Browse Category: outta here

Woo hoo! Only $75 to go!

Just yesterday, my istockphoto account hit $25! It’s taken me about 6 months to get that far. I only need $75 more dollars in order to cash out! Haha. It’s going to take forever. Johnny got a head start and is up to at least $50 now. Boy, I’m not sure how I’m going to catch up and beat him. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some cool shots up in Monterey. I’m thinking the only way to catch up or at least be in contention is to get a camera with more megapixels (downloads of large files make more money).
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The debate between 35 mm cameras and digital cameras continues…
35 mm SLR pros: great print quality, versatile lenses, quick shutter speeds
35 mm SLR cons: big and bulky, more difficult to use for websites, photos are more difficult to share
compact digital pros: no waiting for film processing, photos are easy to share with friends, camera is usually smaller too
compact digital cons: prints still suck, shutter speed too slow, less creative options
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Now the other thing to consider is the digital SLR (particularly Nikon D70), which I’ve had my eye on for some time now. I’d get the ability to use my existing Nikon lenses, it has a faster shutter, and I’d have the convenience of digital photos. However, it’ll still be big and heavy and it’s still rather pricey. What’s a girl to do?!
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—We’re leaving for Monterey tomorrow morning before the birds even wake up. I’m looking forward to seeing the sea otters in the bay. Kayaking should be a hoot.

And so it comes to an end…

It’s 11:54 pm on the last Sunday of my Spring Break. I just got back from a 4-day trip to Northern California that was really fun. On Thursday around noon, Jes and I packed up the car, dropped off the dog at my parents’ house, and drove up north. We stopped at the Gilroy Outlets for some shopping and arrived at Ryan’s new loft around 8:30 pm for dinner. He’s got a cool place with lots of neat ideas for future construction. We also got to see Ryan and Michelle’s photos from their 2.5-week Asia trip. They were such a mess, coming home with the remainder of an upper respiratory infection and a stomach bug. After the Bangs said goodnight, we bid farewell to Ryan and Michelle and headed to our hotel. We stayed the W, which was one of the nicest hotels I had ever stayed in. It was pretty fancy with the name brand amenities (all for sale at a premium), corner room with a nice view of the city, and complementary bottled water, apples, and newspaper.
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On Friday, we got up late and had breakfast near Union Square. It was a gorgeous sunny day in the city so we walked around and took in the sights before meeting up with Jimmy at Houston’s for lunch. Thanks for lunch, J! Afterwards, we went for a scenic drive to the GG Bridge, crossed it toll-free, and got some cool photos of the bay and the skyline. Next, we drove up to Tahoe. On our way we stopped at Costco for discounted Kirkwood tickets and arrived at the Blue Jay Lodge by 7. I actually did the drive up the mountain on the curvey roads of Hwy 50. It was a lot of fun and much easier than the drive to Big Bear. That night we walked around in the casinos, lost $5 to a slot machine, and ate at Cabo Wabo Cantina.
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The next morning we met up with Bang and Vyl at Kirkwood. The snow was great and it was nice and warm. This was our first time back to Tahoe since December and it was fun to have Vyl, a fellow-skier, around. The first half of the day was mostly spent on the backside. However, we did go up to “The Wall” where at the top they have skull-and-bones flags warning that this was for “experts only”. Yup, I got stuck at the beginning where my legs became petrified and needed gentle coaxing to turn as I repeated to myself “turn, you can do it, turn”. I finally got off that initial lip and the rest was fine. At 12:30 we met up with Jimmy and Eleen for lunch. Afterwards, the six of us headed back up the mountain for some gullies and a crazy half-pipe slalom that we weren’t supposed to take. It was super-fast but really fun! I tried a couple jumps but ended up on my butt. By the end of the day, the snow got pretty slushy and my ears were burnt. We finished the day with beers at the lodge and sushi back at the lake.
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This morning rolled around and Jes and I decided to head over to Alpine Meadows with Jimmy. We’d never been and it was worth the trip. I got stuck again at the top of the first run but the rest of the day was smooth sailing, except for all the traversing!! Overall, we’ve all gotten better over the season and I even took a couple jumps and landed them this time!! Woohoo!! Too bad today was probably our last trip of the season…boo. After lunch, we headed home. The drive was a long 8 hours (including stops) but well worth it for a fun-filled weekend.
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Now it’s time to rest the car and slow down on the mileage. We’ve had the X3 for less than 3 months and have racked up about 6600 miles! And so, my Spring Break is now over and it’s time to go back to work…can’t wait for Memorial Day weekend.

Going on a road trip!

It’s been fun hanging out at home these past days but it’s time to get on the road. Yesterday we finalized our plans for the rest of this week. We’ve decided to drive up to SF today to hang out with some old friends, do some shopping, and get one more day of skiing/riding in Tahoe. What a nice way to end my Spring Break. Pray for good snow conditions!!!

One More Day!!

Gosh, I’m burnt out. I’m in dire need of a break and it’s only one day away!! Heading out for some skiing in Tahoe this weekend to celebrate Bangerang’s 30th bday and taking the pup with us. I can’t wait to see the doggie play in the snow…he’ll be so confused. Jes came home early yesterday and will be off for the next two weeks with me. Hooray! One more day…one more day…

Worst bar ever!

Thanksgiving in Michigan was nice. The weather was chilly but a nice excuse to bust out the gloves and scarf. The weekend consisted of a lot of napping and hanging out with the family. On Saturday night, we met up with Victor, Susie, and Dayantha at a bar called The Blue Martini, which seemed cool at first but soon turned into the worst bar ever. Jes, Jason, and I went in first since it was cold and rainy. The cover was $10 and the bar was filled with single middle-aged whiteys and a sucky band. I suppose the boys would agree that the only redeeming thing about the bar were the not-so-pretty-looking bartenders all dressed in skimpy white tanktops with very large boobies. We actually waited 2 hours before Dayantha called and said they had given up. The guy at the door made them wait in a line of 10-15 people for no reason. Who did they think they were? Skybar?! It’s Michigan, people! After we decided to not give them any more of our money, we hung out at a cafe down the street to end the night with dreams of opening a bar in Hawaii together and sweating Jason about his break-up.

Y’all want more Hush Puppies?

My weekend in Charlotte was an interesting one. Uptown is about the size of my thumb. Bank of American practically owns the city. The fall colors are beautiful. Bubba’s has really good barbeque and hush puppies. The Westin rocks and so does their mall in South Park. Jes’ co-workers are a fun bunch and their office is pretty neat. The whiteys really know how to party it up and drink beer. I’m just not sure how ready I would be to move there but I’d be willing to consider it. I’d just have to get to know the area a little better.
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Well, my flight back was even more of an adventure. It felt like the longest flight ever. For a 6-hour flight, it took 9 hours to get home. There were 3 crying babies on board, I had a middle seat, the flight was VERY bumpy, and there was a 1.5-hour layover at SFO. As if it couldn’t get any worse, we had to wait on the tarmack for 15 minutes for another plane to leave our gate.