A Weekend of Bliss

Dave is flying out Thursday to see his parents in NorCal (northern Cali). They plan on having a close friends and family get together on Saturday and to be honest I could not justify in my heart and head the need for 2 roundtrip airplane tickets as well as missed days from work just for a random get together. Birthday, yes. Anniversary, yes. Holiday, yes. Backyard bbq and get together, no. Dave isn't quite pleased with my decision but oh well. It is what it is. It's not like he can exactly argue with my rationale nor am I stopping him from seeing his family.

To celebrate my 4 day mini vacation of doing whatever the want, when I want. I will be spending the upcoming few days doing the following:
* Eating sushi until I can no longer look at another Philadelphia roll. Dave doesn't like sushi but he'll often come with me to eat a bento box or teriyaki. While I do appreciate his effort, I'd rather eat sushi by myself in front of the tv with a glass of red wine by my side.
* Read the rest of the Wideacre trilogy. I must admit that Wideacre deeply disturbed me. To be honest I felt rather filthy after reading it but nonetheless it was a page turner. Now that I know what to expect I am looking forward to spending the weekend in bed and alternately swooning and then going ewww.
* Watching all 4 discs of The Last Emperor on DVD. Dave has no interests in movies (especially lengthy historical epics). After watching the Olympics on tv, I am looking forward to immersing myself in Chinese history. I may not agree with it's politics but I can't help but respect a Country with true history.
* Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! I love to get in some raggy clothes, turn the rhapsody or sirius up loud and clean until everything is spick and span.
* Option: Working out at the gym and then ruining it all by going to Sunday brunch immediately after.

Q&A Time

Q: Who got an A in their college level french class?
A: This rockstar did. (which really rockstar might be the wrong label. Nerds get As in their language classes not rockstars)

Q: Who has a brand new Wii?
A: A really dorky husband and his wife. I've actually really liked the Wii even though I am not a video game type person. We've had friends and coworkers over for Mojito & Burrito Nights and after getting them sufficiently liquored up, strapped wii remotes on them and then let them go at it in boxing. Quite hilarious.

Q: Who really, really, REALLY wants a BMW z4 coupe?
A: My name is Cori and I have a slight addiction to fast cars.

2 Weeks of Randomness

* Summer has arrived in SoCal. Days have been 80 and sunny and the Cali poppies have sprung up all over the sides of the roads and are making me want to call in sick each day to work and hang out at the beach. Unfortunately no matter how many times I start out the week thinking that this week will be slower, it turns out to be just as hectic as the past 4 months.

* Dave is at the gym and I am sitting on the couch watching Sex and the City. I love me some SATC. I want to be Carrie Bradshaw minus all the drama.

* It seems like each weekend I make a list of things I want to do (go hiking, read Sunday paper, pilates, catch up on DVR'd shows, clean the house, etc). By the time the weekend is done I've done a 1/4th of the things on my list. The weekends really need to be longer.

* Vday weekend was wonderful. We ate at Gaslamp Strip Club which was wonderful. Seriously if you're ever in SD then I highly recommend the strip club. Excellent steaks and a really fun atmosphere. We also ate at Nobu (the same fancy sushi place that all the celebs frequent). Good sushi and a hefty bill ($2,000 for 10 people). I do not kid.

* During Vday weekend we stayed at the Omni Hotel which was nice but nothing spectacular. Just a nice hotel room with a nice view. They did have an awesome gym which rocked. Each cardio machine had its own flat screen tv. I could have spent hours on the treadmill walking while watching Romey and Michelle's High School Reunion.

* A week ago we met Dave's family at Disneyland for an afternoon of fun. It was cheaper for us to buy a SoCal resident year round pass then it was to buy a single day ticket ($91!!!). I grew up in SoCal and have been to Disney a bazillion jillion times but I must admit that place is just as fun your hundreth time as it is your first.

* In one week we leave for Las Vegas (including 2 nights at the Venetian). I am so freaking excited especially since this week will be crazy at work.

Frustration

I worked late tonight and didn't have enough time to go to the gym. I was away at a meeting last week and missed my last French class. I tried doing the weekend's French homework tonight. It was too hard so I gave up. Instead I read blogs and ate ice cream with caramel sauce. I am fat and frustrated. Foux da fa fa.

Vacation

I saw this picture on dooce.com and it immediately made me want to run away to someplace cold and curl up near a fireplace. The high here today is 77 and it's sunny. I'm so ready for winter-like weather and a vacation.

PS - Tammy, don't suggest Iowa!

He is Playing SoCom, I am Listening to Hum

Surprise, surprise. I decided to honor part of the 3 day weekend and only go to work one of those days. The other days I've been running around trying to catch up on my personal life. All the fun stuff like bills, grocery shopping, dropping off dry cleaning, and clothes shopping. Also, downloading my camera which I haven't done in far too long. Here is a picture catch up:

A few months ago, I went to Oregon to visit my best friend. Oregon was far more beautiful then I imagined it would be as well as far more rural. I miss her so much ;-(

About a month ago we went to the San Diego Chargers vs Oakland Raiders football game. Good game except the part where the Raiders f'ed up and lost yet another game. PS - Dear Chargers, when playing another Cali team please stop playing this song every time you score a TD. In that case it doesn't make sense!

Dave's office that we recently (2-3 months ago) renovated by laying ikea tundra laminate flooring. Cheap and relatively easy. Now if only I could find pictures to hang that Dave actually liked. The boy is PICKY when it comes to just above everything. Oh lucky me.

The view from our house on the first day of the fires (Monday). The nasty red color and smoke lasted for days.

Goodnight!

PS. Doing it old school: Hum

Weeeeee Goes the Plane

I am sitting in the Sacramento airport, in the bar, waiting for my flight to take me to Portland. The glass of pinot grigio has me feeling good (very good) even though I really should be working on a powerpoint presentation. Some random observations.

1. I have 2 hours til my flight takes off which means I should either eat something or stop drinking. I think I'll choose NONE of the above.

2. Drunk people in bars have loud conversations that often revolve around topics I think that they would probably not talk about if sober.

3. I love sitting alone in a restaurant or bar. Give me a good book and a coffee or wine (depending on the situation) and I could spend hours people watching and eavesdropping. I rarely feel self conscious when alone in a public situation. In fact I prefer it.

4. I had a 3 day meeting in Sacramento and now I'm off for a few days of vacation to be spent with my best friend who just moved to a vineyard in Portland where her boyfriend is a winemaker. I'm hopeful that my time will be spent drinking good wine, eating good cheeses, and going for long runs amongst the grape vines.

5. Pinot grigio is yummy.

6. I really should be working on my presentation.

7. Damn I really need to find an outlet before my computer runs low on battery.

8. I have a skirt on and I am not sitting like a lady. Two reasons: a) I am feeling good after a glass of wine. b) the chairs are super uncomfortable.

9. That is all. Time to procrastinate before working on my presentation.

Update:

10. ONE hour and 2 glasses of wine plus one personal cheese pizza = I am BLITZED. To lose weight before the wedding I stopped drinking but who knew I had become such a pussy when it came to holding my liquor. 2 glasses PLUS food is pathetic.

8 Things ...

I love being tagged for memes:

1. My two best friends are moving this month. This will be the first time that all 3 of us have lived in 3 different states. This Wednesday, best friend M moves to Arizona to move-in with her pilot boyfriend. At the end of the month best friend B moves to Portland as her boyfriend of 5 years who is a winemaker just got his first full time big boy job at a winery. I'm extremely upset to see all 3 of us spread so far apart.


2. Apparently, my best friends are big fans of the butt shots. Me not so much.



3. This weekend, Dave and I laid laminate wood flooring in his office. In the beginning the task was extremely frustrating but after we got the hang of it the job became incredibly easy. I'm really proud of us but am today paying the price. My knee caps are bruised from being on my knees the entire weekend (sicko!) and my hamstrings ACHE from all the getting up and down we did while laying each board. I am seriously in so much pain today.

4. We went to the Dodger's game a few weekends ago. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost but we had great seats.



5. Postal Service rocks. To be honest I want to have Ben Gibbard's babies.

6. Number 5 also applies to Matt Costa.

7. I'm having such a hard time getting used to my new married name. Often I'll be meeting someone new and introduce myself as Cori Alpha (let's pretend that Alpha was my maiden name) and then I'll be all "oopps my name is Cori Beta" (pretending that Beta is my married name). Then the person will act bewildered and ask which name I'd like to go by. I'll explain to this random stranger that I just got married (so they don't think I have spilt personalities) and to just go ahead and call me Cori Alpha Beta. Two hours later I meet someone new and the same thing comes out of my mouth. Did anyone else have this much trouble getting used to their new married name??? My new surname really isn't difficult to pronounce or remember. It's actually a fairly common English surname. You would think this would make it easy.

8. I've been so unmotivated at work lately. I've just felt so unchallenged and I'm the type of person who constantly needs to feel the pressure of deadlines or the excitement of doing something new. Hopefully the next few weeks become magically more interesting. I'd so much rather be at home reading Harry Potter.

Recently, I've Been Thinking

Recent random thoughts that have passed through my brain:

Work. Work. Work. Bored. Don't want to work. Crap, 6 more hours til I can go home. I want to leave early. Must set example for employees. Can't leave early. Bored. Let's look at MSN news again. Nothing interesting. Ooo! Monkey steals tourist's glasses. Read. Bored. Back to work. Bored. Mmmmm .... raspberries + perrier water. Mmmmm ... raspberries + champagne even better. MMmmmm ... diet cherry coke + coconut rum. Going to the beach on Saturday. Maybe I should pack a picnic lunch? No. My friend is too picky. She wont eat what I pack. Work. Work. Work. I should blog. I have nothing interesting to say. Work. Bored. I need to be more stimulated. Bored. I want chocolate but I'm on a no sugar diet. No chocolate for me. I should lose more weight. No I should stay at my same weight. No I only have 20 more pounds to go. No I like the weight I'm at and I'm tired of dieting. Sex. Work. Work. Work ...

Weekend Update (Vignette Style)

I've been MIA lately since work has all but consumed my last few days. Unfortunately, it's not even the productive type of work that makes me feel good about the long hours and clean desk. Nope. I've been in a series of meetings, meetings, and more meetings. The week before last I had two days of meetings on Thursday and Friday that were all day and required a 3 hour round trip each day. Last week I flew to our State Capitol for a 5 day training on employee relations, and then next Monday I'll be driving another 3 hours round trip for my last meeting.

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Today is David's birthday and we plan on celebrating it by napping and participating in general laziness. Tomorrow we'll drive up to LA and go to the Dodger's versus Mets game. Go Dodgers!


Then next week Dave is gone for a meeting, the week after that he is gone for a second meeting in Arkansas, then the week after that he is gone for a company exhibition that will be held at Disneyland. The good news (besides the fact that one day I can drive up to Disneyland and get to do night rides) is that for the next 3 weeks I'll be able to indulge in all the red wine and sushi dinners that I could ever want (Dave hates both sushi and wine) and that I'll also be able to gorge myself on Lifetime movies and other assorted chick flicks. The bad news is that I'll miss him and I never sleep as well when he is not by my side ;-(

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Forgive me father, for I have sinned. Not only did I shop at Walmart! I completed an almost greater sin: I GROCERY shopped at Walmart! I know, I know. I feel so dirty. Californians have been very zealous in the past about their hatred of all things Walmart and it's evil empire. For a solid 2 years, my feet never even crossed the Walmart threshold. But ever since we bought the new house, there has been an evil Walmart located fairly close to our house and I have been weak and unable to avoid the low prices. In California, we've been succesful in stopping Walmart from doing the supercenter thing so luckily none of our stores offer a complete grocery store. Yet, Walmart has slowly begun creeping in two or three aisles of dry goods and one aisle of frozen/refrigerated items. The other day I needed a few things from Walmart and had planned to also make a stop at the grocery store until I found that all the items I needed Walmart carried. I felt dirty but I also knew that I was short on time. Time prevailed and now I have to live with the guilt and the self promises that I will never do this again. Yeah right! I'm weak.

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I have a girl crush, which is rare for me since I'm usually all about the guy crushes. Her name? Victoria Beckham. She's so freaking cute and self-deprecating funny. Not to mention that she has a super hot husband. I watched part of the Coming to America special that was on Thursday night and spent most of the time charmed by her antics. Maybe I'll convince David to drive up to LA so that we can catch a Galaxy game.

Little Things

Today is 7/11/07 which means free slurpees at your neighborhood 7 eleven. I went to grab a perrier (I'm addicted) and decided to walk slowly past the slurpee machines and drool. I love me a good frozen treat during the summer months but unfortunately slurpees just contain too many calories and regardless if they are free will not be touching my lips. While walking slowly and cursing my slow metabolism, what do I see??? Could it be true? Five calorie, no sugar Crystal Light slurpees in berry pomegranate and raspberry lemonade. Oh my! Combine this with several good book finds at the library and I would say that I am having one stellar day. It's the little things ...

Spanglish

Hola

It's been uno week since we got back from Mexico and I'm having a muy dificil time getting out of the hablar espanol mode of thinking. I can comprende espanol fairly well and can hablar my thoughts decently bueno using basic spanish. Just don't ask me to use past or futuro tense because then I clam up and begin stammering. Over the past week, Dave and I have taken to slaughtering both the espanol and ingles languages by speaking a spanglish hybrid. Complicating matters even worse is that I am currently reading Three Junes by Julia Glass which contains the occasional french. Every so often my speech is peppered with "comme ca" and other popular french phrases which I mispronounce.

Lately, I haven't posted because I've been feeling a little blue and down trodden. I can deal with the type of stress that involves impossible deadlines, tediousness, and running around like a cat with my head cut off. In fact I thrive off that type of stress! But the minute you add people stress in to my life, I fall apart. In recent weeks in both my work and family life I've experienced people acting passive aggressively and it tears me apart! Passive aggressiveness has always been a special pet peeve of mine that borders on instant contempt (to me it means that you are a weak person who doesn't have the self esteem to stand up for things and instead have to be deceitful to get what you want). Unfortunately, I just can't run away from work or family problems so instead I am forced to endure other's actions. To help myself cope I've been trying to repeat the Serenity Prayer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference So far it hasn't been working. C'est la vie (or so I'd like to pretend).

This is Where I Breath

I'm back from inner city LA and I didn't get shot. Honestly, the students were the most well behaved group of high school students that I have ever seen. A little too well behaved if you ask me. At a few points in my presentation I expected the students to laugh and instead they just sat there with their perfect posture and hands clasped nicely as they sat in their desks. Except for the 2 pregnant girls that I saw, you would have thought that this was the brown colored equivalent of Stepford High School. Surprising to say the least ...
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Dave and I finally had a relaxing weekend. Actually we did a lot but after 10 weekends in a row where we were running around with our heads cut off, we were very appreciative of a weekend where there was a nice balance of stuff to get done and time to relax. We even went for a 3 mile hike on both Saturday and Sunday! 3 miles! David! The man who refuses to exercise! Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the ground.
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Our photo montage has been completed for awhile (this is the rough draft version). It sure does brighten my mood every time I see it. I love that boy and can't wait to marry him in eleven days!

Something that gives me an Insta-Smile

Today Is a New Day

The Good Times Were Killing Me

*sigh* Good times, Good times.

(Funny audio of a 911 call from someone who thinks they are dying of a weed overdose)

Exclamation!

* In 30 days (exactly!) I will be getting married. Holy Cow! Where has the time gone??? I'm dreading the passage of these last 30 days. I love the engagement stage and if I had my way I would be planning my wedding for several more months. Seriously, for me the most important thing was that Dave asked me to marry him. That to me proved that Dave was committed to me and this relationship. The legally wed bit (to me) is just added poof. We already live together, we already have sex, and we already share our lives. I could be wrong but I just don't feel much will change after June 15th.

* According to my to-do list I really don't have much left to do for the wedding but in my head it feels like I am no way near ready for the big day. My wedding dress still hasn't arrived and I'm a bit concerned that since I've lost 35 pounds, the dress wont be able to be taken in enough before the wedding. In other attire related news, today one of my bridesmaids and I plan on going to the bridal store to pick up the bridesmaids dresses. I'm so excited!

* Dave's parents, cousins, and their kids will be visiting this weekend as they drive across the State to spend a week in Disneyland. Our house is still no where near being presentable but at this point I really could care less. So what if one wall is only painted 95%? Who cares about the fact that we don't have baseboards in the living room? Window treatments? Pffffttttt!!!! Actually I do care but after how hard we've worked the past 2 months I've come to realize that this house will be a work in progress for several more months.

* Since I've been dieting, I've avoided cooking and entertaining (too much temptation). Dave has spent the past few months dining on frozen pizzas and Del Taco. Since Dave's family will be coming for a visit I decided to break out our wedding presents and make a respectable meal. On the menu: Stone Brew beer, Heather's Mist wine, green salad with strawberry vineragette, sourdough with baked brie bread, steak, grilled sausage, grilled asparagus, corn, and garlic mashed potatoes.

* I love days when I feel cute. Today I'm wearing my X2 Express Jeans (size itty bitty) that are practically brand new. I bought them several years ago but haven't been able to wear them because of my excess poundage. Now they fit perfectly (not too tight and not too loose).

* Pilates continues to kick my arse. I've so enjoyed these last few weeks and my new work out routine.

* I found this online tool which helps you figure out which clothes fit your body shape best. Quite useful. I've often tried to wear boxy shirts and jackets and been disappointed that they make me look like Frankenstein's younger sister. According to the guidelines of Shape S, boxy tops don't fit my small framed shoulders well. Makes sense (but still doesn't explain why I didn't figure that out on my own).

* Making today even more perfect is that June Gloom has arrived to the coast! Love of June Gloom is the easiest way to detect those of us who are not native coastal dwellers. San Diego regulations state that if you are a Native then you must detest the overcast coastal fog and cool temps. By the way in other San Diego news, we were recently named the most overpriced housing market in the US!

Bloggerdash

What I've been up to over the last week.

Officially Bought a House - We closed escrow last Wednesday. Escrow is complicated!


Painted a House - I almost went crazy trying to make the trim perfect. So far we've painted the living room and master bedroom. We have so much more to do!


Visited Balboa Park (a San Diego must see!) - I had a meeting there last week. I never realized how interesting and historic the Balboa Park buildings were and I only saw about a 1/10 of the park.


Saw a Vehicle Blow Up - A truck in our apartment parking lot had an electrical short and caught fire. The new-ish F150 Ford truck was parked about 20 feet from my car and 200 feet from our apartment! Scary stuff when you're lying in bed and then all of a sudden you hear someone scream "fire! fire!". Dave quickly moved my car while I ran and got the camera. Luckily where we live we don't have AC (it never gets hotter then 80) so we keep our windows open year round. Otherwise we might not have heard the screams of fire and my car would have met the same melted fate of the white car in the pic.


The End

Bienvenidos

Hola. I've been boring, busy, and sick lately (in that exact order). To be honest nothing much is going on here in the land of sun, sand, and sea. With the upcoming close of escrow and home renovations, I made a pact with myself to get as much wedding stuff done as possible. In the last 3 weeks I've ordered the invites and thank you notes. That's it. I'm not sure where my motivation went but it's definitely not here. I also have a ton of house stuff to do too such as contact contractors so we can have the popcorn ceilings removed and I really haven't done that either.

Things I have done:

* Lost 17 pounds. My clothes fit so much better. WOO!

* Walked around the home and garden show with Dave. It was held at my very favorite venue ever. A racetrack set near the beach. It's wonderful to be walking around outside, with the sun on your back, and the ocean breeze upon your face.

* Went to geology training for work. Learned lots of cool stuff such as that Santa Barbara (SB) used to be located directly above San Diego (SD) but due to earthquakes over millions of years, the land was relocated 220 miles north and the LA basin was formed by the subsequent void left between the 2 cities. See this cool animation to see what I mean. (If you're not a Cali native, the red lines are all earthquake fault lines. The really big thick red line is our very active San Andreas Fault.)

* Convalesced. I got a nasty cold that has left me tired and snotty. What a lovely combo.

5 Things ...

Five things you may or may not know about me:

1. I hate taking my birth control pills each night. The taste of them makes me nauseous. Each night I have to bribe myself with a piece of chocolate (or something else that is sweet) so that it covers the taste of the pill and prevents me from getting sick to my stomach. I've tried changing brands of pills but unfortunately I'm ultra-sensitive to the hormones in birth control. The only thing that helps is if I take the pill as close to bed time as possible so that I sleep through the queasiness. God help me if I ever get pregnant. I fully expect to be nauseous all 24 hours of each day.

2. I have a really hard time "making" friends. What I mean by that is that there are certain people who are able to walk up to someone in yoga class and start a friendship. For me friendships just tend to happen over a very gradual process. A very slow gradual process which kinda sucks if you're like me and have moved around quite a bit in the last few years. In the past I've tried my hardest to "force" a friendship such as chat someone up at the gym that is a regular and invite them out for a drink. Unfortunately, I can never get over that forced feeling and loosen' up enough to actually enjoy my new friendship. I think making new friends is worse then dating.

3. I HATE clothes that are tight, binding, constrictive or otherwise uncomfortable. Skin tight jeans are the worst! This applies to shoes too. I see women wearing high heeled boots or pointy toed shoes and I can't understand how they can bear the torture of feet that hurt. My ideal daily wardrobe: flip flops, yoga pants, t-shirt and polar fleece pullover. Maybe I should become a gym trainer?

4. I'm extremely organized. Like Martha Stewart organized. You know the 'get organized' articles you read in a magazine that show pics of perfectly organized bills, home finances, drawers, dvds, and closets. Well that's me. ALL the time. Even my car and office are just as organized. I'm a little obsessed with everything having a proper place to be. Sometimes I think that I should open an organization business.

5. I didn't lose my virginity until I was 18. If I could go back in time and change one thing this would be it. At the time I was desperate to finally have sex and so I didn't fully appreciate how important the moment would be. I wish that I had saved myself for someone who was more important to me and that I had tried to make the moment more special.

People I'd like to learn 5 things about: Tam & Erin

Things I Love

• Veggie toasted sub from Quizno's. Seriously YUM. So good that I sometimes crave all the veggie and avocado goodness.
• Cold Stone. I've only recently discovered Cold Stone ice cream about a year ago. I know. How the hell I went so long with out trying them out is beyond me. Now I can't get enough. Today for lunch I had a Like It serving of some chocolate/brownie/caramel concoction. Sinlicious.
• TIVO. World's greatest invention. I don't know how I ever watched TV without the ability to stop, fast forward, rewind, and record.
• Healthy options at McDonald's. I was running late to a meeting so I swung by McDs for a quick lunch. I looked at the menu and saw that they've added quite a few new healthy options. Fries can now be replaced by a side salad and water can be subbed for soda on the Meal Deals. I walked out feeling like I had made a healthy eating choice (I had the grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo, cheese, etc).
• The Weather. Well this goes in love/hate category. It's been 80 and sunny which is nice but it's mid-November and I want it to be cold so that I can get in the Holiday spirit! On the other hand I was able to eat lunch (Cold Stone ice cream) while sunning myself on a patio and reading a book. Nice.
• 7 Months Til Our Wedding. Time flies when your having fun. This past month I completed several wedding related tasks. Honeymoon location has been selected and deposit put down, officiant selected, wedding dress ordered and delivered, bridal attendants selected, save the dates sent out, wedding registry set up. For the next few months I'll be able to relax and enjoy the holidays.