Last night I met up with the people I watch SYTYCD with and we headed over to the Mercado they set up at De la Guerra Plaza for Fiesta. Since yesterday was the first day of festivities, and it is mid-week, it seemed that the crowd wasn’t too crazy yet.

We got some overpriced drinks, ate some tacos, corn, and churros, and mostly just hung out. I’ve never really gone to any of the fiesta events, because they are so huge and have the potential to get crazy. As it is, I’m not sure I’ll ever hit up any of the bars, since they all charge outrageous cover. Tonight is looking to be pretty mellow—not sure if I’m doing anything tomorrow night yet either, but Saturday there will be a house party as a nice alternative to the crazy nighttime scene downtown, so that should be fun if it’s anything like the Solstice party. We shall see.

Posted at 8:51 PM | (0)

I got back from Vegas yesterday around 3 or so, completely missing the earthquake that struck Southern California. They claim you could feel it in Vegas, but we were playing blackjack at Stateline at the time and felt nothing. Just as well, I suppose.

My phone died the first night we got to Vegas, since I left my charger at my parents’ house—this meant that I had no internet or phone access for DAYS! OMG! I signed online when I got home and realized that I could still make last night’s gathering to watch So You Think You Can Dance.

I left Whittier at around 4:40 after first getting gas. By all logic, it should’ve taken me hours to get to SB, since I was leaving just in time to hit LA rush hour traffic. However, traffic moved steadily going North—it was only Southbound that seemed to be at a standstill. I made it back to SB in around 2 hours, which is about what it takes me if I leave late at night! I had just enough time to walk over to one of the girls’ apartments so we could carpool over.

Vegas itself was fun—we played a lot at the tables and saw our share of fun tablemates and scroogy people. We also saw some of the most unfriendly dealers ever—one gave this poor woman the most evil death stare!

In addition to the gambling, my mom also got us tickets to go see Three Dog Night and the Doobie Brothers. It turns out I know more 3DN songs than Doobie Bros, but it was an entertaining show. The Doobie Bros are really good musicians, even if you don’t know any of their songs. More entertaining than the music though was watching some of the older crowd go crazy with dancing. I wonder how sore these people were the next day, because I suspect that was more exercise than they normally get in a typical day! They were busting out all kinds of crazy dance moves, which amused not only me and my sister, but also my parents. Good times.

Now I am back at home doing work. It’s weird to not be out somewhere else, and even weirder that it’s already mid-week! I seriously thought yesterday was Sunday, which I guess will make it a really good thing come Friday!

Tonight is also the start of Fiesta, so that will also help speed along the weekend. :)

Posted at 2:09 PM | (0)

Well, I’m back from my trip to Boulder. It was fun, but too short! It was a little longer than my last trips, but not quite long enough to get to explore much of the town. Still though, it was really nice getting to see everyone in the office and to get to spend some time out there.

Last night, a few hours after arriving back, I headed down to my parents’ house so that we can all go to Vegas, Baby, Vegas. We are leaving very soon, so this entry is going to be a little short. I will write more when I return—hopefully with the news that I have won thousands and thousands of dollars! ;)

Posted at 8:55 AM | (0)

Well, I’ve been in Boulder since Wednesday night. Right now I am pretty sleepy—I think it’s a combination of getting up at the equivalent of 5:45am to be to work on time (when normally I don’t wake up until 8am) and the party we had last night.

Our office hosted some sort of drinks meetup thing, and we actually had a pretty good turnout. We provided an advanced tasting of sorts for an acai-based alcohol that is meant to compete with vodkas and it was pretty good. The general consensus was very positive, and I think everyone liked that they got to try something that you couldn’t yet buy.

In addition to the mingling with people from other Boulder startups, there was also ROCK BAND!! Some of the members of my company were merely lukewarm about the prospect of playing, but that was only because they had not ever done it. Once they saw firsthand how cool it was, they were totally into it! The game is still set up, so it’s entirely probable that we will be playing again at some point during the workday!

After the meetup was over, everyone who remained joined us for dinner where we merrily drank and ate and talked until the restaurant kicked us out so they could close up. Overall, I’d say that the event was a success. I’m not sure what we have going on today or tonight, but I have to be ready to leave somewhat early in the morning so that I can catch my flights back.

The trip is a little short, but it was nice to finally meet my coworkers who have joined the company since I last came out, as well as get to participate in the office happenings. Hopefully it won’t be so long until they have me out again! :)

Posted at 7:36 AM | (1)

Today, in a few short hours, I am boarding a plane and heading on over to Boulder for a short little work trip. It’s been over a year since I was out there, so I am way overdue!

The weather is all hot out there apparently, but I do like the hot weather, and lately it’s only been in the low 70s here, so I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m not exactly sure what I will be doing out there, since I get in late tonight and leave earlyish on Saturday, but I’m sure it’ll be a fun time.

I’m excited to meet one of my coworkers who has been there for far too long for us not to have met yet! I’m also looking forward to seeing our new, much bigger office space. Also, I am sure that everyone over in the office is WAY excited that I’m coming.

See you guys soon!

Posted at 12:10 PM | (2)

This evening after work I attended a little BBQ at the beach with some of the kickball folks. It was scheduled for right after work, so as one might expect, no one really showed up until quite a bit later—I was the first one at 5:30.

There only wound up being like 8 or so of us, so it wasn’t as big as some of the previous gatherings, but it was still a decent enough turnout—just a bit more mellow. We grilled some food and ate and hung out for a few hours before heading home.

I suppose it’s good that it didn’t go all night or get too crazy since it IS a weeknight, and I have to catch a plane tomorrow!

Posted at 11:05 PM | (1)

Yesterday I agreed to come volunteer for a few hours at the CA Wine Festival that was held over at Chase Palm Park. When I got there, it turned out that there were way more volunteers than they had jobs for, so mostly I just stood around and talked to the people I knew and drank some wine. The festival cost like $70 or something, but as a volunteer I got to partake in it for free!! It was unlimited food and tastings, and they had like hundreds of wineries from all over the state, so that was pretty cool.

After the festival was over, some of us went over to the James Joyce to grab a few drinks before heading to dinner at Chad’s. I’d never eaten at Chad’s before, so it was nice that I got to eat there once, since they are closing at the end of the month. After a leisurely dinner we hit up the Wildcat for a short time, although we were a bit perplexed because it was full of lesbians, but usually gay night is Sunday! So we left the Wildcat and headed over to the Sportsman until they closed.

All in all it was a pretty long day of doing stuff, but I had fun. The only downside to yesterday was that I forgot to put sunscreen on my face, so it got a bit red. On the upside, I got to taste free wine from lots of wineries I’ve never been to and got a free wine glass to add to my collection. A pretty sweet deal—I’d totally agree to volunteer again next year!

Posted at 1:13 PM | (0)

Last night I attended a wine night with a bunch of people in which everyone was supposed to bring a bottle of wine they liked, and we would eat food and try all the wines. The reason given to have this party was that a guy’s sister is getting married, and he wanted to see what kinds were good to have at the reception. Really though, I think it was just an excuse to drink a bunch of wine.

It didn’t wind up being all organized in the sense that everyone didn’t go down the line and try all the wines—in fact I know I didn’t try all of them. But, there were plenty of things to eat, and the wines I did drink were good (though I don’t know what kinds I was given!), so I suppose that’s all that matters.

A good number of people attended, and it was a fun gathering. A nice way to break up the middle of the week, I think!

Posted at 11:14 AM | (0)

Last night I watched So You Think You Can Dance with a small group of people. Apparently they have gotten together for this entire season to watch the dance and elimination shows. It was a small gathering, and the host cooked some food and we ate and watched the show.

It was amusing to make fun of the outfits and the judges and other things that one notices when watching the routines. We watched the previous week’s episodes, so I totally spoiled the elimination by asking their opinion on bringing back someone who just got booted (because they hadn’t seen her get eliminated yet! Whoops!) because I had just read about it before I watched (thanks a lot, Mikey!)

Anyway, it was a good time with some good food (including brownies for dessert!) and I think I shall join them again next week. I don’t have any favorite dancers yet, because I only saw them once basically, but we’ll see!

Posted at 1:12 PM | (1)

My weekend was pretty chill—I didn’t do too much, although I did head to the beach for a short while yesterday (not that you’d know by looking at me!). Today isn’t too hectic either, but coming up during the rest of this month I’m going to have quite a few things going on.

A bunch of activities with people I’ve met through kickball have been planned including wine party, volunteering at a festival, a BBQ, and more! This is not to mention the travel I’m going to be doing, meaning that this is going to be a much busier couple weeks than I normally experience.

It’s all good though—I like this group of people and have fun at the outings, and going on trips (especially ones you don’t have to pay for yourself!) is even better! More on the travel portion to come—just gotta take things one activity at a time. :)

Posted at 4:04 PM | (3)

Last night I attended the weekly concert in the park that SB provides during the summer. I went with a bunch of the kickball people, and we all met at one girl’s apartment so that we could cruise over (literally cruise—everyone rode their beach cruisers). I borrowed one girl’s beach cruiser and she used her road bike, and then about 8 of us biked on over to the park about a mile away.

The bike ride over was a bit, um, exciting. First off, I didn’t adjust the seat before attempting to ride, and the girl I borrowed from is 5’7”. So, after almost driving into oncoming traffic because it was hard to get going, I had the seat adjusted and then went on my merry way. It was said I almost cut off an SUV or something too while making a left turn, but I didn’t see anything, so I wasn’t too freaked out about that. I was more freaked out about the too-tall seat and how it might make me fall over and break the things in the basket.

Once we arrived safely, we listened to the band while sitting on blankets. We ate some bread, cheese, brownies, and other items people brought, and drank some wine. A good number of people came out to watch, and of those people, a lot of them got up to dance. At one point there were quite a few people doing a line dance.

After the concert, we cruised back to the girl’s apartment. The night was still young and one of the other girls had planned to hit up downtown with some of her friends, so we decided to join them. We waited for everyone to come back together (a few people had left to play a soccer game) and then headed out for a little while for some dancing and whatnot.

The evening with the group turned out to last quite a bit longer than I expected, but it was fun, and they are a nice group of people. Today my butt is sore from sitting on the bike seat—it’s been awhile since I’ve really ridden a bike, and even longer since I rode one for any sort of considerable distance. I believe we will be doing it again next week, so maybe if I do it enough it’ll get better! It’s making me consider that maybe I should get a cruiser of my own though. Biking is faster than walking, and if I hang out with people who are biking places, then I can’t join in similar fashion unless I borrow a bike. Of course, if I do obtain one, the streets of SB may never be safe again! ;)

Posted at 3:14 PM | (1)

Yesterday was a nice day, if a little lacking in the blue skies due to the smoke. Some people were hanging out all day at East Beach to BBQ and stay to watch the fireworks. I showed up a little before 2 and we sat on the beach, took a quick dip in a nearby pool, ate some food, and went in the ocean. The ocean was cold, but not nearly as bad as it is in the winter or spring—during those times you have to wait a few minutes to go numb before you can bear it. Now you go in, feel the cold water, and 30 seconds later you feel fine. Much better.

People came and went throughout the day and evening, but we had a good number of people in attendance. Some people had also contemplated going home for a bit and returning for the fireworks at 9:30, but as the day wore on that idea was abandoned. So, there were quite a few of us who remained there for the whole time, only leaving when the fireworks were over.

The fireworks were good, and it was nice that they still decided to put on the display, since they cancelled the ones in Goleta. I’m sure it was a nice diversion, plus it’s a tradition! Hanging out all day on the beach and watching a free fireworks show is a nice way to spend a holiday!

Posted at 4:49 PM | (0)

Yesterday my parents, along with my sister, came up to SB to spend the day with me. Since they came up during the week, I took the day off, thus giving me a 4 day weekend! They arrived a little after 11am, and we promptly went to lunch down at SB Brewing Company.

After lunch, we spent quite a bit of time doing some shopping, and my sister and I got all kinds of new clothes. My sister was on a quest for some new jeans, and after trying on dozens of pairs, she did wind up finding a few that worked and so got those. I mostly got shirts, although I did also get a new bathing suit.

After the marathon shopping, we came back to my place briefly to drop off the purchased items and sit down for a bit. Since my parents have been to the Wharf, but not to the Harbor, I decided that we should go down there for a bit. It was actually pretty warm down there, despite its proximity to the ocean. We walked along the breakwater and chilled at the end of it for awhile before heading back and grabbing some dinner at Brophy’s.

The fires are still raging in Goleta and while the sky looked OK in the morning, it was looking pretty gross by dinnertime. It did make the sun a vivid orange, but the smoky coloring to the sky is not very cool. I’m sure it will only get worse, since the fire is still far from containment. In fact, 4th of July festivities have been cancelled for Goleta, although they will still take place downtown.

Anyway, after dinner, my parents dropped me off at my place and said their goodbyes and left around 7:30. As soon as they left, the power to my apartment went out again for almost 2 hours—not as bad as the previous night, but it still sucked. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time, until the fire is under control.

I had a good time with them, and it was nice to have them up here again. Also, the 3 of them had not come up together in quite a long time, since my sister usually has work and school that keeps her from being available on the times they have come. So, overall, it was quite a nice day!

Posted at 10:35 AM | (0)

Last night around 7:15 the power went out to my building. After walking outside and surveying the neighborhood, it became obvious that it was at least my block, and probably most of downtown. After the sun went down it became obvious that it was indeed all of downtown, BUT I learned that the outage also affected everyone from like Gaviota to Ventura. That’s just crazy!!

So, I lit a couple candles and sat in the dark, wondering how I’d entertain myself until it was late enough to sleep. After awhile I heard my next door neighbor come home. I’d never met this person, despite the fact that he’s lived there for about a year. I figured there was no time like the present to meet my neighbors, so I asked if he wanted to play some cards. I brought over my candles and he lit all the ones he could find, and we played cards (though perhaps a bit slower than one might normally play, since you had to like lean close to the candles to see what you had!) and chatted for a bit. Outside, you could hear people in other neighboring buildings sitting outside together in the dark, since it was a nice night. I guess the outage made other people more neighborly as well!

I am not sure exactly what time the power came back on, but I think it was around midnight, meaning we were without power for like 5 hours! I suppose it could have been much worse, though. According to what I read in the Independent this morning, the outage was caused by excessive smoke shorting out the main power transmission line for the south part of SB County. I had no idea smoke could do that—makes me wonder how we got so lucky not to lose power like this last year during the fires. I also had no idea that one power line was responsible for such a large area.

My family is coming up to visit today, so I am hoping that smoke does not bring the whole city to a screeching halt while they are here!

Posted at 9:32 AM | (0)

This is too eerie….so yesterday on the beach, I remarked to Ben that it’s amazing that there have been so many fires burning in California, and none of them have been around here. “Not yet,” he remarked.

So then, I look at a local website and what do I see? A fire in Goleta! A fire that started probably right around the time I made that remark. If I have the power to start brush fires with my mind, I will have to think about other things! Maybe I should think about how it’s amazing we haven’t had World Peace yet….

Anyway, the fire isn’t too huge or out of control yet—it hasn’t harmed anyone or burned any structures, although it’s already burned over 200 acres. They also haven’t increased the evacuation area yet (which is quite small right now), so that’s a good thing.

Here’s hoping that they get the fire controlled soon and that we don’t have the summer of flames like we did last year!

Posted at 1:53 PM | (1)

Today after work I drove over to Leadbetter Beach to meet up with Ben and grab something to eat at the Shoreline Cafe. We got an outside table, which meant that we could kick off our shoes and have our toes in the sand while we dined.

We sat there for a little while and ate our dinner, until the sun moved enough that it was noticeably cooler. We moved down to the shore for a bit and sat on the sand, before heading back to our cars.

As I was about to say goodbye, however, we heard this weird crunch. He was standing in front of me, so he had the first view of a woman coming into the parking lot who ran into a chick leaving on a bicycle. I didn’t see the collision happen, but when I looked, the cyclist was leaning against the front of the other woman’s car and holding her leg like it was in pain.

Ben immediately went over and made sure the cyclist was ok, if she needed to get checked out or wanted him to call someone, and also got her some ice from the restaurant for her leg. After the girl sat there for awhile (and I think exchanged info with the lady who ran into her) two girls who had a truck put the bike in their car and took her home or wherever she wanted to go.

It seemed to be a case of neither party looking where they were going, but yikes! Luckily it didn’t seem to be a high speed collision and I don’t think the girl was seriously injured. I hope she decided to get herself checked out though! I did make sure to keep an extra eye out for cyclists when I pulled out of the parking lot this evening!

Posted at 9:56 PM | (1)