laura's scuba space

A diving adventure in Curacao

2011-02-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Arizona

2010-12-25T21:52:00.000-08:00

The cowgirls

The neat Arizona weather we experienced while there: rain, sun, and fog!

Party on a battleship

2010-10-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

Coll Wedding

2010-09-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

It looks like I was having fun... and catching flys!

Mel's Shower and bacheloretteParty!

2010-08-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

AZ - Day 3: A day at the zoo and aquarium

2010-08-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

AZ - Day 1: Beer and BonBons

2010-08-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Buckeye, the backwoods of the suburbs of Phoenix, around 12:30 in the morning. We barely all had enough time to hug hi and crash. Chris, Danna, and I get up the next morning and head to the airport to pick up Amie. We hit the necessary SBUX (in B&N, which is not happening again... they are not "real SBUX"), and the Chik fil A, for an awesome brunch that we brought back for everyone.

We split in half and head for massages, then meet up for nails at the best nail place Chris and I have found so far. The only problem is there are only three workers there, so even if we call for an appointment for 4 or 6 (and they will book it all for the same time), you simply have to wait until a chair is available. So we stopped making appointments; it wasn't helping. We walked in and there were four people in chairs. We walked back out. Time to get a new nail salon. Luckily for us, there was a bar next door. And a nice bartender who took this photo:

We headed back to the house to get ready for dinner (me- a nap, the girls - Dexter and change of clothes). We managed to break into the dessert before dinner. Erin had made and brought along Princess Birthday Cake Ice Cream, and Danna had premade (and had a few left) nutella balls (bonbons).

Looking guilty?

Yes, I have one in each hand:

Group effort!

Once Jeff made it back from a day at work, we turned him around and drug him out to sushi dinner with six girls. Doesn't he look happy?

Are we all related or what?

Las Vegas for Cirque de Soleil!

2010-07-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

I landed a little earlier than everyone else, so I headed over to the Hilton in a $6 shuttle. I got check in and headed for the hotel room... to do work of course. On the way up there though, I have to pass this little bar that has wine dispensed by credit cards! You purchase a set amount of dollars, then you can choose if you want a 1 oz sample, a 3 oz super sample, or a 5 oz glass of wine.

Needless to say, once the party arrived, this was my first stop!

I am not much of a gambler, but I sure do enjoy watching other people play... and my mom is awesome to watch play the penny slots! And she is lucky! Go mom!

While we were just the three of us (Chris, Danna, and Jeff were still unsure if they were coming), we decided to hit Freemont street. We ate at Henessey's where I scored a ten dollar surf an turf happy hour special. Then we cruised the old strip, checking out the casinos and neon lights, until the overhead light show.

The next morning, we had to pick up our O tickets (and figure out what to do with three extras since hte trio from AZ had to cancel.) We walked through all the fantastic Chihuly exhibits and the garden terrance.

Friday lunch had been planned days in advance- we were headed to Lotus of Siam. I even knew what I was going to order - #13, #23, and the #49.

Oh well, and I could be arm twisted into some sake:

Elanie had the "D" from the Northern Thai Cuisine menu and my mom had #115, the seafood soup. The shredded pork was fantastic, particularly mixed with the sauce from #49. My mom's soup looked very yummy as well.

The #13 B. MOO DAD DEAW ( Pork jerky Thai style )-Deep fried marinated pork, served with homemade spicy sauce.

Booya!

My litmus test for Thai restaurants is the Tom Kah Kai - chicken, coconut milk soup. I had to try it at the "best Thai restaurant" to see how it was meant to be. We asked fro medium spicy, so our waitor gave us a 4-5 (on a ten point scale). It could have used some serious ramping up on spice. I think that was a gringo 4. I had been told not to order a 7 or I won't be able to eat it... from a guy who can eat a LOT of darn spice.

So when I order my #49. SUA RONG HAI-Charbroiled beef served with spicy sauce, I ask them to make it more spicy than the soup. He gave me a 7. Phew. I think they were pulling my leg. My nose didn't even run (much).

Other than the spice factor, Lotus of Siam was fantastic. I do think they rival Thai Kitchen in Austin, so if you are looking for a good Thai place deep in the heart of Texas, you might check out that place too.

Of course, our first stop was to introduce Ed and Elaine to the wine bar. Ed and I grabbed a glass, hunted down an Acid Blonde cigar, and sat ourselves down for a nice little chat while the "kids" played:

I took a quick picture of my shirt I bought with Danna in Santa Cruz as an ode to the trio not making it to Las Vegas. My mom also got a kick out of the butt shot. Not that she doesn't have a lifetime of those from me.

After some wondering (purposeful of course) and a sly charming smile to a security guard, who according to my mom, "didn't have a chance... poor guy", we found our way to the Chihuly gallery at the Aria.

Here are a couple of random pieces:

On our way back, the dryness of the desert overtook me and I dove into the first bar I came to... dragging all the fam behind me (yea right).

Oyseters, lobsters, shrimp oh my!

I don't even want to know how you find shrimp this big. They washed down great with my belgium beer, so no complaints out of me! We liked them so much we got a second order.

This is the fun hour-glass-lamps that they had lining hte bar. It took me 30 minutes to discover they flipped over, where upon, I immediately shared my finding. Only to discover everyone else had done this already... and they didn't share with me.

Then came the split off to see "O". We were able to sell the seats back to the Cirque ticket office (for a mere $7 handling fee.) I thought this was pretty amazing until three people sat next to us- the three that bought our tickets last minute. Cirque didn't loose on much there now did they?

There is no photography during the show, but this should give you an idea of the fabulous seats we had:

Looking straight up, was this contraption, which deposited hte first performer of the evening right in front of us.

We ended the evening with a nice Scotch nightcap. Okay, so I tired Elaine's and wimped out for the standard white wine, but it smelled great!

The next morning, while trying to determine what we should attmept for breakfast (not the Paradise cafe with the dictorial waitress from Cuba), my dad surfs and finds Bouchon... since I had mentioned it to them, we decide to try the cafe, not just the bakery.

I think I wiled another security guard to gain access to the guest only elevators, arriving on the "garden" level ten stories up to be seated on the outside terrace of Bouchon!

They brought bread, butter, and jam to start us off. The mark of a really good restaurant was when my mom asked about how they cooked the omlete, and the waitor ran off to check with the chef. I like it when resturants take allergies seriously.

White wurst, with taragon. Super yummy.

I was lusting after the bagette and nutella, so I ordered it for "desert":

The tortoise and the hare at the LAS airport:

Silverthorne and the Chihuahua mountain

2010-07-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

This what the hike looks like when you are panting and wheezing, because HELLO people, Laura lives at 0 degrees... aka sea level! Wait up.. wait up... wait.. *breathing heavily*

Look at all those people and their amazing hiking outfits! Which one of us doesn't belong... oh the city slicker in jeans, yes, that's right- me!

The grilling dinner feast!

I find this picture most amusing not just because Emily is stuffing her face with a hot dog and looking belly-rubbing hilarious, but also because she looks like she never stuffs her face with food (a fact I can dispute based on experience), if at all eats! I bet Em could win the hot dog eating contest.

Disneyland

2010-07-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday Erin suggested we hit Disneyland on her Silver pass! Thanks Erin! Silver pass = fun for everyone. So for Chris and Danna's birthday visit, we went to DL!

Erin made reservations at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Priate's ride. With the starry sky above, we ate fun foods from this haunted looking menu:

We rode Haunted Mansion then Indy after chowing down. Then headed directly for California Adventure, since Danna had never been there. Soaring was our first stop. There was a 25 min wait (that's it!) so we hopped in line sans fast passes. (Attendance was fairly low).

Then we beelined for the ice cream cart .

What would be an introduction to California Adventure without Toy Story Mania?

I got best in car! *Patting myself on back, hoping I don't dislocate my shoulder doing so*

We ended the day with one last scream:

Then took off for Chick-fil-a!

Grilling on the balcony

2010-06-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Blue Cheese burgers via the grill

Huntington in a hat

2010-06-27T16:50:00.000-07:00

Comfort always

Denver Aquarium

2010-06-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Fatty's - a new way to eat

2010-05-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try Fatty's for a while now. The first time Erin and I attempted to go, we found out they have weird operating hours/ dark days. So this time, I triple checked the schedule, and they planned on being open!

My goal is to eventually try the mushroom paella, but I wasn't feeling hungry enough for a massive dinner.

I ordered the salts of the world with tubers (I thought this might be roots, not potatoes).

"salts of the earth with special roots
hand harvested salts from around the world served with seasonal tubers,
extra virgin olive oil and caramelized balsamic reduction."

On the left sits salt with truffle oil. In the middle is a (Bavarian?) smoked salt, and on the right is a French herbed salt, possibly with rosemary. The potato was not the right food to try these salts with, IMHO. I tried an advocado slice, but that overpowered the flavors of the salt. In the end, the cheeses worked the best. The truffle oil salt is addicting and I will have to attempt to make some soon. THe smoked salt was deep with flavor. The herbed salt was delicate yet powerful and quite amazing. I also might try making smoked salt soon.

I also got the cheese plate so I actually had some food to eat. I ended up using the cheese to dip into the salts instead of the potatoes. The Sharp foot cheddar was great with the smoked salt.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2010-05-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

2010-05-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

At the Fish King..

What to do for dinner? Copper River Salmon?

Dungeonous Crab?

No no, we had decided on soft shelled crab...

...deep fried!!!

This wine had an amazing nose. It smelled smoky in a way that I couldn't get enough of it.

Yummy spicy salad:

After dinner wine. This one smelled like butter and had a very light taste.

Chicken Tagine

2010-04-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Going

2010-04-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

It has been 309 days and "this morning" since he left.

On day one, I called him.

On day two I called an attorney.

On day 31 I stopped wearing my ring.

On day 221 I threw away my wedding dress.

On today I signed my name on the divorce papers.

Tapas Tuesday at Pop Champagne and Dessert Bar

2010-03-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

Pop Champagne and Dessert Bar is now open on Tuesdays to serve Tapas! I got a tweet from them announcing the menu, which got Erin and me running over there:

At the waitress' recommendation, I tried the champagne flight.

At $3 dollars a pop, and one freebie with our drink... we ordered one of each of the tapas! Clockwise, starting at the lower left is the mini bacon & mahon grilled cheese sandwhich on brioche, beef skewers with chimichurri sauce, lamb empanada, duck taquito, panko-crusted calamari, and in the center is the chorizo albondigas (meatballs).

Panko-crusted calamari with cocktail sauce. Erin does not eat seafood. At all. These were her favorite food of the evening. That says a lot.

The mini bacon & mahon grilled cheese sandwich on brioche was really yummy. It was grilled cheese though, so fun but not exuberant.

Oh, the chorizo albondigas with cilantro creme fraiche. I could have eaten a dozen. Those were my favorite.

The beef skewers with chimichurri sauce was actually the reason I went to Tapas Tuesday. It just wasn't the reason I stayed.

The duck taquito was fun.

I was not as much into the roasted leg of lam empanada with sweet chili apricot sauce as Erin was. She thought is was great!

Dessert bubblies

Sparkling sake! My new favorite drink with effervescence!

The spanish churros with chocolate sauce was yummy:

But nothing compared to the Nutella Crepes with berries and chantilly cream! (Mouth watering as I type about it!)

Doner Kebab - Eagle Rock

2010-02-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

Food Trucks

2010-02-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

Slaw Dogs - a Lake dig

2010-02-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.theslawdogs.com/

Union street is buzzing

2010-02-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

We decided to check out a new restaurant that has been taunting us with an online menu and is in a popular location, that I keep passing- Quarupel.

The decor of the room was, as intended, Belgium bar reminiscent- dark wood panelling with carved wood edging. The restaurant tables were also of an expensive nature- grained wood and very elegant. Those items slightly distracted from the ugly iron ram railing in the entrance way along with the uncomfortable table placements. It was almost exclusively two person table settings set in the middle of the restaurant, so close, and with no dividers, that the secluded romantic atmosphere did not hit mark. The restaurant was also humming at a very loud buzz that left anything but mundane conversation to the patrons lest you have to shout some less than sharable conversation.

In fact it was so loud, the bus boy asked what we wanted to drink and we said tap water, but instead he brought back a bottle of still water.

We ordered the shallot rings, which were fantastic. I didn't even want the sweet and sour sauce- they were amazing as a stand alone fried ring. The breading had a complex taste that went well with the delicate flavor of the shallots. I also was in love with the texture- thinly sliced soft shallots with a well crisped breading.

Blue cheese and pear salad:

The pork meatballs were pretty darn yummy.

Having fun out!

Who doesn't like a meatloaf roll-up?

2010-02-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

I am slowly but surely getting back into being motivated to do things I love- cooking is one of them. So last night I got the hankering to cook a meatloaf roll-up. I cooked this once a long time ago for Rob when Celia was out of town on business, and he reminded me how much he loved it. That inspired me to make it again!

I started off testing a leek parsnip soup Andy had made one night. I had some carrots and parsnips with a leek and garlic roasting in the oven:

In the meantime, I put together the meatloaf ingredients (beef, pork, egg, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins, garlic paste, and some parsley):

Then you roll it out:

Layer spinach, prosciutto, and provolone:

Roll it:

Eat it:

With soup (the jury is out on the soup- it was a little thick because I added cream. I also think i needed more leek.) There is always next time too!

Last minute steak dinner

2010-02-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

I have been crashing and napping a lot recently, so when I got up at 8 from a nice afternoon nap, what did I need to cure the emotional exhaustion going on? A BIG STEAK!

I was told I needed to try the Whole Foods Dry Aged Meat (tender), and get some Irish butter and blue cheese to put on the top as the meat settles (hattip Jay).

Here are my ingredients with some Aventinas (great Belgium beer):

Ah, blessed be the meat. I am obviously from Texas!

Serena had a fantastic dessert wine she brought out to have with the blue cheese- we of course were nibbling on the rest of the wedge while we waited for the carrots and parsnips to cook:

I can see this becoming a nightly meal- dessert wine with blue cheese chunks!

Serena, the fantastic sommelier she is, also thought of a nice red to go with the beef. It was so smooth and went well with all the food.

Here is what the final diner looked liked (aren't you hungry now? I am!). Torey was in charge of cooking the meat and got it medium, medium-rare, yeaaa!

Carrots and Parsnip with paprika and olive oil. All the ingredients were so fresh and yummy that we didn't add anything else to the food- paprika on the veggies and blue cheese and butter on the steaks- nothing else!

It was a fantastic dinner, even the cats agree!

Marché - French food finds

2010-02-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

Mirna and I headed out for dinner to Marché, the french restaurant Serena works as a wine sommelier!

We started off with the onion soup. I had a hard time resisting ditching the spoon to get the last drops into my mouth. The caramelized onions were really yummy, but nothing describes how much better they were with the cheesy croustini bits with them!

Serena picked us out a fantastic wine:

Which we drank with my oxtail gnocchi:

Mirna's baby lamb shoulder (cooked for two days to medium rare and melted like butta in your mouth):

and Serena's chanterelle mushrooms with egg and spinach (which I used to think was my favorite dish on the menu- now I am confused):

For dessert we decided to try the Tahitian squash and blood orange... it was dessert quality veggies. Absolutely yummy!

But who can resist washing down dessert with some dark chocolate homemade peanut butter cups? In fact, we couldn't resist so much that we had already dug in before I could take the picture!

Coffee to top off the evening. Two glass of hazelnut Colombian coffee and I still fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow- the evening was that fantastic.

The New Dish!

2010-02-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

I went to check out a new restaurant's grand opening from a Tweet I got. The new restaurant is where BrenArt Cafe used to be, and is called Dish Bistro and Bar.

The LATimes review of the opening - link

We got the pears in balsamic vinaigrette with blue cheese cream sauce (fun to smell, excellent to eat):

The deep fried olives stuffed with ricotta bacon and shallots- creamy, salty, deep fried... life doesn't get much better (with Viognier, Kenneth Volk):

Then we tried the oysters... *having a moment here*. They were grilled in the shell with artichoke hearts, basil, and wine on top. Heavenly. I could have eaten some more (but shouldn't have!)

All and all, the food was great, the service was first-day-passable, and the atmosphere (same as BrenArt) easy elegant. Thumbs up! I even have a list of things to try next time- scallops, foie gras, and maybe the duck confit! Yumm-o!

High in the Sky

2010-02-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

This was bound to happen sooner or later.

CaCao instead of Fatty's

2010-02-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to try a vegetarian place called Fatty's, so when Edward, the Texas vegetarian, was in town, I thought I would drag him and Erin to the restaurant. Well, when they got there, the open days were Thursday- Sunday! Great.

Plan B- CaCao's was across the street and has a separate vegetarian menu.

The trio of salsas were fantastic, although I am not entirely sure I tasted much after the first large habenaro salsa bite I took (since when is SoCal Mexican food spicy?? I wasn't expecting that!)

We tried the queso with chorizo and mushrooms. I am not sure where the mushrooms were, but the cheese was fantastic! I could have kept eating that. It was bad!

Then I had to try their Duck Taco, for which they have acclaimed fame. It was okay. Not what I was expecting. I will try something else next time. I have a sneaky suspicion I will find the thing I am in love with (besides the queso).

Texas BBQ in SoCal

2010-02-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is walking night... Erin and I hit the pavement for some exercise/outings. We have gone down Chandler, which is a great urban hike/bike trail in the middle of two streets. We have also toured the Madison Heights area (when my Huntington Gardens pass did not let us in early enough). That area ended up being great for people watching and house "shopping" (aka dreaming).

This Tuesday was Texas BBQ Tuesday. Our thought- walk to dinner, have some food, walk it off on the way back (yea right, but it would be fun!).

Texas BBQ out of state is kinda like eating Mexican food below the Mason-Dixon line- not a fantastic nor wise choice. However, the BBQ sign on the gas station sign was a good sign to start off the evening. The name has a lot to live up to: The Swinging Door. The one in SoCal is The Swinging Door BBQ . The great original is in Richmond Texas- The Swinging Door.

I got the brisket - a Texas staple. I wish they had been serving it on butcher paper with some wonder bread slices, but no dice. It was on a plate. They got bonus points for having the sauce on the side and having real German potato salad (mustard based). Here is my verdict- meh... the brisket was dry, the sauce was WAY to sweet, the potatoes needed more onions. Erin, Jason, Jenn, and Ron ordered a taster plate. The tri-tip was mostly moist, but the ribs lacked substantial flavor. I would go back, but not because it is Texas BBQ, rather because it is close to Erin's and it isn't bad BBQ for SoCal. Gosh I miss Texas.

Red, White, and Bluezz

2010-01-30T23:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday night Heather was on a hall pass to go have fun with me (the kids were at home with David). She got all dolled up and David's parents lent her the Boxster for the girl's night out. It was really awesome- we were fancied up, with a cool car, and the top down driving through old town! How come we forgot to get a picture of this???

We stopped at the Vertical Bar first, but they have changed chef's and some of the fun things that were there before are gone (blue cheese grilled cheese, polenta, etc.) We made do with some crab cakes and a plate of cheese that was more like slivers of flavors of cheese.

At least the Chardonnay was nice:

We caught the second show at Red White and Bluezz, which was a group of very young looking guys. We enjoyed some dessert (the flourless cake more than the mundane truffles- we left most of those behind) with a flight of red wines.

On the eve of divorce

2010-01-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

There are people out there that have had a bad relationship and are happy to exit what was along and arduous battle. There are people out there who have hate towards each other over what has happened. I know some of them and I understand why, but it isn't me. That isn't what happened here.

I have been struggling for a long time to figure out how to put into words what happened, how to convey my thoughts and feelings, and how to determine where I am headed. None of those answers are easy and 8 months after I came home to an empty house, I am not much closer to those answers, if there are any. And I am no farther away from the hurt and pain I feel at the ongoing loss of our relationship.

I had a friend describe a separation as a death in the family, but it falls short of encompassing the ongoing pains- a daily death with a person who is still tangible and within reach. One you may have to interact with again and again. Separation lacks the finality and structure to put the process to rest that death and destruction have.

Although I have thoughts and theories on why it didn't work, concerns about how I could have changed that, and regret on not being able to halt the spiral, it doesn't really matter why it didn't work; it just didn't. I don't regret a moment of my time with my husband. I still, even 8 months after he left, feel like I married the right man and would do it again in a heartbeat. We had rough times, but I think we worked well together and all the things I love about him, I still love about him. I am just angry he left and sad that I don't know how to make things better.

However at this point we are beyond that. Now I am trying to take the step from where I was to where we are going. I need to be released from my hope that something will change and move on. I still love my husband and doubt that will ever go away. One day we may even be friends again, but not for now.

Oysters and Muscadet

2010-01-28T15:51:00.000-08:00

In a fantastic night of food and wine pairings and good friends, I was introduced to new wines and some superb cooking styles!

Serena and I had gone to the a fish monger in Glendale called Fish King Seafood earlier that day. We were excited about having some oysters and Halibut on the menu for the evening and wanted to make sure we got the best!

We picked up oysters and Serena made a fun red wine, shallot, pepper, smoked salt dressing for them while Torey shucked them with a variety of knives we were praying didn't break in the process. We paired that with this wine:

Second course was a mushroom risotto (super yummy!), which we paired with the Chablis. This wine also went fantastically with the white truffle balsamic vinegar and olive oil on bread!

Next came some more seafood... halibut! I almost just sliced off a piece to eat it raw... sashimi! We marinated it in a lemon rosemary sauce. My aunt make a fantastic halibut marinated in a sauce you can only get in the upper NW area- Jaipur by Black Swan. So instead of that marinade, we improvised. It came out light and fantastic! Thank goodness ADD girl (me) wasn't in charge of the grilling or keeping track of the time it was on! (Thanks Jay!)

Our third wine was an example of a wine with some minerality:

We followed by a spinach salad with goat cheese, cranraisins, candied walnuts and balsamic vinegar. It is my favorite salad, but I was so full! I could only manage a few raspberries for dessert. :-)

What fun; we must do it again soon!

And the mayhem continues...

2010-01-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to walk downstairs and make some breakfast, only to discover, I was unclear how many things I needed to clean to make a bowl of oatmeal- I opted for a piece of pizza from the refrigerator instead.

While I was in the kitchen, I looked out my kitchen window and saw my neighbor working in her garage. It took me a moment to realize that was my 30lb cat food bag sitting in her garage. I recognized it because Woton had chewed the corner open when he got stuck in the garage one night. We had throw it out Saturday in the moth debacle and de-mothing process. The Indian Meal Moths were in any open foods and had made cocoons.

I went outside to explain this to the lady and she acted all "yes yes thanks for telling me" like she really didn't understand the problem all the while putting it away into her shelves. Didn't she wonder why I had thrown it out? EWWWWW! She had grabbed a bunch of food items from the dumpster! Isn't that behavior reserved for hobos and crazies?

I highly recommend that no one accepts any invitations for dinner at her house... or breakfast or lunch for that matter as well.

Birthday in LauraLand

2010-01-08T23:55:00.000-08:00

The Plan: Have a lot of fun - girl's night out!
The Place: Melting Pot
The Time: My birthday!

First on the agenda- meet at my house for the preparty. Carpool (cheaper for parking and better to have one DD-- thanks Erin, you rock!!!-- at the end of the night). We arrived fashionably late for our reservation, so we had to sit at the bar and start with a drink!

Our plan for the evening was to order some cheese fondue and see how full that got us. But there are so MANY choices, just of cheeses!! We finally decided on a sharp and a mild version- the Alp, and then also the Swiss gruyere version.

Sarah talked the manager into giving her some blackberries since she saw them in the drink menu, but didn't want the frufru drink, just the berries!

I cannot be serious in a photo... ever:

Erin and Heather, self-portrait:

Our awesome hot waiter:

We were so excited that the Melting pot added to the dipping items for the chesse entree: they originally had bread, apples, veggies, and NOW sausage and cornicorns!

Back at the house, enjoying a stogie or two (but actually, they were not cheap cigars, one was an Acid, my fav!):

Close-up of my hot party dress:

At DCA and DL after the exclusive tour...

2010-01-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

Segway through DCA

2010-01-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Laura

2009-12-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

Down the Mountain toboggan style, minus the toboggan

2009-12-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

It was my first Sunday back home in about a month, so what did I decide to do? Go mountain biking, of course! We headed up to Winter Trail and took the fire road almost to the tower. It was a uphill push for me, but great practice and exercise (with lots of breaks). At the top of the mountain, you look over all of the Santa Anita race park and the suburban sprawl surrounding it, including the mall.

After a quick energy bar, I was ready to "earn my turns" going back down. It turns out that I don't trust my bike as much as I should, and I lost it going downhill over some really rocky terrain. I slide down under my bike, which turned out to be good for both my side and my bike! Have you seen League of Their Own? You remember the part where one girl slides into home, and leaves her with a huge hematoma? Apparently if you slide on anything rocky, you all get the same bruise. I just had multiple ones. I am glad I didn't check until later though, it would have hurt worse. It was hard to talk myself into getting up as it was, and when I did, my bike chain wouldn't catch.

Thank goodness it was eventually obvious I was not coming down the hill as expected... I got the bike to work okay, but Jay gave me his bike for the rest of the rocky ride (I had a "use the instructor's mask, it will make things better" moment.) My injuries took me out of karate for a couple weeks, and has me hesitant on rocky downhill parts, but WHAT DID I LEARN?

Get back up and try again.

Mt. Baker weekend - Day three

2009-12-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Mt. Baker weekend - Day two

2009-12-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

Jeff on his butt not on his board:

I was a little cold:

From inside the lodge, you can still see that it is snowing heavily:

Us warming up in the lodge:

Chris playing on her iPhone (I guess we were good company!)

Mt. Baker weekend - Day one

2009-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Does it look like Jeff's hand is bothering him here? Yes, keep that in mind for later posts...

These are pictures after Christa went down the first two hills at Mach 3. She apparently learns to ski the way she learned to walk- on big blur between the objects to hold onto (at top speed). Good luck with that Chris!

Look closely! This is confusing... it was Christa in the blue and yellow ski jacket, and now it is not!

Sunday in the other desert

2009-11-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

I came back to LA on Saturday night to avoid the horrible Thanksgiving traffic. It gave me time to get packed for Denver and also go mountain biking again!

Since it was raining on Saturday while I was driving, I figured the Arroyo was not in great shape. Sure enough, when I got out there, there were forestry service people abound writing tickets and blocking off access (again, not that they took down the other signs in between. They need a conditions site so we know when they left the signs up and when they meant to take them down.)

So we tried another path on the other side of the forest burn- Cherry Creek maybe?

Here are some views from the top (see JPL in the distance?):

Zoolights - Phoenix Zoo

2009-11-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

Shhh! No one tell anyone that Chris and Jeff went to see the Phoenix Zoolights with the rest of the family. But please tell everyone that the Wildlife World Zoo needs to do their lights again, because they rock!

The family hanging out at the lights:

We saw a few animals at the zoo- six to be exact: a horse, a zebra, an otter, a camel, a Komodo dragon, and a duck.

One of the real animals:

Some of the fake animals:

Chris and I got stuck in the web!

Me on the hippo:

Thankgiving dinner - no turkey

2009-11-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

Who needs the turkey? Who needs the meat, seriously, when there are this many fantastic things to eat (we did have meat, but I skipped out... it would fill me up too much!)

Sunday in the desert

2009-11-25T15:39:00.001-08:00

I drove all day on Saturday to Phoenix. Sunday I spent the morning on my bike iwth Jeff:

Get a load of this weird picture Jeff took with my iPhone:

And the afternoon at the zoo and aquarium with Chris:

Arroyo Seco in mudslide season

2009-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

Wit of Wilde

2009-11-16T14:22:00.001-08:00

I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde

Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.
Oscar Wilde

One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.
Oscar Wilde

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.
Oscar Wilde

Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong.
Oscar Wilde

Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, 1893, Act I

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
Oscar Wilde, In Life of Oscar Wilde, H. Pearson

Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895, Act I

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

The advantage of the emotions is that they lead us astray, and the advantage of science is that it is not emotional.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our intellects.
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

The Last Stand of the 13 MusCATeers

2009-11-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

The last of the feral colony is now behind bars:

I caught the mother of the last set of kittens we had around here. According to my meticulous counting and record keeping (ha!), we have now caught all the cats that frequent this area. Whew!

Holiday Parking

2009-11-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

There are some fantastic advantages to living in the city- the food, entertainment, constant availability of goods and services (think all night good eats places), hiking, skiing and scuba all in the same day...

Then there is "the disadvantage"- parking. Especially around the holidays. I can drive to target because I need cat litter and go home empty handed because I cannot get a parking spot in the lot and I would be risking a $35 parking fine to park on the street!

Erin and I decided to go to the Costco near her house (I have given up going to the one close to my house in Alhambra because there NEVER is parking and the checkout line is atrocious). We arrive thinking it is a bigger parking lot, nicer area, obviously, less hassle. We were kidding ourselves. We had to circle for parking, and not just near parking... ANY parking. Then we had to cause a traffic jam to stalk a person and take their spot. It was a great way to start off the journey.

Thankfully the inside was not the huge hassle parking was, but on our way out, we did see this:

Looks like someone got tired of searching for a parking spot.

Arroyo Seco in fire season

2009-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Leaving Los Angeles

2009-11-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

I have been fortunate to find a fun new job, but the interesting this is that the headquarters are in Denver, CO. Cry! Skiing, mountains, hiking, and great food! I am not moving there yet, but I will definitely be spending some time in the home office, so I will have a chance to check out some of these finds (I travel for food, and not much else!):

Domo Japanese Country Foods
Domo website
Dinner Menu

Sushi SaSa
Sushi SaSa website
2401 15th St
Denver, CO 80202-1143
(303) 433-7272

Parallel Seventeen
Parallel 17 website
Dinner Menu
1600 E 17th Ave
Denver, CO 80218
(303) 399-0988

Strings Restaurant
Srings website
Dinner Menu
1700 Humboldt St
Denver, CO 80218-1109
(303) 831-7310

Rioja
Rioja website
Dinner Menu
1433 Larimer St
Denver, CO 80202-1733
(303) 820-2282

D'Corazon Mexican Restaurant
website

Mexico City Lounge
website
2115 Larimer St
Denver, CO 80205-2016
(303) 296-0563

D Bar Desserts
website
1475 E 17th Ave
Denver, CO 80218-1656
(303) 861-4710

Osteria Marco
website
Dinner Menu
1453 Larimer St
Denver, CO 80202-1704
(303) 534-5855

Bones
http://www.bonesdenver.com/

Luca Di Italia
http://www.lucadenver.com/

Mizuna
http://www.mizunadenver.com/

Little India
http://www.littleindiadenver.com/

Proto's Pizza Inc
http://www.protospizza.com/
2401 15th St
Denver, CO 80202-6105
(720) 855-9400

Lala's Pizza
http://www.lalaswinebar.com/Site/Home.html

Tamayo
dinner menu

Zengo

http://bistrovendome.com/

Just go to the state fair and look around...

2009-11-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

I drove all night on Friday night to hang out with my sister for the first of many holidays in the upcoming weeks. It took me all night because I left later to avoid traffic (and catch up on stuff). I ended up sleeping on the road twice, but get a load of this... there are more than 120 miles of open desert inbetween LA and PHX, four rest stops and a smattering of towns. The rest stops are the only oasis for bathrooms and breaks in the middle of the wasteland... and three out of the four of them were CLOSED! Can I dare say it... WTF?

I ended up sleeping outside of a gas station at the General Paton museum, and at the only open rest stop. It is really darn cold in the middle of the desert at night, and I was sorely missing my zero degree sleeping bag. The floor of my car also does wonders for sound sleep. I finally drove past (yes, as in past) my sister's house at 7am. I turned around, drove back, and called her to wake her up.

Her day off and she got to sleep in an hour later than normal, whoot. First order of business- showing me my new toy:

Okay, okay, It's Jeff's bike. But would they really have gotten a third bike in the exact model I wanted just for the two of them to ride? Yea, they won't ever talk me out of calling it my bike. It doesn't matter to me where it lives, it is still mine. Whoot!!!! Biking with the sibs, totally stoked!

After the shock wore off (who am I kidding, it won't wear off for months)- I decided I was starving and wanted another nap. We cooked breakfast and skipped the nap for Starbucks and running around. We got drinks for the dinner party and found some fun finds (a $20 skirt at White House | Black market- score!).

We got deep tissue massages and BOTH managed to fall asleep on the table. Amazing. I don't know how you can sleep through a deep tissue massage, but we did. It was awesome.

After a relaxing session, we ran home to change and cook dinner. Yumm-o, Chris got a chicken and made her famous mac and cheese (I tried to make it for lunch today, and it SOOOOOO wasn't the same.) I made some eyeball tomato soup and salad. After some fun decorating, we were ready to drink, be merry, and jump up a hundred times to feed trick-or-treaters.

At 6:30 we turned off the pourch lights, prayed no one egged the house, and ran off to the... AZ state f-a-i-r!

We of course needed to hit the LARGEST ferris wheel first (I say this becaise there were three ferris wheels; I am not sure why, but there you go). This is a view from the top:

We beelined for the funnel cake stand outside of the ferris wheel, because really, what is a fair without the funnel cake?

My main goal of the evening was to eat as many fried foods as I could find. I am from Texas and I have never had a deep fried Twinkie (this still applies today). But at least now I have had a deep fried oreo, snickers bar, and cheesecake.

This is me trying out the snickers (feel sympathy for my arteries yet?)

And these are the inards of the fried grossness:

Oreos

Snickers

Cheesecake

It was all so gross that five of us passed on finishing all the fried -ness. We opted to play games instead. Darts (see the donkey in my arms above? Jeff got that for Chris for me), BB guns (no one won), ring toss (does anyone ever win?), water squirt races (strategy allows someone in your group to always win), and free throw basketball...

Look, ma! All those years of b-ball practice paid off!!! I probably haven't made a free throw shot in a decade, and on my second try, I got it in. Now I have an uber basketball with paw prints on it. (Woton doesn't like it so much, check out upcoming posts).

Some other weird gun/ball game:

And the MERRY-go-ROUND!

What is a fair without a John Deer and a Turkey Leg?

Crazy cat lady potential high

2009-10-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

When I got a job offer with a Denver company to work remotely, I was excited to be working at home. However, I did see the potential of being the crazy cat lady... I have three cats and I live alone. I am not sure how many degrees that is away from being Sandra Bullock in the Net, but in the realm of possibility to be the person that no one knows what I look like....

Then I woke up and fed the outdoor cats, and I saw this at my door. Maybe the potential has surpassed me and I am already entrenched in the cat craziness:

Denver and it's first snow!

2009-10-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

I started a new job with a few weeks ago, and got to travel to Denver for training. I think I have been in the South too long, because it was cold!

Since I knew the weather was getting colder, I took one evening to walk over to the REI from work. One of the guys at work pointed out the office window and said, it is right over that bridge. Little did I understand that to mean two bridges and way to far to walk in heels carrying a briefcase and laptop!

The second bridge: (it was so warm out at this point I wasn't even wearing a jacket)

The biggest rock wall I have ever seen, and it is in an REI in Denver. Go figure:

This REI was in a three story warehouse and the rockwall took up all three stories. The woman's section was at the top. By the time I had walked over there, I was already done shopping- I needed dinner and some wine. It was really awesome to check it out, but I would have to seek warm clothes another day.

Weekend with Brian and Emily

I got up Saturday morning, met Grant for breakfast at this awesome place downtown called the Delectible egg, then picked up a rental car and drove up to Silverthorne!

The light at the end of the tunnel:

Great views of the mountains:

It was hard to get a picture of this, but I saw about three gates on the road meant to be closed in snowy conditions. Very interesting.

When I turned past the Wendy's and followed the road to where it turns to dirt, and found the house with the bathtup outside (it was hidden under a kayak), I got to Brian and Emily's red A-frame house. I couldn't even pull all the way into the parking area because of the onslaught of excited doggies!

It was really perfect timing, Emily made me a bacon, spinach, bluecheese sandwhich, some hazelnut decaf cappacino(all super yummy!!!), and we went on a hike to calm down the dogs!

Don't they look all prepared and ready for the mountains? Do I look like a city slicker? With my coffee and no backpack on a hike?

We decided to hit the outlet malls for a brief moment (probably more brief than if Emily and I were left to our own devices, but better to have fun company than shop more- thanks Brian for putting up with us girls!) I needed two things- warm clothes and a rolling briefcase. We hit the luggage store and the Columbia outlet, then decided to pick up some wine/beer/sake for dinner.

Our choices (hard to choose!!!)

This was probably the most amazing bottle of sake I have had- not just because I was at 10,000 feet. REALLY! It was smooth and had great flavor! BevMo around here doesn't carry it :-(.

But onto the more important part of the evening- Emily made a FANTASTIC dinner! she had snacks and appetizers, which were fab! Then ccame hte spinach salad with nuts and beets and yummy things, then this awesome couscous and morrocan chicken that was about to fall off the bones! Oh, and I got to take some with me! I was eating fantastic leftovers for days! I licked the container clean.

We watched Brotherhood of the Wolf (which Blockbuster amazingly had to purchase but not to rent!) and hung out drinking our sake.

Bed time...
Although I could not convince any of the dogs to snuggle with me, Keela tried to snuggle into a bed that was for a 15lb dog... it was really funny looking.

The next morning the moon was sinking above the mountains. It was a great scene with the snow on the ground. I am not sure my iPhone does it justice:

I woke up to the sight of hte moon over the mountains and a breakfast cooking in the crock pot! I was a totally spoiled girl! I had so much fun.

EWven though I was in Denver for two weeks, I was spending most of my time training and had little time to visit. So after a great hike and evening with the cousins, I ran over to Boulder to meet my friends Eileen and Jack in Boulder (a halfway point between Denver and Fort Collins, possibly.)

Here I am outside the restaurant looking cold (okay, well, I was cold!)

We went to a fantastic tapas restaurant (my kind of food- a little bit of food of every type!) So we had artichokes, and caprese, and pizzas, and calamari, and all kinds of really great foods! It was a short lunch and I was sad to take off, but I had more training to get ready for!

Here I am bundling up for work:

Are they getting ready for the first snow of the season?

Denver's first snow!

Running in the snow:

De-icing the plane at Denver International Airport:

SoCal A'blaze

2009-08-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

The cross-eyed monster

2009-08-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Week one of the new TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) season at the Albright household started off well- I caught the orange tabby tom-cat that has been terrorizing the neighborhood from my front lawn to the little church at the end of the street. He has also been littering around the neighborhood, and this obviously needs to stop. His midnight escapades with the ladies is also a little disturbing for those of us who value city silence while sleeping.

He is a true bad ass; He struts around the block with his scruffy fur and marred face. He has won many a fights. And his stare makes you shrink in fright, then you notice that he is cross-eyed and you laugh while asking him what he is staring at, really!

I got up early to stalk my prey on Tuesday, carefully preparing the night before by asking neighbors to remove tasty after dinner snacks from their stairwells. The cats were very hungry in the morning. I left a small trail of wet food leading to the live trap and went inside to wait. It has been a while since I went through this routine, so I forgot to cover the trap. My first potential customer turned her nose up at the whole shebang- she wouldn't go inside because she could see the food from the outside. After the mom left, I went back outside and put in smelly tuna to allure my next willing participant into the cage AND I covered it so they could not see it from the outside. I thought for sure I had lost my opportunity and I would shortly have to run off to work, but as I was getting ready, I head the SNAP! RATTLE RATTLE! of the cage. I bagged the prize bull!

So now my little orange "pumpkin" is no longer the heavy weight champion of the hood; there will be less fights and litters! (As long as I catch the other cats he created.) Wish me luck!

Air conditioning - bliss in SoCal

2009-07-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

After spending a number of weekends in Arizona and their 111 heat in monsoon season (read this as heat with humidity = gross), I am beginning to recall my summer days in Texas. I have conveniently forgotten about the heat when missing my home state. It is easy to get complaciant about the wonderful SoCal weather, where it barely reaches to the mid 90's on hot days and always hits the high 60's by nightfall... until your air conditioner breaks. Getting into my car for work in the morning never looked better, even with the broken stereo, I at least have mobile air conditioning!

Sure, it is great to have the windows open for some fresh air. It is even wonderful to wake up to the cool desert air we get in Pasadena over the night... but coming home to a hot and muggy household because you cannot run the central air kinda blows. I bet the cats are enjoying it though- they never get enough of the heat.

The Orange Sunrise

2009-07-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

After a Monday night (all night) at Disneyland, then a night (all night) at Harry Potter, I read the email that said belt testing for karate was on Wednesday. (I thought it was on Friday.) Whoa. I almost didn't show up- career yellow belt is nothing to be ashamed of.

The belt testing was in lieu of class last night, which was great. I did not exhaust myself in class only to be followed by two hours of testing. Last time we did have class and by belt testing-time, I was in need of a cookie and a nap!

I have no pictures, but basically it went like this - side steps, punches, kicks, katas, grab arts, punch outs, and sparring. All went pretty well, but I still have to take the written exam. The sparring was fantastic for my sore neck (from falling asleep in the movies). I now cannot move it at all, even with Advil and a heating pad. Yea... I am a karate bad ass. yea.

Oh yea, I did...

2009-07-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

This morning, at 12:00am, was the official opening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I did- I went on a work night to the 12:36 showing at the Burbank AMC theater with a group of friends (well, one friend, Erin, and her friends, but now by osmosis or something, they are my friends too, right?)

The coffee with CAFFEINE provided by very harrased looking Starbucks workers was providing me with alert attention for the first three hours of our "camping" the theater. We arrived a little after 9pm and by 11:30 my buzz was starting to wear off. We, thankfully, were all seated in the theater waiting for the movie to start, instead of sitting on the sidewalk or some random hallway, which I have done both before for other Potter opening nights.

I don't know exactly where it happened in the movie, but it started- there was Harry and Dumbledore in the cave, then the burrow, and the next thing I knew Harry was dueling Snape and I had a crik in my neck. I FELL ASLEEP! FOr those of you who know how much of a Harry Potter fan I am, you know how much of an atrocity that was!

I have to say that my favorite part that I saw was Harry on the "lucky potion" where he looked a little drunk but played a hilarious role ("with the pincers snip snip") and that Hermonie (Emma) no longer had the exasperated monotone throughout the whole movie.

I have no idea how they plan on making book 7 two movies since most of it was all camping, but I look forward to staying up all night for those releases too! Without the sore neck next time...

Scrapbooking on Oscar Sunday

2009-02-24T19:08:00.000-08:00

Let it Snow! Let it snow, let it snow...

2009-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful... okay, not really. It is Southern California, where the weather is ALWAYS 75 and sunny!

I took Paul up to Big Bear this last weekend for a Birthday getaway, but who am I kidding- I really wanted to go too! When I suggested going someplace for his birthday, I brought up the idea of going on a scuba trip to Mexico, or a snow trip to Washington, but Paul said he would be interested in going to Big Bear... just like old times. We had not yet braved the trip to snow in SoCal, so I had never even been to Big Bear. While trying to make arrangements online with no real guidelines, I found that Big Bear is just a bunch of cabins you can rent from individuals. Some of which are tacky and expensive. I was just beginning to think Big Bear was not my kind of place (where was the Hilton?) when I found a fun Jacuzzi cabin. There are actually plenty of great places I wanted to try- a B&B (booked for the MLK weekend) other cabins (too big to rent for two people), and so on.

I ordered snow chains for my car (why I did not think to do this for Paul's car, I do not know- he is the one with the heated seats!) I made cabin arrangements, printed out directions, packed food, dug out all the winter gear (or as much as I could find) and we were off! We got up there on Thursday night, just in time to check in and grab dinner. I picked out a place called Sweet Basil, which was a great Italian restaurant. They were out of the Wild Mushroom Ratatouille, which I was excited about trying, but at least they had some Ahi tuna! Yumm-o. We picked up some wood for the fire and tried out the jacuzzi and called it a night, well, after watching some BSG of course!

We meant to wake up early on Friday, but the alarm went off and neither of us tore out of bed. So we finally got to the slopes around 9:30, but the park had been open for an hour already. Paul and I had been debating what to do- I definitely wanted lessons no matter what we did, skiing or snowboarding. Paul had tried snowboarding before but wasn't enthused about continuing that. I had only tried snowboarding and had gone a few times. It was going to be hard, according to Paul, to hang out together if we were doing different activities, so I decided to try skiing. Only, since I had never been on skis, it wasn't like we would be spending time in a Ski 101 class together. I took the morning 2 hour class, which taught me how to get into skis, out of them, how to fall, and how to move and brake. Out of five people, I had the least difficulty and didn't fall once. Paul was off warming up and taking pictures of me being goofy. We took a break for lunch and met at the Ski House. In the afternoon, Paul and I both took the advanced class, but were divided into sections according to skill level. I managed to make it to a level 2 (out of 4). The afternoon class was a little more challenging and I was the worst one in that class. We learned how to link turns and get away from snow plowing by carving and slipping on the slope. I had trouble trusting leaning on my right turn (left leg) and kept falling when I got any real speed up. All in all though, we were good enough to take the lift to the top of the mountain and run a green hill (designated as low intermediate). I only fell a total of a dozen times that day, so not bad! I think my first few days on the snowboard, I was on the snow half the day.

We retired for the evening after running the beginner slopes a few times together. Paul, despite having his first ever ski lesson that day, is really great on skis and was able to help me figure out some of the finer points of turning and shifting my weight to do so. And that was only my first day on skis!

We ate at a place I had picked out called Captain's Anchorage (steak and seafood), which I thought we would need after skiing all day. It was fun- I got two appetizers, steamed artichoke and some clams. It was all great. We finished the day off with some more BSG, hoping to catch the premier of season 4.5 (the first of the last 10 episodes), but since we were determined to hit the slopes at opening on Saturday, we were fast asleep by 10 pm.

The start of the memorial day weekend at Snow Summit:
When we rented our skis on Thursday, the check in ladies told us to be there at the crack of dawn on Saturday to fight the smallest of the day's lines. We were in the parking lot unloading at 7:30 am (did I finally find something that gets Paul outta bed at the crack of dawn?) Paul had wisely bought the lift tickets the night before, so all we had to do was walk onto the slopes and get on a lift. There were already lines out the wazoo at 7:30 and the park didn't even open until 8am.

I suggested we head straight up to the Summit Run, which starts at the top of Chair 1. We did the Summit Run, a green slope that is a mile long and ends at the base of the mountain at Chair 2. We took that chair up tot he top and headed to the right to get to the fun family zone. This is an area meant for beginners and families that includes flat areas on one side and small moguls on the other side. There are even a few runs that are just green runs. We spent most of our day on that part of the mountain and mainly avoided crowds and lines. There were even less crowded areas, but we tried them and I got scared because the hill looked too steep. (I made Paul walk uphill in skis to get to a green area.)

We ate lunch at the top of the summit. They had two different eateries up there and a great view out back!

Paul spent the day following me and helping me out, and by the end of the day, I think I was doing fairly well. I wasn't falling as much, and I was doing better on carving my turns instead of snowplowing them. I even got up some good speed. Look ma, I am even wearing my helmet!

A Paul Roast

2009-01-11T23:06:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, today is the anniversary of Paul’s 39th Birthday. But as you may have noticed, Paul pays close attention to details and likes to make sure what I say is correct (along with others, as Chris noticed, Oregon does not go mispronounced around Paul). So in the interest of not upsetting Paul’s order in the universe… we will call it what it is- a very happy 40th birthday to Paul!

Paul has accomplished many things in these few short years. He managed to obtain a lifetime interest in space from the young age of only 7 months after his mom parked him in front of a huge console TV, which is maybe where he gets his fascination for everything cinema too! After spending a few years at home eating cat food (do you see a pattern here?), he spent 15 years trying to make sure school did not interfere with his education. He left the backwoods of Eureka and turned in his gun for pen and paper for college.

Thankfully, he smartly moved to Austin to work on his PhD, where he met me. (One of the smartest things he’s done!) Daniel says that being your roommate while you were working on your PhD were the best 10 years of his life, or at least it seemed that long. It was cool for him to have a rocket scientist of a roommate, but felt gypped when it turned out you didn’t build or explode rockets! Not everyone feels gypped though; Celia’s favorite thing to day is… “I have a friend who is a rocket scientist (pause), no really.” Dan considers himself an intelligent person, but he is no rocket scientist. Paul’s career is like having a fused rock, paper, scissors; his career trumps all. And of course, “There's no one in this family that I am more proud of and impressed with his accomplishments other then Paul” Paulie-poo-poo!

Being the rocket scientist in the family is not always to cool position- when Paul cannot figure out how to work something it is inevitable always brought up that he is… A ROCKET SCIENTIST! And of course if he locks the keys in the house… someone will whisper, you know, he has a PhD!

People know us as the nerds. My aunt Marie even calls us the flock of nerds! We all “swoop in (like a flock of birds), open up the laptop computers and begin communicating through the Internet. Want to see family pictures? Here you are, plenty of files of jpegs. Want to check on the Launch, we'll just check with NASA. Need plane tickets, just log on....When it is time to leave, the same in reverse, make the plans online, pack up the computer and off you go, some people forgetting the obligatory hugs.”

Outside of being a rocket scientist, he also has an amazing array of interests. Rob doesn’t even know anyone else who is fascinated with heavy metal, ultra gory horror movies, and violent video games. Daniel thinks Paul’s saving grace was his interest in SCUBA (and his new roommate- me.)

As it is, he has aged like fine wine.

Despite his need to come into a room and shut the windows and blinds, to leave the toilet seat up, to drop his shoes in the middle of a walkway, ignore the 3 feet of garbage instead of taking it out, Paul has been a rock in my life that I can't imagine being without- he is my Paul-quest, my inspiration and encouragement, my animal-lover conscience, and un-equivocally, my best friend- the one I want to tell about my day, text with funny things I hear or see, wait in line at Disneyland with, try new foods and travels with, and the person I could just sit around the house and hang out with.

A toast, roast, and prost to Paul- may you have many more fantastic birthdays.

As if one Birthday isn't enough!

2009-01-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the Moroccan place was neat. The earthquake was perfect! But Paul ordered up one more surprise... a night in Disneyland at the California Hotel. SWEET!

We left after work on January 9th (why? Because the parks are only open to about 6 PM on the weekdays, yea... no thanks!). We got down and checked into the hotel, and since I was hungry, Paul scouted out some restaurants and half mentioned the steak house because it is after all, my birthday surprise, not his. But it sounded like a great idea. So we changed into nice clothes, then bundled up to walk through Downtown Disney to the Disneyland Hotel and the Steakhouse 55. It was blowing wind like crazy! And it wasn't the warmest feeling wind either.

The Disneyland Hotel is this funny 70's style hotel that looks dated from the outside, but has fun, fantastic decorations and style on the inside. We got seated right away with our call ahead seating (go Paul!) and we ordered family style food and some steak. Wow, I was so full! Here is a picture of our expensive bread (LOL):

We hurried back to the room to change, and dashed off to Disneyland. Now it was my birthday and everything so I HAD to decide what we were going to ride (but I got vetoed on Its a Small World). We went by Space Mountain but it had a 60 minute wait; it turned out to be good that we skipped that because when we passed by later, it was broken. We beelined for Finding Nemo, stood in line for a while, and then got smooshed onto a submarine with a bunch of wiggly kids. But the ride was worth it (mental note- next time the parents come, they have to see that ride too). Since SM was down, we ran all the way across the park to Indiana Jones and stood in the LONG line. It was an hour before close and I wasn't sure we would make it on, but we made it and were the last CAR! Funny though, the Harrison Ford at the end was broken, so he was talking, but not moving. It was better than the time that I went on it after work and got stuck in the dark tunnel.

So that was some good birthday luck!

The next morning we got up and went to California adventure. We didn't have quite as much luck there... we got in line for Toy Story Mania (all the rides my folks missed on their trip! Obviously 8 hours is NOT enough time to see two parks). But while we were in line, the ride broke. We had even gotten our glasses! So we walked over to Screaming, but our fast passes weren't good for another 10 minutes, so we got in line. We waited through the line once and then went back and rode it again with our fast passes!

We also stopped by Monsters Inc (mainly because Paul had gotten me some scrap booking stickers with those characters on it, so I needed to ride the ride so I could use them, duh!) It was a really well done little ride.

For a grand finale, we rode Tower of Terror. I might have left hand prints on Paul's leg. That ride scares the BUGGERS out of me!

We called it a day after picking up some carrots and ranch dressing in a Mickey ear shape.

Thanks a million Paul!

Have an Earth-shakin' Birthday!

2009-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yep, you better believe it... the Earth shook on my birthday!

Paul took me out to a Moroccan restaurant we had been wanting to try near Studio City, called Marekesh. We decided to dress in pants because Paul read some reviews that said it was difficult to navigate on the poofs with a short skirt. It turned out to be manageable; the tables were low along with the seats, but they were booth like seats, so it wasn't a problem.

We had just ordered drinks when Paul grabbed me and said, hang on... then I knew what was coming... an earthquake! We rocked back and forth like a lifeboat adrift in a sea. It was over in a few swells, and I peered around the restaurant to see that NO ONE had noticed! I obviously needed to be drinking what they were!

I am actually amazed we felt the quake since it was out in San Bernadino:
see the USGS site for more info. It was a 4.5 magnitude and 9 miles deep.

Paul and I ("the flock of nerds") were immediately on our iPhones looking up the USGS site to see what happened.

My birthday was a lot of fun, earthquake and all. Too bad my parents missed being in an Earthquake by a mere few days!

The Great Dignity Loss of Christmas '08

2008-12-18T23:12:00.001-08:00

Chihuly: The nature of Glass

2008-12-03T15:20:00.001-08:00

On Friday morning, we all went to the Arizona Desert Botanical Gardens to see an incredible exhibit of Chihuly glass.

At the entrance to the gardens:

Paul told me it took 5 fork lifts to get all the glass into its exhibits.

Believe it or not, there are some amazing desert plants to look at to; not just glass artwork:

And here are my favorites:

TANKS and the 'Giving feast

2008-12-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, we had lots of plans! We were to meet everyone at the aquarium at the ungodly early hour of... 10 am. We still did not all make it. But Chris and I knew it would be a little hectic organizing 40 people for a tour, so we decided that I would just call Chris and Jeff when everyone got there, so they could do work and not wait around while people were still arriving. I think that worked out great. And of course, there were three puppies with us and some horses across the street to keep us all occupied!

Chris and Jeff led us all on a huge tour of the three buildings that will make up the new World Wildlife Aquarium. They talked about all the fish in the exhibits (about 40-50% are in place) and all the planned additions along with some amazingly interesting information about all of it. Paul and I had visited in July and the aquarium had come a long way since then!

Here are some photos:

Waiting for all the clans to arrive:

Lining up to go into the Aquarium

Next on the day's agenda was to turn everyone lose in the zoo! Chris and Jeff had plenty of work to complete before they got to come home for Thanksgiving dinner. Although I would have loved to stay and say hi to the tigers and the giraffes, I went with my folks and Paul back to the house to get ready. (You can see my pictures from my zoo visit this summer here.)

Chris had ordered lots of Boston Market food (we tried to guesstimate how much the sides would feed and order based on her Thanksgiving last year, but we accidentally ordered enough food for 50-75 nineteen year old army boys, rather than the 40 regular bloks we had, oh well! Lots of leftovers- which I am currently eating as I type this).

some more photos can be found at the Evite invitation page.

The BBQ before the feast

2008-11-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

We spent this last weekend in Arizona for a family TANKsgiving! My sister and brother-in-law are working on opening the first public aquarium in Arizona, a part of the World Wildlife Zoo. They had anticipated the opening to be around Thanksgiving and invited the whole family, and I mean the whole damn family to Arizona to celebrate. After a number of delays and setbacks, the Aquarium is now going to be open to the public on December 20th and the grand opening will be December 29th. Needless to say, everyone was excited about coming down for the pre-opening anyway!

We managed to get 40 people to commit to the extravaganza. And somehow we managed to fit those people inside my sister's 1100 sq foot house for 3 days as it rained in Surprise, AZ! We had a great time and we ate way too much food!

Paul and I drove through the night on Tuesday to arrive at the hotel at 4 am on Wednesday morning. I turned around and woke up at 9 am to help get organized for the expected crowd for that night's BBQ. My folks spent the previous week and a week in October getting all the supplies and renting tables and ordering food. I showed up and put table clothes on the tables, Paul moved all the heavy furniture around for me and saved me from the "fires" in the catering trays! We had burgers and chicken with picnic food sides for our BBQ. People brought bread, wine, beers, and all kinds of sweet goodies to share:

The setup:

Paul having fun:

and more fun...

Once everyone got there, the food consumption began! Yumm-o!

Atlanta Aquarium

2008-10-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

I was in Atlanta this last weekend for a NSHMBA (National Society of Hispanics MBA)career conference. Unfortunately, I caught a cold on the flight across the country, or at least I started to feel it the day after I landed. The flight was a story in itself- I got stuck on the Dallas airport tarmac for about 5 hours since all planes were grounded into Atlanta.

I will add more about the trip later, but for now, here are some great pictures of the Aquarium after hours. P&G threw a fantastic company party at the aquarium where I snapped a few of these guys on my cell phone:

There were 3 whale sharks in this tank. None of them were as huge as the ones Robbie and Dave have on video, but these fish can get up to 40 feet!

This is a large ray called the black blotched tail ray.

They had hammerheads and saw sharks:

Healthy eating

2008-10-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

I started this post on 4/18, but only now managed to get back to completeing it, but I hope to add to this list as I find other good places to eat out.

It seems pretty hard to find places to eat out that are reasonably heathy. Mainly because no one tells you what is in their foods!

I have been (and now I can finnally say "we have been") trying to eat a little healthier, in order to be healthier. Lose weight may be a side affect of this, but it is not the goal. The goal is to watch the fats and calories that I am eating, lower the cholesterol and fats, eliminate extra sugars (can anyone say red gatorade?), and watch excess salt intake.

So how does one do this? Well, they can eat turkey, oatmeal, plain veggies, and plain popcorn for weeks on end. (this surprisingly has one good side affect- the weight loss, but in all reality, who wants the same meal 6 times a day? That is really how you lose weight- stop liking the food you eat!)

There are a few restaurants that post good nutritional informaiton on their websites:
Quiznos, which has a number of nutritional information including allergens and calories.
PeiWei
Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant has selected information listed on Healthy Dining Finder.

There are also only a few restaurants you are willing to work with you on amount of salt and fat they use in their cooking (mainly because chain fast food always comes semi prepared.) Here are a few places that are willing:
Dr. Grubb's in Claremont

Since these few restaurants nutritional guides weren't enough, I turned to using some other tools. There are plenty of calorie counting tools out there, for example CalorieKing has a great nutritional database, and some other websites. For the most part, you ahve to pay these website to access more indepth trackign tools. However, I came across SparkPeople as a free alternative. I can track weight, daily food and nutrition, and fitness. It also alows me to enter in recipies to find out how many calories are in each meal i want to make.

http://www.healthydiningfinder.com

I also found some good information about how to eat (more times a day, smaller amounts, and what to snack on):

Snacking Ideas

What were you doing at 4:15 am?

2008-09-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

I know what I was doing... I spent my morning kneeling on asphalt, broken glass, and blood. But I was glad I could be there, even if I couldn’t be a lot of help.

Paul and I were headed to the airport in Texas at 6:00 in the morning for our 7:30 flight to Ontario via IAH. At 6:15 Texas time, but much earlier in California 4:15, we stopped for gas on 183 near the 71 exit, on the way to the airport. As Paul was pumping gas and I was half asleep, sitting in the car we heard a thump and a crunch. Paul wrapped hard on the car window and motioned for me to get out of the car. I looked up to see a car with its bumper missing pulling off to the side of the road. I got out and asked what happened. Paul hadn't seen the accident and at first it appeared to be a fender bender, but two trucks were pulling to the side of the road and I saw something dark lying in the ditch across the 6 lane highway. It was dark and I was unsure of what I was seeing, but I told Paul we should probably help. We are trained first responders and you never know if someone needs assistance and if anyone else who has stopped is able to help.

I ran across the freeway while Paul ran inside the station to call 9-1-1 (he used a land line because it is easier for emergency personnel to tell exactly where you are located and everyone else was surely on their cell phones calling already). Once I got there, I could see immediately that it was good Paul had been paying attention. It was a motorcycle vehicle accident and there was a victim badly injured lying in the middle of the freeway. There were 4 or 5 people standing around trying to figure out what to do, but probably untrained in first aid and possibly new to dealing with an emergency. They had obviously called emergency (as the one lady told me) and the one lady was trying to call someone for the victim. I introduced myself (my name is, can I help kind of thing) while running over to talk to the victim. He was conscious and alert, so I grabbed his hand and asked him his name. He was bloody from hitting the pavement with his face, but had a helmet on and said that his head actually felt okay. He said he didn’t want to move because he was in pain, and I told him not to of course! However, I thought he had said he couldn’t move, so I asked if he could wiggle his toes. He said yes, he could feel his toes. There really wasn’t much more I could do for him except keep him talking and monitor for shock.

A car with emergency lights on pulled up behind the wreckage (there was shattered glass, car carnage, bike pieces, and people everywhere, let alone the commuters trying to squeeze by in rush hour traffic). Originally I thought it was an off duty cop, but the lady surveyed the accident and did not approach me or the victim for a long while. Finally she came over and told me to not move him, and I affirmed that I had instructed him to not move.

It took a while for the ambulance to get there, but in the meantime I talked to the victim. He was worried that he didn’t want to look at his legs and that would just get him upset. I am sure he broke something, but his legs were just a little twisted and did not look bad (as in nothing protruding or lying at a horrible awkward angle). I checked his hands, but there were no broken bones there. Just scrapes and blood. His head, outside of his nose, which could have been just bloody or broken, only had some wounds, no additional fractures that were obvious. He will probably be missing teeth since his head did collide with the pavement, but his helmet saved him from having more serious injuries. He asked me to leave my number with someone, since he would like to send me a thank you and a bunch of roses. It was really sweet of him to say, especially given how he was feeling- I would not have been in the right frame of mind to be grateful while I was lying injured on the freeway. It was enough to hear him say how grateful he was, that really touched me. (Just as a side note, as a professional first responder, I couldn’t accept a gift anyway.) He also kept up a good spirit, saying what a way to miss work!

The ambulance arrived first, but shortly after that the fire truck got there. I told the victim that I could see the ambulance, but they were on the other side of 183. The pulled up, set up cones, and slowly made their way to us, prompting the victim to ask where they walking to the accident? It took them a few seconds to survey the scene before I felt like they wanted to take over control. I left them with the information I had gathered from the victim, they brought out the backboard, checked his pupil dilation and checked for chest injuries. I asked if they needed my information, and was told if I hadn’t witnessed the accident I was free to go but thanks for the assistance. As I walked across the median, I realized I was covered in blood splatter. I asked the paramedic at the ambulance for some wipes and once we crossed the highway to the gas station and I began to clean up, it was then that the adrenaline kicked in and I started to shake all over. I didn’t feel right again for about two hours (it probably helped throw off my blood sugar) and I still see images of the accident. All and all, not one of the saddest emergencies I have assisted in, but the one with the most impact (water tends to minimize broken bones and bloody body parts). The victim will have some recovery, but he will walk again, and his helmet probably saved his life.

It is often hard to know what to do in an emergency. Paul and I teach many classes for first responders – CPR, First aid, O2 administration, water safety, but it is hard to feel prepared after taking just a few hours of class. We have both had more experience dealing with emergencies than some people, but it never gets easier seeing someone else get hurt, nor does the adrenaline stop coming when you are called to act, and it is sometimes hard to know when to act. My simple advice is to do no harm (you can always just be a voice of calm for a victim if you know how to do nothing else) and to always stop to make sure the situation is really under control, because more often than not, it isn’t.

An Austin adventure

2008-09-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

Paul and I took a weekend away to go back home to Texas. Our first stop was Austin: we took a red eye plane after my class on Thursday night (Paul met me at school with the luggage and we grabbed dinner at Denny's and headed to the airport). The plane flight was a few hours to IAH then we had a small layover and caught a short 30 minute hopper to Austin (this "hopper plane" was still a 737, not all that small). Here is a great picture of a Texas runway... do you like the hay rolls?

I did not get much sleep on the plane despite bringing that cool neck pillow. So when we got to Austin, we both needed a nap. Paul dove into bed to take a nap, we stayed with our good friends Constance and Steve, while Constance and I ran out to pick up snacks. We went to a local market to get Paul some coke and me some microwave popcorn. Then we went to Central Market to pick up deli meat and breads, which I snacked on the whole weekend. I swear I gained a few pounds over the weekend, but all the food was so fantastic!

We thought we might go out to dinner on Friday night with friends, but everyone was unavailable. Our plans turn out to be better- we stayed at "home" and had homemade pot roast and roasted carrots and parsnips. I had never had parsnips before and roasting the veggies in simply olive oil tasted great! I cannot wait to try it myself. We also ran over to Half priced books because I LOVE that place. Paul found a few Sci-fi books, and I picked up some fun little things- a travel book, a business book, and a calligraphy book I had been interested in. The greater Pasadena area is in great need to this kind of store... hummmm... employment ideas for post MBA!

Saturday's plan was to get up and go diving. After no sleep for nearly 48 hours and the two hour time difference, though, we barely got out of the house past 1 PM. Dave had already been up since probably around 5 AM, but he meet us out at the lake with a bunch of gear supplemented by a quick stop to my all time favorite dive shop- Tom's Dive and Ski (not just because I used to work there). We picked up weights, a regulator, fins, booties, and wet suits (I ended up getting a wetsuit sized 11-12 because when the girl asked me what size I wore, I answered 8 thinking in wetsuit sizes; she might have been asking me my pant size). Needless to say, I did not have much trouble getting into my suit. I also picked up some sun block and water at the HEB near the lake. Paul took a picture of me outside of it (does he miss Austin and HEB grocery stores or did he like me in my short shorts and bathing suit?)

At the lake we finally caught up with everyone. The temperature of the lake was around 82 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was almost 30 feet below full.

There was pretty much guaranteed to be no thermocline. When the water is all one temperature like that, the silt does not settle into one section of water, it stirs from the bottom to the top (when there is a thermocline, the colder water is denser and silt will not pass between thermocline zones.) There were five of us going diving. Paul had packed the computers and compasses, but thought I had brought along the computers, so he only brought the compasses. I dove the "ole fashion way" with a dive watch (borrowed) and a depth gauge, LOL. We had also brought our own masks, since that is a serious part of being comfortable on a dive: having a mask that fits correctly. We looked like total strokes because we had piece-mealed our gear together with some DIR dive gear, some commercial rental gear, and some borrowed odds n ends.

For example, I had not a single clip to attach my secondary regulator nor my SPG (submersible pressure gauge) to my BC (buoyancy compensator). I looked like a regular octopus:

Constance and I decided we only wanted to go to the shelf in the lake (the one that is normally at 90ft with grottos, but is now around 60 ft). I borrowed a light and we headed down the stairs then downt he chain. Steve though the would mainly follow us because he did not want to go as deep as Dave and Paul in only a shortie. As Constance and I hit the shelf, I saw Steve in front of me and a group of descending divers, who were not looking down, descend on him at the same time another group of divers ran into him from the side. It was an amazing cluster of clueless divers; welcome back to Lake Travis! It was as I remembered it, down to the 5-7 feet of visibility. We all had a great dive. I swim a little faster than almost anyone I dive with, partially because the joy of the dive for me is moving through the water (I am a true swimmer), but also because others like to stop and explore more than me. I, like I normally do in teaching, spent some time double checking on the people behind me. Steve even went off to see the visibility down near 100. At the deepest we hit around 80 and saw the Pinto and two boats.

As we hit the 30 minutes mark, we headed up towards 30 ft and swam back towards our entry point. While we were headed back, maybe 15 minutes into it, I adjusted my mask and POP! the strap came off. I asked Steve to look at it, but he gave the "broken" sign (sometimes given as the middle finger over the piece of gear in question). I called the dive. I was able to mainly keep the mask on my face if I didn't turn my head, but what a pain; plus we were already at our safety stop depth, so we headed up.

Constance thought ahead well and came prepared- she brought beer, crackers, and cheese! What a great dive :-).

The white test

2008-07-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I tested for my yellow belt in karate. I am not finished yet, as I still have to complete a written exam. The practical part of the exam last night happened after class. And I mean RIGHT after class. I was late because I went to get a water, and I had no time to grab some much needed food for energy. As we finished class, I saw heads of little kids lining up outside. Uhhhh, no one told me that I had to perform in front of kids who range in age from not even 7 to 15, all of whom are at least testing for the same belt as me! There were plenty of little kids who were also testing for higher belts. Eck gads.

Anyway, in front of my 50 closest, er, friends?, I got to demonstrate:

blocks
punches
kicks
Beginner's Kata

Punchout 1-3
Grab Arts 1-4

(Pictures and video, unfortunately, are sure to follow. Paul was there documenting the whole event.)

A day at the Zoo

2008-07-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my "free" weekend between jobs, so what did we do? We went to the zoo!

Really, we went to Phoenix for a much needed break from everyday life and the long-awaited visit to see Chris and Jeff. Paul and I drove all night on Thursday and arrived early Friday morning around 3 am. I took the first shift, and Paul took the dreaded second shift. Once we finally got up and around on Friday, Chris, Jeff, Paul and I ate some Chick-fil-A (I LOVE that place) and headed off to try LaserTag for the first time. Paul had played once before with Glenna and Jeff in California, but that had been a team effort game. The LaserTag we played was every man for him- or her-self. Paul and I teamed up to watch each other's back... I might not have been very good at that. I ended up scoring something like 36th place out of 41 people. Paul scored 6th place.

That night we took Christa out to the Melting Pot for her birthday. She had made reservations online and they had a place to mention allergies, so she had put in "peanuts". After getting our drinks at the bar and getting seated at our table, our waiter comes over and says, I hear we need to avoid peanuts. Chris and I looked at each other in amazement- they had reviewed the online request and remembered the allergy issue. Of course we had to add to the list, but all in all, they were terribly accommodating, even bringing out a second boiling pot so Chris could boil her veggies in straight chicken broth. Aside from adding Worstershire sauce in (I guess the waiter did not know that it contained onions, and everything but the kitchen sink), everything went great. He even light the candles I brought in for her 29th birthday! I squashed them onto the poor cheesecake. Nothing beats melted cheese and chocolate for a birthday celebration.

On Saturday we drove out to Flagstaff with the idea in mind to try hiking around there. We drove straight up to a place called Snow bowl. Although it was near 100 degrees in Phoenix, it was a mere 65 at the top of the mountain in Flagstaff. And that wasn't even at the top of where we wanted to go- up the ski lift to about 10,000 ft. Well, thank goodness I needed food, because we sat down and ate and as we were eating the clouds rolled in (it is monsoon season in AZ), and began to rain. The lift was no longer running and it wasn't looking all that fun without rain and winter hiking gear. So we canned that idea. We walked around a little on the open slopes until we thought it was cold and the thunder was close. We drove down the mountain and stopped at another trail head and ended up walking a little way into that hike. It was warmer, protected, and we had passed some of the angry clouds. We didn't stay long on the trail, but we did get a little hike in nonetheless. On the way out of town, we stopped at Strombolli's pizza, and found one of Christa's favorite restaurant chains (to be tasted next time) called Picasso's pizza.

On the drive back, we hit very heavy rains and had trouble seeing the winding curvy road. This is probably why we saw an overturned vehicle on the other side of the freeway. It was obvious the accident had just happened, but people had jumped out to help and a police cruiser was pulling up. It didn't look like anyone was really hurt, although the overturned SUV would probably not work all that well ever again.

Sunday Chris and Jeff had to go to work, so Paul and I got up later, packed our gear into the car and went to visit them at the zoo. We got the star tour of the place, riding on the golf cart like SUPERstars. It was really funny that all the animals perked up when they heard the golf cart... they know it means food. We also got a backstage tour of the new aquarium that is opening up. What an awesome time! Thank you Chris and Jeff for taking so much time out of your workday to show us around!

Am Wochenende vor zwei Wochenende, sind wir (Paul und ich) nach Phoenix fahren. Wir sind da fahren zu sehen meine Schwester, Chris, und siene Mann, Jeff. Ihr Geburstag war am 30 Juni, aber da Wochenende wir feiren. Die erste Tag, wir gehen nach ein LaserTag Spielhalle gegangen. Das war die erst Zeit habe ich gehen. Es war spass, aber habe ich nur in 36th Platz uber nur 41 Luete (und Junge). Paul sind 6th Platz uber alles. Er kann gut Kanone schiessen, ich denke. In der Nacht, gehen wir im MeltingPot fur abendessen. Meine Schwester liebe diese Restaurante viele. Wir essen brot im heisse kase und Erdbeere im dunkel Chocolate.

Am Samstag, sein wir nach Flagstaff fahren. Das war drei Stunde weg. Wan es it mir ein bissen heiss in Phoenix, Flagstaff ist ein bissen kalt. Es war 90+ C in Phoenix aber nur 65 C in Flagstaff, aber es war regnet. Wir moechten Wanderin gehen, aber mit zu viel Blitz and Regen, wir nur ein bissen Wanderin. Also, dann gehen wir im Observatorium. Nacht alles das, wir essen im Pizzeria essen und dann fahren nacht meine Schwester Hause. Ich schlaffe bis bald um Hause kommen.

Am Sonnerstag, unsere latze Tag im Arizona, gehen wir nach meine Schwester under seine Mann arbeit. Sie sind MarieneinfanteristBiologine und arbeit im Zoo und bald, seine Aquarium. In dem Zoo, sehen wir viele Tiele, einschliessen Giraffe und Tigers und Affes!

The last summer exam

2008-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was taking an elective IS class this summer, Web Design, which mainly centered around how to design web pages for functionality, usability, and business profitability. We reviewed many websites and discussed their good techniques and where they had room to improve. For our last project, we redesigned a the department's website using the ideas we discussed in the class. Originally our final exam was going to be a in-class written exam on the 8th, but I got an email on Friday telling us to design a new website for 50+ year old pick-up basketball game players. I read the whole assignment and realized it was going to be a lot of work between then and the deadline; it was no longer a limited 3 hour exam.

I like these kind of projects that require some creativity and technology, so I dove head first into creating a website. There were three parts to the exam and I spent one whole day on just the first part, which was only worth 25%. It was then that I realized I needed to pick up the pace if I was going to make the Tuesday deadline. I worked all day Sunday, Monday, and most of the night before Tuesday rolled around. I was pretty well done by the time I went to bed, but I made a few changes the next day. It is always good to sleep on your ideas for a night.

Since the deadline for the project was 5pm, I left around 1 pm. Claremont can only be 30 minutes away, but in rush hour traffic (which starts at 3pm), it can be over 1.5 hours. This extra time gave me the opportunity to buy a report cover at the campus store and put together the presentation. I walked in expecting to just leave the project in a mailbox, but my professor was at his desk. I asked him where he wanted the final. he told me the table was fine, but I was a little early. I told him I knew, then I launched into the whole coming from Pasadena issues with traffic story. Then he looked at me and said, "No, I mean like 7 days early."

WHAT?????

I quickly pulled out the assignment page I printed from his email. Clear as day, buried in the second paragraph of a 12in scroll of text, was the due date: no later than 5pm on July 15th.

Well, at least I got the 5pm part down solid. Whoot! I briefly considered taking the exam back and continuing to work on it, but as my professor noticed my struggle with that thought, he said, "Just leave it. Enjoy the week off." I didn't argue.

The great thing about the whole funny situation (besides being done with the project) was that my professor suggested I do an independent study with him regarding social technologies and role playing websites. I am now looking forward to discussing with him starting a research project next fall!

Some food finds

2008-06-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

I love food. I love to cook it, I love to eat it, I love to try new stuff. In genereal, I judge a city based on its eateries first, outdoor activities second, and then... well, the shopping! This post is just all about the food; so here are some of my haunts close to home and work:

Downtown Los Angeles
Masis, Armenian Sandwiches
411 W. 7th Street, 2nd floor
213-623-8302

Warung Cafe (Asian tappas)
118 West 4th street
213-687-7784
www.warungcafela.com

Colori Kitchen (Italian)
429 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 622-5950

Blossom (Vietnamese)
426 S Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 623-1973
www.blossomrestaurant.com

Arda's Cafe
418 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213) 689-4438
www.ardascafe.com

Pasadena
Pho:
Saigon Noodle House
28 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 796-9378
*This place always get bad reviews on yelp.com, but Paul and I love it. We never go during rush hour, so that might have something to do with our opinions. They always give us hot food FAST.

Japanese:
Sushi Roku is always a fun (but expensive) place to eat. We go there on special occasions, but we have a few haunts that are arguably much better than the hyped up Sushi Roku.

Tokoro Japanese Restaurant
802 Fair Oaks Ave
South Pasadena, CA 91030
(626) 403-2542

Sachi
696 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 578-1877
*This is a fun mom and pop place, but be prepared for a long wait. They serve you big pieces of fish over small pieces of rice, but unless you sit at the sushi bar, it may take a while for them to come to your table.

Japon Bistro
927 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 626.744.1751
www.japonbistro-pasadena.com/
Try their sake samplers and their homemade plum wine!

Tokyo Wako
How could I forget this place? I love habachi grills- Paul and I had our after wedding dinner at a habachi grill in Kauai.
www.tokyo-wako.com/

Bua Na Thai Cuisine
696 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
This used to be our favorite Thai place (called AJ's fish and chips), but was sold to new owners. It is pretty good, but we miss the old owners.

Indian
All India cafe
39 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105
T: (626) 440-0309
www.allindiacafe.com
This is my FAVORITE Indian place. Favs are the Chicken Tiki Masala, eggplant salad, and garlic naan ;-).

Korean
Ka-San Korean BBQ
3115 Foothill Blvd,
La Crescenta, CA 91214
(818) 249-5500
Yumm-OOOOOOOOOO.

American
Crown City Brewery
http://www.crowncitybrew.com/
**UPDATE: sadly this place has gone out of business

Middle-eastern
Heiba (spelling?)
At Hill and Colorado

Zankou Chicken
(626) 405-1502
1296 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106
www.zankouchicken.com
Fabulous shawerma plates and tons of garlic!

Argentinian food

Malbec
1001 E Green St
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626) 683-0550
www.malbeccuisine.com

Italian:
Siena
43 E Union St
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 584-6050

Only one year left

2008-06-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

I am planning on completing my two graduate degrees in Spring of 2009... which is less than a year away! Mark your calendars, commencemnet is May 16th, 2009.

Battlestar Galactica concert

2008-04-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Paul took me on a geek date, a date to see Bear McCreary in concert! Who you say (and I said)? Well, you know, the music scores from Battlestar Galactica! Well, in that case, I am totally there!

And his blog.

It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to (despite having to stand the whole time- waiting in line, before the show, for the preshow, for the intermissions, etc.) The whole band got up there and played with a fervor that I have only heard about. There were roughly 12 members of the band who all bobbed in rhythm, played with furry, and had a tremendous energy level of a rocking band session. I all of a sudden wanted to be a rock musician. Dust off the silt covering my violin, restring my guitar, put batteries in the keyboard... and rock on! Then I thought, I was probably better off playing Rock Band on "Easy". Better for my ego.

If you haven't heard the CD, get it. If you haven't watched the show, you should just stop talking to me. But, if you get a chance, you should buy tickets and see the show!

Oh, guest appearance was stellar... anyone want to see Candise McClure in a short miniskirt?

10 Things I appreciate

2008-04-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is for Emily, since posting a response this long on her blog might have overloaded the system! So here are a few things I appreciate today:

1. The hubs- he is always there for me.
2. The fam and friends - people you can call when you need to hear a nice voice.
3. Gertrude Hawk Chocolates
4. Having my eyesight!
5. Good food - sushi, indian, thai, korean bbq, anything I can fill my tummy with!
6. The janitor at CGU that whistles while he works (and all happy workers). I don't think I have ever caught myself humming or whistling while taking out my garbage. I don't hate the job, but it never makes me sing. It just amazes and inspires me when someone can show me that some things are just not worth worrying about, so you might as well have some fun with it! (Woton sure thinks dumping the garbage out is fun).
7. Free Sidley lunches - free food tastes good.
8. The faucet in the girls room at my work that automatically turns on randomly when no one is around. This never fails to make me laugh out loud.
9. These words: abscond, quaff, defenestrate, blunderbuss, and of course, wench
10. The zoo at my house (and all the outdoor kitties too)

Another day at the Huntington

2008-04-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Huntington is such a wonderful place to go walk around that we find ourselves there often!

I think I only post under stress...

2008-04-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

I posted a lot the weeks I had midterms going on. And today I noticed that because I was feeling sick and sleeping most of the day, and therefore had a lot of homework left undone that was stressing me out, that I wanted to play with other things on my computer. So I updated the family tree on geni.com (awesome site by the way), and now I am blogging about blogging. At least it isn't about my cats. Well, wait a moment, I might post one of those too!

Slow Down Woton!

2008-03-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

I was at Petsmart the other day, looking at pet food bowl for the outside feral colony we are managing, and I saw a dog food bowl that I had to try for Woton- the slow down bowl! Woton eats his food way to fast and often pukes because he inhales his food like a marine cadet in boot camp. Of course, we give him no time limits, those are all self imposed. Anyway, we have tried putting a ball in his bowl so he has to push the ball around to access his food, but really it doesn't even phase him.

When I brought home the slow down bowl, I put food in it right away to see how it would work. I put in wet food, so Woton was trying to stick his head in the depressed areas of the bowl (a dog would be able to fit his snout in there), but Woton's head is too big unless he sticks it in the opposite side of the bowl, but he isn't really that S-M-R-T. But he is clever, because the next thing I see is him pulling out his wet food, flying portions of it across the floor, and then gobbling it up. The next day we tried with dry food.

After seeing the bowl the first day, Woton was no longer excited about it and he simply sat there and waited for me to get out his wet food. He was NOT going to work hard for the food in the slow down bowl, and honestly, he looked a little pissed off (I was wondering if I should check my favorite shoes the next morning). So we settled on half and half: half of his dry food goes in the slow down bowl, while his wet food and the remaining portion of his dry food goes in his regular bowls (with the ball). He takes quite a while to go through the food in his slow down bowl, sometimes coming back later after a meal to eat morsels. Take a look:

Happy Easter Sunday!

2008-03-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

From my parent's zoo, Sake and a friend:

Ich bin ein Beliner

2008-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

I am a jelly donut. -JFK

Ich habe ein Deutsch group gefunden. Jeden monat sie treffen fur drei Stunde und nur auf Deutsch sprechen. Viele Leute sind sehr gut (sie kommen auf Deutschland oder haben da wohnen) und venige Leute (endlich Mich) kann nur ein bissen auf Deutsch sprechen. Diese ist sehr gut fur mich weil ich muss mein Deutsch ubungen. Wann ich kein Deutsch sprechen, vergesse ich alles.

I once was blind, but now I can see

2008-03-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

I guess it is time to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. I hadn't said anything to anyone because of how freaked out I was leading up to the surgery... but I finally got me some new eyeballs! Paul and I have been discussing (and saving) for lasik surgery for a long time now. I finally have an eye doctor, Dr. Matsuda, who I trust and like; she is thorough and explains the pros and cons of everything.

She sent me to an eye-surgery specialist, Dr. Maloney. Believe it or not, he actually was the person who did the surgery on my eyes and he even saw me at my follow-up visit. I might have known I was going to the best surgeon because he is ranked in the top 10 by some Optometry board, but I definitely knew I was going to the best when I saw that people who could go anywhere went to him too- Nicole Kidman, Denise Richards, Drew Carey, and the list goes on.

The whole process is not on my list of things to ever do again, but it really wasn't bad at all. First my doctor had me come in for 3 visits and bunches of tests, then when I went to Dr. Maloney's office, his assistant, Gabby did another series of tests. One of the tests included holding up her fingers to see how nearsided I was. She did this a number of times from different distances, then left the room to get something. As soon as she left the room, Paul busted out laughing. I had gotten nearly all of them wrong; I couldn't believe it!

I want to take a moment to explain the whole procedure, but those who are prone to sensitivities hearing about that kind on thing, should skip this paragraph...

I was given a Valium to relax, but it really didn't work. Paul was allowed to come into the operating room with me, which was really great for me. Paul held my hand during the whole procedure. They have you lay down, then they strap your head in. Next, they numb your eyes numerous times so you cannot feel anything on your eyeball. Then they put a big suction cup on your eye to keep it from moving, and it presses down so hard on the optic nerve that you lose sight in that eye (it looks like a big grey and red doted blur). That is when the first laser machine was used to make a flap on the cornea. After doing that with both eyes, the doctor removes the suction cup and he pulls the flap off with a metal wire. You can see this happening, and I jumped a bit when he did not pull it lose on the first tug.

After the corneal flap is opened (it is still attached, just flipped "open"), the second laser cuts your eye to the specifications set by all the previous vision testing. I was told to look at the blinking red light. Because your eye is not secured in place, the laser has a pupil tracking device. I tried to hold as still as possible anyway. As soon as the laser starts to pulse you can hear the machine working and you can immediately start to see results. The blurry red light gets clearer- it was amazing. Not until he sealed the corneal flap back onto my eyeball and asked me to look at the clock did I realize how quickly I would see results. I could read the clock on the wall without glasses on! (Although I did have a slight panicky moment when he asked... I was stressed from the procedure, drugged, AND it was an analog clock. I had a flashback to learning to read clocks in second grade and for a moment, I thought I might fail ;-) )

The ride home was the worst part of the procedure (except for paying for it). My eyes were in so much pain, I wanted to rip them out. No one else I know who has had this surgery has had this problem, so it might have been a function of how bad my eyesight was. I took the Ambien when I got home, but it took a while to take effect. Eventually I fell asleep and after 8 hours, I awoke with no pain at all. I had to wear some space age goggles for the first few nights, diligently put antibiotics and anti-inflammatories into my eyes, and not touch them, but now they are perfectly normal. The first few days I couldn't drive at night because of the halos, but they went away as the swelling decreased.

The results are amazing- I was once legally blind. I could only see things across the room that were large enough that the average person could see them from over 400 feet away (like the wall- anything smaller I was sure to trip over.) Now, I wake up and can see the wall, the furniture, and I can read the alarm clock (I am not sure that has a large advantage since it always tells me how late I am, but at least I can see it!)

Jacob told me it would change my life, but I am not sure I understood what he meant until now. I catch myself every so often just looking up disbelievingly and saying out loud, "I can see!"

Midway between midterms

2008-03-20T15:07:00.001-07:00

Well, last week I had my accounting midterm, which was scaring the ever living jeebers out of me. (WHY? you ask? Because I haven't had enough time during the week to do all my homework, so each week I was getting more and more behind, and frankly more and more confused. Maybe not working while in grad school has some advantages.) I studied so hard that I was the first person to turn in my exam. I handed in my exam to my professor and he asked, "Are you done?" I smiled and said yes. He said, "Already?" and I tentatively replied, yea... and he said, "I didn't expect anyone to finish this quickly." Well NOW I am REALLY freaked out- did I totally miss part of the exam? Not understand a key concept? Mess up completely? Oh golly! And I have to wait until next week to find out!

In the meantime, I am on spring "break". Whatever that means. I have a midterm after spring break, so you know what I have been spending my week doing? Working on the take home portion of the midterm, studying for the in class section, reading the next chapter in accounting, reading the case studies for my management class, writing up an analysis for one case study, completing the online modules, oh yea, and working. Not to mention the 20 page research paper I should start or the additional article summaries that are due soon.

This weekend Paul and I were hoping to go hiking in Joshua tree, but he is ill (which means I may be soon too if cramming down vitamin C everyday doesn't save me). It might all be for the better, now I have one additional day to study, oh, and probably try to find a summer internship- do you think I can do that all in the waking hours of a single day?

Strangeness finds me

2008-03-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was at Borders and a nice middle aged Asian woman approached me and asked if I would help her with some questions she had about the right way to say things. She actually spoke English fairly well (as in I understood her and her vocabulary was reasonable), but she wanted help on knowing the RIGHT way to say some things. I helped her by answering questions like,

Do you say "I have a winding watch" or "I have a wind up watch"?

However, I came back to Borders today to study for my IS midterm (next week!) and she stopped by my table again. LOL. I am beginning to think that maybe she enjoys a bit of conversation and company. It cracks me up, especially since she really is so unimposing and unassuming (otherwise I probably would have said I was busy).

We caught GO!

2008-03-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our fifth kitty is in the bag, so to speak. He is really in an uncomfortable metal wire cage with a mere newspaper covering the bottom of it so his paws don't go through the spaces in the floor of the cage. But really, it is all for his own good (and maybe ours too, since there will be less kittens if these guys cannot have any!)

An archive photo of the soon to be named GO cat:

After we have caught, neuter/ spayed, and clipped these guys ears, they rightfully so, have not been by our doorstep to eat since. They are getting fed other places too, but I am a little saddened by the disappearance of them from our stoop. Oh well.

UPDATE: 5pm
Go is a female cat roughly 1 year old.

Woton the menace

2008-03-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

It is true, we have a humongous cat-dog monkey. He gets into everything mainly fueled by his food obsession. He can open everything. He believes in escalation, we bring home a cat proof food containers, he evolves and learns to open it. Next he will probably grow opposable thumbs.

In the meantime, here is his newest find:

He says, "What mom? Nothing happening here."

Week two, victims 3 and 4

2008-03-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

We caught two kittens at the same time on Friday. Paul rigged the trap so that we could pull a string and release the door when we wanted to, instead of when the cat walked on the trip wire. We caught the black kitten and the white and black kitten, which turned out to be female and male respectively.

I think we need to start naming them, since referring to the black and white kitty only means 8 of the 9 I have seen running around. I propose we name them after the numbers in Japanese:

1 - Ichi
2 - Ni
3 - San
4 - Shi
5 - Go
6 - Roku
7 - Shichi
8 - Hachi
9 - Kyu
10 - Ju

These two would be named San and Shi, since they were the third and fourth cats caught. LOL.

Huntington on a whim

2008-03-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Paul had been stressed about me being stressed about midterms (I was freaked out about taking my accounting midterm) We decided to go over to the Huntington on Sunday to see the new Chinese gardens (yea, they finished... I guess some people are coming out to visit me soon!)

The entrance to the Chinese gardens:

There is lots of detail everywhere, including the courtyard outside of the little eating area:

(eating area)

There are large amounts of waterways in the Chinese gardens, but this is the small one that attaches the Chinese to the Japanese gardens:

The back side of the Chinese gardens:

Heading into the Japanese gardens you can see a wall of bamboo on one side and a wall of cherry blossoms on the left:

Us having fun:

We have another customer!

2008-03-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

But this might be the last of the "willing" customers. We have caught, I believe, the brother of the first feral cat.

He was quite willy and hissed to the point that he was barking at Paul. We left him in line to get snipped at the SPCA this morning. Next on our waiting list are at least these four cats (two kittens) that came out for food this morning, but I am sure I have seen half a dozen or so more cats. It is hard to tell, since about five look identical.

There are at least two sets of kittens. The first two ferals we caught are from a litter this last summer (10 months old) but these three are only a few months old:

Trapped again!

2008-03-04T11:17:00.001-08:00

Paul and I have always been advocates of animals... we have many that have come in and out of our lives- our three cats, our family's animals, the feral colonies in Austin, and of course the rescue cats and dogs we place in homes. And now we venture into managing a feral colony in Pasadena.

Austin, and now Pasadena support feral colonies of cats. The SPCA has a program (SNiP) to neuter or spade feral cats, so that the cats can be returned to their territory and maintain a stable low population by not reproducing.

Paul and I ordered a Havaheart live trap cage for this very purpose. Paul also bought an instructional video on trapping feral cats, which had some incredibly good pieces of information (such as cats define their space by what they can see, so they ram the cage and will hurt themselves trying to get out, but if you cover the cage, they "calm down").

We left the cage outside for a week, so the cats could get use to it. We would have preferred to leave it open unset, so we could get the cats used to going inside for food, but it seems this is a downside the the Havaheart cage we got (there are Havaheart cages that you can leave unset in the open position.) So last night, after asking our neighbors to bring in the food they normally leave out, we set the trap. We placed a blanket over the cage, paper on the bottom (so we can pick the cat up and it has a "floor"), fresh wet food in the back and a little teaser on the way in... and we waited. I left the window open so we could hear the trap going off, and within a few minutes we had a cat sniffing around the cage. Paul thought for sure they would not be used to going in for food and we would have trouble catching anything, but alas hunger prevailed! We heard the trap door snap shut within 5 minutes!

The poor kitty had to spend the night in the garage, but I left the light on for it (okay, it was really so I felt good, since, as Paul points out, cats like the dark AND it was under the blanket). This morning I dropped it off at the SPCA and I should be able to pick it up tonight! We will release it tomorrow and begin the process over once again.

UPDATE 2/4/08 2:07PM
Our MALE feral cat is doing fine and will be picked up tonight. :-)

Happy Leap year day!

2008-02-29T16:46:00.001-08:00

On the last day of February, I wanted to get in one small post...

Happy Leap Year!

Austin, ya know, next to Sydney...

2008-01-16T14:58:00.000-08:00

This last weekend Paul and I were in Vegas celebrating our birthday weekend (whoot!), and I stopped by the Chocolate Swan store in Mandalay Place. As I was purchasing a dark chocolate covered orange for Paul (and a Bailey's truffle for me), the girl at the checkout counter saw my zipper pull on my little backpack (a Texas logo with my name on it). She asked me where in Texas I was from, and I told her- Austin. She looks at me and says, "Is that next to Sydney? You know, where Nemo is from?" Uhhh... after recovering from snorting, I said, "Sydney, Australia?" Maybe she recognized the incredulity on my face, because she quickly recovered, saying, "Silly me! Texas doesn't even have an ocean!"

Here's your sign.