2010

New Years Eve. How did this happen? A decade has passed. 10 years ago I was in Santa Clara CA, .com capitol of the world waiting for Y2K to give us a freaking day off. You see I worked at eBay and the pace we were growing at was KILLING me. My life changed a lot after that NYE, and I’ve never looked back.

In the last decade I moved from the bay area to San Diego after a not so nice divorce, to be near my BFF, my brother, and the water. I ate carne asada, went to a lot of Chargers and Padres games, walked on the bay, and had lunch every Sunday with Val. Those 4 years were great. I went on some good dates, and some terrible dates. I won’t even mention the guy that wore the "save the whales" t-shirt and asked me to play star trek monopoly. Awesome.

I moved to Texas, 5 years ago. I came here for a job that lasted 4 weeks but have managed to find several others. Met some amazing friends, that I’m happy to say are still my friends. I fell in love, got a dog, bought a condo, joined a church, got engaged, we bought a house, got married. I’ve also managed to get half my family to move to this crazy state, and have a job I love. Not a bad 10 years.

This past year was interesting. I think that's the word I would use to sum it up. We worried about our jobs at least half of the year. Survived layoffs, then got to put in massive amounts of overtime. We joined the Wed night group, had our house broken into, and were able to celebrate 1 year of marital bliss with a vacation.

We also became Aunt Sassy and Uncle Cap to this little guy. Everett.


And added a new in-law to the family. Crystal & Joel.


I’m looking forward to 2010. We have some big goals, and some small ones. Plans have a funny way of changing, so I try not to be set in having “plans”. The main goals would be to love my husband, family and friends the best that can, try to keep doing a good job at work (even with my authority issues), and not take things so seriously.

Wed Night Crew

For the last nine months Chris and I have been hanging out with our Foundation Group every other Wednesday night. It’s 6 couples from church, all married the same year as us, and none with kids (yet), and one leader couple. We hang out, we drink, we discuss finance, sex, and communication. All the easy stuff right? It’s been a fun experience and we've made some great friends. Even though the group ends in May, I know some will be friends for a very long time. At least that’s my prediction. I wanted to introduce you to them. (photos above couple)


Steven & Yoshi. Steven is a serious snowboarder, and Yoshi is serious at everything she does, but she is passionate about golf. She is happiest when she can play 36 holes in a weekend. They have a French bulldog named Elvis that we love, and he has a wheels you attach so he can run because his back legs are paralyzed. He’s precious.


Kyle & Wendy (baby 2010). She is sweet and sensitive and works with pregnant teens and teens that are parents in the school system. Kyle loves to hunt and has one of the best trained hunting dogs in the state. They have a pool and I plan on harassing them all summer to use it.


Jim & Crystal. We see these 2 regularly for dinner dates, and the guys like to golf. The're the world travelers of the group and spent Thanksgiving week in China. We're talking about a joint trip to Buenos Aires in May, if I can talk Chris into it.


Matt & Emily. They work…a lot. They both have 2 full time jobs, and Emily’s photography business they do on evenings and weekends. He went to A&M but I try not to hold that against him. I’m happy to say he doesn’t sport the ring. Whew. Emily would spend her life savings at Anthropologie or “anthro” as she calls it. The financial planner didn’t see that being an option.


Josh & Erin (baby 2010). The comedy of the group. I dare anyone to spend 5 min with Josh and not crack up. He’s that funny. He is WAY into movies. Like seen every movie, probably more than once. Erin has a day job, and is a fabulous makeup artist for brides in her free time. They just bought their first house and move in next week.


Ryan & Helen. Our fearless leaders. They have 2 adorable boys that we all love to spend time with. Those kids are so well behaved I’m going to hire them to raise any of my kids. Ryan loves the water, skiing, being on a boat. You name it. Helen likes to run…this I will never understand about anyone. She is also a domestic goddess, and gave us all hand painted ornaments for Christmas. Hand painted!

Thank you Charlotte!

I'm back from a quick and cold trip to Charlotte. Land of NASCAR and Colleen. The temps topped out at 35ish degrees but I was able see her new place in a fun part of the city called Chantilly, I got to meet her new dog Jake, and I was able to shop in the store that Texas needs most: TRADER JOE's. Seriously when are we getting one?
We had great sushi, did some shopping and drank beer in the same garage as the last time. I had some quality time with Jon, and we all watched the Panthers game with a few of her friends. Let's not even discuss the amounts of wine and food consumed. No crazy stories from this trip. We were well behaved and low key.
Most importantly I will kick her sorry behind if she forgets that really knowing her is more important to me than expecting her to be perfect. 20 years of knowing her has led to more memories than some people have in a lifetime. Who else would remember that those sheets on your bed were purchased in 1997 in Santa Barbara at the Eddie Bauer Home Store? Me. Because I was with you, and I always will be :)

Next Stop: Charlotte

I'm heading to Charlotte to see Colleen this weekend. No clue what we will be doing, but it's a much needed catch up. We usually have a few stories so I might have one to share when I return. Last time she had me at some garage party huddled around a burn barrel at 11pm drinking with a bunch of cops. Awesome. She also has strong opinions on what pics I can post of her on this blog, even though she NEVER actually leaves any comments.

Black Friday & Austin

I went shopping on Black Friday. We were in Austin for the rest of Thanksgiving weekend visiting my Aunt/Uncle/Cousins. The guys were golfing, and the girls headed shopping. It could have been a disaster. The formula was present. Biggest shopping day of the year: check. Impending hunger for lunch: check. Shopping at a MALL with a 10 and 13 year old: check. I'm pleased to say we all survived, purchased a few things and had lunch before any meltdown could occur, by me of course. I do think the more time I spend with 13 year old girls...the less likely I am to have children. I'm just saying.

We also watched "up" and went Christmas Tree shopping. A few trees that we saw were $1495! That's correct. They were 17-20 feet but still...who freaking pays $1495 for a tree? Not us. We found a much more affordable and smaller tree down the street at Papa Noel's. Chris was also able to golf 2x that weekend with my uncle. The ACC has it's privileges. He really enjoyed the men's lounge. A ton of flat screen TVs, no women, and no guys under the age of 21 allowed.

I shouldn't forget to mention that my parents went to Hawaii and ditched us all for the holiday. They called me from the beach. Not cool. Minus that, it was a great Holiday with lots of family and much to be Thankful for.

Texas Thanksgiving

This year we passed on the Cowboys game (tragic I know) and headed south to spend some time with Chris's family. To me it felt like the first real "Texan" Thanksgiving. Meaning we fried things, chicken fried things, and ate something in the same room where the head of that same animal was hanging. The major development. I shot a gun. For the first time in my life. Only 1 gun, they wanted me to try an "easy rifle" first. I think eventually I might try the pistol/ handgun/shotgun options. For now that was enough. Owning one is another issue entirely, but I would for the record like to state that I felt like Betty Bad Ass. My mother will not be pleased.

How to freak a baby

Really, it's not that difficult...but it was funny. Allison turned the big 30 on Thanksgiving and we had a surprise party for her in a suite at the AAC. She thought that just she, Rob and the baby were going for the game. She realized something was up when she was led to a suite door and 16 of us on the other side yelled surprise as she walked in. Problem was, baby was in a carrier on the front and was not a fan of this situation. This is his face at the moment they walked in. I wish we had an after where he started to scream, but we were frantically trying to remove the not so easy baby bjorn.

Take 5 Tuesday

I'm taking a few min to post 5 random thoughts/questions etc

1.Glee. Love it, love it so much that I had to download the "smashups" from iTunes to my library. Trust me if you need to put a pep in your step add the Halo/Walking on Sunshine to your mix.

2.Speaking of music, have you ever wondered if something happened to you what the music on your iPod would say? Morbid, but I think about that kind of thing. I mean should I be embarrassed that both Brandon Heath (Christian music) and Britney's "3" follow one another on my latest play list? I am slightly concerned about this.

3.Holidays. 45 days until Christmas people. 45. I am NOT ready.

4.Reebok Easy Tone. The ads for this shoe have me intrigued. Toning while just walking around in them? I don't care how lame they look I might have to get some.

5.37 years...that's how long my parents will be married in 2 weeks. 37 years. How awesome is that? As much as I make fun, they are adorable.

Finding Nemo

Do you see him? The best part of being an aunt. I love this kid. Thank goodness Chris feels the same way or when I suggest "let's go see the baby" because that means 2 hours in the car and I know that might be annoying. Especially when we're only going over for bath time.

TX-OU and a little 5K

If you don't like crowds you would hate Dallas during TX-OU weekend, but I happen to love this weekend. We get about 1 million visitors and the town is painted Red and Burnt Orange... it's high energy, with fantastic people watching and it's at the State Fair! Is anything better than a corny dog, beer and one of the best rivalry football games in the nation? I think not.
I spent my first TX-OU weekend starting at the Loon, let's just say that's about all I remember. However, now, 5 years later and happily married I will enjoy the festivities from a friends house at a watch party. A watch party for 80...remember everything is bigger in Texas.



Being a TX transplant I am still shocked by the passion that goes into one's love of their college team here. It's a little freaky. Argue with me all you want but you people are the ones who bring home babies from the hospital in college attire.


Also this weekend is the Dallas Race for the Cure. So before the above mentioned drinking can begin, we will be up at dawn for the 5k. I love this event, and I cry every year. I can't help myself. It makes me feel like my lame issues are nothing to complain about. This year I had to change our team name because someone stole our old one! So we are the Pink Mafia...which is cool and all, but I should have known that it's a common title for teams of Gay men. Nice.

Little E

I had to post this picture because I swear he has all of Rob's facial gestures. This one kills me, and he's kind of adorable. It says "I'm not sure about all this".

Bowling for Boobies

This past weekend I organized a fundraiser, with a little help from my friends, to raise money for the Dallas Komen Race for the Cure. I’m not sure what brilliant staffer decided that the Dallas walk would be on the same morning as the UT/OU game, but they did. With that little snafu many people that would normally participate, will not be participating this year.

So we had a bowling event called “Strike out Breast Cancer” and it was a HUGE success. We had 52 bowlers broken up in teams based on donation amount, and a ton of awesome raffle prizes. It helps to know people that work for the Mavericks, Cowboys, the American Airlines Center, Hilton etc and that we all have generous friends, and companies. The helpers were the usual suspects with one addition. We had Worley, Elizabeth, Julie and Crystal (the newbie). Here are a few pics from the event. I expect more in the coming days.





We raised $2,300, and I think everyone had a great time. I have a feeling this will be an annual event, and hope that it's even more successful next year. Thanks everyone for all your help!

Fall recruiting season

It’s fun to go see various schools and all the future college grads so excited to move into the next phase of life. They approach you, and the other tables unsure of themselves, and how to get a job and the real world. Students usually have done some research and have a few questions but without fail my favorite question asked at least once is “have you ever met Paris?” Um yeah, she has an office next to mine and we are like bff’s. It can be a very long day of pretending that sometimes the real world of having a job doesn't suck...but I don't want to be the one to break their spirits. Not yet anyway.



This past week I was at the University of Virginia and honestly…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful campus. Pepperdine is pretty awesome, but this felt like the college in the movies…or the one we pictured as kids. It’s all brick and white columns, with tree colors changing for fall and sweatshirts at the football games. The town beautiful as well with boutiques, restaurants, bookstores and coffee shops all built into hills and tree covered streets. I told Chris that I've added it to my domestic travel list because I want to go back when I'm not working.

My Heaven

Lake Tahoe. Always has been, always will be. The final leg of the CA tour was in Tahoe because we love it, and because we were married here. We stayed in South Shore this time because it has a little more to do, and my corporate rate was alive and well on this trip. Every time we’ve gone Chris has wanted to hike the Rubicon Trail, and this time we did it! I may have almost died on the way back up but that is irrelevant. The below pics are from the top and the bottom of the hike.



We also rode yet another gondola to the top of Heavenly. Chris wasn’t a fan of the wind gusts that had us rocking, and being that someone died on the chair lift (that was optional) 2 weeks before I couldn't blame him. but the view was the reward. We were above 9,000 feet at the top.




We gambled a little, walked a lot, and of course found places to watch both the Dallas and UT games. The nights were in the low 40’s, and perfect for outdoor fire pits and s’mores. It was 3 days of total relaxation before we headed back to Dallas.

Napa

After 2 days in SF we headed to the next stop. Napa. I booked 2 wine tours in advance, one a cave tour at Robert Sinskey, and a twilight tour at Mondavi. The Sinskey cave tour was lacking, I wouldn’t recommend it. The wine was delicious, but the tour was short, and the guide seemed to rush everyone thru. After that we had lunch reservations at a French restaurant. Lunch with champagne in honor of our anniversary. The food was to die for. In between lunch and the wine tours we went to Sterling Vineyard.It requires a gondola ride to the top and it views are worth it. The wine is ok; go for the view if you’re going to go.



We also had a snack at Taylors Automatic Refresher along the way. It was on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives...and it was on my list of things to do.


The twilight tour at Mondavi was probably the highlight of our trip. The winery had closed, the tour was only for 14 people and we had the entire place to ourselves. Sipping wine in a vineyard as the sun sets is pretty perfect, especially when it’s 72 degrees. The tour guide pulled out bottles of reserve along with cheese, meats, olives and almonds. It was a blissful 3 hours. We were only in Napa one night but we plan on going back for more.

Californication

When deciding where to go to celebrate year 1 we picked a few places in California, starting in San Francisco. We kept it low key, minimal agenda and the weather was perfect. In no particular order we rode a cable car (of course), ate amazing food, walked the Palace of Fine arts and grabbed lunch the Ferry Building marketplace. We also took the ferry to Sausalito.







While on a morning walk I saw a beautiful park across from the waterfront. We wandered over; because of course among this amazing park was a starbucks. As we were seated on a bench watching the people walk by we realized...this is not a park...this is a company campus. But what company would have this amazing location...and their own starbucks...not to mention the buildings, day care and tennis courts? None of the buildings were marked and I tried to look at badges but it was clearly top secret. After consulting the University of Google on my iphone, and seeing this fountain as we walked...I realized it was Lucas Entertainment. As in George Lucas, as in Star Wars...the campus of his company.

We also had dinner with my favorite bay area couple Noah and Krystin, who got us into a private speakeasy...password required and all. The cover of the menu says “don’t even think about ordering a Cosmo”. Loved it.