"Asian Fit" Sunglasses

Okay, this really cracks me up...

Two weeks ago, I bought a new pair of sunglasses. I think it's been at least 6 years since I've bought a pair. I'm pretty rough on my glasses, and the lenses were all scratched up. (although, I did decide to have new lenses put in, so I could still use them). Anyhow, it's been a few years, so I was ready for a new look.

Here's what caught my eye - there are a line of sunglasses targeted specifically to Asian Women! They are called "Asian Fit". Who knew? They even had a little decal on the glasses saying "Asian Fit". (which I thought was especially funny!)

I laughed at first, thinking it was an odd gimmick, but I guess it actually makes sense.

The description one a website that I found with "Asian Fit" glasses:

Asian Fit Sunglasses features modern style sunglasses for Asian women. Featuring a smaller bridge size

Well, it's true that my the bridge of my nose is pretty flat, so glasses do tend to slide down, but I never really thought anything of it.

So, I did buy a pair of these "Asian Fit" sunglasses. (not the style pictured above.) I've been wearing them for a couple of weeks, and the fit really is quite fantastic. They certainly slide down less often than my old glasses - or not at all!

I'll say it again: "Who knew?!"

I wonder if there are other "Asian Fit" products out there that I should know about? ;)

Scenes from Lower Haight

Christopher and I went out for a walk yesterday afternoon from the Castro to Hayes Valley. We walked through Lower Haight along the way, and saw some very interesting sights.

There was a huge 4-alarm fire on Tuesday afternoon. I could see the flames of the fire from our house, which was a couple of miles away. We walked past the remains of the building yesterday, which was quite striking.





We also passed by the this old tree trunk on the sidewalk. It was just the trunk - the rest of the tree had been chopped off much earlier it seemed. Anyhow, there were some really neat carvings of animals done within the trunk of the old tree.

Guard Kitty

Noe is not sure how she feels about our neighbor's kitty peering into her house.
Dick and I tease her and tell her that the kitty is her boyfriend. ;)

Costco Queen

Oh, Costco, how I love thee....

I may have outdone myself today: I went in with my list, bought only one thing not on my list ;), saved $17.00 with coupons, and received $$cash back with my balance from my Costco Rebate Check*.

How often do you leave Costco with more money than you came in with?

To top it off, I also had lunch (pizza) and filled up my tank before leaving.

**My Costco rebate check was extra large this year because I bought all of the window coverings in the new house through Costco's custom shades program. :)

Tonight's Dinner

I haven't posted any food-related items in a while, but I think tonight's dinner was blog-worthy. :)

Roasted Chicken (prepared according to the Zuni recipe), mashed potatoes, and collard greens.

Yum!!

Chow Family Bowling Day!

My Sister bought a Groupon a few months ago to "Mission Lanes", the bowling alley in Milpitas. Mission Lanes was the bowling alley in town that we used to go to on occasion when we were growing up in lovely Milpitas. She bought us a Groupon for our family of 4 to play for two hours. It was so much fun!


Sis, Dad and Mom at the bowling alley!

Somehow, I managed to bowl what I believe may be my best score ever. Not sure how that happened. :)


The scoreboard

The rest of my family asked that I please blur out their scores on this photo. ;) They did not have the beginner's luck that I had on our first game. My second game was not nearly as good, and everyone else had a higher score the second time around. Actually, my sister had the exact same score on the second game as she did on the first. funny!

Thanks, Mom, Dad and Sis for a fun afternoon at the bowling alley!!!

An afternoon in Marin

We've been having some pretty amazing weather in the Bay Area over the last couple of days. Dick and I decided to take advantage of it yesterday, and drove across the bridge to visit Sausalito and the Marin Headlands.

The weather was warm, clear and gorgeous!


Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

I've realized that it's been about 10 years since we strolled through Sausalito together. I've been walking through town with my walking team - early in the morning, before anything opens, and without stopping - we thought it would be fun to go and visit!


Dick, walking along the shore in Sausalito

We stopped at a restaurant named "Horizons" and had Bloody Marys and a light lunch. We sat at a table for two overlooking the San Francisco and the Bay. It was perfect.

After lunch, we drove up and around the Marin Headlands. The view was so perfect that day, that it looked unreal! It was so clear, so colorful, so perfect!


View from the top of the Marin Headlands


the obligatory Hipstamatic shot ;)

My Thank You Card to my Sponsors

This is the Thank You Card that I made and sent out to everyone who sponsored me for the 2011 Susan G. Koman 3-Day for the Cure. I had already sent out a Thank You over email, but thought it would be nice to send a card in the postal mail, too. (Because, isn't it always nice to receive a card in the mail?)



side note
I just looked and saw that our team, The Warming Hut Hotties, has raised more than $182,000 and still counting!

Day 3

3 Day, 60 Miles. We did it again!!

After coming home last night, eating dinner and taking a nice soak in the tub, I was too tired to write my final blog post about the amazing event of the last 3 days.

It was an amazing 3 days filled with love, hope, compassion, and a whole lotta walking. I came home with 2 small blisters, 2 tired feet, and 1 full heart. In the end, the San Francisco Bay Area Susan G. Komen raised over $3.9 million! AMAZING!!

Yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of September 11th. We started the day by walking the first mile in silence in honor of all who lost their lives 10 years ago. It was an emotional way to start the day. I started walking with two of my closest friends, arm and arm with each other. As we walked that first mile, we brought in additional friends into our fold and linked arms as we walked in silence. We were all in tears. It added an additional layer of grief and hope to our day.


Flags at half mast down the aisle as we walked out of camp


the beginning of the route, and the beginning of the mile in silence

We all boarded the ferries which took us to Tiburon. One really neat thing about this walk is that it would be the opposite route of what the Warming Hut Hotties walk during the Sunday of our 40-mile back-to-back weekend. We walked through Tiburon, Marin, Sausalito, across the Golden Gate Bridge, down into Crissy Field, and over to Fort Mason for closing ceremonies.

Some of my favorite photos from the day:


Love this shot. We had a couple of participants in wheelchairs this year


My friend Janine (who was part of our training group last year) at the cheering station with her daughter, daughter's friend and adorable dog!


Furry Hottie!

The best surprise of the day came when I got a message from Dick that he was driving out to one of the cheering stations!! He met me along the route at a grocery store (two of my friends are vegetarian, and the vegetarian lunch options hadn't been very satisfying to them over the last few days, so we stopped off at a store that we knew and brought our own sandwiches to lunch.) Dick had lunch with us, and even drove a few slightly injured Hotties up to the Golden Gate bridge so that they wouldn't have to walk up the steep hill before crossing. I love my husband so much. Thank you, Dick!!

Dick and Trina at Mollie Stones

The weather turned out so much warmer and clearer than expected, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day! The walk across the bridge was just spectacular. SO much better than the cold, windy, foggy conditions last year.


View of the bridge before our walk up and over

The last Pit stop of the walk was in Crissy Field - so close to the Warming Hut!


View from the last pit stop

Our team waited for all to arrive and gathered together to walk the last couple of miles together.


A gaggle of Hotties walking towards Closing Ceremonies

Before Closing Ceremonies started (at 5:30) all of the walkers assembled in the holding area a few blocks away from the Marina Green.


Almost there!

Many walkers were able to see friends and family outside of holding before heading to Closing Ceremonies.

My dear friend, Alisa, and her beautiful daughter, Sophie.
Alisa is a 12-year Breast Cancer Survivor.
She is an inspiration to me, and everyone who walks


Me with my friend, Jim.
Jim is walking in all 14 3Day walks around the country this year. San Francisco was his 6th walk. He's almost half way there. GO Jim!!


3Days, 60 Miles DONE!!

Our team walked arm-in-arm to closing ceremonies. We were all given shirts for participating: White shirts for the walkers, grey for the crew, pink for the survivors.
The survivors entered the ceremonies last, as all of the walkers raised their shoes in the air to honor them.


raising our shoes in honor of all of the survivors who walked with us


the circle of survivors raise the flag at the end of Closing Ceremonies

In the end, the 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Susan G. Komen 3Day for the Cure raised more than $3.9 Million. Our team, the Warming Hut Hotties raised over $176,000 and my supporters helped me raise $7,605. I couldn't be more proud to have had the opportunity to participate in this amazing event.

My deepest thanks to all who helped me during this amazing journey - my team, my friends, my family, and especially my husband. I love you all so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Day 2

Day Two Complete! 40 miles down, 20 more to go!

This is my second year of participating in the Susan G. Komen 3Day walk. Of the 5 event days that I've walked so far, I think this one was my favorite so far. (and that's a BIG statement!)

We went to the East Bay today! None of the 3Day or Avon walks have ever gone through the East Bay before, so it was extra special. It was an extraordinary day. Not only was the route lovely (beautiful neighborhoods, with lots of great architecture and cute stores!) but the community was very involved in coming out to CHEER the walkers on all day! The local police and firefighters all came out, as well as cheer leaders, Safeway store employees, and lots and lots of citizens! Thank you all so much for coming out to cheer us on. After walking so many miles, we're all pretty tired, but having you there clapping for us and giving us high fives really helps us boost our energy and dedication!

The morning started early, with the first ferry leaving around 7:00am. We left camp at around 6:30, walked the 1.5 miles to the ferry port, and took it over to the port of Berkeley. As we walked towards the port on Treasure Island, we watched the sun rise over the bay.


Sunrise over the Bay


Hotties on a Boat!

Our team has temporary tatoos that say "Hottie" on them. Many of us have it on the back of our calves.


Hottie Calves. (yes, those are my enormous calves/cows on the far left

Turquoise Blue seemed to be the color of choice today!


Pretty Hotties in Turquoise Blue

Hands down, the highlight of my day was seeing my family! My sister was working today at UC Berkeley, and had a chance to come out and meet me along the walk for about 15 minutes on Campus before we reached the cheering station at the UC Berkeley Clock Tower. Unfortunately, I was too caught up in the moment to remember to take a photo (bad sister!) but my friend Alisa got one for sure. I'll remember to post later!

My parents, and their neighbors, Ron and Bonnie came to Cheer us on at Lake Merritt!! SO happy to see all of them!!


Dad, Mom, Bonnie and Ron meet me at the Cheering Station! Thank you SO much for coming out!!

We had a wonderful lunch around mile 15(!) on Lake Merritt. It was very pretty and relaxing!

Lunchtime Hotties!

We also got to play with the Oakland Fire Department a little!



As I mentioned, all of the cheering stations, and various cheering along the way today was just wonderful. It means so much to us. This is an example of what we see along the way:



We walked through Downtown Oakland, down to Jack London Square, and boarded another Red and White Ferry.


Hotties on the ferry



We still have a few injured walkers with us, but the medics to a WONDERFUL job caring for them and taping them up so they can continue walking.

Lizelle and Yumi and their pretty knee tape art

Back at Camp:


Day Two, 40 miles complete!


Foot Massage!

Our team was the largest team as well as the highest fundraiser. Our team leader, Linda, also got a special (HUGE) tent in honor of her planning the most training walks. Linda hosted a "Mocktail Party" at her tent for all of the Hotties.


Happy Mocktail Hotties

We also were served a special dessert during dinner for being the top fundraising team.
The dessert: a tower of cupcakes!!


Tower 'o Cupcakes!

Along the Walk Day 1

Day One was WONDERFUL!!! The weather was perfect (in my opinion, anyway) - overcast and probably low 60s for most of the day, with the sun peering out in the afternoon, and maybe in the high 60s.

We started at the Cow Palace, made our way to Ocean Beach, had lunch at the overlook just past the Cliff House, walked (and climbed lots of stairs) on the Lands End Trail (a Hottie Favorite), through Sea Cliff, Pacific Heights, down to Alta Vista Park, down Gough Street to Bay, past Fort Mason, into Fisherman's Wharf, then caught a ferry to Treasure Island!! Once we docked on Treasure Island, we walked another mile or so to camp. *phew!*


The Check-In line - at the Cow Palace, heading out to start today's 20 miles!


Our wonderful Hottie, Marsha, an incredible woman, friend, and Breast Cancer Survivor. She will be found several times along the route, handing out tissue, candy, and fresh fruit to all of the walkers. Her shirt reads, "LOST: My Boobs FOUND: My Life". Love you, Marsha.


Look at this cute couple! They were just married last week! They had "Just" "Married" on their backs, with little tin cans trailing from their backpacks!


"The Facilities" for the next 3 days. This is what you'll see every 3-4 miles at the pit stops - a very long row of Port-O-Pottys

The view at lunch. It was too bad it was so overcast, otherwise a gorgeous view of Golden Gate Bridge

Julie, Alisa and Monica carrying the "Patience" flag


Three Hotties (Jim, Yumi and Lizelle) at the Medical Tent at lunch. :(


The sun finally came out! I think that's Alcatraz in the background


Each of the Pit Stops have a theme. Today's Pit Stop 5 had a "Prom" theme! Special thanks to the San Jose Police Officers for taking vacation time off and volunteering to keep us safe along the route! Love these guys!


Monica, Tanzeem, me and Julie, waiting to board the ferry to Treasure Island

The Red and White Fleet Ferry that we took to Treasure Island


Tired Hotties - asleep on the ferry ride


The amazing view from Treasure Island!


We made it to Camp!


Day One Complete!! 20 miles down, 40 more to go!!