Happy Thanksgiving from the Galles

This Thanksgiving we spent the day with our dear friends, the Colbys.  Dan and Sam decided they wanted to deep fry a turkey for the first time so Sam bought a deep fryer and both a turkey and a duck.  We had decided we were going to have spaghetti and meatballs - and apparently duck - for dinner, so Sam and Dan made a traditional Thanksgiving lunch for us all.  

It was totally delicious! Especially Dan's amazing cranberry sauce.  Seriously, it put all previous cranberries to shame.

Even more amazing than the fried turkey was the duck - I think we were all pretty impressed with how that turned out.  And the cranberry deliciousness went extremely well with that, too.  

All in all, it was really nice to spend our first Thanksgiving as "the Galles" with Dan and Tina, who were with us the first time we hosted Thanksgiving at our apartment during Sam's last year of med school. It felt like coming full circle. And now, we both have our little dogs - Hunter and Lando.  It was really, really nice. 

"I'm going to have to let you go"

I went into my boss's office on Monday at 2:05 for our usual, bi-monthly marketing meeting.  I was running a few minutes late because I had received an email from Twitter that our password had been changed so I had to alert them that I hadn't done anything of the sort and change the password back.  When I arrived at my boss's office, our HR manager was there, but I didn't think too much of it.  When I sat down, I had a page of notes to remind me to follow up on our ongoing marketing initiatives and plan for the following two quarters.

As I sat down, my boss began talking.  He said, "I was crunching some numbers over the weekend and it turns out we're not losing money, we're bleeding money.  And I think I'm going to have to..." he paused, and took a moment to compose himself.

He's going to renege on the raise he gave you 6 days ago,  I told myself.

He started again, "I've decide I'm going to have to let you go."

I sat there in a stunned silence.  He started going on about the checks he had cut me, one for the past pay period, one paying me out through the end of the week (which would have been my PTO), and then the reimbursements for my cell phone and internet bills.  My mind was wandering so I was only half paying attention to what he said.

Let me go, but you just gave me a superlative annual review on the November 7, and you gave me a raise on November 11 with another raise promised on June 1, 2014.  You can't possibly be letting me go.

It dawned on me that when I received an email from Twitter saying that our password had been changed it was because the HR assistant was already going through and systematically locking me out of all of the social media and website administration.

What a shot to the gut.

Not only were they letting me go, they didn't trust my professionalism and integrity enough to believe that I wouldn't vindictively tamper with the department and marketing program I worked so hard to build in the last two years.

I was completely removed from the system by the time one of my favorite coworkers helped me carry my belongings to my car.  Standing there, putting his contact information into my phone, I received a message alerting me that my Microsoft Exchange credentials had been changed.

I called Sam, then my Dad and finally my sister while I was driving home and they all expressed the same shock I was feeling.  People don't get magnificent reviews followed by raises and then get laid off.  Certainly not within a two week period.  But I guess they do, because it happened to me.

The bigger shot through my heart came the following morning when I had to watch the emails popping up in my inbox letting me know that I was no longer an administrator for this social media platform or that social media platform.  Yeah, I get it.  I finally logged into the remaining platforms and removed myself.  Pulling the bandaid off quickly is truly less painful than just sitting there waiting for the emails.

HBO Documentary Series

This weekend I got really interested in HBO's Documentary Series thanks to Kirellos's visit, during which he showed Sam and I that Apple TV has an HBO Go app.  With the new power of streaming HBO Go seamlessly, I found the amazing documentaries that HBO produces - Mondays in Racine, Open Heart, Lock Up: Prisoners of Rikers Island, First Comes Love, and Last Letters Home.

They have all been really touching in different ways.

And it makes me think that there are so many amazing things going on out there in the world that (thankfully) I don't have to manage on a daily basis.

Coupled with these documentaries, Kirellos, Sam and I went out on the Newport Beach Peninsula last night to a new (to us) bar with Kirellos' sister and one of her friends.  The bar was overly full of dudes, super slutty girls and really hammered people.  As we were climbing into bed at 3:00 this morning, I rolled over and snuggled up next to Sam to say 'thank you' for sparing me years of running around trying to find Mr. Right.  And he agreed that we are both lucky to have found each other so early on.

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)

Goleta Lemon Festival 2013

Tomorrow after work we're heading up to Santa Barbara to see some old friends and finally check out Kevin and Dylan's new house... we're only about a year late to the show on that one.  C'est la vie!

It will be fun to not have to worry about booking a DJ or officiant or ordering invitations for a weekend.  Wow, it's funny how much time and energy wedding planning takes.

While we're in town, Cortney got us passes into the Goleta Lemon Festival.  It should be interesting to check out the madness that I am sure will ensue with lemon-flavored beer and lemon-flavored foods.  I am looking forward to some lemon pie, myself.

We're also going to get to meet Conan, Kevin's puppy.  We're hoping that he and Hunter become BFFs so that all our future camping trips can include some doggy fun.  Conan will be a bigger guy than Hunter so it will be interesting to see how they get along - Hunter mostly gets to interact with dogs who are around the same size as he is.

My grandparents will be in town for Ali's home opener volleyball game this weekend, too.  So Sam and I are going to meet them for breakfast on Sunday morning and then drive back to Orange County in time for Sam's soccer game.  Nonna and Papa haven't gotten to see us since we got engaged, so I'm very excited to show off my beautiful ring (and give Sam lots of credit for designing it) and celebrate with them.

Ahhhhh I wish it were Friday afternoon already!

Birthday Week 2013

We kicked off my birthday week with a lot of drinking over the weekend.  In fact, I was actually hung over on Sunday.

A few things I am eagerly awaiting:

1. Dinner at Gabbi's on Wednesday night
2. My birthday cake from French's
3. Opening all my birthday cards

French's is apparently a great bakery and we've got friends who are going to use them for a wedding cake so I thought I'd give them a shot and order myself my first birthday cake since high school.  I mean honestly, I think my last store-bought, ordered birthday cake was in high school from either Mom or Papa Santi.  Very cool.  This is just one of the designs I really liked, but I went with something else... I will definitely post a photo after the big day.

Sam and I went to the gym tonight, and then he drove me down to the Kaiser hospital so I could pick up a prescription from the pharmacy.  He's got a sty and has been sitting here with a hot compress on his eye all night, and I'm on antibiotics.  Let's just say that we've got the whole "in sickness and in health" thing down tonight.  No worries about the rest of our lives!  

The only downside of my birthday weekend kick off was the atrocious Sunday Night Football performance of the 49ers.  I wanted to throw up after the game last night.  Ugh. 

Margaux's Bachelorette Weekend

I have been getting over a cold for the last two weeks and here I sit on the eve of a major girls weekend extravaganza in Santa Barbara.

Miss Margaux is getting married next month and she invited me to join she and her girlfriends for a bachelorette weekend, which is a real honor.  I have come to think of Margaux as part of my own family and the other longstanding girlfriend in Sam's family to share in the limo between being a part of the family du jure and being part of the family de facto.

Margaux is far more patient that I am, she waited 17 years for Pete to propose to her.

In charge of our weekend festivities is one of Margaux's dearest friends whom I enjoy immensely- Ingrid.  She is a UCSB graduate along with her husband, Sam, so I know we're going to do be in great hands.  It will also be interesting to see a mature bachelorette party, since I think this is more in line with how I'd like to celebrate next year.

It should be a great weekend, especially since it will be a long weekend vacation.  We're all taking tomorrow off to travel up in the morning and hanging out by the pool in the afternoon.  I just hope I can keep up with these ladies and not relapse with my head cold.

I also can't wait to get back home on Sunday and see Sam!  He gets back from Thailand on Saturday night and will get a warm welcome from Hunter before being on call on Sunday.  Hopefully it will be a quiet night and he'll be able to spend some time at home after I get here.

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!

Ignoring the Skeptics

I recently read a blog by Seth Godin called Proving the skeptics wrong and it really struck a chord with me.

Lately I have been feeling like no matter how hard I try, it isn't good enough for some of the people in my life... two in particular and one especially.  

I really let it get to me when I hear nasty things that have been fabricated about me.  I grew up in a family where we called each other out on our bullshit and sitting idly by while people blatantly make things up to manipulate other people.  Have some accountability people!

It makes me doubt my self worth and question who and what I am.  It causes me to question whether or not I am worthy of these people's approval or respect.  Ultimately, it makes me so disappointed in the actions of this person and I spend so much of my precious time dwelling on the whole mess far more than I should be and than is healthy for me.

I need to stop.  Like Seth says, "Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers."  I need to surround myself with the people who fill my life with love and happiness.  I need to stop bending over backward for the people who couldn't care less and focus my energy on the people who appreciate the things I do.

10-Year High School Reunion

Tomorrow Sam and I on our way to the airport and flying up to NorCal for our 10-year high school reunion.  We're making a vacation weekend out of the whole trip and will be staying at my grandparents' time share in San Francisco for the weekend.  

I was supposed to be "helping out" with the planning after one of the two girls who planned our 5-year couldn't reprise her role.  The remaining girl said she couldn't do this alone and so I offered to assist her.  

Then said girl got pregnant- congrats to she and her hubby and their young son on the new addition!  So she asked me if I would please step up and be the lead planner in case, like with her first pregnancy, she delivered a few weeks earlier than her due date.  

Anyway, it turns out that planning a reunion is not so hard in that Facebook is amazing and the other two girls had already created a group for our classmates.  On the other hand, prepping for a huge event like this does take time and energy.  I definitely am going to have a sign-up sheet at the registration table for people to volunteer to help out with our next one.

What did I do?  I filed for an EIN number so that, at some point, I could easily pass the accounting on to another group of people.  I still need to file a "Fictitious Business Name" with my home county and then run it in a newspaper for a couple of weeks.  But I will worry about that after this weekend is over.

Right now I am focused on throwing a fun party for about 90 people at a Mexican place in San Francisco where we're hosting a taco bar with the funds we raised through ticket sales and also making a cash bar available to patrons.  It will (hopefully) be really, really fun.  

I can't wait to catch up with some of the classmates I haven't seen since I moved down to SoCal after college.  I am even more excited to see the friends I haven't seen in the last 18 months.  I just hope I'm not so exhausted (mental and emotionally) from the stress of planning that I crash and burn with a cold when it's all over. 

And while I am potentially excited to do this again, I am not sure if we really need 5-year intervals for our reunions... I am going to poll the class next week and see if people a) liked the reunion and b) how often they would like to do them again.  Truthfully, this was actually Liz's idea.  She is going to help me planning the next one, so it's a bit of a passing of the torch situation.  

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

This was one of the best weekends in a long time.  Sam had the entire holiday weekend off!  We spent all three days together as a family- Sam, Hunter and I.  And lots of friends.  It was perfect.  I am very thankful for all that I have and all those who have given their lives so that I am able to lead the life I live.

At The Olde Ship

Friday I went into work early so that I could get out and to the lab for my last blood draw.  Of course I got a nasty bruise which makes me think that I'm not doing very well following the "reduce bruising techniques" that Kaiser has provided me.  Oh well- the point is that I am back down into the normal range of WBC!

Armed with that news, we spent a quiet night at home on the couch just the three of us.  Both Sam and I were pretty exhausted from long weeks and he hadn't taken a day off in 3 full weeks. 

Saturday morning I woke up with Sam snuggled on my left side and Hunter snuggled on my right side. It was fantastic.  We had a lazy morning and met up with Nate who came down from Santa Monica to spend hang out.  We went up to The Olde Ship to watch some European Soccer and then took Hunter down to Newport Harbor to go paddle boarding for the first time.  It was a blast!  He did pretty damn well and I think we'll do it again.  The sweetest thing was when Hunter leapt off the front of Nate's board and swam to mine.  So cute.  He also jumped from Sam's to mine.  It made me feel so loved.  Eventually the boys got up but I slept until 9:30 and felt more refreshed than I had in days.  

Saturday night we hosted a BBQ for our friends.  Jenners, Aaron, Nick, Amy, Nate, Jen and Ryan came over.  We made salmon, ahi and halibut along with a bunch of grilled veggies and Amy brought appetizers and salad.  It was great.  We went to the hot tub after dinner and relaxed and vegged out.  It was so fun and laid back and one of the greatest evenings I've had in a long time.  No stress, just great people and great food and not a care in the world. 

At The Vortex in Manhattan Beach

Sunday morning we went over to Brugglers Bagels and picked up a dozen bagels for breakfast.  We ate, packed up our stuff and headed up to Santa Monica to check out Nate and Jazzy's place.  After we got settled in, we drove down to Manhattan Beach to meet up with some of Nate's buddies from dental school and participate in a big Memorial Day Block Party BBQ on 35th Street on the block called The Vortex.  

It was quite an experience.  There were tons of dogs around so Hunter was in good company.  He made lots of friends- what a freakin' adorable puppy we have!  So we had a great time eating, playing some games and hanging out.  Eventually, Carrie came and picked Sam and I up and saved our asses by taking us back to Santa Monica where we changed clothes and then picked up some food.  Just about the time we got back to Manhattan Beach, Nate was ready to go back to his place so Sam got us a ride using Uber (which is so freaking awesome).  

Sleeping in a strange place with Hunter is always tough the first night.  So needless to say, we didn't sleep so well last night.  We got up, had some more bagels for breakfast, and took a long walk through the beautiful Santa Monica neighborhoods.  

Then we dropped Nate off at his car in Manhattan Beach and headed home to shower and clean up.  Oh my God, the shower felt so freaking amazing.  We started some laundry and got things situated around the house before we headed over to Nick's place for a little more fun.  Ryan and Jen and Arya were there along with Nick's roommate and his girlfriend.  

5th Street in Santa Monica

Sam and I wanted to go down to Laguna for dinner and Nick and Amy were going to join us, but they backed out at the last minute.  Then, Sam decided he would like to hit up Bandera in Corona del Mar instead of going all the way down to Laguna Beach.  It was really nice.  We had mojitos (which I had been craving) and salad and salmon and their amazing jalapeño corn bread.  

After we got home we continued to do more laundry and decided to watch a Memorial Day movie... Black Hawk Down.  It's amazing how much respect I have for the men and women who fight wars for us.  I am so thankful for the land of the free and the home of the brave.  I am thankful for the people who have given their lives willingly so that I can live in a democratic country and support my family.  I am so lucky.  Part of that may be due to my family and where I was born but it's also due to the fact that we have people are willing protect those "rights".

Ryan, DDS

Sophomore year in Isla Vista 

Tomorrow I get to take the day off of work and attend a very special graduation ceremony for Sam's college roommate, Ryan, as he becomes the first DDS (and I think doctor of any kind) in his family.  

Ryan and I became really close during undergrad because he and Sam shared a room Junior and Senior year, and because Ryan and I have very similar families.  From the get-go we meshed really well and I always loved making dinner as a house, hearing how his parents and sisters were doing, and spending free time down at the beach.  As you can see from these photos of us, there was also quite a bit of drinking... but I will say this, I only had to take him to urgent care once (that I remember) for injuries sustained while drunk.  

Junior year in Isla Vista

Ryan is one of those guys who is actually a wonderful person.  It's hard to come by guys like that these days, although I am certainly blessed to know quite a few upstanding dudes.  Ryan was always a great moral compass without judging too much.  He had good advice for me and sought out advice about his life from me.  I would say Ryan is someone I absolutely consider to be a brother from another mother!

Anyway, poor Sam is stuck at work tomorrow, oh the joys of residency and especially 2nd year of residency.  So I will be attending Ryan's graduation solo (and meeting up with lots of the old UCSB crew.  We bought him a gift to commemorate the occasion, something he will be able to have a long time and enjoy.  Or so we hope.

Ryan is definitely one of those friends that I know Sam and I will be close to for the rest of our lives.  Just like some of my parents' friends who they've been tight with since high school and college.  Despite the distance we'll face as Ryan moves back to Northern California to start his career in dentistry, I am sure we'll still keep in touch and visit each other as often as we can.  That's just the kind of guy Ryan is.  Thoughtful, kind, someone who makes the effort to spend your birthday with you- even if it means driving out of his way and changing his plans.

Senior year at the Del Playa house in Isla Vista

Mental Health Days

Everyone needs a mental health day sometimes.  Today is mine.

I haven't had a day to myself since April 14.  Since then I've either been traveling and participating in wedding festivities, working, or entertaining out of town guests.  Please don't misunderstand me, those are all very exciting things that make me very happy, but they do wear me down too.

Sam went back to work today after his week of vacation so that left Hunter and I at the house.  How very relaxing!  The only bummer was that Hunter seemed to think it was time to get up when Sam left for work at 5:30 this morning.  C'est la vie.  It got me up, out of bed and started my productive day.

What have I done with my day?  I started off my cleaning out my briefcase and purse of all the miscellaneous stuff I'd been collecting during the last couple of weeks.  I was able to file my bills and paychecks away in our guest bedroom, clean out our stationary drawer and make room for the new thank you cards and greeting cards I ordered from Papyrus earlier this week, and stripped the guest bed and bathroom linens to be cleaned before my parents arrive next weekend.

Funny anecdote, twice I tried to start the washing machine with the guest bed sheets and twice I accidentally turned on the drier instead.  Boy, did I need a mental health day or what?!

I also have been catching up on my blogging (both reading and writing) and downloaded some new material on my nook.  Which I swear I am going to go and read once I'm finished with this post because I am racking up a ton of unread stuff on that little device and I'm itching to read it all.

I also met with a colleague of mine and spent a couple of hours with her hearing about her job hunt, catching up on what's going on in her love life and just enjoying not having a time-schedule that I had to follow.  When we were done I ran into Target to buy more dishwashing detergent (the kitchen is getting cleaned as soon as I get though the piles of dishes in our sink), razors (summer weather is here and I definitely can't wear shorts with the fuzzy legs I am sporting), and birthday and mother's day cards (which will all be slightly belated).  All in all, it was a good trip.  I just need to run to Petsmart and get Hunter some new chewy sticks to entertain him when we're having company over or take him somewhere for dinner.

It's odd because I would think all these errands would be stressing me out more, but having accomplished so many of my To Do items has really relaxed me and made me feel in control of my life again.  I even took some time to write cards to a few friends and family members because I believe snail mail brightens everyone's days.  It actually seems that many people like to accomplish things on their days off: How and When to Take a Mental Health Day gives you ideas of how to schedule time off as well as what you should do to help yourself recover from the stress in your life.

Airoso Wedding Weekend

Wedding Weekend Recaps are so challenging- there is so much time to condense into one post!  And on top of that, I have so many photos to share!  So without further adieu, here we go!  

Couldn't miss an opporunity to snap a photo of my alma mater as I passed through Davis on my way to the hotel in Old Sacramento.  So many wonderful memories on that campus... so many wonderful friendships forged... so many wonderful people I was able to collaborate with.  I wish everyone well!

 Here we are in Sam and my hotel room, but Sam didn't come into town until Friday night.  So on Thursday, Marlena and I split the room.  We got ready for the rehearsal dinner, relaxed a little after our long travel days, and caught up on how life has been going for each of us lately.  It made me really wish that we live closer... Orange County to Chicago is just such a long way and long time to travel.  After the rehearsal, we went down to the hotel bar and had a drink while we watched the end of the Golden State Warriors victory- go Bay Area!  It was really fun spending some time with Lena.

Sam missed his flight to Sacramento and flew into San Francisco at 11:15pm instead.  Papa offered to pick him up for me and meet me in Vacaville... what a life savor!  So we didn't get back to the hotel until about 1:40 AM the morning of Jackie and Joe's wedding.  I think I was running mostly on adrenaline that day because I know I didn't get as much sleep as I needed!

Joe's sister, Emily

Luckily the wedding was great- we were running a little behind with hair and makeup, but I think the wedding was only about 15 minutes later than it should have been.  Jackie looked absolutely gorgeous (as always) and it was really fun to hang out with her mom and her sister and all of the ladies who are most important to her and Joe.  After the ceremony we took what felt like a million photos and it was a little chaotic because we all wanted to get to the wedding PARTY as fast as we could... but I think that we got some great shots, especially with such amazingly photogenic bridesmaids and groomsmen!  

I was totally blown away by the centerpieces on the tables at dinner.  They were really pretty and so simple and kind of perfect for a backyard wedding reception.  Joe's parents did an amazing job on their yard and it was really impressive to see the transformation from Thursday's rehearsal to the real deal on Saturday night.  It was a lot of work, but everything paid off and everyone survived!

I really loved getting to know Joe's sister, Emily, and his brother's fiancee, Shannon.  (Emily is in purple in the photo below)  They are both pretty loud but in a great way and they treated all of us like we were family all weekend long.  Shannon was especially helpful on the day of the wedding when we were sequestered in Joe's grandma's trailer and it was swelteringly hot outside.  She ran and got us drinks, food, etc. Pretty much anything we needed!  I am really happy that Jackie is marrying into such a wonderful family that will have her back and Joe's throughout their lives. 

 Our table was bridesmaids and dates, and the hair and makeup team.  We had a great time!  It was especially nice to see Katy and Emily Nester who I haven't seen in ages.  I guess that's the most fun part of a wedding weekend; catching up with all the people you are connected with throughout the bride and groom's lives.  It is really something magical and the wedding itself was not enough time to see all of those wonderful people I am connected to through Jackie.  I hope that soon we'll be able to catch up without the wedding madness, but I doubt that.  We have spread so far across the country.

 And here is the beautiful bride, Jackie.  One of my dearest friends.  One of my college roommates.  One of the girls I know will always be there for me no matter what I need.  I am blessed to have friends who are as supportive as Jackie and it was an extreme honor to stand up with she and Joe on their day.

And then there is my date... my wonderful, handsome boyfriend who took a late night fight to be able to be there with everyone on Saturday night.  Who caught a ride to the wedding with Megan whom he'd never met because he know I was committed to bridal party stuff the day of the wedding.  

Spending time with Sam was great.  We don't have as much time to spend together as we would like now that he's deep into his second year of residency.  Luckily we have 3rd year on the horizon and hopefully that will be significantly better in terms of hours spent at the hospital, time spent sleeping and ability to enjoy his free time.  I know I am personally hopeful for a little more responsibility shouldered at home but that's a topic for another blog post... so let me refocus on the wedding weekend.

Boy, don't I look great with that cigar?

It was also really nice for Lena and Sam to get to spend some quality time together - I don't think they have really gotten to know each other over the years because Sam was out of town when Jackie and Marlena came down to visit Southern California and he hasn't been able to go up to NorCal with me when I've traveled to visit the girls at Jackie's house.  Obviously, he wasn't invited on our girls trip to Chicago two summers ago when Jackie and I flew out to visit Marlena and see her skit at Second City.

And seeing Heidi and Jared is always a good time.  I can't wait for Heidi to start her wedding planning and hear about all their details.  I mean let's face it, I love this stuff!  Putting on big events is stressful but it requires organization, logistical strategy and lots of planning which are three of my strengths.  

One of our next couples tying the knot!  Dan and Tina came and met us for breakfast before we headed back to the airport on Sunday morning.  We had a great time catching up and we hope to get together again soon... though we will probably see them next on their big day in July.  

Movie Stars

My, my it's been a horribly busy week.  Jackie's bachelorette weekend was pretty fun- I got home and Sam let me know Jacadi and Sean were going to take us up on our offer to have them come stay in the guest room while they did some house hunting.

What an awesome surprise!  And better yet, we got to meet Isaac!  18 months after he was born, and a whole lot of photos later, but we did get to meet him!!!  He is really adorable, I mean seriously he's the most precocious little guy and he is so sweet with Hunter (BTW they are born like about 15 days apart).  They're pretty sure they found a place to rent until Sean gets himself a job (he was waiting to see where Jacadi matched) and then they'll be looking to buy a place.

It was a crazy week- our vendor hired a videographer to film a video testimonial for two of our clients.  How cool!!!  Right?  I am going to be a movie star!!! :-) The first was on Tuesday, which was a 9+ hour day, and then Wednesday I pulled another 9+ hour day doing some errands at the last minute after work.  Wednesday I was completely exhausted.  I woke up and felt sniffly and my neck was sore and I had a headache.  Today I woke up and had a bit of a scratchy throat.  Felt foggy.  I came home and napped this afternoon before I dropped off Sam's carnitas stuff at the hospital.

Man, I am just spent.  And I have another FULL weekend ahead of me.  Sam's parents arrive tomorrow with Leo and we're all celebrating Aunt Elsa's 80th birthday on Saturday.  I am so excited to see them, but I also think I'm in desperate need of some rest and relaxation.

So with that, I'm off to bed!  I need to get ready for Jackie's wedding next weekend- I will be going up on Thursday and I definitely need my rest before then!

Wine

Last week felt like it would never end.  I had two work events, and the culmination of a couple of big projects I had been working on since the start of the year.  Needless to say, I was so thankful when the weekend arrived.

This week has been completely different.  It's like I have jetlag from all the energy I had to exert last week.  I have no motivation and all I want to do is lose myself in mindless forms of entertainment- TV, internet, reading other people's blogs, drinking wine every night with dinner (one glass), and playing Roller Coaster Tycoon (please don't judge me too harshly).  

I have not wanted to blog myself at all.  Why not?  Because I am trying to ESCAPE my life of course!

It's all I can do to handle myself and Hunter (let alone Sam, who thankfully has been on call a lot) let alone relive the stress and drama.  Part of my problem is that little Hunter hasn't been sleeping through the night very well over the last two weeks- probably my fault because our walks have not been as regular or long as they should have been.

I did find time to make the ortho department cupcakes on Sunday.  I drove up to the hospital and met with Sam for dinner, leaving the cupcakes with his very sweet nurses.  For our on-call date night, Sam took me to the fish place in the mall across from the hospital and it was fabulous.  It was also expensive, but seriously it was scrumptious.  I had butterflied panko crusted shrimp and cajun halibut.  Mmmmm.

I am also a little overwhelmed by the travel coming up- Jackie's got her bridal shower, her bachelorette and her wedding two weeks apart for the next six weeks.  OMG.  I am so excited but simultaneously so exhausted.  I may end up having to take a day off after the wedding is over to relax and recuperate.  Plus, Sam will be off the week after the wedding so it would be good for us to relax and spend some time without so much distraction.

In between the wedding and the bachelorette party (which I get to throw- OMG I am so excited!) we get to see Sam's family for his Great-Aunt's 80th Birthday Party.  We have lots of family coming into town, and Sam's folks generously offered to get us a hotel up in Palos Verdes to hang out with the family.  I wasn't in love with the idea of staying up there on the weekend before the wedding, but I was looking forward to getting to see Sue and Rich and all the cousins (who I hope are coming down.)

Anyway, Sam's parents are going to stay in Irvine now, which is super thoughtful of them and I'm even more excited about seeing them now that I don't have to stress about the dog and getting my shit together before the wedding.  I am so excited about wedding season though, Jackie kicks it off and then we have Monique's and Dan and Tina's.

I'm also really excited about our 10-year class reunion, which I am co-chairing, in June.  And Papa's big 80th birthday party in July.  So many wonderful things happening in the next couple of months!!!

Washing Machine

The washing machine got fixed today!  Or at least I hope it did, I am running it right now as a test with the heavy blanket that I only halfway washed on Sunday night.  Of course, little Hunter had to go to the vet today so that our maintenance crew could come in and take care of it.  Even if management DID know about Hunter I wouldn't put him through the experience of being stuck in his crate while a stranger ran around the house.  He would probably still go to spend the day in a daycare situation.  :-)

And we're another day closer to our vacation in Northern California!  I can't wait to be home to see family and friends!

NOLA Photos

Dad, Dominic, Robin & Mom at Pat O'Brien's, our first stop after arriving in Louisiana 

Bourbon Street our first night in town

We met up with Ruby and Tracy

Then we had the whole crew!

The girls

Saturday we met up with my friends, and Carina arrived!

We met Dwight Clark, and Mom's lifelong dream came true!

Dad and his girls on Game Day

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!

Sick

I tell ya, being at my parents house is a real treat.  My parents completely spoiled Hunter and I while we were staying with them last week.

Sam and I attended my company holiday brunch on Sunday morning and came home to finish packing and load up the car.  Unfortunately, the 49er game got interesting and we had to postpone our departure until after the loss- ugh! 

After all of Sam's birthday celebrating, he and Hunter passed out on the way up to Northern California and I drove 6 hours straight, making it home in record time.  Yay! 

• It was an amazingly busy week- Monday Sam and I went into San Francisco to do some shopping.  
• Tuesday I worked a bit from home and then did some reconnaissance with Mom and Lisa in Danville.  
• Wednesday I had my busiest day- up to Sacramento to visit with Aunt Kathy, Aunt Annie, Alicia, Justin, Clare and Ryan; off to Jackie and Joe's to try on my bridesmaid dress for their wedding; dinner with Tony and April to meet the adorable Harper; and then back to pick up Hunter from Jackie and Joe before driving back to Mom and Dad's house.
• Thursday I visited Nonna and Papa with Hunter for some pie making activities.
• Friday Mom took the day off and we spent the day running errands and then hosting Sam and his parents for dinner.
• Saturday I caught up with Lindsay over breakfast and a walk before getting my nails done with Mom and then heading over to Sam's parents' house for a Chanukah kick-off party.  
• Sunday we got up and drove home to Southern California.

Unfortunately I managed to come down with a horrendous head cold while I was in NorCal and I am suffering immensely for it now.  I worked from home today to minimize the exposure of my coworkers, but I think I was initially feeling ill on Wednesday night, and I woke up Thursday with a scratchy throat.  Today has been the worst day (I think) but I slept horribly last night.  I am just soooooooo congested that I keep having to blow my nose and drink tea/water/soup.

I'd like to say Hunter enjoyed having me home today, but truth be told, he has been sleeping most of the day.  Hopefully that means he will also sleep tonight!

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks from today we will be celebrating Christmas Eve with my parents and my sister.  I think Carina is going to bring her Terrier/Chiuahuah mix with her from Colorado, and my parents are bringing Max down too.  It will be a full house for sure!

Hopefully by then I will be feeling better!  This Wednesday kicks off the holiday parties and I am terrified that I will be lingering on the brink of health for the holidays this year.  No fun when I have the Rose Bowl to look forward to!