Triathlon results

Rose = My dad and my uncle's relay triathlon team [relay meaning one of them swam (jeff), one biked (Mike) and one ran (my dad)] finished in front of 25 other relay teams. As my dad said "Not so bad for old guys" Thorn = 25 other teams finished before them. That's right, they finished EXACTLY in the middle of the 51 team field. I'm pretty impressed.

This weekend's roses and thorns

When we have staff meetings and things, we use "roses and thorns" as a fun way to say "highs and lows" where people share the highlights and lowlights of their week, or day or whatever. How student affairs of us. Anyway, we went to the beach this past Saturday - we revisited Stinson Beach to lay out on the beach, soak up the sun and the unseasonably warm weather and pretend we were on the East Coast. Thorns = Getting sunburned in ridiculous patterns, finding out painfully that the "continuous spray" sunblock really doesn't work for crap, and then remembering the horror of aloe vera gel. Roses = Day at the beach, which was awesome. Listening to the waves, falling asleep on a towel while reading a book, and eating slightly melty Oreos. Thorn = My mom ended up not being able to visit, for various reasons having to do with her work schedule, which stinks, but I will be home in about 10 days to visit! Mom and I are going up to visit my grandparents in Johnstown for a few days, over the long weekend. We will be visiting, seeing fireworks and painting my grandparetn's house, which I'm psyched about doing in the July heat and humidity. And then I will be back in the DC area to visit with people and see Jess's engagement ring in person. :) Rose = I went to the Container Store. Yes, this is actually pretty thrilling for me. Mock me all you want. I love to organize. Thorn = I went shopping while sunburned. Let me emphasize that this is not good for your self-esteem as no clothes compliment "Bright red in weird ass patterns" in a dressing room mirror. Rose = I made a quiche. Thorn = My life here is not nearly as cool as Laura's in London. Rose = My dad and uncles did their triathlon!

WOOT

Congratulations on your engagement Ben and Jess!!

No, I won't be begging you for money...

...because my dad and my uncles raised TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for their triathlon this weekend. For serious, $10,000. Can you believe it? In case you don't, follow this link. They are awesome. http://www.active.com/donate/tntsonj/delo

12 (or 15) on the 12th (or 14th)

And now, a recap of our weekend in Ohio. With pictures! In full color!

The Oakland airport. Morning of departure. Dan and a mint mocha chip frappucino (read = chocolatey sugar drink thing). Doesn't he look excited?





I honestly have no idea where we are flying over in this picture, but I looked out the window and thought "Ahhh that's what urban sprawl means"





At Dana's cute adorable house in Clintonville, OH. This is her fierce warrior cat Leonidus. Isn't he good looking?





This is Dana's other fearsome fighter Augustus. Very intimidating. He came into our room the first night we were there and tried to fight me by sticking his nose in my ear.





Second night there, clearly we are having too much wine and a great time. Dana had a little get together where we played games (I taught them how to play Ride the Bus) and we all drank 8 bottles of wine and a mini-keg of beer. Fannnnnnnnntastic.





Onto the wedding photos!! This is the church (St. Xavier) - very imposing, right in downtown Cincinnati.





I understand that it's blurry, but there is no way to get this shot without it being blurry. I mean, she's by definition WALKING down the aisle. So anyway, this is my friend Candy in her outrageously gorgeous wedding gown.




During the ceremony (probably a faux pas to be taking pictures during, but whatever).







Here we are waiting for the shuttle to the reception. Classic photos of me and Dan and Larry and Dana.





This is the also outrageously gorgeous reception site. It's called the Bell Event Center and it used to be a church, so high ceilings, stained glass windows. Lots and lots of candles (as you can see). It was really nice and it felt really appropriate when they introduced the bridal party with "Crazy In Love" playing in the background.





Pretty cake! It also tasted great! The frosting = delish AND sugary enough to make me want to dance.





And here I am with the bride and groom (Candy and Matt), all smiles even though people have been taking pictures of them all freakin night. They also did a choreographed dance number for their first dance that was really sassy. Please notice her loooong train that she danced her ass off in all night long.





At our "OU" table - Amanda, Laura, me and Dana.





The next day after brunch, we noticed this at the hotel. Notice the second listing. I really hope that the name on the second event is pronounced "Roo-bin" and not "Rub-in" because then it was the "Rub-in Weiner" wedding. *Awkward turtle*


Hooray for friends, wine, weddings and travel! Congratulations Candy and Matt!


**They are honeymooning in San Diego, where Matt is excited to go to LegoLand and Candy is just excited to keep referring to it as "A whale's vagina." You stay classy.

Remember, your closest exit may be behind you.

So, we went to Ohio this past weekend to visit friends, and to go to a wedding. There was no 12 on the 12th this month because on the 12th of June we were flying all day. I did take pictures all day, but they all ended up being pictures of the ground from the airplane window and pictures of Southwest planes. I will make up for it by doing a 12 on the 12th-16th post instead. But, that's for another time. So are reports of the gorgeous wedding I went to. This time we are sharing together right now is for my complaints about airlines other than Southwest. Our trip to Ohio was happy because we were flying Southwest. With their pretty planes and happy people and no fee for a second checked bag. Yes, I feel the LUV. Anyway, we had a connecting flight in Phoenix (where it was 101 degrees) and we came in late and I was afraid we would miss our connection. But when we got off the plane, our connection was the gate directly next to us and we made it without a problem. [Sidenote: has anyone else noticed that you always get off the plane faster on Southwest than any other airline? Other airlines take forever and a day, but on SWA you're practically off the plane before you get to the gate. It's ridiculous.] The rest of the flight was uneventful. Now let me address the return trip. On Delta. (booooooo. hisssssssss.) First of all, the wedding was in Cincinnati, which we drove to from Columbus, where my friend Dana lives. So, Sunday morning (the same day we were flying home) we woke up in a hotel in Cincinnati. When I was booking our flights, I thought it would be logical to just fly from Cincinnati, right? The flight from Cincinnati to SF on Delta (no Southwest flights from Cincy) was $590. But the total price flying from Columbus to Cincinnati (picking up that same flight I just mentioned) to SF was $140. Clearly, I should have known then that this was a bad idea. Anyway, we get to the airport and a bunch of people at the Delta ticket counter are pissed because their flights have been cancelled. (Danger Will Robinson.) We grab some Wendy's for dinner, I get a Frosty which they promptly take away from me at security (it's not a LIQUID. it's a SHAKE. bastards.) We get to our gate and our flight isn't listed on the board. (Warning: this trip will suck.) When they do put the flight up, almost immediately it says "Delayed," of course, without saying how long it would be delayed FOR. And of course, we have a really short layover in Cincy. So, when Dan calls the national Delta ridiculous automated system, we find out that the flight to Cincy won't be taking off until it was actually supposed to land, so we probably will be missing our connection to SF. So, we make alternate arrangements, the next flight being at 6 AM the next morning. Grrrrreat. Because we all know how perky I am at 5 in the morning taking off my shoes and making sure to put my laptop in a separate bin. Whatever, it's fine because at least we can stay with Dana for free instead of getting a hotel. Cool. Until the power goes out at 11:30. It is hot in Ohio in June. **If you afraid of flying, or more accurately, of crashing while flying, please stop reading now.** We get back to the airport the following morning (yes, at 5 AM) and all goes well. We have to fly to Atlanta on a relatively small plane, but all is going well, so it's cool. Our flight attendant was ridiculously flamboyant, so it was nice - a snack and a show! About 10 minutes before landing, the captain comes on. "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be landing in Atlanta in about 10 minutes. Ahhhhhhh so we don't want anyone to be alarmed when we land, as we are anticipating a fully normal and safe landing, but there will be safety equipment and fire trucks near the runway when we touch down as we are currently experiencing some ahhhhhhhhhh abnormal indications on our engines right now. Again, we are anticipating a safe landing, please do not be alarmed" HahahaWHAT?!?!. So he drops that little bomb on everyone and then the plane PICKS UP speed. Significantly. I've flown a lot in the past few years, and I have never taken a landing at that speed. Were we trying to break the sound barrier? Anyway, so we did land and obviously everything was fine, but lo and behold, there were fire trucks and ambulances all over the place with their lights blazing, ready to...I'm not really sure what. So we finally slow down (it takes awhile) and then the captain comes back on. "Well ladies and gentlemen, we've touched down safely in Atlanta and while we think everything is perfectly fine, we're going to pull over to the side of the taxi-way and the fire trucks are going to circle the plane to visually check that everything is ok. Again, please don't panic, they are just reconfirming that everything is alright and then we will proceed to the gate." So these lovely fire trucks circle around, we're all inside also checking the planes for, you know, flames and smoke, but nothing. Dan and I at this point are, of course, making inappropriate jokes and generally using cynicism and sarcasm to defuse the potentially very nerve-wracking situation. We have determined that the conversation to the control tower went something like this: Pilot: "Hey Atlanta, this is Delta flight 2952, and ahhhhhhhhhh we seem to have a bit of a situation here. Ahhhhhhhh there seems to be flames coming from the back of our left engine. Over." Control tower: "Mmmmm k. What we're going to need you to do is just go ahead and pick up some speed and that should go ahead and put those flames right out. Over." The flight from Atlanta to SF was, of course, delayed. So yeah. Travelling is awesome. Don't fly Delta. The end. PS: My most important question remains unanswered: If the plane HAD been on fire, would we have gotten to use those sweet emergency exit slides?

Favorite West Wing episode?

I'm not sure about my favorite episode ever, but Noel is definitely in the top three. It's a combination of the fact that it's about Josh (love!) and it's some of the best writing in the series, and Yo Yo Ma is on it, but wow. Everytime I watch it I get goosebumps. As I write this I'm thinking that I even might have writted pretty much this exact same spiel at some other point on this blog. Oh well. At least I'm consistent. Anyway, do you have a favorite episode? If not, make one up.

As a side note to that, Missy got to meet Bradley Whitford. OMG. He told her to call him "Brad." OMFG. Envy. I am green with it.

To answer some questions from the last post, Outside Lands is a huge three day music festival going on in Golden Gate Park August 22-24 with a whole bunch of bands/artists that I would love to see. More info here: http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/

And Laura, I actually saved my stimulus check. It's crazy I know, but I'm trying to save again since I used a lot of my savings recently to pay off all my credit card debt. I know it was the adult, responsible thing to do. It is CRAZY how much more fun the beginning of the month is without worrying about credit card bills.

I'm going to a wedding in Ohio this weekend for a friend from grad school. Thinking about the number of my friends who have gotten married since I graduated from college is kind of mind-boggling. First, Kelley and Mike (they should get some sort of first place prize) Then Tommy and Kristen, Mer and Geoff, Matt and Katie, Nikki and Ted, Jean and Lee, Holly and Chris, Dana and Larry. And now Candy and Matt. (Worth nothing that Kel is also in the lead with children! Seriously, she needs a ribbon or something)

Also, it is ridiculous that Erin Lancione, and Jenny Hansen (have you seen Jenny's pictures on Facebook, she looks stunning!) got married recently and this weekend Lisa is also getting married. (I mean, there are countless other people from SLHS that are also married, we don't need an exhaustive list or anything...but if you want to try and make one, I encourage you to do so) Is something in the water? Geez.

Goal: I'm hoping to have something else to talk about besides the West Wing in the next post.



That's Candy and Matt on the left (their wedding this weekend), Dana and Larry in the middle. This was taken graduation day from grad school - seriously, we'd been trying to get our men in the same place for two years. This is the first time it happened. This weekend will be the second.

Thoughts of the random type

**Yes Ro we can go to Outside Lands. I mean, you can go with Dan. The whole thing is the same weekend as move-in weekend this August. Clearly, I will be busy. And unhappy about it. **Also, no Dan hasn't written on the other blog (I Share Here). There is nothing wrong with your computer. **I really do enjoy the Berkeley Farmers Market although some of the people are intense about their desire for local organic produce and other yummy things. Today, this one woman skipped past the line for baguettes, grabbed one out of the basket, shoved four dollars at the woman who was selling them, who replied that she would help her in just a minute. The woman proceeded to say (rather loudly and snotty like) that she would just leave the money on the table and then threw the money down and walked away. It's times like that when I wish tripping people or smacking them on the head was socially acceptable. (Although it IS Berkeley, I should try it out.) **Dan and I got up at 9:30 this (Saturday) morning. Craziness I tell you. **I got my stimulus check, hooray! The only nice thing George W. has ever done for me. And the only thing I will ever thank him for. **I'm not sure how to feel about the Democratic nomination stuff. I mean, I knew going in that I wouldn't be disappointed with either Hilary or Obama but as I'm rather sad about it, I think Hillary was my girl. But, like I said, it's not like I'm ho-hum about Obama either. **Restaurants this week, yes indeed. Good food. Heavens knows we like good food. The place we kind of just wandered into on Friday night was nice - we ate at the bar and the bartender graduated from Cal in 1971. He told us that he was arrested 3 times throughout all the riots and things that were going on at the time. He also told us that when he got off work he was going to head home, smoke some pot and go to bed, because "you can take the boy out of Berkeley, but you can't take the Berkeley out of the boy." Niiiiiiiiiiiiice. **Dan is very proud of himself because he bought some shoes that he didn't absolutely need. That's right, he tried on and actually purchased footwear that he was NOT in dire need of. He just liked them. And thought he would wear them sometimes to work, maybe on casual day. Apparently, while I am the world's biggest impulse shopped, this is kind of a big deal for him. **Kevin isn't coming out to Cali in September. While he has perfectly good reasons, I think we should all shun him anyway.

Weekend recap

Well, Dan kind of wrote an entry about our weekend. We all went ahead and had a social life, which was a new and exciting feeling. Saturday, REM was playing on campus in the Greek Theater, which is effectively a big ampitheater. One of the RD apartments is as close as you can get to the theater without actually being inside the theater grounds, so all the RDs get to "go" to all the concerts that come to campus, without having to pay. So, REM was there Saturday night and they're great live. I, personally, really enjoy Michael Stipe, not because he's a little out there, but because he's a little out there and puts it out there anyway. I admire that. Anyway, they played "Losing my Religion," "What's the Frequency Kenneth," "This One Goes Out to the One I Love," and "Man on the Moon." They played a lot of other songs, but those are the four I know. I was pretty happy about it. Today, we had tickets to see Audra McDonald sing - we had no idea who she was before this year, but she's the actress who plays Naomi on Private Practice. We had no idea she was also a classically trained opera singer. Today, however, she didn't sing any opera but sang a lot of contemporary songs, from musicals and other stuff. She has a lovely voice and is funny funny funny. She apparently released her fourth album (not opera) recently, just as a random infobit. After her show, I went with some of the other RDs to go see the Sex and the City movie. Now, I'm not overly attached to the show but I was curious enough to see what happened. I left afterwards pretty much the same way I went in. Not excited or riled up about it, but happy I knew how everything ended and that was it. I did enjoy the scene with the flowers in the middle of the street. I could also be pretty non-affected because I've never liked Big. Not ever. So anyway. That's my confession. But the movie did make me miss all of you back in DC. This week starts a new two week stint of Dine About Town in San Francisco...cheap meals and all. So, of course, Dan and I will be going out to enjoy it. Hopefully I'll be getting to it on the other blog, which I still have some old posts to write anyway. In the interest of full disclosure, Dan and I were inspired by Laura's profession of love for the West Wing have started watching the series over again. We're almost done with Season 1 and it's STILL an amazing show, even the fourth or fifth time around. I really owe Kevin a drink or two for introducing me to it. In case you didn't read the discussion board today, please go to YouTube and watch the NumaNuma video. That is all.

All work and Play

I avoid talking shop here because, frankly, I don't think it's really interesting news to share. But I realize nobody will know what I'm up to day-to-day unless I actually talk about it. I've been working with a nice marketing agency as their senior account executive. Your guess is as good as mine as to what that actually means! Thus far it means managing non-traditional marketing agendas for Jamba Juice, Nike, YouTube, Google, Peet's Coffee, and a couple others snuck in there as well. I went to Jamba's headquarters the other day... if you haven't heard of Jamba Juice, they make fresh fruit smoothies. Anyway, they have the workings of a store basically setup in their lobby and I got to make my own smoothie. At this point, I should emphasize my deep love of slushies and smoothies, so this was extremely exciting to me! Considering I was there for a really important business meeting, you can imagine the internal struggle not to jump up and down like a little kid in a candy store... scratch that... fruit smoothie store. I made a delicious mix of fresh Pomegranate Juice, Peaches, Mangos, Strawberries, and Blueberries... Yummmmm In actual fun, we went to see R.E.M. in concert last night. And by "went to see" I mean we went to our friend's apartment right next to the concert, could hear everything, and could actually see the stage. If only all concerts came equipped with leather couches and chocolate covered strawberries! Tonight we head to the opera. Happy June people.