The List.

The List ends today. Like I said 328193810 times already, I didn't do very well, though I kicked it up a notch over the past few weeks.

Since today is my 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday, I thought I'd wrap up the list and explain it. If you're willing to read on, please do, I may say something funny.

1. Learn to make Belgian waffles like my dad's So I learned how to make waffles, but I have yet to practice on anyone. Practice makes perfect on these puppies! I took copious notes, so I'll be making these for someone soon! Volunteers?

2. Visit Gabe & Jen in NY (post May 7 but make the plans!)
Unfortunately, I had to cancel my trip back east for lame financial reasons. If I can swing it, I'll be out there later in the summer to bet on some ponies and hang out on a warm beach with warm water!

3. Visit Morgan & Bobby in Martha's Vineyard (post May 7 but make the plans!) Ditto to the above!

4. Run the Maui marathon - TRAIN for an end-of-'09 marathon

Knowing me, I can't commit to anything...especially not a marathon that I'd have to train for on my own. Instead, I signed up for the Vegas Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Dec. Now if I could just start running...

5. Try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins - Yeah, I only got through 4. Not sure what happened on this! I heart ice cream and it should have been an easy one. I suck. Well, cheers to pistachio, jamocha, cookie dough and butter pecan.

6. Take a picnic to the beach - Yep, another one I never got around to...and I. Love. The. Beach. It's still on my list for this coming year.

7. Tahoe trip Yo check it. Headed up to Tahoe this past weekend. It was awesome.

8. Put $10 on 31 and hope for the best Put my money on 31, didn't win, but won on every other number I put it on! Came home $50 richer.

9. Rita's for karaoke - A little late, but we're going tomorrow!

10. Play a practical joke on a friend - Couldn't think of anything...have a whole year to think now....muuuwaaahhaahaaaaa

11. Drive east and shoot the whole way - Again with an easy one - looking forward to doing this one soon.

12. Visit Half Moon Bay - Oh come on now. I couldn't get to Half Moon Bay? Really?

13. Host a dinner party Check! Hosted Poker Night and cooked a rather good dinner for the girls.

14. Volunteer for a day - Yep, just selfish I guess.

15. Shoot a gun Added after the fact, but man it was a good one to have on The List. Still scary and not sure if I'll ever do that again.

16. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge Did it, and it was awesome. Kinda far.

17. Visit the Cable Car Museum WAY cooler than I expected - the heart of the cable system. Local peeps have to check that out!

18. Learn 3 all-purpose jokes What does a one-legged ballerina wear? A one-one. What does a Scottish guy have in common with the Rolling Stones? The Rolling Stones say Hey You, get off my cloud and the Scottish guy says Hey McCloud, get off my ewe. What are the two dirtiest animals on the farm? Brown chicken brown cooooow.

19. Go on a date with someone over 40 (uhhh) and someone under 30 (again.) I backtracked in life and used the horrible horrible speed dating-in-a-community-center for my over 40 and the most recent speed dating for my under 30. The kid was 22. Ugh.

20. Take another swing dance lesson - Have to do this! I love it! (don't lead, don't lead)

21. Find a kickboxing class I love - same as above - have to do it! Hiiiiii-YAH.

22. Pay cash for 5 purchases over $30I didn't like this one.

23. See Citizen Kane - Still never seen it. Will have to Netflix that bad boy.

24. Master the art of the bloody mary I had one today - it counts.

25. Shoot at least 25 photos per weekCheck! It helps when the fancy new camera arrives.

26. Discover a new band I'm counting the awesome lounge band from Tahoe on this one. I didn't discover them per se...no clue what their name was. They were cool - someone yelled Free Bird and they actually played it. Rock on.

27. Hike to the top of Mt. Tam - Given that I grew up in Marin, this should be a given, but alas, I'm THAT guy. Someday...

28. See the sunrise & sunset in the same day. Check! It was fun.

29. Go gokarting I have a need for speed.

30. Mail notes to friends/family more often. I LOVED this one and plan to do it way more.

31.Turn 31.

Check. I'm old, yo.

Cheers to my new List! Send me ideas!

Almost 31.

I'm having somewhat of a third-life crisis (sidenote: if I live to be 90+ I'll be stoked.) Ya know when a guy (or gal I guess) has been married for a long time, has the kids, the job, the house...they get into what they feel like is a rut and buy a new sports car, usually a Corvette. This is how I feel right now in life...in a rut. I'm not sure why exactly, maybe because none of the "big stuff" has happened, or even really has the potential of happening any time soon.

Should I buy a Corvette? No. I shouldn't. I need to get over myself and stop brooding. I'm lucky to have such awesome friends to make me laugh like nothing else. I love how we can be ourselves and be dorky and fun and funny and random and spontaneous and planners and adventurers. We don't take ourselves too seriously and that is my number 1 favorite thing. I'm lucky to have such an awesome family too. My brothers are dudes who have found jobs they love, girlfriends that I like (because as we know this is super important), and friends that are actually cool. They're not my little brothers anymore but my tall, skinny brothers who are adults. (Yeah, it's weird.) My parents are a cool couple I've realized this week - they go on cool trips and do interesting things all the time. They're thoughtful and helpful and considerate. My mom likes to shop and my dad is so extremely handy it rocks.

Sooooo I'm turning 31. THIRTY-ONE. Tomorrow. Wow. I hope the next year is as busy and fun as the last!

Cheers to the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday!

Countdown Continues

How can a weekend fly by yet yesterday morning feel like it was ages ago? That is this weekend. M and I met up on a gloomy and miserable Saturday morning for a cup of coffee and decided to leave for Tahoe at 3 that afternoon. It. Rocked. I love random trips, especially ones to Tahoe and ones that allow me to scratch off #7 & #8 on The List! 

It was rainy. Very, very rainy. M hadn't been to Tahoe yet and unfortunately the fog-rain-clouds-mist-snow kept her from seeing the stunning mountains and most of the lake. There was still a ton of snow up there - not enough to ski on but enough to make what we could see of the mountains even more beautiful. I absolutely LOVE Tahoe. I love the way it smells, the gorgeous landscape, the people, the places, the random encounters, the funny stories, everything. This trip didn't disappoint. 

We did the typical one-night-Tahoe-trip. Headed straight to South Lake, with a stop at Ross along the way (I really need jeans), then found a motel closest to Stateline, and checked in. Got ready, had some EmergenC (that stuff is dis.gus.ting.), listened to fun music, then walked into Nevada to Harvey's. May is hit or miss - it's off season so the motel rates are low but sometimes there aren't people there either. This weekend though, Sammy Hagar was playing, so Tahoe was crazy. Cabo Wabo was nuts, so we stayed at the lounge band in Harrah's most of the time. Then of course, a weekend in Tahoe wouldn't be complete without some dancing. Headed into Vex when the line disappeared and danced the night away. It was awesome.

Today, we lazily made our way home, stopping for food & gas & the Verizon store. Right now, I wish I had cable. I'm posted on my couch with nothing to watch but my beloved Hulu and Netflix. It'll get me through.

What To Do With COPIA...

COPIA was a cool idea that never quite came to fruition. If cool ideas need a place to come and die, come to Napa. Not that Napa is horrible, it's just that it hasn't found the balance between locals & tourists, which in my mind would equal success. If businesses only ever cater to tourists, then 6-7 months out of the year you're stuck without much business from us, the locals.

COPIA should have offered locals passes - perhaps an annual fee of $10 that would get us in for free. Instead, they charged $10 at the door. For what, exactly? The same photography exhibit and wine shots? Sure, they had movies on Fridays and cool wine & cooking classes, but again, the costs were prohibitive for people to do that every week. Overall, it failed, obviously, since it's now been closed for months.

My idea for COPIA? Turn it into a hot spot! Napa needs one! Live music, DJ nights, comedy nights, awesome art exhibits, wine tastings, beer tastings, movie nights (they already have a theater-like room).....all of which would be fun, affordable, and cater to locals as well as those visiting our little town. There aren't too many neighbors in that area - the river runs around the back of the property and there is enough distance that I think loud music could easily be played without bothering anyone. The place is HUGE inside - there's no shortage of what could be done with it. Why not capitalize on the younger generation in this town who have nowhere to go and make it the buzz about town? Anyone care to lend me a cool mil? I'll have a sweet spot up and running in no time. I'll be sure to hire bouncers - it seems like anywhere with music needs bouncers for all the "gang" fights here that shut every other place down. Who's with me?

The Week...

I don't have too much to say....pretty burned out from the past week. My garage sale...well....it was a garage sale. I made like $200 which when all is said and done is not. enough. for. all. the. work. Then again, it's $200 I didn't have last week and it cleared out the house a little, so I guess it's ok. The best part was hanging out with my family and friends! Everyone was right - garage sale people are weird.

Z came into town late on Saturday and ended up staying for a while. We did random stuff which was super fun. While he was here, we went to one winery (I swear it'll be better next time, Z), I tasted 4 Baskin Robbins flavors (butter pecan, jamocha, cookie dough, and pistachio), had a fancy dinner at Go Fish and watched Superbad (FINALLY). It rocked.

My birthday is in 6 days. Six. Days. Wow. In regards to The List, I have 27 more flavors of ice cream to eat and I should probably make waffles at least once more. The rest will just have to roll over to next year (year 32, that is.) They're perfectly good List items, there's no reason I can't use them next year.

The past two days were spent in my personal hell - a public speaking class at work. Yes, I just did this in January. This course was different, but the requirements were pretty much the same - speak and they will film you. It's just lovely. I now know that my cute jeans aren't that cute and my flattering blue tunic is super unflattering. My hair is awkward and my arms do this weird floppy thing when the left decides that it's ok to relax and not mimic Bob Dole. I'm usually quite animated in real life and when I speak on camera, I am as boring as Toby from The Office. It's weird. As you can tell, I had an awesome time doing this. Oh well, it'll make me a better, more well-rounded person, right? Oh ya know what else would make me more well-rounded? Finishing my list. That's also a tad bit more fun.

Cheers to a random and awesome week (exceptforThursdayandFriday).

Things That Are Rad, Chapter 4

A brand new tube of toothpaste

Jeans on Friday

The potential to sell stuff I don't use anymore

A cozy bed

Microfiber

A dining room table that was a steal at Cost Plus

My fluffy white robe

A good book

My laptop connected to my TV & working correctly

Improv

Any sort of improv is awesome. Purely awesome. When these people dance to Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music (one of my favorite movies ever) in Belgium, I just get all happy like a 3 year old with an ice cream cone. It makes me feel like there really IS a sense of community and it's just such raw entertainment. These people are not out there to make a buck, they're not hired actors, they're not some company. They're funny people doing funny things just. because. And I love that. I don't do nearly enough of things just for the halibut.

Improv Everywhere is one of those organizations. HILARIOUS. My favs are the Best Buy one, the Slo Mo Home Depot, and Frozen in Grand Central. I get all giddy when I watch these, both for the funniness of it all and the comraderie. It just tickles my fancy.

Cheers to giggles again. I heart them.

PS - When I lived in the city with WU, she had to take an improv class in school. Nerves were getting the best of her, so I met her at The Gold Dust for early afternoon shots. Yep, shots. She went to her class buzzed. Given how funny she is already, I think I missed a good show.

Yoga

So I haven't tried yoga since like 2003 because it hurt my bum shoulder pretty bad. On Monday night, Z and I went to Drank's house with Q and did yoga in her living room to a DVD. It was the exact opposite of Frozen Yoga - it's been SO hot here it was more like free Bikram Yoga. Anyway, I'm sore. I don't know if it was the yoga or the laughter at things in the DVD like "let your organs soften" and "release your spine down to your pubis." I mean, seriously? Who talks like that?

Reason #3829 why I don't do yoga - it hurts my shoulder.
Reason #24579 why I don't do yoga - it's cheesy and makes me giggle.
Reason #1947 why I don't do yoga - I'm not that bendy.

Cheers to the giggles...without them, I don't know how I'd go on.

PS - Imagining us doing yoga in Drank's living room is actually quite funny.

The Countdown

For some reason, this birthday is looming more than my 30th. Is it because I'm now officially in my 30s? Is it because this isn't where I expected I'd be? Is it because life is flying by and I can't help but wonder where it went? Hmmm.....

In my old age, I keep thinking about what I've done, what I haven't done, how I've lived, and who's impacted my life. With Z here for the past few days and the hours and hours of conversation with him, with the wedding on Friday and seeing my friends of 10+ years (!), I guess I'm feeling somewhat reflective. Cheesy, I know. Please feel free to make fun.

I think I've lived well, though I know that not everything I've done is honorable. Now that I've grown up somewhat, I take pride in how I treat others, and I thank my parents for raising me right. I'll never understand those who take advantage of people, those who are rude for no reason, and those who are self-centered. I'd rather be friends with people until they give me a reason not to be than the other way around. 

Ok, I'm done. Proceed with the mockery.

Whirlwind Weekend

This past Friday, my friend from college, ABB, got married in the East Bay. Gorgeous venue, great food, pretty everything. They even had a photo booth!! (Photos to be posted shortly) This was the first wedding where they played some sort of ice-breaker type of game which was extraordinarily entertaining! First the DJ tells us that if we pass a dollar bill around the table during the music, whoever ends up with the dollar gets the flowers out of the centerpiece. We pass. And pass. And pass. KMNK's hubby gets it, but then the DJ throws in a twist - whoever is holding the dollar has to get up and dance around the table. So there he went, dancing around our table. He stops behind me when the music stops. Now I have to get up and dance around the table. It was awesome looking around the room seeing people dancing around fancy dinner tables. I stop behind KMNK, thinking, yay - she gets the flowers! Um no. She now has to play musical chairs on the dancefloor! That pregnant friend of mine (or as we called her that night, El Preggor) danced her little booty around those chairs, butt-bumping grandmas and uncles galore. It came down to El Preggor and Uncle Tom (or something) and as Kung Fu Fighting stopped, El Preggor landed her backside in that chair, winning all dollar bills from all tables. It was extremely entertaining and will be on You Tube soon.

Saturday consisted of cooking (yes, I cooked) and cleaning (yes, I cleaned) for poker night. The girls came over around 7pm and we had BBQ chicken, creamy polenta, and my spiffy citrus salad (#13 on The List). We finally got to poker around 9:30pm and played till about 11:30. Another late night was had.

Sunday, Z and I headed to the city for a Giants game. ABB's dad got us tickets to the game so we were with a lot of the people from the wedding. So fun. So HOT. I don't think I've ever sweated that much in San Francisco. Ever. It was melt-your-kicks, get-me-another-beer, so-glad-I-wore-a-dark-shirt-so-you-can't-see-my-sweaty-back hot. Since Z and I didn't want to waste a warm day in the city, we randomly decided on our drive out of town to stop at the Cable Car Musem (#17 on The List) which was so so cool. Thanks to my dad for telling me to add that one! We saw the home of all 4 cable car lines. SO cool. We then decided to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (#16 on The List) - Z had never done that! It was unbelivably warm still - how often do you see people on the bridge in a tank top....it rocked.

All in all, a killer weekend! Too bad I can barely keep my eyes open and want to go to Marine World. Too bad I have to earn the money for a $30 ticket to ride rollercoasters. Doesn't it sound awesome though?

Cheers :)

PS - I no longer have cable. Lame.

A Year?? Get out!

It's been a year and one month since my worst. date. ever. How can that be? I haven't had another date that bad since. Either that means that I'm not going out much or I'm going out with somewhat normal guys. I think it's both.

I just had to post this because it's really funny. Wrong in so many ways, yet still quite entertaining.

Cheers.

Follow Up.

Thinking about my poor Things-to-do-before-I-turn-31 List, I'm actually disappointed in myself that I didn't accomplish as much as I thought I would have. I'm really bummed I had to cancel my jaunt to the east coast and really need something to look forward to. Time to plan some small, cheap getaways...

I've wondered lately why my friends and I don't take more trips. We all love the same things, we get along so well, and we travel well together on the small road trips we do take. We can talk for hours and hours and hours about nothing and feel like we accomplished a ton. We all value the importance of girl time, even those of us who are attached to that species we call boys. We giggle, do random things, have random things happen to us, and can enjoy a weekend in some tiny town just because it's somewhere we've never been. We have so much fun and I wish we could live on a cul-de-sac all together and ride golf carts everywhere we needed to go. I imagine us in the future all living on our little street, having block parties, and our kids all playing together.

Given that none of us live THAT close to each other, I thought I'd enter us into a spa-getaway contest at Uptake - a travel website that I just learned about. My girls and I rarely pamper ourselves - we can be too practical or too broke - so who knows! If I win, I can honestly say that we'd have the best time that anyone could possibly have on a spa weekend. We'd make sure that even the staff had a blast.

Cheers to contests (gotta love 'em) and friends (gotta love 'em too).

THE LIST.

Sooooooo in 23 days I turn 31. Um. Yeah. I sort of don't think that I'll accomplish most of what's on my list in the next 23 days. I've only done 7 so far. SEVEN. I canceled my east coast trip (#s 2 & 3. Bummer. I'll miss you guys.), so there goes two anyway.

So what I'm thinking is that I'll roll this list over into my 32nd year of life, change out the ones I did for new ones, and add one, hence my new list: 32 things to do before I turn 32.

One thing I promise to do before I turn 31 is try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins. I mean, that doesn't exactly translate to my 32nd year very well, and hey, I love ice cream.

Don't be disappointed in me. I tried. You'll just have to follow me through the next year of my life to see if I accomplish any of those. If I do, I'll probably have some funny story to share because weird things happen to me. They just do. I don't know why.

Cheers to trying new things....again.

PS - I keep typing "21" instead of "31" - I think it's a sign.

Stuff White People Like

I started reading the hilarious blog 'Stuff White People Like' a looooooong time ago, but I think that after the book thing, this blog has jumped the shark. It's pretty unfortunate because the postings are so. true.

Take, for example, the one about North Face. Read it. Now walk around San Francisco on a freezing cold summer day and you'll see that this is absolutely dead on. Most of these are dead on, and more power to the author for writing what we all know, what we all think is funny, and getting a book deal out of it! If only I could be so lucky...

In any event, it's too bad that the SWPL postings have come less often and they have been less funny. I guess that's what happens when you get famous.

The Island: Story 1

I miss living on Treasure Island. It was such an interesting place, creepy mostly, but interesting nonetheless. The history of the Island is so fascinating - it was the home of the 1939 World's Fair. Over the years of living there, I learned a ton about the Island's history.

I just read this article on SFGate about the olive trees that were planted at the World's Fair and how they are still thriving. This is really cool but I just keep thinking about the part of our lease where it recommended that we not have a garden in the ground because it was toxic. I'm not sure that I'd eat Treasure Island Olive Oil but I'd definitely buy it if I saw it.



More Island stories to come in the future...I sure have a lot.

A Noseglasses Update

Just for the halibut...



I really need to get that website going.

Millennials...and Wine.

I have a blog devoted to wine, which, honestly, for how much wine I taste, I should keep that blog waaaay more updated, but anyway.... Because I have that blog, I should probably post this there instead of here...but that's why the interweb created hyperlinks.

I just read this article in the Press Democrat: http://tastingroom.pressdemocrat.com/default.asp?item=2361384 (I'm "WineChick" in the comments.) I generally like the PressDem because they have comprehensive stories, a lot of extras and they're on top of it. This article is interesting and touches on a very important piece of the wine business: millennials. Being at the top end of this generation (most report the born on date is 1977-1994), I think that this is such an interesting and relevant subject.

As wine marketers, winery owners, and field sales, we have to understand this generation completely. We need to do what they do, attend what they attend, and accept that they are unlike any other wine consumer. Old school tendencies like sticking with one brand and one brand alone and lower price points don't cut it with these wine lovers. They like adventure and teasers, cult wines and value. By value I don't mean bargain basement wines, I mean a stellar wine for a reasonable price.

We can't ignore this consumer, they are coming fast and furiously, and they. like. wine. A lot. They like new, they like different, and they like to be surprised. They follow wineries on Twitter, Facebook, and the next social media outlet that comes along. They'll download your app for their iPhone and will expect the most out of it. They want you to hook them and reel them in, they'll recommend you to everyone they know, then they'll find the next best thing. Get in with these guys and word spreads like wildfire. Getting in with them may be trickier but it's being done all over the place. Keep at 'em.

Cadbury Creme Eggs

The season of Cadbury Creme Eggs is almost over. This makes me sad. I need to get to Safeway/Target and stock up. Like, now.

Maaawwwage maaawaage.

I just love The Princess Bride! I forgot how much I love this movie...I can't wait until I have kids and we can watch this movie together and say "Stop it now I mean it" "Anybody want a peanut?"

Thank you, Bravo, for airing this on a lazy Monday evening.

Emails

I love getting emails. It's a bit like getting non-junk-mail in your mailbox. Remember those days? We don't get much of that, though part of my 31 List is to send more! I especially like getting emails from my mom. She writes them as if she were writing a letter which I love. I, on the other hand, write them how I speak.

Mom example: my mom starts them off with "Dear XXXX," and ends with "Love, Mom" - I heart it.

Mine: "sup dudes, whatchya wanna do this weekend? I know it's only Monday but I can't wait for the weekend!" - no intro, no close, and if you're lucky, I'll remember to sign an "M"

Cheers to my mom finally using email - though now I miss her letters! - and to her emails!

Guess What I Bought?

I bought noseglasses.com recently. I've been hoping for it to be abandoned and the noseglasses gods were shining on me because it was just regular priced and I'm happy. Granted, I don't have the time or means to build a website for it right now, but I have to do SOMETHING with it!

Send me your photos of noseglasses and you, noseglasses and your friends, noseglasses and your dog and some way, some how, I'll get those posted.

Pets.

I just have a quick thought...

What is it that people look like their pets? This is usually a dog/owner phenomenon, but maybe some people look like their cat/bunny/frog/hermit crab/bird thing too.

Race #1

6:15am - alarm goes off (some lame R&B song). Hand hits snooze. Nine minutes later, alarm goes off (the new Soulja Boy song that gets stuck in my head soooooo badly - Kiss Me Through the Phone). Hand hits snooze. Nine minutes later, I'm up, groggy, pull on my workout clothes, check Facespace (because really, what else am I to do at this horrible hour on a Saturday), then it's time to go. To. My. First. Race.

I ranwalked the Carneros Fun Run this morning! Artesa Winery is beautiful and has an amazing view of the valley on the west side. I started off running, but unfortunately my knee is lame and hates anything downhill, so right off the bat, I was hurtin'. I tried to run as much as I could, but I pretty much ranwalked the whole thing. I finished, finally, and had hot firemen welcome me to the finish line, then got pancakes and fruit. It's an absolutely amazing day today - I'm so ready for summer!

This is the kick in the pants I need to get running! Who's with me?

:)

Bragging.

I don't like bragging - I find it extremely unattractive and off-putting. When I write here, I'm collecting the 90mph thoughts I have about something random - work, life, friends, family, experiences. With all my heart, I hope that it never, ever comes off as bragging.

I feel that people who brag about themselves or their situation are 1) are starved for attention and 2) are overcompensating for something. If you're really happy with yourself, your situation, your choices, then you don't need to proclaim to the world many times over that you're happy. If you have to brag, whatever it is isn't that great, you just want people to think it is. This can be a fine line - like arrogance and confidence always seem to be. On one hand, you want to share your happiness with others so that they can be happy with you. If you push it, though, you run the risk of sounding like you're bragging, and as I shared in paragraph 1, bragging is obnoxious. I think that you can be happy with whatever it is that makes you happy and your smiling face, welcoming persona, and open heart will automatically let people know where you are emotionally. Writing here, you obviously don't know if I'm smiling (I'm not currently), if I'm welcoming in my demeanor (not particularly at the moment), if I have an open heart (if you know me, I don't need to tell you this anyway - you probably know.) 

On to the fine line between confidence and arrogance. Confidence requires poise and integrity, while arrogance is the easy way out - it's just acting like you're better than everyone else. It takes no effort to be arrogant - it just takes a sense of entitlement and the cajones not to care about anyone else. I'm quite sick of the sense of entitlement that my generation seems to have. Get over yourselves.

There's my serious post for the week. Take it with a grain of salt. 

Napa.

Because of the unexpected trip to Indiana, I missed last week's MIXPO through the Chamber. I'm bummed I did - so curious how it was all set up. I guess I'll have to wait until August to check it out. For my side business, I wish I could afford the Chamber dues but for now it just doesn't make sense. Mama needs a new set of business cards!

In other news, I spent the day at our far-away winery today with customers and the fantastic team up there. When I get bogged down with the details and day-to-day stuff with my job and with life, days like today make me remember that I get to do some cool stuff sometimes and that my company rocks. We did such amaaaaazing things today - blended our own wines in a friendly competition, took a vineyard tour and absorbed as much as possible in the 2 hours we were out there, tasted 20+ wines with extremely awesome commentary and information, barrel tasted, and just got to pick the brains of the winemakers. It was so unbelievably informative - I hope most of it sticks! I have a CSW test to take soon. I'm so lucky to work with such down to earth, friendly, talented peeps.

Cheers to remembering what I enjoy and having the opportunity to experience it!

Blogging

I have a lot of nothing to talk about. That's all blogging is, I know, but why oh why is it so fun? I truly have nothing to say, like most bloggers, and when I do, I fully expect no one to read it. I blog because I want to keep an account of my life, thoughts, and funny stories, and if someone reads them, giggles (or chuckles) or thinks one thought that haven't before, then my job here is done.

My dad bought me a diary at Long's when I was 6. This is a huge deal for me 1) because my dad never, ever buys anything like that (hello, it's lavender with pastel polka dots) , 2) I was 6 and we had just moved to California, I had a lot to say, and 3) the first few entries are hilarious. I re-read that diary every time I move my books around, or am bored and notice it. I had a lot of nothing to talk about back then too. I believe my favorite line from the earlier entries is that I bothered to write about how my brother had a stom sto stoma tummy ache. Awesome. Even back then I cared about my spelling.

Someday I'll go back to the first entry in this blog, way back in 2007, and get a kick about how happy I was, how random life was, and how my writing has changed. I found out this weekend that my grandma wrote poems and stories about things that happened in her life. Blogger has replaced the typewriter and paper, but it's the same. I must get it from her.

Cheers to writing! Even if it's about nothing.

Indiana Travels & Napa Valley Register!

I got home from my trip back to the midwest last night, late, late, late. I'm exhausted physically and emotionally, but I do have to say that it was great to see all of my family, even under the circumstances.

On a completely separate note, one of my photos has been published in the Napa Valley Register!! I needed this good news to come into this morning... I shot the Colavita/Sutter Home Cycling Team last weekend and they ran the headline. I'm so stoked right now but no one can tell because I'm half asleep.

YAY. More later. If I can swing it.

Sadness

I got a call from my mom this morning - my grandma passed early this morning. I'm so sad for my dad most of all - he's lost so many people over the past few years. I know we all have, but for my dad, he's lost brothers and both of his parents. I can't even imagine losing my brothers or my parents. I talk to my mom everyday and see my family pretty often. I'm very lucky to have them all and I'm grateful for having them so close.

Such a sad start to a day.

Seasonal Sweets

I want to give a quick shout out to my homies the Girl Scouts for selling the best cookies ever. Hello Samoas, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a year, and you look well. Nomnomnomnom.... Thin Mints! Great to see you! Have a great time in my freezer and I'll check back with you in a few days. Make yourselves at home.

Missed Connection: I haven't seen you in a year, and you haven't been in Target yet recently. I expected you to be there. Me: Tall, brown hair, loves sweetness. You: Short, round, chocolatey outside, creme goodness, only comes out to play around Easter. Where art thou, Cadbury Creme Eggs? I really felt a strong connection last year and have thought about you ever since. Hope to reconnect soon! I'll be the one with wild hazel eyes in the candy section. 

Last Straw

The economy sucks. I'm getting hit with it just like so many Americans and yes, it scares the crapola out of me. This unsettling feeling has crept into every aspect of my life, making me wary about my condo, my car, the Napa house, Target purchases, my Ross addiction, my love of bad cable TV shows, food even.

I've been scaling back, but I know I can do more. I can stop eating out for good. I forgot lunch today so I ate stale pretzels that are at my desk. That HAS to count for something, right? I'm trying to figure out every possible way that I can cut down on the big expenditures - re-fi the condo? Sell the car? Fake my own death and move to Mexico?

Something even more unsettling and a sign of the apocalypse is this: Sesame Street is laying people off. I'm so sad to hear this...it's hitting all streets it seems, from Main Street to Wall Street to Sesame Street, we're all hurting. I'm ready to be 22 again without a care in the world please. Thanks.

This blog posting was brought to you by the letter S and and the letter B. And by the number 31.

American Idol

Don't lie - you know you watch it too.

This is the first season in about 4 years that I've watched American Idol for longer than just the sucky singer part. My absolute favorite part of this show is the people they let through to make for good TV....people who are just awful. So very entertaining. If your mom is the only person who thinks you're good, then you're probably not good.

This season I've been watching pretty religiously. No idea why - no one's really captured my attention too much, except for the two who have heart-string-pulling life stories. It's pretty cool that there's a chick from Napa on it, well not anymore. See ya.

I will say that it's gotten much cheesier than it was when Wenis and I used to watch on The Island. Since it's about the jump the shark, I have a suggestion. Bring back the 8 winners and have an American Idol with THEM. Have them compete against each other in a crazy, hot singer showdown! They could even include the top 2 from each season just to keep it interesting. This show should be called....

The Amazing, Real Make Me an American Next Top Idol Bus

I'd SO watch this and I know a ton of people who would too. Don't lie. You would. I know it.

First Race

In keeping up with my list of 31 things (which I haven't been doing well at and need to hurry it up), I signed up for my very first race - a 5k. I've done Bridge to Bridge with Kellogg, but we walked. I've walked the City of Hope Breast Cancer Walk in the city, but this is the first race I am attempting to run.

I ran on the treadmill this morning - something I don't like much at all - and ran 2.5k. At that pace, I'll finish the race sometime that afternoon (start time is 8am). I really need to get better at this! 2.5k in 25 min? Oh man. I'm done for. Nothing I can do except keep plodding along...

It's a good thing this race has something to run towards - firemen making me pancakes at the end. Now that's a reward. And just think about how hot I'll look after I run longer than I ever have before...red, sweaty, hurting...brown chicken brown coooooow.

The Opposite of Bikram Yoga

I think that I'm going to start my own Yoga studio. It won't be hot and sweaty like Bikram, because face it, that's sorta yucky. Besides, I get really light-headed when I'm overly hot, so that type of yoga just isn't for me anyway.

My yoga studio will be cold...very, very cold. I will call it: 

Frozen Yoga.

Thank you and good night.

Oh Neighbors.

Finally, a post that's not about MY neighbors, but a friend's! 

I had dinner with TTB tonight (I swear I didn't eat that pizza. I swear.) Great evening of conversation, ok, fine, pizza, and giggles. We even told ghost stories....dude. We did.

After dinner we headed to TTB's new place sort of near Skankhouse. She showed me around, then proceeded to show me what her neighbor had left her. She was standing at her sink, washing dishes, when she hears a rattle on the front doorknob. Weirded out, she didn't go over immediately, but waited until the person had walked away. She then opened the door to find a newspaper bag hanging from  her doorknob with a note and something yellow in it.

She takes it in, opens the bag, and finds a note and an unusually large banana in the bag. Random. The note says: "Dear New Neighbor, This gift is weird but in time it will get riper." Signed "J." 

Seriously. The dude left her a banana and a note that acknowledges that the gift is weird and that the banana will ripen. I have to agree with the man, the gift IS weird and bananas usually do ripen as the days pass. WHAT??? This is probably the coolest gift any new-to-the-neighborhood girl could ever receive. Ever.

Cheers to interesting neighbors who give out fruit!

Veekend of Vino Extraordinaire

Yesterday, Saturday, I worked a table at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition. I love those events, I love meeting people and talkin' vino. It was sort of a long day, but always a fun time! I will admit, it's more fun to be the one on the other side of the table, glass out, going from table to table, but I got to see old friends, new friends, sales guys I haven't seen in a year, and meet new peeps so, check, good day.

Headed to Marin to have dinner with the family - it was my mom's 61st birthday which means that it'll be my 31st soon. Ugh. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Mom! She doesn't read this thing, but I'll give her a shout out anyway.

Today I had the absolute coolest experience - I got to help someone bottle his wine!! Dan Mills is my hero - he is a professional photographer who makes wine on the side. I'm a person who works for a winery and does photography on the side. See the parallel? Dan's work is amazing, his client list is to die for, and he has shot with the best of the best. He has the coolest studio in Rutherford and he's super friendly and just an overall cool guy.

The bottling party was so fun - we got to fill bottles, cork them, put capsules on, and voila, wine. I was there for the Cab portion but had to leave before they started Syrah. I love experiencing new things and this was right up there with one of the coolest things I've done! I met some awesome people, had some delicious hot melted cheesy goodness, and tasted Dan's wine out of the barrel. Yum. Two bottles are waiting for me in the car. What a rad way to spend a rainy Sunday in the Valley.

Guess where I am now? Sittin' on the dock of the bay, wastin' tiiiime. Ok, kidding. I'm sittin' in the condo, wastin' tiiiiimme. I'm hoping with all my might that I don't have another day of craigslist flakes. Cross your fingers for me.

Cheers to March!

Speed Dating #2

Given that my first experience with speed dating was 99.9% awful, I decided to give it another try with a different company this past Thursday. This company provides a different location (dark bar in SF over a bright community center in Albany), better age range (26-35 over 30-45), and an overall better atmosphere. 

Drank and I headed to the city, making it just.in.time. We didn't get there early enough to survey the guys or the competition. We picked a seat, and waited for the guys to come 'round. It started off awkwardly like this type of thing always does, but 7 minutes is enough time to calm down and just chat. As usual, most guys were in some sort of web job, there must be a law for that or something. Some seemed to like Second Life or World of Warcraft more than human interaction, but all in all they were super cool guys who had interesting lives and were easy to talk to. 

All except for one. 

They must have been short a few people because they let this 22 year old kid in. He saunters up to the stool and before he even sits down in front of me, he says, "So what's my competition like?" Weird question. I thought to myself 'we're only talking for 7 minutes, who cares what everyone else is like...?' but I all I said was, "they are really cool guys." and his reply was, "that wasn't the right answer, you were supposed to say that last guy was a jerk." 

All right, I see how this is going to go. He's not attractive, he is short, and arrogant as all get out. You all know how I feel about arrogant people... 

I just wanted this longest 7 minutes ever to be over with, so I let him talk. I asked him what he did for a living, he said, "I'm a director at a learning center. I have a JOB in this ECONOMY. I have a JOB in this ECONOMY." Yeah, I get that. I do too. Moving on... 

Him: "So I'm the youngest person in here. I'm 22."

Me: "Oh you're 22....."

Him: "Well how old are you?"

Me: "I'm 30 and you're 22......yeeaaahhhh."

Him: "Well you don't look 30 if that helps."

Me: "Oh wow, thanks."

Him: "I mean, I'm looking for a young professional because I have JOB in this ECONOMY." 

Me: I got nothing.

(Is 7 minutes over yet??)

Me: "So where did you grow up?"

Him: "Born and raised Bay Area." Stares at me.

Me: "Oh I grew up in the Bay Area too, San Rafael."

Him, with attitude: "That's not the Bay Area." 

Me, with attitude: "Are you kidding? It's 20 min from the city, that's closer than San Jose."

Him: "That's not Bay Area. That's the North Bay."

Me, thinking: I'm getting nowhere. That's enough fighting with a 22 year old for a day.

I met some interesting people, girls included, and had a really fun time. It's pretty expensive, so I'll probably only go every few months, but hey, even if I meet no one, these make for very, very good stories.

Blog Topics

I want it on record that there are certain things you shouldn't blog about, unless you happen to be an expert in the field of your topic, aka doctor, nurse, biologist, researcher, police officer, etc.

One would be your child's birth. I know that it's awesome and miraculous and all that. Your feelings about it are ok, welcome even, but your description of what the placenta looked like or what crap was on your slimy baby when it first popped out or the unexpected things that happened to you should be off limits. Maybe I say this because I have yet to have a kid and I don't truly know how awesome and incredible it is. But honestly, no one really needs to know the intimate details about that life event. They don't. If they wanted to, they'd look it up on webmd.com or ask their mom or doctor. If you blog about it, I'll never look at you the same way again. Some things need to be left as a surprise.

Another would be your period. No one needs to chat about it like we're talking about what you're going to eat for dinner. As women, we all know how annoying it is, how it always comes at the most inopportune time, and how it's usually accompanied by pain, discomfort, anger and tears. We know that without this monthly fun time, we can't have babies. That doesn't make it some amazing topic that you need to tell me about. I already know, and no, most chicks don't think it's a blessing or a miracle. At this point, you'd think I was used to it, but without fail, every month, I'm annoyed, disappointed, and frustrated by its presence. Did I just blog about my feelings on that topic? Sorry.

Yet another is writing about any toilet duties. Bloggers are mostly adults, and other adults don't really need to know much about that topic. We already do - we've been doing it for a long time, and we know how it works. That's enough for me. The occasional fart or burp joke is, of course, funny.

In general, bloggers shouldn't write about things they know nothing about but act like they do. The flip side of this is if you're funny. I don't care what you write about as long as you entertain me for the 5 minutes I'm on your blog. Granted, it's not my place to tell anyone what to write about, but there sure are some topics that I don't like to think about, let alone read about in someone else's blog. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but ok, I am. Don't. Please. The blogsphere will be eternally grateful if you'd keep the bodily function topics to a minimum.

GoKart Racing

Hello, I'm Slowpoke. I recently competed in a race in Burlingame, placing 10th in my race and 48th for the day. Not bad, considering there 723 racers. I'm really good.

Fine, the truth. There were 15 racers when I placed 10th and 67 racers of the day when I placed 48th. I rocked. HA! My dad took a bunch of us to the Go Kart Racer in Burlingame - it was AWESOME!!! Those little karts go pretty fast and the steering is tough. I'm really sore....I had to use my whole body to steer because my arms are wimpy wimpy wimpy. We had such a great time and I can't wait to do it again!!

Craigslist

As I stand here in my empty condo in Sonoma, I feel the need to vent about how annoying and flakey Craigslist people are. Don't tell me you're looking forward to seeing the apartment ("see you Saturday!") then not show up. I have a life too, ya know. I don't exactly LOVE standing in the kitchen of a condo I can't sell or even seem to rent. I have no chair, no music, no luxuries of home, but I am stealing someone's internet and that's cool.

Overall, I tout the awesomeness that is Craigslist....I have purchased my sectional, TV cabinet, cool shelves, bookcases, loveseat, gas dryer, coffee table, night stand, patio furniture, and bed all on Craigslist. I found an apartment when I lived in the city and my pervious car. I've sold a bunch of furniture, including my couch set and a secretary desk.

That said, WHY ARE PEOPLE SUCH FLAKES?!? Why oh why do they hide behind the interweb and say one thing and do another? If you see my ad, you email me, we have correspondence, you have my email address and phone number...just let me know you aren't coming. I don't care why, I just don't want to waste gas and time coming over here if I don't have to!

Ok that's all. It's not you, Craigslist, it's your users.

Feelings.....Not So Many...Feeeeeelingss....

Last night, Wenis and I attended the Napa Chamber of Commerce mixer at Black Stallion winery. The winery itself was gorgeous - it's pretty new, so I expected it to be pretty - and Wenis said the Syrah was good. I wish my house looked like that....

We met some very cool people, and saw a couple I wasn't too excited to see. The night was good - $20 good? Um, maybe not - but it's good for me to get out there and meet new people.

A note about my feelings on seeing people I didn't want to see - I feel nothing. I didn't overreact, I didn't get overly nervous, I didn't turn beet red, I didn't care. This is an incredible feeling - this not caring thing. I have my life, it revolves around me and my friends and my family and my experiences, and it does not involve those people. They do not have the stronghold they had yesterday, last month, last year. They are nothing to me and it feels awesome.

Cheers to realizing what I already knew but didn't see!

30 Days What?

It's been almost thirty days since I've posted. Oops. I've been a tad overwhelmed with life and blogging took the backseat.

All I have to say right now is that I am sitting in a hotel room, freaking out because I have to take a public speaking course for the next three days. I'm going to die. Actually, I would rather die. I am so not good at this.

Napa Young Professionals Society

Last night I attended the first Napa Young Professionals Society event, started by two guys in Napa who saw the need and filled it. Ceja Vineyards opened their Tasting Salon in downtown Napa for us - what a great space. PS - they have salsa dancing on Saturday nights if anyone wants to come with me sometime!

Please take note - there ARE young people in Napa! Who knew!?! I'll definitely keep up with this group - I met some relaly great nice people and the opportunity for new friends and business networking is endless. Thanks to Lee and Tyler for creating this and making it happen.

Hm.

So I kind of haven't done much of anything on my list. Something I did do was join the gym on Monday, actually went to the gym on Tuesday, and thought about going today. Pretty good for me. 

I have a secret TV love: The Starter Wife. I usually talk about my love of trashy reality TV, shows like Rock of Love (how can you not love Bret Michaels' incessant references to Every Rose Has Its Thorn and the weave under his bandana?), Rock of Love Charm School (Thou Shalt Rock It With Style), American Idol bad singers (HUGE props to Julie's Journal where I found this hilarious blog entry about one of my most memorable AI 'singers' - I specifically like the "would you please harness those udders!" - awesome.), and many, many more (oh, like Bad Girls Club....shoot me now but I love it) that I truly got DVR for again.

Back to The Starter Wife. Now, I am a fan of Debra Messing (I heart Will & Grace - and I heart Mr. Durfee's site dedicated to W&G!). Her mannerisms and commentary are just so funny. I watched the miniseries when it came out, and have been watching the show religiously since it started this season. I know some of it's a little far-fetched, but have you watched Desperate Housewives lately? No? Ok, well I have, and it's pretty out there. I do not watch TV to have it mirror real life. What's the fun in that? I already live real life, and for the most part, it's not exciting at all. Throw me some chick fights, ex-hair band losers, murders in Beverly Hills, tornadoes, random health issues that only one man can solve, two business fires, and a good solid mystery and I'm game. All I ask is that no more than two good shows come on at the same time (my DVR can only handle two) and we're all good.

I swear I get off the couch sometimes. Really. I do.

Cheers to bad TV and joining the gym! Now if I could just get the two to hold hands and be a couple, we'd have a nice and tidy family here.

Words That Make You Go EW.

Almost everyone I know has a list of words that they hate. At work we now just call it The List, as in "ew don't say that, it's on the list." Some words on our list...

--Maggot: just gross in every way, shape and form. The word itself is gross sounding, maggots themselves give me the heebie jeebies, and well, ew. A certain someone thinks these are magical creatures because their secretions* heal wounds or something disgusting like that. Dude. The day I let maggots on me is the day you can send me across the street to Napa State (word).

--*Secretion: What a nasty word. It sounds like just what it is...something oozing out of something else. It starts off as such a lovely word too - secret - then goes HA IN YO FACE - and then the 'tion' hits. Changes everything.

--Panties: Call them underwear please. Please.

--Loin: And now begins the infamous "oi" words. For some reason 'pork loin' doesn't bother me as much as 'his loins' but it's a pretty icky word nonetheless.

--Moist: Ew. Ew. EWW. Everything about this word grosses me out. Can't we all just get along and say, "Wow! This cake is the most not-dry cake I've ever had! It's incredible!" Thanks.

--Ointment: Bah. Anything you have to put ointment on is probably something you wouldn't discuss with just anyone. I suggest using 'cream' or 'salve' or even flat out 'Neosporin' instead.

--Crotch: You may be seeing a pattern here but I swear that's just a coincidence. Crotch is an ugly word, I mean, why use it when there are so many others?

I know I'm forgetting some, but I'll post those when I remember. What words are on your List?

If you're reading this blog, then you use the interweb and all of its glory. To avoid using any of the words on The List, please visit www.thesaurus.com for assistance.

More Things To Do...Before I Turn 31

20: Take another swing dance lesson.

21: Find a kickboxing class I love.

22: Pay cash for 5 purchases over $30 (maybe it'll deter me from spending $50+ EVERY TIME I go to Target!)

23: See Citizen Kane

24: Master the art of the Bloody Mary

25: Shoot at least 25 photos per week

Babies

I often wonder what it will be like to be married and have kids. It'll be so different than my current life that I can hardly imagine living that far away life. I looooove babies, and I wonder sometimes what I would do if I had an ugly baby. I know it's a horrible thing to say, and I'll think my baby is adorable, blah blah blah. But seriously, what if my baby isn't cute? Is there such a thing as BABY GOGGLES - a phenomenon where parents automatically think their baby is cute even if it isn't? Think beer goggles but with no alcohol involved. You're looking at your kid and you think oh my, I created this beautiful little bundle of joy and all the while everyone else thinks, oy, that kid is uuuugggllyyy.

I just entered it into Urban Dictionary. Hopefully it'll be approved soon and I'll go down in history as the chick who made up Baby Goggles. Thank you and goodnight.

Still Reeling a Little

I'm still a tad on edge from Sunday. I guess it's more of the Law&Ordercrimespree that is bothering me....I read so much bad news all the time and so many people get shot on a daily basis and it's much easier than I thought to shoot a gun. On one hand, I must admit, it was sort of a thrill to pull the trigger. On the other, it was scary. I'm glad that I'm still scared of guns. I don't plan on ever owning one and if for some reason someone came into my life who did own them, at least I'd know that I was scared and be OVERLY sure that they were secured and safe. Ok that's all. Talk about analyzing something to bits. Sheesh.

On a lighter note, I felt like I was getting sick all day yesterday, so I made soup last night. Knowing me, you probably think this entails grabbing a Campbell's can, getting out the can opener, and voila - soup. Think again (and be surprised...) - I MADE SOUP. As in, chicken stock, carrots, celery, chicken, pasta, spices. I made chicken noodle soup! I am so shocked and proud of myself that I'm going to eat it for lunch today too. Also, there's so much I'll be eating it for dinner and for lunch tomorrow, but that's beside the point.

Cheers to being scared of guns and making chicken noodle soup!

#15: Shoot a gun - Check.

Usually my dad will call and ask if I want to go shooting with him and my brothers. I've always been too scared, but this time I went. Hey, it's on my list. 

On the drive to Petaluma, I was pretty nervous, planning on only shooting once and then being done with it. Of course, my brothers and dad wouldn't let me get away with that. I had to shoot each one and learn all about it. Earplugs in and big sound blocking ear things on, I started with the littlest one, a 38 special. Not sure why it's special. That little gun was straight out of Clue - Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the revolver. Myself in a field in Petaluma with a revolver. Crazy. The 38 had some kick, and being the wuss that I am, it actually sort of hurt my hand. Next...

I then shot the 45 revolver one - it was big and heavy and way scary. Again, the hand was hurt, and this one was WAY louder. It was a Smith & Wesson and you can now call me Clint Eastwood.

My dad has this beautiful gun (did I just say that?) that's used in Olympic shooting. The wood is carved out and fits over your hand and the trigger is extremely sensitive. Pretty cool, not difficult, and neat looking. 

Next was the 22 rifle. I had sworn that I was not going to shoot a rifle, but I was told that this had no kickback. It didn't. It was weenie. Either I was getting jaded or it was just less gun than I expected for how big it was. I had no idea weather I actually hit a target with any of these, I couldn't see that far and was WAY too stressed out to care. At the end, I shot this one again and was a pretty good shot - hit a clay pigeon (does not look like a pigeon at all and I'm not even sure it's clay) just about in the middle from 100 yards. If my dad was amazed, it must have been pretty good.

Still tense, I headed back to try the two that looked straight out of Grand Theft Auto. The kick on them was way too much for me...I guess I'm not ready to shoot drug dealers just yet, only cowboys. The clip looked like a Pez dispenser and it pretty much worked just like that. Since I had reduced a deadly weapon to a child's candy toy, I decided to head out.

I am still a bundle of nerves, wound up nice and tight. The whole experience was scary and stressful and nerve wracking for me, but I'm glad I did it. I'd do it again too, I just need some time to recover (and a massage).

Cheers to conquering a fear and crossing my first item off the 31 List!

More Things To Do...

15: Shoot a gun
16: Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
17: Visit the Cable Car Museum
18: Learn 3 all-purpose jokes (not horrible ones like "What does a one-legged ballerina wear? A one-one.)
19: Go on a date with someone over 40 (uuuuhhh) and someone under 30. (can't this be retroactive Ngocstar? Oy.)

Ok...we're getting there...just 12 more...

31 Flavors

In 5 months and 13 days, I turn 31. Thanks to some creative suggestions, I've updated my list... Here goes the beginning, in no particular order. Send more!

1. Learn to make Belgian waffles like my dad's

2. Visit Gabe & Jen in NY (this will probably happen after May 7, I'm thinking more like June...)

3. Visit Morgan & Bobby in Martha's Vineyard (I'm looking into make #s 2 & 3 one big trip!)

4. Run the Maui marathon with Team in Training in Sept 08 (again, after May 7, but I'll need to start training soon so I don't die)

5. Try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins

6. Take a picnic to the beach

7. Tahoe trip

8. EDIT: Put $10 on 31 and hope for the best (I had a good suggestion: put it on 31!)

9. Rita's for some rockin' karaoke

10. Play a practical joke on a friend

11. Drive east and shoot the whole way

12. Visit Half Moon Bay

13. Host a dinner party

14. Volunteer for a day

...That's as far as I've gotten...help!

31 Things to Do Before I Turn 31

Thanks to Jessica, a new friend from the Wine Blogger Conference, for the coolest idea. I am putting a call out to you, my faithful readers, all 3 of you, to help me compile a list of 31 things to do before I turn 31.

I haven't given it enough thought, but I'd better get on it as I only have 170 days to finish all of these things, whatever they may be.

One thing that had originally been on my list was take a random lesson at the JC, which I have already done, so it doesn't count. I guess I can always do another one...

I'll start, you send me ideas...

1. Learn how to make Belgian waffles like my dad's
2.
3.
...you get the idea.

Linked Up

I'm talking to Wenis at the moment and we are trademarking yet another word.

Blink: Blog Links (if you Urban Dictionary this one, you get some interesting things. I am not responsible for the content provided on Urban Dictionary. Viewer discretion is advised.)

I have learned that the more links you put in your blog, the more traffic you get. I've tried this but have yet to see a real upswing. I'll put random blinks in and see what happens...

--One of the coolest websites ever
--I want, need, covet, desire, drool over, passionately adore this
--I want to buy this

Cheers to etymology and all things word related, including word creation!

I (left my) HEART (in) SAN FRANCISCO

This past weeked, I took MtotheG to the city for a much needed weekend away. I took her to the non-touristy spots (like Howard and 5th) and pointed out little tidbits here and there. I was a regular tour guide. MtotheG may not have thought so, but I had fun :)

After a short shopping trip and a session at the Apple Store, we headed back to the Marina to get ready for dinner. This is a huge event because we went to Betelnut - one of my most favorite restaurants ever. Ever. Really. Ever. I heart the Hoison Pork. I heart the lettuce wraps. I heart the samosas. I heart the PomPom cocktail. I heart the chefs. Though I don't heart the freaky fish dish (looks a lot like this little bugger), I still respect the freaky fried fish.

After a night out on the town (and this time when I say "on the town" I really mean it.), I remembered how much I love it there and I sort of want to move back. I think about how much my life would have to change for that to happen, but the bustling of downtown, the people who bump into you and don't say sorry, the crazy drivers, the pricey parking, the overpriced food...I truly miss it. I miss the option of meeting new people everytime I go out, the plethora (yeah, that's right, that's a $20 word right there) of places to go and things to see, the everchanging weather, the proximity (banked another $20) to the ocean...all of it. I know that part of me is reliving my early 20s, getting all nostalgic about places that aren't there any more or aren't *the* place to go, but for the most part I think I'm just getting restless. That it's not about moving to the city at all. I'm trying to find my happy place, as lame as that sounds, and I need to keep looking. I need to realize what I have, who I have, be happy for all of it, and be content.

Cheers to finding my happy place in the most non-psycho way possible!

Why Cars Get Hit by Trains is Beyond Me.

My drive to work is about 40 minutes each way on a good day, so in the mornings I listen to all different radio stations depending on how I feel. Usually my dial (dial - HA - why is it still called a dial?) ends up on Live 105, and I listen to the randomness that is the Woody Show.

They're entertaining, someone usually laughs hysterically which we all know is contagious, and it's great chatter for my drive to work. Today in their news segment, they reported that Caltrain was late because it struck a car. It seems like there's a story like that every month at least.

Let me back up for a second. This is a train & these are train tracks.

The train cannot drive on the street and cars should not drive on the tracks. I'm not sure why this seems to be such a difficult concept for some. A train hits a car - how is that even possible? It's not like the train drove off of the tracks and was like "hey, I think I need to hit that car" or anything. I can understand a car hitting another car - two people who aren't paying attention in moving vehicles. I get it. What I don't get is how someone in a car, in the bright morning rush hour probably on the same route that they drive every day, can be sitting on the tracks of a moving train, and not move. You know you're on train tracks - it's pretty obvious. Next time you're driving, note that there may be train tracks in front of you, behind you, under you, and get out of the way. It's a train for pete's sake. Move.

Cheers to my rant.

Random Thoughts

Thought 1: I am so excited that I witnessed such a historical moment last night. I think about when I'm a grandma (hopefully I'll be one!), I'll be able to take my grandkid's history books and say, "See that? When Mr. Obama became president? I was sitting on my couch eating leftover creamy polenta and microwaved broccoli when I watched Obama's acceptance speech." They'll probably look at my like I'm crazy, but I can't wait to be the crazy grandma with all the crazy stories.

Thought 2: I'm cold. Brrrrr. I turned on my heat last night for the first time since probably April. Baby, it's cold outside. (ok, according to weather.com, it's only 55 out there. Sure feels like 35 if you ask me.)

Thought 3: Don't ever let little chicks with big heels land on your toe. Ever. My poor, broken, left big toe is all of the colors of a black, blue and purple rainbow, and I still can't wear cute heels. I hate that chick.

Thought 4: Halloween is a such a rad holiday. People are so creative (myself and my friends included) and it's so fun to people watch. It's also so heartwarming to watch the children's faces light up and smile at their discolored teeth from all the candy. (WENIS - that was just for you. Grrrrrr).

Thought 5: I know it's only 9:26pm on a Wednesday, but I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

Cheers to random thoughts! May they always be with you.

I Miss You Already, George

I have this great friend named George. He's been my friend for almost 6 years, and he's been there for me through thick and thin. Our relationship started out a little rocky, but he has forgiven me for being reckless and for mistreating him. I'm sorry to say that George is no longer with me.

George is a sympathy plant - I think - and he's supposed to grow those white flowers but he hasn't. Ever. I bought him at IKEA way back in 2003, when I got my first apartment in the city by myself. His long, dark green leaves enticed me as I walked by, as did his $5.99 price tag. I picked up him, I chose him out of all of those other plants at IKEA, and put him in my cart. I hadn't owned a houseplant before this, and I could tell that this was going to be an exciting new adventure for both of us. As I reached over to take him from the checker lady, I hit the bottom of his pot and he flew through the air like Kerry Strug (shout out to Wenis) and landed on the cement floor with a crash. His dirt spilled everywhere and I scrambled to brush it back into the pot and be on my way. The checker lady asked if I wanted to replace him, but you know how huge IKEA is, that's not a quick exchange. I said, no, that's ok, he'll be fine, and George and I went home.

Life has been great for the past almost 6 years - George can go many many many days without water, and if I forget and he looks sad and yellowy, I throw some water in there and within a couple of hours, his leaves are raised to the sky in a welcoming fan of happiness. I haven't been home much at all for the past 4 months, so George has gotten much less attention than he's used to. And, I'm sorry to say it, I went too far. I forgot to water George for WAY too long, and I don't think he'll ever be coming back to me. If anyone out there is a sympathy plant whisperer, I need your services pronto. If not, then there will be a moment of silence for George at 7:01pm tomorrow night.

I'll have to go and find a George the Second soon...wish me luck on my next long term relationship.

Things That Are Rad, Chapter 3

Pickles
Halloween costumes
Candy pumpkins
Cool work projects
Lasagna
Pillbox hats
Unibrows (unless they're on me)
Dr. Pepper
HGTV
Cable & DVR goodness
Soft sheets
Cute shoes

Sitting in Mendo

I have learned today that Bed & Breakfasts are for couples and couples alone. I have a nice room and no one to share it with except my Macbook Pro. Good thing Mr. Pro isn't threatened by the TV because there is no TV. No TV. No TV. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do all weekend in Mendocino without a TV but I can make do. I think. I get a smidge of internet in the room, if I sit in the wingback chair that faces the view of the ocean. Given that smidge of internet access from Abalone Airport wireless, I still decided to head to downtown Mendo and hit up the coffee shop that has wireless. So here I sit, blogging on the coast, relaxing, and happy drinking my uber-strong latte made by two hippies.

Well, I was until 7 tweens walked in....well they could be high schoolers for all I know.....I'm old. Not sure why they're in here...I guess it's a place to hang out where parents don't exist. I'm hearing such wise tidbits like "WOW! CAFE has the same letters as FACE!" and "How do you make an upside down 'O'?" Moms are calling, tweens/high school freshman are running around eating Kettle chips and someone has major BO. "Oh I lie to my mom all the time to get money" "Oh you poor child with an iPhone." "Ew those are like prostitute's underwear." "Or YOUR underwear" Teen laughter ensues. Guess what, Orion and Lucy are dating. Orion? Who names their kid Orion? I really am in Mendocino.

Cheers to random weekends and strangers' conversations!

Diary of the Pink House, Chapter 1.5

A quick note on the Pink House. It's no longer pink. It's a creamy, yellow-y, off-white with dark brown trim. I will still always refer to this house as the Pink House. The goings on over there has not changed, only the color of the house. Oh and of the swamp-cooler-with-wine-barrel-stand: that too is creamy yellow-y off-white. I mean, you can't paint a house and not include the items that are hanging off of it. I get it.

Cheers to the source of eternal stories: the Pink House!

New Things

I have a very long list of things I want to do in my life....more of a very long short term list if you will. This list includes things like learn bass guitar, get forklift certified, visit a new city every year (at least), etc. Things that are on the long-time-life list are see a building implode, drive a big rig, go to Europe...things of that nature.

Not on my short list, but I'm adding it now, is to take random Community Ed classes. Once, a long time ago, Kellogg took me to a surprise event: a balloon making class at SRJC. It was AWESOME. That's right folks, for a small fee, I can come to your birthday party and make balloon animals (like a snake, I'm good at that one) and maybe even a sword. This class was a few years ago so I'm a little rusty, and funny enough, that's my clown name, Rusty. Anyway, we learned how to make a ton of animals actually, and it was pretty fun. It was also extremely perverted and hilarious. The blower-upper thing was very um....long and skinny, and the balloons, well, you get the picture. The commentary from our instructor, a clown in real life of course, was hysterical, and we could barely keep it together.

Fast forward a few years, and tonight was a bit of the same. For her birthday, I gave Wenis a Beginning Blues Harmonica class through the JC. It was awesome, but again, extremely perverted. We learned:
--trills (not perverted)
--chords (not perverted)
--Hohner Pocket Pal (name of the harmonica) (perverted)
--tongueing (perverted)
--blow (perverted)
--tongue slapping (perverted)
--covering 4 holes with your mouth (perverted)
and a ton of other things - it was a rad, crazy, shotgun class - as in, playmesomeharmonicabluesrightnow kind of class.

Wenis and I were cracking up - a lot - to the annoyance of the instructor, who even said "there's no laughing in the blues" or something to that effect. (I actually think that particular sentence is "there's no crying in baseball" but it's the same thing really.) Even now, hours and hours later, "tongueing" and "tongue slapping the holes" are just way. too. funny. Or we're just twelve-year-old boys. The class was filled with some interesting folk...one dude who looked like he was in an 80s hair band, in the 80s, and had bleached his hair, in the 80s, and it was just now growing out. I guess this dude has also taken this particular instructor's class a ton of times, causing the instructor to say "I think he's stalking me." An older woman, probably in her 70s, who couldn't really hear and kept "noodling" with her harmonica when the instructor told us to knock it off (essentially). A lady next to me who was blowing too hard on her harp (that's what we musicians call a harmonica) and it was squeaking so badly...and she blamed it on me.

In all seriousness, it was a super fun class, the two hours flew by, and I really want to learn how to play this thing. It's REALLY difficult. Really, really, really difficult - not what I expected at all. I'm going to find another class and keep this up - I hope to anyway. Hey, invite me over. I'll bust out my C harmonica and play you some blues. It'll be especially helpful if you could provide a back up band and if the guitar player could only play in the key of A, D, or G, you see, those are the only keys where my C harp will sound good. I ain't buyin' another one.

Cheers to learning new things!

Vices

I get cable back on October 17. Yay.

Pathetic, I know, but more than anything, I just want the DVR again...so sick of commercials and bad TV. Oh, and I miss HD.

Tonight, in lieu of bad Monday night TV (I have no ESPN, hence, no MNF), I rented Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I loved it! I don't feel like it got much play, a lot like Thelma on Scooby Doo (what movie does that reference...? Anyone...?), it came and went a lot like movies do these days.

Back in the day when I was young I'm not a kid anymore, I worked at Video Droid. I know I've mentioned this before, but that was one great job. I remember when Laserdiscs came out (remember how I'm old?) and we'd all fight to take home the player because it was "so much better than tapes." And it probably was! I worked there up to when DVDs started arriving...then off I went into corporateland for the next seven years, forgetting all I knew about movies - all I knew about "you know that movie, with that guy, remember that one?" I used to be good at that game.

I also used to be good at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Good Times, Random Times

Thursday was the Chandon Pink Party and a good time was had by all. That is, until some stupid chick landed on my big left toe with all her weight channeled through a thin, black stilletto heel. Granted, I still had a great time (pics coming...) - champagne, while bad for the brain, is good for getting one through extreme pain in the toe area.

Because of my new injury (I'm a klutz, I have random injuries all the time), I was unable to walk the Bridge to Bridge this morning as planned. Kellogg and I went into the city yesterday morning to help out at the Walk for Hope. We then bummed around all day, checked into the hotel around 5:30, and headed to dinner at Nob Hill Grille, owned by a friend of mine. Yum. Yum. Yum. We shared a bad-for-us-but-super-delicious flatbread topped with mounds of carmelized onions, arugula, and gorgonzola, as well as a bottle of Horseplay red wine from Sonoma. A fantastic combo. The wine lasted us through our entrees - Kellogg with the rreeeeeiiibs smothered in chipotle bbq sauce, homemade mac n cheese, and swiss chard. I relished in my flatiron steak in some sort of yummy reduction, potato croquettes, and sauteed greens. Holy mouth-watering, Batman. Topping it off with a lava cake for fun, we had a great time. My friend was there to make sure all was well and it was all perfecto! Can't wait to head back.

We walked (ok, Kellogg walked, I hobbled) down to Russian Hill-ish area for some fun-times-on-Polk. We hit up S.N.O.B. wine bar first, had a glass, then walked/hobbled around until we ended up in Hamhock (it's really called Hemlock, but I so prefer Hamhock). The crowd was a little punk for our comfort-zone, so we went to Encore which was more our style - karaoke. We didn't take any pics the whole night because we're lame.

All in all, a great weekend, even though it didn't go as planned. Nothing ever really does though, does it?

Cheers to fun times in SF with Kellogg!

2008 - Wow So Far!

This year has been utterly insane. By insane, I mean so busy with cool stuff that I now feel insane.

I celebrated my 30th birthday with a weekend in Tahoe (dodgeball tourney, remember), Meggie's 30th with a weekend in Portland, Kellogg's (30th for the 2nd time) with a weekend of Sonoma County goodness, Wenis' 30th with a weekend in Napa (sounds like a vacation but uh we live here), Swheel's 30th (+/-a few) at Ceja Winery in Carneros, have done speed dating, Match.com dating, gone camping, been a bridesmaid twice, attending one other wedding as a guest and have another in a week and a half, hosted a co-ed wedding shower (brown chicken brown cow), did an engagement shoot for my friend at work, went to Twin Pines casino and showed my brother how to pay blackjack, hosted a Labor Day BBQ, done the 5:30 Bootcamp which I never thought I'd do, vowed to run a 7k this Sunday but I'll be the one walking, and so much more I can't even think of it all.

I have the greatest, silliest, most fun friends ever and I'm so happy to have experienced all of this with you. I don't see my family enough, but I dig them too :)

Cheers to an eventful 2008 - 10 months in!

PS - Some Portland photos...

Light Stalking

Finding other people's information online can be fun, detrimental (emphasis on mental), or fascinating. I google myself and everyone I know just to see what comes up. Sometimes I should just let it be...leave it alone. If I knew what was good for me...

Greenie

I try to live greenly...but I don't feel like I'm making a difference. I have always recycled (the product of hippie parents who drilled that into our brains at a young age) and are annoyed by people who don't. I would like to get rid of my too-big-for-me car, but haven't had any takers (I'm trying though, k?) I try to use a kitchen towel instead of paper towels, cloth napkins instead of paper napkins (besides, cloth napkins for a dinner looks quite fancy. I'm not usually fancy, so I'll take it where I can get it), and will try (emphasis on try) to use cloth diapers instead of disposable when I have kids. I know I should do a lot more...any ideas that you've incorporated that are easy no-brainers?

If someone could now just use the Wine Train tracks for a couple of commuter cars in the mornings and evenings, I'd be set!

The Dating Life...

...why is it so weird?

Saturday, a few friends and I went speed dating. Knowing that it was going to be nothing like the scene in Hitch (good looking, normal, nice, YOUNG people), we all mentally prepared. This particular speed dating company offered 2 age ranges - 30-45 and 45+. When I signed up, and I didn't really think "maybe this isn't the speed dating we should go to" for some reason. Mistake.

I logged into the site, read the FAQ ("how do you make sure there's a gender balance?"), and paid my $27. All I kept thinking for the next 2 weeks was - they're going to be George Costanza. All of them.

It was held in a Community Center, and as you know, this is as far away from ambiance as you can get. Harsh lighting, awkward setup, echoy and loud....not exactly nerve-calming or "romantic" per se. The four of us sit, waiting for an eligible bachelor to sit across from each of us. I was the last to get a guy across from me. I watched the door in anticipation, thinking, "my old coworker's new boss met her husband at speed dating...my old coworker's new boss met her husband at speed dating...my old coworker's new boss met her husband at speed dating..." Lo and behold, my new husband did NOT walk through that door. Nor did any potential matches.

I remember when I was 21, and going to the bars in Cotati for the first time: the 8-Ball, the Yacht Club, the Inn of the Beginning (which is now Friar Tuck's, how weird is that!), Spanky's...and being the YOUNGEST person there and how awesome that was. Being the youngest person at speed dating was not that fun. Not even close. It's actually the worst thing ever. The men (and I call them men because, hey, they were almost as close to my dad's age as mine) were almost all 40+. Now I'm not saying this was a horrible experience...they were actually really cool for the most part. Super easy to talk to and really nice men. Just way way way too old for me. Now I can say I've done it, and would do it again if the age range ended at 37. I'll scope one out and let you know how that one goes :)

NOTE: there was one jerk guy who said that I seemed like I was 24 (I reminded him that the minimum age was 30. Idiot.) and that I seem like the type that doesn't like to leave the house and doesn't like to do new things and doesn't like to take risks. Interesting how he's telling me about me (uh tell me about you, dude, this is speed dating)...and obviously he doesn't know me at all! UPDATE: I had forgotten to mention that he said I was picky. Ugh. Yeah, not pickin' you. Bye now.

I did receive an email from the speed dating company with my "matches." I thought that was odd when I saw the subject line because I said NO to everyone which automatically means I'll get no matches. I opened the email...2 women's names from the 45+ group with phone numbers. Really? This was followed by a "freakout" email - their systems had a glitch and please do not contact those matches. No problem there. Not really interested in women 45+. Figures, doesn't it?

Cheers to dating stories!

Wild & Crazy Guys (and Gals)

This weekend was pretty funny - nothing crazy happened, it was just the culmination of a bunch of little things that keep my life interesting and entertaining.

Some highlights:

FRIDAY
--A pre-dinner Corona with a lime with Wenis at the Napa Bowl (coincidentally enough, I tried to find a Google image of the Napa Bowl to share with you here, and my own blog came up. Time to bring my camera to the Napa Bowl)

--A cozy dinner with a friend turned into sushi at Sushi Mambo, where the food is good but the service is SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW

--Some beer at Bounty Hunter, where I ran into some coworkers and our group of four turned into a group of 9

--Closed down BH - go figure

--What's next? Why liar's dice at Henry's (pronounced "Ahn-rees" en le francais) of course!

--Closed down Ahn-rees

--Headed to Denny's, home of Elvis, the world's coolest late-night Denny's server!

--Brought the crew to their respective homes and called it a night. Time check? 4:07am.

SATURDAY

--Woke up late, headed to the Napa Wine & Craft Fair, got some sun, fell asleep on the couch for two hours (being the old lady that I am), and then Wenis came over to work on our identities. I'm going to be Batman and she's going to be Superman.

--Ended up not working, I lied in that above bullet point, and went over to JH's for some bocce, bbq, and boisterous laughter. He and SH have some cool friends!! Had a blast with them! Tasted some awesome wines too - couldn't have been better.

--Went back home with Wenis to work again, chatted about our identities, (I have a cool phone, she can fly) and then decided to meet JH and his posse out at Trancas Skankhouse for some karaoke! (note: I missed JH's rendition of Ice Ice Baby on Friday night, a sight that I could only dream of witnessing again sometime in the future.)

Where the magic happens (above)....I DID get to see a little Humpty Dance which was just rad.

--Where do people go when they need a full course breakfast at 3 in the morning? Denny's of course!!

--Once again, we stepped into the glorious world of eggs & bacon, spending $3 on the claw machine trying to get a Hillary Clinton doll, then some dude spending probably another $5, then we ate. Again, had the pleasure of Elvis as my waiter. It was something that dreams are made of.
--After the French Toast Complete for only $6.99, we headed towards that claw machine again, for one last dollar. Wenis ALMOST got her out, then we needed another last dollar to get her all the way through the hole. Lo and behold, the Hillary Clinton doll came into our lives!



--After a run in with an old friend (WHY DON'T YOU LOVE MEEEEE) and some silly cab-driver talk, we headed home, arriving at about 4:12am, then slept peacefully with Hillary between us. She's quite cozy I hear.

--Spent all of Sunday in my jammies, talking identities with Wenis - about how it's so cool she gets to wear a red cape and mine is always black. I'm so dark and mysterious and she's so adored and revered. This is why we're working on those identities. At least I have a cave and a rad car.

Cheers to long weekends and wacky, fun-filled randomness!

Silly Stuff

One thing I like to say often is "if such-and-such had a baby" to describe something to someone else. Example 1: What is Facebook like? It's sort of like if MySpace and LinkedIn had a baby. I'll add more examples, better examples, as I think of them.

HA

In an article discussing Obama's acceptance speech in a stadium in Colorado, I found this quote:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio also sounded a confident note about the political impact of the forum, asserting it will prove Obama’s message has wide resonance. 

“Would you want to play the Super Bowl in a Little League park?” he asked.

Now I say to you, good Americans, doesn't Little League = baseball? I believe he meant to ask,"Would you want to play the the World Series in a Little League park?' or possibly, "Would you want to play the Super Bowl on a Pop Warner field?" 

My point: Don't use sports references if you don't know what you're talking about. The end.

Odd.

Yep, I finally decided to post something. It ain't much, but here we go.

Returning home from a long weekend getaway makes me reassess where I am, what I'm doing, and where I'm going. It also makes me anxious to check email/Facebook/email/sfgate/email/otherpeople'sblogs/email. I just checked Match.com even though I'm not a member and not sure if I really want to be again. Having been on that site for most of last year, I know that if you sign up, you can't cancel, and if you forget to cancel before your expiration date, they WILL auto-renew you. Given all of that, I was still stunned to see this:

"In the event that you die before the end of your subscription period, your estate shall be entitled to a refund of that portion of any payment you had made for your subscription which is allocable to the period after your death. "

Really? Really? So let's say that today, August 11, 2008, I decide that Match is something I truly need to do again, and then I die tonight, my parents (aka the beneficiaries of my "estate") will be refunded the $34.99+tax that my month of Match cost me. In a way that's good, considering that I owe so many people so much money, that $34.99+tax could be put right to my credit card and pay off a compulsive clothing purchase. At least my folks would have one for the credit line.

Wow.