On Saturday, my aunt and cousin came over for dinner and everyone caught up on stuff—I think it’s been a decade since I’ve seen my aunt, and 2 years since I had seen my cousin.

The next day I went to my sister’s place to see how she’s got it all decorated now. She’s got a bit of an asian theme going on, which is funny because it was totally unintentional, but once it took form, they sorta went with it. So she’s got lots of red and black contemporary stuff, and it looks totally different from how it was when my grandma was living there. Looks quite nice though.

After the tour of the house we went to the Brea Mall so that I could buy her a birthday present. I wound up getting her like 4 tank tops and I got myself some shoes. We went early because she had to work at 2pm, but did you know that the mall doesn’t open until 11am on Sundays?! We didn’t, and only found this out when we arrived at 10:30 and had to wait! Crazy, you’d think they would open earlier.

Before I left for SB my family had dinner at Chili’s so we could visit my sister and it is also closer to the freeway, making it a convenient choice. I love their chips and salsa. :)

Posted at 8:47 AM | (6)

This weekend I find myself going home, somewhat unexpectedly. Sure, my sister’s 26th birthday was yesterday (Happy Birthday, Dude!) and I have to give her a present at some point, but I’m not entirely sure I would’ve gone home this weekend if it wasn’t for some unexpected family stuff that came up. So, home I am going, to spend tomorrow afternoon with my aunt and cousin, though unfortunately not being brought together under the best of circumstances.

For now though, I think I am off to see if I can find my sister a gift—gotta kill time while I wait for traffic to die down.

Posted at 5:02 PM | (5)

When squeezing the excess water out of a piece of cream-colored knitted sweater that you are about to block, don’t roll it up in a multi-colored beach towel that has prominent shades of red, no matter how many times you’ve washed it and found it not to bleed. You just might unroll the towel to find that your knitting has pink blotches on it.

Posted at 6:29 PM | (2)

Ok, so Santa Barbara is hardly the hotbed of Mardi Gras activities. Which, if you think about it, is actually a little odd. Granted, we aren’t a particularly wild and crazy town, but there are a lot of festival-crazy people here. I mean, there is seemingly no end to the number of festivals and parades we have—we even celebrate the summer solstice! So, it doesn’t seem a far leap to include Mardi Gras in our celebrating. But, we don’t, so if you want any sort of authentic, crazy celebration, I’d suggest you look elsewhere!

That said, my friend Jenn sent a text message yesterday morning asking if I wanted to meet up for dinner and drinks as a way to sort of acknowledge Mardi Gras. I agreed to go and so for dinner she settled on the one and only restaurant that serves Cajun-style dinners—The Palace Grill.

I had never actually been there because, as all my friends know, I am pretty picky. Among my dislikes is seafood, and the majority of dishes at this restaurant involve crawfish. But, I perused the menu beforehand and was confident I’d find something to eat. Since it was Mardi Gras and this was a restaurant that is supposed to be in the stylings of something you’d find in NOLA, they apparently decided that more people than usual might try to eat there, and so they settled on a fixed menu. There were 2 different groupings to choose from, and each grouping included an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert.

I settled on some spicy sausage appetizer, some chicken and rice, and a chocolate souffle for dessert. Being a big fan of most desserts, the souffle was the highlight of my dining experience. The other highlight of our 2 1/2 hours there was when the little band they had playing got everyone to sing What a Wonderful World, and the entire restaurant staff went around toasting everyone. That was kinda fun. The bill was a bit pricy for two people, but it was due to the fixed price and the fact that we got drinks (well, I got one, Jenn got 2 plus a coffee).

So, now I can say I’ve been to The Palace, which is one of those places that everyone seems to eat at at some point. I learned that I won’t die if I dine there, but it’s probably not somewhere I would pick if I got to decide where to go—I’ll still stick with the plainer, safer options whenever possible.

Posted at 9:28 AM | (1)

Not much going on that I can think to write about at the moment. Another work day, and since it has been a little colder lately (which is completely crazy considering that a few days ago it was 80), I’m working in my comfy pajamas.

Oh and, only a week left in February. How did that happen? Wasn’t it just New Year’s? Didn’t I just go to Boulder at the beginning of the month? Craziness.

Posted at 10:32 AM | (3)

Last night I attended a “princess party” thrown by my friend Jenn. Her idea was to have a gathering of her non-married/non-engaged female friends to sorta celebrate Valentine’s Day. She was originally going to do it on the day of V-Day, but I think no one said yes, so she changed it to the day after.

It was to be a small gathering in a hotel room with girls dressing up in red dresses, talking, eating, drinking, playing games, whatever. This of course sounds like a fun idea, but it would’ve been more fun if I wasn’t the only othre person there when I showed up 10 minutes late. And the only other person until like 10:30pm, when the party started at 7:30pm. Luckily another girl DID make good on her promise to come after she got off work, so there were 3 of us. But the thing that sucked is that one girl had RSVPd and had said she was bringing a friend, and then she didn’t show. She didn’t call to say she wasn’t coming, so when we finally called her half an hour into the party she was like “oh, I’m not coming”. So that sucked, and Jenn was upset.

But in the end the party wasn’t so bad. Well, party might be an overstatement, but the hanging out was nice. We mostly just chatted and ate all the food that Jenn prepared. I kinda felt bad for her cuz she put a lot of time, effort, and money into this party and half the guest list didn’t show. I guess it’s good I came or else it would’ve been a pretty sad evening until the other girl showed up.

I wound up staying until like 2:30am—mostly listening to her rant about how the other girl didn’t show or let us know she wasn’t coming. Not wanting to be a bad friend, I stayed until it got so late I knew I had to sleep lest I be useless at work the next day.

So anyway, the party didn’t quite work out as planned, but the thought was nice and the effort was good, and there were eventually 3 of us, which was enough to have more lively discussion. Makes me a bit wary of throwing such an event with the chance of people flaking!

Posted at 1:08 PM | (1)

Happy Valentine’s Day. May VD mean a holiday of expressing how much you care about those important people in your life, and not, well….the other thing.

This is one of those times I wished I still worked in an office so I could eat some heart-shaped cookies.

Posted at 12:22 PM | (4)

I have only flown completely by myself on two occasions, but both times I have had men come and strike up conversations with me. It’s interesting because it’s not something that happens to me normally, nor is it something that happens when I am with anyone else.

For instance, when I flew to Boulder last year, while waiting for the flight to SB that was delayed, a guy traveling to Carpinteria talked to me and even asked if I was seeing anyone.

This time it was nothing quite like that, in that I’m not sure I was actually being hit on, but I was spoken to by two married guys. The first instance occurred on the shuttle from Boulder to the Denver airport—a guy came into the van and picked the seat near me as opposed to the one next to two middle-aged ladies. He then proceeded to strike up a conversation with me for a good portion of the hour-long ride—if I was there on business, the weather, price of housing, how much he travels and how little he sees his wife and kids, that sort of thing.

The second time occurred at the airport while in line to go through the metal detectors—I had my laptop with me so I was going through the process of removing it from my bag and putting the computer in its own bin to run through the x-ray machine. My laptop is a Thinkpad and I noticed the dude behind me also had a Thinkpad of a different model. After a few moments this guy asks me if I work for IBM, I suppose because I have one of their laptops. After saying No, that I just happen to like them, he says that he works for them and that is why he has one. We talk a bit about different laptop models, and when I inquire about the long object he is carrying, he states that he is going kite flying with his wife. We then head through the security screening, and go our separate ways.

So in both cases this time I wasn’t propositioned or anything, and these people clearly had spouses, but it’s just interesting that I’ve been talked to by males on each of my trips out of DIA. This doesn’t happen on the flights from SB, probably because that airport is so small and since it is small and close there is no need to get there super early.

At any rate, it’s just something that I find kinda interesting. Maybe there are just super chatty people in Denver’s airport, or maybe when traveling alone and looking all business woman-like, I appear to be the kind of girl guys want to chat with while they wait. At least it probably means that I appear normal! I have yet to have another female strike up a conversation with me though.

Posted at 12:24 PM | (7)

Well, I made it safely back to SB on Friday night and last night I went to a birthday party with a gambling theme. There was poker and blackjack, and since it was her 25th birthday, the minimum bet was .25 cents.

Quite a few people came and almost everyone had fun playing one of the games for at least part of the time. I played blackjack the whole night and wound up winning some money, as did a few other people. The thing that sucks about it though is that at the end of the game, I was paid my winnings and I didn’t put the money in my wallet, thinking I’d just do it later. Why worry about it when it’s a small gathering?

Well, I left the money on the table under my wallet and went to sit on the couch, and when it was time to go home, the majority of the money was nowhere to be found. So, that sucks, I got ripped off at a birthday party. I know the money didn’t just go somewhere on its own because it was under the wallet, and I also know I didn’t put it away.

Other than the end to the evening, the party was fun. And I guess I’ve learned a valuable lesson about leaving money out, so I won’t make that mistake again.

UPDATE: MONEY FOUND!! Some wasted girl mistakenly thought the money belonged to someone else and took it home, which is lame, but she realized her mistake and called the birthday girl asking if it was hers. And so now it looks like I get it back, woohoo! Still though, I’ve learned my lesson and will put away all wallets and money even among a small group of people. You never know what might happen when people get trashed.

Posted at 10:15 AM | (1)

Today was a bit chillier than yesterday—foggy in the morning and definitely felt the need for the coat and scarf I brought.

I did some work, but not nearly as much as I had anticipated for a full day—but it was a pretty cool day. We took group pictures for our website this morning, since this is the first time that all our current full-time employees have all gotten together in Boulder (there is another guy in Chicago who works remotely like me), we had lunch at a restaurant and chatted and then came back and worked a little before getting together for a group meeting. We talked about where the company was last year, where we are now, the direction for the future, and all the things that we like/dislike/want to make better. It sounds more “corporate” than it was, but it was a cool meeting, especially since I never get to see these guys in person. It’s the kind of meeting that makes it exciting to work for a company like this. I’m just like, “yay” and I’m glad that I got the chance to come out here and hope that I get to do it again soon.

Now we are gonna head on out to eat, drink, and be merry together. Should be fun. Tomorrow is pretty much a throwaway day for me because I have to be at the airport way before my flight because I am hitching a ride with Kris the Chicago guy who has a much earlier flight. That combined with a layover in LA and I guess I’ll be at the airport awhile! Oh well. Maybe I can buy the wireless access in the airport and get some work done or something.

Anyway, that’s about all I got for now. Time to go eat! :)

Posted at 5:37 PM | (0)

Tomorrow morning I am heading out on a business trip to Boulder. It’s been a little over 7 months since I was last out there, and the weather is going to be just a TAD different. Temperatures are expected to be a high of around 45 and a low of around 28, which is quite a bit colder than SB. While this news is quite a bit daunting, I am ever the optimist and am just thinking how lucky I am that I didn’t fly out there a couple days ago when the high was 15 and the low was -2! I think I might die if that was the case—I don’t even own snow gear! I am bringing a wool coat, multiple layers, gloves, a scarf, and maybe even a hat. Probably silly and overkill (to the natives anyway) but us coastal dwellers don’t know what to do with temperatures below 60 or white stuff that falls from the sky.

I’m also glad that it’s not supposed to blizzard like back around Christmas time. It better not—I have a birthday party to attend on Saturday evening and I am due to fly back on Friday. Short trip, but it will be nice to go out there and actually SEE my coworkers again—there are also 2 new people since the last time I went, so I will meet them while I’m out there.

I will write again while I’m out there, unless it is so cold my fingers freeze off! :)

Posted at 7:02 PM | (1)

Is there anyone else out there who really doesn’t give a damn about the “Big Game”? Football is a lame sport in my opinion, and the only reason I used to watch the Superbowl is because I happened to be in the same room, was invited to a party, or wanted to watch the commercials. But now, the commercials aren’t even good. They cost a ton of money to make and all the advertisers do is dress up chimpanzees and let them bang on things (Seriously. Point me to a Superbowl in recent years that hasn’t had at least one monkey/chimpanzee/orangutan commercial). Lame.

I’m not going to watch this year, and I’m probably not even going to check out the commercials online afteward, unless I hear of one that is OHMYGODSUPERAWESOME. The last Superbowl I watched was the one with Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” and I’m pretty sure nothing is topping that in terms of must-see for awhile.

That said, I will find something else to do. Maybe I will knit something. Or, maybe I will go out and take pictures of some stuff I’ve wanted to photograph, in hopes that fewer people will be around because they will be stuck watching the Superbowl.

Posted at 10:37 AM | (3)

Martin is taking a road trip north with the girl he is seeing, as she is returning to her home country of Germany soon. He got into town late last night, and intended for SB to merely be a quick stopover on the journey.

I agreed to meet up with the two of them for breakfast, although when they finally arrived, they weren’t hungry. So, instead of introducing them to the awesomeness that is Cajun Kitchen, we instead took a walk down State Street, got pastries and coffee/hot chocolate at Starbucks, walked all the way down to the wharf.

Martin’s girl marveled at the insane number of palm trees that line Cabrillo near the wharf and took a few pictures of random things. I guess she wanted to stop in SB anyway to take a look around, and since I happen to be in town, I was sought out.

Anyway, even though we didn’t get a yummy Cajun breakfast, it was still nice to hang out with them for a little bit. I can’t even remember the last time I saw Martin in person.

Posted at 4:10 PM | (2)