Weekend

The weekend is upon us again. This week felt like it went by pretty fast! Tonight, we are heading out for Betsy's birthday party! Tomorrow, we are going to celebrate Erik's. Next weekend, Palm Springs is really our big b-day celebration. But, tomorrow he gets his own. I think we'll start with mimosas in the morning and then he wants to go to a sports bar and watch tv and drink beer at 4pm. Sounds good to me! I am working at the gym on Sunday. I haven't been there in about a month. I love working at the gymn gym b/c I do the parties whenever I feel like it.

You know how I wanted to get a chair to reupholster? Well, I found one. I got it off Craigslist yesterday. It is perfect. Now, I just have to figure out how to cover it. I'm sure there is a site or YouTube videos! ha. We decided to get a small storage unit. Our house is so tiny and we need to get rid of some stuff like the Christmas Tree and golf clubs. So, they are going in the unit. We go tomorrow to start putting stuff in. So, this chair is in the corner of the bedroom and fits nicely. It is not jammed in there. We are starting to think about moving but the storage unit is a short term solution.

Today on my bus....

I think I might start something new on here and give you the daily, "Today on my bus" post. As you know, I see some crazy shit and people on the bus. I've never seen the lady who tries to bring on live chickens or a fight but there are some other doozies.

So I'll start with two from this week:

1. This week, I saw a guy who looks like: My Buddy Doll
He has the same hair, a light beard, and freckles. He runs his mouth the ENTIRE time on the bus about his crappy roomate to his friend who rides with him.





2. Today, I saw a guy who looks like the old man gnome from Neverending Story(Thanks Wiki for telling me his name: Engywook) This guy looked JUST like him.

Another Day, Another Protest

Yesterday, the entire state was busy protesting the rising costs of tuition and cutting of classes from elementary school to Univ of Cal campuses. The SWAT team was out in full effect in Oakland when I was over there. The bus was stuck in traffic because City Hall area was jammed with protestors. If there is one thing that SF'ers like to do, it's protest.

Exciting Trip

I have a bunch of trips I am taking in the next three months but I'm excited to tell you about my trip to.....New Orleans! My college organized a trip for alumni & students to go down to NOLA at the end of May to help rebuild from Katrina. Can you believe that people still are living without a home? Katrina happened a few yrs ago!

Amy & I are both going. We are going a few days early to hang out on Bourbon St and have fun. Then, we meet up with the group on Monday. We work Monday - Friday from 9am-4pm. We will sleep hostel style in bunk beds. We will work all day on the homes. It will be like 85 degrees out. I think we might lose like 10lb that week! haha.

I think it is going to be a great experience & a lot of fun. I booked my flight today. I'm so excited!

Spring

The rain is starting to die down and we are approaching getting back to our normal weather - aka sunny & 65. There are two spring things I want to do: take tennis lessons & get a bike. I have an awesome bike at home but it's going to cost $100 (at least) to ship it. So, I started looking on Craigslist to get a new one. I found one similar to my old bike for $100.

Now, I am, get ready......thinking of riding my bike to work. They raised the bus pass to $60/month. I would probably get to/from work faster than the bus. I don't have to be smashed in the bus with everyone. I rarely have to dress up for work so I'm not worried about biking in a dress. I might even lose a few pounds! We'll see. I will probably get the bike and do some practice rides on the weekends first before I dive in.

Next up is tennis lessons! I am so excited to sign up this weekend. They are thru the Rec Dept and only $20. Can you believe it!? I hope that I can learn enough to play in tournaments with other people at my level. I think that would be so much fun!! Considering how much I love tennis, this will be perfect.

Erik, the Chef

Erik has gotten really into cooking this past year. He has a bunch of cookbooks and tries new recipes. He makes some pretty good stuff such as bean burgers or this veggie casserole with biscuits. Usually they are vegetarian or vegan recipes but very yummy.

On Tues night, he made us pizza. He makes his own dough! He made his own pesto! He should throw down with Bobby Flay. My pizza had pesto, vegan cheese, and potato on it. It was soooo good. I will keep you posted on more dinners he makes for us.

Movie Review

I saw two movies in the past few weeks. First up....

Billy Elliott. The story about a British boy who is taking boxing lessons but wants to be a ballerina. Of course, his Father is not thrilled with this idea. Cute story. Extremely successful Broadway show. I thought the story moved a little slow but I would see it on stage. B+


Next, Vicky Christina Barcelona. Penelope Cruz won an Oscar last year for this role as Best Supporting Actress. It's a story of two US girls - Vicky & Christina who spend the summer in Barcelona. Christina immediately likes a local painter but its Vicky that gets him first, even though she is engaged to be married. Christina then gets him, moves in with him, and his ex-wife(Cruz) comes to live with them. You can imagine what happens - they all become lovers together. Different type of movie than what I normally watch but it was interesting. A-

Cute Dress

Jessica Simpson was on Oprah today. She has a new show out about beauty around the world. I decided to check out her website. She makes super cute clothes. I love this dress!

Funky Shoes

I got my funky shoes. They fit well and are cute. I love them. They have pink, blue, purple, green, and yellow on them. You can wear them with anything! haha.

Biggest Loser

Anyone else totally bored with this season of Biggest Loser? Maybe the show is just getting stale. These people aren't very engaging either. I do really like Stephanie & Andrea. I hope they lose a lot of weight. They are pretty young.

Nastiness

Today, the Today show did a segment on how stores accept WORN underwear back in their stores. Nasty!!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Give Blood, Save A Life

I gave blood yesterday & it was super easy and quick. I had to fill out this long questionnaire with questions such as "Have you been paid for sex within the last 12 mos." which I thought was funny. It literally took me like 7 minutes to give a pint of blood. I just sat there and played BookWorm on my phone. Then, I got free juice and cookies! You can give every 56 days. I have a universal blood type so I hope my pint can serve a good purpose!

Doppleganger

Anyone else think this actor & Erik look alike?? The actor is Bryan Greenberg. He was in Bride Wars and is in a new movie with Alexis Bledel(aka Rory Gilmore) called The Good Guy.

Tuesday

Did you watch the Bachelor finale last night? I knew who won b/c I read the spoiler blog RealitySteve.com. This season was just nauseating. Vienna is so annoying & trashy. She is 23, he is 32. This is not going to last.

Anyway, I went crazy last night w/ the laundry. After being away for the weekend & off the schedule, our house was a little messy & the laundry was piled up. Erik cleaned during the day and I did the laundry last night. I even went to the laundromat to wash the comforter.

Well I am back at the gym in the AM. I love going in the mornings rather than at night. Its less busy & there is parking. Plus, it feels SO good to know that at 4pm, I don't have to drag myself to the gym!

I am giving blood today. First time ever. I hope it goes well!

Evie in the Snow

Here is video of Evie running in the snow!

Tahoe: Sunday

Sunday was another fun day while the boys went skiing at Squaw. First up, we used the hot tub! So nice.





Evie tried to get in the hot tub and got her front paws in!

Then, we went to lunch at Jake's on the Lake which is right on Lake Tahoe. Beautiful views.




Next, we went to Squaw to pick everyone up. There was a band playing outside in the village and we got some drinks.




Erik's goggles made good sunglasses








Evie waited in the car for a little while. I saw a ton of dogs running around so I gave it a try. I knew that being around a lot of people would freak her out plus, a loud band wouldn't help. She walked through everyone just fine and was able to sit with us for a little bit. This is huge for her so I'm glad we tried it. The more experiences she has, the more she will be able to do them in the future.


Evie did well but honestly, she was much happier in the quiet car.


Afterwards, we had a long, traffic-filled drive home....But, we made it by 930.

Sunset on the ride home


It was a fun weekend. Glad we went up there & Evie got to run around in the snow. We all got to relax and get out of the city!

Tahoe: Saturday

On Saturday, the boys went off to Snowboard and Betsy, Jun & I did some apres ski drinks minus the skiing. hah. We went to Squaw Village where there are a ton of shops & restaurants. We had lunch at the Blue Coyote and drinks. Then, we stopped at Safeway to pick up food for dinner. Followed by a nap at the cabin until everyone got home from skiing.


This was our cabin. So much snow!

Running like crazy in the snow

Evie loved the snow

The Village at Squaw

Ready for skiing/snowboarding


Betsy, Me, & Cynthia at Squaw

Betsy, Jun & Me at Squaw

Betsy made an awesome dinner of salmon and pasta w/ vegetables. Then, we played a funny board game - Loaded Questions.

Betsy & Evie napping





Evie actually liked Jun and played with him


Chillin' after a day on the mountain




Drinking whiskey straight. Yech!

We had such a fun day!

Lake Tahoe

We had a great time in Tahoe! We took Friday off and drove up around 11am. The drive up was uneventful. We got there around 3pm. The house we stayed in was awesome! It had 2 bedrooms with king beds and then an upstairs loft with about 4 more beds.

We went out to get dinner and when we came out of the restaurant, it was snowing! We did not realize how fast & how much it snows in Tahoe. We had a hard time getting home & up the hill to our house. Luckily, we made it.

Our friends however, left around 7pm to come up. They hit an accident & snow storm and did not get to the cabin until 4am!!!