Mommy's little helper

Bummed

Starbucks has taken over the world including the local Safeway. Safeway has an ongoing promotion where you buy 7 Starbucks coffees and you get one free. How perfect. Especially since I'm buying the coffee anyways.

So since this promotion started (I think it's been over a year), I have been getting a lot of my coffee at the Safeway near my house on the way to work.

I've been trying to drink less caffeine as of late and have also been enjoying some of the coffee at work and so haven't been to Starbucks in over a month (the horror!). This morning after dropping Max off for his grooming appointment, I decided I'd give myself a Friday morning treat and picked up a Starbucks at the Safeway across the street. As I waited in line, I noticed the little sign next to the register that my favorite promotion is ending on March 31st. That is TOMORROW!!! And I'm only on my "5 of 7". Shoot!

Bring it back Safeway & Starbucks! Bring it back!

New music genre

One of my coworkers saw my status message that showed what music I was listening to. We talked about music for a bit. I asked him what type of music he listened to. His answer, "melodious".

Is that a type of music? It sounds really nice.

Next time I go to the store, I'm going to ask for the "melodious" section

First day of school

Today is Max's first day of Puppy Preschool. Wish him luck!

Come on down, snow

I'm so excited. There is a winter storm warning up in Tahoe tonight and tomorrow. A foot of snow is supposed to fall tonight. What great timing since we reserved a cabin for the weekend months ago. Yippee!

Weekend with the Girls

I had a fantabulous weekend with the girls.

Christina flew up on Friday night, Diane came in on BART, and the boys got to hang out with their Aunties. We reserved this weekend particularly for "the girls" to spend some time together alone before Christina goes and gets herself married in a couple of weekends. On Saturday, we got up early and headed out to Berkeley where we filled up on donuts and coffee. And then...went for a mad dash of shopping. We came up with a gameplan and followed through amazingly on it. Never have I seen such team work in such a tiny space. We grabbed anything that looked cute in all the appropriate sizes, traded off holding the coffee, held spots in line, and took turns holding bags. Go family!

After hanging around Berkeley and grabbing some Top Dog, we went back home for some more shopping at the mall. Exhausted, we headed home for "show and tell". Bertrand and the boys sat and watched us model all of our new purchases and cheered along with us for our good deals.

We then cleaned ourselves up, packed up, and hopped on BART for a night in the city. A couple other girls joined us later for Tapas, Sangria, dessert...and some more fun.

What a great weekend. Can't wait till another one of my cousins joins me in the "married" crowd.

Which of these does not belong?

Our DVR has completely changed how we watch TV. It is wonderful. You can watch TV on YOUR time and not the other way around. Bertrand and I watch a lot of the same shows, but at the same time it's pretty clear who the DVR and TV watching is skewed towards. Usually, I am the one who strays from the shows we watch together and record my own things. Last night while going through our queue, something stuck out to me. Can you guess which one?

• Grey's Anatomy
• Desperate Housewives
• Dancing with the Stars
  
• American Idol
• The Hills
• Alien Encounter
• Oprah

Growing Max

Next week Max will be 4 months old. Since the day he arrived, he has tripled in size. Well...he was 2 lbs. when we got him and is now about 6 lbs. So he is still a tiny little boy, but has grown a ton.

We tried to measure his height against the outlet on our wall. See how much my boy has grown? Too bad I didn't put the camera in the same exact spot every time...but you can still see the difference with the outlet.


The night that we got him, he barely took up any space on his bed and now sprawls out and tries to cover as much space of it as he can!

Mistaken Crush

So over the years I have grown to have a crush on a particular actor I keep seeing in the movies. He always plays a strong character who is in control and well composed. He portrays strength and dignity. I also very much enjoyed his nicely shaped head. Yet, for some reason I never really wondered who he actually was or what his name was. Once while watching a movie, I mentioned to Bertrand how I really liked "that bald actor" and asked if he knew what his name was. I listed out all the movies I could remember seeing him in. Tonight as I listed out the movies again, Bertrand started calling out names. I got excited as I Googled them to see if I could finally find out who this mysterious guy was.

Turns out. It wasn't one guy. I mistakingly thought that two guys were the same person. Oops!

Ken Watanabe and Chow Yun-Fat, I apologize. However, I do really like the shape of your heads and your goatees.

Googley Perks

Everyone knows what an awesome company I work for. Especially me. Never have I worked somewhere where I loved what I did everyday, felt like I actually made a difference, and felt proud to be associated with. The gourmet food, massages, gym, events and shuttles don't hurt either.

The New York Times wrote a piece on my favorite perk of all.

In Silicon Valley, a region known for some of the worst traffic in the nation, Google, the Internet search engine giant and online advertising behemoth, has turned itself into Google, the mass transit operator. Its aim is to make commuting painless for its pampered workers — and keep attracting new recruits in a notoriously competitive market for top engineering talent.

Me?!? Pampered?!?

I need a massage...

I love sunny days

It is amazing how much the weather can affect how I feel. It is absolutely gorgeous outside today. Warm, sunny, not a cloud in the sky. This people...is why I love California. Since I woke up this morning I have been in a chipper mood which I'm sure has much to do with how beautiful it is outside. It's also nice now to get home after work with the sun still being out. What is the point of Daylight Savings Time anyways? Something about energy saving...but I still don't really get it. Despite being busy with many things going on at once, I feel great. Every song I hear makes me want to bounce around in my chair or bust out into song. I'm walking around with a little hop in my step because really people, what a beautiful world we live in.

Weekend in Vegas

We went to Las Vegas for the weekend. For no reason in particular, just to get away for a little while, have fun, and relax. We were only there a couple of days but it was quite the fun-filled, extravagant, crowded, beautiful weekend nonethless. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and comfortable, perfect for walking the strip and people watching. After arriving Friday afternoon, we checked into our hotel and then put on our stretchy pants and prepared ourselves for one of the gourmet buffets. Nascar was in town for the weekend so all the hotels were booked solid. Lucky us, due to overbooking, got upgraded to a suite that faced the strip overlooking the Bellagio and Paris. The rest of the weekend was a blur of people, the sound of slot machines, and the extravagant scenery that could only be found in Vegas. We saw two Cirque Du Soleil shows, "O" Friday night and "Mystere" on Saturday. Both were amazing...but Ka is still by far my favorite. We did a ton of walking, sight-seeing, people-watching, but mostly just relaxing.

Fun weekend in Vegas accomplished.

So many more places to see

I've done my share of traveling the world and love exploring and visiting new places. These are the places I've been fortunate enough to visit thus far.

There is still so much of the world left to see!

via Nicole

Mischievous Max

Max is a great puppy. He already has so much personality, is ultra-cuddly, super cute, and very very active. He is truly...a puppy. He is curious about everything he sees and tries to eat everything in sight. Bertrand calls him our little "Hoover" because he sucks up everything that is on the floor in his path. Even after scanning the floors and then vacuuming them, little Max can somehow find some speck of something to eat. He also has a very short attention span. He could be totally engrossed in a toy, hear a noise, and forget what he was doing and move onto finding something else to play with. Today, Max stole my half-full water bottle and happily dragged it to the other side of my office by the cap.

It's a good thing this little boy is cute!

Can I have some Toby?