Browse Month: June 2005

GO SUSIE!

I was uploading my photos onto ofoto.com today and came upon a photo that I liked. It’s a photo of Susie running with the Bay Bridge in the background. How awesome is San Francisco?! Doesn’t it look like she’s having a good time? I don’t think she was but it looks like it. 🙂 According to Runner’s World Magazine, it was ranked the top running city (among major cities) in the U.S. and I agree. When I lived up there, it seemed so much easier to go out and run. It must be the view or the hundreds of people who run out there each Saturday morning. I guess the next best thing is where I live. There are some really nice trails and bike paths in Irvine that you can take without hitting a single stop light for 10 miles. There are a lot of sucky hills around here too but I’ve grown to appreciate them. On a Saturday or Sunday morning there are runners and cyclists galore! It really makes you want to get out there yourself.

Tastes like feet!!

We just got back from our trip up north late last night. We flew up on Saturday morning and Victor and Susie picked us up. We got to stay at their new apartment this weekend, which is pretty cool and right by the water! They have a view of the bay and the Coke bottle at PacBell Park. Since the wedding in Napa wasn’t going to start until 5:30, we went for a 5-mile run along Embarcadero. Susie, Vyl, and Bang joined us and it was really fun! We all started in front the the apartment and Jes and I ran all the way to the end of Fisherman’s Wharf (2.5 miles) and turned around. Susie, Vyl, and Bang turned around at the beginning of Fisherman’s Wharf and completed 4 miles total.
The wedding was for Albert, one of Jes’ old co-workers, who was marrying a girl he met in Business School last year. I always wondered what a Napa wedding would be like and it was cool. The wedding took place at Nicholson Ranch in Sonoma. We were about 90 mins late due to traffic all over the place. Apparently there was a NASCAR event also in Sonoma that weekend. The funny part is that we didn’t miss much since the ceremony lasted for a whoppin’ 10 minutes!! Jes got to hang out with his old buddies from his dot-com days and it was funny seeing him interact with them again. Unlike his quiet, laid-back self, he was the leader of the pack –instigating all the hijinx and being the center of attention.
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On Sunday, we went back up to Napa for a day of wine tasting. Vyl planned a whole itinerary of events for us…it was sweet. First stop was Nickel & Nickel where we had to have an appointment. It was like going to someone’s house, sitting in their dining room, and tasting wine with a bunch of friends. There were 7 of us: Vyl, Bang, Susie, Victor, Michelle, Jes, and me. There was also one other couple from Florida and of course, the hostess. We tasted 5 different single vineyard wines and they were all good. It was a really fun tasting…very different from past experiences. We had a good time laughing as we swirled our glasses. In fact, we were such a fun crowd that morning that they actually comped us the $30/person tasting!! The next stop was Rombauer where we tried to buy a really yummy Chardonnay but they sold out. Lunch was a picnic at V. Sattui and then we were off to Cakebread. The wines there weren’t very impressive and most of them, as Vyl likes to say, “taste[d] like feet”. I think all the yummy stuff we tasted this morning at Nickel & Nickel really set some high expectations for all of us and set us up for disappointment for the rest of the day. We actually ended up back at N&N to buy some of their wine. The day and weekend ended with some outlet shopping and a flight back to LA.

What a great day!

Today there was no school so I got to hang out at home and write my reports. I think the dog appreciated not being stuck in the garage today too. Amazingly, I managed to finish 1 1/2 reports today! I also went to lunch for some Korean food with Jesse, my cousin Pish, his wife Debbie, and her co-worker. The best part of the day, however, was the unexpected delivery of TWO cameras!! Our Canon SD400 came this morning and my Holga came this afternoon. All these came just in time for my trip to SF/Napa this weekend. Michelle, Ryan’s wife, will help me tape up my Holga and get it ready for my photo excursion. I can’t wait! Ah…life is good when you don’t have to go to work.

Queen of the Mountain x3!

We live by a gated community that’s up the hill from us. The road that takes you to this “exclusive” community is rather steep and is accessible by foot or bike. I’ve tried to run up that hill a few times without stopping and it’s been very tough. I think there’s an elevation change from about 75 ft to 335 ft…it sucks. Well, yesterday I was feeling pretty strong and decided to try running up the hill once at the end of my workout. I ran up the hill at an unusually quick pace, got to the top and said to myself, “good…time to go home.” As I walked down the hill towards my house, I was feeling pretty good. So, I turned around and ran up again. Nice! Once again, I started walking down and decided to go one more time. I ended up running up that stupid hill 3 times!!! Boy are my legs paying for it now. I’m just happy that I finally conquered the mountain. Yay me!

I was sleeping.

Yesterday was the longest day of the year and I slept right through it. I must be overtraining or something because when I got home from work yesterday at 4pm, I fell asleep on the couch until Jes got home at 5:30. He left for his pool workout and I went upstairs to change for my run and ended up taking a second nap until 8. I woke up in utter confusion because the sun had gone to sleep and my body really didn’t want to move. So much for enjoying a day of eternal sun. At least I managed to stay up today for the second-longest day of the year.
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Tomorrow is the last day of school and there will be a preschool graduation ceremony at my school. Most teachers will be saying “farewell until September” but I will be saying, “see ya in July”. I’d love to have July off but I guess I really shouldn’t complain considering all the week-long breaks that I get throughout the year. I’m actually off next week and start again on July 5th for a month of summer school. August will be off too but I’ll be working for my PTN again for my last 3 weeks of Camp Escapades. Now that it’s summer, it looks like it’s time to reinstate Bonfire Wednesdays!! Anyone want to meet us at the beach for some marshmallows?

Happy Father’s Day!

For Father’s Day, we took out both dads to Gladstone’s in Long Beach. The night started out just fine until we realized that we were sitting around waiting for our food for over an hour. The manager repeatedly came over to our table to apologize and gave us 50% off the check. That was cool. When the food finally came, I actually wasn’t that hungry anymore. But my dad certainly was. He had ordered the Father’s Day Clam Bake special for 2 and with his bib on, he went to town! There was crab, lobster, clams, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t see from the other end of the table. Overall, the meal was satisfactory and it was nice to be with the family. Our gifts weren’t too shabby either. I got my dad a pedometer to record all the walking he does with his buddies and my brother got him an Elvis book and even got it signed by Priscilla Presley. Nice job, brother! Jes offered to get his dad golf lessons but it got shot down. I guess he won’t be getting rid of his dusty golf clubs after all. Instead, we got him two tickets to the Long Beach Aquarium.