount but what if he didn't pay up? I'd have to hire my own collection agency to go after him. This way, it's a done deal. I can go away for the long weekend and know this is over.

No more dog drama. That is Evie's theme song plus Destiny Child 'Survivor' hahahaha.

Evie went to camp today for her vacation. I was hugging & kissing her and saying mommy loves you like 800 times. You would've thought she was going to the sausage factory, not camp.

Settlement

Ok Everyone, my lawyer is out of town. I have to make this decision on my own.

1. Settle with him for 50% of the bill
2. Risk going to court and getting awarded the full amount, 50% or $0.

I guess I have a 33% chance of getting either.

At this point, I am leaning towards settling because we will avoid court & I will get 50%.

What do you think?????

Wednesday

Yesterday in the park, Evie ate something. The homeless guy sitting in his usual spot was like, my bad. I wanted to be like - just because you don't have a house doesn't give you a right not to use the damn garbage cans!!! UGH. So, I don't know if she knows she is going to camp or if she doesn't feel well. She is following me around and wants to cuddle. I told her she is going on vacation. She didn't want to eat breakfast. Wonderful.

Tomorrow we leave for Seattle! It's going to be so much fun. Mani/Pedi & Packing tonight. We get to Seattle tomorrow around 10am. We are planning on going to the Red Hook Brewery, a Beer Fest, see the sights like 1st Starbucks, Space Needle, etc. For 4th of July, we just want to chill on the deck and bbq. That is what I am excited about - grilling! Sitting on a deck! Overlooking the water! No dog to walk! Yipppeee!