Petar's

Petar's is a restaurant and lounge in Lafayette.

On Friday Night, one of my friends, my mom and I went out to Pitars to get a drink and go dancing.

Oh boy, to say we had fun is an understatement! We had a BLAST!

We got there around 9:30pm and the people there were a little older to start out with, so the music was geared toward an older audience. As the night progressed, a younger crowd started showing up and taking over the scene, encouraging newer tunes!

The place is small and if you are dancing, it gets VERY warm in there! If you are ever in the East Bay and you are looking for a fun low key place to eat that turns into a lounge with a DJ, I would definitely recommend Petar's in Lafayette!

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Weekend Excitement!

I am going to have a full weekend starting tomorrow morning at 9am!

**Job Interviews**
**Dinner with friends from home**
**Brothers' baseball games [Fingers crossed for some summer sun!]**
**Dinner and a movie with a great friend!**
**Yoga in the park**
[and last but CERTAINLY not least]
**Getting fitted for my wedding dress! [well the muslin, anyway!]**

I am VERY excited for all of the fun that is ahead of me this weekend!

Wishing wonderful weekends to all!

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Books Books Books

I love to read! I like to take public transportation [silly, I know!] so I get the time to read!

At the beginning of the summer, I finished Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell.
I liked it, but I felt that it was a little repetitive and was boring and dry at times. Even though I thought that it was boring and dry, I took a lot from it and would recommend reading it to anyone who is interested in getting into the marketing field.
***
After Blink, I read The Tipping Point, also by Malcolm Gladwell.

I really enjoyed this book, more than Blink. I thought that this book was more practical than Blink and I felt like I was able to relate better to the content of the book. Of the two books, I would DEFINITELY recommend The Tipping Point!

Malcolm Gladwell is a very smart man who knows how to convey his point in his writing and really knows how to capture his audience.

Neither book is a real page turner, it is based on real life experiences of why people do what they do, how they do it, and what the repercussions are of their actions as well as describing snap judgments and how it is important to do while being very difficult. They, both, were quite good, and I am looking forward to reading Malcolm Gladwell's third book, Outliers.

Both Blink and The Tipping Point came highly recommended to me by a few of my friends as well as a professor of mine from college. I have gone on more than a handful of interviews since I have graduated and I have be able to bring up both books in all of my interviews! It has worked in my favor every time because my interviewer has always heard or has read the books!
[A+ for me!]
***
After The Tipping Point, I read Beach Road, written by James Patterson.

Beach Road was a quick and easy read. I was recommended this book by a family friend. It is a murder mystery and I was entertained, but a little disappointed. I thought the book was a little boring, but the ending of the story made the entire read worth it! There was a crazy twist at the end that I was REALLY not expecting! And usually, I am good about guessing endings! It was very unexpected! The book is about 350 pages and if you are looking for a story that is quick, maybe you are going on a little vacation, I would recommend this one!
***
Now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. I am not far into it [I am just getting the hang of the authors writing style]. I like it so far, and I have heard great things about it! I am excited to really get into it!

Blink, Tipping Point, Beach Road

Reno Rodeo

I was in Reno last week visiting my grandparents with lots of sun, food and relaxing! I had a blast! The last night I was there we all decided to go to the Reno Rodeo, "the wildest and richest rodeo in the west"

I had a blast! I had never been to a rodeo before and I am so glad that I got to go to this one! I guess all of the rest that I plan to go to now have to live up to this one!

The events include:

Bareback Steer Wrestling
Saddle Bronc
Team Roping
Tie-Down Roping
Mutton Bustin'
WPRA Barrel Racing
Bull Riding FUTURE RENO RODEO DATES
June 16 - 25, 2011
June 14 - 23, 2012

For more information..take a look at their website, or click on the event you are interested in!

The Slanted Door

Last weekend I went to The Slanted Door for lunch on Embarcadero at the Ferry Building.

This was my first time, and it definitely WILL NOT be my last! I am usually not an adventurous eater, I am actually really picky; but we decided that we were feeling adventurous and wanted to try something new and exciting!

We ordered [to share for 3]:
vietnamese crêpe with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts and onions
bánh nam rice dumplings with pork and dried shrimp wrapped in banana leaf
grilled tiger prawns over rice noodles with vegetarian imperial roll, cucumber and mint

Oh my gosh! Everything was FANTASTIC! And the location was great too!

And our waiter was so nice! He made sure that we ate each dish the way that the chef intended! The grilled Shrimps were delicious and the imperial roll was soo tasty! We liked the Vietnamese Crêpe and all of the sauces really complimented each dish! Some of the food was a little spicy, but delicious nonetheless!

The one thing that was a little weird to us, is that the bathroom (a) was coed and (b) has a monitoring attendant. The attendants job is to go into each stall after it has been used and wipe down the seat and spray a disinfectant solution to get rid of any odors and open the stall door for bathroom users..It was like the movies!

I definitely would recommend this place! Try it out!

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Skype

Skype is seriously the best technology ever invented!

If you don't have it, download it!
[It will make keeping in touch with anyone and everyone SO MUCH EASIER!]

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The Bridesmaid Dresses

After long hours of deliberation and some disappointments....I have picked a bridesmaid dress! I couldn't be happier with the result!

Originally, I wanted a red and white wedding, and after finding out that the shade of red that I was looking for was being discontinued, I had to come up with another option. So I decided on purple, then blue, than a magenta color that the salon calls "teaberry."
I wasn't IN LOVE with any of the colors that I had to chose from....

Thanks to FRIEND, and her never-ending patients, after trying on more bridesmaid dresses than I did wedding dresses, we found the perfect dress for the occasion and the location.

We decided on a more neutral color; a color that would go with everything and anything; a color that I didn't have to find the right shade of flowers to match perfectly with the dress. The salon refers to it as "dove" (quite appropriate for the occasion!). It is a simple, yet elegant dress that will compliment our special day!

I can't wait to see all of the girls in the dress on our big day! Yay!

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Mirror Images

I was talking with a few friends and one of them said "Is it true that if you take a picture of yourself, cut your face down the middle and mirror image both sides together, you will look like a different person?" We were all dumbfounded by this and I told that that I would HAVE to experiment and ask a coworker of mine to see if that is true and to test it out...

Here it is...

Me
Christine

MelissaWhat a TRIP!

Thanks Elbert!