Here we go...

So I'm sitting at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, waiting for my flight to Oakland to board.  It would seem my Super Bowl 47 NOLA weekend is underway!  I am here over an hour early, per usual, because that's how I roll.  Gotta love flight-induced anxiety... I am always worried I will miss my plane!

I worked from home this afternoon so I could soak up every last minute with Hunter Puppy before I left tonight.  We cuddled, he napped, we took a couple walks.  He was so bummed when my suitcase came out last night, and today he tried to lay in it while I was packing.  It was like he wanted to come too.

I said goodbye to Hunter about 45 minutes ago, and left him in his crate, which is when the guilt set in.  Our new pet sitter (recommended by dear friends who love their pets as much as we love Hunter) should be arriving in about an hour give or take to spend the night with him.

I am so worried he will be restless and up all night because everything is so unfamiliar.  I am worried he will bark or scratch at the door and keep her up.  I am probably over-thinking everything because she as assured me several times after meeting Hunter that while I may be convinced I own a little terror, he is really a sweetheart.  And she's really good about texting and checking in and letting me know how he is doing so that I don't have to suffer through 'not knowing'.

But it's Sam's Golden Weekend.  I feel like I should be spending my time with the boys and not going off on this amazing trip.  It feels horrible to leave them behind!

Hopefully once I land in Oakland and get some food I will feel better.  Good God I am so hungry!  I told Dad I would like to grab dinner with he and Mom since I am flying during the dinner hour, but that might have been a mistake.  Or I should have at least had some kind of snack before I left.  But again, I was maximizing my time with my puppy.

Mom and Dad are really jazzed, and I am sure I will feed off their energy.  Dad keeps telling us that this is "going to be an adventure" and we're going to have to roll with the punches because it's unlikely we'll have an uneventful experience.  But that is exactly what this will be, an experience.

Papa called me a two nights ago to ask if I was excited yet and I told him it still hadn't sunken in.  He promised me that this will be something I remember for the rest of my life- my first Super Bowl.  Just like my Dad and Uncle Mark had their first Super Bowl experience with Papa.

Tomorrow our charted Southwest plane takes off from Oakland at 9 AM and we land in NOLA around noon PST.  I can't even imagine how that is going to be- a 4 hour flight with a bunch of Super Bowl 47 bound 49er faithful on the quest for six and to extend our title as team with the longest winning streak at the Super Bowl.  It could be the beginning of a very alcoholic weekend.  I wish Carina were coming with us, but she flies in from Denver on Saturday because she has class tomorrow she can't skip.

I will leave you with the packing advice Dad gave me last night: #1 Bring every piece of 49er gear you own.  #2 Pack lots of hangover remedies.  Check, and check, Dad.  I am as ready as I will ever be.  And I am vaguely aware that this is going to be something unlike anything I have seen before.  Something I cannot even imagine (which is saying a lot for me).  And like all great adventures seem to start out on page one:

So it begins...

Too Good To Be True

Our tickets arrived yesterday...

...It's almost too good to be true!!!

People keep asking if I'm getting excited yet, and honestly, I have been so busy working on projects that I want to finish before I leave work on Thursday and trying to organize Hunter's schedule while I am gone that I have hardly had time to think about the weekend ahead.  It feels like weeks ago that Mom texted me we were going to the Super Bowl- and that was just a week ago!

We were referred a dog-sitter by the Grant family, who have been our go-to friends for all things puppy since before we even brought Hunter home.  They really recommended Linzy's company Passionate4Pets, and I know she stays over at their home when they're gone.  

Best laid plans went awry when Sam and I realized we are BOTH gone Thursday night.  Luckily Linzy was free and she came to the rescue- we are now the proud (?) employers of a dog-sitter.  I am sure Sam is still wrapping his head around it, but I am sure that Hunter will be better behaved for Sam.  

New Mac & Apple TV

So my personal laptop has been falling apart lately... I did get it back in 2007.  I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and buy a new MacBook Pro since I love my current one so much!  I did a lot of research and was debating between a solid state drive (SSD) and upgrading the memory on a ATA drive.  In the end I went with the ATA because I don't usually drop my laptops and they are relatively well taken care of.  Plus, I always seem to need more memory space, my poor iTunes couldn't even play movies I had such little hard drive and memory left.

So anyway, while I was in the store they were mentioning Apple TV and I had looked into getting it for Sam.   He hooked up the AirPlay device his Dad got us last year before we had cable so we could stream music wirelessly from our computers and iPhones to the living room stereo.  Unfortunately, we couldn't have cable TV and cable internet both in the living room because we didn't have enough cable output from the wall.  Oops.  

Apple TV is better anyway because you can steam movies, and rent movies, and basically access all of your movies, tv shows, and anything else through iTunes (like Sam's video games on his iPad).  So this is really much more versatile, and it's all through just power, an HDMI cord to the TV, and our wireless router in the guest room.  Very, very neat.  

Sam's been on call a lot the last week and he's pretty exhausted, but we did play around with the Apple TV a little bit last night and I think he was pretty impressed.  I'm excited for him to get home from being on call tomorrow- hopefully we can put on a movie and Sam can pass out on the couch while I work on some marketing collateral for the trade show we are attending in March.

I am in the process of downloading all my iTunes movies and it's amazing- I have been at it for over 24 hours and only 1/3 of the movies have downloaded!  Can you believe that?  Good lord, the Harry Potters are SO long to download.  This whole thing makes me want to buy faster upload and download internet speed!  

The other really freakin neat thing is that iCloud syncs all music, movies, calendar events, and reminders on my computer and phone.  So that means when I change something on my phone (add an event, an item to my grocery list, buy a song, etc.) it automatically syncs with my calendar, reminders, iTunes library on my computer.  So there is no need to constantly plug in the phone and update things via a cable.  This is going to make my OCD so much easier- and probably worse!

But seriously, the convenience of all the new technology is really, really amazing.  Even if it is expensive!  With all the bachelorette planning, and now I am heading up planning our 10-Year High School Reunion in June too, I am going to need a functional computer that IS NOT my work laptop.   

Say What?

I woke up to this text this morning... which is possibly the best text I have ever woke up to in my life...

Pinch me, I might still be dreaming!

Bachelorette Party 101

Breaking News: I get to plan Jackie's bachelorette party!  I am so excited!

This is my first ever bachelorette party because I missed Molly's when she got married a few years ago. Jackie and I decided the best thing to do is to have the party in Tahoe so we can use the Santi family condo at Northstar to save everyone money.  Unfortunately, we are having it the weekend of April 20-21 and the resort will be shut down that weekend.  It looks like we may need to go all the way to Jason's for dinner Saturday night... but that's ok.  :-)

I've got the invitations ordered and I am waiting for the proof to approve printing.  Heidi is planning the Bridal Shower for 2 weeks ahead of the Bachelorette and I don't really want to step on her toes and send out my invites before she sends out hers... but I am asking for RSVPs back one month ahead of the Bachelorette so we can get the transportation, goodies, and refreshments figured out ahead of time.  That means I should probably send them out the first weekend of March so that people have between 2-3 weeks until the RSVP deadline.

It's going to be fun to be a bridesmaid again, even if I am a little nervous about the logistics being gone for the Shower, Bachelorette, and Wedding (kicking off my 2013 wedding season) every other weekend starting the first weekend in April.  I hope Sam is off at least one of the weekends I have bridesmaid stuff going on because otherwise Hunter is going to have to spend a lot of time with Dr. Kali and his amazing vet staff.  Not that I have a problem with that, but it does get a bit expensive!

SF v GB Jan 12

So we all flew home for what could prove to be the last Playoff Game at Candlestick Park since next season is the last one before the new 49er stadium opens.  

Sam and I came up from Orange County before the game and Papa picked us up on the way to the stadium with Dad, Carina (in from CO), Ali (from SB), Mark and Brock (from HI).  It was our first game all together- Papa, his sons and all four grandkids.  What a time we had!

Matt & his wife, Sam & I... the next generation of the Ward-Santi Family

Brent came in from Arizona for the game, we ran into him at the airport the next day

Santi Family at the Tailgate

At our seats

Happy Belated Birthday to Ali

2013 Rose Bowl

Photos from the Granddaddy of them all!

Rose Bowl Parade

Mom wanted lots of photos of the parade... especially of the flowers up close.  Here are some of my favorites from the 400+ photos taken New Year's Day!

Theme of the 2013 Rose Parade

Hawaiian Riders

Shriners Float (for Uncle Mark!)

Queen of the Roses and her court

Stanford Band- go Giants! 

B2 Bomber cruised the parade & the field before teh game

Organ Donation Float (for Denise!)

They got married during the parade!