Nice way to get back into the week!

So...this is the view from the room I'm sitting in right now as I type. Gotta say...its breathtaking. We're having a meeting the next couple of days at the beautiful Inn at Langley in Washington.

Rest of my weekend was good. Saturday night folks out at Spoontonic. It was pleasantly mellow for the better part of the night since its was just Cindy, Harsha, Walt, Cathryn and me. Cleve, Munny, and Tony were supposed to meet us at Spoontonic - and not long after I arrived Munny came in and told us that Tony and Cleve couldn't get in because they didn't have collared shirts. When I suggested that they just go to Cleve's house (since he lived the closest) Munny said they didn't have a car because they'd been drinking for hours already. He wandered back outside - and later they called us to say they'd walked down to Masses and we should come. But none of us really wanted to go to Masses. So instead - Munny wandered back to Spoontonic and we smuggled out shirts for Tony and Cleve. It was hilarious watching Munny stuff them in his jacket to sneak them out. Now I must say - I was a tad bit skeptical this would actually work since - apparently Cleve had on sweatpants. Alas - after a bit more time passed - a VERY drunk Munny, Cleve, and Tony made their way into Spoontonic. Somehow despite their hilarious outfits they were let in. I won't try to describe how Cleve looked - because I can't do it justice. But let me just say - if ever there was a night we should have had a camera that was it! Anyway, I stayed a bit longer to commiserate with Cleve before heading home for the night.

Sunday I did more cleaning up around the apartment - still on a mission to find those damn 2003 hallmark ornaments - and then did a little more Christmas shopping. I'm so excited to say that I only need presents for my stepmom's dad and my 2nd mom's husband. AND I got my paystub and didn't even get screwed as bad on the tax on the company car as I normally do! Which means PLENTY of money to pay my bills for Dec and and have fun in Chicago next month!

Today had to be up early to be at Oakland - since last year the Monday after Thanksgiving was the nightmarish experience at LAX, and Monday's in Oakland generally not being great to start with - I was at the airport at 6:15am for my 8:15am flight. Good news is line was still inside - bad news it was still long. I heard it got a lot worse but at least I ended up on time with plenty of time for breakfast. Anyway, now I'm sitting in a rocking chair with my eyes bouncing back and forth between the very inviting looking bed, and the beautiful view outside!

Ah...only Saturday!

YEAH! I've done so much this weekend and its only Saturday afternoon! So exciting!

Thanksgiving was GREAT at Ann's house! Perfect day with perfect friends and GREAT food. Yesterday I was one of those crazy people up at Target at 6am because they had a vacuum for $37 - and let me tell you...after 3 years of dog hair my last vacuum couldn't take it anymore. And the new one is GREAT! 12 amps of power and only weighs about 10lbs! I've been vacuuming up a storm. Also picked up a $17 printer - not the highest qualify..but since my work one still doesn't work its something! Got a few more Christmas presents purchased and was out of target by 6:20am! After going back to sleep I did some more cleaning/organizating/decorating since Chalis reminded me on Thursday that the girls holiday party is at my house next weekend! Then Mun and I went and did a little bit more shopping and went to see Walk the Line (very good - but I didn't like the casting of all the other singers outside Cash and Carter). Then last night MORE work around the house.

Today I've alternated working around the apartment and catching up on Tivo. I still haven't located my 2003 hallmark ornaments. And I realized I'm also missing some Little Mermaid ornaments I bought the same year. The good news is...while tearing apart every box in my apartment I did find my DRILL that's been missing since I moved in! Very exciting! Now if only I had something to drill! And had my Hallmark ornaments from 2003! Alas..the search for those continues - it only took me a year and a half to find the drill....so maybe after I get moved I'll find them when unpacking.

Anyway, gonna get some more done around the house and then head out to meet everybody at Spoontonic!

Hm...did the tree grow or my ceilings shrink?

No your eyes are not deceiving you....my new Chritmas tree reaches floor to ceiling (and about 5 feet in diameter!). Wonder where I'll put my angel? Oh well at least I got it. I ordered it online from this company that has been advertising in a lot of magazines lately. But my lazy UPS man didn't bring it back to my apartment when he delivered (despite the fact that I was HOME all day the day he came). I finally got to the office when it was open and this thing weights like 75 pounds! It took me like 20 minutes to waddle it back to my apartment from the office.

Anyway its been a few years since I decorated for Christmas due to my fall down the stairs 2 years ago, and just plain running out of time last year...so this year I'm very excited to dig all my stuff out and show it off! My old tree was only 4.5 feet so ornaments were packed on it...I'm thinking it might look a bit bare this year!

Another Monday

Thank goodness for short weeks! I'm just not motivated this week!

Friday I hung at home catching up on some Tivo and resting. Saturday I ran some errands and then met people for dinner to celebrate my birthday! (I'll post some pics if someone sends them to me!). Had dinner at Cantina with Ann, Amanda, Rachel, Jen, Steve, Cindy, Kathryn, Walt, Bev and Tim. A GREAT big thank you to everyone who showed up to celebrate with me! It meant a lot! After dinner Ann, Amanda, Rachel, Cindy and I all headed to Crogans to do a little dancing. And let me just say, guys have gotten WAY to aggressive. And NOT in a good way! We were tolerating it most of the night...but it really got to be too much. Tip for random guys out there lurking on this blog. Most girls do NOT want you to put your hands on them without some kind of invitation. And, NO means NO. Not come back and start harrassing us again in 10 minutes!

Anyway, Rachel stayed at my place Saturday night and Sunday we went for breakfast at my favorite spot, Crepes A Go Go. After that we wandered around Walnut Creek to get a little shopping done. It was really nice to spend some one-on-one time with Rach! I was very proud of myself - I got my Dad and Mandy's christmas presents purchased and only bought one tiny little lip gloss for myself at Benefit (although I did buy a few pairs of jeans, a new belt and couple of random kitchen things at Kohls the day before). Of course, I got home and took a look at my Christmas list and I still have only purchased/made gifts for HALF the people on my list. Better get cracking on that since the November paycheck is the one I get dinged on taxes for driving personal miles on the company car!

Birthday update

So in case you are all wondering I did have a good birthday even though I didn't get to see all (any!) of you.

I've been in Portland all week...and yesterday was definitely a LONG day of work because we're in some pretty intensive meetings. I did take a few breaks to check my email and voicemail and thanks to ALL of your for your well wishes!

I woke up to find one of the people I'm traveling with had left a birthday card for me at my door of my hotel room. Very little, but really sweet since I'd only gotten 2 cards and 1 present before I left town on Sunday (can't wait to get home! I know its bad to say..but I LOVE getting presents an I know there are some sitting in my apartment office waiting for me!).

After our meetings we (we being all the people in my meeting and I) headed down to the Red Star Tavern in Porttland that makes the BEST Lemon Drops ever. Now...several of you know...I like my lemon drop. But most places...they're very heavy on the vodka and not so much on the sweet lemon. The Red Star Tavern has figured out how to make them JUST as strong..but they really TRULY taste like a lemon drop candy! So....we drank from like 6pm until 9pm (yes I was hammered...Happy Birthday to me!) and then headed to Macaroni Grill where....yes...we drank a bit more with our dinner!

Anyway, it was lots of fun and I didn't have a hangover this morning (although I really don't know how that could be!).

And another weekend ends...

Had a good weekend even though it was cut short by flying to Portland tonight.

Friday night Amanda and I saw Pride and Prejudice at the CineArts in Pleasant Hill. Good movie. It was long, but shorter than the BBC miniseries. I felt the parts of that movie that were cut from the new one helped keep a good flow to the movie.

Saturday morning I was up early to go horsebackriding on the beach in Daly City. (Thanks for arranging Julienne!!!). It was amazing! The weather was SO beautiful Saturday morning and we rode down the hills and onto the beach for a while. Was a GREAT relaxing morning - even if my legs are a little sore still!

Saturday night was the big 70s (and now) 80s party. Amanda and I met up in the parking garage so we didn't have to walk to the bar alone (we were in full 80s style). Started off at Crogans - music was great there! Moved on to Mr. Lucky's - music was not as good...but company was. Then we ended up at Dan's, which was fun til the band started at 9:50 - they were REALLY not my taste. And the sound was TERRIBLE at Dan's. They were having lots of mic problems which was causing some high pitched feedback - that hurt my ears pretty bad. But even when that wasn't happening - for some reason it was especially loud - my ears just couldn't take it. So we bailed a little bit after 10. But since I'd had such a full day already I didn't care.

This morning I slept in a little, finished catching up on Tivo, and packed for my week in Portland. Of course my flight was NOT on time...I knew it was a bad sign when I got to the gate at 5:10 and the 5:00pm flight before mine was still sitting there not having boarded. Anyway, I'm finally here....at least this is the better of the hotels I get to stay at. And I have a sleep number bed. The only really sucky thing is that I have to be here over my birthday instead of down in CA with all my friends!

Thats all for now. Have a good week everyone!

Depressing....

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Guess I need to blog some more???

First Birthday Present!

I just got my first birthday present. Mandy and Michelle had a handbag CUSTOM made for me by this company called LILL.

Web site is www.1154lill.com

You can either purchase a premade bag, or they have tons of styles you select from and bunches of fabric swatches and you pick and choose which bag and swatches you want to make your bag. Mine has a pink interior and then the inside of the pocket inside matches the pattern on the outside. Its SOOOO cute! I can't wait to show it off!

Weekend with the Family

Thank goodness its Tuesday.

So my dad and sister Stephanie got here Saturday afternoon (and for those of you who were wondering I did finally finish cleaning up my place about 11pm Friday night - sorry I missed you girls but I'm glad you had fun!). We stopped at my place and then headed into downtown Walnut Creek to do some exploring and had a nice dinner at Lark Creek, where I talked Dad into my favorite bottle of wine - a nice Silver Oak. We wandered around town a bit more and then I dropped them at the hotel (yes they didn't even stay with me) because Dad was exhausted and Steffo wanted to take a swim before bed.

Sunday we were up early to get to Alcatraz for our 10:15 tour. Did the requisite visit to see the seals at Pier 39. I must say...no matter how many times I've seen them...I just love to sit and watch for a while! The fog seemed to be lifting slightly so we decided to try and see the Golden Gate Bridge. While it was still pretty foggy, we did get some good shots and my sister can say she's seen it now. We then drove up to Suausalito. My mom had told me before about how when my parents visited CA when I was a baby they had this amazing brunch at some hotel there. Well in strange fashion my dad mentioned it and said we should look for it for lunch. He knew the name, Alta Mira, but that was it. So after driving around Sausalito for nearly an hour (I know can you believe it?) we actually found the hotel. And wouldn't you know, LAST week Sunday was the last time they were serving Sunday brunch. So we ended up at some little place in town. We then drove back to SF and drove Lombard Street. First time I've actually been the one DRIVING when I went down it. Then we headed over to Union Square as the only think Steffo really wanted to do besides see Jelly Belly was shop. Good news was a finally found a pair of black boots - I've been looking for months! Then we headed back to WC and went and saw Dreamer at the movies. Actually enjoyed that quite a bit.

Sunday we were up early again to have breakfast and head up to Napa. Dad and Stef had to check out of the hotel because for some reason they goofed and only booked 2 nights and the hotel was sold out for last night. We decided it would be best for them to get a hotel near SFO for last night so that we weren't trying toget them to SFO with crazy traffic this morning. Then we headed up to Jelly Belly...and into Napa. Visited Sterling, lunch at V. Sattui, and then Silver Oak. Stopped at the Napa outlets then so Stef could do a little more shopping (you'd all be so proud of me because I bought NOTHING there!). We then decided around 5:30 to head towards SFO. Of course weather was terrible yesterday...so between that and freaky traffic going west bound we didn't get them into their hotel until almost 8pm. Luckily by then eastbound traffic was basically over and I was home by 9pm.

And now today I'm enjoying a day of catch up in the office!!!!

Well...kinda hard to argue with this one.....

The Priss Deliberate Brutal Love Dreamer (DBLDf) Mature. Responsible. Aristocratic. Excuse me. The Priss. Prisses are the smartest of all female types. You're highly perceptive, and confident in your judgements. You'd take brutal honesty over superficiality any time--your friends always know where they stand with you. You're completely unfake. Don't tell me that's not a word. You're also excellent at redirecting internal negative energy. These facts indicate people are often intimidated by you. They also fall for you, hard. You have a distant, composed allure that many find irresistible. If only more of them lived up to your standards. Your exact opposite: The Playstation Random Gentle Sex Master You were probably the last among your friends to have sex. And the first to pretend that you're pregnant. LOL. Though you're inclined to use sex as weapon, at least it's not as one of mass destruction. You're choosier than most about your partners. A supportive relationship is what you're really after. Whether you know it or not, you need something steady & long-term. And soothing. ALWAYS AVOID: The Playboy, The Loverboy CONSIDER: The Manchild Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating. My profile name: ShelBellYeah

AH...seeing much clearer now....

So I discovered why the random totally last minute visit from my dad and sister this weekend.....it seems actually there are 2 reasons....

First of all - my sister has Monday and Tuesday off school for some reason....

Second of all - my dad and stepmom bid on some American Airlines plane tickets at some auction and they were about to expire.

So...thats why I get a visit this weekend. And because the tickets were American I have to drive ALL the way the FUCK out to SFO! I HATE driving to SFO!

Anyway...think we have our plans figured out for the weekend.....

Saturday we're gonna hang in WC probably (they don't get in til 2pm).
Sunday we're hitting Alcatraz and then prob some other stuff in the city.
Monday we're going to Jelly Belly and up to Napa.

Should be fun. Now I just need to get my apartment in shape!!!!!!!!! Could take me til Saturday at 2 to do that!