1. I was just searching high and low for the peanut butter at my
brother's house so I could get the dog distraction toys prepared so I
could leave the house. WHERE IS THE STUPID PEANUT BUTTER????
I eventually found it IN THE FRIDGE. This is clearly my SIL's
influence because my brother was not raised this way. We are SHELF
people, damnit.
2. Looks like Bob and I disagree on this very important subject. Kinda
like when we nearly broke up when I found out that he is Team Whipped
Cream Frosting while I am VERY FIRMLY on Team Buttercream. Luckily,
someone suggested we meet in the middle at cream cheese frosting and
we agreed, but later discussed that it was only a band-aid because
cream cheese frosting is only appropriate in certain situations.
3. I changed his name in my contacts so I could take this picture. A
minute or so later I got a text from "Bob" and I was like "Who the
heck is BOB?"
Duh.
4. He's gonna choke when he sees my phone is down to 25%, which is
still a whole lot of juice, if you ask me.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Compromise
I am working from Ben and Sarah's spare room.
I am being supervised.
One of my supervisors has the hiccups.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Things
1. My younger-than-me doctor's fly was down during my appointment this morning. I told her, she zipped up and we continued the conversation and I think she was a little embarrassed but she doesn't know me well enough to know that I understand that these things happen and that the embarrassing thing would be for me to NOT tell her.
2. My mother is totally going to say I TOLD YOU SO but it turns out my dramatically increased water consumption has, per my recent blood test, flushed me of a bit too much sodium. Oops. So now I need to cut my water down by HALF, which seems like A LOT. It's still twice as much as I had been drinking though so we'll see if I feel parched. On the other hand, she said that she's only concerned about water -- I don't have to count my daily Diet Dr Pepper in my ounce count.
PRAISE THE DDP!
3. I will also be due for a new tetanus shot in July, which means I'm still free to step on all the rusty nails I care to for the next few months.
4. I work with two Jennifers and I really like them both and our professional relationships have turned friendly and I feel comfortable calling both of them "Jen" except that one of them signs emails "Jen" and the other one is "Jenn" and I DREAD the day I incorrectly allocate an N.
5. WTF is THIS? The world's biggest pop star?
Luckily Gawker has published the Justin Beiber Guide for Old People.
I remember my mom being clueless to REALLY IMPORTANT stars like, um, MADONNA and how I couldn't understand how she could possibly not give a crap but fast forward 25 years and I can tell you for sure that my interest had been waning for a while but that I 100% stopped giving a crap in 2006. I know it was 2006 because that was the summer I starting working crazy hours and traveling all over CA and when I emerged from my stupor, there were people I'd never heard of on the cover of People and I never bothered to do any catching up.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, THE HILLS!
This maturity gives me the right to roll my eyes at people who can rattle off Brad and Angelina's kids' names and ages. Unfortunately, it also puts me at a disadvantage for the celebrity baby name game I'll for sure encounter at the next baby shower I attend.
6. I'm not going to out the tweeter, but someone I know in real life just tweeted the following:
"I don't have a bluetooth headset so I just put my phone on speaker and stick it in my bra. It's odd but it works!"
G-E-N-I-U-S!
I'm 99% sure she has the same phone as I do so I'm going to give it a whirl sometime soon!
2. My mother is totally going to say I TOLD YOU SO but it turns out my dramatically increased water consumption has, per my recent blood test, flushed me of a bit too much sodium. Oops. So now I need to cut my water down by HALF, which seems like A LOT. It's still twice as much as I had been drinking though so we'll see if I feel parched. On the other hand, she said that she's only concerned about water -- I don't have to count my daily Diet Dr Pepper in my ounce count.
PRAISE THE DDP!
3. I will also be due for a new tetanus shot in July, which means I'm still free to step on all the rusty nails I care to for the next few months.
4. I work with two Jennifers and I really like them both and our professional relationships have turned friendly and I feel comfortable calling both of them "Jen" except that one of them signs emails "Jen" and the other one is "Jenn" and I DREAD the day I incorrectly allocate an N.
5. WTF is THIS? The world's biggest pop star?
Luckily Gawker has published the Justin Beiber Guide for Old People.
I remember my mom being clueless to REALLY IMPORTANT stars like, um, MADONNA and how I couldn't understand how she could possibly not give a crap but fast forward 25 years and I can tell you for sure that my interest had been waning for a while but that I 100% stopped giving a crap in 2006. I know it was 2006 because that was the summer I starting working crazy hours and traveling all over CA and when I emerged from my stupor, there were people I'd never heard of on the cover of People and I never bothered to do any catching up.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, THE HILLS!
This maturity gives me the right to roll my eyes at people who can rattle off Brad and Angelina's kids' names and ages. Unfortunately, it also puts me at a disadvantage for the celebrity baby name game I'll for sure encounter at the next baby shower I attend.
6. I'm not going to out the tweeter, but someone I know in real life just tweeted the following:
"I don't have a bluetooth headset so I just put my phone on speaker and stick it in my bra. It's odd but it works!"
G-E-N-I-U-S!
I'm 99% sure she has the same phone as I do so I'm going to give it a whirl sometime soon!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
A variety of topics for your friday reading pleasure:
1. This blog post made me laugh. Thanks to Guster Liz Liz for the find.
2. I entered myself in the lottery for a spot in the Nike Women's Half Marathon. I read a friend's tweet that her card had been charged but she hadn't received a YAY YOU'RE IN email from Nike yet so I checked my card and nope -- I haven't been charged. I'm not sure if I'm relieved that I don't have to do it anymore or if I'm bummed that I don't GET to do it.
Of course, I could still be charged and I could still be accepted and if I am I'm sure it'll be a pleasant surprise but for now, I'm happy to not spend the money or have those 13 miles hanging over my head for the next six months.
[UPDATE: Speak of the devil! I just got an email telling me that I didn't get a spot in the race!]
3. I will, however, be ROCKING the Willow Glen Elementary 5k next month. Who needs big, fancy races with Tiffany necklaces as prizes for crossing the finish line when I have the chance to run my fat ass in front of a bunch of 5-10 year olds!
4. Guess who has the most awesome boyfriend ever in the history of the world?
ME!
Here's why:
It'll come as NO surprise to the people who know me that I am easy going about plenty of things but there are plenty of things that HAVE TO BE EXACTLY RIGHT or I get twitchy and annoyed and I can't rest until I fix them. I KNOW THAT PLENTY OF YOU FEEL ME ON THIS, so don't go thinking I'm insane because it bugged the CRAP out of me that after six or seven years of using the same stickers to track my exercise and WW points, they are no longer available in the wild.
Here, look:
The hearts indicate days I stuck to my WW points and the stars indicate days I got at least 30 minutes of exercise. (Let's pretend not to notice the pathetic month this photo represents.)
I have many packs of the star stickers but I ran out of hearts and I couldn't FOR THE LIFE OF ME find them again. It was always kind of a crap shoot so when I did find them I'd buy several packs, but I had been to four Michael's and two scrapbooking stores looking for the exact right heart stickers but my efforts were FRUITLESS. I gave up trying and tried to come to terms with the tiny heart stickers I found that weren't the same as the old ones, but were at least prismatic and uniform looking.
I would learn to live with them.
EXCEPT!
I was in Washington going to the Tulip Festival and there was a Michael's near our hotel so I was like "OMG HANDSOME AND STRONG BOYFRIEND CAN WE PLEASE GO TO MICHAEL'S TO SEE IF THEY HAVE MY STICKERS?!?!?!"
And because he's awesome, he obliged me but DAGNABBIT, no stickers. They had the brand I was looking for, which gave me hope, but no actual heart stickers.
GRUMBLE GRUMBLE
The brand has a website and you can buy the stickers from them and I went to the site a couple of times and put several packs in my cart but each time decided that no, even the crazy in my head couldn't convince me to spend $7 on shipping for $5 worth of product.
Back to the tiny heart stickers I go.
THEN YESTERDAY I got home and there was a package waiting for me.
From the sticker company.
What? Is that what I'm doing now? Getting drunk and placing online sticker orders?
I was so confused.
But then I saw the date on the invoice was two days ago. No way did I buy these two days ago and already forget.
Wait.
Is it possible?
Did my handsome and wonderful boyfriend send them to me?
Or did I just forget that I ordered them?
But you know what, Internet?
He really is THAT awesome:
So the next time someone accuses me of being high maintenance, I'm gonna tell them about how blown away I was by someone being so kind and thoughtful with heart stickers.
5. Speaking of my thoughtful and handsome boyfriend who is unfortunately still a secret from the internet, we went to the Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley, Washington last weekend with my friend Marcy and her husband, who recently moved to WA.
I have a bunch of pictures to share but here's the takeaway:
It's on the list of 1,000 things to see in the US and Canada before you die. YOU SHOULD GO. And take a bike tour. It was unbelievably beautiful and striking and breathtaking and FUN and it was all I'd hoped it would be AND THEN SOME.
I mo-blogged this one but I wanted to include in it my tulip wrap up too:
We had lunch at a farm type place where we joined our co-bike-tour'ers for sandwiches and soup and salad and cookies served up by Margie, a kick in the pants lady who just so happens to own 230 acres of Skagit Valley land, which seemed like a lot to me.
You know how sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich but after you've just spent a few hours riding your bike in the rain, that same sandwich is the best sandwich you've ever tasted?
It was one of those.
Margie's garden had a baby goat!
At dinner the night before I introduced Bob (I feel so lame with the "my boyfriend this, my boyfriend that" so for now, his name is Bob) to the glory of a cheese plate (which they don't serve at Red Robin, which is probably why he'd never had one before) and he discovered that he LOVES goat cheese. I am not a huge goat cheese fan (I think it tastes like feet), but I was glad that he liked it. Fast forward to the next day and we're standing there looking at the goats and I was like OH MY GOD THEY SMELL LIKE GOAT CHEESE!
Big stretch, right? Goats smell like goat cheese. Except really, cows don't smell like cow cheese...they smell like poop...so the fact that goats smell like goat cheese was kind of amazing to me. (And made me think that no, I really don't need to eat goat cheese again...whereas Bob was like "NOW I WANT MORE GOAT CHEESE!")
But enough of that.
Look! Pretty flowers!
Look! A child-size Farrah/Hedwig cutout!
More tip-toe'ing through the tulips. Note the wet pants.
More color:
These are out of order and I don't care enough to reorganize them, but here I am getting ready to be sporty!
Purple!
A little something I like to call "Bears in the Wilderness of the Oil Crisis":
Seriously. Next April. GO GO GO!
2. I entered myself in the lottery for a spot in the Nike Women's Half Marathon. I read a friend's tweet that her card had been charged but she hadn't received a YAY YOU'RE IN email from Nike yet so I checked my card and nope -- I haven't been charged. I'm not sure if I'm relieved that I don't have to do it anymore or if I'm bummed that I don't GET to do it.
Of course, I could still be charged and I could still be accepted and if I am I'm sure it'll be a pleasant surprise but for now, I'm happy to not spend the money or have those 13 miles hanging over my head for the next six months.
[UPDATE: Speak of the devil! I just got an email telling me that I didn't get a spot in the race!]
3. I will, however, be ROCKING the Willow Glen Elementary 5k next month. Who needs big, fancy races with Tiffany necklaces as prizes for crossing the finish line when I have the chance to run my fat ass in front of a bunch of 5-10 year olds!
4. Guess who has the most awesome boyfriend ever in the history of the world?
ME!
Here's why:
It'll come as NO surprise to the people who know me that I am easy going about plenty of things but there are plenty of things that HAVE TO BE EXACTLY RIGHT or I get twitchy and annoyed and I can't rest until I fix them. I KNOW THAT PLENTY OF YOU FEEL ME ON THIS, so don't go thinking I'm insane because it bugged the CRAP out of me that after six or seven years of using the same stickers to track my exercise and WW points, they are no longer available in the wild.
Here, look:
The hearts indicate days I stuck to my WW points and the stars indicate days I got at least 30 minutes of exercise. (Let's pretend not to notice the pathetic month this photo represents.)
I have many packs of the star stickers but I ran out of hearts and I couldn't FOR THE LIFE OF ME find them again. It was always kind of a crap shoot so when I did find them I'd buy several packs, but I had been to four Michael's and two scrapbooking stores looking for the exact right heart stickers but my efforts were FRUITLESS. I gave up trying and tried to come to terms with the tiny heart stickers I found that weren't the same as the old ones, but were at least prismatic and uniform looking.
I would learn to live with them.
EXCEPT!
I was in Washington going to the Tulip Festival and there was a Michael's near our hotel so I was like "OMG HANDSOME AND STRONG BOYFRIEND CAN WE PLEASE GO TO MICHAEL'S TO SEE IF THEY HAVE MY STICKERS?!?!?!"
And because he's awesome, he obliged me but DAGNABBIT, no stickers. They had the brand I was looking for, which gave me hope, but no actual heart stickers.
GRUMBLE GRUMBLE
The brand has a website and you can buy the stickers from them and I went to the site a couple of times and put several packs in my cart but each time decided that no, even the crazy in my head couldn't convince me to spend $7 on shipping for $5 worth of product.
Back to the tiny heart stickers I go.
THEN YESTERDAY I got home and there was a package waiting for me.
From the sticker company.
What? Is that what I'm doing now? Getting drunk and placing online sticker orders?
I was so confused.
But then I saw the date on the invoice was two days ago. No way did I buy these two days ago and already forget.
Wait.
Is it possible?
Did my handsome and wonderful boyfriend send them to me?
Or did I just forget that I ordered them?
But you know what, Internet?
He really is THAT awesome:
So the next time someone accuses me of being high maintenance, I'm gonna tell them about how blown away I was by someone being so kind and thoughtful with heart stickers.
5. Speaking of my thoughtful and handsome boyfriend who is unfortunately still a secret from the internet, we went to the Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley, Washington last weekend with my friend Marcy and her husband, who recently moved to WA.
I have a bunch of pictures to share but here's the takeaway:
It's on the list of 1,000 things to see in the US and Canada before you die. YOU SHOULD GO. And take a bike tour. It was unbelievably beautiful and striking and breathtaking and FUN and it was all I'd hoped it would be AND THEN SOME.
I mo-blogged this one but I wanted to include in it my tulip wrap up too:
We had lunch at a farm type place where we joined our co-bike-tour'ers for sandwiches and soup and salad and cookies served up by Margie, a kick in the pants lady who just so happens to own 230 acres of Skagit Valley land, which seemed like a lot to me.
You know how sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich but after you've just spent a few hours riding your bike in the rain, that same sandwich is the best sandwich you've ever tasted?
It was one of those.
Margie's garden had a baby goat!
At dinner the night before I introduced Bob (I feel so lame with the "my boyfriend this, my boyfriend that" so for now, his name is Bob) to the glory of a cheese plate (which they don't serve at Red Robin, which is probably why he'd never had one before) and he discovered that he LOVES goat cheese. I am not a huge goat cheese fan (I think it tastes like feet), but I was glad that he liked it. Fast forward to the next day and we're standing there looking at the goats and I was like OH MY GOD THEY SMELL LIKE GOAT CHEESE!
Big stretch, right? Goats smell like goat cheese. Except really, cows don't smell like cow cheese...they smell like poop...so the fact that goats smell like goat cheese was kind of amazing to me. (And made me think that no, I really don't need to eat goat cheese again...whereas Bob was like "NOW I WANT MORE GOAT CHEESE!")
But enough of that.
Look! Pretty flowers!
Look! A child-size Farrah/Hedwig cutout!
More tip-toe'ing through the tulips. Note the wet pants.
More color:
These are out of order and I don't care enough to reorganize them, but here I am getting ready to be sporty!
Purple!
A little something I like to call "Bears in the Wilderness of the Oil Crisis":
Seriously. Next April. GO GO GO!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Eli$abeth
My gentleman friend and I were watching Saturday Night Live on, duh, Saturday night and we happened to turn it on just as Ke$ha was starting her first performance and we sat there going WHAT.THE.HELL?
He was like "She's being ironic, right?" And I was like "You know what...I don't think so."
Looks like we're not the only ones left scratching our heads:
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/04/19/kesha_light_and_dark/
He was like "She's being ironic, right?" And I was like "You know what...I don't think so."
Looks like we're not the only ones left scratching our heads:
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/04/19/kesha_light_and_dark/
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Gushing
I keep looking at this photo and my heart hurts because he just looks so happy and adorable and I feel bad because his haircut cracks me up and he has no idea:
I have that picture set as my wallpaper on my phone and my work laptop and I'm kinda thinking I need to take it off because it's so painfully adorable that I get all teary looking at it.
Here's another one that I love:
I'm looking kinda pointy and greasy but Baby kept nuzzling his face into my face -- like he was trying to suck my cheek or something. I didn't understand what he was doing but my brother said that he sees people kiss each other all the time so he thinks Baby is trying to copycat that. WHICH MEANS BABY WAS TRYING TO GIVE ME A KISS and maaaaaaan, I'm getting teary right now just thinking about it.
I've said it before and I'll say it 10,000,000 more times, but holy crap I love that kid. I was rushing to catch a flight last night and my brother walked him into the room and Baby reached his little arms out for me and SCREW THE FLIGHT! I have a baby to cuddle!!!! It bums me out that he won't always be so cuddly and that I need to get as many kisses in as possible because one day he won't let me near him anymore. In fact, the near-eyeroll he gives me in this video makes me flash forward 13 years:
I adore this kid, I tell you:
I have that picture set as my wallpaper on my phone and my work laptop and I'm kinda thinking I need to take it off because it's so painfully adorable that I get all teary looking at it.
Here's another one that I love:
I'm looking kinda pointy and greasy but Baby kept nuzzling his face into my face -- like he was trying to suck my cheek or something. I didn't understand what he was doing but my brother said that he sees people kiss each other all the time so he thinks Baby is trying to copycat that. WHICH MEANS BABY WAS TRYING TO GIVE ME A KISS and maaaaaaan, I'm getting teary right now just thinking about it.
I've said it before and I'll say it 10,000,000 more times, but holy crap I love that kid. I was rushing to catch a flight last night and my brother walked him into the room and Baby reached his little arms out for me and SCREW THE FLIGHT! I have a baby to cuddle!!!! It bums me out that he won't always be so cuddly and that I need to get as many kisses in as possible because one day he won't let me near him anymore. In fact, the near-eyeroll he gives me in this video makes me flash forward 13 years:
I adore this kid, I tell you:
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Sad Billionaire Update
The guy who married his billionaire high school sweetheart died last night.
Not knowing anything was wrong to dead in six weeks.
Nature is cruel.
I actually went to step class this morning (VICTORY!) and when I got out and checked my email, I saw his name in a subject line and knew without even reading it what it was going to say. I hardly knew him, but I'm just so sad for his wife to be burying her second husband, sad for the incredible love story to have such a shitty ending and sad that Becky and Henry didn't get to see their good friend again before he died.
Blah.
There are plenty of things to be happy about though so I'll spend my day focusing on that, but my heart is heavy for the people who loved him.
Not knowing anything was wrong to dead in six weeks.
Nature is cruel.
I actually went to step class this morning (VICTORY!) and when I got out and checked my email, I saw his name in a subject line and knew without even reading it what it was going to say. I hardly knew him, but I'm just so sad for his wife to be burying her second husband, sad for the incredible love story to have such a shitty ending and sad that Becky and Henry didn't get to see their good friend again before he died.
Blah.
There are plenty of things to be happy about though so I'll spend my day focusing on that, but my heart is heavy for the people who loved him.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Good and Bad News
The good news: I tried on my boyfriend's carpenter jeans and they
button. Hurrah!
The bad news: They're too short for ME and home slice is a solid three
inches taller than I am.
The silver lining: These jeans will soon find a very happy home with a
short Goodwill shopper who happens to also be a carpenter. Note the
hammer.
Sporty McSportyson
1. First, OMG my knees hurt. They don't hurt at all WHILE I'm running, but they hurt for like the 23 1/4 hours a day I am not running. Maybe I should just run everywhere I go. Like Pittsburgh's Running Lady.
And that's enough of the whining.
2. In exact opposite news, I just entered myself into the lottery for a spot in the Nike Women's Half Marathon.
No, I don't know what I was thinking.
3. On Thursday afternoon I got a text from Leslie asking me if I wanted to be her last minute date for the Sharks game. My knee-jerk reaction was to say no because I had very important nail painting and TV watching to do but then I rolled my eyes at myself and had a little chat with myself where I reminded myself that I AM NOT 100 YEARS OLD. So I went and I'm so glad I did!
I met Leslie at the Campbell light rail station (which, if you know how close I live to the Arena, sounds kinda stupid, but parking/rides/whatever seemed like too much effort so I drove out of my way to take public transportation) and la de da de da, we got on the light rail, sat down and OH CRAP SANDWICH I came face to face with (and this is embarrassing, I know) the TGI Friday's bartender I used to flirt with ALL THE TIME.
Back before my friend Daina got married and had a baby (who is now a little boy), we used to rock and roll the TGI Friday's happy hour because it was close to work and because I had the hots for the bartender.
YES, I was a regular at TGI Friday's.
I KNOW.
I did eventually get over my adoration of the TGI Friday's bartender (which conveniently coincided with Daina and I both switching job locations and no longer being available for happy hours in Cupertino) but he did come to Santa with us one year so I happen to have a photo to share:
The girl on the left was his girlfriend who he claimed to have broken up with. But brought to Santa anyway? Who knows. Whatever.
So blah blah blah, there I was, essentially face to face with 2004 and for whatever reason, I chose not to acknowledge that I knew him so we played the pretending-I-don't-recognize-you-even-though-I-do game for the rest of our ride and POOF, he was gone.
Adios, Bartender Matt!
The game was a fun way to spend an evening and I'm really glad Leslie offered me her spare ticket and that I ditched my nail painting and TV watching.
4. Team Idaho, aka my friends Kristy and Jason, came into town on Saturday night and I drove up to SF to crash their hotel room and take them to a few of San Francisco's finest eating and drinking establishments. They wanted to run the GGB with me the next day so we had to be on our best no-hangover behavior though so we took it easy and unfortunately, taking it easy meant the couple of drinks we did have just made us sleepy and by the end of the night I was sitting at Bourbon & Branch wishing for toothpicks to keep my eyes open.
But first! We went to Coco500 to cross the deep fried green beans off the list of 100 Things to Try in SF Before You Die (verdict: FANTASTIC) and made friends with a gentleman wearing a bug-printed bow tie and a shirt that looked like graph paper. He said he was a scientist (thus the bugs and the graph paper), that he has been married to his wife for 43 years, they're visiting from Cincinatti, he has run 54 marathons and that he's always the largest (he wasn't petite at all), oldest and slowest in all of his races.
This, of course, begged the question: How slow is slow?
But I guess it's considered tacky to ask a marathonner what his race time is and all he'd say was that his goal was to be "home for dinner."
Team HoJo (as in Ida and San) is supportive of this strategy. We want "Home for Dinner" t-shirts.
Team HoJo at Coco500 REPRESENT:
After cocks and apps at Coco500 and dinner at Limon and nightcaps at Bourbon & Branch, we fell fast asleep. Our mellow evening served us well though because we were all able to get up and at 'em the next morning.
Bridge run, YAY!
Except BOOOOOOOOOOOOO because the bridge was part of the course for a half marathon and they actually closed it to non-participants.
On the other hand:
* We accidentally saw my friend Joel actually running in the race! It was a happy accident because it kinda makes up for that one time Carrie and I were supposed to be cheering him on when he ran (actually ran) Bay to Breakers but our over-served asses took too long to get down to the race course and we missed him.
* It started pouring almost as soon as we realized we weren't going to be able to get onto the bridge.
* We did the opposite of running by having brunch (with biscuits!) at Ella's.
So it all worked out.
And that's enough of the whining.
2. In exact opposite news, I just entered myself into the lottery for a spot in the Nike Women's Half Marathon.
No, I don't know what I was thinking.
3. On Thursday afternoon I got a text from Leslie asking me if I wanted to be her last minute date for the Sharks game. My knee-jerk reaction was to say no because I had very important nail painting and TV watching to do but then I rolled my eyes at myself and had a little chat with myself where I reminded myself that I AM NOT 100 YEARS OLD. So I went and I'm so glad I did!
I met Leslie at the Campbell light rail station (which, if you know how close I live to the Arena, sounds kinda stupid, but parking/rides/whatever seemed like too much effort so I drove out of my way to take public transportation) and la de da de da, we got on the light rail, sat down and OH CRAP SANDWICH I came face to face with (and this is embarrassing, I know) the TGI Friday's bartender I used to flirt with ALL THE TIME.
Back before my friend Daina got married and had a baby (who is now a little boy), we used to rock and roll the TGI Friday's happy hour because it was close to work and because I had the hots for the bartender.
YES, I was a regular at TGI Friday's.
I KNOW.
I did eventually get over my adoration of the TGI Friday's bartender (which conveniently coincided with Daina and I both switching job locations and no longer being available for happy hours in Cupertino) but he did come to Santa with us one year so I happen to have a photo to share:
The girl on the left was his girlfriend who he claimed to have broken up with. But brought to Santa anyway? Who knows. Whatever.
So blah blah blah, there I was, essentially face to face with 2004 and for whatever reason, I chose not to acknowledge that I knew him so we played the pretending-I-don't-recognize-you-even-though-I-do game for the rest of our ride and POOF, he was gone.
Adios, Bartender Matt!
The game was a fun way to spend an evening and I'm really glad Leslie offered me her spare ticket and that I ditched my nail painting and TV watching.
4. Team Idaho, aka my friends Kristy and Jason, came into town on Saturday night and I drove up to SF to crash their hotel room and take them to a few of San Francisco's finest eating and drinking establishments. They wanted to run the GGB with me the next day so we had to be on our best no-hangover behavior though so we took it easy and unfortunately, taking it easy meant the couple of drinks we did have just made us sleepy and by the end of the night I was sitting at Bourbon & Branch wishing for toothpicks to keep my eyes open.
But first! We went to Coco500 to cross the deep fried green beans off the list of 100 Things to Try in SF Before You Die (verdict: FANTASTIC) and made friends with a gentleman wearing a bug-printed bow tie and a shirt that looked like graph paper. He said he was a scientist (thus the bugs and the graph paper), that he has been married to his wife for 43 years, they're visiting from Cincinatti, he has run 54 marathons and that he's always the largest (he wasn't petite at all), oldest and slowest in all of his races.
This, of course, begged the question: How slow is slow?
But I guess it's considered tacky to ask a marathonner what his race time is and all he'd say was that his goal was to be "home for dinner."
Team HoJo (as in Ida and San) is supportive of this strategy. We want "Home for Dinner" t-shirts.
Team HoJo at Coco500 REPRESENT:
After cocks and apps at Coco500 and dinner at Limon and nightcaps at Bourbon & Branch, we fell fast asleep. Our mellow evening served us well though because we were all able to get up and at 'em the next morning.
Bridge run, YAY!
Except BOOOOOOOOOOOOO because the bridge was part of the course for a half marathon and they actually closed it to non-participants.
On the other hand:
* We accidentally saw my friend Joel actually running in the race! It was a happy accident because it kinda makes up for that one time Carrie and I were supposed to be cheering him on when he ran (actually ran) Bay to Breakers but our over-served asses took too long to get down to the race course and we missed him.
* It started pouring almost as soon as we realized we weren't going to be able to get onto the bridge.
* We did the opposite of running by having brunch (with biscuits!) at Ella's.
So it all worked out.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Full Circle
And now, even after having parts of their feet amputated beause of
frost bite, they can still walk on the beach to non-ironic romantic,
beachy music.
I am watching "Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story"
I am watching "Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story", originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.
And I'm about 12 seconds in and I can already tell it's going to be
awesome. Like, the non-ironic run along the beach while romantic piano
music plays. Except guess which one is the dad (Neil Patrick Harris)
in this duo? The slender one holding the baby. The other one is his TV
wife, poor thing.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
I have jumped on the bandwagon.
I present to you, my first Hipstamatic photo, thereby proving that
Hipstamatic can make even late night, poorly lit, make up free,
throwaway pictures look arty.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
I'm going to tiptoe through the tulips.
1. The happy nutmeg chicken?
Just chicken.
Slightly tough chicken, actually, but I'm not sure if that was the chicken's fault or my own fault. I've roasted chickens before though and haven't experienced that issue so I'm leaning toward "happy chickens have some extra membraney stuff that must have been bred out of sad chickens."
But my main skeeve was that there were a couple of feather stubs left and the skin around the neck was a little to natural looking for me.
2. It's a lovely day but it's supposed to rain again this weekend, which is JUST IN TIME for my friends' Kristy and Jason to visit. Kristy wants to run the bridge with me though so if it's crappy and rainy maybe those DAMN TOURISTS will stay indoors.
(I actually don't mind tourists because they rarely venture out of their touristy areas and if I don't go to them, they don't come to me but last weekend's later-than-usual run meant I was in the thick of them, but I think we've already discussed that so MOVING ON!)
3. I am going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in a week! It's on the list of 1,000 things to see in the US and Canada before I die and I had been planning a return visit to Seattle anyway so WHY NOT?
So not this coming Saturday but the next Saturday my fat ass will be on a five hour BIKE TOUR of the tulips. How sporty, right? It seemed like a better plan than repeating last Seattle trip's TWELVE POUND WEIGHT GAIN (that I'm still totally bitter about even though those 12 pounds are long gone).
4. And that's all I have for you today, Internet. I have boring work things to get done before I can go home and adore my nephew.
Just chicken.
Slightly tough chicken, actually, but I'm not sure if that was the chicken's fault or my own fault. I've roasted chickens before though and haven't experienced that issue so I'm leaning toward "happy chickens have some extra membraney stuff that must have been bred out of sad chickens."
But my main skeeve was that there were a couple of feather stubs left and the skin around the neck was a little to natural looking for me.
2. It's a lovely day but it's supposed to rain again this weekend, which is JUST IN TIME for my friends' Kristy and Jason to visit. Kristy wants to run the bridge with me though so if it's crappy and rainy maybe those DAMN TOURISTS will stay indoors.
(I actually don't mind tourists because they rarely venture out of their touristy areas and if I don't go to them, they don't come to me but last weekend's later-than-usual run meant I was in the thick of them, but I think we've already discussed that so MOVING ON!)
3. I am going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in a week! It's on the list of 1,000 things to see in the US and Canada before I die and I had been planning a return visit to Seattle anyway so WHY NOT?
So not this coming Saturday but the next Saturday my fat ass will be on a five hour BIKE TOUR of the tulips. How sporty, right? It seemed like a better plan than repeating last Seattle trip's TWELVE POUND WEIGHT GAIN (that I'm still totally bitter about even though those 12 pounds are long gone).
4. And that's all I have for you today, Internet. I have boring work things to get done before I can go home and adore my nephew.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Good morning Internet!
1. The cake I baked on Sunday was only like my second attempt at baking a cake from scratch and HOLY MOLY, it was good. A crowd pleaser, even! The cream part was actually heavy cream and marscapone cheese with a touch of sugar and it was REALLY REALLY GOOD with the strawberries. The cake part was damn fine too but I think people would have been happy with just the strawberries and cheesy cream.
It's a Rachael Ray recipe (for someone who claims to hate baking, her magazine sure does have a lot of home run recipes for baked goods!) and I'll definitely be holding onto it for future use. The cake came out REALLY tall and kinda wobbly though (and the slices were two or three servings a pop) so next time I'll make two lonnnng layers instead of three squat layers.
2. I watched Food, Inc. over the weekend. There have been other documentaries or books basically saying the same thing (food conglomorates are killing us and disrespecting humans, animals, nature, the planet, etc and that we're basically screwed) but this one seemed more positive -- that alternatives ARE out there and that it's up to me, as the consumer, to put my money where my mouth is. Literally, I guess.
I have no desire to go vegetarian and I get that in order for me to eat meat, an animal has to die. Historically, I've just been glad that I'm not the one who has to do the killing, but I can't turn a blind eye to the whole "growing/feeding animals in ways they were not intended to be grown/fed just so I can have cheap meat that, surprise surprise, is bad for me and for the world" thing. ESPECIALLY since I live in a mega hippie metropolitain area where SURELY, happy cows, pigs and chickens exist and are available for purchase.
I've been buying grass fed beef for a while now (what little beef I do buy, anyway)and I've been trying to change my attitude about farmers markets (that they're not JUST for hippies and/or happy little organic families -- I don't care about "organic" as much as I care about "local") but my main protein is chicken and I wasn't sure how to find happy chickens because the farmers market I've been going to is teeny small and doesn't have anyone selling happy meat and I'm sure as hell not going to the San Francisco farmers market on a regular basis.
Except GUESS WHAT!?
The Campbell farmers market has a meat guy! And he has chickens!
So I bought one.
She's teeny small and she cost me TWENTY THREE DOLLARS but the seller told me that she had free access to be outside or inside -- whatever her little chicken heart desired, and that she was alive 72 hours ago. That was kinda more than I wanted to know about her and the guy was like "Are you kidding? That's EXACTLY what I want to know about my chickens!" Instead of trying to explain that yes, I want to know that, but I don't want to KNOW that, I paid my $23 and took my chicken home.
I didn't want to ruin her by using her in the cashew chicken recipe I was originally shopping for, so after the farmers market I went to Whole Foods and bought some chicken that was probably less happy than my farmers market chicken, but hopefully happier than the Safeway chickens. She's currently hanging out in my fridge but tonight she'll become roasted nutmeg chicken.
I'm trying to do the right thing you guys but $23?? For a teeny small chicken?
Also, I can't be trusted with whole chickens because I have NO INTEREST in chicken skin UNLESS it has been roasted, in which case it's a STRUGGLE to just pull it off and throw it away.
Gross, I know, but let's be real.
Anyway, tonight I'll be cheffing up the happy chicken with a farmers market spinach salad topped with sliced Easter eggs that my non-John-Deere-pajama-wearing SIL colored, which means they probably came from a happy chicken because she's a hippie.
3. In non things-I've-eaten news, my dad's first published article is available for your online reading pleasure! GO DAD!
It's a Rachael Ray recipe (for someone who claims to hate baking, her magazine sure does have a lot of home run recipes for baked goods!) and I'll definitely be holding onto it for future use. The cake came out REALLY tall and kinda wobbly though (and the slices were two or three servings a pop) so next time I'll make two lonnnng layers instead of three squat layers.
2. I watched Food, Inc. over the weekend. There have been other documentaries or books basically saying the same thing (food conglomorates are killing us and disrespecting humans, animals, nature, the planet, etc and that we're basically screwed) but this one seemed more positive -- that alternatives ARE out there and that it's up to me, as the consumer, to put my money where my mouth is. Literally, I guess.
I have no desire to go vegetarian and I get that in order for me to eat meat, an animal has to die. Historically, I've just been glad that I'm not the one who has to do the killing, but I can't turn a blind eye to the whole "growing/feeding animals in ways they were not intended to be grown/fed just so I can have cheap meat that, surprise surprise, is bad for me and for the world" thing. ESPECIALLY since I live in a mega hippie metropolitain area where SURELY, happy cows, pigs and chickens exist and are available for purchase.
I've been buying grass fed beef for a while now (what little beef I do buy, anyway)and I've been trying to change my attitude about farmers markets (that they're not JUST for hippies and/or happy little organic families -- I don't care about "organic" as much as I care about "local") but my main protein is chicken and I wasn't sure how to find happy chickens because the farmers market I've been going to is teeny small and doesn't have anyone selling happy meat and I'm sure as hell not going to the San Francisco farmers market on a regular basis.
Except GUESS WHAT!?
The Campbell farmers market has a meat guy! And he has chickens!
So I bought one.
She's teeny small and she cost me TWENTY THREE DOLLARS but the seller told me that she had free access to be outside or inside -- whatever her little chicken heart desired, and that she was alive 72 hours ago. That was kinda more than I wanted to know about her and the guy was like "Are you kidding? That's EXACTLY what I want to know about my chickens!" Instead of trying to explain that yes, I want to know that, but I don't want to KNOW that, I paid my $23 and took my chicken home.
I didn't want to ruin her by using her in the cashew chicken recipe I was originally shopping for, so after the farmers market I went to Whole Foods and bought some chicken that was probably less happy than my farmers market chicken, but hopefully happier than the Safeway chickens. She's currently hanging out in my fridge but tonight she'll become roasted nutmeg chicken.
I'm trying to do the right thing you guys but $23?? For a teeny small chicken?
Also, I can't be trusted with whole chickens because I have NO INTEREST in chicken skin UNLESS it has been roasted, in which case it's a STRUGGLE to just pull it off and throw it away.
Gross, I know, but let's be real.
Anyway, tonight I'll be cheffing up the happy chicken with a farmers market spinach salad topped with sliced Easter eggs that my non-John-Deere-pajama-wearing SIL colored, which means they probably came from a happy chicken because she's a hippie.
3. In non things-I've-eaten news, my dad's first published article is available for your online reading pleasure! GO DAD!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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