Weekend Update

I know. I haven't been blogging as much lately. I'm just so busy with work. My newest dilemma? Our Board won't approve to move forward with our $68 million capital campaign for a new science center unless we have at least $40 million of it "secured" from donors by the end of May. SAY WHAT?!! Yeah, in fundraising, that's unheard of. So, in the course of two months, me, my boss and a colleague need to dig deep...really deep...to find some potential major donors. Talk about pressure! On the other hand, this is kind of why I love doing this type of work -the never-ending challenge of it. We'll see what happens. Anyhow, despite mind-boggling work issues, I had quite an eventful weekend...

Saturday
Geoff is feeling much better, so he and I went for a hike in the Mt. Wilson area, at Switzer Falls. Since it's labeled as an easy hike, we brought my dog too. When we got there and parked the car, we could already see how pretty it was. A few feet from the car, we could see a bunch of large rocks and a small river that runs alongside the trail. Right before the trail, there are a bunch of picnic benches and BBQ grills set between the tress and on the river bank. Geoff and I made plans to bring a picnic next time and maybe do a little grilling.

We started out on our hike, which was relatively easy. The only thing is that there are several areas where it looks like the trail ends and is cut off by the river. Turns out, you need to either walk in the water for a little bit (ankle-deep) or jump from rock to rock with excellent balance. We did a little bit of both. A word to the wise though: if you bring your dog and your dog is not too fond of water, this will be difficult. Poor Gidget was clinging for dear life to the rocks so that she could avoid having to be in the water. On the way back though, she got the hang of it and would get excited, jump up and down and start happily digging once she got across, as if she was celebrating her accomplishment.

We got about 3/4 of the way on the hike before we had to stop and head back for a couple reasons. One, there was a large part of the river we would have to cross that had a lot of rocks and deeper water and my dog just plain refused to even attempt crossing it; and two, Geoff got a deep cut on his finger and it was bleeding pretty bad.

All in all though, it was a really nice hike and I'm looking forward to going back in a few weeks to finish it. Here are some pics and a little video of my dog's bravery:

Sunday
Geoff's parents bought tickets for the Northern Trust Open golf tournament that was taking place at the Riviera Country Club, in the Brentwood area. Even though Geoff told his dad that I wouldn't be able to go (truth: I didn't want to go), he bought me a ticket anyway. I was irritated at first, but decided to go so his parents wouldn't be wasting a ticket. They felt bad and said it was their fault and I wasn't obligated to go. I was a good sport and went anyway. I knew Geoff wanted me to be there and it's only fair, since I drag him to things he doesn't particularly enjoy.

The one and only reason Geoff wanted to go was to see his favorite golfer, Phil Mickelson. He idolizes him and thinks they have a lot in common. For example, Phil does everything right-handed, except play golf, which he does left-handed. It's what he's famous for. Geoff does the same thing. He's right-handed, but plays left. Also, Phil's wife's name is Amy and Geoff's (hopefully) future wife's name is Amy. Anyway, you get the point. Phil is the 2nd best golfer in the world, just behind Tiger Woods. This would be the first time Geoff would see him in person.

I don't really follow golf, so I couldn't really tell you much about that day. I recognized some players' names, but that's about it. I watched the 3rd and 10th tees and the 18th hole. So what did I learn that day? If you're gonna go to a golf tournament, go towards the end and only watch the 18th hole. That was the most, if not only, exciting part of the 7 hours I was there. Oh! Another exciting thing is that Geoff and I were on TV. We were in the background while Phil putted the 18th. Here's a picture:


You can't really see us in the pic, but you could see us clearly in the TV footage. The yellow circle is where we were at. Right smack behind the pin. If you look closely, you can see Geoff's white shirt.

Phil won, by the way. I've never heard Geoff cheer so loudly.

Postponed

Well, so much for my birthday weekend getaway. Geoff has been really sick since Thursday and we thought it best to cancel our trip to wherever it was he was going to take me (he still won't tell me!). I don't mind postponing it; he's so congested and feels miserable. When he talks, it sounds like his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth. We re-scheduled our trip for the first weekend in March. Hopefully we'll both be in good health and the weather will be nice!

Since Geoff was bedridden, I decided to make the most out of my weekend by learning a new craft (in between taking care of him -he's such a baby when he's sick!). I came across a blog called Everyday Beauty, which gave a tutorial on how to make bookmarkers using ribbon and pieces of old jewelry or charms. I have a bunch of charms leftover from when I made wine charms for Christmas and a ton of vintage earrings that are mis-matched and would be perfect for this. I stopped in Michaels today to find ribbon clamps, but, like most of my trips to Michaels, the employees there had no idea what I was talking about and weren't willing to help me. I discovered later in the day that Joann's Fabrics sells them. So, I'll be making a trip there tomorrow to buy all my bookmark supplies. This project sounds simple enough to do. Hopefully, I'll post my finished product soon!

Birthday Girl

Today was my birthday. I wasn't looking forward to it for the past couple days, due to the fact I was turning 29. What's weird is that I don't think I'll mind turning 30 next year, but 29 this year kind of bothers me a little bit. I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because I loved being 28 so much. In any case, my digression set aside, I actually did have a pretty nice birthday.

I think Mother Nature knew it was my birthday, because it was my favorite kind of weather outside: rainy and windy. AND after the rain passed, there was the most shocking view of the mountains covered top to bottom in pure white snow.

When I walked into my office this morning, there were a couple cards and a gift sitting on my desk. Throughout the day, people either emailed me or stopped by my office to wish me a happy birthday. It was a nice reminder that I work with some really good people.

I left work early to meet Geoff at his place. We went to Disneyland so that I could get my "birthday gift" from Disney. They have a special promo right now where you can get a 1-day, 1-park ticket for free. However, if you have an annual pass (which I do), you get the option of other things: the free ticket, some sort of Fast Pass ride allowance OR a Disney gift card equal to the value of the free ticket. Being smart, I opted for the gift card (free money from Disney doesn't happen everyday!). The gift card could be used to buy any merchandise in either park, with the exception of food. I don't collect any Disney memorabilia, but I knew exactly where I would spend my gift card. I went inside Disneyland, over by the Jungle Cruise and went into a store that sells Roxy/Quiksilver, O'Neill and Billabong clothing, and picked-out a white hooded O'Neill jacket that had a leaf pattern on it and was lined with the softest material. It felt like a baby blanket on the inside. It looks like this (hard to see the leaf pattern):

The jacket cost $82 with tax, BUT since I have a Premium pass, I got 10% off. After the discount and applying my gift card, my total was $3.25! Geoff was teasing me and goes, "Don't worry. I got this." and paid the remaining amount for my jacket. So I basically, Disneyland gave me a free O'Neill jacket! Later on at home, I went to hang the jacket up and realized that you can unzip the sleeves and wear it as a vest too.

After being psyched about my jacket, we rode on Indiana Jones (and realized we hadn't been on it together since we were in high school), grabbed a couple corn dogs (from the corn dog cart, over by the photo place on Main St. -they're SO good) and grabbed a spot front and center to watch Fantasmic. Maybe because it was a Monday, maybe because it had rained earlier in the day (it had stopped once I left work), or maybe because it was friggin' freezing outside (35 degrees), but there was hardly anyone in the park and hardly anyone waiting to watch Fantasmic. It was great! After the show, Geoff and I went back to his place and he asked if I remembered my dance routine when I was in Fantasmic, back in my Disney days. I actually do remember most of it and did a little bit of it for him (to which he started laughing hysterically).

This weekend, Geoff is taking me somewhere as a surprise for my birthday. Nowhere extravagant, I know that. I can't wait though! I've been looking forward to a leisurely weekend trip. I feel like I'm getting a birthday week, instead of one day!

Dreamgirl

I didn't watch all of the Grammy's last night, but I did catch Jennifer Hudson singing. She looked amazing last night. Her dress really flattered her svelte figure. I teared-up a little when she choked-up with tears towards the end of her song. I feel so bad for her losing her mother, brother and cousin all at once. Her strong personality and grace is why she was always my favorite American Idol.

Cheap & Easy, #2

Inspired by “Sabrina” (the sailing scene):
(Random side note: I love the name “Sabrina” and would like to name my daughter that someday)



Pack a picnic basket for lunch and drive to the marina to have a picnic on the grass while watching the sailboats go by. Chace Park in Marina del Rey is a nice place to do this at. I’m using the Santa Monica area as my location for this date, but adapt plans to your location if you live elsewhere. A lake or plush green park is a nice substitute.

This is an outdoor date, so dress light and comfortable, just as Sabrina did on her “date” with Linus (see first picture):


After enjoying the picnic and breezy ocean air, head over to Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park. There are plenty of things to do and sights to see to keep you entertained for a few hours. For a cheap souvenir of your date, take pictures in a photo-booth. It usually costs around $3 and you get a fun keepsake out of it. Geoff and I did this when we went to the OC Fair a couple years ago and I made our photo-booth pictures into a bookmark and gave it to Geoff last Valentine’s Day. He reads a lot and, whenever he opens his book, now has something fun and memorable to look at.


When you’re done at the pier and park, end your day with a walk on the beach and try to catch the sunset. I love moments like this because usually you don’t have anything to say, and it’s perfectly fine. All you have to do is enjoy the sunset in silence.

Once you’re home from your date, pop some popcorn in the microwave, cuddle on the couch and watch a good movie.

Total cost of date?: $20-$25
Breakdown: $3 for photo-booth, $2.50 for microwave popcorn, the rest for groceries for your picnic. Park, Pier and Beach all for free.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie “Sabrina”:


Such a cute song.

Cheap & Easy, #1

Inspired by "Roman Holiday"

The fiancé of my recently engaged friend, called me the other day to ask for suggestions on what he should do for her for Valentine's Day. "I'm on a tight budget!" he said. I quickly thought about it and gave him some inexpensive (but still romantic) ideas.

These friends of mine live in San Francisco. Being a former resident and expert of the city, it was easy for me to come up with something. My friend, like me, loves the movie "Roman Holiday," so I used that for inspiration and suggested to her fiancé that he take her out for a "Roman Happi-day."


image from the movie, "Roman Holiday" (after she finished her gelato)

I told him to start the day by taking her to the Palace of Fine Arts, which has a very Roman feel:


They could take a walk around the water, hand-in-hand, admire the architecture, feed the swans, and he could buy her a gelato to eat while they walked and enjoyed each other's company. Afterwards, he could take her into Little Italy, where they could have cappuccinos at a little Italian cafe, and maybe catch one of the many street performers/musicians.

My friend is rather petite in size, like Audrey Hepburn. I put an outfit together of what I picture her wearing on her date, inspired by the movie (see first picture above):

(I did pretty good, huh? The ring is almost exactly what her engagement ring looks like)

After cappuccinos, he could take her back to their apartment and cook her a simple Italian meal: spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, they can snuggle on the couch or in bed and watch "Roman Holiday."

Total cost of date?: $25
Breakdown of costs: 2 gelatos, 2 cappuccinos, 1 package spaghetti, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 1 bag frozen meatballs. The Palace of Fine Arts is free to visit, as are the street performers/musicians (naturally).

* * *

For the L.A. version, I would have told him to take her to the Getty Center to admire the Roman art and have cappuccinos at the museum's cafe while sitting outside in museum garden. Then cook a simple Italian dinner at home. Instead of gelatos, spend the $5 on a cheap bottle of wine from Trader Joe's to have with dinner. Total cost is still $25. Getty Center admission is free!

* * *

I had fun doing this and thought, given our tight economy, I would come up with a couple more inexpensive date suggestions for Valentine's Day (or any day, for that matter), inspired by my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies. Check back for more suggestions over the next few days!

Weekend Update

Saturday
Geoff and I drove up to Oakhurst to visit his extended family. Oakhurst is a small mountain town just outside of Yosemite. The reason for our visit was to see Geoff's cousin, Trent, and Trent's wife, both of whom were back for good from their Army service in Iraq. Geoff's aunt and uncle were throwing a welcome home party for them.

It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get to Geoff's aunt and uncle's house in Oakhurst. Their house is really nice and is set in a woodsy mountain area, with a small river (more like a brook) just down a small hill. Geoff and I were to stay in a house that was just down that small hill from his aunt and uncle's, right on the river. The owner of the house was away and let Geoff's family borrow it for us to stay in for the weekend.

When we got to his aunt and uncle's house, there were quite a number of people there. This was my first time meeting Trent and his wife, Gaytha. It's funny, because I thought Trent looked like he could be Geoff's brother, more than Geoff's actual brother, Sean, does. Trent also has a brother, Chad, who I met for the first time too. Though I didn't really get to talk to either of them (there were too many people there), I did sit down and listen to Gaytha talk about her time in Iraq. She is very well-spoken and you could tell she was passionate about her service to our country -which I really liked about her.

After spending time with family and meeting new people, Geoff and I settled in to the house we were spending the night in. Geoff's parents and brother were also staying in the house. The house was rather roomy and had country decor (some of it nice, some of it cheesy). My favorite part was when you first walk into the house. Right when you walk through the front door, there's a floor-to-ceiling window in the foyer that looks directly onto the flowing river.

When settling in for bed, I noticed I could hear the river right outside my bedroom window (along with, like, 10 bullfrogs). It was a nice sound and put me right to sleep (once I got past the bullfrogs).

Sunday
Geoff woke me up early in the morning to ask if I wanted to take a walk along the river. I got up and changed and we took a nice morning walk along the river to an area where the water fans out into a small pond (where Geoff's cousins would swim when they were younger). It was quite peaceful, having the only sound be the water rushing on the river. I wish I could always spend my mornings that way.

Here are a couple pictures from our walk:


Geoff, standing at the edge of the small river. I would call it a brook, but everyone kept saying that it's technically a river.


River winding down to the pond.


You can see the pond between the trees. It looked like a private swimming pool.


Panoramic view of the river from the back deck of the house we stayed in (see the blue umbrella to the right?).

After our walk, we went back in the house, ate breakfast and changed to go to church with the family. On our way to the church, the street it was located on had a church from every Christian affiliation you can think of, a Mormon church and Catholic churches. They were all in a row. Protestant, Evangelical, Episcopal, Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Methodist, LDS, Greek Orthodox, etc. It was crazy. It looked kind of funny. I kept calling it "Avenue of the Churches." The church we were attending that day was the church Geoff's aunt and uncle belong to. People there were nice, but I'm sorry to say that the service was long and a bit boring. I almost fell asleep...almost. The few times I do go to church with Geoff and find myself getting bored, I usually read the story of Noah in the Bible. It's one of the first stories and the most entertaining to me. I like the animals. =)

After church, we said our goodbyes to family and headed home. The trip was solely to see Trent and Gaytha before they left later in the week to their base in Louisiana, where they'll be stationed for their remaining time in the Army. Trent is pretty much done and Gaytha has a another several months. Given the purpose of the trip, I knew we would only be there for a day and was anticipating the rushed travel.

When we got home, we watched the tail-end of the Superbowl and had a light dinner. Afterwards, I plopped down on Geoff's bed and meant to only close my eyes for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, Geoff was giving me a hug and kiss before he left for work the next morning. Apparently, I was quite exhausted.

Oh! Also, I wanted to add that, at Trent and Gaytha's welcome back party, there was a large heavy sword on the table that belonged to Trent and had his name engraved on it. Around his name, there was a pledge. I thought it was really nice and took a picture of the words:


(I blacked-out Trent's last name)

The engraved pledge said: "I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America."

Behind the Times

I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Geoff and I went up to the Yosemite area to visit his family and I've been swamped with work ever since we came back. In the meantime, just so I have a new post, I'll show you a "25 Things" list that I got tagged to do on my Facebook page. Like most tags, I didn't have to do it. But I've been tagged for it so many friggin' times, that I thought I finally would. So here it is (with a couple minor adjustments from my Facebook post):

25 Things:
1) I’m half-Japanese and half-Caucasian.
2) I met the man I’m going to marry when I was 13 years old…at band camp.
3) I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii at a military hospital.
4) On my spare time, I’m currently in the process of writing a children’s book.
5) I can mimic character voices quite well. I’m particularly good at doing Elmo’s voice.
6) Professionally, I’m three years ahead of where I thought I would be
7) …Personally, however, I’m three years behind.
8) I hate golf, but I’m surprisingly good at it. I only play because my boyfriend loves it.
9) I can belt out songs from Broadway musicals like it’s no one’s business.
10) I have one tattoo.
11) I speak conversational French
12) …and Japanese.
13) I’ve never seen any of The Godfather movies.
14) I tend to beat the odds, as displayed by #15...
15) When I applied to transfer from city college to UC Berkeley, I was told Berkeley was only taking 74 city college students from California. Around 5,000 city college students applied …and I was one of the 74 who got accepted.
16) I start law school in February to get my J.D. in Intellectual Property Law.
17) I’m a pretty good dog trainer. Just ask my dog.
18) I’m allergic to sulfites, which means I have to be careful when I drink alcohol, especially wine (which sucks because I like wine).
19) I still sleep with a stuffed animal.
20) I love old movies. My favorite is “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with Gregory Peck.
21) I tried reading the Twilight series, but wasn’t into it (don’t judge!). If I was 16, I probably would have loved the books. But, at 28 (almost 29), it was hard for me to get hooked.
22) I think I’m OCD when it comes to organizing my closet.
23) I’ve traveled through the entire state of New Jersey and hated all of it.
24) I’m a sleepwalker. Especially if I’m under stress.
25) I once got completely knocked down to the ground by Wayne Newton in Las Vegas. He was walking while talking to someone and not looking where he was going and completely plowed into me as I was standing in line to buy a drink. He apologized, helped me up and kept walking, though he seemed more irritated than sorry. The next day, I had a bruise on my left arm and would tell anyone who would listen what had happened to me.