Work Holiday Party

Last night we all went to my boss Cara's house for a holiday party with dinner and drinks. She made guacamole & a spicy queso dip for an appetizer and a wonderful homemade lasagna, ceasar salad and garlic bread for dinner. We finished the night off with brownies, cookies and a cake for our co-worker Thea's birthday! We had a few different bottles of red wine, which were delicious! We all had such a wonderful time and it made me remember how lucky I am to have such fun and awesome co-workers friends.

Me, Stephanie and Thea (all front desk girls)

Me, Pennie & Stephanie (Pennie is in reservations)

Me, Thea, Cara, Pennie, Nettie & Yoko

(Cara is the best manager, EVER)

James, Taylor, Pennie & Jordan (her husband and step kids)

Thea's birthday cake!

Cara burned her hand on the oven while getting out the lasagna...

and we were told putting lettuce on it helps the burn?!?? We'll see if it works.

Pennie & I

Birthday Girl Thea & I. Can you believe she's 34?!?! She doesn't look a day over 26!

T & Steph

After Ryan and I came home from the party we finished decorating our tree. We went and purchased our permit from the Forest Service, so we were able to go into the woods across from our house and chopped down our own tree! It was only $10 and last year I paid $55!!! So it was a STEAL! We still need to get some more ornaments, because the ones we have from last year are a little ratty... and they were the cheapy kind from Target... I also need to get a new tree topper. We had a metal one last year, but Ryan and I decided one that lights up would be better! We also need to get one more strand of lights. Since our tree isn't very full of branches, (it's kinda bare and has lots of room inside the branches) I want to add more lights to make it look more full.

Dun dah dah DAH!!!! I can't believe Christmas is in less than 10 days! I gotta get shopping. I get paid tomorrow, so I know where all of that money is going!!! Hahahaaaa

Thanksgiving in LA

Ahhhhh... Los Angeles. The city of smog, jam packed freeways,

over population and also home to my lovely and wonderful family.

Long time no post! Ryan and I visited LA for Thanksgiving a few weeks back. And I figured I should post some pictures... and some stories!

We drove all the way down and stayed with my friend Victoria's mom, Janiece. She's one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. She's from the south, so she can cook! We ate well every night that we were there. Her specialty is Chicken Parmesan... the BEST!

We took Ryan's mom - Jan, and his sister - Kellie, to City Walk at Universal Studios for some shopping and to eat at Tony Roma's. We took pictures in front of the giant tree, and giant guitar outside of Hard Rock Cafe. We kept joking about looking like tourists... but now that we live in Tahoe, we ARE tourists! Haha.

Kellie, Ryan and Jan in front of the tree!

Jan being distracted by sights.

Me & Ry at Tony Roma's

Kellie & I in the parking lot.

We had a fun time going into all of the shops. The magnet store, the candy shops. Jan bought almost a pound of Jelly Belly's. (Later she told me that next time tell her to stop sooner, because she made herself sick!

The crazy Marilyn Monroe made with candy... and weird Twizzler Haired Girl.

That was on Tuesday... Wednesday I took my sisters shopping, and Kellie tagged along. We bought lots of fun lady stuff and I got myself a really cute coat. I'll show you a picture of it later. Wednesday night was chicken parm night at Janiece's house! We had lots of friends over, played some cards, ate some chicken parm and drank some good champagne. We finished the night off with Janiece's Death By Chocolate Brownie... best thing EVER! It was a wonderful evening.

The next day was Thanksgiving. Ryan and I normally get lucky with our families both having their Thanksgiving in Redondo/Hermosa area... but this year his aunt decided to have it at her house in Pasadena area... So we drove to Hermosa and visited my family for a little while. We walked down to the beach with my cousins and played a little volleyball.

The sisters

Big Waves

We then took 5 different freeways to get to Pasadena (reason #349 why I hate LA). Saw his family and ate some food.

Ry, Jan & Kellie

Crazy weird salt & pepper shakers that I just HAD to take a picture of.

After we visited his family we drove back to Castaic to visit our friends - The Miulli's. We have visited them for the past 3 years and I don't think the tradition will stop anytime soon. They always have the deep fried turkey and sausage stuffing. They're half italian and half mexican so there is ALWAYS enough food to feed us by the time we get there.

From left to right: Back row: Dana, Brett, Nick, Robie, Ryan, Joey and Brenn

Front row: Allison & Me

The next day on Friday we went to Ventura and visited my grandma and aunt Linda, aunt Heather and cousins Jennifer and Jeremy. We also went and saw my friend Anna who just had her baby Ryder a few months back. He is so precious! I don't have any pictures of him quite yet, but he is SO cute you're just gonna have to take my word for it. He was the first baby Ryan has held since his sister!

The rest of the trip we spent with our friends and my dad and sisters. We went out to TGIFriday's a couple of nights with old friends and had some drinks. This is when I wore my new coat!

Left to right: Karah, Chelsea, Kelly & I

Me & Kelly

Me, Kelly, Gerry (I've known him since 4th grade!) and Chelsea

Another night with friends... it was Karaoke night... and there were some crazies!

Me, Argia and Ryan

Kristen, Claire, Me and Argia

We drove back home on Saturday and came home to lots of snow. I was surprised that we made it back in to town! It was so wonderful to see everyone, especially all of my family! I miss them SO much.

Another Blog That Touches My Heart

Like Matt Logelin, Erynn lost her husband a little under a year ago. Patrick and his father died in a terrible airplane crash in Colorado, while she was pregnant with their second child, daughter Reese. Erynn is so incredibly strong to be able to still be there for Will and baby Reese. Reading her blog is a true inspiration to all of us to over come the terrible things that may happen to us. I pray for Erynn, Will and Reese every day. As I do Maddy & Matt. Here is a link, if you want to look at what a beautiful family Erynn has. Rolling With The Rooney's

Three Year Anniversary

Ryan and I celebrated our 3yr anniversary last Monday, Sept 7. We both had to work that day so we didn't do much. However this week we decided to go and visit a few friends in Berkeley, as well as two of my cousins from my dad's side. We didn't have much time, only two days, but we packed in a lot of fun in two days, one night. When we were driving out of the mountains we stopped at Joe's Crab Shack in Sacramento. It is right on the river, and it was a beautiful day so we decided to sit out on the deck.

After Joe's we continued onto Berkeley/North Oakland and to our friends house. We dropped off our stuff and used our GPS to find a mall to get some new shoes. Our GPS tells you how to get there, but not where you are going. We ended up in West Oakland, very, very, very scary. Once we found the 'mall' we went into the one shop, that looked safe, and then we left, empty handed. Figured we could find a better and safer mall somewhere else. The rest of the night was spent at Zachary's pizza with my friend from high school Brit. We had an awesome time.

The next day we ended up in Emeryville at their mall. We went to Teacake Bakery and enjoyed some fresh cookies. Went into H&M (the best clothing store in the world) and found a shirt and some shoes. Then Ryan and I met up with my cousins Julie & Katie for a quick chat at the mall. One had just finished a run, and the other was at work so they only had a short time to catch up. We did a little more browsing and then went back to Brandon & Alisha's house so Brandon could show us UC Berkeley's campus and the view. We drove all the way to the top of campus, near the science center and took some pictures.

The whale was an art/science thing the students did

Golden Gate Bridge

At the top of the science center & another view of the bay.

It Works At Work... Again.

Finally, I can get onto blogger, via work internet. I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to blog at home, and I couldn't get onto the website at work for a while... So now the question is what have I been up to that keeps me so busy?? Well after Ryan and I came back from Southern California we worked and worked, and we both picked up second jobs so that we can sustain ourselves during the slow season (Oct-Nov). I started working at Katie Cakes, she makes awesome, delicious and beautiful cakes. For now I am making ganache, mousse, batter, icing... all the good stuff. I also answer phones, return e-mails and finish contracts and help with cake tastings. It's all a lot of fun. Other than that I celebrated my 21st birthday, by seeing Willie Nelson & Bob Dylan, that was amazing.

Here are some pictures of the past few months.

Evann and I driving to get my new car

Caity and I did a photoshoot

With a fancy schmancy camera

Ryan and his little sister Kellie

Jenn & I

Kellie and I!!!!!!!!!!

These are all from when we visted LA and went to Disneyland with Ryan, his younger sister Kellie and Cousin Jennifer!!! We had an awesome time. It was kinda busy, but we got a bunch of FastPasses and ran around the park. The only ride we didn't get on was Space Mountain, but that is okay, because we went on Pirates twice, and on Big Thundermountain Railroad twice as well. At the end we went on Splash Mountain, and all got soaked, and then left right as the fireworks were starting to beat the rush.

Fireworks!!

If you look at my shirt and pants, you can see they're kinda wet.

During July Ryan and some other friends took me out into the hills of Carson City, NV and we went shooting!!! I never had held a gun until that day. I shot a 20-gauge and almost landed on my butt! The kick of the gun scared me so much, I started crying. After about a minute of that, I realized everyone was okay, and I started laughing. I can't believe I fired a gun, and then cried. Here is a shot of me & Ryan from that day.

Then on August 16th, I turned 21. That's right 2-1!!! I had a great day at work, and then went home and got ready for my night out on the town. We went to Chart House for dinner and that is where I had my Lemon Drop Martini. It was delicious!! After that we went to the concert and had a wonderful time. Bob Dylan was rocking for being so old, and Willie had so much energy the crowd really loved him! I also got an awesome cake, made by Katie (from Katie Cakes). It was 'Queen of Hearts' theme... and it came out even better than I ever could have imagined!!!

Me & my lemon drop

THE CAKE!

Hope you all enjoyed catching up with me. I will have another post very soon! :)

Before I Leave...

For Los Angeles this morning, I found two of the funniest pages ever. The first one is 'Unusual Canned Foods From Around The World' on the FoodNetworkHumor blog. It's kind of gross, but really funny.

http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/06/unusual-canned-foods-from-around-the-world-45-pics/#more-1563

I can't believe that people out there produce these items!! Canned cheeseburgers?!? EWWWW. Or the eels, so gross.

The second one is '25 Ugly Food Tattoos'. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my tattoos. I love looking at them and I love getting them done... However I can't imagine how any of these tattoo ideas crossed these people's minds. It's from the same FoodNetworkHumor blog...

http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/05/25-ugly-food-tattoos-what-were-they-thinking/

Honestly, who wants to have the McDonald's 'M' on their back when their 80??? Weirdos.

On another note, Ryan and I get on a plane in 3 hours and fly to LA. We're gonna pick up a car, and visit family and friends. On Monday, Cousin Jennifer, Ryan, his sister Kellie and I are all going to Disneyland. YIPPEEEE!! Kellie was going to go on the day of her junior Prom, instead of attending the dance, and her friends were all lagging, and then she got a call from another friend saying her boyfriend broke up with her... Soooo Kellie, being the sweetheart she is, decided to drop Disneyland plans, and console her friend. When I heard what had happened, I called her and told her that there was no way that she wasn't going to Disneyland, and that Ryan and I would be more than happy to take her. Especially since I need a Disney fix at least once a year. Hahaha.

Should be an awesome weekend, I hope everything falls into place. I will post pictures when I get back. Love to all!!

Thanks a lot California.

I don't even want to get started with this state and their court's ridiculous and unmoral decision to uphold Prop 8. But I will say:

I BELIEVE IN THE FREEDOM TO MARRY

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/meetinthemiddle

If only I had tomorrow off.

Life Has Been Kinda, eh

...crappy lately. Okay, just the past three weeks. I don't know if crappy is really the best word... but luck just isn't going my way lately. Don't get me wrong... I am still very happy that I have a roof over my head, a job to make money at, and someone that I love to enjoy my time with..

So most of the fam knows what has been going on... but for those who don't here is a timeline.

5/10 - Total the mommy van. On mommy's day. With no mommy to call. So I called my Daddy. He's the best dad in the world. He calmed me down, and walked me through what to do. He told me what I wanted to hear, which was 'everything's going to be okay'. And I know that everything is going to be okay and work out... it just takes a little time for things to work themselves out.

The accident wasn't that bad, no one got hurt, just mangled the front of the car, into a 'v' shape. I crashed into a pole, swerving to avoiding a woman who was backing up and was going to hit my driver side... She clearly wasn't paying attention, and gunned it.

My immediate reaction is to swerve and gas. Obviously my reaction sucked.

And you can't see it... but the pole, which was handicapped, was the ONLY POLE in the parking lot! Yep, my luck. So... I towed it to the yard, and started figuring out what to do from here.

5/11-5/17 - Dealing with the bs of towing yards, finding transporation to work and school, new vehicle, and the Fleetwood Mac concert coming up on Monday...

5/18 - Finally it was the FLEETWOOD MAC CONCERT!!! I had decided that there was no way in hell I was missing this concert. The hotel room was only $39 bucks, the tickets were paid for, and it's only like $40 round trip for gas to Sacramento. So I called my friend Monique at the AVIS desk in my work, and she hooked me up with a car. Told me to be there with a credit card and driver's license. Well I show up... and since my piece of plastic that says VISA also says, DEBIT, the authorization hold was going to be $400 instead of $75 on hold in my bank account. I didn't have that much... Yep, my luck. The extra $300 would be put back later in the week after I returned the car.

So I called the best dad in the world. He saved me again, and helped me get the money to have the authorization hold in the account. Got into my rented Silver Pontiac GT and got down to Sac. Checked in and checked my e-mail, and saw that there was a letter from ARCO Arena, the venue FM was playing at. And there it was.

FLEETWOOD MAC CONCERT POSTPONED DUE TO ILLNESS

Ugh, my heart sank. I really wanted this 'pick-me up'. I had been waiting for this for a while now... heard about the tour in the fall, purchased the tickets in March. All I wanted to do was be at this concert. So, Ryan and I discussed what to do. I mean everything was paid for... kind of a done deal. We ended up having a really good night. We went out to dinner, and went walking down around Old Sacramento. I had never visited this part of town before.

It was sooooo cute! We walked into this tunnel that goes beneath the main street, and it's full of colorful murals. There were turtles and crazy shapes... super cool. We got some ice cream and went into this super cool candy shop.

We drove back to the hotel and ended up falling asleep to Benjamin Button.

5/19 - We checked out of the hotel in the morning, the drive home was so gorgeous. The snow is melting and the streams and waterfalls are huge... and rushing so fast.

It was also a special day because my little sister Evann turned 12. Yaowza!! TWELVE?!?! She got a purple ipod, with her name engraved on the back from the best dad in the world. And a cute card from her loving big sister. Happy B-day Eeepers!

5/20-5/26 - Worked graveyard on Tuesday night and Wednesday night, and took the weekend off hoping that there was going to be a car waiting for me in LA. The best daddy in the world has an awesome friend named Peter who works at Keyes on Van Nuys (all I can ever think of is that damn jingle!). He is helping us 'shop' for a car, as my dad explained it. He kept his eye out all weekend for something that is within our price range, has good mileage, will last a while and is durable and will work in the Sierra Nevada Mountains... not the streets of Beverly Hills. Still nothing.

Waiting, waiting waiting for a phone call. Nothing. So instead, I spent my weekend soaking up rays with Wendy and Liz at the lake. Both longtime friends who moved up to Tahoe from Castaic after we left

I really don't like this picture of myself, but I love the beautiful mountains and lake so much!

Wendy and I. We've known each other since 4th grade!!

And other times were spend with the these two troublemakers.

They really do love each other... Chase one another all around the house. Entertaining stuff.

5/27-5/29 - Worked graveyard, Tues and Wed again... and had yesterday off. Then I worked this morning. And I came home to another e-mail.

FLEETWOOD MAC CANCELS SHOW IN SACRAMENTO

DUE TO SCHEDULING CONFLICTS

Yep, my luck. Honestly, I am really dissapointed in the band, and the venue. I really want to know who isn't making it work?!?!?! I really really wanted to see them, and I am worried that this tour might have been there last. She did turn 61 this past week

Eff. Well at least I get my money back... and guess where that money is going.

AUGUST 16, 2009

MY 21ST BIRTHDAY

BOB DYLAN & WILLIE NELSON

HARVEY'S OUTDOOR AMPITHEATER

Yep, my luck!!! Tickets go on sale on Monday, and my refund will be in my account within 3-5 business days... and ticket prices are comparable!!! Cha-ching, purchase!! I am so excited. Another music god. Definetly on the same lines as Stevie Nicks, maybe even better. I am going to try and get Jennifer and Jeremy up here. They both need a vacay super bad.

So other than that I will be visiting the LA area soon... so the best dad in the world and I can go purchase a car. It's probably going to be short notice, so I will e-mail.

Oh - I do believe that this is my longest blog ever... dang.