Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I'm coming back from Seattle today....give me a break :-)

Time wasters

If you haven't already, these are some great time-wasting websites. Some are more or less appropriate for work....so just look at them at home.

People of Public Transit

People of Walmart

Awkward Family Photos

Lamebook

Fail Blog

Cake Wrecks

Wedinator

Enjoy

Speak Now

I've been listening to Taylor Swifts new album.

I must say, it's pretty good.

But girlfriend needs to lighten up. I look forward to the album she creates after meeting the love of her life, getting married and having a kid. Although her 'i hate you,' 'you suck,' and 'screw you' songs are all awfully fun to run to.

Current favorite is Better than Revenge. People speculate it's about Camilla Belle - who "stole" Joe Jonas's heart right out from Taylor. Don't mess with T. She'll write a nasty song about you.

Aidan's Monsters

There's a little boy named Aidan and he was diagnosed with Leukemia. To raise money to help pay for medical bills, he sells his drawings on etsy.

I love it.

You can purchase one of his prints HERE.

The Ronans take SF

2 weekends ago, the Nike women's marathon took place in the streets of SF.

My friend Kelly, and her mom, decided to run the full marathon. Those crazy ladies!

The least we could do was cheer them on! So Nick and I packed up the bikes and drove into the city. We knew Kelly would be wearing a purple shirt.....doh! Unfortunately, all of the Team in Training people (and there are a lot of them) were also wearing purple. So it was like playing a fast paced game of where's waldo.

We eventually found them and got some sweaty hugs!

We then proceeded to try and find a cafe....it was rainy and cold and we wanted something warm and dry.

Then we found the ladies at the finish line! Congrats!

Love this!

At my house, I make my friends work for their dinner!

We had some friends over last Friday. They (and by they, I mean the girls) helped me finish up some last minute wedding craft projects.

Everyone seems to be having a good time. We served them pizza and brownies....so you can't really complain.

Even our friends Brooke and Raf made it! They have a very new little baby girl, Lana. She actually makes a cameo in the pictures - look left.

Thanks guys!

Jumped on that

The bandwagon, that its.

Did you hear? The Giants are going to the world series. That's right. The World Series. OMG.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game with some friends....and everyone else in the area that wanted to see if the Giants could clinch the series birth.

It was a tight game. So stressful.

Our butts got tired of sitting in bar stools, so we went back to our friends' house to finish watching the game.

Brian Wilson is my hero. First, he's hilarious. He doesn't take himself very seriously and is a bad ass closer.

The last guy was struck out looking.

Here's his victory pose. Love it.

Chris was so pumped, he did it as well. Fear the beard. Let's do this.

Sorry M's....but it's the world series.

Dental Floss

No, not floss. Dental floss. I love that shit.

I'm picky too. I don't like the cheap stuff that breaks apart. Give me some of the teflon coated, mint flavored goodness.

I have a piece of almond stuck in my teeth right now and I can't wait to run upstairs and get some dental floss.

I floss every night. It's good for your gum health.

Red velvet cupcake batter frozen yogurt

Yes.

After softball we went to fro yo. Because that's what we do.

And yes, that was one of the flavors. Incredible.

C-section

We're leaving softball last night and one of the girls on the team brought her parents. Her mom happens to be a labor and delivery nurse. As we are walking towards the cars, Megan tells her mom that Nick and I are getting married in a few weeks.

Her response, "Come to me when you need a c-section!"

Hahahahaha. I'm completely confused and laughing. She then explains that I'm so petite and Nick is so tall....I'll probably need a c-section. Or, the baby will be so skinny it'll just shoot right out. Think about that with your morning coffee :-P

Photo Comparisons - Miyahara styles

My sister went on an "around the world" trip. Not sure why I put it in quotes....she really went around the world.

In any case, she's slowly getting pictures up. She finally got to Italy....and I've been there! We took a lot of the same pictures (granted, we both took pictures of famous things....so it's not that crazy).

In any case, here are the comparisons. Let's be clear, this is before I ever cared about taking cool pictures and editing them and stuff.

Stace's are on the Left, mine are on the Right.

I can't tell if it's the light or if the dude actually got cleaned between when I took the picture and when Stace took it.

Part of Il Duomo....

I guess I should have gotten closer....fewer people if you're closer.

Some parliament building or something. Not sure where the Italian flags were when Stace was visiting.

The coliseum. Again, why does it look cleaner? Apparently Stacey uses more than just the "I'm feeling lucky" button in Picasa.

Pantheon.

The Miyahara girls, always taking pictures of holes in ceilings.

Mini Apple Pies

I had leftover pie crust in the fridge and Nick wanted something sweet. I offered to make mini-apple pies in my small ramekins. It turned out delicious! I just put a quarter of the pie crust in each ramekin....didn't worry about making it look nice. Mixed the chopped apples with some vanilla yogurt, sugar and flour and then filled the cups. Baked for 20 minutes, then added the topping - brown sugar, butter, oatmeal and a little flour. Bake for another 20 minutes. Soooo good. If only we had ice cream....

Did I miss the boat?

Remember when they decided to start printing different pictures on the quarter? They made a HUGE deal about it and people started collecting them and putting them in books and stuff.

Did you know that they did it with pennies too?

Now, don't get me started on pennies....they are pretty useless - unless you are 3 and like pitching them into fountains. Ooooh, they are fun at the casinos.....penny slots....but let's be real, you put in a $20 to start your play - so you still don't need a penny.

Nick noticed the pennies the other day while we were cleaning.

Normal from the front.

Crazy town on the back (we threw in a non-crazy penny for comparison purposes).

Boy scouts let him down

Nick and some of his friends might go on a fishing weekend trip or something like that.

So I asked him if he knew how to fish. Nope.

Wait.

Isn't this kid an eagle scout?

Doesn't that make him like the top tier of boy scouts?

Don't boy scouts do outdoors-y type stuff?

He knows how to tie weird knots, can basket weave and has a badge in metal working.....all useful skills....but no fishing. I feel like fishing should be on the required badge list. How are these kids suppose to survive in the wild if they can't catch their dinner?

Who steals a recycle bin?

About 3 weeks ago, Nick goes out to get our recycle and garbage bins and our recycle bin was gone. Everyone has their own (or should). But we figured our hooligan neighbors probably took it.

Sidenote - our neighbors have a sign on their door that says the house is "unsafe to occupy." Apparently they are in forclosure and decided to rip out the toilets, water heater, cabinets, AC and doors. The water heater was the kicker. It went up for auction a few weeks ago but there were no takers....starting bid was probably WAY too high. It's not worth much in it's current condition.

In any case, our recycle bin got jacked. Nick waited a day or 2 and then called the waste management people. They dropped off a new one. So we were set.

THEN, come next Monday, our bin was back - but sans building number. We have bldg and unit numbers - we are Bldg 49, Unit 103. So all it says was 103. Clever....

Since we have a bin, we left it out there. Then there was a nasty gram from the HOA to get it out of the street. So Nick arranged for it to be picked up.

But seriously....what goes through a person's head? They honestly could have just thrown their stuff in our half empty bin. No big deal. Instead, they took ours, kept it in their garage and then put it back out the next week....and left it. At this point, they could just keep it.

California Pizza Kitchen

So we went to California Pizza Kitchen - or CPK for those in the know.

We sat at the bar - so we wouldn't have to wait - chatted, ordered our food, ate....you know the drill.

The bartender rings up each of our orders separately and there is that code at the bottom of the receipt. You know the one. They tell you to go online later and fill out a survey and you say you will, even though you know you won't. So here's where it gets interesting.

Bartender says, "you girls have an iPhone or blackberry? If you fill this out right now, my manager will give you a coupon for a free appetizer." Hmm, that sweetens the deal. So Lisa starts to fill out the survey.

Manager comes over, and by the time we're done....we have 2 full size desserts and coupons for free appetizers with a $20 purchase for the next time we come in. Awesome!

Ironman

No, no, no. I will NEVER do an Ironman.

For anyone that doesn't know what an Ironman is, it's a triathlon - a really long one.

2.4 Mile Swim

112 Miles Bike

26.2 Mile Run (yes, a marathon)

It takes a really long time to finish - the fast people do it around 8-9 hrs.

My roommate from freshman year of college, Laura, just competed at the Ironman World Championship in Kona. (That's her on the far right....her dad got us tickets to a Sonics game. We soon learned that NO ONE dresses up for Sonics games. Oh well).

She's always been very determined. She was an exercise fiend! Running, biking and swimming all over the place. I'd never really worked out. I'd say that she first inspired me to start running.

She finished Ironman Canada in 3rd place in her age division. What?! And she just finished competing at the World Championships. I don't know anyone who's ever competed at a world championship. I feel like I know a celebrity. She's incredibly inspiring and a really wonderful person. Congratulations, Laura!

False Advertising

We "tailgated" in Dublin before heading to the game. We decided to take the 12:22 BART to the Coliseum. The BART takes 2o minutes and the game started at 1:15. So we had plenty of time.

We showed up at the BART station to find a line about 1 block long. WTF? So here's the deal with BART. The idea is great. The execution is incredibly flawed. The electronic ticket machine is not intuitive. You'll just have to take my word for it. This means that everyone trying to purchase tickets takes WAY longer than necessary as they try and figure out how to use the machine. Next - the BART people know there is a game. For Giants games they have extra people staff the station and sell tickets for people with cash. Hello? We ended up getting on BART at 1:05 - almost an hour after we arrived at the station. We only missed a safety and field goal and a touchdown, but who's counting.

Then, BART has the audacity to show this on the big screen. Seriously? Can they really make those kind of promises?

Chilean Miners

I'm completely fascinated by the Chilean miners stuck in the ground.

I can't believe they lived underground for 2 months and are now being pulled up by a makeshift elevator.

This leads me to engineers and why they are cool. I'm absolutely impressed by how quickly this all came together. Yes, it still sucks to be stuck in the ground for 2 months. But seriously? They dug an ~2 foot diameter hole over 2000 feet into the ground and didn't kill the miners in the process. Then they devised a little elevator system to bring them to the surface.

CNN has a great little graphic that talks about the "elevator." It's 22" in diameter and 6'4" inside(they actually commented that the overweight miners have lost weight...due to lack of food....and should be able to fit in the tiny car). The ride takes about 15 minutes and is a claustrophobic nightmare - as far as I can tell. One of my favorite features is the harness that will keep the miners upright if they pass out. There's also an escape hatch if something goes wrong.....not sure how that 2000 ft slide would feel on your bum.

They aren't all out yet, but I have faith that it will work.

Chargers Fan

We got to our seats at the Raider's game and were met with this lovely piece of work.

She stood up for the entire 1st quarter. Dancing around. Shaking what her momma gave her. She was incredibly obnoxious (this is coming from a girl that isn't a huge Raiders fan). Some debated about dousing her with beer....but no one did. She was in my way.

You might think that I (and by I, I mean Caresse) snapped this picture at the perfect moment to capture her snarled grin....but no....she had this on the entire game. She had that annoying sticker pasted to her chest....ironic.

She eventually left and was replaced by a pair of very random Raider's fans.

As we were leaving, we thought there might be a brawl. A few Chargers fans were having some heated words with some Raiders fans. Don't think anything came of it. But Caresse did snap a few pictures of a Chargers fan getting arrested. Stay classy, San Diego.

We didn't die.

I went to my 2nd - ever - NFL game last Sunday. And it was my FIRST Oakland Raider's game. Before we went to the game, when I would tell people where I was going, they'd make comments like:

"Oh, really?"

"Um....have fun?"

"You're not rooting for the other team. Are you?"

"Hope you don't die."

So you can better believe I was looking forward to this! Nevertheless, I bought a Raider's shirt to hedge my bets.

We arrived late...more on that on a later date.

There were people in our seats and we weren't sure if we'd have to bust a few caps to claim what was rightfully ours. No. The seating guy came over and straightened it all out.

Turns out the Raider's fans aren't all that bad. Honestly, the Charger fans were WAY more annoying (I'll save that for tomorrow).

It was an AWESOME game! We had lots of fun.

Hands free? Please.

Coming back home on Sunday, we spotted this girl. As you may (or may not) know, we have a hands free law in CA. This means, you should use a bluetooth so your HANDS are FREE to touch the steering wheel.

This is really common. People think that if they don't hold the phone to their ear, they are "hands free." I love it. And I finally caught it on camera. No, no. I wasn't driving.

And as Nick said - if she's going to do that, at least hold the phone a little lower so no one can see it.

Here's a trick. If you don't have your bluetooth handy, stick the phone under your collar on speaker. It'll hold it close enough for you to talk and listen.

Ikea

The tissue paper debacle of 2010 is now over.

I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite stores. Ikea.

First, let's start out with the food. Have you ever eaten at Ikea? If you haven't, you should. Breakfast is cheaper than the grand slam at Denny's and you can get Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and loganberry sauce - it beats the pants off cranberry sauce....maybe a new addition to this years Thanksgiving....but I digress. If you don't partake in the cafeteria delights, at least stop by the counter on your way out for a frozen yogurt for <$1.

I first fell in love during high school. It was the only furniture store I could afford. I bought random mirrors and shelves to try and personalize my room.

In college, I got colorful duvet covers, end tables and dishes. And during my post college years, we turned 2 shelves into a mantle.

I recently found this AWESOME blog. Ikea Hacker. People use ikea furniture for new and different uses. One of my favorites was a door that someone turned into a water feature. Some are better than others and some look very "hacked." But for every few hacks, there's some awesome new ideas.

Enjoy.

Here are a few photos I took from the site.

Update

In an effort to buy < 480 sheets, I visited target and the local craft store. Apparently, ordinary people cannnot purchase 20"x30" tissue paper. I'll be making an online purchase later today.

Tissue Paper

I don't typically need a lot of tissue paper. But I decided to make some tissue paper art. It requires 8 pieces of 20" x 30" sheets. I want to make 6ish.

Did you know that tissue paper is typically sold in packs of 8, 24 and 480. Because the logical next step after 24 is 480.

Slow news day.

I apologize.

A trip down memory lane

Nick and I are trying to pick music....which is turning out to be kind of hard....either way, we've taken quite the little trip down memory lane. It's kinda funny what some of these songs make you remember. Here are some of the random ones we've come across and what I remember thinking.

Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

What I was thinking - I want to be an astronaut. Damn, Ben Affleck is a good looking man.

Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby

What I was thinking - Summer camp wasn't this much fun.

Beach Boys - Kokomo

This was my favorite song in kindergarten. One day, after I cleaned my room really well, my dad got me the cassette tape single and I played it in my fisher price cassette player on repeat.

Awesome.

Teatro

We topped off our weekend at Teatro Zinzanni. It was a fun night of food and entertainment.

The highlight may have been the 80-90 year old woman, Alice, that was pulled on stage to dance with the master of ceremonies. His mole grew throughout the night.

Wedding, what?

Some friends from out of town (and some from CA) were nice enough to indulge me with a little pre-wedding party. (aka bachelorette party)


To be sure I had some nice clothing for the occasion, my sister made me this shirt. As in - she designed it and had someone put the design on a t-shirt.


While I'm obviously partial to her skills, I actually think she could make some dinero selling these to girls.


Nicely done, sis.

Dish!

Our neighbor was able to hook us up with some VIP passes to Dish. Dish is sponsored by SF weekly and benefits Street Smart 4 Kids. A ton of local restaurants and wineries bring small tastes and drinks for everyone to enjoy.

They start out by giving everyone plastic tumblers and paper plates. Then you walk around the room, grabbing all the yummy food and drinks.

Here's a chef prepping his ceviche, handed out on little individual spoons.

Poke. It's a Hawaiian dish made with raw fish, we ate sooo much of this. It was super good.

The event was held at the top of the Metreon in SF. Here's a view from the outdoor terrace. Awesome.

Lisa and I, just chillin'.

I heart Erik Folk

I love me some Husky football. Especially when we beat the pants off of those little rich kids!

Huskies beat USC on Saturday - clinched by an Erik Folk field goal. That kid is incredible. Absolutely incredible.

I sniped a few pictures from the Seattle Times website.

Saw this little gem on a youtube video from the game. Love it. Poor kids can't spell.

The best fundraiser ever

During college I organized a group of students to volunteer at Gay Bingo. I didn't really know what it was, but it sounded like fun and I had to get those kids volunteering!

We showed up and had an AWESOME time! As volunteers we helped setup the tables and chairs for the event and then sold raffle tickets during the actual Bingo rounds.

But this ain't your mama's bingo. This is bingo on steroids....or maybe estrogen? The MC is a fabulous drag queen and the sisters of perpetual indulgence hang out to help.

For volunteering, we all got free tickets to come back and play. Awesome! They liked us so much, they put us front and center. And that's when Poor Zach got brought to the stage and had his shirt ripped off. I won $33 playing bingo and we all had an awesome time!

It's gotten bigger and better since I attended over 5 years ago. But if you are looking for something fun - and want to do something good (did I mention the proceeds go to the lifelong AIDS alliance?) - head on over to Gay Bingo!

My chat with Stacey

8:31 AM Stacey: ok so this guy comes in

he's really tall and dark. he has on a purple velvet robe and all black underneath with a silver tie. an eye patch with chanel sunglasses and rhinestones and a cane

8:32 AM me: huh

Stacey: then he asks me if i've seen the friend he's meeting. a tall italian man in a black suit.

......

8:33 AM i think i'm about to host a pimping transaction

tradin hoes

me: haha

has it happened yet?

take a picture

Stacey: mmkay

he said he would come back later to look for his friend

i was super weirded out
Needless to say, she didn't take a picture.