Today is Noe's 5th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our "kitten"!

Today is the day that we celebrate Noe's birthday. We don't know the exact date for certain, because we didn't find her until she was 4-5 days old. Come flip through some of Noe's baby photos, and see how adorable she was!

It's so hard to believe that we've had Noe for 5 years already. It seems like yesterday that we picked her from the "kitten bush".

Five Years old.

Noe is excited about starting Kindergarten this year. ;)
I sure hope she learns how to "play well with others". :)

Happy Birthday, Noe!

What happens in San Francisco, stays in San Francisco....

What a very, very fun (and mostly wedding-related) weekend!

First of all, Dick and all of his entourage flew off to Vegas for his Bachelor Party. They were gone from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. From what I understand, they all had a great time, and Dick is ready to go back again!

My Mom and I had a really nice mother/daughter day on Friday. We went to both of my first dress fittings - one for my wedding dress, the another for my cheongsam (Chinese Dress). I was reminded of how short I am - the only alterations that my wedding dress needed was about 6 inches off the bottom! :)

My Mom spent the night with me Friday night (which is always fun). We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, then went to a meeting with our caterer in South San Francisco. We had to pick out the linens and china for the wedding. (ah - the details)

I had a spectacular Saturday night with my friends Lora and Paula. Since the guys were in Vegas all weekend, Lora and Paula through together a very spontaneous Bachlorette Party for me! I had told Lora months and months ago that I really didn't want to typical Bachelorette party - bar hopping, game-playing, penis-sippy-cup-toting, etc., Just not in to it. Instead, I'd told her that I'd love a girls night in - fun dinner, movies, jammies, chatting.... and that's exactly what we did! Lora had us over for a fabulous dinner of many cheeses, fruits, salamis, and white wine. Paula brought over a bottle of pink sparkling wine, and made her famous chocolate fondue - with strawberries, bananas and apples. YUM It was really fun, and perfect, and just my speed.

The highlight of the night was when Lora gave me my present. She had trekked over to the Castro that afternoon, and bought a bag full of bachelorette-party-style gag gifts. But the best part of a t-shirt that she had found way back in February. (I need to take a photo of it) It's a black t-shirt that has Big Block lettering that says "I ♥ Dick". This is, of course, the perfect bachelorette party gift, and was completely hysterical.

But, that wasn't the best part....

The best part was when the three of us when downstairs to the front lobby of Lora's building. We were all wearing pajamas/sweats, and asked the security guard to take a photos of all of us, with me wearing my new t-shirt. If that wasn't funny enough, we took one photo with Lora's camera phone, and sent the photo to the guys in Vegas. We knew they would be sitting down to dinner around that time, and they would all be together. They got a good laugh out of it.

That's about when Lora sent Dick a text-message on his phone stating, "What happens in San Francisco, stays in San Francisco...." :)

Sunday was another terrific day. My wonderful sister threw me a "high tea" bridal shower today :) We had it at my parents house in Milpitas. My amazing Uncle Bill, who works in the food-service industry, catered the entire event, and it was truly spectacular. The food was amazing, and was simply beautiful! We had a house full of people - about 30 women, both family and close friends. I had a wonderful time, and send out huge "thank yous" and love to my sister, my parents, and everyone else who helped put it all together. Thanks to all who came as well - I think everyone had a good time.

One would think that I'd be exhausted after all of this.... I did get to bed at a decent time Sunday night, but found myself wide awake again by 3:30am. So, what do I do when I'm up in the middle of the night? I get up and blog!

The most amazing return policy ever

I just had the most amazing shopping experience!

My friend, Vivian, gave me a very nice birthday gift a couple of months ago. It was some products from a local Castro store called Nancy Boy. The store is on Market, between Castro and Noe. Dick and I have passed it often and looked inside the windows, but never went it. They have a catchy phrase on their window that I always remember: Tested on boyfriends, not animals. cute.

Vivian gave me some really nice items, but I was afraid they were things that I wouldn't actually use ( Linen water- which I think I would like, but I don't think Dick would enjoy sleeping in lavender-scented sheets). I thought I'd go check out the store, and exchange my gifts for products that I know I'd use (salt scrub and body wash - for those of you keeping track).

I walked into the store, and the very nice sales person saidt he exchange would be no problem at all - he told me to go ahead, walk around the store, and find something that I would like. He told me that my store credit was around $36.00.

So I walked around, found the items that I wanted (totalling $30) and came back to the register. He exchanged my products, and gave me the difference in cash. (always nice)

Now, here's the really amazing part:

He asked me, "Do you have any friends or family who you think would enjoy these products that you're returning?"

I answered, "Yes - a friend of mine actually gave them to me. I'm sure a lot of my friends would enjoy it"

Then he told me to please take the original items back, and share them with friends who will enjoy them.

That's their return policy!

(shakes head in disbelief)

Really?

So, that's the amazing return policy store.

Now I feel it is my duty to share the story with all of you, and recommend this great, neighborhood store:

Nancy Boy
2319 Market Street
SF, CA 94114

I suppose I should atually *use* the products first, but I've gotta say - so far they smell really great!

Take a shower = UPS delivery

How does that happen?

I was expecting a UPS delivery on Monday (my aeron chair ) and I waited around all day until they delivered it. (about 4:30pm) They usually come around 12:30, so I was waiting longer than I expected.

I knew another package was being delivered today. Again, I waited all morning, then I thought, "Well, the UPS guy on Monday was new - maybe they have a new schedule". I have some errands I need to run this afternoon, and thought it would be best to take a shower, and get going with my day.

I finally hopped into the shower around 12:30, and wouldn't you know it: the buzz of the front door bell.

How do they do that?

So. yeah, I was the crazy looking woman opening the front door wearing a robe with wet hair.

nice.

E-babe

I've been a member of ebay since January, 1998. I was a big fan early on. My family tagged me with the nickname of "E-babe" after Christmas 1998. Most of the Christmas gifts that I bought that year were great ebay finds. They kept asking me "Where did you find this?" and I kept replying "Ebay". :)

I'm very excited about my latest ebay deal. My business has been doing quite well lately, so I decided to treat myself to a new office chair! My old chair is at least 8 years old, and was a bargain buy from an office discount store. Dick suggested that I look into an Aeron Chair - he has one at work, and I've heard such great things about this chair.

We hunted on ebay and craigslist and were amazed at how well these chairs keep their resale value. We eventually found a deal on ebay on a slightly-used Aeron Chair in the size and specs that I wanted. It had a buy-it-now price, which was a great deal, plus I didn't have to bid against anyone else to "win" it.

The chair came in yesterday, and I am SO Happy with it! It is so comfortable! It doesn't have the optional lumbar support on it, but so far, I don't think I need it. It's so much more comfortable than my old chair.

Anniversaries Galore!

I just realized that today is my Bloggiversary. Two years of blogging. Who would have thought that I'd have so much to say, while, in fact, saying so little?

I believe that this week is also my 10-year Anniversary of being a City Girl. I moved into my cute little apartment on Leavenworth Street in late August, 1995, to attend The San Francisco Art Institute. oh my. So much has happened over the past 10 years. I think I'm officially a San Franciscan Native now.

..and while we're on it...

I think I moved into my condo (the first time around) 7 years ago this week. It's close to it, anyway.

It seems that August has been a notoriously busy month for me. :)

The House of Nap

Early this afternoon, I realized that everyone in the house (except for me) was taking a nap:

My boyfriend/fiance was taking a nap.
My gay-boyfriend was taking a nap.
Both cats were taking a nap.

It's as if someone sprinkled fairy dust around the house.
(which, given the fact that we live in the Castro, sounds really funny)

...and speaking of things that are gay

A while ago, I noticed that our local bagel store (on Castro Street) was selling a drink called "Gay Fuel".

I'm sorry, but what does that mean?

A drink that makes you gay?
You may not drink this beverage unless you are gay?
If you're already gay, it'll pump up your gayness?

WTH?

I recently noticed that the bagel store has pulled it off the shelves.

Maybe the Castro was already gay enough without drinking Gay Fuel.

Fruits

We were making breakfast (Pancakes!) this morning, when Christopher started to explain to us how Australians tend to make up a plural form of a word for words that don't actually have a plural form.

His example: "Would you like some fruits?"

"fruit" is one of those words that is the same in single or plural form.

"Fruits" isn't really a word.

Then Dick came up with the exception:

"Unless you're talking about gays, that is."

"Look at all of those FRUITS!"

Launched!

I just launched a new client site:

unveiledeventsandgifts.com

This was a fairly quick project - we launched it within 3 weeks of our first meeting. Not bad.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and (more importantly) so is the client!

It was my first all-CSS site that I've done without Dick's help, so I am pleased that I've learned so much about it over the past few months. My favorite part of the design is how the text wraps around the cake image at the bottom. :)

You've gotta love CSS.

Noe goes to the v-e-t

Poor Noe.

She's having one of those very few bad cat days.

I had to bring her to the vet today. We had to get something specific checked out, plus I realized that it's been over 1 3/4 years since her last "annual" check-up.

We used to take our kitties to a local vet here in SF. Years ago, we realized that it was nearly impossible to take her. As she grew up from a kitten to an adult she became more and more agitated at the vet. For anyone who has come over and met Noe, you've seen that she can be very sweet to Dick and me (especially when we're the only people home) but she DOES NOT like for anyone else to touch her. Imagine how much worse she is when we take her to the vet! Truly, she turns into an untamable little beast when we go. The last time I tried to take her to the local vet, she was so crazed that they simply couldn't do anything with her at all, and had to send us home..

I started taking her to my family vet way down in Milpitas a couple of years ago - we've been taking our pets to our favorite vet down there for more than 20 years. Before our first appointment, they gave me a sedative to give Noe before the drive down. She's pretty drugged by the time we get there, but she's still too freaked out to get a full check-up. So then, they put her in "the tank". (a small acrylic box, about the size of two shoe boxes stacked) Yep, pop my little baby in there, and gas her up. Once she's out, they put a little mask over her nose and mouth to keep her out while they complete her physical. It's horrible to watch, but I know it's the best thing for everyone involved. The way I see it, after I give her the sedative, everything must be a blur to her, and she surely doesn't remember as much, or isn't as traumatized by it if she hadn't been drugged.! I tell her it was all a bad dream. :)

We just came home from Milpitas, and poor little Noe is in a bad state. She's still all "drunk" (as my vet says) from the drugs, so she can't walk a straight line. Her rump is sore from having 4 shots (vaccination, plus a cortisone) so she's walking with a stiff limp. Her eyes are completely unfocused, and she's totally disoriented.

I'm so thankful that we all only have to go through this once every couple of years. It's just a bad situation for everyone involved.

Coincidentally, Noe's half brother (same feral Momma kitty), Kazoo (check out his web site had a trip to the vet yesterday. Apparently, the accute dislike for the vet runs in the family. Must be genetic. Read about Kazoo's trip to the vet on Willo's Blog.

I'm such an old fogey

The only time I ever listen to the radio is in my car, so I kind of enjoy it.

I usually listen to KFOG 104.9FM. It's a nice blend of "classic rock" - 60s through today. It's a decent amount of variety, and I usually like what's playing. Plus, with my cool radio that came in my MINI, I'm able to see the name of the song, and the name of the artist!

My sister has recently turned me on to another local station: 95.7. They play 70s, 80s, through now. Their claim is that they will never play the same song twice in one day. I have to say that it's a fairly impressive claim. Although I don't listen to the radio much these days, I remember when I used to listen to the radio at work (at one of my old "job-jobs") and I would get so tired of hearing the same songs over and over again.

So the new station has been quite enjoyable so far.
Here's a sampling:

As I was driving home this morning, they played "Purple Rain" by Prince, followed by "Come Sail Away" by Styx.
Now seriously, when's the last time you heard either of those songs on the radio?
...and is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

Last week, they played "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls.
oh, Yeah, baby!

On the "I'm so old and unhip" note, while I was skimming around the pre-programmed radio stations in my car when I was leaving Costco today, I stopped at 105.3 - LIVE 105. (my primary station in the 1990s). They were playing a song by "Hot Hot Heat", which, by the way, the only reason I know of this band is because I keep up with my ultra-cool friend, Willo's on her blog. So I hear the name of the band, and I listen to the song thinking, "So, this what the hipsters are listening to these days..."

I'm such an old music fogey.

All by myself

Dick left for a 2-day business trip up in Redmond this morning.
I made him coffee, kept him company while he ate breakfast, gave him a kiss, and sent him on his way.
He left at 7:30am.

Christopher started a temp job earlier this week.
I made him coffee, kept him company while he ate breakfast, gave him a hug, and sent him on his way.
He left at 8:15am.

I've been in my office, catching up on emails and phone calls all morning.
It's oddly quiet in the house.

Dick has been home sick for the last few days, and I've grown accustomed to having Christopher in the house all day, too.

Where's my boyfriend?
Where's my gay boyfriend?

My life is so weird.
Funny, but weird.

"The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

- Mark Twain

Is it me, or does today feel like a Winter's day?

Ah, San Francisco Summers.

It's been cloudy, foggy and chilly all day.
Dick isn't feeling very well, so he, Christopher and I have all kind of holed up in the house all day.

..and we all know what that means...

Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike!

We picked up our (2) copies yesterday.

So far, it's wicked hard, but it rocks!
(hi, I'm a twelve-year-old boy)

Slurpee!

Dick and I went to Union Square this afternoon. I was a little thirsty, and I noticed a 7-11 across the street!

SLURPEE!

It was the first time I had ever been to the 7-11 around Union Square, and it kind of cracked me up. I went right to the Slurpee machine, and poured myself a Coke Slurpee. Yum!

A little caffine, and little sugar, a little brainfreeze. It's all good!

I have such fond childhood memories of getting Slurpees. My Grandparents (on my Mom's side) live a 1/2 block away from a 7-11. My Grandfather used to walk us down to the 7-11 and buy us Slurpees whenever we would visit. Here's a piture that I found from 1971 that was taken in front of my Grandparent's house in Stockton. I'm on the left, my sister is in the middle, and that's my cousin, Bruce on the right. Cute, huh?


Come to think of it, my sister and I stopped by the 7-11 on the way to their house a couple of months ago, and brought a Slurpee to my Grandfather! It still makes him happy. :)
Here's another Slurpee related photo from 1997. (random!) That's my Mom and her Dad. My Mom is showing off the Star Trek Lotto cards that we brought back for her :)

Anyhow, I had a Slurpee today, and it was good!

Gay Boyfriend

As you may know, my "Bro", Christopher, has been staying with us for almost a month now. He was only going to stay a week or so at first, then move in with one of our mutual friends, David, However, we've all been having such a good time, and it's working out so well, that we've decided to extend his stay here for a while longer.

I have to say, we all benefit from having Christopher here with us. He and I have been great friends for 12 years, so I love having him around. We generally hang out in the office together in the morning/early afternoons. I'll be doing my web design work, and he'll be on Dick's PC, applying for jobs, etc., Sometimes, we run errands in the afternoons. BONUS: Christopher got his undergrad degree at a hospitality school in Sydney. Apparently, he has always enjoyed cooking, but he also took a cooking course in school! All of that translates into Christopher cooking many, many delicious meals for Dick and I! YUM! Dick and Christopher have always gotten along very well - I've always said that the two of them would have been close friends even without me in the picture. In Christopher, Dick has found a new Xbox buddy. We've taught him Halo, GR2, and most recently DOA. Many, many nights of good entertainment! We've also managed to get him hooked on the new Battlestar Galactica Series.

Last week, I was IM'ing Dick while he was at work. I was going out for the evening, and Christopher was planning dinner for he and Dick. I told Dick what the plan was, and he said, "My very own Gay Boyfriend!".

This is hysterical, of course, and now we call Christopher "Our Gay Boyfriend".

We saw a lot of friends at two different events this past weekend. We kept singing the praises our gay boyfriend, and tried to convince everyone that they should have one, too!

What does a gay boyfriend do?

(Now, granted, I think I have an exceptional "model" :) )
My gay boyfriend cooks, cleans, and goes shopping with me. Actually, on his first week here with us, my gay boyfriend helped me finalize my wedding cake order, and helped me pick out wedding shoes. He keeps us company, helps around the house, makes us laugh, comes out to parties with us, and he calls me "Doll". :)

LOL.

Christopher and I have joked about writing a sitcom pilot about our current living situation.... The straight couple who lives in San Francisco's Castro District, who has a gay friend who comes to live with them. We'll throw in tidbits like "His 'n Her Condos", the Gay Boyfriend idea, and crazy cat stories. We even have ideas for the crazy neighbors! We figured that the pilot episode can follow the actual first day that Christopher came in from Sydney: you know - the day I picked him up from the airport, we were supposed to have dinner with Dick and my parents, but ended up having to go to the ER because he had a 3rd nostril growing.

NBC, here we come! Watch out "Will & Grace" it's the premiere of "Gay Boyfriend"!

One last thing, if you've never seen the Gay Boyfriend Video, you really must. It's hysterical. Maybe we can buy the rights to it, and use it as our sitcom's theme song!

PS: The people who made the Gay Boyfriend Video used some of Pete's Company's Software to make it!

A new MINI Neighbor!

My next-door neighbor just brought home her new British Racing Green (BRG/BRG) MINI Cooper! She placed her order 4 months ago, and picked it up yesterday morning. Her old car was a Mazda Miata. Believe it or not, her MINI is a whole foot shorter than her old car! (we all park directly infront/inback of each other, so that makes a big difference!)

My little Red MINI is going to look so cute parked next to her Green MINI during Xmas! ;)

Big Cat Hospitality

As I've mentioned before, Christopher has been staying with us for the past couple of weeks. He's staying in the guest room/Raggedy Ann room upstairs.

Marcel has been a very good host cat, and has been making sure that Christopher feels at home here. In fact, he's taken to sleeping with him most nights. In my mind, Marcel's little cat brain is thinking something like, "Let me help you feel at home. Surely, you should have a cat sleep with you." or "Hey, this poor man is sleeping by himself! I should sleep with him so he has company."

Whatever the reason, Marcel really seems to enjoy keeping Christopher company in bed.

Christopher went to bed earlier than the rest of us tonight, and closed his door.

Poor Marcel has been sitting in front of the closed door, meowing. I think he really wants us to open it for him so he can sleep with Christopher.

I'm trying to make him understand that Christopher will be just fine without him for a night, and that he will probably let Marcel sleep with him again tomorrow.

A cat's job is never done. :)

update
Dick just walked into the office asking if I had opened Christopher's door to let Marcel in.

I had not.

I seems as if Mr. Marcel has managed to muscle his way into opening the door all by himself!
Impressive!

Happy Birthday, Omar!

Happy Birthday to he who we call "The Oracle".

Omar's blog post today was just too funny.
I just had to share it with all of you.

It's really, really geeky.
But, really, really funny!

Happy Birthday, Omar!

Big Girly-Girl Day

Simply put, today was the most girly day I've ever had in my entire life.

I have to admit that it was fun, though. :)

I got together with my Mom and Sis, had a quick lunch, and went to Alameda for my Wedding Make-Up Trial.
Yes, you read it right.
Noe Cat (that's my Xbox codename) got all dolled-up today.
It went pretty well. As most of you know, I'm not a big make-up wearer, so I was concerned about not looking like myself, or (gasp) looking like a clown. (I had enough of that in my old color guard days, thank you very much!)
I was very pleased with the results, and I think it'll do well for the day of the wedding.

After my "make-up session", we headed down to Union Square, and picked up my wedding dress from the Bridal Salon.
The dress is beautiful. I'm very happy with it.

My veil had just come in as well, so I was able to put on the whole "dog and pony show" for my Mom, sister, and Christopher.
(my Mom got a little teary!)

The dress fits pretty well, but I need to have it altered a bit, especially in the length. I swear, they make these dresses for 6'5" amazon women.

I should share a very funny little tidbit here....
The Style Name of my dress is called "Halo".
Yep, you read it right.
Noe Cat's wedding dress has the same name as one of our favorite Xbox games!
How apropos!
(and my maid-of-honor will be wearing a cute little "Ghost Recon" number, too!)

Anyhow, that's the story of the girly day.
Now I need to wash this make up off my face, and go kick some Halo-alien butt. :)