currently

current book:
"Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour" by Rachel Shukert

current music:
Mayer Hawthorne; Harmony House, verse two (reggae compilation)

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure:
laziness. hey, I'm on vacation! oh, and handbag shopping

current colors:
green, coral, black. but not at the same time!

current fetish:
playing games non-stop on the iTouch. I'm partial to Paper Toss, Doodle Fit and the Pogo suite of games

current drink:
POG and lots of water

current songs:
"I'm Not Amazed" by Natural Black and "Say It" by Unico

current movie:
saw "It's Kind of a Funny Story" and "Jack Goes Boating" yesterday at Firstlight

current wish-list:
Range Rover

current needs:
a better a diet!

current triumph(s):
packing only ONE SMALL and ONE SMALL carry-on for this vacation.

current bane(s) of my existence:
nothing, really

current indulgence:
TV! specifically, "Pawn Stars"

current blessing:
becoming an auntie in May

current slang or saying:
"That is ridiculous" -- lifted from my BIL, who says it CONSTANTLY

current outfit:
yoga pants and a t-shirt

current celebrity crush:
tough one... Daniel Craig come to mind first, so I'll go with that.

current excitement:
going to Vegas in March

current mood:
peaceful

digital nation

i'm just coming down off of a bit of a freak-out where tears were involved. what's got me all anxious? work, for one. and, well, me. i haven't felt like myself lately. maybe it's because i haven't been taking care of myself, the cold i'm trying to get over being a prime example of this. i'm working long hours, and still have lots of work to do even when i go home at a reasonable hour. i've always been a worrier, and when things are out of my control, my worrying escalates. i'm feeling better now.

other things:
i bought myself flowers today, a huge orchid stem with 10 or so blossoms. it looks so tropical in the tall clear cylindrical vase, and almost artificial. i gasped when i went to pay for the stupid thing. apparently orchids are not in season.

i have a crush on dr. house.

sometimes i worry that i leave unintentionally trite comments for other bloggers.

might be going to new orleans for business next month. told the ol' boss-dad that it's not cool to dangle travel of any kind in front of me, then quickly take it away after realizing dates conflict or whatever. i likened it to telling my sister's dog that he's going for a walk, then not taking him.

going to see the giants play in oakland this weekend. maybe they can stop their away-game skid.

gotta take the boss-dad to the airport early early tomorrow morning, he's off to maui. it's like a rotation, i was there, then my sister + hovito got back yesterday, then my dad goes tomorrow. mom's not going this round, and it's a shame we rarely vacation as a family.

my new couch, the one that was delivered, like, 2 months ago? the cushions are sagging. yes, i have a fat ass, but really. i keep meaning to call macy's and have them do something about it.

saturday as i was leaving my house to go babysit for sophie, i smelled something burning. turns out it was a nightlight in the hallway entering my bedroom (you enter my bedroom, the bathroom is immediately to the right, then you go down a short hallway before actually getting to the bedroom part). yes, i'm 30 and still have a hallway/nightlight. anyway, it came with the place and isn't too gaudy, so i left it. so it looked like it had burned out, but it was extremely hot to the touch and the plastic was a bit melted. i just figured its useful life had been exhausted. so i plugged another nightlight into it, only to have the same result two days later. erm. i'm glad i haven't burned down the whole building, and i must get that looked at asap. in the meantime, i hope the monsters don't come out at night, because my room is tomb-dark without a light there.

cultural tradition

i am likely participating in buy nothing day today. i briefly thought about taking the picture black friday challenge, but that would mean dealing with way too many crazies at the mall or other stores.

and besides, i have all the crap i need right now.

gobbler

happy thanksgiving!

so much to be thankful for, perhaps this year i am realizing this more than ever.

i am thankful for my loving family, even if i do complain about them. i'm thankful for a great job, for a comfortable home, food to eat, healthy friends and family, and for the ability to travel the way i do.

i'm thankful that i discovered a passion for making myself healthy this year, and have had the determination to continue with it.

back catalogue

trivia last night was good, up until the point we got disqualified for cheating.

yeah, that's right, we cheated at trivia at a pub. my classiness knows no bounds. it was funny to see a friend get into it with the accusing bartender, fully defending our honor despite the fact that, yeah, we did look up an answer or two on google. then i had to throw my two cents in and say, "hey, we're in the silicon valley where everyone and their mother has some kind of smartphone. who's to say i wasn't on twitter, WHICH I WAS?"

s'okay, we just had fun goofing off and didn't really need the $50 in bar credit anyway. but! we will be back.

oh, yes we will.

peep show

i felt like toothpicks were keeping my eyes open most of the day. i got a weird burst of energy toward the end of my training session in the late afternoon, but that is now long gone. it's a quarter to eight, and i'm gonna hit the hay very shortly after i'm through writing this.

this week is going to be busy, i have something every night after work. this, of course, in addition to my workouts. when does it ever end? i feel like i'm getting busier every week, long gone are the days i'd come home from work and lounge around for hours, sometimes watching two movies a night.

got my harmony one in the mail today to replace my old harmony remote. logitech was kind enough to offer a minor discount to replace my current one since the warranty period has expired and it wasn't holding a charge. got it setup, and the touchscreen feature is pretty rad.

alaska air announced direct service between san jose and maui starting in march. this is exciting for several reasons, but perhaps currently so because of the $169 each way introductory fares. gonna book a ticket for early april, mmhmm.

radiance

i turned on my tv tonight for the first time in ages. who knew i had two episodes of "better off ted" from august about to be deleted on my tivo? i just wanted to make sure i created a season pass for "trauma." i'm not normally a fan of medical dramas, but since its filmed in SF i thought i'd give it a go.

the old navy "cardi coats" commercial is ridiculous.

today is the second time this week that i've had a headache that is so bad, it makes me dizzy. i took advil when it struck on tuesday, but it didn't touch it. at my board meeting in the evening, my neighbor offered to do reiki on me to relieve my headache, and it worked! i wish he was around today to fix it again.

i skipped out on the gym yesterday because i had to get new tires (i typed "tired") for my car after a flat tire in the morning held me up. i'd been putting off getting new tires, and see what happens?

i also skipped out on the gym today because of this headache. i'm hoping to go tomorrow morning, or in the afternoon before i meet my friend angie for drinks and apps.

working out has become such a priority i kinda freak out when i can't make my 5 workouts a week. i didn't have any sessions with my trainer this week, but my monday and tuesday workouts were pretty intense.

it's almost the weekend and i'm thrilled. but i'm more thrilled that it's finally fall, my favorite season. here's hoping we start to get some crisp, fall-like weather soon. i have a couple of new jackets i'm dying to break out!

island mercury

my birthday and celebration of it were fantastic.

friday morning i had a personal training session. originally i had a massage scheduled at burke williams, but decided to cancel in favor of really ringing in my 30s as healthily as possible.

that went out the window when Jewels brought me donuts. before this indulgence, i hadn't eaten sugar in 7 months. they were yummy!

i had lunch with my sister (an eating theme on that day, yup) and did some shopping for new workout gear. turns out when you work out 5 days a week you do a lot of laundry, and having a scant 5 sports bras wasn't cutting it.

i headed in to work to drop some stuff off, then went to santa cruz, where i rode the giant dipper roller coaster. by myself. i'm not such a fan of roller coasters, but it was a nice little adventure. i cruised some shops downtown before going to the hotel where i was staying the night. my friend Nicole drove up from santa barbara for my birthday weekend, so that was awesome. we all went to dinner at hula's which was totally over-the-top cheesy and i loved every minute of it. ooooh, and the cocktails! delicious.

saturday morning i was up too early cause i was so excited! almost 25 friends showed up at the beach for sunning, food and drink. Jewels brought my fave ice cream cake on dry ice (!) and we BBQd on the beach with a little portable gas grill. it was amazing, all of it.

i gathered everyone up and took photobooth shots with almost everyone (sad: the boardwalk arcade no longer has the photochemical photobooths, just digital) individually and then all who were game hopped on the giant dipper. (my second time in two days!)

i wasn't anxious for the day to be over, so a bunch of friends headed to my house to eat and drink and chat. i was exhausted by the time everyone left about 11p, but i had such a wonderful weekend!

and now, i'm procrastinating finishing up packing for maui. my plane leaves in about 3 hours. ostensibly, i'm headed for a wedding of a good friend of mine from high school, but i'm staying 10 days. monday he invited me to the rehearsal dinner for this friday, so i begrudgingly headed to macy's to find something suitable. surprisingly, i was in and out in less than an hour with something i'm comfortable wearing. losing 60# (okay, 59.2#) is awesome, but i truly have nothing to wear. my trainer created several travel workouts for me, and i actually intend to do them. my suitcase is ridiculously heavy, and is likely 50+#. i can't recall the last time i brought workout gear on a vacation.

the dirty...

tomorrow, i turn 30.

i said it.

i didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal for me, but twice today i kind of panicked thinking about it. i don't know what about that number scares me, or if folks around me are making such a deal about that i end up feeling like i should be more apprehensive about it than i am.

i think for me, the end of my 20s signifies growing up more so than any other number has. like, once you reach this b-i-g number you're supposed to have everything figured out, personally and professionally. and i'm working on both of those things currently, and having success with both of them.

what i can say is this: i am healthier than i was a year ago, i weigh less than i did a year ago, i am overall happier than i was a year ago, and i am prouder of myself than i was a year ago.

here's to aging gracefully.

can you see me now?

I went for my regular eye exam on Saturday afternoon. It'd been about two-and-a-half years since my last exam, and in that time my insurance added a new vision plan, which meant I couldn't see my old O.D.

I was thrilled when I found a new O.D. just around the corner from me, open on Saturdays, with half the copay of my old place. I called on Friday for an appointment, and they were able to fit me in the next day! This was perhaps the biggest shock, as at the old place they booked appointments, at minimum, 3 weeks out.

So I go into the appointment, and it's kind-of a cattle call: I was shuffled into one room after another for preliminary stuff with an assistant, before finally waiting to see the O.D. She was very friendly and welcoming, and started asking lots of questions about my daily reading, computer and driving habits. All good things when determining if I need glasses. Which I've never needed before. But with my turning 30 less than two months away, I thought I'd better go for my regular check-up and make sure the dreaded number didn't coincide with failing vision. ;)

So she does all the typical vision-exam stuff, then offers me the option of paying an additional $39 (not covered by insurance) to not have my eyes dilated, and instead try the new OptoMap technology that takes a digital image of your eye. I opted (hehe) in, because really? Who likes to have their eyes dilated? It really was a simple and painless process.

So the O.D. goes into details about my results (no problems) while explaining in lengthy medical jargon why I might need glasses. But when I ask her point blank if I need glasses, she says, "Well, not really. But since you're paying for your insurance, you might as well get your money's worth and at least get prescription sunglasses."

Wait a second. If I don't technically need glasses, then why would I need prescription sunglasses?

The O.D. leads me out into the retail portion of the facility, where a nice young man is waiting to fit me for glasses. I sit down and ask him the same thing -- I don't need glasses, so why am I here? He smiles and says, "Oh, but you at least need sunglasses!"

At this point I look around at the other folks being fitted for eye wear -- literally every person that I saw in the office cattle call and waiting room -- was now getting glasses of one kind or another!

I politely decline to purchase anything from him, and he leads me to a woman that can help me. (Apparently he's not used to hearing "no.") This time it's the shop manager (pulling out the big guns!) who says I'd be best served with a pair of clear glasses, as I'll really notice the difference when driving. No one seems to hear or care that a) I don't need glasses! and b) I'm not interested in purchasing anything.

What a scam! In all my years of getting regular vision exams I've never had one done at a place that also sold frames and lenses, so maybe this is common practice.

But one thing is for sure -- I'm not going back to this place!

on demand

i signed up with a personal trainer at my club a few weeks ago, and had my third session today.

i am officially paying someone to kick my ass. especially today, when i was late due to circumstances beyond my control at work. so because i was about 20 minutes late, she wanted to make sure i never arrived late again. her plan worked -- i totally, dramatically, thought i was going to die. between the stair climber she subjected me to (the hard-ass one with the actual stairs) and the intense strength-training workout. at the end, she looked at me and said, "bet you're not gonna be late again, eh?" TRUE.

last session, i didn't eat a proper lunch beforehand, so i felt like utter crap and thought i was going to faint. again, another mistake i'll never repeat.

repeat after me: this will not become a workout blog. this will not become a workout blog. this will not...

i've had a headache all day long. maybe not enough water. am trying to remedy that now.

at some point i want to recap my calgary/seattle trip.

i went to los angeles for the day, week before last, on my first business trip. left on the 6a flight, and was back at 6p. that's a long day, lemme tell you. i went to a one-day conference and hopefully made some contacts for future business endeavors. i treated myself to lunch at encounter, which was exactly the daily amount of kitsch i needed.

delicious cobb salad (no egg) for lunch, with an obscene amount of blue cheese


the shindig was done early, and i had a couple of hours to kill before my flight, so i took a drive in the area surrounding the airport. i ended up in inglewood (always up to no good) and bought some bitchin' sunglasses at marshall's. or was it ross? driving back to drop off the rental car i saw so many lightening flashes. i thought it never rained in southern california. or so tony! toni! tone! said.

i'm watching "synecdoche, new york" right now, and have conflicting feelings about it. i wanted to like it so badly, but just can't seem to bring myself to do so. i'm not arty enough for it.

sunday was my mother's 60th birthday. my dad, mom and her best friend of 50 (!) years spent the weekend in S.F. my sister and john were too cheap to spring for their own hotel room, so they just came up for shopping saturday afternoon and dinner. saturday evening i went to the 30th birthday party of a friend from college who lives in S.F. good times were had.

early sunday morning my mom and i had appointments at bliss, a massage for me and a facial for her. we hung out here for several hours before heading to meet my dad at the giants game. it was a shame we wasted the fourth ticket we had, but my mom's friend bailed early, as per usual, and my sister and john were hungover from a party they attended the night before and didn't want to drive up. their loss -- it was amazing to see schierholtz's inside the park home run and the giants sweep the As. i'm looking forward to going to monday's game in oakland and cheering on another giants victory.

kill your television 2009

it's that time of the year again, folks -- tv turnoff week.

even though i typically watch less than 2 hours of television a week, i like to participate in this event as a reminder that those 2 hours (and sometimes even more if i watch a movie or two) can be better spent doing other things. some advocate making this week a technology turnoff week, but i'm not ready to go that far. i mean, would that i could live without my blackberry. ;)

anyone else up for the challenge?

can you read my mind

I've been a fan of The Killers for a few years now, but as often tends to happen, I didn't act on getting tickets for their upcoming Bay Area show. By the time I realized I should be buying tickets, they were, of course, sold out. Which meant StubHub or craigslist to the rescue!

I decided to try the latter, given that my experience with StubHub, although not unpleasant, meant having to pay lots of additional fees. That's the price of security, I suppose.

As experiences with CL can be, it was a bit frustrating to nail down a time to meet with one of the many sellers I contacted. It's also a challenge to determine which of the sellers have legit tickets. I'm wary of those that just have ticket printouts, even though that seems to be the way most tickets are issued these days.

Yesterday's adventures in craigslisting included a guy that would only communicate via text message (sketch!). I got all the pertinent info down, then asked where/when he could meet. He responded by saying, "you haven't made an offer yet." He was asking $65 OBO per ticket, so of course I offered him $65 per ticket. He said he already had one offer of $65 per ticket, and could I do any better? The bugger was trying to shake me down and get me in a supposed bidding war via text! So I said thanks but no thanks, and moved on to the next seller. (Actually, I didn't even respond to his shakedown attempt. I don't feel it deserved a reply.)

And then the next, and then the next. And even one more.

The chick that I ended meeting up with to buy the tickets from was kinda odd. She sent me funny little texts throughout the evening like we were BFFs, or something.

I'm pleased to say that an afternoon of hunting down tickets was made exceptionally easier with the aid of the BlackBerry. And that I finally have a pair of tickets to Sunday night's show in my hot little hand.

Let's just hope they're real.

kerfuffle

i don't even know what to say anymore.

i went to vegas at the beginning of the month. the encore was better than we even imagined. the rooms were absolutely huge, definitely too big for me just staying by myself.

anyway, vegas was a good time. the neon boneyard museum tour was solid, and i'm glad i went. even sister and john were glad they tagged along. i got them to drive me around for a few hours, looking for both vintage neon sings (mostly motel) and thrift shops. the one thrift shop we went into was lame, but some of the motel sign photos i got were awesome. although i only suspect they're awesome, because i have yet to convert them from RAW. we went to olives at the bellagio, our favorite restaurant, and i ate a salad that i now dream about. the rest of the meals were good, but nothing to write home about. that's likely because i was trying to stick to my eating plan. pshaw. that pretty much went out the window the first day. and so much for not drinking. turns out me likey jack and soda. a lot. i had a few too many two nights in a row (one was when this dude called dave invited me to his room) and i haven't been hungover in years. turns out i don't miss that part of drinking. the second night of too much imbibing i was on fire at the blackjack table and ended up coming home quite a few benjamins up.

the first night sister, john and i headed to a place called slots of fun (hardy har har) and it was a total dump and had the surliest staff. the $2 blackjack tables attracted us, but after a couple of hours we headed back to the encore where we ended up playing the rest of the trip. john ended up calling the place "sluts are fun" and when you have as many drinks as i did, it actually sounds funny.

two weekends after that, i headed to tahoe with lisa, sarah and julia and their respective spouses. we stayed in a bitchin' house that sarah found. we quickly discovered that the refrigerator wasn't working. nearly all of our food spoiled that first night, and what we replaced the following day got plunked in the deep snow outside the front door. friday night we played a rousing game of trivial pursuit and saturday we all woke up way too early and played out in the snow before heading to squaw for dog sledding (lis and tim ) and a nice walk for the rest of us.



sophie liked the snow


snowshoeing was on the agenda, but it ended up working out that we didn't go. we went our separate ways for lunch, with jewels, cy and sophie and i going to jake's. yum! the rest of the day was spent napping, playing checkers, hearts, taboo, and begging someone to drive me to the crystal bay casino (it was a no-go). oh, and eating. Jewels made her famous mac-and-cheese with gorgonzola and gruyere and i even had a nibble and it didn't disappoint.

boy did it snow saturday night! over 2 feet, which made it slow going on the way home sunday. i was chomping at the bit to leave early and avoid too many ijits on the road sunday morning. chains were required, but we prayed Jewel's 4-wheel drive without snow tires would get us home safely. chain control let us pass through without a problem, but then again we saw a turbo porsche without chains, so chain control must've been half asleep at 11a. got home at a reasonable hour, only to get into an "argument" with my sister. while i was in tahoe, i got a text from her saying she and john sold one of their two cars, and she needed the accord back. (i've been driving what is technically her accord for nearly two years. when my grandmother died, sister got the car and i got the cash equivalent. john bought a new car a few years back, gave his old one to sister, and i ended up with the accord, as i had just sold my jetta. it was always to be a temporary situation.) i was a little irritated, not because i didn't know the car was technically hers, but because that's how john and sister operate -- no thinking, no notice, just action. so i wrote back a simple, "okay." i spent a good deal of the drive home on sunday bitching about my sister and how now i needed to go buy a car. so i get home and call my father to see what they're all up to for sunday night dinner, and everyone (mom, john, sister and dad) is in the car. my dad's new car has that bluetooth speakerphone integrated thingie, where the caller can hear everyone, and everyone can hear the caller, so my mom says, "did you see sister's new car?" i'm like, "yeah, thanks for rubbing it in, i know she gets the accord back. sheesh!" my mom's all, "no, really. look at the end of the parking lot at your complex, the black car at the end is your sister's new car." turns out, sister and john bought her a new car on saturday, and they sent me that text just to mess with me. jackasses! john said it was payback for leaving a dead rat on the front doorstep. (my neighbor's cat left me a surprise, and john is truly terrified of rats. so a couple of saturdays ago, i saw it there early one morning on the way to the gym. i thought about cleaning it up, but thought it'd be a nice surprise for john. he wasn't amused, but i'm still giggling over his dramatic reaction.)

oh, and i'm going back to vegas in may for memorial day weekend, followed by calgary the following weekend. international road trip!

no spellcheck on this puppy tonight.

hawaiian holidays

Maui was great.

I left SJC Sunday the 28th and flew to LAX.

CA coastline


downtown Los Angeles


My four-hour layover pretty much flew by after having some lunch and doing some serious people watching (hello, guy with the Hollywood sign tattooed across his neck!). As they were already in Southern California for the holidays, Jewels, Cy and Sophie met me at LAX. When it became apparent the flight was way oversold (by 50 people!) I put us first on the volunteer list to fly on the next flight. (Certainly a recurring theme when I travel.) We were called up to the counter and asked to take the first flight the next morning (9-ish) and they'd provide accommodations at the Westin that evening, some meal vouchers and an $800 travel voucher. Jewels was hesitant to take it, thinking of Sophie, but Cy and I convinced her that the vouchers would pay for their upcoming trip to Spain, and we were set.

We met a father and daughter from Long Island on the shuttle to the hotel that gave up their seats as well. They were both horribly obnoxious: she was in her first years of college and wouldn't stop talking about her boyfriend, her father used every opportunity to mention the properties they own. I was glad my room was on a different floor than theirs.

I ordered room service for dinner, watched "The Sound of Music" and tried to settle in. Because our bags had gone ahead, I had the hotel bring me the very basics: a toothbrush and toothpaste. Despite the Heavenly Bed, which I normally adore, I slept like crap.

I met Jewels et al. in the lobby early the next morning. They all didn't sleep well either, so it was kind of a long morning for all of us. We had breakfast courtesy of the meal vouchers at the airport, then waited for our flight to depart. As we're boarding, a group of about 6 people push past us, suitcases hitting everything in their way, yelling about being in first class. I was thinking their behavior was more like "no class." Turns out it was Ice Cube and his family and the entire plane was buzzing with, "didja see Ice Cube?!" I can only imagine the scene had it been a notable celeb. (Although I really did want to say "today was a good day" to him. Seemed too cliche.)

Because I didn't ask anyone to pick us up, we took a cab to the condo. Turns out the driver is our age and went to elementary school in Hana with a classmate of mine (Maui really is a small world).

Jewels was anxious to get to the grocery store, Cy nd I were starving, so we compromised and headed to Safeway, situated next to an L&L Drive-In and Maui Tacos. I ended up getting ill from my food at Maui Tacos and was sick all night. I felt tons better the next day (Tuesday) and after lunch at Eskimo Candy we headed to town to give Cy a tour of the local spots.

On the 31st I was up early and went across to the beach to see the sunrise.


I rented a 10-20mm lens before leaving the bay area. I must buy one of my own now!


Jewels and I hit up the Shops at Wailea and went and picked up Cy and Sophie and headed to one of my favorite beaches. After several hours in the sun, we went out for happy hour and got kinda loaded. It was a good thing we walked to the restaurant, and that it was a short walk! Cy grilled our dinner: walu, bacon wrapped shrimp and mahi mahi. It was delicious, but he also plied us with very strong versions what I termed the poor man's mai tai: POG mixed with gold rum and a dark rum floater, and it did us all in. Jewels was in bed by 8p, and I fell asleep on their living room floor. Cy woke us both up at midnight, and I mumbled "happy new year" to both of them before walking back to my place (a mere four doors down).

The 1st started off well with us off to Big Beach. Cy said he wanted to body surf in some big waves, and it's one of my favorite beaches. We had been there for maybe and hour or so with Jewels and Cy in the water and Sophie and I hanging out on the beach, when I hear Jewels yelling about something. Cy got torn up by waves that were breaking super close to shore and got tossed on his head. There was a nurse randomly on the beach, and they urged us to get him to urgent care as it looked like he had a dislocated shoulder. Some lady offered to help us pack up all of our stuff, and another woman and her daughter offered to help us carry everything to the car. (Nice people, truly.) They helped Cy to the car, a good 5 minute walk,and we spent some time at the urgent care. We headed to lunch after his shoulder was back in place and he was doped up on painkillers. I like to say we started 2009 not with a bang, but with a pop. Yeowch!

Jewels decided they'd now be on the "geriatric tour of Maui" because of Cy's injury. So I decided we'd head to Ho'okipa for some great vantage points for photos, then cruise around Paia and eventually head upcountry to Makawao, which meant lots of walking but nothing too strenuous for Cy.







We went to Sansei for dinner that night and beasted on all kinds of yummy sushi.

We headed to Lahaina and Ka'anapali on the 3rd so that we could introduce Cy to the wonder that is Kimo's. We did drive-bys of Napili, Kahana and Kapalua, all three places I hadn't been to in about 5 years. They were getting the final touches ready for the Mercedes-Benz tourney in Kapalua, and it's the most buzzing I've ever seen the place.

We had lunch at the Hula Grill in Ka'anapali and did some walking around before heading to Lahaina for more walking and eventually dinner at Kimo's.



the distortion from the 10-20mm makes Sophie's chunky arm look even meatier


crazy shirts, front street


ahhh. mai tai



On the 4th I had plans to meet up with some high school friends, but sadly it never panned out. Jewels, Cy and Sophie went whale watching while I went into town to do some errands (my father asked me to get some new things for our condo). While in town I drove around a bit, visiting old haunts and reminiscing. I drove by the Maui Mall, and saw a huge mall wall set up, touting the arrival of




Whole Foods. I occasionally go to WF for their produce, hard-to-find items or for a good sandwich, but they really are overpriced. I can only imagine their pricing scheme once they arrive in the islands. I have calmed down quite a bit since taking this photo, but nearly everyone I know has been treated to a diatribe about WF's place on Maui. (Which, as far as I'm concerned, they have no place being on Maui.)

We ate dinner at Cafe O' Lei, which my father loves, but this was the second time I've been there where I've been less than impressed. This time it was a snafu regarding ordering sushi -- first we were told there was a 15 minute wait for sushi orders, which we were cool with, then went we went to place our order, all of a sudden they weren't taking any more sushi orders. Wtf? Our waiter was generally weird anyway, so we all ordered mediocre entrees, moaning about how we should have gone back to Sansei for sushi. I knew we'd want to get to bed early because the next day we were leaving for Hana bright and early.

We keep a car on Maui, but it's getting up there in age, so I suggested we rent a car just to be sure we made it to Hana without incident. Jewels wanted to rent a Jeep Wrangler, because part of the fun in going to Hana is the adventure in getting there. We tried our best to cram stuff for the 3 of us plus the baby into the Wrangler, but it was a no-go and we had to trade for a sedan.



couldn't forget the Lomo!


The roughly three hour drive to Hana was mostly uneventful, with the exception of one funny story. I drank waaay too much water and thus had to use the facilities. Because there are only two rest stops on the way to Hana, and I wasn't sure how close the next one would be, Jewels suggested we pull to the side of the road to, um, "let go." As disrespectful as it was, I couldn't see going any further without exploding and agreed. Waiting for the tour bus behind us to pass and checking both directions for cars had Jewels and Cy in stitches, and Jewels commented she would laugh if the rest stop was right ahead of us. Which, of course, literally right after we rounded the bend, it was. Even I had to laugh about this! It'd been about 9 years since my last trip to Hana, so the location of the rest stops had slipped my mind.


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the best of the plentiful roadside stands


No trip to Hana is complete without stopping at Keanae.






Cy arranged to rent a house for a night right on one of Hana's famed black sand beaches. As check-in time wasn't until 3p, we used the three or so hours we had 'til check-in time (we were turned away by the cleaning lady!) to have lunch at Tutu's, a Hana Beach institution and then drive on to Oheo.

Tutu's:





Oheo:



the pools were closed to visitors because of the recent rains -- the park service was worried about flash flooding



driving back from Oheo

driving back from Oheo


We arrived back at Hale Waikoloa in the late afternoon and decided to explore the beach right in front of us. I also spent some quality time reading in the lounge chairs just outside our deck. It truly was a perfect setting!



the beach in front of the house



my favorite view, ever.


I got a kick out of reading the guest book for the home, dating back to 1997. The very first entry was nice enough, but the last line was, "Something must be done about the grocery and restaurant situation in Hana!" A majority of the rest of the 10+ years worth of guest entries referenced the stupidity that was the first entry. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and added a "keep Hana Hawaiian!' plea after my own guest book entry. Because that's the thing I like best about Hana -- it stays the same. While I was in Kahului getting all worked up about the opening of a Whole Foods, things were status quo in Hana. And it sure was refreshing, calming even, to see that noticeably little, if anything, had changed in the nine years since I was last there, and in the 25+ years since I was first there.

So yes, there isn't much to do in Hana, there is but one restaurant open in the evening, and there are two general stores. But that is the charm of Hana, and I'm glad Cy and Jewels agreed with me. We got takeout from the Hana Ranch and played cards and they had a few drinks and we all went to bed early. I woke up in the middle of the night to a breathtaking storm -- it sounded like the house would be carried away! The combination of the heavy rains, wind and the waves crashing on the beach just steps from where we slept was amazing. And of course, when I woke up there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was about 80 degrees. Heavenly Hana, indeed. I truly didn't want to leave!



Wai'anapanapa State Park






We took our time driving back and stopped for lunch in Paia and headed to the pool when we got back. After a late dinner at Da Kitchen, we crashed early.

We were due to leave Wednesday night, so we wanted to make the best of the nearly full day we had before our flight left. We walked to breakfast, had a few cocktails (*hic* we were on vacayshun! *hic) at breakfast along with out mac-nut pancakes and then walked to the beach. I felt like such a sloth (in a good way!) and it was the perfect way to spend our last day. Jewels and Cy started to look pretty red after a few hours, so we all headed back and went our separate ways for a while, with me taking some stuff to a local thrift store. I have no idea where I found the time to clean out two of our closets, but it needed to be done!

I walked to the beach across the street to see the sun set, and it was spectacular. I took a few pics with the 10-20mm, but it really didn't do it justice.






We had our final dinner on Maui at a place my family used to love, but we weren't impressed with. (Although the poke I had was pretty darned good.) I ended up spending some time talking with some friends of my father that live in our condo complex.

I wish I could say I'm glad to be back, but, well, that'd be a lie. ;)

year in review

it's been a wild year.

my sister got engaged at the end of january, and we've been awash in wedding talk since.

my mother, having learned she had breast cancer in late 2007, underwent radiation treatment in the first few months of the year. following her last treatment, i surprised her and some of her girlfriends by joining them for lunch at macarthur park in palo alto. meals there are usually excellent, but this one tasted especially good knowing that we were celebrating something that she would hopefully never have to go through again.

i took a cake decorating class and a sushi making class, learning skills in both that i have yet to put to good use. i still prefer to eat baked goods and sushi made by others, apparently.

i traveled to vancouver, british columbia and seattle with my friend matt in april. we drove from seattle into canada, and it was my first time in vancouver. although we didn't explore the city extensively, it was a great trip and i have many fond memories of our international road trip, photoboothing, and exploring.

i was laid up with a back injury that still hurts on occasion, especially after too much sitting. physical therapy and chiropractic care from my friend lisa helped speed my recovery.

i volunteered for two film festivals, learning a lot about how festivals are organized (or disorganized, as was the case sometimes) and just how many people are needed to make something run seamlessly.

i bought a new camera in april, and i've fallen in love with little photo junkets with friends.

i went to some of the best concerts i've ever been to, including rilo kiley, jay-z, and jenny lewis.

i was elected to the board of my condo complex in may, and these past few months have had me learning more about working with a group than ever before.

both of my parents had knee surgery this year, and are recovering well after both having complications post-surgery. we had a scare in june when my father was hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs. seeing him frail, attached to oxygen in a hospital bed was frightening, but after spending several days in the hospital, he was released and stayed at my home for a week. i'm glad to say he's no longer on his blood thinning medication and is back to his usual self.

i traveled to long beach in july for the wedding of a family friend, a young lady for whom i used to babysit. although i was invited, i didn't attend the wedding and instead drove north into santa monica and further east for photo ops.

i traveled to boston and to cape cod with my friend greta in august and attended a red sox game on my birthday.

i traveled to orange county for my cousin's wedding in september and went to disneyland with my family. there were lots of good memories made while riding rides, and very little drama.

i did a little 5K for breast cancer, and am looking forward to participating in another one next year.

i drove to los angeles in november with T and had fun exploring places i hadn't been to in years.

we got good news in november from my mother's radiation oncologist that there was no sign of her breast cancer returning. she continues to take her oral chemotherapy drug on a daily basis.

i traveled to florida in december and went to walt disney world, my first visit to both places. tres exciting that i visited both disneyland and disney world in the same year.

i am going to ring in 2009 on maui, one of my very favorite places on earth.

i know i am very fortunate to have had the opportunities i've had this year, and i look forward to what 2009 will bring.

acid tongue

this year, halloween fell on a weekend. (me an' geto boys are trick-or-treatin'.) but there will be no robbin' little kids for bags. a costume, you say? does a pair of bumblebee "ears" count? tres creative.

the last couple of weeks have had me on a high. i'm just loving everything and having a great time. (i thought about editing that sentence, but nyet. it's true!)

saturday morning's breast cancer walk was great. see?

my shirt


the back of J's shirt




breakfast! ;)


bridge school was a good time, despite reviews that said the lineup was less than stellar.

the lawn wasn't happening this year, so we bagged the lawn for seats. i scored a seat in section 201 for $30 from a scalper, and saw norah jones from there, then we eased on down to the 100 section for jack johnson, courtesy of tara's skillz.




jack johnson at the bridge school benefit


jeff tweedy singing "california stars" (my fave!)


i saw jenny lewis last night in SF. i pressured us to leave early because i thought it started at 7p, but it really started at 8p. oops! my sighs while sitting in traffic were all for naught. i have a girl crush on jenny lewis, and meeting pierre de reeder in the lobby made me swoon and talking to him made me stutter.





"see fernando"


random: i liked the first disc of "fat actress" better than the second. kirstie alley's screaming torrents frighten me. they're also reminiscent of her yelling at john travolta in "look who's talking." flashback!

the right stuff

i was invited by a friend of mine to see the new kids on the block perform on friday night. of course i went, who would turn down the chance to relive the best part of 5th grade?

the show was full of energy, and the audience, unsurprisingly, was primarily women my age.



we had a suite at the hp pavilion, which was absolutely amazing. the view from it was great, and we were able to people watch as much as watch the show.


memorabilia


matching 'fits!

they sang all their old hits that i remembered, and mixed it up with songs from their new album, which i'd not yet heard.

when nkotb were in their prime, joey was my main man. as an adult, i've moved on to jordan. the dude has definitely aged well!

i am no longer the pop-culture whore i once was -- one of the opening acts was lady gaga, whom i had never even heard of prior to the show. natasha bedingfield was the other opener, and she sang her heart out to a then-half filled arena. she had the most gorgeous dress on, and we got to see her in person as she was hanging out in the concourse, meeting fans and presumably signing autographs.

it was a great night and i'm grateful to my friend for the invitation!

('scuse the camera phone pix, i wasn't sure they'd allow a camera into the performance.)

thievery

grrr. my truck was broken in to last night at my condo complex. i always park it in the same general area, right near the building that is adjacent to mine, in a well-lit area very close to two units. some irreplaceable stuff was stolen, but then that's my fault for leaving it in the vehicle in the first place. i've already emailed the rest of the board and filed a police report, and there's not much else i can do. it's just such a violation, and to have it occur where i'm supposed to feel safe. but, as long as i don't make the same stupid mistake again i'll be okay.

full frame

have i mentioned how i've been living lately? vacations, mini-trips, adventures, shopping, photography, a baseball game, DISNEYLAND, and a massage.

let me tell you about the highlight of last week.

it was a tough week, and tuesday stretched on forever. i'd been committing to too many things lately, in addition to crazy work stuff, and trying to cram everything in to just 4 days last week was stressful. i'm glad i randomly booked a couple of hours here last tuesday afternoon. they had a tub and a massage that fit my schedule perfectly, and it was pretty much exactly what i needed. i'd only been to the tubs there once before and the room i got then wasn't nearly as rad as the one i got on tuesday -- a steam shower, a hot tub and a cold plunge bath. and it pretty much looked like my ideal bathroom -- huge, bright and airy with a gorgeous skylight.

i tubbed it for an hour, then had an hour hot stone massage, and it was quite likely the best massage i've ever had. the last couple of massages i had there weren't spectacular, so this was definitely redeeming. i chose watercourse way because i was feeling especially passive-aggressive and decided to use up the rest of a gift certificate my mother had given me years ago that i told her a few weeks ago i'd give her the rest of. she's been working my last nerve lately (we cannot discuss politics, but she doesn't stop trying to push my buttons) and i decided to hell with it, i'm using the rest of it. indian giver!