Family Thanksgiving Pics

We've had LOTS of family time this holiday weekend! Thursday was spent in Lodi with mom's side of the family, Friday was midday dinner in El Cerrito with David's parents and his brother, and then Saturday was with dad's side of the family in Dublin! We also celebrated Hayden's 1st Birthday which is tomorrow on December 1st!

Here is a preview - more to come......

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a fun-filled, relaxing, enjoyable Thanksgiving! I am excited to spend some quality time with my family and to enjoy some yummy food! I think that next year I will make a Tofurky - yes a Tofu Turkey.....because I feel sorry for all the poor turkeys out there....and I actually like tofu MORE than I like turkey. Next year....

Holiday Baking Day!

So this year I decided that I am going to bake! For those of you who don't know, I LOVE to cook and bake....but having the energy to do so around the holidays can be hard to come by. But I decided to take today off work to give myself more time to prepare for Thanksgiving!

David and I got a head start on Monday night when we both had a craving for homemade chocolate chip cookies.....and low-and-behold we had all the necessary ingredients on hand! What tastes more amazing than a fresh, hot, chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven? Yum!

Today I'll be baking a low-calorie Vanilla Creme Pumpkin Cheesecake - a healthy recipe that I found from the Hungry Girl website. Given how much food and calories most of us consume on Thanksgiving, I figured a healthy dessert option was in order.

Then later this week I will make another guilt-free dessert for Thanksgiving #3 on Saturday: 1-Point Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge!


Happy eating everyone! :)

Knock Knock Jokes....

Ok, I totally admit that I LOVE Knock Knock Jokes. And unfortunately my dear husband David hates them. ;) Now and then I just HAVE to share some of these silly jokes with him though, and he listens and half-laughs just like a great sport. :) Here are two of a few of my favorites - enjoy!

Knock Knock
Who's There?
Dwane
Dwane Who?
Dwane the tub I'm dwoning!

LOL.....

Knock Knock
Who's There?
Woo
Woo Who?
Don't get so excited, its just a joke!


Knock Knock
Who's There?
Police
Police Who?
Police stop telling these stupid knock knock jokes! :)~

Today is my Friday!

Even though the CA state budget is in major crisis and the UC System has been hard hit by these ridiculous budget cuts (thanks Arnold), I still love working at UC Berkeley and I feel pretty secure in my job. And I must admit that one of my favorite perks of working in higher education is the wonderful holiday and vacation benefits we get! So today is my "Friday".....and I am really looking forward to a fun-filled, relaxing 5-day weekend with lots of family time and yummy food. ;)

Here is a cute pic of my family from last summer - I love you guys and I can't wait to see you on Thursday.

Thanksgiving Holiday Humor.... :)

I know Thanksgiving is still 3 days away, but I am already getting in the holiday spirit! Enjoy this chuckle for the day... :)

Family Visit.....

David and I had a nice visit with Leah, Lukasz and Hayden yesterday at their place in Redwood City. I just love my little niece - she is too funny and oh-so cute. :) And her 1st Birthday is just around the corner!

Haiku....

Although I've been a writer all of my life, I often go through phases of motivation where I tend to write A LOT, or write very little. I am now getting back into a "writing a lot" phase....including journaling, poetry, children's stories, and blogs. :)

Here is one Haiku that I wrote last weekend. What do you think?
Happy weekend... :)
.....

Wind and leaves flutter
Orange sky filled with smells of home
Change is in the air

Where were you at 4:30am Wednesday morning?

As for me I was sound asleep in bed, deep in a lovely, positive dream. But suddenly, I awoke to the sound of the most horrible, wheezy snoring! I sat up in bed, blurry eyed and still half asleep while I tried to decipher where in the heck the sound was coming from. We've been in our new condo for almost 1 month and we barely hear our neighbors at all, so I was confused why all of a sudden I could now hear someone snoring!? Even though I was irritated about being rudely interrupted from my REM cycle, I listened carefully like a detective....

And guess what I realized!?! The annoying snore was coming from the end of my bed....from MY CAT! Seriously people, my cat Molly was snoring! And no it wasn't that cute little breathing sound she often makes when she sits on the couch with us - instead this was a LOUD, wheezy, growl-like snore that reminded me of an angry wild animal! By this point David was awake too and he couldn't believe it either. So I was forced to kick my feet around to "wake up the beast" in order to put an end to this horrific sound. Who would have thought!?!

Molly, I love you and all.....but GEEZ! :)

Torrey & Dave's Wedding

My friend Torrey got married on Saturday at Rincon Center in SF - and it was such a beautiful, fun wedding! We sat at the "Berkeley" table, with many of my fellow Cal friends and past grad school peers. We enjoyed an AMAZING 8 course Chinese cuisine dinner catered by Yank Sing (or was it more courses?), and chocolate cupcakes for dessert! I just love weddings.....congrats Torrey & Dave! :)

Congratulations Scott & Michael!

We had a blast last night at Scott & Michael's wedding reception at Le Colonial in the City. Beautiful ambiance and time with great friends - what a fun way to celebrate!

Cat nap

I had the day off work yesterday, which meant I got to spend lots of QT with my kitty babies. Their favorite place to sleep in the new condo is on our bed cuddled together, especially in the afternoon sunlight. Too cute. :)

Slinky Kitty!

My time in Los Angeles has been awesome! I've "professionally developed" more than I even thought I would, having attended a series of extremely valuable career counseling workshops. I am walking away with lots of new tips and tricks I can use immediately with my clients, improved insight into some larger, critical issues and trends within my field, and most importantly a renewed sense of inspiration for the work that I do everyday.

On a whole different level, I have LOVED staying in this amazing hotel room all by myself! The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed at - my room is on the 11th floor complete with a plush king bed and a private balcony that looks out to downtown LA. This is only the 2nd or 3rd time I've ever stayed in a hotel by myself and I am almost 30 years old! So needless to say I've been enjoying the peace and quite and all of the private space and personal time to lounge, relax and reflect.

Off to Los Angeles for ICDC!

I am very excited to be heading out of town later today for a weekend in Los Angeles! I'll be attending the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza that runs from Friday 11/7 through Sunday 11/9. Hopefully the conference will provide me with the strong dose of professional motivation and inspiration I'm seeking! While down in LA, I will also get a chance to spend time with my So-Cal friends - Dani, Jenn and Cassie. I just checked the weather and it is supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow! Maybe I'll get a chance to visit the beach between workshops. :)

Election Day 2008

A new president AND a new haircut....it was a big day! But definitely bittersweet. While on one hand I am very excited that Barack Obama will be our new leader, I am also very saddened that my fellow Californians voted to pass Proposition 8. I am shocked and appalled that people could actually make a choice that embodies discrimination, bigotry, hatred, and a fundamental regression of human rights. It just boggles my mind and boils my blood. While we have definitely made progress as a nation, and yes some of my faith in America has been restored with the election of Barack, the evil spirit of Ignorance is alive and well. The "Yes on 8" supporters may have won this battle, but they HAVE NOT won the war. If our nation can go from a dark history of slavery and segregation to the election our first African American president, then I still have hope that eventually we will grant ALL people the right to love and marry anyone that they choose. Thank you.

Go Vote!

Hello everyone....Election Day is finally here! Although I submitted my absentee ballot weeks ago to avoid the lines, I want to encourage everyone to get out and exercise your right and privilege to vote if you haven't already!

Today is such a critical day for both our state and our nation. So much is riding on the decisions that our citizens will make today, and I can only hope and pray that we decide to move forward in the name of progress, equality and change.

Happy Voting!

Madonna!!

We had an awesome time at the Madonna concert on Saturday night - that woman is amazing! My cousins Heidi and Emily came out from Lodi to join Leah, Lukasz, Andy and I, and we had a fun lil pre-party at Scott's. I've had "Like a Prayer" in my head all weekend! The Sticky and Sweet Tour is definitely a huge success....I can't wait until the next one! I even bought a souvenir to help me savor the moment even longer.