The best worst birthday ever

So first let me say that this really was the worst birthday ever - well, 2nd worst. But that's ok because over the course of my life I've had quite a few great birthdays. Why is this the 2nd worst birthday ever? Well, I've never had to work or go to school on my birthday (yeah, poor me). That's right, for the past 23 years I've always had a free day to enjoy my birth. I had to work today...and that really takes about half the fun out of it. But that's ok, I was reminded how great my friends are - and how wonderful Facebook can be :-)

So let me get back to my worst birthday ever. It was a roller skating party at Skate King. Well, we made all the arrangements well in advance and arrived at the rink with about 3 car loads of kids. We waited and waited and waited. We eventually found out that the rink was closed for refinishing - lame. So we pile into the car and head to a local park to play. I slide down a hill and get a major grass stain on my white shorts - double lame. So then we pile into the cars again and head to Shaky's pizza. On the way to the restaurant a bee flies into the car and it freaks me out. So I move to get out of the way - and in doing so - I dig my foot right into my birthday cake.

All in all I realize I'm a pretty lucky girl and that I really shouldn't complain - but hey, it makes a good story.

inspired by themusar

I've been meaning to update for a long time.
Then Katie Musar updated so I thought I would too.

Hmm, I went to Tahoe. Hit the jackpot on the penny slots. $12 was mine! Needless to say I came out ahead. So far I'm 2 for 2 gambling (both times on the penny slots). We went to Tahoe for a Ford thing....well, Nick went to Tahoe for a Ford thing and I tagged along. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the dinner. Only husbands and wives were invited. Where the heck is the love for the opposite sex domestic partner? Then again, I never would have spent 3 hours playing penny slots and video poker had I been invited to the lobster bisque/filet mignon/baked alaska dinner.

So wanna hear a funny story. Nick's stuff finally came last Thursday. He's been living out of a suitcase for about 3 months ...and that's not the funny part. So I'm unpacking a box and I get to an item wrapped in those big recycled paper sheets.
I unwrapped the 1st sheet...
the 2nd sheet...
the 3rd sheet...
the 4th sheet...
Well you better believe Nick's wooden spoon made it safely from Atlanta to Livertucky.
It happened 2 more times, once with a half-used roll of paper towels and again witha ziplock bag filled with about 10 boullion cubes.

Work's good. Building stuff and doing things. I'm way too busy but it's better than being bored.

We got a new game for the wii. I rule at it. I beat nick 90% of the time.

I need some city action soon. The tucky is a little too quiet for my taste.

National Spelling Bee

Eye've nvr bin a gud speler.

So the national spelling bee is on and it's pretty addicting. These kids are freakin' geniuses. And guess what...I know one of them. He was this young little genius kid that came to the labs. He'd go into this conference room and really smart people would come and teach him math (math that I've never even seen). Anyways, he's kicking some behind at this spelling thing too. My favorite quote so far is "Those silent letters are always tricky."

Nick and I spent memorial day weekend in Puerto Vallarta. We did nothing but relax and it was great.

Ok, the bee is getting intense.

I feel like a bad blogger

I looked at how often I blog and it has become less and less since the inception of "Live from the 925." (In case anyone is worried, I will still be "Live from the 925" once I move).

In any case, there are many things to update.

As you all know, Nick and I got a Wii. My mom came to visit last weekend and, among other things, she proceeded to WHACK me in the elbow with the Wii-mote (haha, I still think it's funny they call it a wii-mote). That woman has more muscle than I thought. No bruises, but I definitely curled up in the fetal position for a few minutes.

Mom and I had a fun trip into SF when she was here on Friday. We actually made an INCREDIBLE discovery while in Japantown (for some reason Japantown sounds way funnier than Chinatown.....anyone?). We found this little store that makes the BEST mochi and manju I have ever tasted in my life. For those of you not familiar with mochi/manju, they are little Japanese sweet treats. Mochi is sweet rice cakes and Kuri Manju is a sort of dense cake with sweet beans in the middle (trust me, it tastes way better than it sounds). Well, we decided grandma would really like this so my mom bought a pack of 8, intending to give grandma 6. Oops, mom and I each had 2....so grandma only got 4. She'll be ok. It was well worth it. Sorry g'ma.

Let's see....the whole house thing is still moving along. Stressful as all getout. It's not like the kind of stress you get right before a test....but I can't really think of what it is like...which is weird, because I feel like I've experience many different kinds of stress over my life. Anyways, it's stressful but still exciting. But like I was telling Nick, it's hard to be too excited until the whole buying process is done. It's like going on spring break.....you're super excited for that cool spring break trip but you know you have to go through finals first.

So I have a mini gripe about banks. So I have been a loyal WAMU customer since my days in elementary school when I started my first savings account (I think my opening deposit was $10 and I'm pretty sure $9 of it was my moms). Well, Nick and I decided we needed a joint account for bill paying, house buying etc. So I opened a joint WAMU checking account. Turns out that accounts opened in separate states can't be linked. Basically, this just means that it takes almost a week to move money from my personal account to the joint account...even though they are BOTH WAMU accounts. Does this make sense to anyone? What's the point of having the same bank in different states? Just call it WAMU and WAMU-CA. Then I wont complain. It's false advertising. And why does it really take 5+ days to transfer money in the first place. It's not like they hand a check to a little guy on a bike in WA who has to ride down I-5 to the bank in CA. Even if they did, I bet he could do it in less than 5 days. I can think of about 10 million things I can do in less than 5 days.....but transferring money is no longer one of them.

And one last note, if anyone is interested in a hideous picture of me, click Bryn
I really need to stop smiling like that.

crazy few weeks

So last week Nick and I watched "Supersize Me." It was a pretty good movie. The guy ate nothing but McDonald's for a whole month and ended up having severe liver damage (as bad as an alcoholic). So we watched the movie, thought about ... then Nick promptly had his favorite midnight snack - ice cream with maple syrup topping.....yes, I live with Buddy the Elf.

After more than a month and a half of searching, we finally got a Nintendo Wii. It is well worth all of the hype. I beat Nick at tennis. It was glorious.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot....I think we're buying a townhouse eek! Well, we basically are....the offer was accepted and we close in the middle of May. It's by far the most expensive thing I've ever bought...kinda freaks me out...but hey, it's the thing to do right :-) It's pretty sweet, granite counter tops....2 stories...2.5 bathrooms...2 bedrooms. Come and visit! But not for at least a few months. Funny...we were only going to go and look....now look what happened!

My day at the DMV

Well it has been a long time since the glorious day at AT&T Park. Today I had a not so glorious day at the DMV. I made an appointment because apparently that is the thing to do. I show up at the DMV and they inform me I need my passport. FINE! I go home and return to the DMV.....now I am appointmentless and among the common folk. Apparently I need a smog test....I thought I had read something online that my amazing Honda Civic VP was exempt from the smog test....I was wrong (as I was informed). So I was suppose to get a CA license and register my vehicle. I couldn't register my car but I could get my license......but FIRST I had to take the written test. So this test is kind of a beast, 36 questions and you can only miss 3 (that's better than 90% for you folks out there). This test really wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be....I wont go into the details of the questions....fortunately I passed, phew! Then hilarity ensued. The woman who corrected my test then proceeded to say the following, "Ok honey, now, this permit allows you to drive as long as you are driving with a licensed adult...." Hold on 1 second. Do I look 15?! I corrected her and my WA state license got a big ol' punch through it :-( I should receive my CA license in 4-7 weeks. Wow, slow turnaround.

BTW...did anyone catch that amazing Mariner's game a few days ago. A 1-hitter. Incredible!

Ichiro Denied Me

As new residents of Northern California, our official initiation would not be complete without a trip to SBC, I mean PacBell, oh wait, I mean AT&T park to see the San Francisco Giants and everyone's favorite steroids user, I mean home run hitter, Barry Bonds. AND were in luck, the Mariners were in town for a spring training game.

So last night after work we headed to the park. I decided to be super cool and surprise Nick with really good tickets. And when I mean good, I mean, SUPER SWEET!

In case you missed us last night on FSN northwest, I have provided a picture for your viewing pleasure.

More on these amazing seats later.

The park is really nice, very much like safeco. We got to our seats and then decided to explore.
We had our own special underground area with our own bathrooms and food. But the coolest part was the area right next to the women's restroom. It was the area between the dugout and the clubhouse. Every Mariner had to walk right across the hall to get to the field. So we decided to hang out and see what would happen. Well, after about 15 minutes of waiting, I caught Willie Bloomquist's eye and asked for an autograph. Ok, so he doesn't start, but it's Bloomy! He signed my "Official Major League Baseball" I got a few years ago at a game in Seattle.


We decided to wait and see if we could get Ichiro to sign. The professional guys were cautiously optimistic. We had a kid and a girl (me). After another few minutes, and getting faked out about 5 times by the bat boy, Ichiro walked by. I yelled "ICHIRO" and he turns, looks me square in the eyes and says "Sorry." UGH! Oh well, I was about 5 feet away from him and it was a good story.

So we went back to our incredible seats where I was able to snap the following photos:




Ichiro stole a base in the 1st inning and the Giants didn't know what hit um.

Bonds. He's still good.

It was definitely a fun game. So now I have to talk about out seats. We were on FSN periodically all night so we thought we'd call our parents to see if they could see us. Let's just say that it took a few innings before our parents could locate us. Oh well.

1 last tidbit of info....these seats are actually located closer to the batter than the pitcher. Sweet! Too bad Zito killed us :-( It was still fun.

I was going to go on a run but there was a mountain lion sighting 4 blocks away....I don't feel like getting eaten or mauled today. I'll go golfing instead.

Visitors!

Well, it has been a while and Katie Musar wants an update! And what Katie wants, Katie gets!

With UW spring break, I have had a slew of visitors!

Beth came to visit me last Thursday (3/15)! We spent Friday exploring San Francisco. We arrived at the Embarcadero stop and walked to Fisherman's Wharf. We enjoyed Pier 39 and then headed to Boudin for some clam chowder bread bowls. I promised Beth a viewing of "the bush man," but apparently he only works on the weekends :-(



We then treated ourselves to a Dark Chocolate Fudge Sundae at Ghirardelli's. It was delicious and I highly recommend the dark chocolate fudge!

I'd love to show you more pictures.....but the catholic school teacher broke my digital camera. Sad day! Yeah, she dropped it, then she caught it, but when she caught it she broke the lens. Lesson learned: Never trust a catholic school teacher.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key, shopping, street markets, and an early BART ride back to the airport.

THEN, Stacey came to visit me! She arrived Wednesday evening and spent Thursday alone in my townhouse...

We went to San Francisco on Friday and did pretty much the same thing as last Friday (but there were no complaints here). We walked to the wharf ready to have some delicious clam chowder bowls. But this time....Jenna Boule met us for lunch! She was spending break in SF and joined us for the afternoon. We had more dark chocolate hot fudge sundaes and then walked them off on our way to SHOPPING! Well, we actually made a detour and stopped at Grace Cathedral (same church where the Catholic teacher dropped my camera). There were no catholic school teacher issues this time and we took some nice pictures of the church (Americanized replica of Notre Dame).

We continued to Union Square and saw Madonna's new line at H&M. Then Stacey and I stood in line for Jersey Boys rush tickets. We saw the show and one of the actors had the eyes for Stacey. He winked at her, then the entire front row saw him do it and laughed, then he started laughing. Then he winked at her again at the end of the night. So that night they were taking donations for aids/cancer etc (it's a broadway fundraiser thingy)....when we made our donations the girl collecting the money (also in the show) goes:

Girl: "Hey, were you 2 in the front row?"
Us: "Yes"
Girl: "I saw both of you and you were so great to have in the front row"

Anyways, it made us feel good, like we were part of the show. Probably a dumb story to most.

Saturday was the day of dim sum, break dancing and altar boyz.

We took Nick to his first dim sum lunch. He didn't care for everything but definitely found some things he liked.

Then we went with Stacey to her breakdancing competition. Let's just say Nick and I didn't fit in. We were not as ghetto fabulous as the rest of the breakdancing homies. We left Stacey with her friends and headed to the theater to get our Altar Boyz tickets. We picked Stacey up from the breakdancing competition and then went back to the theater to see the show. It was lots of fun and pretty hilarious. I recommend it!

Well, now that you have a complete update of my previous 2 weeks....

OOOH wait. I have to make things right with nick. I locked him out this week. We are even. He had to MacGyver the chain bolt.

Ok, it's time to get back to the amazing race. It's between the guidos and terry and ian. This could be good.

Nicely done if you were able to make it to the end of this blog without being bored out of your mind.

It's been a while...

And Anthony wants an update.

So for anyone interested, Nick is now sort of in California. He still has his place in the ATL, but is working in the Tracy to Fresno region. Woohoo.

Last Sunday we went out to a very good dinner.....wait, I need to start from the beginning.

So the house I live in has a normal front door (door 1), a garage door and a door that leads from the garage to the kitchen (door 2) (trust me, this will all be important soon. So door 2 has a regular lock (you know, the kind that you lock from the inside by twisting the button) and a deadbolt....but I only have the key to the deadbolt. Door 1 has a chain lock, dead bolt and regular bolt and I keep all 3 of them locked (and also have the key to both locks). The main door is sort of out of the way so I always enter from the garage and through door 2.

Ok, back to the story. We had a very delicious dinner and headed back to the house (I had to go pee really bad). We open the garage and walk up to door 2.....uh oh....somehow the regular lock was locked (somehow....nick). Screwed! It's about 8PM and we are locked out. We go around to the front...even though I know that the chain lock is in place. We unlock the door and sure enough, the chain lock keeps the door from opening more than 5 inches. Nick tells me that my skinny little hand should be able to get it undone, but it doesn't work.

But never fear, I AM a mechanical engineer. So the chain lock is held in place by 2 wood screws. Shoot again! My tool kit is in the hall closet. Fortunately my mom makes sure I am prepared for everything. The emergency car kit has a screwdriver and it fits. So I squeeze my tiny little hand in through the 4 inch wide gap and slowly unscrew the chain lock (and I still really have to pee). I channeled my inner MacGyver and I eventually unscrewed the plate and we were in! Whew. That was my Sunday adventure.

Nick is still trying to get his hands on a Wii....apparently Nintendo is sending out another batch in April. That's fine by me, I have a busy next few weeks.

This week Beth is coming and next week Stacey is coming and Jenna will also be in town. Whew!

Now for the important stuff! Team Ramber (thanks to Katie for that lovely nickname) is off! Incredible! However, it really could have gone either way for me. I really don't like Rob and Amber but I also can't stand Charla and Mirna (the midget and her cousin). Either way I was going to be happy. Go Danny and Oswald! I love them.

I'm going to have to take it easy this week before my week and a half of visitors and fun!

the 'querque

Life in the 'querque has been quite interesting.

There are lots of liquor stores and "adult" stores. I'm not judging, simply commenting.

There was a bit of a windstorm today. I almost got blown away.

Class has been fun. One of the highlights was listening to a man named Leon Smith. He was one of the original engineers that worked on the Manhattan project. By a coin's toss, he lost the job of weaponeer on the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima). He ended up being the weaponeer on the bikini island tests. Pretty crazy. He's pretty much a genius, degrees from Yale, Harvard and MIT. Nicest, most unassuming guy.

Also in the class is the man that disarmed the bomb found in Ted Kaczynski's cabin in Montana.

The guy that teaches a class has a friend that knew Einstein.

I'm watching American Idol right now.....how is this Antonella Barba girl still on the show...last week they told her not to sing a big song, so she does Celine Dion..... (Melinda Doolittle all the way!)

Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Take the test here

Finally, I'm thinking about getting a roommate. He/she must meet the following requirements:

• Be nice
• Enjoy baseball
• Eat peanut butter toast
• Been known to jump out of perfectly good airplanes
  
• Still wear jeans from high school (but has bought some since)
  
• Have a bit of a shoe fetish
• Enjoy the Amazing Race
• if I think of more I will update the list...
  

Live from the 'Querque

I arrived in Albuquerque NM at about 2:30PM today.

What is there to do in the 'Querque you ask?

Not much.

I spent about an hour in "Old Town." It's cute but you either hace to parallel park or pay to park. I chose to parallel it. Oh, did I mention I'm driving this gem. It's like the poor man's PT cruiser. It's decent but I wouldn't buy one. Kind of a safety hazard if I do say so myself.

I was the invisible girl today at the airport. I was waiting for the guy in front of me load his stuff onto the x-ray machine. Next thing I know, the woman behind me has started pushing the man's things out of the way and begins loading her stuff onto the belt. No matter. So I make my way to the gate, "A" pass in hand, and plop myself down in the "A" line. I'm 3rd in line and pretty pleased. Next thing I know, a man walks right up and plops his stuff down in front of me and calls his wife to tell her about his great spot in line. Normally this would piss me off but I kinda just laughed about it. I must be in a decent mood.

So what is Albuquerque famous for you ask?
-Green chillis...I don't care for them AT ALL, but some people think they are AMAZING!
-The Sandia Mountains, that's right, the watermelon mountains to those Spanish speakers out there.
-Motorcycles (I made this one up....but I did see about a bagillion on the road today)
-They also have a triple A baseball team named "The Isotpes." I find that quite amusing, anyone else?

I'll update this list if I figure out what else they are famous for.

Guys named Nick have a thing for me...

I'll get back to the title in a second.

So Anthony came and visited me this weekend. We went into the city and:

• Had dim sum at a really good place.
• Went to the Palace of Fine Arts. It's the dome looking building. They have a replica at Disney's California Adventure. Glad I finally got to see the real thing.

• Went to the exploratorium. It's better than the Science Center. I totally annhialated the circuit problem. That's right, the ME took on the EE problem and kicked its behind.
  

• Road MUNI bus 30. It should just be called the "cram as many people as possible onto a bus" bus.
• Waited in line for an hour to get front row tickets to Jersey Boys. We got the front row tickets and the show was great.....

So, "guys named nick have a thing for me," and I'm not talking about Nick Loper. I'm talking about Nick Massi, one of the 4 seasons. So we are sitting in the front row and long story short I received:

• point and a wink
• random stare
• double point and a wink

All from the guy who played Nick Massi. I'm just saying.

So Amazing Race all stars is on and I already have my favorites. I've only missed 1 season of this show. My absolute favorite team is Danny and Oswald! I love them. I also love John Vito and Jill and the bald friends Kevin and Drew. Teri and Ian pissed me off, but they should be fun to watch. I can't wait for the first confrontation between Teri and Ian and the blonde beauty queens. I really don't like Joe and Bill. They are from season 1 and beat Nancy and Emily (the mother daughter team...they aren't on all-stars). Joe and Bill vs the beauty queens should also be good. Now let me get to the team I absolutely hate...ROB AND AMBER. Ugh, how can you make your life as a reality star...first survivor, then survivor all-stars, then amazing race, then they have their wedding shown on tv.....ugh. They are mean evil people. I can't stand them. Huh....Rob just did something nice...gotta be the first time in his life (I'm writing this real time).

In any case, I will cheer for Danny and Oswald, Kevin and Drew, team Kentucky and John Vito and Jill. Once they are out I will cheer for whoever is beating Rob and Amber.

There should really be 2 lines at the airport....
One line for those that know what they are doing and one for everyone else. Everyone else would include the following:
1. People that don't know about the plastic bag rule.
2. People that move slowly.
3. People that bring laptops and don't understand the concept of taking the laptop out of its case.
4. People who walk through the metal detector with metal on.
5. Children.
6. People with children.
7. People who block the aisle while boarding because they can't get their carry-on in the overhead bin.

Here is how you graduate to the fast lane:
1. Bring 1 quart size plastic bag with ALL your 3 oz. liquids in it. Have it ready, pack it at the top of your carry-on or get in the slow lane.
2. Move at a brisk pace.
3. Have your laptop out of the case before you get to the bins or at least have the case unzipped to facilitate the process.
4. Don't leave change in your pocket, put your cell phone in the tray and don't wear a belt. If you must wear a belt, take it off while you are standing in line and shove it into your carry-on. (Side note: when I was little I wanted to set the alarm off. I would load my pockets with quarters to try and make it go off...never really worked. I think my pockets were too small.)
5. Loosen your shoelaces and unzip your jacket. They are both coming off whether you like it or not.
6. Walk down the aisle with your carry-on in front of you. Have it ready to throw into an overhead bin. Carry-on luggage is for people who like speed and efficiency, we don't want to wait for checked bags. If you can't get your carry-on into the bin in a reasonably fast manner, you aren't driven by speed and efficiency and would probably enjoy waiting for your luggage at baggage claim.

I'm really not that cynical, I just think that air travel could be more efficient.

I Still Hate Stanford
When I got off the plane in Seattle I saw a hord of tall skinny guys dressed in red sweater vests. Standford had just arrived. They only thing that crossed my mind was, "man I hope we kill them." (I meant that as "man I hope we beat them really bad," in case you were worried).

On the way home I sat right in the middle of the entire San Francisco State University track team. They were a little roudy but it wasn't too bad. The best part was the phrase they talked about for about 30 minutes. This is the phrase that they will be telling all of their friends: "While you were asleep, I was haulin' ass." Now, I understand where they are going with this...but they really didn't need to talk about for 30 minutes. They were really proud of it. Did I sound like this when I was a freshman in college? I sure hope that wasn't the wittiest thing I could come up with.

Superbowl Commercials
So I think it's silly that people are upset over some of the superbowl commercials. People need to lighten up. That's all I'm gonna say.

Christmas in February

I returned home, ready to post my weekend blog. I will postpone the weekend blog until tomorrow. Instead, I am posting the awesome piece of mail I received.


This was the house Christmas picture and the boys sent me a few. In case you can't see, we are all looking at Playboys, the boys have beer and I am "shocked by" the centerfold (if you click, it should come up bigger in another window). As a sidenote, Hunter's face is great.

How cute are those guys. I had fun living with them but I'm sure they are happy to have an all boys house now. Enjoy the picture and be on the look out for another blog tomorrow.

the weekend in review

X-men is on right now. I really enjoy that movie :-)

Spent yesterday with Katie, Paul's cousin. We went shopping in Walnut Creek. Hit up Nordstrom and H&M and some other fun spots. I've decided that the customer service at Nordstrom is better in Seattle than in California. Nordstrom is 0 for 2 right now. I have yet to visit the San Francisco Nordstrom but will report back with my findings.

We came back to P-Town and spend the evening with Katie and Paul's grandparents, nana and papa. They are a feisty pair.

Spent today with work people for a Superbowl party. It was a pretty anti-climactic. I decided to cheer for the Bears after their intial return....they let me down. I am a fair weather fan and have no shame admitting it. I really just like to win. I'm excited for baseball this year. I have 3 chances to go to the World Series: Mariners, A's and Giants.

It is suppose to hit 71 tomorrow. I know you're jealous. Too bad I can't wear shorts to work.

I've decided that one of my biggest pet peeves is slow people in cross walks. I know they have the right of way, I just appreciate the hustle. I hustle. It's just a courteous thing. I don't get upset if they are older and lack the ability to hustle (I'm not that mean). Today for instance, 2 guys in their 20s are just taking their sweet time to cross the street. I want to make make a left turn but they are walking so darn slow that when I finally have an opening they are in the way. Clearly I have some slight road rage issues, but if people would just hustle their buns I'd be happy. My other pet peeve is people that don't wave. I appreciate the wave. And now I will step off my soap box.

Speaking of driving....it's crazy down here. People speed like it's nobodies business. And it's incredible the amount of space people find sufficient for changing lanes. Good thing I learned how to drive from Bob at Sears.

I like valentines day because it is a good excuse to buy dove dark chocolate.

I shock myself....

whenever I get out of the car. That's right, every time I step out of the car and touch the metal frame...ZAP! I've come to expect it. It's just too darn dry here! The other day I got out of the car and as I leaned over to pick something up the spark jumped from the door to my earring to my ear. OUCH!

I spent the afternoon in San Francisco and saw Legally Blonde the Musical. Don't judge me...It was actually really good and pretty funny. The opening song is titled "OMIGOD You Guys" (say it in a nasally high pitched voice and you'll get the picture.)

I used my new golf clubs for the first time yesterday. Let's just say that I will be needing a few more trips to the range before I take those puppies out on the real course. One interesting sidenote: my set came with a driver and I've always been partial to the 3 wood. I gave the driver a try and ended up making sparks. Literally. There was sand underneath the grass and when the bottom of the club hit the sand...FLASH! Anyways, the driver and I aren't friends and he probably wont come out of the bag for a while.

I'm watching "you're the one that I want." It's that show about people who want to star in Grease on broadway. In any case, what's the deal with hiring british co-hosts. "So you think you can dance" had a british co-host and a british judge and so does "you're the one that I want." I have nothing against the brits, I just think it's a bit much. OOOhh, one is singing "walking in memphis." I like that song.

So has anyone heard the "Life is a Highway" song by the people that aren't Rascal Flatts? It's not as good.

Hmm, this guy isn't really doing justice to "walking in memphis." Bummer.

The next guy is singing "signed sealed delivere." Why do people ever decide to sing this song? People on American Idol sing it all the time. It's not a good song to sign for this ....it just repeats over and over and over again.

Final tip of the day: mix frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, frozen pineapple and some vanilla yogurt = ice cream

I saw my life flash before me...

Well, not really...but sort of.

Lisa and I decided to go shopping.
We went to the Rack just east of Oakland.
We headed home on 880.
We were suppose to take the 238 to 680 interchange....but something went wrong and we ended up getting off the freeway.

# of times I've gotten lost since living in CA: 3

Unfortunately, there was no way to get back on the freeway at that particular point. Seems to be a theme in California. So we decide to stay on this road...we thought it would eventually lead us back to the freeway.

We're driving along, no big deal...then all of a sudden I look at Lisa, she looks at me and we realize...we are in the ghetto. I think we realized this might be the ghetto when...

- we saw this old car drive by with gigantic wheels and spinning rims.
- a supped up acura with blue and white paint and Pillsbury dough boy stickers pulled up next to us. It actually stayed next to us for a while so I eventually sped up to get away from it. When I sped up Lisa says "Bryn, he's going to think you want to race."
- you could buy "real hair for your weave" at the beauty supply store.
- we saw police cars on every other corner.
- we saw an ambulance pick someone up off the side of the road.

We eventually found the freeway, unfortunately it was at the Oakland airport. So we had driven the wrong direction for 20 minutes. Oh well, it was an adventure to say the least.

24 and the weather

So the weather for the past week and a half has been sunny and in the 40's (to be fair it has been freezing at night). In general it has been just great weather! Cold but beautiful. These Californians are sure having a heck of a time with it. I've seen full length wool coats and earmuffs and my cute neighbor even salted the 6"x6" patch of ice in front of her garage door. I guess it's finally going to warm up and I think I hear rain coming down outside. Oh well.

In other news, 24 is back and I thoroughly enjoyed the season premiere (all 4 hours of it). Don't read this if you don't want me to spoil some things. Jack Bauer really is the man, he can get stabbed in the arm and back and heal in less than 15 minutes. I'm impressed. I'm also impressed he shot Curtis in the neck. But we all know that you can get shot in the neck and survive. Well, you can survive if you are Tony Almeda. Speaking of Tony, Nick and I were chatting about 24 and I think that my favorite 24 moment was in season 4 when Jack called the only person he could trust...TONY! Incredible.

So Legally the Blonde the musical is going to debut in San Francisco. I'm not sure what I think about this. It is one of my all time favorite movies...but I'm really not sure how they plan on turning it into a musical. I'm also not sure how much I will like it without Reese.

Speaking of Reese, the Golden Globes were on last night. Reese looked lovely in yellow. But my big peeve is with Angelina Jolie. She was not really in a good mood, kinda cranky if you ask me. She's still beautiful, it just put a bad taste in my mouth.

Fashion Faux Pas on my Feet

During Christmas break one of the shoe sites was having a huge sale. As a result, Nick and I decided to get Crocs. That's right, the super hideous clog like shoes that people rave about. They arrived a few weeks ago and I've been wearing them around the house. They are actually really comfortable and light weight. I decided that I needed to road test them. So I wore the Crocs out!! EEK!!


Don't worry, I just put the socks on for the picture. All I need now is a small stream to walk through - so that I may test their waterproofness (yes, it's a word).

In other news, I've completed 1 full week of work! Whew. I rewarded myself with a small shopping trip to the outlets at Gilroy. Ahhh, Gilroy. They are most famous for their Garlic Festicval. Even though the festival takes place during the summer, garlic rules all year round. You can actually smell garlic in the parking lot of the outlet mall. Yeah, it's weird.

Anyways, it's time for 24. Welcome back Jack!

I've been slacking.

I would first like to direct you to the comments on the previous blog. Blake leaves excellent comments, ie:

"I see nick has commented here. I'll assume you two communicate solely by blog."

That's funny ish.

In addition, I would like to openly comment about my use of the phrase "P-Town," aka Pleasanton. I received an email from a friend:

"I am slightly offended by your liberal use of the phrase P-Town. As you know, I am from (and very proud to be) Portland, the city originally nicknamed P-Town. May I kindly suggest finding a different nickname, such as Pleasantizzle, Pleasantonia, P-Ville, or any other creative combination of the name and some ebonics."

I will continue to call Pleasanton "P-town" for the following reasons:

1. P-town is a nickname given to Pleasanton, as stated on Wikipedia. And as everyone knows, everything on wikipedia is true.
2. P-town is NOT a nickname given to Portland (also according to Wikipedia). And again, everyone knows that wikipedia doesn't lie.
3. "Pleasanton" becomes "P-ton" if you remove the "-leasan-." P-ton is very close to P-town.
4. "Portland" -> "P-land" if you remove the "-ort-." P-land is not close to "P-town" at all, P-land actually seems like a perfect name for Portland if you ask me. Or better yet, "the land of ports."

One finally bit of humor for your day. I took a backpack to work today because I wanted to bring some textbooks in. When I left work I put on the empty backpack and walked across the Sandia campus and parking lot to my car. When I put the backpack into the trunk I realized I had never closed it. I was that girl walking around with the entire backpack hanging open. Alright, maybe it wasn't so bad....but I definitely had a little laugh at myself.

Even the short jeans are too long

I decided I needed some black flats and some new jeans. I rolled my ankle in my 1.5" boots.....I know, it's a talent. Found some cute jeans but of course, they were too long. At least 4-5" too long to be more precise. The saleswoman found me some "short" jeans....but they were also too long. GAP use to make "ankle" length jeans. They were meant to be flood pants....those fit perfect :-)

Does the gas light give you stress? It stresses me out. As soon as it goes on all I can think about is getting to the nearest gas station. Ever notice that when the gas light goes on, you can't find a gas station to save your life. This happened tonight. I was stressing out so much that I even turned off the air to conserve gas....like that was really going to help. Fortunately I found a gas station.

Woke up early...with the sun (not by choice...I have shear shades in my room).
Took BART into SF (if you want to sound like a local call it "BART" not "THE BART").
Stopped by GAP and got a steal!
Stood in line for an hour and got front row tickets to see Jersey Boys.
Standing in line for rush tickets is always an experience. You meet the most interesting people. Today for instance, I let a woman borrow my cell phone. I must have been feeling nice. Met another friendly couple and a pair of older women who made it their mission in life to alert all passers by that they were in the front of the line and then end was "wayyyy" back there.
I really had no idea what to expect with this musical...but for $25 I couldn't complain.

Turned out to be very entertaining. It was the story of the 4 Seasons, they were a big deal back in the day. I had no idea how many hits they had. I guess I have mom to thank...all those days of oldies finally paid off. I'm not really sure why I liked it....but I did. The people around me loved it even more. The couple sitting next to me was so excited that they even gave me a hug before they left. You can hear some of the songs here.

One final opiece of trivia, Alex from Grey's Anatomy is on The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez.

First day of work went well. No one was there and I didn't have much to do.

Saw Children of Men, it was pretty good. Clive Owen will always have a special place in my heart, Spring Break 2006.

I've turned into "That Girl." The one that sees movies by herself. Then again, I never understood the whole idea of a movie as a social thing. You aren't really conversing during the movie.

Watched Legally Blonde tonight. That movie never gets old.

Might go into SF tomorrow.

First day of work tomorrow.
Saw Casino Royale today. Not bad.

I need a hobby (or a puppy).

• Got the oil changed in the civic. The guys at speedee oil were great! Highly recommended.
• I saw "The Holiday." I really wish Jude Law wasn't such a jerk in real life. He won me over in the movie. I highly recommend the film.
  
• Pet Peeve: Rich woman in the parking lot driving a black, pimped out Escalade leaving her shopping cart in an open stall. Grr.
• Went to a free hip hop class. It was fun. It was an adult class and I was the only one there so it was like a private lesson. Might join the 13+ class...that's a big MIGHT.
• Found a cool website: www.notstarring.com
• It's a cool site that talks about actors that might have starred in famous movies...some examples follow:
• Tupac Shakur auditioned for the role of Bubba in Forrest Gump
• Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf (and Morpheus).
• Will Smith turned down the lead role of Neo in the Matrix, admitting later that he had no regrets because "Keanu was brilliant as Neo."
• OJ Simpson was passed over for the role of the terminator because producers feared he wouldn't be taken seriously as a killer.
• Nicole Kidman was actually cast in the lead role of Jane Smith (Mr and Mrs. Smith) but dropped out. (I blame Nicole for Brad and Jennifer's divorce)
• Anyways, it's a fun site. Look around.
  

Laundry List

• So the MTV cribs house we saw belongs to Danielle Steel.
  
• Washed/waxed/vacuumed the car.
• Fought with the poorly designed hose wind up thing. Don't worry, I conquered it...I am a master :-)
  
• Setup cable/internet. The comcast guy hooked me up!
• Dropped Nick off at the airport :-(
• Got lost.
• Got un-lost.
• Home.
  

Smoothies and 80's Nostalgia

I received a wonderful email from Katie Musar last night. I was so delighted to learn she was as excited about my new magic bullet as I was (the magic bullet appeared in a photograph of the kitchen if you are interested). I am here to report that the first use was a success. I should also give a shout out to Alissa for her recommendation, if I didn't know better I'd think magic bullet was paying her off. Anyways, the results of vanilla yogurt+banana+frozen berries+milk+juice can be seen below:


Following the smoothie of champions, we decided to head to San Francisco, SF from here on out.

We decided to drive into the city. Unlike Washington, SF has toll bridges, LAME! Being the planner that I am, I wanted to ensure that we had correct change for the toll. I found $3 (as stated by the Bay Area Toll Authority) and we were off. To my utter dismay, the toll increased to $4 at the start of the year. Oh well! Sorry, that was probably a super lame story.

Pacific Heights, also known as "a painters nightmare", was our destination for the day. The houses are huge! We found "the mansion" and took a picture of the gated front entry:

It may be difficult to see, but there were 3 Mercedes and 1 land cruiser. I felt like the crew of MTV cribs was going to pop out of the bushes.

We then decided to live out the fantasy of every child of the 80s. We were going to find Dj, Stephanie and Michelle Tanner's house. We walked for a long ways until we found the park used in the opening shot (we looked up the park beforehand). We didn't know if we would recognize the house, it had been a long time since the days of TGIF. However, our memories did not fail us and we found the strip of houses:

Another group of early 20 somethings was also quite giddy at the site of the Tanner household. This made us feel a little better about our 80s pilgrimage.

If you are at all interested:

"None of the cast actually appears in San Francisco for the opening credits or introduction of each episode as lookalikes were shot in San Francisco from a helicopter for the opening credits and the introduction of each episode. While being introduced in the opening credits, each cast member was shown in various areas of the Tanner house except for season 8. Also, beginning in Season 4 and running through the end of the series, the last shot of the opening sequence of the show features the cast having a picnic in Alamo Square in front of the row of Painted Ladies in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. Contrary to popular belief, the red-doored Victorian where the Tanners live is not one of these houses."

Thanks wikipedia.

We are now at home and very tired from all the walking. Happy New Year everyone!