Unsettling

It maybe wasn't a wise idea to park in an underground parking garage AFTER a 5.8 earthquake had rattled the SoCal area. Unfortunately, Dave and I went to a Padres baseball game last night and we parked where we always parked. We both didn't realize our unwise mistake until we found a parking spot three floors below the ground. As we were walking up the stairs I kept thinking of the bridge that collapsed after the Oakland earthquake and all the people that were stuck for days between the layers.


I saw the damage that was done after the Northridge earthquake (which wasn't that much larger then yesterday's quake) and I can't help but be a bit unsettled. Will there be any after shocks? Was this a pre-quake? Will this anger the mighty San Andreas fault?


In more happy news, Dave's work purchased a sky box at Petco Park. Free food and booze. Bad game but the relaxing atmosphere made up for it all.

I'm Wearing Red Glittery Shoes and Tapping Them

A co-worker and I drove 2 hours to a meeting the other day. While driving we began talking about all the places that we wanted to travel to in the future. I realized that there are quite a few places out there that I haven't seen and would like to visit in the near future. It also made me realize that maybe Dave and I need to stop repeat vacationing in Mexico and Las Vegas. While I love both places dearly there are other places that I could be spending money to visit.

Below are the locations I would like to travel to in the next 5 - 10 years. There are a few other places I'd like to visit such as Catalina Island and Borrego Springs but those are cheap and easy weekend trips so I didn't include them in the list below.

10. Florida Keys - Two years ago I spent a month in Florida for work. If California fell off the face of the Earth, I could easily move to Florida or Texas and be a very happy camper. Before this trip I had never really heard of the Florida Keys but now I would love to take a road trip through them. Making sure to stop at all the really quiet islands.

9. Almost Anywhere in Canada - In 2002 a group of girls and I flew to Vancouver for my best friend's 20th birthday and I feel in love with Canada. Now I would love to go almost anywhere in Canada: Banff, Quebec (so I can practice my french), Nova Scotia. It's cold, green, unpopulated and everything that Cali is not. Sometimes you need a little yin to make you appreciate the yang.

8. Santa Barbara Wine Country - I've wine tasted in Napa, Sonoma, Temecula, and the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Now I'd like to explore Santa Barbara wines and have the opportunity to sleep at one of these awesome cabins on the beach.

7. Yosemite High Sierra Camp - I love Yosemite (I got married there!) and I love the idea of hiking someplace really remote but not having to deal with heavy back packs.

6. Palm Springs Girls Get Away - This is more of a weekend trip (Palm Springs is about 2 hours from where I live) but I'd like to do a girl's getaway weekend. Laying by the pool, going to the spa, talking with friends, and enjoying a mojito is my idea of a great time.

5. Point Arena - For our second date, Dave invited me to go camping with him and it was at that point that I think I fell in love. For our 5 year dating anniversary (next August!) I'd love to go back to Point Arena and stay at this Inn.

4. Month on the Oregon Coast - I'd love to take a month long holiday, rent a cabin on the coast and just enjoy each day. Renting a cabin on Cali's coast is economically not feasible but to me Oregon's Coast is just as beautiful.

3. Europe! - I think I've said this a million times but lately I'm feeling the itch to explore Europe. I'd want to go backpacking through Scotland, England, and the French countryside.

2. Alaska - I'd love to take a cruise with Dave's family to Alaska. I think it would be scenic as well as a bonding experience for Dave's family and myself.

1. Trip with Friends - Anywhere. I could care less where we went but I would love to take a vacation with a group of married friends. Sorry Tam, unfortunately this anywhere doesn't include Iowa to visit you and Ryan! ;-)

AND we just felt a 5.8 earthquake. Ok. NOW I'm ready to go anywhere but Cali.

Dispatch from the Goddess

Last night Dave and I braved the Comic Con crowds and went downtown to see a theatre production of Phantom of the Opera. Comic Com always seems to bring the crazies to San Diego. Last year it was a giant raspberry which turned out to be a cartoon character named Meatwad. This year it was eating at Yard House seated next to a group of people who were dressed in business suits but covered in fake blood. I didn't have the heart to ask them what characters they were supposed to be. Then after the play was over we walked to our car and were greeted in the parking garage's elevator by 3 people who were dressed like characters from the video game Zelda. They had a movie camera and were filming us and kept calling me Goddess. Luckily I grew up near LA and having a stranger's film camera stuck in my face doesn't bother me as much as it might bother others. Plus the Goddess part didn't hurt either. Unfortunately, Dave and I didn't ask them what the filming was for and we will probably be credited as "Random Parking Garage Patron and his Goddess". I wonder if that's enough to have an imdb profile created for me?

The play was quite pleasant except Dave and I didn't get the memo that people in San Diego wear all black to the theatre. I've been to the theatre in LA (when I was young) and people wore formal dresses but they were in all sorts of colors. And in San Francisco people tend to be very laid back and come to the theatre in khakis and sun dresses. I was quite surprised by the sea of people in black waiting to enter the theatre. I was wearing a turquoise/brown skirt and Dave was wearing khakis and a polo shirt. I felt under dressed this time but am excited to go again and break out a few of my black dresses.

iDont Love the iPhone

Yesterday, Dave and I went to the local Apple store (one of three in our area) to buy the iPhone 3G for myself. Dave has had an iPhone for several months and loves it and the many neat gadgets associated with the phone. I've always been a blackberry sort of girl but after using Dave's phone to view websites and watch you tube videos I was kinda leaning toward buying one for myself. We went to the Apple store 15 minutes after opening and were greeted at the door with a line of 50 customers before us already waiting to get their own phones. I about threw my body on the floor and began pounding the cement with my fists in frustration. iPhones were so last week and here we are 9 days later and people are still waiting several hours in line just to get their hands on one. Plus we live in a town where there are THREE Apple stores within a 30 minute drive of where we live. I feel sorry for the suckers who live in towns where there is only one Apple store for several hours. So after waiting in line for an hour we are told that we are in luck. It will take us several more hours to reach the front on the line but! a phone will be available for us. So we wait, and wait, and wait. I get my phone, pay $400, and viola it is activated. I've been playing with the phone since yesterday afternoon and have so far been very disappointed with the iPhone. I think I may be the very 1st person on the planet who didn't have a previous grudge against Apple that actually is disappointed. The reasons I don't like the iPhone:

1. It's not easy to personalize the thing. There are many cool apps available on the phone but once you download the app then you are stuck with it's stock appearance. I want to make my calendar pink, my backdrop purple, and my alarm clock snooze on a 5 minute schedule versus the stock 10 which allow me to go right back to sleep.

2. It's screen rests against my cheek and gets all make-upey and oily. Yuck.

3. I cannot for the life of me get my work email to download onto the damn thing. It says that email download wasn't successful but wont give me an error code or tell me why the download wasn't successful. Is my server not available? Did I enter the password wrong? Is my work firewalling the download???

4. Hubby and I can't share CDs on the iPod portion. We have to buy a physical CD and then download it to each of our iPhones. We can't buy songs in iTunes and then share. That sucks.

5. I'm sure I'll think of others. I still haven't imported my contacts from my palm software to the Outlook software that iPhone mandates you use. I don't expect this to be easy.

My Name is Cori and I Endorse this Post

It's summer and I've been in the movie watching mood lately. There is nothing good on the tv, the beaches are crowded, and really there isn't much else to do after work. A few weeks ago I watched the movie Atonement starring Keira Knigtley and James McAvoy. Wait. Let's take a moment to bow our heads and be thankful for the holy hotness that is James McAvoy. Mmmmmm ..... I have a thing for Scottish boys. Mmmmm...... Anyways. I loved the movie but was left with quite a few questions so I decided to check the book out from the local library. I'm so glad I did. The movie follows the book very closely but the book gives so many details that make you appreciate the movie 10 times more. I kinda even want to re-watch the movie again because the book was so good. Two thumbs up.

Not Related: James McAvoy is HOT

In-laws were in town this weekend. Dave and I survived with our marriage and sanity intact. No really it wasn't that bad. MIL was decently pleasant and non-demanding during the visit. While I went to work on Friday they helped Dave around the house with a few home improvement projects (we have drapes now!) and then that night I made them an awesome dinner. Saturday we woke up late, were lazy for part of the morning, and then headed out to the coast to brave the horse racing crowds and eat at my favorite café on the beach. After strolling around and watching a few Hawaiian dancers as well as the surfers we came home and then later that night dropped them off at the airport.

Relatively painless. My only problem is that I know my in laws (and hubby too) tend to be rather passive aggressive which I HATE. When we are all together everyone is pleasant and pretends to be happy. Then the minute doors (or eyes) are closed the true feelings come out. I'm a really straight forward and simple person and the whole acting one way but feeling another way charade just really gets to me. If you have a problem then say what bothers you, fix it, and/or get over it. The whole weekend MIL was nice to me but after the whole wedding debacle I know that’s not how she really feels. I'd honestly rather never see her again until she apologizes to me but I know from talking to hubby that will never happen. Oh well. Half the time I'm grateful that she at least acts nice to me. And the other half of the time I wish she would just tell me what she really thinks (no matter how unpleasant) so that I know where I stand. I'm a trusting person and I would just rather be able to be nice to someone and trust them rather then be nice to them but hold them at arms length. Hubby is big on the concept of family but I don't really see the point of being nice to people just because you share the same blood as them. I'd rather be nice and loving to someone because I like them and respect them as a friend.

In more pleasant news, I've been in a pie making mood lately so I used the in-laws visit as an excuse to bake the worlds best peach-a-berry pie this weekend. The recipe below can be switched up to whatever fruits you have on hand: peaches/raspberries, peaches/blueberries (this is what I put in my pie), nectarines/cherries (the next pie I make), etc.

INGREDIENTS
4 cups fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
2 cups fresh raspberries
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (9 inch) pie crusts
2 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into pieces
1 tablespoon coarse granulated sugar
1 egg (for washing the top of the pie)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place peaches and berries in a colander for about 15 minutes to drain any excess fluid , then transfer to a large bowl. Gently toss with sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Transfer to a pie crust. Dot with butter, and top with remaining crust. Brush with egg. Cut vents in top crust, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is golden brown. (Don't forget to place a pan under the pie to catch all the pie oozy stuff!!!)

Oh My

Just when I needed to laugh. Seriously this is hilarious. Trust me.

Click here and laugh (safe for work, kinda)

Blue

I've been insanely bored lately.

I've always been surrounded by friends, or wedding planning, or buried in work and any days where my schedule was clear were greatly appreciated. Lately my schedule has been clear almost every day. My few friends who live in the area are busy with their newborn babies, I haven't traveled for work due to a bad budget, Dave hasn't had any work functions, I'm not taking classes at the local college, I finally have a full staff so work isn't so hectic, etc. All I'm left with are days where I wake up at 7am, go to work, come home at 4pm, cook dinner, then watch tv or a movie. Lather, rinse, repeat. I read an occasional book but the bottom line is that my day is too open and it leaves me feeling bored, sad, and lonely.

Sometimes I get mad at the Hubby but really we've always been two sorts of different people. I like hiking, cooking, reading, wine tasting and watching movies. He does not. He likes playing video games, watching sports, and relaxing in front of the television. I do not. There really isn't much that we like to do together but that's always been okay because we both appreciate our differences. Except now when I'm bored and wishing I had a partner to entertain me.

I could watch a movie by myself but I've already done that about a zillion times. I could go hiking but its a bit hot this summer and its really not safe to hike alone with rattlesnakes and mountain lions. I could take a cooking class but that's just one night of entertainment. I could take another class at the local college but there really isn't a subject that I'm interested in learning. The beach is always fun but right now is prime tourist season and I don't need a tan. I can't really go wine tasting by myself. Craigslist is always an option but one that leaves me uneasy.

Ho hum. I wish there was an easy answer. At this point I'm tempted to clean the house again, just to give myself something to do.

And Then I Kicked Him in His Mouth

Overheard: Hubby complaining about today and how it was going to be soooooo hot and why do we live in the desert???

We live 17 miles from the coast.

Today's high is supposed to be 81 degrees.

I think I need to send him to Pheonix or better yet to Atlanta where the high is 87 but it feels like 92 because of the humidity.

Better yet I should just kick him in the mouth.