2014: Off to a Great Start!

I can hardly believe that 2014 is finally here!  

It's probably not a big surprise that the homestretch of 2013 was a little bit rough for me.  I'm not good with uncertainty and, unfortunately, there were a lot of unforeseen professional changes that happened during the holiday season.  

Even though I knew I at the time that losing my job was probably a blessing, I was surprised how much I was overcome by feelings of failure.  It was really difficult to emotionally divorce myself from all the marketing that my former company was doing, especially because they were either abandoning or seriously neglecting so many of the things I worked so hard to build.  

In the end, I stopped following the company social media pages and focused my attention on my future.

I got up the courage to approach my current employer at a holiday party we both attended.  I had interviewed with her team twice over the summer by my media relations skills are weak and they are a marketing and public relations agency that does a lot of pitching to media sources so they had reservations about bringing me on board.  At the party, the agency founder and agency director were both happy to see me and told me they'd been talking about me recently.  I took the opportunity to let them know I was no longer working with my previous company and that I'd appreciate them passing my name along if they heard of anyone looking for my skill set.  To my pleasant surprise, they expressed an interest in hiring me (again) and I offered to freelance for them a bit so that we could all feel out the situation.

The next day, she called me and asked me if I could start immediately.  We hammered out the details and I was in the office the following Monday.  

Surprisingly, I only freelanced for them three days before they made me an offer to come on board permanently.  I think it was partially my personality (I get along with the other team members very well) and partially my writing skills.  They had me drafting a lot of press releases, e-newsletters and social media posts during my freelance tenure and I think they really liked what they saw.  

So I moved right on into a full-time position with them and today I got handed a big Chinese New Year project to manage on behalf of my team.  To say that I'm thrilled would not do my emotions justice.  

I needed to draft two press releases, and my boss came in at 5 to see if I could have them done tomorrow.  I happily informed her I had already given one to the account director for review, and the other would be on his desk before I left the office.  She seemed very impressed and said, "That's wonderful, I am so glad you joined our team!"

"Me too," I told her. 

And things are going well in my personal life too!  I woke up yesterday and thought, "I'm getting married this year."  It was about a year ago that we picked our wedding date, and now we're just about seven and a half months away from the big day.  It's coming up fast.

Carina and I picked out the bridesmaids dresses over the holiday week while Sam and I were up in NorCal.  Jackie and Carina already have their measurements in, and Lindsay is going to head over to the salon tomorrow to get her measurements taken too.  I just need to follow up with Carrie and Michelle to make sure they remember to get their orders in by Sunday.  

I have the date for my bridal shower (in NorCal) set, we have an appointment to do the menu tasting for our wedding entrees, I have a list of bakeries we need to visit to taste wedding cake and talk pricing, and I am feeling really, really good about everything.

I still need to work on the invitation wording just a bit and then order all the invitations.  And I want to sit down with our florist again so I can work out some of the details with the flowers and decorations.  And then it's pretty much all done except picking out the boys' attire and getting our wedding bands made.  Obviously the little details like seating charts etc. are still to come, but those are things that will happen in July and we're still a LONG way off from then.

The other great thing is that I'm totally 100% recommitted to my fitness goals.  I didn't do so well in 2013, but I realize now that putting all my time and energy into my profession isn't the smartest thing to do because jobs come and go but your happiness and health lasts your whole lifetime and affects your lifestyle.  

So, on that high, high note, let me say that 2014 is going to be my best year yet!

49er Faithful Headed 'Home'

Tonight, Sam and I are flying up to San Francisco to spend what we hope will be a beautiful fall weekend in Northern California.  It will be our first trip home since we got engaged in August, and the first time I've seen my Dad and sister, Carina.  As you can imagine, I am really looking forward to being back in my hometown.  

While we're home, we're going to be celebrating Carina passing her nursing examination and being able to look for a job.  She is the first nurse in our family, so obviously we're all overjoyed and incredibly proud of her.  In fact, she's been home since last weekend so Sam and I will be a bit late to her party, but it will be really good to spend time as a family all the same.

While Carina's accomplishment deserves a good deal of attention, we originally planned this vacation so that we could make it home for the 49er game on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.  

Since it's the last season at Candlestick, Sam and I are making an effort to make it up for as many games as we can - which is looking like two so far.  Unfortunately, we're pretty limited in nights that the flight schedule and game schedule line up for us.  

Focusing on the positives, though, we're bringing Jackie and Joe to the game.  I am really excited to see them both and get to share something that means so much to me with a couple that Sam and I are looking forward to sharing lots of future milestones with.  Plus, Carina and Jackie will get a chance to meet again and hopefully bond a little bit over my bachelorette party planning.  Dad is awesome and he's going to sit with the McHones so that Mom, Carina, Sam, Jackie, Joe and I can sit in Papa's seats.  

It will also be really fun to see the whole Tailgate Crew.  Sam has been getting ribbed for years about not proposing to me, so I'm excited to show off my beautiful engagement ring and let him get all the credit.  

In addition to the McHones and Tailgate Crew, we'll get to see Matt, Kelly and Mike Ward along with Chris and Whitney (I hope).  That will be really fun because in addition to celebrating our engagement, Whit and Matt announced that they're expecting their first baby in April 2014 - so we have a LOT to be cheerful and excited about.  I am planning on bringing a couple bottles of champagne to pop in the parking lot. 

View from Papa's seats Jan 12, 2013 (San Francisco v. Green Bay)

Welcome to Orange County Fall!

My little guy is such a handsome puppy!

Fall has finally arrived here in Irvine and I couldn't be happier!  

Fall makes me think of Northern California and I love celebrating the change of the seasons.  And now that we're into October, Sam and I are anticipating Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

It rained yesterday for the first time this fall and it was magical.  The smell of the wet pavement and dirt.  The way the air has a bite and chill to it.  Maybe this fall is especially magical because I'm celebrating my engagement to the most amazing future-husband in the world.  

And wedding planning is going fantastically.  This week we pulled the trigger on a videographer and a DJ/Emcee who will also handle our lighting.  So now we've got a couple more big things crossed off our list.  The only things that we have left are to decide on an officiant, string trio or quartet for the ceremony, the cake, our menu, a hairdresser, a makeup artist and my wedding dress.

My sister is going to be in NorCal this weekend and she and my mom and I are going to check out a bridal salon that has "the dress".  There's been one dress in all my perusing that I keep coming back to and thinking that it's just perfect.  Yes, I'm nervous about what will happen when I put it on, but I am really excited to share this moment with my mom and sister.

Wedding Planning Whirlwind

Last weekend was a whirlwind of wedding planning. I picked my mom up at John Wayne on my way home from dropping Sam off at LAX. He’s in Thailand with his parents this week visiting his brother. 

Mom and I stayed up well past midnight looking through The Knot’s quarterly magazine that Carrie brought down for me last weekend. We also went online and perused a bunch of invitations and get a feel for what we liked. Luckily, Mom and I both liked the more formal invitations and she agreed that it would be cute to have something with some kind of beach theme. 

Saturday morning she wanted to get her nails done at my local nail salon, so I took her in there after breakfast. When she was finished, we headed over to South Coast Plaza to check out the Papyrus store and see what they had to offer as far as invitations go. As we were flipping through books, Mom found the PERFECT invitations. They are very clean and elegant, the wording is very formal, and they have a starfish accent at the bottom of the invitation. I’ll have to take Sam back in a few weeks and make sure he likes them too, but I don’t think he’ll have too much of a problem with them!

After the invitations, we headed home and had lunch with Hunter. He was happy to see us and spend some time getting spoiled while we were getting ready for our appointment at The Surf and Sand.

Ironically, the photographer and florist I have booked for my wedding were at The Surf and Sand on Saturday doing another wedding. It was fun to meet the photographer, who I booked through her boss, and hadn’t met yet. The florist wasn’t there in person, but Mom did get to see the flowers she did.

We also got to meet our wedding coordinator, Kat. She helped us figure out what our wedding costs would be and answered a bunch of our questions before I signed the contract and Mom handed over her credit card. During our meeting, Kat had us sample the house champagne and we got calamari comped by the resort. It was really nice, and obviously, since we’re going to pay a LOT for this wedding, I am sure they were doing their best to impress us.

After the business was done, Mom and I wandered around the hotel so she could get a better feel for it. We went down to the beach so that Mom could get an idea of where our wedding photos will be taken, and while we were there we got to see the photographers taking photos of the bridal party. It was really fun.

After we were done at the Surf & Sand, we walked across the street to Laguna Brisas, The Best Western hotel we are getting a special rate at for our guests. Mom and I hadn’t been in there before, and we checked it out just to make sure everything was on par- which it was! 

We headed home at 8pm… pretty impressive since we got up 12 hours earlier!

On Sunday, we conferred with Dad about the best way to communicate all the hotel information to our guests on the wedding website. After sorting that out, Mom and I went down to Fashion Island to do a little shopping. It was funny, because we’re trying to figure out if coral or turquoise bridesmaids’ dresses will be prettier. I would love to find something in Tiffany Blue to match the colors of The Surf and Sand, but we’ll see how that goes. Anyway, while we were shopping both colors were EVERYWHERE! They were on the racks in the stores and on the people wandering around the mall. It was hilarious.

After lunch at R&D Kitchen, I dropped Mom off at the airport. 

It was kind of strange to see her go since I’m now home alone with Hunter all week while Sam’s out of town. Not that I mind it so much, but we had a really nice time while she was here and it was all SO easy! Nonna said she once heard planning a wedding compared to planning the invasion of Normandy and that's been our running joke for about a year now.  I just hope the rest of the planning process goes this smoothly and the day goes off with minor hitches!!!

Late last night, I was watching The Newsroom and texting with Carina about my dress and everything Mom and I accomplished. I wish Carina had been here, but it’s been really fun bonding with her on Pinterest posts and texts and phone calls. I think this is going to be a really fun experience for us as sisters. J

As I was walking Hunter, Dad called to say that he and Mom were going through their guest list and he wanted to add another 8 people who he felt would be offended if they weren’t invited. He said it’s not likely these people will pay to travel down here, but who knows, they might. He said he’ll send an email out to let everyone know that they shouldn’t worry about offending him if they can’t make it, but that he wanted them to know they are in the VIP circle of friends. I told Dad that since he is paying for all of this, I don’t care who he invites. As long as we stay under the max capacity of the ball room and can afford for all these wild people to come and suck booze down at the open bar, I feel like the more the merrier is our motto!

Papa Santi Turns 80

Yesterday my grandpa threw himself an 80th birthday part at my parent's house.  Sam, my sister and I flew in from our respective places of residence, Ali and her boyfriend came up from Santa Barbara and Mark, Lori and Brock came over from Hawaii.  It was quite an event.  Papa invited 60 people and we think we had about 55 attend.  

He hired a team to cook (in GIANT propane powered pots) lobster, veggies, potatoes, and garlic.  It was our own private lobsterfest.  They rolled parchment paper out on these long tables and then dumped the food out on the middle of the tables and everyone pretty much sat down and ate with their hands.  It was pretty fun- except of course that some of us don't eat lobster so much.  Which was a real treat for those of us who DO eat lobster.  :-)  Sam ate my tail and one of my claws while I stuck to the corn and shrimp.  He also was a HUGE help manning the bar with Carina.  They were fantastic!

I took a TON of photos with Papa's camera- hopefully they will turn out well.  Hopefully Nonna and Papa will remember to have a disk made for me when they have the photos printed.

It was good to see Ali and Brock- I loved catching up with them!  Mark and Lori were fun too, and I al so glad they all came over around 2:30 so that we could spend some time with just the family before the guests arrived.  We broke in the bar and had a couple beers to take the edge off while playing some friendly family ping-pong matches.  Ali's boyfriend, Peter, ripped his jeans open at the crotch which was HILARIOUS and he ended up borrowing a pair of Dad's shorts so that he was decent for the party.

Once the party was in full-swing there were SO many people I didn't have as much time to hang out with them.  C'est la vie.  I hope that we're going to be able to hang out with them soon.  I'm sure we'll see Peter and Ali since they only live 2 1/2 hours from us by car and should be able to come down and visit one weekend before Peter graduates in December. 

One of my favorite photos of the afternoon was the one of Sam, Carina and I in our bibs (provided by the lobster company) to try to keep our clothes clean.  They reminded me of the "I <3 Pasta" bibs Nonna used to have for us at the holidays.  

Along with the family, it was wonderful to see so many old friends.  I really enjoyed spending time with the Cantys, Geoghegans and Williams- Maria and Pat especially.  They are such amazing people and have always treated me like a part of their family.  Gosh they are just the best.  

Like Carina said last night after everyone had gone home and it was just us five, we are incredibly lucky to have been dealt the hand we were given.  We have a great family and great friends. 

Not All Compliments Are Created Equal

I got home from work today and did my weigh lifting routine before heading to the gym.  I was a little later than usual (someone had to take a walk and do his business, Hunter!) but I figured it wouldn't be a big deal because our usual teacher wasn't out today.  Man, was I wrong.

I got to class and every single bike against the back wall was taken.  Every. Single. One.

Are you kidding me?  The one day I wear a snug-fitting Lululemon top to spin instead of a baggy t-shirt I am going to be on display to the people behind me.  Cue the self-consciousness.

I did what any girl would do- I immediately texted my girlfriends for support.  The responses were priceless.

My Texts:
Showed up late to spin today and couldn't get a back row bike- it's the first day I have worn a tight Lululemon (muffin top exposing) shirt.  FML.

Nobody stares at the ass in front of them... except me... right?

Turns out I am not the only one with a muffin top, thank God I have a nice rack.

Responses:
From Amy- "You have such great form that if anyone looks at your ass it's going to be because they are checking out your stance"

From Carina- "LOL ur all good.  Gym judgement is silly!!!"

From Sam- "That's what you get for having a muffin top!"

So what did I do?  I spun my little heart out!  I figured if I was going to be the chunky girl on the bike I could at least get a helluva workout in and have people respect me for that.  Our sub, who I've had before and I am convinced is a little nuts, is forevermore to be known as The Spin Nazi.  (Seinfeld shout-out!)  She is seriously hard work, but not as fun as Jen.

Well, about 10 minutes before class was over, I was sweating all over myself and prepping for an awesome finish to my workout.  I looked up and The Spin Nazi is totally grinning at me and mouthing something that seemed encouraging although I couldn't tell what she was saying.  The next thing I knew, she called me out for having great form.

Wow.  There is no higher compliment when you are working your butt off than to have the group fitness instructor acknowledge your amazingness in front of the entire class.  Yes, it's pretty damn rewarding.  And honestly, I worked even harder that last 10 minutes after she recognized my effort.

Belated Christmas Update

7 Rib Prime Rib = 15 pounds
(Twice as much food as 5 people need)

The whole family, Christmas Dinner 2012

Wedding Season 2012

I have T-minus 3 weeks until I am done with my marketing class... which is great because I have taken on more and more responsibilities at work.  I am so thankful to have amazing opportunities to grow professionally and be a part of the success at my company.  On top of work, I have a lot of fun weekends coming up.

In a few hours I will be hopping on a flight to SFO where I will join Carina and we'll meet our grandparents.  Nonna & Papa are taking us to dinner in the city before we head home for the big unveiling of the Santi "Kitchen" Remodel of 2012.  What started as a kitchen addition, turned into quite the home project- affecting our living room, dining room, guest bathroom, and hallway in addition to the kitchen addition. 

Tomorrow morning, Carina and I will head up to Lake Tahoe for a wedding.  Mom and Dad are arriving at the Hunter Lake House sometime early this afternoon with the Wards (who have kids my and Carina's age) to relax before college friend Dominic's daughter, Katie's, wedding tomorrow.  I haven't met her soon-to-be-husband yet, but I am really excited to do so.  Katie and Rick have been together since college, and I was not surprised when he proposed.

The Wards' son will be getting married next month, and I'll be heading home the second weekend in September to attend that.  Their son, Matt, is marrying a really wonderful girl, Whitney, who I was able to meet at the 49er games this fall.  Matt and I have kept in touch since high school through tailgating during football games.  I am really happy for he and Whitney, and really excited to celebrate their nuptials.

Bring up the end of the 2012 wedding season, Allison is getting married the first weekend in October.  I am so, so happy for her.  Allison was a huge role model for me in junior high school and high school when she paved the road for me into water polo.  She and her mom convinced my mom and I that I should get involved in the sport, she had me join her summer club team for the Junior Olympics, and she drove me to practice when I was a sophomore on the our High School Varsity Team. 

The only bummer about all these great trips is having to leave little Hunter Puppy at home.  Sam's got call tomorrow and won't be home until Sunday afternoon some time.  So I am leaving here shortly to drop Hunter off at our vet's office where he will be boarded until Sam comes home on Sunday.  This is Hunter's LONGEST stretch at the vet's office- we have boarded him overnight before, but never two nights in a row.  I am honestly a little nervous for him!  At least I can be an overbearing mom and call the vet to check in on him.  LOL.

Wine Tasting Part 2

Saturday morning we got up and decided to drive across the hill to the Napa Valley since I'd never been wine tasting in Napa and Carina loves the Dutch Henry chardonnay (which they are no longer producing).  They did, however, have a really cool bocci ball court that we hung out at and admired the view of the vineyard and the rest of the valley beyond it.  

 We also really liked their wino-crossing sign.  Carina even took a cute picture with it and the bottle of wine Mom bought her.  

After Dutch Henry, everyone agreed that we had to go up to Sterling, which is on top of this little hill in the middle of the valley.  You take an old gondola up from the parking lot on the valley floor and ohmigosh it's really something.  

When we got into the winery, they had a self-guided tour of the facilities and as you walk through and learn about the wine-making process they have tasting stations where you sample the wines.  It was definitely an operation that is geared toward the tourists- which was kind of neat even if their wines weren't remarkable.  I did like their Riesling, which I've purchased at the store before, and their 2009 Cellar Club Malvasia Bianca. Mmmm it was good!

 

Gianna, Carina, & Mom on the terrace

After Sterling, Carina wanted to check out the sparkling wines.  She's been to a couple different wineries with Mom and Dad, but they decided to take me to Mumm which they agreed has the superior wine.  

Dad was our DD again, and we girls enjoyed some of the bubbly!  It was interesting for me, because I'm not a huge fan of carbonated beverages.  I did enjoy the Santana Sparkling Wine, which was very sweet and fruity and not at all dry.  

From there, it was back home- with a quick stop and In-n-Out so Carina could get her fix while she's in California.

A Girl's Lesser-Known Best-Friend

Wine Tasting Part 1

I have an embarrassing confession.  I am a graduate of UC Davis, home of the Robert Mondavi Wine Institute, and yet I have never been wine tasting in Northern California.  To my credit, I was underage during three of the four years I lived in Davis, and I wasn't really interested in wine during my senior year- that was my liquor phase.

Carina has been wine tasting with my parents a few times, mostly to Napa I believe, and when she decided to come out for the weekend she requested another visit.  To my joy, I got to piggy back along!  Friday morning (after trips to the dentist) we piled into the MDX and headed up to the Russian River wine country.

Our first winery was Rodney Strong.  Their tasting room was really pretty and we got to try some really nice wines while we were there... even a special one that wasn't on our tasting menu!  It was the 2002 Reserve Cabernet- very yummy!

From Rodney Strong, we walked across the parking lot to J.  J is owned by Judy Jordan of the Jordan Winery family.  Her senior employees are all women from what we learned during our tasting- which is pretty cool.

She's also got a great pond with turtles and great landscaping.  There were benches outside to accommodate guests' picnicking which is always good when you're wine tasting.

Mom likes their sparkling wines and she had just been up to the wine country with my dad and another couple two weeks ago.  We got to try some of the wines she purchased and started thinking about the menu during the holidays when we'll all be together again.

After we finished at J, my dad drove us to Ferrari Carano.  Wow. Talk about beautiful landscaping- that winery is definitely built to entertain!

There are gorgeous gardens (pictured to the left) which we walked through before we went up into the tasting room.  The tasting room overlooks the fountain/pool and behind it, the vineyard.  It was a really stunning view to pair with some delicious wines.

I really like white wines, and they had a really lovely selection on

tasting menu.  My mom bought me a bottle of their 2010 Bella Luce to take home and share with Sam.  It's a blend of Chardonnay, Muscat Canelli, Semillon, Muscat Giallo, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Blanc.  Absolutely perfect!  It's not quite as sweet as the Gewurztraminers I usually like to sip on, so it's much easier to pair with foods, but it's not bitter which I really hate about white wine.

After we were done at Ferrari Carano, our lovely Designated Driver took us to the main attraction: Francis Ford Coppola!

My beautiful Sister

We hung out at the pool and enjoyed a chilled beverage before our dinner reservations.  Carina had a mojito, Mom had a margarita (she said it was really good), I had a lemon chiller with some of their sparkling wines in it, Sophia Blanc de Blancs.  It was very refreshing!

Dinner was amazing.  Not only were the views of the vineyard spectacular from the terrace where we were sitting, but the food was just unbelievably good.  It was definitely some place I would go back to in a second!  Mom and Dad split the Marrakesh Lamb which is served in a clay pitcher it's been cooking in for 10 hours.  The subtle spices were perfect and didn't overpower the flavor of the meat.  I think I might be a lamb fan after all!

Carina ordered what was my favorite dish of the night,

she ordered the Chicken Mattone.  It was possibly the best chicken I have eating in my life.  The next time I go there- that is 100% what I want to eat.  No question.

I had Mrs. Scorsese's Lemon Chicken.  To say the dish was very lemony would be a gross UNDERSTATEMENT.  It was so lemony that I had a bit of a tough time eating it- now, I did have fair warning from the menu that the chicken came "swimming in lemon" but I thought perhaps that that was a little bit blown out of proportion.  My mistake.  And it was still very good!  The meat fell off the bone and was remarkably tender.  I just felt that the lemon was too overpowering for me to enjoy the chicken.

After dinner, we went through the museum... this was the highlight for me:

The desk from The Godfather trillogy.  This is my I'm-gonna-make-you-an-offer-you-can't-refuse face.  They also had a display of his many awards, and the cards read by the presenters when he won two of the oscars.  It was quite a moment to stand there amidst all of that memorabilia and think back to the nights we've spent as a family sitting together watching The Godfather movies.  For Heaven's sake, we just watched the first 2 with Brock for the first time when we were in Hawaii for Christmas!  

 

All in all, it was a smashingly successful Friday.  One I am so glad I was able to be a part of.

Happy (early) Birthday Papa Santi

Carina and I flew into Oakland this morning to surprise our grandpa for his 78th birthday tomorrow.  My mom and Carina had been planning this for months, and last week I decided I ought to join the fun.  I also haven't seen Carina since January, nor will I see her before Thanksgiving or Christmas (depending how the holidays pan out).  Being a pretty family-oriented person, I figured I should continue my trend of taking advantage of the opportunities life throws at me and spend a little quality time with my nearest and dearest.

Papa, not knowing that Carina and I are coming to town, already has plans tomorrow night.  We're celebrating a little early Tonight we're going to our favorite Italian restaurant in San Francisco- Firenzi by Night.  Papa thinks he and Nonna, who is in on the secret, are picking Mom up and heading into the city to get Dad on their way to the restaurant.  Little does he know that he has 2 unexpected passengers!

I posted to our cousin's facebook last night to let her know our plans- Ali is a freshman at Georgia Tech where she has already started classes and is training with the volleyball team.  She was so excited for Papa, and we both lamented the fact that she and her brother, Brock, can't be here tonight.  Someday it would be really neat to coordinate all 4 of us surprising our grandparents!  Ali mentioned that she has started to notice how much our mutual grandparents and her mom's parents have aged, and I had to agree with her.  It's hard because I still think of Nonna and Papa as they were when I was in high school- he still skis, they both drive, she cooks as well as ever, they love traveling, etc.  But when I stop and think about it, they are starting to slow down a little bit.  After losing my mom's parents in January '10 & '11, I appreciate the time I have been able to spend with my dad's parents.  They have known me as a child, and an adult; they have been there for all the big milestones in my life; and they continue to be a big part of my life- I check in with them on the phone once a week or so.  I am so damn lucky to have them!

So here's to you, Papa!  I really hope you're over the moon tonight when you see Carina and I.