Creep-O-Rama 2005!

A fun night was had by all! Great friends, great costumes, drinks, food, and a Bass-Playing Lobster to boot!

Thanks to all who came.

The photos are up!

Happy Halloween!

My MINI has been violated! :(

Crap!

I woke up this morning, walked downstairs, looked out the front door, and noticed that the passenger seat to my MINI had been pushed back 45 degrees or more.

huh?

uh oh.

I threw on some clothes, and went out to check it out.

My poor MINI was broken into last night!

Now, I'll say this first: it could have been much worse.

Luckily, I don't keep much in my car.

Here's what was taken:

Belken auto charger kit (connects my iPod to my Aux input)
iPod remote
cellphone headset
FastMap of San Francisco (which is my favorite kind of map, and they don't make them anymore!)
a bag of 5 mix CDs that a friend had burned for me
the cigarette lighter (which I have literally never used)
jumper cables (which I haven't had to use since Dick sold his Honda)

Okay - so, all-in-all, it's not bad. They didn't damage the car, as far as I can see. They were thorough enough - checked under the seats, in the glove compartment, and in the trunk. They even removed the covers in the side of the trunk to see if I had anything in there. (I didn't)

I guess I'll call my insurance guy to see if this is worth reporting or not. (I assume it won't be)

I realize that this could have been much worse, but I have to admit, I'm feeling a little violated. My poor little MINI. :(

update
So, the more I think about it, I realize that I must have accidentally left my doors unlocked, and that's how they got it. It's the only thing that makes sense, although I hate to admit it. I know that I'm always very good about locking my car - I live in a big city, for goodness sake. But there's always the slight possibility that I got out of my routine and forgot to lock it.

There's no damage to the car, inside or out, and for that I'm very thankful. Since there's no damage, I can't figure out how else they would have been able to get in.

So now I'm beating myself up over it, and I keep apologizing to my MINI - she hasn't confirmed my suspicions one way or another ;)

This is Frickin' Hysterical!

She must be back from vacation - she's blogging an awful lot today...



This is so odd, but hysterical.

You must watch it.
Now.
Do it.
You will laugh.
Out loud.

I guarantee it.

It seriously reminds me of a couple of guys who I used to teach. They cracked me up on a daily basis.

warning you need to have a high speed connection for this one.
It played better on Dick's PC than on my Mac (running Safari).
Be sure to let it buffer first.

Where have all the split peas gone?

One of the benefits of living in a big city is that you can usually walk to all of your errands: the grocery store, the post office, the bank, etc,.

Today I went to the grocery store (a nice sized Calla-Bell Market) that I always go to. I was collecting ingredients to use for our favorite split pea soup.

bread: check
onion: check
garlic: check
herbs: check
green split peas....

um, where did all the green split peas go?
the shelf where they should be was totally empty.

is there some run on split peas that I'm unaware of?

So then I walked to the corner market.

No split peas there, either.

This means that I had to hop into my car, and drive down to 24th Street to the Bell Market there.

Split Peas: check
at last!

BTW: I also found out today that my local market has stopped carrying brown sugar.
WTH?

Happy Birthday, Marcel!

Our "Big Cat" turns 10 today!

Happy 10th Birthday, Marcel!

We adopted Marcel 5 1/2 years ago from the San Francisco SPCA. He was about 4 1/2 at the time. We also received papers from Marcel's first owner, which had his birthdate.

Marcel has a big day planned to celebrate - mostly eating, sleeping, eating, cuddling, and a little more eating.

It’s like being a contestant on the $10,000.00 Pyramid...

clues:

walk through Golden Gate Park
visit the new DeYoung Museum
walk the Golden Gate Bridge
visit Fisherman’s Wharf
walk around North Beach
spend a couple of nights at the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square
ride a cable car
catch a show
take some golf lessons
dine at fantastic restaurants

answer: "Things you do while you’re honeymooning in San Francisco!"

The honeymoon is almost over, but we’ve had a wonderful (and relaxing) time!

Wedding photos

I've had a few friends who couldn't make it to the wedding ask if I had any photos yet. We don't have our professional picts yet, but we've been getting some great photos from friends.

Have I mentioned how much I love digital cameras? Thanks to everyone for sending/sharing your photos!

Here are a few of my favorites so far. Enjoy!

Still "Just Married"

Technically, Dick and I are still on Honeymoon Mode.


We spent two nights at the lovely Ritz Carlton Resort in Half Moon Bay.
On our way home, we drove down highway 1 and went bowling at Seabowl!
We squeezed in 3 games in an hour, which was great fun! (check out the final score of the last game)


While we were there, I talked Dick into squeezing into this photo booth with me to take the "just married" photo stickers. (how often can you do that?!)

And finally, here's a photo of me with Mr. Seabowl. :)

Just Married!

I can sincerely say that it was probably the best day of my life (so far!).

What an amazing day.

As far as I know (perhaps I didn't hear of some things) everything was perfect, and went smoothly.

It was the perfect day. We had the perfect weather, the perfect sunset, the perfect view.

A roomful of people who we love, who came from all parts of the country, because they love us.

What can be be better than that?

I married the man that I love.

Great food, great music.

Beautiful flowers. Fantastic Cake.

I didn't know whether or not it was possible, but it truly was the perfect day.

Many thanks to all who came, who made the day that much more special.

I can't wait to see the pictures!

Going to the Chapel, and we're.....

Okay, we're not actually getting married in a Chapel, but you get the idea.

:)!

It's a glorious day in SF! We couldn't ask for a more perfect day!

Very exciting!

It's the 10th Annual...

Okay - wedding things aside.

Ten years ago, on this weekend (Fleet Week/Columbus Day) Christopher and David (who was visiting from San Antonio then, but moved to SF the next year) were hanging out in my apartment on Leavenworth Street. I was out in Chinatown for Dim Sum with my friend, Alice.

Christopher and David were unfamiliar with Fleet Week, and they didn't know about the Blue Angels. They were taking a nap in the early afternoon, and were startled awake by the sounds of the jets. Of course, they didn't that they were jets - they thought we were getting bombed!

I eventually came home, they relayed the story, I explained the situation, and we all had a good laugh.

We immediately dubbed the weekend : "F*ck it, Life's too short" Weekend, and we've been celebrating it every year since.

It's a bit ironic that Dick and I got engaged on that weekend last year, and that we're getting married on it this year :)

The weekend has a whole new meaning now :)

Happy F*ck It, Life's Too Short Weekend, everyone!

Luxuriously Pampered

Oh my goodness.

Dick and I just had the most pampered experience ever.

My parents surprised with a treat about a month ago. They got us gift certificates for a salon/spa in Union Square called77 Maiden Lane. We were treated to spa packages that included a salon pedicure, manicure, full body massage and hair styling. I also threw in a waxing appointment to boot (hello!).

We were there for a total of 4 hours. It was simply amazing. I felt so pampered.

It was so cosmopolitan-chick. So urban-hip. So very Sex in the City. ;)

When we arrived, they printed out our schedules and gave them to us. They each listed the type of treatment, the name of person performing the treatment, and the time of each appointment. I had flashbacks to when you used to get your new class schedule each semester at school. Only, this was SO much better! We went directly from one appointment to the next. It was so cool.

I've only had one manicure and pedicure before, and this was Dick's first. The last time I had it done was 3 years ago when I was in a friend's wedding. That was at a nail salon in an outdoor mall in Monterey. I have to say that this experience was about 5000 times better (it was also a lot more expensive, but hey...).

That was such a generous and thoughtful gift from my parents. I know that it's something that Dick and I would not have thought to do for ourselves, and I'm so glad that we were able to do it.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Enjoying the moment

I'm having a moment.

right now.

Dick and I had a really nice day today. It's a glorious day here in SF - warm, without being hot, and crystal clear. We had a meeting with our Day-Of Coordinator at the venue this morning. It went very well, and although I was already confident and organized, I'm feeling all-the-more confident that things will go well because we hired this woman. This week I have quite literally handed everythign over to her, and I'm loving that.

On the way home, we drove through the Presidio, then picked up Dick's shirt from the cleaners, and my gown from the alterations store.

After we came home, we took a nice, long walk through our neighborhood and down to Delores Park.

We're getting ready to head out to meet Dick's family for drinks.

What a nice day.

What a nice time in our lives.

What a good life.

I'm a very lucky girl.

It just hit me...

We're getting married soon.

Why did it *just* hit me?

Because Christopher, our gay boyfriend, just left to stay with our friend David for a week. Today was Dick's last day at work until after the wedding, so Christopher wanted to be sure that we had enough alone time by ourselves before the wedding.

I have to say: it's kind of weird.

I got a little sad watching him pack, and seeing him drive away. It's silly, because he's coming back again next week, and he's just going across town. I think I must have had flashbacks to when we he left for Australia 3 1/2 years ago, and we had to say goodbye.

"Bye, Bro! See you on Sunday!"

Too much Sci-Fi

Last night, we played Ghost Recon on our Xbox(s)

Now, everyone knows that I suffer from a severe case of "Xbox Mouth": that means that I curse like a sailer whenever we play - much to everyone's delight.

Well, last night, I was killed fairly early on in a very stupid way.

Without even thinking, I yelled, "FRACK".

I totally laughed at myself afterwards.
Clearly, I'm watching too much sci-fi.

If you've watched the new Battlestar Galactica Series, you know what I mean... :)

Enjoy the Silence

For those of you who don't know, Dick and I are getting married this Sunday (!).

This last week has oddly calm which came as quite a surprise. I thought that last week would be the toughest: it was my last "official" week of work before taking time off, and it was also the week when we'd be finishing up the last of the big projects. We tackled the remaining projects (ie: writing our vows - or in our case, cutting and pasting our vows, picking ceremony music, finalizing the photography schedule) in the evenings early last week, and got it all taken care of. That was a good thing, because I was hit hard by lots of last minute work from a few different clients which kept me working into the night on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Add onto that working at the Gallery Reception on Saturday, and it was quite a load.

But I'm happy to report that it was all handled in stride - must be some kind of secret wedding zen that no one tells you about. :)

I should mention here that I realize how very fortunate I am to run my own business, make my own hours, and work from home. I can't imagine that all of this planning could have gone as well and smoothly if I had a traditional "job-job".

This week is reserved for last-minute tasks, meetings and cleaning of the house. Not so bad.

I'm amazed at how many fewer email messages come through my inbox when I'm "on vacation".

Nice.

Entourage Calendar

Is anyone out there still using Entourage?? (Rob?)

My Mac just updated all my Microsoft Software, including Entourage. I noticed one big change in my calendar: there used to be a small pane that showed thumb versions of entire months (along the side of the large calandar). I can't find it anymore. It would allow me to "glance" at a month (other than the current one) or I could switch months easily by clicking on those.

Is that an option somewhere that I haven't found yet?

Happy Girl

DIck has an amazing talent in being able to listen to a song, sit down at his piano (or drums) and start playing it. I realize that this is a talent that many muscians have, but it still boggles my mind. I always marvel at him when it does this with a song that he's never played before.

Right now, I can't decide what makes me happier: that he can do this, and does do it regularly, or that right now he's playing a Green Day song! (and trying to teach me the drum parts!)

It's just another Saturday morning at "His 'n Hers Condos". :)