Bay Area Weekend: Thanksgiving

Wow!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had!

It was much different than last years!

I didn't do any of the cooking! :-)

We woke up and got the food prepped and the turkey in the oven. 

Then mom and I headed for a leisurely walk!

It was nice to get to spend some alone time with her!

I definitely miss my mom!

We got back, basted the turkey, and then jumped in the shower and got ready!

I got out of the shower just as my Grandparents and one of my Uncles arrived.

Right after they got tot he house, then Friend arrived.

We opened the champagne and started eating my favorite holiday dish - my mom's anitpasta.

Then the Rich's parents arrived and we got some group/family shots in before our teeth turned purple

Tradition at my house is before we eat, we go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

It is my favorite part about Thanksgiving.

We ate dinner and had great conversation, enjoyed the most delicious food and drank amazing wine!

After dinner we all, pretty much, passed out from the tryptophan overdose!

There is so much to be thankful for this year and I can't even begin to express how blessed I am to have all of my friends and family in my life!

Thank you!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 56

Me: This is La Tache, how can I help you?

Customer: (Cheery) Hi La Tache! I have a question for you about something on page B1.

Me: Ok, I'd be happy to help you, are you a current subscriber with us?

Customer: Well, yes, that's why I have page B1... (Sarcastic and rude)

Me: Ok, well you could have a picked up a copy off of the newsstand. May I have your last name?

Customer: Well scr*w you then if you are going to be a b*tch like that

I immediately released the call.

So, no one has ever called me a bitch before (at least to my face ;-))

I couldn't believe how quickly he switched over to this dark side.

Sheesh...

<fortunately, as you now read this...I am in my new position! yahoooo!!>

Bay Area Weekend!

What a great visit we had in the Bay!

Rich and I realized on Wednesday morning that we were going to be away for 4 whole days!

That is a lot to pack in to a suitcase you don't plan to check!

We took the bus from our apartment to the airport on Wednesday night, breezed through security and sat down for a beer and a boxed salad at an airport restaurant.

We touched down into beautiful, clear skies San Francisco and jumped on BART. We finally made it home and practically fell asleep in the clothes we were wearing!

Thursday was Thanksgiving!

My mom made amazing food and we drank delicious wine and we all enjoyed our family together!

Friday was the day for Christmas decorating!

We woke up, turned on some Christmas tunes and got to unpacking and decorated!

Oh and we had some eggnog too ;-)

Then we headed into San Francisco for the Ghirardelli Tree Lighting ceremony!

What a fun evening that was!!

Saturday we relaxed around the house and watched some college football - mainly UCLA :-( Sad story for them...oh well, we hope they beat Stanford this weekend...

Then we surprised my mom with dinner at a local restaurant with some of her closest friends!

She knew something was up, but didn't know what!

And Sunday was a day for packing up, helping my mom figure out her new iPhone (!!!!) and some family time.

We also were able to celebrate my dad's birthday - with delicious Thai on Union St! Yummy!

Then we headed back to Los Angeles after enjoying another Irish Coffee at the SFO Buena Vista and devouring a pesto pizza!

All in all, we had a great weekend.

We have so much to be grateful in our lives and we are soo glad that we got to celebrate the holidays and birthday with our family!

Side note-
I am bummed the blogger is not making us pay to have pictures...
Any ideas besides paying?
I got some pictures added by adding the picture's url instead of uploading them.
Is that the work around?

Squirrel Madness

image

One of my friends just emailed me this...

All you Alpha Gamms out there...

Who wants to go in on this so we can buy them in bulk!

How ahhhhmazing is this?!

please please please!!

Miscellany Monday

I haven't linked up with this one in a while!

Merry Monday to all!

How was your weekend?

I had a great weekend filled with lots of friend time, which was much needed!

Friday night Rich and I had a couple friend over for some tasty food, margaritas and wine!
We always laugh with these two!

Saturday was rainy and cloudy outside.
I had a new friend over for wine and cheese and we gabbed the afternoon away!
Trader Joe's has this 1/2 baked bread that it absolutely amazing!
You bake it the rest of the way when you get home and the bread comes out hot and tasting fresh!

Oh and did I mention that I lit all the candles, so we enjoyed our girls date by candlelight - so romantic, yes I know!

And on Sunday I met up with one of my best friends from High School in Long Beach for brunch.
It was a gorgeous fall day in Long Beach!
We got to eat right on the water, it was beautiful!

I hope you all had a great last weekend before the holidays takes over our lives!
Happy Monday!

Weir Homemade

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Oh Boy!
Have I been a busy busy bee this weekend!
I have fixed up my food blog... I didn't like the name, I was having trouble coming up with something catchy... ...I came up with a new name and then went straight to work fixing up the blog to customize it
It is definitely not as much work as I thought; however, it took a lot of brain power - and it still needs some work.
Grab my button and like my page on facebook...yes, I made a page on Facebook! I figured that if I was going to "do it" I should "do it up" !!
Check it out!
Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed your weekends!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 55

Disclaimer, I sometimes work on Saturdays and get the previous Friday off.

I was working on a Saturday....

This customer called to renew his subscription.

At the end of the call:

Customer: Alright, let me guess. You are an art student working here on the weekends to pay for school...?

Me: <Uncomfortable laugh> Ha, I wish, no, this is my job.

An uncomfortable pause follows...

Customer: Well, thanks for being there

bahahaha

I had to laugh out loud at this one...ha!

Thanks for making me feel like my job is totally worthless....

hahaha!

<fortunately, as you now read this...I am in my new position! yahoooo!!>

Banana Republic Sale

Through tomorrow, if you have a military ID, you can get 50% off 3 full priced items from Banana Republic

For Veteran's Day!

I believe it is at any Banana retail store, but I recommend calling the closest one to you before you head over there!

All you need is your ID! No need to print out a coupon.

Take advantage!

Check it out

11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Happy Veterans Day

11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

And Happy Belated Birthday to the Marine Corps!

237 years old and still looking mighty fine!

:-)

LA JDRF Walk - LA AGD Junior Circle

As I have mentioned before, I was an Alpha Gamm in college and since moving to Los Angeles, I have been involved in our Junior Circle.

Our Philanthropy is Diabetes Research and Support.

Yesterday was the Los Angeles JDRF walk at Dodger stadium.

4 of us made it out and we had a great morning supporting Diabetes research!

 The first two laps were around the Dodger Stadium which gave us awesome views of downtown LA.

The last lap was around the Dodger field!

We even got to go in to the dodgers dug out!

So cool!! 

It was a chilly morning but the sun was out and shining bright and warm!

It was so much fun and Lindsay and I got to meet a couple new gals!
We had a wonderful time!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 54

This man just asked me about prices for a monthly subscription and then asked me how long it was for.

...

<fortunately, as you now read this...I am in my new position! yahoooo!!>

Yogi Words of Wisdom

I go to a yoga class once a week, one of a few weekly exercise classes I take.

The most recent class was not necessary the best in terms of practice, but it really got my thinking...

(I know you are saying to yourself, "You shouldn't be thinking during yoga, only breathing")

Well, we had a sub instructor and at the beginning of the class she had us all make an intention for the class. This intention is meant to focus the mind when it starts to wonder to other things.

For the intention, she had us think of the 5 most beautiful things.

That's it.

It is harder than it sounds.

Believe me.

So as my hour and a half yoga session continued, I thought about the 5 most beautiful things.

I first thought about a sunset,

then flowers,

then Lake Tahoe & Yosemite.

My mind went through all of the tangible things that I find to be beautiful.

And as I got deeper into my practice I realized that, yes those things are beautiful, but that is not what I want to focus my attention on. 

I don't want to focus on tangible things, events or places.

In the last few minutes of my practice and into the night and as I fell asleep I thought of the 5 most beautiful things:

Love

Friendship

Family

Romance

Laughter

(in no particular order, of course!)

Those five things brought me peace during and after my yoga practice and I hope that they also bring me calm throughout my working and personal days as well.

What do you think are the 5 most beautiful things?

Voted Today!

Google is so creative!!

Today is an important day!

A day to vote for local props and measures as well as to vote for the next President of the United States!

We were up early to hit our polling site when it opened to avoid long lines - we arrived at 7, on the dot, and there were about 10 people ahead of us!

Some back story...

When it was time to vote in the primaries, I didn't think that I was registered in our new area yet because I hadn't received anything in the mail.

So, Rich headed to the polls to vote and when he got back, he told me that I, indeed, was registered!

I then walked over and had a nice conversation with the people working the polls and voted in the primaries.

This morning, when it was our turn, the volunteers remembered me!

They remembered that I was wearing "an amazing sun dress" for the primaries!

Gotta love making an impression!
Now, if I could only remember which dress I was wearing....

I hope that everyone votes today!

Make the time.

It is important!

Not only for the presidential candidate, but also for your local community and state!

Now, off to work!

Stay Strong

Via & Via

Just as the going gets tough, the tough gets going!

My mom has always always always said this to me!

It's the truth, God doesn't give you anything you can't handle.

We will all be stronger and more powerful in the end!

So keep your head up and smile!

Happy November

Happy November!

May November bring you lots of Great Foods and people to be thankful for!