A Southerner in Socal

Baywatch Babes

2009-11-02T18:56:00.001-08:00

David Hassellhoff would have been proud of his Baywatch lifeguards this past weekend. In the spirit of Halloween the girls and I decked out in the red swimsuits and headed out for some trick or treating fun!!

Aruba (147 photos), by sarah hill

2009-09-20T13:09:00.001-07:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Labor Day in Aruba

2009-09-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

I think I may be forming a new labor day tradition. I flew out Wednesday evening and headed down to Aruba for Andre's birthday. After waiting three long months after booking the trip the day finally came to get on the plane. Once we landed our driver took us around the downtown and gave us a brief history about the town and all of the hotels we passed. I have to say my heart was beating looking at the crystal clear water to our left getting more eager by the moment to get settled in.

I do have to say I was sad we didn't go see any of the island. Instead we layed under our tiki hut and read the majority of the trip. One day we went snorkeling on a pirate ship. We snorkeled a ship wreck, then moved to a coral section, and ended with an hour long swim session and jumping off the pirate swing. This was my favorite moment of the whole trip.

I do have to say this was the most relaxing trip I have ever been on. The island was extremely clean everyone was beyond friendly and the food was probably the best sushi and seafood I have ever had. I plan to go back very soon!

I did something i couldn't have done in the south....

2009-07-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

... i went to a pride parade this weekend. Yes, that's true. I packed a bottle of champagne and met up with friends for an early breakfast in our gay district to go see the infamous San Diego Pride Parade. Now, please note, the weekend before we went to a gay bar (and those who have any questions- no I'm not wavering on wondering what team i play for- u just don't have to deal with the typical lush guys at a gay bar like you do everywhere else).. so needless to say i went into a gay bar and told a guy i didn't believe in gay marriage....yea you can only imagine how interesting that conversation was. So thus, was my invitation to the gay pride parade....I went. I supported. I was disappointed.

I've been MIA lately

2009-06-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. I have been MIA lately from posting on here. I suppose I'll start off with my test. After months and months of studying I am not so pleased to let everyone know I am still studying. The PMP test in one word, sucked. I now have opted to take my time over the next six months to really review each chapter (including all the new revisions that come out next month)and go back for round two with a new confidence that i can conquer this beast.

Next update, I've got alot of traveling on my plate coming up and already behind me.Ok, ok, I'll finally post on this subject. I know this will be a contradiction of my statement I told many family members in FL recently, but my boyfriend just moved to NYC a month ago. Yup, you guessed it- we are trying long distance. So far it has been easy. Andre is great in the fact he isn't afraid to communicate, call, text or even IM as soon as i get into work to wish me a good day.Beyond that, it's finally great to have someone who understands my job in the IT world. Andre now works for Nokia in NYC on their web analytics team. He is amazingly smart! Just watch out when you are surfing the web at home or on your web because he is tracking you and creating marketing / IT reports based on where you visit! Two weeks ago after we both had long hard weeks at work we opted to take a last minute weekend trip to Denver. Denver was such a great city. There was a large festival downtown Denver that we walked to both Saturday and Sunday (before the massive hail storm) where we went wine tasting (gotta love that we wine tasted in the beer capital) and listened to all types of bands. It was great to finally kick off my flops and walk barefoot in cold grass!It was great to get work off our minds for once. For our the future our goal is to actually try and see one another at least 1-2 times a month- difficult but realistic. Any yes family, we are trying to plan a trip home so you can interrogate...opps i mean meet him :)

Next update, I can't wait to get to Charlotte to visit Lauren and Denver!! That's my trip for this fall!! Lauren you think you are up for hosting Thanksgiving again?

A random tidbt- I'm learning to Salsa dance! The first class is coming up around the corner...dun dun dunhhhhh.

And finally, here's a picture of one of my girls group. Since I moved downtown I have started running around with some girls from my neighborhood. All young professionals like myself but all from very diverse backgrounds- From NorCal, MidWest, Britain, Chezk Republic and other places. These are some great gals!

Last but not least- i just hit my 1 year mark at Bedrock Technology Partners and Qualcomm. If I make it 3 more months, which I plan to surpass way beyond that, then it will be my record at one job. I still love my job!! I actually got a great performance review and will be taking on a bigger role in one of my favorite projects.

World-record yellowfin may be on the hook

2009-06-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

World-record yellowfin may be on the hook

Posted using ShareThis

Can Cancer Campaign

2009-05-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

ok. Prepare to laugh. Here are some of the photos. I hope none of you are shocked by the go-go dancers outfits. What a fun night with Aja and Stephanie!

GOOO Padres!

2009-05-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to my first Padres game. Great stadium even better company. GOOO Padres!

I heart Tapas

2009-05-04T21:42:00.001-07:00

After a long week of work there's nothing better than getting a table at a tapa's restaurant, kicking back, and listening to music. This past weekend I tried a new place downtown with a friend. Of course i had to go for the bacon wrapped dates since this is my favorite tapas of all times but this place, Cafe Sevilla, had their dates stuffed with blue cheese (i'm getting hungry thinking about it).While we were at dinner the salsa dancers surrounded and entertained us. The food was amazing! The picture above is of their kabobs (sorry I couldn't see the camera I took my glasses off for the pic)_.... those kabobs were great. However, if this place isn't good enough you always can walk next door to the ceviche bar! I know my family definitely would love to eat there after all the ceviche we at during Christmas two years ago!!

http://www.cafesevilla.com/locs/sanDiego/! (tapas)
http://www.tabulerestaurantbar.com/ (ceviche rest.)

I did what??

2009-05-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

A month and half ago I decided that TV no longer was going to be in my household. Sorry house guests, you don't get to plop in front of the tube next time you come to visit me unless we stop off at Blockbuster first. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too difficult. I have the perfect transition time as I study- granted I really miss spending these May Gray days on the couch Saturday while I watch HBO.... crazy huh?

Can Cancer Fundraiser

2009-04-21T20:18:00.001-07:00

If my life was crazy enough last week I signed up for a last minute event. my friend at work approached me to help her sister out for a fundraiser for St. Jude. Of course I immediately said yes then asked for details. the details, I was going to be a punk rock model at a club the next night. So I showed up to the club and was immediately plopped into a chair to have my hair done. There probably was 7 other models all of whom sat down after me and got up before me to get their hair done. That's ok, I made a new gay best friend while i sat there for the 2 hours having my hair teased and yanked!! The first hair design I was given was a mowhawk- it was sick! However, when i went i took my shirt off to change in the bathroom i broke a few of the spikes and we didn't have time to re-sculpt them. Instead they took the spikes and turned these into bubbles. It was even crazier! Then I was off to makeup. This thankfully didn't take as long because the photoshoots had begun and guests were already arriving. The rest of the night flew by. We talked to guests about what the event was for and took tons of pictures to hopefully be used in the campaign... we will see though, I'm sure I'll be cut out since i was the only non-model there! now, let's talk about models. They take themselves WAY too seriously. Seriously girls, eat something and have a little fun!

Today was a great day!

2009-04-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

The little things in life are what make me happy. Tonight I had dinner with a new group of girls i met. These girls remind me so much of the girls I hung out with in the South. Professional, sweet, ambitious, classy, and all around funny. I was nervous branching out from the group I run around with but I have recently realized I need to find more girlfriends. So, when Christine befriended me in our PMP study group I was eager to be her friend. Tonight I met her other friend who is from England and works in the financial industry. The best part- they both live downtown!

So here's to all the little things in life that make us happy!

Green Roses

2009-03-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen green roses before? The guy I'm dating gave me 2 dozen green roses this weekend.(it's great, I get surprised with roses all the time!) They are absolutely beautiful! I believe they are pretty close to passing my favorite, Tulips. They are a light lime green and all natural!

When is enough enough?

2009-03-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is going to be an odd blog... you are prewarned. I think we all have those bad days. They may consist of failing a test- which I did today. Getting yelled at by a boss. Wrecking you car. Fighting with friends and family or so much more. But when do you deem enough enough? Better yet, at what age are you supposed to learn your breaking point or how you specifically cope when things get bad?

This was all brought up due to an incident that happened at my apartment complex Sunday morning. After battling a cold for the past three weeks I have been sleeping harder than normal waking for nothing. So, the story goes as follows: Saturday was phenomenally beautiful here in San Diego. So beautiful I am still sporting a nasty sunburn from laying at the pool. Needless to say, Saturday night was another early night. I opened all my windows and quickly fell asleep. Sunday morning comes and I'm amazed at how peaceful I slept the night before.... so serene that I slept in and only had 5 minutes to get ready for church. So i hopped on the elevator and was greeted by a neighbor on one of the floors below. He asked if I was kept up all night by all of the ambulance, firetruck and cop sirens out front of the building. I kinda laughed because i was still half asleep from the night before. So, the neighbor continued to tell me how a guy on the 12 floor decided to jump off his balcony and commit suicide. I was in disbelief. I didn't want to pry and walk out front of my building in case it was true.Instead of continuing to the basement to get in my car I hit the button for floor 15 and headed back to my apt. Opened my balcony door and saw exactly what happened only a few hours before. From 8 am - noon some poor man had the job of scrubbing and powerwashing our sidewalk.

So, this goes back to my question. When is enough enough? How do you decide it needs to come to that. i don't understand how anything could be so bad that you decide to end it all. I think it's safe to assume we all have crappy days and you should never look at suicide as an out. I just feel sorry for whoever had to make that phone call to this guys parents at 3am Sunday morning.

....Studying is not fun!

2009-03-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I started preparing for my PMP exam by taking step one, signing up for a PMP Exam Prep course. The classes consist of an all day Saturday study session for 6 consecutive Saturdays. Each week I have anywhere from 3-6 chapters to basically memorize, online tests, podcasts to listen to, and study groups to attend. Somehow during all of this "school work" i am supposed to actually complete my normal work week... Needless to say, I have had many nights like tonight, sitting at Cafe Solana a few blocks down the street from my house, drinking way to much coffee trying to actually focus and taking way to many notes that I will never memorize. People, let me tell you NEVER go back to studying after you graduate from school. Keep the pattern in one direct path and do school fully through then look for a job. I seriously feel for anyone who goes back to school part time while working a full work week..... Last but not least, let's just pray that all these long nights pay off and I pass on my first sitting of this test (which as my teacher nicknamed it "The Bitch") because if not, then I'm basically back on step one since the book of my life, PMBOK, is being revised and reproduced to a new edition-- therefore, conveniently changing the test questions in June...uhhhhh.

Selfishness

2009-02-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

Just as each of you have been following the story of the octuplets and now family of 14 so have I. I'm not sure if any of you have watched the interviews with the mother but I feel she is completely selfish! She says she will provide for all of her children and love them but how do you provide food for your children when you don't even have a college degree or job? Better yet, she says she will return back to school so she can provide for her family, but who will watch the children when she goes to college? Finally, she doesn't want any type of hand outs but how does she think she will handle any of the financial burdens? Of course she is looking for handouts- look at the last family that had octuplets- they received a house, free formula and free diapers. Unfortunately, she must not have realized that the way the economy is she will not have any handouts coming here way such as previous families. It's pure selfishness. She didn't like being an only child, her mother even sounds weary about all of this and is planning to move out of the house once Nadia returns from the hospital +8, and to top it off she hired a publicist (on that non-existent salary) to tell her story. Sounds like someone is trying to make some money off of these babies. I think she went a little too crazy while working at the insane asylum.

But hey, that's my opinion.

My checkmark for my Bucket List

2009-02-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

This weekend my best friend Jenny and I headed to Norcal for a brief lil getaway from San Diego. Rachel, a college friend invited us to come stay with her while she is shooting the movie "Carmel" located in Carmel/ Pebble Beach. So, the two of us took off work early Friday and began the trek up North. The 9 hour drive on the PCH/ CA HWY 101 was AMAZING..... well that actually is an understatement. This has always been a trip I have had recommended to me- drive the coastal highway. I have to say, I used to think San Diego was beautiful, it's not compared to this part of the country!! San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz and everything in between was so green and comforting.

We got to Carmel around 10:30 Friday night after driving all 9 hours in downpour rain. We met up with the movie crew at a local pub since they didn't think we would be able to find the house we were staying at in Pebble Beach golf course.... it's probably a good thing too because that golf course community is HUGE! First off, i just lied. It was not a house we stayed in- it was a mansion on the 15th hole. I would yell for jenny and couldn't find her, so then i'd have to go in search of her.. i think you get my point.

Anyhow, i'm trying to get more pictures off my phone but of course it doesn't want to cooperate. Point of this blog- get your butt in a car, drive the PCH/ HWY101 and visit these areas. This trip definitely is worth adding to your Bucket List!

A Wine Country Date

2009-02-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

One thing I have always wanted to do since I moved to San Diego is spend a day in Temecula wine tasting. As a small version of Napa, San Diego County is home to close to 25 wineries, multiple bed in breakfasts, and numerous amazing restraunts. The experience of tasting multiple wines and sparkling white wines (aka Champagne)easily has me wanting to head back to Temecula.

My trip actually started over a casual dinner date conversation. The guy that took me out knew more about wine than any person I have ever met. During dinner he told me about great places in Napa and the wineries outside of LA. Then the conversation turned to our own county. Once again, not having much experience with any "good" wines, i again admitted defeat that I had never been to Temecula wine tasting.

So, it was decided we should go....First off lunch was amazing! We started off at South Coast Winery, Resort and Spa. Vineyard Rose restaurant definitely was a nice unexpected treat. I believe it has even won awards as Best Restraunt in the Inland Empire. The best way to desicribe the ambiance is countryside chic. http://wineresort.com/ So we grabbed a seat on the patio overlooking the vines and began our first tasting paired with amazing Ahi. After lunch we started the tastings at the following wineries:
1. South Coast, www.wineresort.com
2. Wlson Creek, http://www.wilsoncreekwinery.com/
3. Stuart Cellars, http://www.stuartcellars.com/main.html
4. Mount Palomar, http://www.mountpalomar.com/mtpalomar/index.jsp

All in all it was so amazing. I am even more excited about going to Napa and heading back to Temecula to stay at the BnBs!

Yummy Yummy Salmon

2009-01-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last night I cooked dinner for my date and myself. Try this recipe it's great! We both really liked it!

Ingredients
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 fresh pineapple
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups cooked white rice
Preparation

Heat broiler.

Whisk together the maple syrup and mustard in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the salmon in a foil-lined 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Season with the salt and pepper. Slice the peel from the pineapple half and cut it lengthwise into quarters, then cut each quarter into 1/2-inch-thick triangles. Scatter the pineapple and jalapeño around the salmon. Brush the salmon with the syrup mixture. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily when pricked with a fork and the inside is the same color throughout. Serve the salmon and pineapple with the rice and drizzle with the remaining glaze, if desired.

First Weekend

2009-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Last week I quickly became settled in at 9th Ave floor 15. As I know reside close to 2000 ft in the air I casually keep my feet propped up, the balcony door open, and tv on. No, being up so high does not scare me any longer. Instead it intrigues me. The one thing that all my friends keep saying is, "wow all of this furniture fit in your studio??" Yes, and doesn't it look even better spread out? To top that, look at any of the three closets and look at how my clothes are breathing now! Long story short, I'm still happy.

So what do you do when you get a new place? You have a house warmer. After a long and bad day at work on Friday I opted that I was bailing on my date and spending the night with my best friend Jenny since she had just as crummy day. We walked down to a Italian restraunt that I had always been told was great. Waited thirty minutes in line only to be completely disappointed. How someone could possibly tell you that mediocre restraunt fell remotely close to the beyond phenomenal food of Little Italy astounds me! So after a bad day and bad dinner we walked back to my apartment checking out the new neighborhood. Any other night Jenny and I would have gone out to dinner in nice enough clothes to actually get into the laid back bars. Instead tonight our hair was in ponytails and we sported tshirts blue jeans and flops. So we stopped off at a local Irish Pub which I have deemed my new favorite place. The food looks amazing, the scene is relaxed and well it's 4 blocks away. I think this will be a new study place for me to help me focus outside of my apartment. After that we ventured to bareback. It is an Australian bar next door to the Irish Pub. Then my colleagues met up with us for a night of laughter. The best part of the night was the rule no one could bitch-----about anything! It's great to have that rule in your life!

So Saturday rolled around and me being lazy blew off my lunch date and played downtown. I ran around all downtown and became quite familiar with my new neighborhood. that evening several of my friends came over to see the new place. They all loved it!I even got a great new house warming gift of wine glasses!! I now can't wait for each of you to see the new place! Although, it's still new I have broken this place in and made it "homey and comfy". That took only a few short days!

15th Story Breeze

2009-01-11T15:24:00.001-08:00

While everyone else in San Diego is cheering on the Chargers I am finishing unpacking from my move yesterday. Yup, that's it- I moved again. Not to far, just 10 miles down the road from the beach. Now I reside in 92101 otherwise known as downtown San Diego. As day two is almost coming to an end I still am in awe at how large my "penthouse" condo is!! My new place now is double the size of my old studio. I have gone from one closet to three closets, however, I somehow have all three closets slam packed!

On a side note: 1st- Notice the bookshelf on the left- looking a little tipsy? Overnight the bookshelf has started to tilt downwards. I think this is the only negative thing about the move. 2nd- The entire time i lived in the studio none of my neighbors were ever friendly or ever said hello. While i moved in here I met 6 new people. All whom were very friendly. 3rd- I highly highly highly suggest you never live in a studio.

I have to apologize that these pictures may not turn out to well. I have lost my camera and am working via phone camera....not to fret, my camera was broken anyways. The first downtown picture is from my living room balcony. The second downtown picture is from my bedroom window. I'm sure many of you might not enjoy looking at so much concrete but I love it. Especially watching the sun set and seeing it reflect off the bay.

Enjoy!

MASH

2009-01-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Who remembers playing this game when they were younger? You gotta love the digital version.

www.mashgame.com

Wisdom

2009-01-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

This made me laugh.
25 things you should have learned by the time you have reached middle age

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.

2. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.
*looks at Graver*

5. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

14. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No one has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

25. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.

Christmas and a New Year

2009-01-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Boy oh boy has 2008 ended in a bang! This year the Hill- Thomson- Glazier clan all met up in Memphis to celebrate Christmas. It started off with a seemless flight across the country. Christmas eve at mass was interesting. Some of you may have heard this story already, for those who have not this is warning to keep you kids away from me. Over thanksgiving in DC i gave James a new toy. Heather had sent his christmas wish list to each of us and on there were guns. apparently James has been running around her house with Heather's spatulas saying bang bang. So a few night prior to my departure i ventured to target to find little pistols to give james. Instead of pistols I found the next greatest thing.... A SHOTGUN! This thing was massive. (It was a nerf shotgun not a real thing). It was great even FAA didn't stop me, which i was sure would occur. So I give James the gift and he loved it. Apparently when James got home he would walk up to Heather and Jason and say "shoot baby Jesus." ...opps good deed gone South.

So back to Christmas eve mass. As we all sat in church everyone kept saying James look Jesus or similar questions about who Jesus is. Let's just say the whole clan was waiting for him to scream out "shoot baby Jesus" in the middle of mass. But James being the perfect nephew as he is, he didn't do so.

2009 with a random bang! This year i'm saying is the year of love- for friends, family, and whomever else falls into my life. This year I celebrated NYE in LA with one of my good friends from college, Rachel. This year I was a purple disco ball for the evening. We started off the night at a house party with some of her co-workers i've met before. Then we proceeded to walk 4 blocks in the frigid weather, no jackets of course, to Bar Mamont a famous bar in Hollywood. Next we went to Happy Endings for a 70's party... it was very fratastic and college feeling. At 11:40 Rachel and I bailed from Happy Endings and headed to another house party. Let's just say our cab pulled up and we ran inside just as the count down began. it was great timing! After spending a few hours here with a fun crowd we headed to some other house. I'm not quite sure what exactly the owner of the house did but it was BEAUTIFUL! After staying there for an hour or so we headed back to the previous hose party.... All in all 2009 was brought in with many many people and places. It was a blast!

Chapter Three- A Young Professional in the City

2008-12-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Well, as many of my readers know, ALOT has happened this past year. I've tranformed from a rough job into a job that not only excites me everyday but challenges me too. I've made a handful of amazing friends who guide me through my daily journey. I've dealt with a heartbreak and learned to get on with and without grudges. And finally, I've lived at the beach and in a cute beach town most people in SoCal travel to visit for a weekend of fun.

Unfortunately, chapters end in our lives and we have to move on even if others aren't ready. That's why with the start of 2009 I am beginning chapter 3 of Sarah in California- The Young Professional in the City. What do I hope for in this new chapter to include? Well for starters, hopefully a move..... not to far this time! I'm am hoping to become a resident of the 92101-aka Little Italy in downtown San Diego!! I'm so very excited. My past two weekends have included me checking out different condos with amazing views of the city skyline and the bay. This is the one place I've taken all of my family to when they come to visit. The authenic Italian food and little community is a must see. I have to say I think Mom, Dad, Heather and Lauren loved this little community!

Secondly, I'm looking acquire my professional license for Project Management- everyone say a prayer that I pass! For the past few months i have attempted to study but come Christmas time is when I really have to buckle down and start making progress.

Third, I'm going to start listening to my friends more- especially when they are giving me advice about my love life. They are the ones who see everything when you are blinded by love. So, now it's time for opening new doors, especially if I'm going to be living near oh so many downtown professionals!

Finally, I may try to start working out. No promises but with so many amazing trails to hike around here I should take advantage of that. The working out may just be me snowboarding on the weekends at Big Bear too.

However, I think out of everything in my new upcoming chapter I am most excited about my job with Bedrock and Qualcomm. Everyday I learn something new about the industry, meet a new individual, or am requested to take a project in a new direction. I am so glad I finally found a job that thrills me.

So.... now that all these changes are about to occur just cross your fingers everything goes well and chapter 3 turns out to be positive memories!

Getting Down

2008-12-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately no Hill girls were Cheerleaders. Sorry Dad you never got the opportunity to do this.

Santa's Gmail

2008-12-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

Haha.. Tis the Season. Be sure to click the picutre and read everything! I love that the Tooth Fairy is commenting on the size of chimmney sizes.

Christmas at the Super-Cube in QC

2008-12-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Last year for my first Christmas in San Diego I was amazed at how many people did not decorate for the holidays. I suppose that has something to do with the temperature being so warm here in San Diego. Well, this year I decided to kick all the Bah humbugs to the street and actually decorate. My house got a poinsettia- (I know going overboard huh) and my office got the rest of the deocoartions. Since I joined the super-cube (the place i sit at work) I have befriended several people from other departments that I most likely never would have gotten to know. So the super cube team decided we wanted to decorate in light of the season. So we all did our part and brought in one or two things to help out. Our super-cube is now wrapped with Christmas lights that everyone talks about. I decided that since we spend so much time here at the office we needed a tree! A real one at that! So, I went to my local nursery, dropped $12 and got a real live foot and half tree!! It's so cute. So I hauled it up the stairs to work and surprised everyone when they got in that morning.

Now, working in an IT Department you have to realize I really am one of few women. Therefore a cute dolled up tree was what I envisioned. Not what the boys envisioned. As everyone arrived the morning they exclaimed about the tree and just started adding in toys from their office. Here is what the decorations consist of: A Star Wars Trooper, 4 rednecks with their beerbottles/ kegs, an Austin Powers doll that says things, 4 regular bulbs, a bull, and a bottle of guinness.... Yes not such a cutsie tree after all! But Charlie, the tree, is right at home! Now if only the semi-perfect man was bundled up underneath it with a nametag for me then it would be the perfect tree!

Key to good shrimp and grits

2008-11-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

I finally have figured out the key to making your shrimp and grits phenomenally amazing...... you keep everything the same. However, when you go to sautee your shirmp and veggies add a dry white wine with 2 sticks of butter. Let it all cook down. Then once it's all cooked down add another stick of butter and the key ingredient- half a cup of lemon juice. You will be amazed at the flavors in the entire dish.

High Speed Mini Van Chase

2008-11-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

Friday after I left work I was in for a great laugh... how many high speed cop chases involving a mini-van have you seen? This was my first. As the grocery getter pushed the limits of 70 mph on interstate 52 15 cop cars tailed it. Note to all of you who one day plan on being involved in your own high speed car chase- don't do it during rush hour. I mean seriously, you must be an idiot if you think you will get very far during rush hour on a Friday in Cali.

Of course I was fascinated by the chase and helicopters following overhead that the next morning I googled the chase to see what exactly went down.....Apparently it ended shortly after I saw the cop cars. The guy driving the car came to a stand still like I do everyday driving home and decided to run for it. He jumped out of the family mini van and hopped over the guard rail. Now, for all of you who have children this is the most important lesson you teach them- Look both ways before crossing a street. Guy must have never learned to look both ways because as he reach lane 2 of 6 a caddy nailed him. Needless to say, we will call guy Chester the Molester so the car couldn't have hit him hard enough. Unfortunately, he is sitting in a San Diego hospital eating away at my good tax payer dollars. If you care to watch the video go through this link to see the entire story.Caution.. it show's it all.

http://cbs8.com/stories/story.146366.html#
click on watch video

Have I told you how much San Diego Rocks lately?

2008-11-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

The most common statement to come out of my mouth lately is how much my life rocks or "geeze life here rocks." So after many of weeks just playing around wtih friends this past weekend really showed me how good I have it. After talking to Heather and listening to how it's getting cold back towards the Southeast I had to boast a little. This weekend not only did I pull the swimsuits back out but I got burnt. It's the middle of Novemeber and I'm playing every weekend like it's June or July. Saturday we took out a friends boat all day and ventured around in the Pacific Ocean. We were headed to the Coronado Islands when all of our phones were sent a text message. Feeling it was a little ironic all of us received messages around the same time we looked at Mexico's newest PR stunt. Msg stated: Welcome to Mexico to call the US dial 011 +7 digit number. Needless to say Sunday consisted of even hotter weather (96)and plenty of time outside.

Pictures to come soon!

The things I've learned on my own....

2008-11-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

Last night as I drove home from a friends birthday party I realized I'm quickly approaching my 2 year anniversary away from the South! It's amazing how time flies by. I remember when I first moved I told myself, give it 3 months then decide if you want to stay. Then that timeframe came and I decided, ok make it to 6 months and then decide if you want to go home. Then I decided I wasn't ready to go home yet I wanted to explore a new territory. So I packed all my stuff up and ventured down to San Diego where I never had to give myself a goal and evaluation period on whether or not to go home.

In this year and 11 months I have come to realize more about myself and California in a very general overview. Here are just a few things I've come to realize.

*Nobody will watch out for you except for you- this is so true. Only you can make yourself happy.

*If you don't have goals you will end up sitting on your ass way to much. A goal can be to walk to the end of the street two nights out of a week or the fact to pursue a completely new career path. Whatever it is you are working towards something.

*If you don't have friends you have a lonely life- in the past two months if I didn't have had my friends calling me daily or stopping by checking in on me then I most likely would be looking for an apartment in Memphis right now.

*Most people in San Diego are transients, they come and 2 years later they go. Most people come out here to party and live it up right before they need to join the real life. Therefore, many of the guys are little immature boys- the real men are few and far. The girls are scandalous and prentitious.. Nothing you would want in a friend.

*Apparently I'm "real and good hearted" which is great. But you would be amazed at how many times a week I meet someone and they tell me this. So, always remember where you came from, your values, morals, and how you want someone to view you.

*Enjoy the rain and the soothing afternoons it brings you. It rained the other night and I rain into the street to dance in it. By the time I got outside it had quit.....needless to say we don't get to spend many lazy days in bed listening to the rain and thunder

*Mexicans really do chop people's heads off.....NOT- well clarification- if you are a drug lord or the 5.0. then you have a high likely hood of getting a machete to your neck. If you are a Gringo you don't go to Tijiuana unless you are American military on break. All other American hit up Rosarita or Ensenada.

*San Francisco is an amazing city that everyone needs to visit at least once in their life

*Getting away from the closed minds in the South has been a good change. In Socal there are no colors describing people. If a gay person talks to a straight person, the straight person never freaks out. A variety of individuals interact in all types of crowds. People need to get over their closed mindedness

*The IT field isn't filled with the typical guy you picture working in the IT department. I love telling people I work in an IT department and watching their face

*Californians don't really know what a roadtrip is. In the South we jump in our car an drive to Destin, Fl or go to Atlanta or Bama. Out here if you go 15 miles East of the ocean you are taking a roadtrip.

*San Diego doesn't have it's own characteristic or theme... it embraces multiple cultures.... Russians, Spaniards, Mexicans, Italians, East Coast Yankees( with much love to all my Yankees reading this ;), Brits, and so much more. It's great being part of a melting pot

*You can't be afraid to try something new.... Sunday I was on a date eating Tapas and my date ordered anchovie stuffed olives. Sounds disgusting but it was awesome! Another tapa to try is dates wrapped in bacon--delic!

*Always listen to people when they talk. Since I have moved here I have met more unique characters than I ever could imagine. The first woman marathon winner, bioscientist, engineers developing the next satellites to orbit our earth, tycoons with to much money for their own good, and rockstars who really aren't rockstars!

*Loving big is still worth it. Then you get to see people's true colors. Good, bad, and ugly.

*When you make a mistake, you admit like an adult. If you are to scared to talk about it you grow up and face it. Running from mistakes only frustrates people.

*Good things still happen... so always keep a positive mind. Things happen for a reason, don't ask why, just keep living and having fun.

You can vote however you like

2008-11-09T16:13:00.000-08:00

I don't remember my elementary school song classes being like this. Watch the token white kid dance.

A Rockin Weekend

2008-11-03T19:43:00.001-08:00

A few months back i was struggling what to get my best friend for her birthday. Two hours before her birthday it finally hit me --- Ray Lamontagne tickets. I have to admit it was a present for myself more so than her. However, it just so happened he was her favorite artist... so I hit jackpot! Well, the concert finally came this past weekend. So we dressed up and headed to Spreckles. Now if any of you have ever been to the Orpheum in Memphis this is exactly the type of theatre Spreckles is. So we hiked up to the nosebleeds and settled in for the greatest show I have ever watched. First Leonna Naess kicked off the evening. I had never heard her before but downloading some of her songs is on my list tonight. Then Ray came on. I have to say he was the most humble artist i have ever heard. He only faced the audience once and finished the show with two encores. There's one popular song most of you might have heard and that's Trouble. When he finally song Trouble I have to say chills went down my spine. All in all, this show was AMAZING. If you have never heard him before I highly suggest you get one of his three CD's (#2 is highly recommended). It's perfect for a dinner party or just a casual background music.

When did I become that old person?

2008-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

This is a question I have been asking myself several times a week lately. When did I become that old person? The question slowly arised a few months ago when I realized Friday nights in were more fun that going to the bar for a quick glance at the social scence. Or when my neighbors were partying in my courtyard at midnight on a weeknight and I found myself frustrated beyond belief. Or when I no longer found myself as a night owl, yet as a early morning riser.

So now that I have come to this scary realization I find myself looking at my actions even further to see if they indicate.....old. Oh boy they do! Last night I found myself on my phone yelling at my landlord for not shutting down the party in my courtyard at not midnight, not eleven pm, but ten pm. Yes, you read that right, ten pm. I often feel that I am the only person with a "grown up job" in my complex, thus, I need my sleep to function a full 8-10 hours at work. However, my cracktastic neighbor, who is a self proclaimed "made it for real this time" individual likes to O.D, party endless amount of hours, and sleep until her waitressing job kicks in. Must be a rough life thinking you "made it" in the real world being a waitress (note: there is nothing wrong with being a waitress- but don't think you've "made it" in the world. Think of it more as a stepping stone to making it.)

I also noticed I have become old because I can't study anymore. I just have found myself to exhausted at night to even pick up my PMP study materials and crunch down. I suppose that whole "exam" thing really isn't registering in my mind. Instead, an extra long shower and futal attempt to study seems to be my nights here lately.

So, if you are still reading this pointless blog i'm sure your still stuck on paragraph two with the fact I turned someone in for partying...yes, I seem to have left those days behind me and now focus on the "making it" role of life. Shocking how growing up really changes us!

A campaign Ad you probably missed

2008-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Stay classy San Diego

2008-10-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

.... As Will Ferrill put it ever so perfectly, "Stay Classy San Diego." And with that said, that was last weekend's theme. The night started out with a bang! While living in PB I have noticed that every weekend there are numerous of pub crawls. Which at times can be fun but other times just consists of insanely drunk 20 something year olds dressed up to a theme. Well, during dinner the "dress as an animal" pub crawl came jolting in to Gringos. Ten minutes later I had goat boy standing in front of me on top of my table drinking my beer.... Classy. Next, the girls and guys all decided that we were heading out to the Ivy for a night of fun. The joy of the whole situation it decided to rain Saturday evening. It literally has been a year and half since I last saw rain and the night I finally wanted to go out it rained. So what did we do? We dressed up, hit the town, and didn't let anything stop us from dancing the night away..... well, except for when we were on the roof of the Ivy and the wind and rain dampened our spirits!

A walk down the boardwalk

2008-09-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

Yea... this actually happens in PB. Notice where the flag is sticking from!

A blonde moment....or a scam

2008-09-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I took my car into the Nissan dealership only to receive a $800 quote of "must haves". After a quick phone call to someone I know who fixes cars he just laughed and laughed at the stuff I was told to fix...apparently a couple of the items I was told to fix don't even exist. Needless to say we bargained and got the costs down to $200.

Now last Thursday when I left work I noticed "Service Engine Soon" light on. That morning it wasn't on, so immediately I was upset that I needed to take my car back in. So Friday I left work and dad and I walked my car down to a Mom and Pop shop a block away. The guy said he'd plug my car up to some machine and see what was wrong. Not even an hour later I get the diagnosis- your gas cap was left off. Now immediately I did not want to tell my parents what the mechanic told me. How could I leave my gas cap off? Better yet, why did it take that long for the service engine light to come on when I had bought gas 3-4 days earlier? So I walk down to the car shop, still feeling like a complete idiot, only to find out someone syphoned my gas (or that's what they think). Man what a relief.... I'm not a complete idiot!

Girls Weekend

2008-08-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago i prepared myself for two close college friends (+ their other friend) to come visit me for 5 days. Well, Continental airlines decided to cancle their flight from Jackson, MS. After sitting around for hours the girls finally packed things up and went back home and to work the next day, only to delay their trip for a week.

Last Wednesday I prepared myself again. This time they made it. So Wednesday afternoon I picked up Meagan, Mary Margaret, and Nicole. First thing I did was drive them to Coronado only to realize we all were starving and needed to head back to PB. I have to say the trip started off with a bang. We went to dinner and then stopped off at a variety of bars along the way back home. At the second to last stop, we stopped at the Shore Club where we two people in the party fish raced. Yes, fish raced. I have to say- it is much better than the rat races we did in college at Daves. So, while Meagan sat behind her fish blowing bubbles through a straw I noticed a guy walking by with an Ole Miss t-shirt. Of course I immediately shreked and grabbed him. Here a little how the conversation went (and remember I have guy friends and girl friends all looking at me like I'm crazy)
Sarah- You went to Ole Miss? We all went to State
Random- Yea, but I'm from Memphis
Sarah- Me too, actually Collierville
Random- Me too, I lived on Holmes
Sarah- "Shrek" that's right by my house I was in Snowden Farm
Random- OMG your tall Sarah from the middle school bus

Now remember, this is in San Diego- half the country away from Collierville. So i finally realized who I was talking to, Collin who lived next door to the Swanks, Random- but the weekend got more interesting. i met a neighbor who was from Jackson MS... i think MS folks are just flowing in freely these days!

So let's see. The rest of the week/ weekend the girls went to the zoo, balboa park, hillcrest, coronado, pb, and so much more! Friday night they got a glimpse of our downtown life. Even though the Ivy was dead I did realize how many people in the South are still stuck in their old school mindsets. Now before I tell you what happened you need a brief on the club we were at. The Ivy isn't the type of place everyone goes to. You pay a nice hefty price to get in. You stand in lines forever just trying to get in, well we don't since we are pretty and have long legs, and is very latty dah. So with that said, me, the three MS girls, and Natalie all go to the Ivy. By pass the normal line and get escorted to the front of the line and head into the swanky atmosphere. First we headed to the basement to dance. Then we went to the second floor to talk our way up to VIP on the roof overlooking all of downtown. When we got to the second floor one of the MS girls just stopped and looked scared. She requesetd we leave immediately that she didn't like the club anymore. When we asked why, she said because there are Mexicans here.......geeze- she wasn't even blonde. My only response was do you realize where in the country you are... hello less than 10 miles from the border. I'm sure she doesn't get out much in Jackson MS for fear of alot of things. Needless to say we put her in a cab not to long after that remark- and the night rocked on. Please people, get the stereotype mindset over with... I suppose I could just say, well, she was just a typical Ole Miss girl who was just way to far from the South to know what to do (all ole Miss friends reading this please disregard that comment : )

Maintaining a Normal Body Temperature During the Summer Months

2008-07-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

Everytime I call home I'm told immediately of the weather and how miserably hot it has gotten down inthe South. So for your own good, I decided to pass this informative information along to all of you good ole Southerners. Here is a lil insight from Dwight Schrute:

"Attention readers: this web log will be doubling as a public service announcement because people are literally DYING out there.

We are in the thick of summer, people. The sun, while a huge ally of the Earth, also serves as one of our biggest enemies. It provides light that we use to see, but it can also scorch your skin into a red blistering mess. There are so many heat-related illnesses that it’s almost impossible to name them all: heatstroke, heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat edema, heat tetany, heat syncope, heat mumps. The list goes on and on. The sun lurks silently in the sky, waiting to claim its next human victim and it’s up to us to stop it.

In the wintertime, nobody bothers to care about the sun at all. That’s because it’s busy resting. Just like bears, the sun hibernates in the sky during the winter. Sure, it still provides sunshine – but just enough to get us through the day. When the sun wakes up, usually around mid-April, it begins a program of solar destruction that takes so many lives each year that it should be at the top of every Most Wanted list in the world.

I feel that it is my duty to combat the sun’s evil efforts by providing you with this list of helpful sun-fighting tips.

• The sun can only hurt you if you leave your skin exposed. Wearing a neoprene wetsuit will cover up most of your vulnerable skin. You’ll also look like a superhero, so that’s a double bonus.

• Sunscreen is sold by the pro-sun lobby. They want to create a market based on your fear of the sun. While your fear is very real and legitimate, their products are essentially a creamy snake oil. You’re much better off using a solvent made of beet juice reduction and white wine vinegar. It may smell delicious to you, and if you’re ever making salad dressing these are two ingredients you don’t want to leave out, but in reality the combination is like kryptonite to the stupid sun. It sends those dangerous rays right back where they came from and sends a message to that big yolk in the sky. It says “Hey Sun, not on MY watch!” So don’t waste your money on sunscreen, it just gets funneled back to pro-sun activities.

• Wear a floppy hat. They might look goofy, but so will you when your face is the color of my childhood wagon/portable beet showroom.

• Never leave your house without at least a gallon of potable drinking water. Drinking water makes you more resistant to the dangerous intrusion of the sun. The sun’s goal is to actually deprive you of water. If you drink water, you’re replacing the very substance that the sun is trying to steal from you. Plus, our bodies are comprised mainly of water. The sun is made up of zero percent water. So remind me, who invented all of the technology on Earth? Humans or the sun? It was humans. The sun never invented anything. That’s why I’ll not only trust humans over the sun, I’ll do everything I can to set myself apart from the sun. Number one on the list of ways to set yourself apart: drinking water.

• Stay indoors between the hours of 9am and 6pm. This will prevent contact with the sun when it is most vindictive.

I don’t know what the sun has against us. What I do know is that the sun is a killer. People die from sun-related problems every single day during the summer and even though I am only one man, I feel the need to do my part. Don’t let the sun catch you off-guard. Be prepared. One day, we will tame the sun and make it do our bidding. Until then, we must always be vigilant.

In Anti-Solar Solidarity,
Dwight Schrute"

Pointlessness of my nights

2008-07-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

I finally just realized that I need to get rid of my Starz and HBO channels. Tonight, I sat down and found another pointless movies to help me fall asleep- Farce of the Penguins. Some parts were hilarious but other parts I just sat there in disbelief wondering why I still had my tv on watching penguins walk around and talk. So, I thought I'd share parts fo the movie with each of you. (note: Rate R- don't let the kids be near when you hit play)

wow.....

Pictures from the weddings

2008-07-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry there aren't more pics from my trip home - I accidentally deleted ALL of them when I got to the Memphis airport. Here are some friends have sent me and what I was able to pull from one of the photographers websites. Enjoy!

Monster Truck Rally with Wine.... oh my!

2008-07-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

My 4th of July weekend started off with a bang! First, work closed down Thursday after lunch... So, I was able to go home and clean up my house knowing lots of friends would be over for the weekend. Now that thought right there was a dumb idea. If you know people are coming over to your house and it will soon be engrossed with bottles, trash, clothes, and other random crap all over your place then why should you even have to clean up? So after the spring cleaning spree finished I went out for a stroll around PB since the weather was so great. And finally, it happened.....I finally got a feeling of "home" on Thursday- it was just because I bumped into someone I knew walking down the street! I know, only I would get excited; but that's a big deal once you move- the likelihood of seeing friends while you are out and about unexpected. After chit chatting it up for a few minutes and learning my friend was headed to the beach to surf I let the little line slip, "when are you going to teach me to surf" come rolling out of my mouth. So, Andrew took me to the beach with all attempts to make this the day I learned to surf. Now, once I got to the beach it was a completely different story. I gave every excuse in the book just so I wouldn't have to get in the water and try this out: "I have mascara on and it will run!," "My swimsuit isn't really the surf style swimsuit," "the water is tooooooooo cold and I don't have a wetsuit", and low and behold the one that worked, "last time I did a watersport with a board 18 staples went into my head after part of it was shaved, I DON'T WANT TO." So I did not learn to surf.

In recent years PB has always been known in SoCal as a place to be on holidays, so I hear. Beaches were packed so bad that you apparently never saw sand. You just walked from tent to tent, stuck you cup under a keg and mingled with people you would never see again. That is until this year. Yes, old people finally got their way and passed the no drinking on the beach ban. Thus, started this years 4th of July block parties. Not once did I step onto the beach this 4th of July. Instead, a group of friends just walked from house to house to house to house. Which, in the long run is very safe! But the best part of 4th of July was my roof (who would have thought :) I had a spectacular view of 5 different firework shows.

Saturday I woke up feeling like crap, I'm sure it had a little to do with all the partying the day before but it also had alot more to do with the cold I have been harboring over the past 5 days. However, it did not stop me from going out and spending my weekend in the sun. Saturday was Sailing and Tourist day in my book. Rick rented us a 14ft sailing boat and we went out into the harbor and he attempted to teach me how to sail. After an hour of me not understanding I just sat in the bottom and layed out. Afterwards we hopped in the car and headed out to the lighthouse to catch views of the entire downtown and learn more about San Diego's history. (Note: Visitors, another must to see!)

Sunday: As bad as I felt on Sunday you would have thought I would have stayed home; but how can you stay home when it's the last day of the county fair??? Do you remember all of that greasy fried sugary food fairs have? Well it has gotten WORSE! There now is a hamburger with buns that are Krispy Creme Donughts...disgusting! and no, I did not try that. So, this is where it got really interesting. When you think of Cali what all do you think of? Lots of stuff right? Well their fairs have exactly that!! We went to a cheese and wine tasting, pig races, Monster Truck and Transformers Show, Hypnotist,Salsa band, and so much more. It was very tiresome and it did me and my cold in. Sunday night I hit rock bottom and drug this cold into the work week....uhhhh.

The critics choices are in.... that's my opinion if your wondering

2008-06-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

This week I have four opinions to share.
1. ironman- This movie totally is worth seeing. Yes, it does seem kind of PowerRangers at times but all in all I would give it two thumbs up! If you like action movies then you definitely will want to see this one.

2. Sex and the City- Definite two thumbs up. I guess it is time to face the facts- the ladies of STC have grown up. The movie however does not miss a beat on how the tv show depicted their lives at all!

3. Indiana Jones- Two thumbs down. I don't know whether it was my cold that made this movie miserable, which most likely wasn't the case since we watched Ironman first, or the fact Rick fell asleep in it 3 different times. I would say the ending gets better than the beginning but I don't know- we left after the movie kept getting worse and worse.

4. McDonalds Southern Chicken Sandwich- Half a thumb- Come on McDonalds, you will never be Chick Fil A! The sandwich was good but let's face it, the Polynesian Sauce makes the Chick Fil A Sandwich

- yes these are my random thoughts!

Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon and updates

2008-06-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Rick finally moved back to San Diego. However, two short days later he was back on another airplane leaving town. This week he is off to Vegas- the city that is to much fun and should only be visited once a year!! Before he left however he completed the Rock n Roll Marathon with a time of 4 hrs and 21 minutes. When he crossed I was in the secure zone with some of my old work crew and greeted him earlier than he expected. He didn't seem fazed he had just ran 26.8 miles (the course was longer than 26.2). The only thing he was aggravated about was at mile 20 his radio got wet when he splashed himself and quit working. So then he was forced to listen to the bands on the side of the street.

On a side note, I got a new job. I no longer am doing event or meeting planning. Over the past few years I have really grown to want my nights/ weekends like everyone else. Plus the pay hardly ever let you pay your bills. So I am please to announce I am a project coordinator for a company called Bedrock Technologies here in San Diego. I will be responsible for managing various tasks between two vendors, Qualcomm Communications and Hitachi Data Systems. Watch out weekends and holidays, I'm finally free!!

Fun Times at Mississippi State University

2008-05-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

The other day I noticed this video on my good friend Brooke's Facebook page. It reminds me so much of how BIG of dorks we were in college and how often we did stuff like this thinking it was the only fun we could find. Anyhow, it's absolutely pointless but it brought back so many memories from climbing the movie theatre fire escape ladder to the watch the sunset and look over all of Starkville, getting lost in the refuge and showing up late to a date because our Tahoe was stuck in mud up to the middle of the doors (yup we had to climb out of the sunroof), house parties, and the horrible Chinese Food in the Union. Needless to say, I miss all that aimless fun!

If you know Brooke or Cat I know you probably have already seen this and can already picture them sitting outside the CVS/ Walgreens doing this. For those who don't know them, this is my little sister and her roommate, two insane outgoing girls I ran around with during college. They both just finished up their Master Programs at MSU and are headed into the real world this summer. Enjoy!

Unclaimed Baggage

2008-05-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

The other morning I was watching the Today Show and became intrigued by the fact airlines are actually able to sell unclaimed baggage now. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. After so many days if the individual does not show up to get their unwanted garments then it becomes the airlines property. In return the airlines have opted to gain more of our money by selling the baggage. (This is about the point I start stomping around saying why didn't I think of that??? ) My question is when and will the airlines every just happen to "pick" certain bags that they have already looked through that have more value than other. Then somehow, that bag just ends up in a back room red tagged to be sold. Thus, leaving you on your trip without even a spare change of clothes.

Anyhow, think of what all you take on your trips- your favorite outfit, jewelry, shoes, etc. Well, now your loss is everyones gain! I still haven't been able to locate the link for the Today Show spot but here is a website that is claiming they actually sell the lost luggage and soon to come they will place it on ebay. So, to all my family and friends in the South, pack your cars and head to Alabama to hit up the treasures of the sky.

Below is a receipt of a recent visitor to the store:

Unclaimed Baggage Center
Scottsboro, Alabama
256.259.1525

Lost treasures from around the world

-Sale-
Salesman # 37 459830 Date 4-21-07

Men's T-Shirts . 4.00

Ladies shorts 2.00

PANASONIC DMC-FZ1 Digital Camera 150.00

GARMIN STREET PILOT I2 GPS 165.00

Schwinn double jogging stroller
(excellent condition) 40.00

Gap ladies yoga jacket 4.00

Ann Taylor slacks (new) 20.00

Ralph Lauren sweater (new) 25.00

Children's Tommy Hilfiger outfits 2 @ $8.00 each
16.00
Subtotal 426.00
9% Tax 38.34

Total 464.34

http://couponing.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=couponing&cdn=shopping&tm=27&f=00&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.unclaimedbaggage.com/auctions.html

Favorite pictures of the week

2008-05-21T11:27:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted hardly any pics of my nephew in awhile, but (literally :) ) here are two of my favorites this week!

A day in a surfers life

2008-05-19T13:53:00.001-07:00

Today, I am writing you from the beach. How I am picking up a wireless signal I have no idea but hey I am. As I sit amongst the sand and seaweed I have the most awesome view ever- that of the jobless surfers. I guess instead of Tourmaline Beach they should rename this "Jobless Beach." Ever since I opted to "take time for myself" I have found that everyday this beach is swarmed with numerous of surfers who just sit and wait for the perfect wave. Few come and go, while others battle it out. They paddle out to sea and just sit. Some are lucky to catch the ride of their life the first time around and "hang ten" as Natalie would say, others just wait and wait taking a few here and there convinced the perfect waive will come their way soon. No matter how long I sit here, the surfers and I just relax and take in what nature is giving us on the West Coast never worrying about what's next.

It's quit interesting if you have time to just relax and wait to see who will be lucky. In fact, it's alot like life and work. Many of us jump into the ocean head first and take that perfect wave aka job that they ride out the first time around. Others just get smacked around from the crummy waves and never get to tell their story. While finally, you have those individuals who just take a crummy one here and there to learn the pattern and then they endure out the waiting until that perfect set comes in.

So, now I know many of you are thinking, oh great, you have no job and you are on the internet playing. Not entirely. I'm just opting to look and research while watching the surfers- who seem to never work. Each wait and wait for their perfect set to arrive. Likewise, I'm waiting on my perfect set to arrive and ride all of the crummy waves from my past.

DC Part Deux

2008-05-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I headed back to DC this past week for Rick's cousins wedding. On this trip got to meet alot of Rick's extended family as well as friends from college. While I was there it rained the entire time!!! But hey it made my trip. I just opened all the windows in his apartment and relaxed. However, that will be my last trip to DC while he lives there. Here are just a few pics to enjoy.

Washington DC Part One

2008-05-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

So, you have one guess as to where I am at the moment I'm writing this blog?? ...... At an airport of course. Currently, I'm stationed on an uncomfortable bench waiting for our third airplane. Yes, that right. My jinx of bad luck with airplanes is still following me around. To help pass by time I will update my blog, which I relentlessly have failed to do in the past months on everything that has taken place in Sarahland.

Four weekends ago I was preparing myself for a relaxing weekend. I had a girls night on the town and spent most of my time picking out outfits for the next weeks travel. This schedule for this week had RnR up in Washington DC with Rick. I was able to pull off the Monday-Friday visit due to a convention I had to attend on Thursday. So, I packed up and headed to the other coast. After I arrived in DC at Rick's apartment I was given a two hour window to nap (I took the redeye in) and then head into the city to visit a few museums with Rick and four of his younger sisters and brother. Let's just say it was quit an experience. First, I never made it to taking a nap because I kept getting phone calls from everyone. Then I was given directions that are "easy" for anyone to figure out. I guess with no sleep and absolutely delirious I was the only person who couldn't figure the directions out- oh not to mention, I still hadn't eaten since lunch on Monday afternoon. So, I head down the street to where I think the Metro is. As I talk to Brooke on the phone and get all the updates on her upcoming wedding and fill her in on my life I realize at some point or another I have completely made a wrong turn. Never fret, I'm not scared to ask for directions. Wrong idea in DC- the people won't leave you alone!

Finally, I make it to the metro buy my ticket and hop on a train. Now the last time I took a Metro/ Train was when I was in NYC my senior year of college. The sad part is Brennan and I thought we were taking the right train but we ended up in Harlem. So with Harlem in the back of my mind I hopped on what I was praying would take me somewhere near to a museum. Thankfully, DC is full of museums so any stop will work!

By the time I get off the Metro I think Rick and his sisters and brother had been waiting on me for thirty minutes. Once I arrive we head to the Air and Space Museum, which I have to say, even 9 years after my last visit to it,it is still intriguing. Then we bounced over to the Natural History Museum. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend very long at this museum.

Wednesday morning came sooner than I would have thought. Today was full of site seeing. Rick, his colleague, and I started our morning by listening to Senator Feinstein of CA speak. It was very interesting being the only Republican in a room full of Democrats. At one point I wanted to stand up and scream you are so wrong!!! But seeing as how I was outnumbered and still tired from the redeye the day before I decided to sip my coffee and shut up. Following her speech we took a tour of the Senate which was led by an intern from CA was wants to go into politics. I must say, if this girl wants to go into politics she has seriously got to change how she speaks. Every other words was "like" "oh mygah" .... I mean seriously my friends friend works out in the same gym as Obama. How cool is that?" This was about the time I wanted to start beating my head against the wall and scream "IDIOT- learn to speak professionally!!"

After the Senate tour Rick and his colleague headed to work and I was off to visit more museums. First I headed to the Contemporary Art Museum. It was not as impressive as I would have thought. Next, I went to another Art Museum right on the Mall which was more than I expected. After that I found a spot on the Mall park bench and took a ten minute breather to take in the sights of everything around me and all the screaming kids who amazingly weren't at school. AFter this I went to my favorite museum of this trip, the Newseum. I highly recommend if you are in DC to take 2-3 hours to go visit this spot. It is a collection of different media outlets. For once in my life I could sit back in a museum and say I actually remembered when these events happened. Even more interesting the pictures and film footage and newspaper articles captured moments in our history that engulf you in the moment. So, I opted to spend most of my time here.

Next day I worked. It sucked. Driving in DC is something I NEVER want to do again. However, Thursday night was great! Rick took me to a fabulous dinner at Ruth Chris in Baltimore where his friend Ivon joined us. If you are in Baltimore I definitely suggest you go here. As always the food was phenomenal but the building and dark wood was incredible inside the restaurant. After stuffing myself silly, which I was glad my dress was baggy and had stretching room, we headed next door to a bar.

Before I knew it Friday had already jumped upon me and it was time to leave. Don't fret my travels and time with Rick were finished. Friday morning we headed off to San Francisco bright and early to meet up with my family for the Mississippi Road Builders Association. Arriving at the same time as my parents, Rick and I hopped in a cab and headed into the city. I was so glad to get back to one of my favorite cities in the country! I absolutely love San Francisco and if I opt to move again this definitely is a spot on the top of my list!!

After dropping off our bags in our rooms Rick, Mom and Dad Hill, and myself headed out for a quick bite to eat and then site seeing. I officially rode my first authentic trolley; no I don't consider the Memphis trolley authentic. We went down to Fishermans Wharf and walked around taking in the different sites of Alcatraz in the distance and all the boats in the boat yard. next stop, on a tour boat that took us underneath the golden gate bridge and around alcatraz for an upclose view. Then the real fun began. We took a side street thinking we would find the trolley at some point or at least a cab. Oh yea, I forgot to mention 3 out of 4 of us did not have comfortable shoes on. So we began our treacherous hike up and down the San Francisco hills. Now prior in the day my mom has pointed out Coit Tower to us and then the boat captain did so as well. So as we began walking past where it was Rick suggested we go up there. After a delayed debate we headed up the straight inclined hill that needed railing to keep us from falling to the Coit Tower. I literally just wanted water and a foot massage after five minutes of our hike.

After the Tower we then proceeded to look for cab but ended up walking the five miles back to the hotel where we didn't stop and take much of a breather- we then headed to dinner. Now, it's just a pitty when you are so tired you can't even enjoy a good dinner. I think our entire table sat at dinner that night trying to hold conversations but instead we just sat there with glazed over eyes.

Saturday came before I even realized it. Rick hopped up that morning and went for a 14 mile run around the city. He said he ran to the baseball stadium around the wharf and all the way over to the golden gate bridge...... I personally would have cabbed it but all in all I bet he got to see the best parts of the city. While he was on his run me and the Hill parents walked down to the Fresh Market. Now if any of you are planning a trip to SF I highly suggest while you are there on Saturday to walk down to the piers next to the financial district and check out the Farmers Market. It is amazing!! Be sure to take you appetite because of all the fresh cheeses, breads, and fruits you will be test trying!

Even though much much much more happened in SF I'm opting to stop here. SF is such an amazing city that I can't wait to visit again soon. Maybe next time I go we will take the train from SF all the way up the coast. But if you beat me there be sure to set aside time to wander through Sausalito...... you won't be disappointed.

More random travel

2008-04-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

So right before Rick moved we went up to Big Bear to go snowskiing.....twice. The first time we took to long getting up there so we just ventured around Lake arrowhead because the mountain ski area was closing. The second time, well, after being turned down the mountain for not having snow chains we finally made it to the slopes. Let me just say, snowboarding is painful!!! I think it's safe to say though, everyone had fun, bruises, yelling, and all. It was however, very tiresome! I couldn't even keep my eyes open for the 2 hour drive home.

Other than that not much has been going on in my life. I work, eat, sleep and play. I went up to Santa Monica Last weekend and visited Rachel McDonald. It was so great going out with a good ole Southern girl and laughing about so much. I can't wait until she gets a free moment and can come to San Diego!!

Where to even begin

2008-04-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can from my last post I have been gone for awhile. So far back that I don't even know where to begin on the updates? First, let's start with the big 25! This year I opted to stay in town for my 25th birthday. Heather and Lauren both flew in to help out with the celebrations and to meet my friends out here. The weekend started off with me taking off from work for the afternoon and picking up the sisters at the airport. We then proceeded to squeeze all of their luggage into my studio and head to the beach for an afternoon cocktail. And where did I take them? To the rooftop of the firehouse of course! So as we sat there doing the quick updates on everyone they met they got to see their first sunset of the weekend on the roof.

Next, we headed down to Old Town. Now, old town is a part of San Diego that feeds off of tourist and is known for having the best and most authenic mexican food. Instead of getting Mexican food we went for my favorite Sushi bar, Harney Sushi, named after the street it is on. Now just remember, this sushi bar is VERY popular. So we get there and put our names on the list and head next door to a wine bar for a few drinks before our 45 minute table wait. Soon after arriving to the wine bar Rick and Jenny met up with us for dinner. After our 45 minute wait we headed back to Harney Sushi and waited another 2 hours and 15 minutes ---hey it's well worth it! Soon Heather and Lauren got to get a little taste and they both agreed it was great sushi! Even better, in their hazy state they kept laughing at one of the roll's name: Mi So Harney.

Saturday arrived with a few headaches but we hopped on the beach cruisers and the girls really got to see the whole Pacific Beach and Bay area with an afternoon ride. Note to self, don't ride a bike with a broken seat or handle bars that pull out. My bike, that my friend Conrad so graciously allowed us to borrow, had a seat that continuously kept falling off. It was quit humurous!

Off to downtown! Saturday night I opted to have dinner iwth the sisters only. After pumping them up about my favorite restaurant in Little Italy, the moment finally arrived. AFter a bottle of wine, appetizers, and more pasta that could fill you, we sucked in our stomachs and met up with my friends for the bday bash.

Sunday, Lauren was off in the early morning back to Nashville, however, Heather and I got to adventure a little bit more. After a Rick surprised me with a birthday cake and the traditional song, the three of us drove to the bay where we spent our afternoon on Rick's friends boat. Lauren, Denver, Mom, and Dad all got the text messages with HEather and I amonst the ocean- the only thing we stated was, doesn't Mexico look great! Needless to say we got a few phone calls asking why we were in Mexico (that was the one weekend rule was we couldn't go to Tijuana!)

I think it's safe to say Heather and Lauren approved of all of my friends and boyfriend for the birthday weekend- which just so happens to be a first!

A shout out from Vegas

2008-01-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

Do you ever associate your life with a certain song? Since November my life theme song has been Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." Or whoever sings that song. This time I sit here blogging to you from Sin City, Vegas. With President Bush across the street at the Venetian we have been limited to getting our attendees to the airport. Better yet, President Bush has been so kind to help assist the horrible airlines in delaying flights- it's not like they need any additional assistance with that! Thanks Bush, just making my life easier and more stressful!

So, back to life...... Vegas- I think we all remember my first trip to Vegas almost exactly a year ago for my 24 birthday party. If you don't remember then pull up the old archives from a year ago on my blog site (located in the bottom right side of the page.)Anyhow, the trip started out stressful. Let me jump back. Saturday night I played DD for my friends since I knew I would be up early the next day leaving town. After having a stressful evening of drunks downtown I finally made it home and to bed at 3 am. As the alarm rang at 7 am I thought about calling all the sweet friends who refused to the leave the bars at a sensible time and wake them up... but I didn't. And another reminder for all of y'all. If you call me early or late and wake me up, then you get the same treatment back. Do unto others as they do to you- right? : ) Soooooo... I left town aggravated with that issue and others and drove to Vegas.

This week I was in Vegas for our client Acclarent. This time it was for their International Sales Meeting I have been planning. Once again, all of the attendees have been sweethearts. Secondly, I have gained 15 lbs. Seriously!! I think the food in this town is the best reason to come. I have had Italian, Mexican, Sushi, Japanese, Chinese, Carnege Deli (which included the entire pig on my sandwich)lots and lots of sweets, and every other type of food under the face of the planet. Basically I have stuffed my face for an entire week. It now looks like I will be doing the Ramen Noodle diet until my birthday!!!

Speaking of birthday, it's right around the corner. I now am about to be a quarter of a century old!!!! I suppose one of these days I should act like it. Right now I am working off of no sleep. Literally. My intern and I decided to go out for a "few drinks" last night which turned walking in our sleeping room as the front desk was giving us our wake up call. Hey, you live once!! So, as I sit here sitting at our registration desk yelling at rude old men to shut the hell up and sipping on my 8th cup of coffee, I am contemplating this growing up thing. It's time for my butt to settle down.....haha, I believed that for about 10 seconds.

Well, I'm off to reconciling this budget and the meeting from hell we did in Phoenix two weeks ago. Until next time......

More Random Fun

2008-01-19T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it's half a month into 2008 and I have not sat down but one day since the New Year rolled in. As I sit in the Phoenix airport (the story of my life) I thought I'd update all y'all with the insane life of Baby Hill.

As most of you already know I didn't get to make it back to the home of the blues and visit all my friends for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Thanksgiving was spent with friends in San Diego- in a unique new tradition that many frown upon and Christmas was spent sipping lots of tequila on the beaches of Cozumel. The trip started with a hectic rush to the airport as I sat on the interstate not moving for one hour. Luckily as I came running into the airport I had about 5 minutes to throw my bags on the conveyer belt and sprint through security (thank goodness for small airports!)Then came the fun, sitting in LAX. I am finally convinced that LAX is by far the most miserable airport full of rude people who hate their job. Anywho, that didn't detour my trip one bit. That morning I arrived in Cozumel and luckily got to bypass about 100 people standing in customs since I saw Lauren stick her skinny arm up and the air and motion me to cut in line... hey after being stuck in an airport all night, cutting in line and being yelled at in a language I hardly understand was the least of my concerns.

The trip was phenonmenal!! Jason, Barrie, and Joe showed us all around the island and took us to great restaurants. We rented two little villas on the North Side of the island and walked literally 50 ft to the ocean. Each night consisted of drunk card games and Heather or Lauren getting mad at someone for a smart ass remark.... Note: our family is full of CHEATERS, except me of course!! But all in all it was great. Lauren even taught us a new game of Left, Right, Center, which I am bound and determined to teach everyone next weekend when we go out. Unfortunately, there were no games of spoons. I think we were scared of hurting each other like during the last spoons game of pickwick.

After the fabulous week in Cozumel I headed straight back to San Diego, picked up Ginny from the airport, and prepped to bring in 2008 in style, disco ball style that is. You see, my fabulous fabulous fabulous New Years dress deemed me the nickname "Disco Ball" for the evening. With my gold stilettos and silver sequin dress I headed out with the girls to the Torrey Pines Golf Course for a great night brining in 2008. With 8 different rooms of music, free alcohol all night, and 6000 people- I partied like a rockstar with all my new found friends in San Diego...... Of course there has to be drama and it came the first of the evening when I lost my debit card. I guess there's a first for everything which just had to come right at the first of the year. I think besides that, being sprayed in the face with champagne was the only other bad thing of the night.... I have to say 2008 rocks so far.

Right after NY08 it went back into work mode. With a little Rock Band (play station 3 mom and dad) here and there, I actually have been productive over the past few weeks. I now am sitting in the airport awaiting a delayed flight back home. For the past week we have been at the Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa for a Pharmaceutical National Sales Meeting. After a rocky start, it's safe to say it ended well. WE just heard as we departed we will be able to plan the 2009 NSM, which I'm so excited about!! The group was so fun and friendly, unlike many clients I have worked with in the past. Next on the travel plans- Vegas, birthday, possibly a quick snowboarding trip, South Beach, and DC...... maybe I'll see my apartment here soon.

OMG, I almost forgot the best thing----- Heather is headed out here for the big 25.. Wahoo, she's totally going to fall in love with San Diego.

I'm a princess

2007-12-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

.... did we ever doubt this? However, as much as my industry indulges on treating our clients and attendees like VIPs, I never see that treatment. Well, I finally did this past week. I had a "networking" event to attend Thursday afternoon for lunch. My boss decided it was best to spend the night at the resort it was being held on so we wouldn't have to worry about driving that morning in traffic. Here's the kicker, I didn't have to be there until 11 AM for the silent auctions.

With no objections, I went ahead and signed up for the meeting along with 700 other attendees. It was for the Site SoCal Holiday Party. It consisted of meeting planners, travel coordinators, and hotel representatives from all around SoCal and NorCal. Now, to the good stuff. I ended up working late on Wednesday evening and arrived to the resort after dark. With the uplighting and palm trees I could tell I was pulling into a palace. I swear the Grand Del Mar Resort is a hidden treasure!! So I arrive, valet my car, and head straight to the front desk. By this point all I wanted to do was take my heels off and enjoy a glass of wine with my colleagues at the very swanky bar. So, I check in, get escorted to my room, which has already been turned down and prepared for me to arrive. The TV was playing soft jazz music, one of the many lamps was turned on and the front desk attendant who walked me down started to tell me about my room. I was in such awe that I didn't hear one word. First, the room was larger than my entire studio. The view of the golf course from my little porch was amazing. Second, the bathtub could have fit 4 people in it. Let's not mention the enormous shower. I have to say I was disgusted once I made it to the back of the bathroom, this was after I passed the second plasma tv in my bathroom- the closet was next, as I walked in I wondered, how much this room cost. I could have slept in my closet!! So the attendant went ahead and departed leaving me in my shock. So I headed back to the bedroom passing my bar. Still in shock I just dove onto the bed and decided I wasn't heading down to the bar. I grabbed my bottle of wine, tasty lil treats, and soaked it all in in my enormous bath tub as I soaked in a great salt bath-- yup I had all the types of bath oils, salts, and bubble baths I wanted in my amenities.... This is what I'm talking about when I say my clients get treated well. The amenities the "planner" sent to my room consisted of a great bottle of wine, lots of lil treats to snack on, bath oils, salts, and bubble bath from the spa downstairs, and my favorite flowers- tulips and orchids!! I think they just got lucky on the flower one.

Don't think the princess 2 day extraganza is over yet! If you know me, you know I don't like to eat breakfast... Well, today was different. Since I was in this luxurious resort I had to treat myself to breakfast. I will say the eggs with scallions and some type of meat in them were damn good. Still lounging around in my robe I finally got dressed ( yes, I totally slept in and lived it up on a work day.) Next, was the meeting I was there for. I really wasn't sure what to expect but soon found out. There were roughly 150 items to bid on for a silent auction. Ranging from 7 Jeans for Mankind starting at $20 to trips all around the world. Now if I hadn't received my Christmas bonus the night before I might have been hesitant to even think about bidding- but then I remembered I wasn't taking a trip for my 25 bday anymore and decided to test my hand in luck. The decision was, do I bid on the 6 day trip to Bora Bora, Italy, Lisbon, the Rainforest, Whistler, China, or one of the other 100 destination packages?? So I made the first lap around the room meeting and mingling and decided to bid on something none of the "older" crowd would opt for. The 4 day vacation split at 2 different resorts with all meals and touristy packages and spa packages in the rainforest. Seriously people, you know I would do this in a heartbeat- especially since we were planning to go the rainforest in Costa Rica this year for the bday. So, I waited and waited and NO ONE bid on this the entire hour it was out. So I placed my starting bid at $275. Then some sneak old lady in an outfit that totally did not match or flatter her swooped in. Thinking I was sneaky, I waiting 1 minute before the sheets were pulled and out bid here. Excited with my steal I started to envision my vacation in the rainforest! Word to the wise folks, do smile until you know you have it. The sneaky old bat stole it from me outbidding me- you can only imagine how upset I was. I guess old people do know a think or two still. But what a steal -a vacation valued at close to $3000 I almost had for $300!!

So, then we headed into the luncheon where I received more gifts of Godiva Chocolates, misc goodies, and more bottles of wine. I enjoyed my delicious lunch which only consisted of Steak, Salmon, and Seared Ahi Tuna... Then I rolled my stuffed self back to the office and tried to work.

As long as this story is I finally found out how much my hotel room valued at for one night- $800. I highly suggest if you have the money to drop to stay here and treat yourself. Check it out at http://www.thegranddelmar.com/?gclid=COrcmc-Vq5ACFSQvQQodmF6ujA . I know i definitely want to go back- only it's free though! Definitely one of my favorite places out of the world now.

MIA

2007-12-06T17:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I have been MIA on my blog here lately- here's the sad part, it has only taken me three weeks to write this one entry. Yes, I started this three weeks ago. Let's just say work has definitely picked up! Over the past two weeks we have had three programs, 1 in SD, 1 in LA, and 1 in San Jose (which is currently where I'm typing from.) The funny thing is all three clients are completely different, from having all types of wants and needs to being laid back to the governement..... can you guess which one I had the least stress with.

So, let's see where the update should begin..... Well, I have been really single and going on lots of dates and getting good food here lately. Lots of tall boys too- I have been wearing my tallest heels when I go out with these guys, it's fabulous to feel like every other girl finally. Next, I have joined a girls group which meets every Tuesday night. One girl is responsible for cooking, one brings a movie, and the other brings the wine. If you know of any "cool and sane" girls in SD who you think should join definitely let me know! Work, well work has been busy and stressful over the past week. I suppose once I adjust to the way things are done in this office it will get better, until then-..... There have been plenty of nights out with all of the friends. Oh, speaking of friends, my college friend Jennifer Shook came out to stay with me one weekend. It actually was a GREAT weekend. She flew in Friday from NYC and we had a casual night at my house with a bottle of wine just gossiping about life. Saturday we started off with breakfast on the beach at my favorite place, Firehouse and then hit up the boardwalk home. Next we hopped in the car and headed to Temecula 45 minutes away for wine tasting. Since this was my first time to go on a wine tasting tour I had no idea what to expect. The last time I did a wine tasting was when I was 15 in France..... needless to say we didn't pound the bottles of wine the weekend Jennifer was here like we did in France. once we arrived in Temecula we stated off at this one Winery and tasted probably 7 glasses. There were lots I liked and probably only one I didn't like. Next we decided to stop off and get a late lunch at one of the cafes at the winerys. Well, late lunch turned into appetizers followed by the next winery. And yes, at this point I didn't drink anything else.

After the winery we hoped in the car and headed for SD to get ready for Natalie's birthday dinner with her family. So after we got dressed we immediately headed downtown and had a great Mediterranean dinner with Natalie, her boyfriend Al, her dad, stepmom, uncle, two best friends from high school, Jennifer, Jenny, and me. Later one of Al's roommates got us into Ivy this really exclusive hot spot in SD, actually the new hot spot in Southern LA. After exploring the first two floors of the club, dancing, and having a good time we met some people who got us into the VIP level on the roof. This was such a sweet spot over looking the entire city. So we proceeded to lounge in the cabanas and be spoiled since we NOW had an undending supply of table service..... I love nights when me and my friends look pretty!

Then I had another two visitors this past weekend..... Mom and Dad! Yup, they flew in for a quick weekend after their trip in San Francisco. I have to say, everytime they are here SD has the oddest weather. It doesn't live up to the best weather ever. When I moved here they were have a heat wave- all you Southerners will love this, the heat wave was 92 degrees farenheit! Ha, without humidity- some heat wave. Then when mom came out here last month we were having fires. Then there was this weekend, the monsoon rains. I'm really surprised we didn't have any landslides. I started off the weekend by taking them to one of my favorite restaurants in Little Italy where we got delicious delicous delicious food!! And yes, the left overs didn't make it for a day. Then on Saturday we headed out to the Wild Animal Park. I highly suggest you go see this if you are ever here. But if you opt to go in the winter time like us, take blankets!!! It was really interesting and I"m glad I finally got to see it. Next, we were off to have dinner with my two best friends. I think mom and dad were finally glad to put names to faces finally since all my stories include Jenny and Natalie. Then we were off to the airport early Sunday morning. Below is a pic of mom and I with the Macaw. Enjoy!

** Oh yea, I'll have to get a picture of me with the new hair.... I'm back to having dark dark hair!

Pics of the SD Fire

2007-11-04T16:04:00.001-08:00

So I couldn't get to close but here are two photos. Notice the smoke.

Trick or Treat

2007-11-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

Bzzzz I'm a bumble bee! This year Halloween surpassed all others! Friday night we had a house party that had an incredible amount of people..... wow i've met alot of folks so far! Plus some other random pics from this weekend.

Girls Weekend

2007-11-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, sorry, I know this is long overdue but with the fires out here last week I never had a chance to upload my pics. So, mom, Aunt Betty, Aunt Sandy, and Aunt B all came out to see me. Trust me when I say they brought their party shoes and lived it up. Friday afternoon they flew in before I was off work and walked up and down the boardwalk and probably a mile and half down to my apartment.By the time I finally was able to get them on the phone on my way home from work they had already wandered down to Raphael's- this really cute, good , and inexpensive restaurant a block from my house. However, before they went they did not know it was a brown bag kinda restaurant. Needless to say I rescued the moment when I arrived by pulling a bottlel of wine out of my purse..... to bad none of us could open it because we weren't strong enough! After dinner mom, Aunt B, and Aunt Betty all partook in what is now a tradition of sitting on the roof Friday nights. You see, we had probably 3 hours to kill before Aunt Sandy's plane arrive. So, we popped open another bottle of wine and took in the sites. Well, at least we took in the sites for 2.5 hours before my landlord came to the roof and kicked us off for being to noisy....... yes we got kicked off. I'm still in shock!! But it was for a good laugh.

The next day we started off really early with the farmers market. Then we were off to do some site seeing. First, we hopped aboard a boat and took a tour throughout the bay learning about different sites and areas. Then we walked down to the seaport village and had lunch, did a little shopping, and wandered some more. After this we headed over to Coronado Island and looked at the famous hotel over there and walked along the beach. Then I took everyone back to the hotel to clean up for dinner and do a little more shopping (hey it was Macy's one day sale I definitely had to hit that up!!) From the beginning of the trip Aunt Sandy and Aunt B were looking for good margaritas and trust me I think we found a pretty damn good one that night. After we left the mall we stopped in at this cute and authenic looking mexican restaurant. I know I myself can't wait to go back there with some friends!!

Sunday was a busy busy day. First we started off with a massive breakfast at the Firehouse. Trust me, if you ever come out here be sure to share breakfast here. But I think it is safe to say we all LOVED our food. Then I took the girls down Garnet Street for some more shopping. We stopped off in this one store that has close to 15 seperate shops in it. All the locals rent a spot inside the store and each bring in their own items to sell. This always is fun to wander around in. I think the girls enjoyed going in here. Then we were off to the zoo. The San Diego Zoo is massive!! To save time and try to see as much possible we took a bus around the zoo then walked to the gorilla section. I don't even think we saw 1/3 this. I do want to go back and ride the gondola. Yes, how many zoo's do you know that have gondola's? Then we were off for a quick shower and RnR before dinner. Tonight we ate at this really good seafood restraunt on the boardwalk in PB and shared in a dessert for mom's birthday. I think I ate better this entire weekend than normally!! And yes, I got plent of leftovers to enjoy for the next week.

All in all I think it is safe to say the girls all enjoyed seeing San Diego. They definitely will have to come back so we can go tour the vineyards and get massages but we did see so much while they were here. I was glad to have company and visit with everyone during their stay. I will leave the rest of the story telling about their San Diego trip to each one of them!

I'm still alive

2007-10-24T11:25:00.001-07:00

Don't freak out- I'm still alive!! The fires have not touched PB at all. Thank you everyone for constantly calling, checking, texting, and emailing me over the past few days.

Sunday:
Sunday was a day unlike any other because mom and the Aunts were in town (I promise I will update the blog with pics and stories soon.) So we started off going to the Firehouse Restaurant, which I completely find ironic now,for breakfast. After stuffing ourselves with more food than any of us could eat we headed to shop a little bit on Garnet Street. A brief history on the Firehouse- it's a GREAT bar that overlooks the ocean but is located next to the firehouse. A few years ago the bar actually burned down. After shopping we then headed to the zoo. At some point in the afternoon mom made a comment about the sky and how it looked hazy.... my response: oh it's just smog. Good one Sarah, San Diego doesn't have smog! So needless to say we were clueless about the fires until later that night. In between dinner and the being at the zoo I talked to a friend and he notified me there were fires in the area. Still unconcerned I didn't really think about these.

Monday:
Needless to say everyone knows all about the fire I didn't really care to learn about. So, Monday rolls around. At that point the Today Show was talking about them, national news, and every radio station/ tv station alive was talking about the Souther California Fires. I still didn't take anytime to learn about them. I got up and went to work like usual- minus ALL of the traffic and actually made it to the office in 15 minutes. By that point I knew something was wrong. So I clicked on the radio and found out the fires were surrounding our office- not literally but almost. So we all sat around the office talking until 4 pm when we had a voluntary evacuation of our offices and surrounding areas. By this point two people in our office had evacuated their homes as well. We are still waiting to hear from one girl whether or not her house survived the fires.

It still is and was very ashy in the air. Everytime you walk outside you can feel the smoke you enhale and defiitely smell it. I believe it was Monday Denver was making fun of me. I sent out an email to the fam and said I just walked outside in my business suit and got ash all over it. So the question now is- if you have a black business suit on and you get black ash on it does it matter??

By Monday night my entire apartment smelled of the smoke- not to bad though. And then the biggest realization hit me, I haven't turned in my new updated insurance information, which includes my renters insurance. "Oh Shit" kept being repeated every 5 seconds. About this time was when all the phone calls started to come in from everyone. My friends back in Rancho Cucamonga called and offered me a place to stay at their condo if I needed to be evacuated. So, I formed a plan in my mind- if I have to evac tonight then I'm headed to Rancho to stay with Ryan and Cain. Great, i'm preplanning and prepared right? No. Completely wrong. You see this freakin Fire is only 110 feet high in some spots, meaning, it jumped and blocked 2 interstates. The two interstates that take you North. I -5 a 8-10 lane interstate and 1-15, a 12-16 lane interstate. So then the phrase of F*#k what the hell am I supposed to do now? Kept creaping through my mind. Then I talked to some other friends who live in PB and we all decided we would go to Coronado Island and hope to be safe there. Which is South- but at the time wasn't near any of the other fires. So needless to say, I slept like a baby Monday night. Don't worry- everyone is supposed to call everyone in our area if we get evac notice.

Tuesday:
It still smells. Not as much ash is flying in the air. Went to work again. Not much happened today- everything kept burning. Did go to a cocktail party for work though- that's always fun. After the party I went and met friends at a bar for a drink... like college when we had hurricane parties and tornado parties we were having fire parties here. Kinda wrong in a sense now that I think about it.

Wednesday:
So did I mention Monday night I scratched my eye? It was itching from the smoke and ash in the air and I now have this scratch with a bloody looking spot on my eye. Freakin great. Halloween is this weekend- that means I will have a bloody lookign eye (it's not that bad) for pictures. I guess I should adjust my costume to fit it.

It sounds like the fires are starting to be contained. People are going back into their homes and getting on with life... sorta. I found out last night that the area I used to live in is on fire too. All I was told was 3 of the people I worked with were evacuated from their homes. Hopefully they didn't burn.

So, as you see, it's just another day in the life of Sarah Hill...... there's always excitement around me!

Oh yea, I hope to have pictures up here either late tonight or tomorrow night. I think me and some friends are going to try to hike up Mt. Soledad past the landslide to view the fires. Don't worry it's safe. It actually will give us a look of everything burnign from north to west to south. Should be interesting.

And I keep on trucking!

2007-10-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

If you have ever decided that you want a new job and love to go, go, go, go and go a little more then go into event planning! This is what my life has been like for the past few weeks. Not bad though! It's been no stress just trying to time manage my life. The best part are the after work parties however. I remember living in Memphis and always going to free parties, social gathers, getting free goodies, etc. And now, it is starting up out here. Thursday I had my first cocktail party. It was the opening of a new spa out here. So we dabbled in the parafin treatments, got massages, and then enjoyed AWESOME food made right in front of our eyes. The kind of food you only see made on the food network.

Afterwards, me and some co-workers went up to Bub's bar on Garnet (Garnet is the Beale Street of PB.) Where I proceeded to call everyone I know down here, and yes, that is alot of people. So instead of relaxing I ended up running around the bar talking to everyone and their brother.... sounds like my life in Memphis. But it was great to finally feel like I had a network of friends. Oh and not to mention the Asst. Director of the Spa, Laura and I decided we should be friends and go out together.

So needless to say Thursday night ended late and Friday morning came to early. However, I still managed to interview 5 people on no sleep. Saturday however was a productive day. I finally found a sephora shop. If you have never shopped here I highly suggest ladies to go here to get your makeup and boys for your cologn.

Saturday afternoon followed by LOTS of football and meeting lots of new people. I went downtown San Diego with my friend John where we met up with probably 20 of his friends. We continued to cheer on the football and baseball games along with playing a few darts here and there. Not to mention, it was Italian Fest (we were in Little Italy.) The locals were drawing artwork on the sidewalks that put plenty of professionals to shame. Then we intermingled between the food booths. Not a bad afternoon that ended at 7 pm. Then we opted to stay out, eat a lil grub, and head back into the Gaslamp District and go dancing. Now, I have to say, I was called a flake this past Monday by someone else who lives down here because I opted to stay downtown where I was instead of going to Hillcrest to wander around art galleries. Note to self everyone, a 3- 4 cancellation policy isn't accepted by everyone. At first I was upset by the rude email I got.... not to mention all the other drama I was dealing with.... consoling people all weekend... and then this email after a crappy day of work. You know what, I don't regret anything- I gave ample warning and I offered for that friend to come join the 30 some odd people I was out with that evening- he opted not to. Lesson- you can only watch out for number one.... ok, bad lesson.

So, saturday night we ended up dancing the night away and heading back to a friends apartment downtown by 1:30 am. Then sunday arrived....... ok, people out here are so passionate about their football!! I was up and at em by 11:30 AM cheering on some yankee football teams...... yes, I hang out with lots of yankees out here. Then Sunday night ended with a cookout that I cooked but didn't even eat......

...... I'm exhausted, it's Wednesday, and I haven't caught up on my rest! But great news is Mom, Aunt B, Aunt Betty, and Aunt Sandy get here on Friday!

Just another night out on the town!

2007-10-08T20:40:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I can't get my pics to upload. So here ya go!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2090836&l=ecfc7&id=26501530

Just another night out on the town

2007-10-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Just another bumming around weekend

2007-09-30T19:19:00.001-07:00

Once again, I will reiterate that I LOVE my life! I don't think I have quit smiling since I got to San Diego, and this weekend was just another example of a great time! Why? It's because we did absolutely nothing that cost money- yet had more fun than if we had spent money. It all started off on Friday night when we (Jenny and I) were supposed to go out for happy hour with some guys we met the weekend before. However, since nobody was picking up there phones when I wanted them to, I decided to change happy hour from the local pub across the street to my roof. Yes, my roof became the official new Friday happy hour joint for several people this week. It was so much fun we decided to hang out there until 3 am staring a the beach, laughing, meeting my neighbors, and singing to whatever was on the stereo system on the roof. I can't wait to do it all over again! Although, hopefully next time it will be warmer. You see, a front came through that day and the marine layer hung around all day..... so my ski jackets and blankets were broken out to keep everyone warm. Not that I'm complaining a 60 degree night is bad, but when there is a whipping wind off the ocean it feels like it's 40.

Saturday: Saturday started off with breakfast in La Jolla with John (another new friend.) Ok, if anyone ever tells you Potatoe Cakes with apple sauce and cream cheese is good- don't listen!!! That is the nastiest crap I have ever eaten! The Potatoe cakes were fabtabulous though. After breakfast we ventured up to Mount Soledad- I highly recommend you check out this view if you have never seen it! You can see up and down the entire coast line, all of Coronado Island and beyond. After breakfast I headed out with Natalie and Jenny to the Adams Street Festival. This was so much fun! There were 6 different stages, an assortment of vendors selling stuff, food of all types galore (thai, chinese, Jamaican BBQ, corn dogs, kettle corn, and everything in between. ) So we definitely pigged out for both Saturday and Sunday on different food. But in the meantime we also caught lots of good acts.

I also have decided I'm going to start a page of : what were they thinking? on here. This weekend I have seen more people dressed ridiculous!! I even saw a man who looked like Jesus dancing next to me, an 70 year old grandma dressed up as a hooker, and much much more. So feel free to send me a picture if you see someone who should go on the :what are they thinking page!

(sorry pics will go up soon- I forgot my camera cord at home)

Then this morning before I headed to the Adam's Street Festival again I went to Balboa Park to see some friends who were working a 10K race. I still don't know how people have enough energy at 6 am to party much less run. Yes, these were the happiest people in the world! Plus there were some great bands playing... for free of course! I swear you definitely can get fed and entertained at the finish line of a running race! If you are broke, like most of us are, go to one of these and you will make out much better than when you started the day off.

So, as you can tell me and my firends have had a blast all weekend. I wish however, the week wasn't alreayd here I feel like I have been on the go!

Get a few laughs

2007-09-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

The best part of this trailer is the last 5 seconds.

Future little punks

A mid week update

2007-09-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

I'm convinced getting up never gets easier! This week has been such a low key week of season premiers, friends coming to hang out on my couch, and a night out with the girls for dinner that it has made it almost impossible to get up in the mornings! But today was the worst of all days. First, I woke myself up in the middle of the night sleep talking..... not exactly sure why or what I was saying but I was sitting straight up in bed just jabbering away. So I went back to sleep and then the buzzing of my alarm began. I quickly jumped out of bed with the biggest grin across my face, dancing to the tunes on the radio, and planning my days lunch before I even decide on my outfit! Why?? Well, why else other than because it was Friday. The sucky part was it took me 30 minutes to realize it was only Thursday...BOOOOOO THAT SUCKED!

On another note, work has been going really well! It's still demanding and hard but I'm liking it! My boss pulled me in the other day and told me that I will become the Operations Director/ Operations Supervisor. Meaning, I get to monitor all of our projects, hire/ fire, maintain office meetings, and so much more! Exciting but scary in the same time. I have decided with this job I am going to approach it completely different from every other job. 1. This is work. I am here to work not be best friends and not to bash people. 2. Work is not a place to make friends. Yes, I like having friendships with the people I work with but since I'm in a supervising position it's difficult to be taken seriouse once you cross that line. 3. I have learned how to give creative critcism. 4. I'm sick of people's whining and bitching. If I have been able to do this over the years so can others. Shut up, suck it up, and get it done. 4. Coffee is my enemy- it doesn't wake me up it makes me drag for the entire day.

Well, Ugly Betty's premier is beginning.... Time to zone into the tv for the next 3 hours! If only I had sugar cookies or cookie dough I'd be in heaven!!!!

The first of manys

2007-09-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

This week was so much fun! I have to say, I really have made alot of friends down here so far- it has been so easy too! Thursday night I decided to host my first dinner party. I made a big pan of Chicken spagetti, vegetables, and chocolate cake. Let's just say I have so much food left over I could feed a samll country! Then we all headed to the roof and hung out there for a little bit!

Yesterday I did something I never have done before- I went to an air show. Apparently the Redbull Airshow has been advertised all over the country because so many people called and asked if I was going. So me and my friend Jenny headed downtown amongst the other 40,000 spectators. All I can say is those planes are so fast!

Well, I have finally done it! I went out in PB last night with Jenny. Oh yea, Jenny is my new friend who moved here a week after me. She is from Martin TN- who woulda thought! So, we walked to the bars and checked out a little night life...... it was so much fun! We ended up at a bar called the Firehouse that is right on the beach. All I can say is I like drinking martinis overlooking the ocean. And yes, we met plenty of other transplants to the area at the bar!

Click on this picture below and it will show you a video of the airshow.

A little Tuesday Humor

2007-09-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

The priest and the hairdryer

A distinguished young woman on a flight from Switzerland asked the
Priest beside her, "Father, may I ask a favor?" "Of course, what may I
do for you?" "Well, I bought an expensive woman's electronic hair dryer

for my mother's birthday that is un-opened and well over the Customs
limits, and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you
could carry it through Customs for me, under your robes perhaps?

"I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you: I will not lie."
"With your honest face, Father, no one will question you."
When they got to Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her.
The official asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?"
"From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing "

The official thought this answer strange, so asked, "And what do you
have to declare from your waist to the floor?"
"I have a marvelous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but
which is, to date, unused." Roaring with laughter, the official said,
"Go ahead, Father. Next!"

It's almost Halloween!!!!

2007-09-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Do you know what time it is??? It's fall, and with fall comes halloween!!! Wahoo! In case none of you know, Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday by far! My birthday month of parties usually comes close to the thrill of halloween weekend, but usually not near beating it!

So, the question of the night is what should I be this year??? Last year we were Vegas Showgirls, the year before I was Rainbow Bright (which I still wear the leggings and arm warmers that are multicolored) every now and then. I just can't seem to think of what I want to be this year however. I suppose I could take Meaghan Cox's idea and be "Major Babe" and dress in an army jacket.

So y'all let me know what I should be! That way I can be getting the costume together!

#7

2007-09-15T16:53:00.001-07:00

I'm totally about to begin a top ten list of places to visit in San Diego..... when I visit at least ten that is! Ha. But in the meantime while the list is being formed, check this place out. I went on a date the other night here for dessert. I didn't mention to my date that I don't like sugary foods, instead just went. It was AWESOME! I definitely will be taking all you visitors here for their inredible grub!!! Not to mention the atmosphere was cool, (total chic, modern, and clean.) Apparently there are three restaurants in San Diego but the downtown area is the best one with more places to sit and enjoy yourself. Although it was phenomenal food, I still don't like sugary food!

http://www.extraordinarydesserts.com/

The first two weeks

2007-09-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, ok where to begin about this past week???? I suppose from the first part. First off, when you are planning on moving don't plan anything the few weeks prior. I learned this lesson during this move becuase I found myself having more anxiety abut everything I thought about. However, going back home the weekend prior was so worth all of the anxiety! Below are a few pictures from the trip home for Meg's wedding.

So, we, being mom, dad, and me all made it down to pacific beach last Wednesday. After showing them around the town for the next few days we ventured over to Coronado Island. I highly recommend anyone taking a vacation to this area if you have never been here before. There is the Coronado Hotel, which is a really old and historic hotel that is just a beautiful resort. Located on the beaches you can rent bike, little carts, or beach equipment and definitely spend a day touring all around. They also have a quaint little downtown with restaurants and boutiques and homes you can wander through to waste some time. Another spot we stopped off in was "Old Town." A Mexican influenced section of San Diego, with very authenic Mexican food!! I had mom and dad try out the Horchata, which ended up being the family triva question of the..... for 200 points do you know what Horchata is??? Dirty Rice water! or in a prettier term, rice water, with cinnamon, and sugar. It's super good!! Definitely one of my favorite drinks now! Then it was move time! Which, surprisingly went fairly quick and painless. I now live in a large studio roughly 2 blocks from the beach. The best part is all of my stuff fit within the studio so I didn't have to get a storage unit!

This week has been relatively busy after work. As mentioned in the blog below I went out with Cain and Kent one night, then I went out with another guy I met down here, Eric, a Texan transplanted to the beach, Ryan, Rob and Holley's friend, and Valerie, a friend from my last job. So as you can tell I have begun venturing out into SD getting all types of locals opinions on things and even trying to fit in with the locals! Then this upcoming week I am going out with a friend who used to live in Memphis that now lives in PB and Amy, Erick, and John (Mom's friend's niece.) Maybe at some point I will even walk down to the beach...ha ! Yup that's right, I haven't even gone down on the beach for some RnR yet. Crazy.

One cool thing I did do this week was hitting up the art scene in SD. Ryan took me to the Contemporary Museum of art on Thursday night. I think this is something alot of art museums do around the country- I even think some of the museums in Memphis did it too. Basically, the admission is free to get in, and then there is beer and wine along with bands playing. That is one thing I learned this week about SD is it has a huge music scene that I never knew about! I can't wait to explore that.

As mentioned prior, definitely check out the pics of the past two weeks. It's been a whirlwind but an absolute blast so far!

Update

2007-09-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone, super sorry I haven't posted here lately. With the move, travel, work and everything in between I never set up a phone line for internet. So I decided to take a break from the beach life and wander into a Starbucks to update everyone really quick.

The new move is AWESOME!!! I absolutely love San Diego. Every part of it too! Thank goodness for all of you who have sent me names of people who live down here because they have been checking on me and taking me out and getting me acquainted with the SD life. Now for the updates:

1. Yes, there was a riot in the town i live in (pacific beach) and no it was not as bad as the media made it out to be. For one thing none of the rioters were the ones who "pushed" the cops ATV's into the ocean. The dumb cops parked the ATV's next to the water while high tide came in. So the water took it away. As for 500 people involved. Well, come on that was the only excitement everyone just wanted a glimpse.

2. I hung out with Cain and his cousin the other night. Cain's a friend from the last town i lived in. He was in town to pick up is cousin from the airport since his cousin Kent was racing in the last race at the Del Mar track for the season..... Talk about a short guy! But hey, now I can add pro jockey to my list of famous people I"ve partied with..... and I also know to bet on him!! He's won three kentucky derbies!!

3. I love my new job. It's so great to be working with corporate america again! Everyone I work with is great too very talented.

4. The Studio is so fun!! I promise I will post pics next week when I get internet or I amy venture back to Starkbucks this week!!

the girls or the boys... or both?

2007-08-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

I think it's comes as no surprise to anyone that I was a tom-boy growing up. Always playing in the dirt, the only girl playing sports, getting hurt, and well of course sporting one of my many t-shirts (most likely a swim t-shirt that mom literally stole and threw out.) Although I still am the sporty girl who has settled on giving up almost all of my sports, I have ventured far far away from being the Tom boy. So what sparks this topic tonight? Well, years ago the famous HBO TV series, Sex and the City, came out. At once it was an instance success among the women demographic and led the weekly watering hole topic sessions. Who was Carrie dating this week, was Scarlett ever going to find her Mr. Right or just her Mr. Right now? and so on and so on. Most girls and women enjoyed the show because it finally showed a lighter side to life and added the comedy we so wanted tv to finally discuss. It's no wonder HBO had a hit success on their hands.

Even I, once prior tom boy related to the four friends. I remember having all my friends ask me, " Which Sex and The City character do you most relate to? The classy one, the eccentric one, the skanky socialite, or the stuffy old worker? Well, depending on your mood of the week you related to just about all the girls at one point or another. Then the show went off air and was soon replaced with Entourage- the guys version of Sex and the City.

However, even though Sex and the City is gone I have found another show that I really relate to. You see, I'm still not a "girly girl." I dig sports, I don't mind getting dirty, and I mostly have all guy friends. So that in itself never really allowed me to relate with Sex and the City Characters, but it does allow me to relate to the "My Boys" characters. I don't know if any of you watch this show on TBS but it is about the one sporty professional girl and how she hangs out with all the guys. She's sporty, goes out with friends, yet maintains her own identity. This past week's episode however really had me cracking up. It played a spoof of PJ (sporty girl) and one of her college friends, a girl. The girl "used to be cool and hang out" however after college she moved to NYC and became a writer, aka Carrie Bradshaw. Here is an excerpt from the show My Boys when the friends meet up. Notice the mock Sex and the City characters....especially Samantha!

Copy and paste the link below into your browser. This is the 2nd clip of 3 (series title Douchebag in the City.)

http://www.tbs.com/video/0,,116211|340865|,00.html

Do you know your personality?

2007-08-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post this now for over a month. I remember in college learning about Briggs- Meyer personality tests and how widely they are used due to their accuracy. This new job I'm heading to actually had me take this test after my second interview to see if my personality would fit in with everyone in the office. It's crazy accurate, you should check it out and see what it says about you!

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

James First Vacay- Laguna Beach

2007-08-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

This week/ weekend James was in for a treat, he got to go on his first vacation to none other than Laguna Beach, CA. In the process I got to spend the weekend visiting with Heather, Jason and James. I am pleased to say I have officially babysat for the first time! It's true, at 24 I have never baby-sat in my life. And just to let you know, yes, James is still alive!! Both Friday and Saturday night mom and dad Thomson went out and celebrated Daniel and Michelle's wedding while James and i played in the room. Let me be the first to say Turkey has more energy than anyone I know. Today I ended up taking a 4 hour nap because the entire weekend exhausted me!! All in all we had a blast, some great sushi at Hapi Sushi, saw LC from Laguna Beach and The Hills, and even made it to a wedding.

Cousins kick butt!

2007-08-16T19:12:00.001-07:00

As most of you already know I have gotten visitors usually twice a month since I have moved here. This past month my cousin Brad and his girlfriend came out to LA for a week to play and work but mostly play. So one night I decided to join up with both Brad and Julia along with a few of Brad's co-workers and take them out on the town. What did suck was it was the first night none of the clubs had anything good going on. So we dined on Sunset at a great lil Italian joint and then walked up to a pub for the rest of the night. As you can see we did have a casual night of playing darts. However, what you don't see is the video of Brad dancing for all the LA'ns in a lord of the dance style. Just ask me to send the videos it's great! But as always it was so much fun to meet new people along with visiting with family and being able to show them around the town.

Oh yea, just to inform everyone Brad and I dominated the dart boards winning 4 of 4 games..... How about that!

Conserve gas ride a bike, PB doesn't discriminate!

2007-08-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

The task this weekend was to find an apartment in one days time. After lots and lots of searching and lots of help from all of you I eventually found a place to call home. Although it was a streneuous day it was a fun day. The morning started off with a breakfast date. We rode beach cruisers down the ocean boardwalk, bay, and through all the PB (Pacific Beach) neighborhoods. It was amazing just to see how many people actually ride beach cruisers. I know I definitely will have to get one, even though I'm literally only a few blocks from the beach, it will be so much more convenient to ride a bike everywhere instead of fighting the insane traffic down here. Anyhow, back to the morning. So get this, I suppose the "conserve gas" philosphy is growing and people are really beginning to ride bikes everywhere that the need for valet bike parking has arose. When we got to the firehouse, the restaurant/ club, we had breakfast at that's exactly what you could do with your beach cruiser! How fabulous!!!

Although someone told me she thinks it's ghetto to ride a beach cruiser, I still want one! I just will have to convert you when you come visit by refusing to drive anywhere and only allow biking it for the weekend!

Some of these pictures are from the rooftop of the studio too.

Can I buy Turkey a basketball yet??

2007-08-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

So James, or as I like to refer to him as Turkey, is on the move- so what's the bet of what sport Turkey is destined for? Basketball, baseball, water skiier like dad, football??? Maybe we can get him into the x-games at an early age!

Apparently I don't know how to post a video, so check it out on Heather's blog.

On the move again

2007-08-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Well, yes, it's true, I'm on the move again! This time I'm headed to San Diego to work and live! As most of you probably have already heard, I have accepted a position with Meeting Sites Pro in San Diego to be part of their meeting planning team. I have spent my past few Monday's wandering through the city looking for good areas to live, meeting people, and negotiating the move.

All in all I feel I have given Redlands/ Rialto the 7 month chance and it just hasn't lived up to what I want. Both work and personal. I mean I'm a beach girl not a dessert girl. I am sad to leave all the friends I have made here but I'm not doubtful they won't make the hour and half drive to visit me. Espeically if I land the apartment on the beach (ok 2 blocks away but with a potential view.)

So I have to say, I'm jealous of my own life!

On another note, this weekend I went to Frisco for the first time to work(San Francisco) and LOVED it. Friday night I went out with a friend to a blues club and wandered the streets. I definitely saw some talent on the stage. This woman was belting out Denise LaSalle hits like it was nothing. While I was there work was work. After work Sunday me and some co-workers snatched one of the rental cars and went and saw more sights. From the bay bridge, to the golden gate, little italy, china town, sosolita, and everything in between! It's so interesting how the fog hangs around the golden gate... I really want to see the bridge at night or early morning when the lights are on.

If you make it to Frisco you need to go to the Ferry Building and check out the market too! During my lunch break I wandered through the market and got fresh fruit and breads, then there also are all types of flower stands. I think if I lived here I definitely would spend several Saturday's a year just wandering through the market.

Amazing

2007-07-12T08:17:00.001-07:00

Roadtrip with the Weekend Roommates

2007-07-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend mom and dad finally came out to visit me. Instead of sitting around the apartment we decided to take a little roadtrip. The weekend started off with dinner with one of dad's friends who lives outside of Newport Beach. We went to the Mission Inn, a historic hotel located in a town nearby, Riverside. Then the next morning we were off to the Sequoia National Forest where we ventured through all the BIG trees. Dad and I even ventured up this Moro Rock (the pictures that have the top of the sky in the background. After we finished venturing through the forest we decided to grab a bite to eat. Note: if there are flys in the restaurant you are at and the waitress offers to spray bugspray on your table to disperse them, leave immediately! That was our story at dinner that day. The next day we headed back down south. However, after a brush fire shut down the Interstate we were on we had to make a slight detour, which lead us through another national forest. This forest however, was just long roads that looked over the entire valley. A great view however a long ride that lead to an interesting midpoint. this is true too, mom and dad took me to a biker bar for lunch! While we were eating our lunch we overheard one of the locals who were drinking their beer at 11 am state to the owner, I didn't even know you served food. This tickled mom beyond belief!!

After departing the biker bar we then cotinued over to the coast. Our first stop was a quick visit to Santa Barbara beaches. A very pretty area I recommend you visit. Then we went down to Ventura where we stopped for the night. The hotel we stopped at was on the ventura harbor so we went down to the harbor where we found a little dive had a few drinks and continued walking around until we found a seafood restuarant to eat in. The next day we headed back towards Redlands with a brief drive-through of Old Town Pasadena.

After arriving home we ran a few personal errands and then mom and dad were off and I went out of town for work. All in all I'm still trying to recoup from but enjoyed a weekend with the rents!

Another earthquake???

2007-06-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

I found this funny earlier today. So, as most of you know I FREAKED out on my first earthquake. I was sitting here a minute ago on the telephone with a vendor who is somewhere in the middle of the country and the secretary answered the phone exactly the time there was this loud boom and both front doors blew open (not necessarily blew but opened real quick.) So I hung up not know what happened only to find out it was the sonic boom from when the space shuttle came into the solar system.....crazy! I'm going through way to many crazy things out here. Ha

Another gross yummie!

2007-06-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

If you can't tell I have a slight obsession with food!

Today at lunch I found another food/ drink that sounded absolutely disgusting but is sooo good! I don't remember the name of it and plus I couldn't pronounce it if I tried. Being so close to the Mexican border we have so many great lil shacks you just pull up to and get real authenic Mexican food. So today, Ivonne and I decided to venture into what they call the ghetto. First, if that was a ghetto then the other side of the train tracks in Collierville is worse than this ghetto!

Anyhow, this is the description of the drink Ivonne told me to get- it's the dirty water rice is boiled in with cinnamon...... Needless to say, I'm working on my second glass. I think I just found my relpacement for sweet tea!

Customer Service reps make me hit my head against the wall....

2007-06-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

Do people who have the job title customer service representative not realize their job is to listen to us bitch about their employers products? After dealing with Timewarner for the past three hours because I came home to find a fuzzy screen, they first sent me to the store to pick up a new box, then told me to wait until this weekend for a technician to come out. Let's not mention this is the one company it took 2 months to hook up my tv after I moved here. It's not like I really want to watch my DVD's anymore since I had to watch them for 2 months time after time!!

So, does my bill get compensated for this inconvenience?? Well, in Memphis you usually get a snappy answer in broken ebonics. In California I get a snappy answer in Spanglish. I mean seriously- until Saturday- it's only freakin Tuesday. I know I'm lazy but I do enjoy watching the news every morning. I do enjoy watching silly movies at night. And worst of all, I have now lost ALL of my t-vo'd items..... Wow, it's really the 21st century. I'm complaining because I lost silly movies like the princess bride, Count of Monte Cristo, I'll miss Starter Wife, and probably Army Wives, the horrible show Traveler. Thank goodness for the internet- I'll just watch stuff on here for the next 5 days(what I wouldn't give to be going out of town this week for work!)

Back to the main point though, I wish the unfriendly people in customer service realized they only worsten the situation when they snap back. Better yet, I wish Time Warner would work on their customers service responses instead of monopolizing the cable market.

Wahoo, here goes to a weekend of sitting around for the cable guy to show up on Saturday. Bahumbug.

A week of Memphians in Socal

2007-06-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yup, in 4 days I had 6 Memphians come visit me! Plenty of fun was had in LA, Redlands, Del Mar, and La Jolla. I absolutely loved the visitors but I'm pooped and am ready to kick my feet back and just enjoy doing nothing now.

I made real pasta....from scratch!

2007-06-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited, I bought a new cookbook- an Italian cookbook! And what's the best way to break it in....better yet, my kitchen in, is to splash flour all over the place while making noodles from scratch! I started off wanting to make ravioli but after rolling my dough and trying to flatten it, well my arms were too exhausted to even try to thin the dough even more for ravioli. So I settled for regular ole pasta noodles..... Trust me these were just as tough to continue to roll and cut out, but I did it, along with cooking the largest pot of spaghetti sauce. The sauce also was a new treat, it had carrots, celery, a bay leaf, onions, beef stock, chicken livers, pureed tomatoes, tomatoe paste, ground beef, and cured salted pork. It actually sounds gross but it was really good! Below are some pictures of the noodles. Enjoy- the red bowl has the finished product!

My favorite random food

2007-06-05T18:09:00.001-07:00

...so most of you already know this one. Even though it disgusts every person who has ever heard that I eat this, well, I still eat it. Ha- you have to try everything once right.

Chocolate Macronni and Cheese

I cheat, get two boxes of mac n' cheese. When you go to mix in your milk, mix chocolate milk with your butter and cheese sauce. To top it off just squeeze a little or alot of ketchup into the mixutre!! I told you I eat wierd things.

Or on another note try this.

A fancy dinner
8 chicken breast
flour
salt
pepper
oregano
olive oil
1 clove of garlic
2-4 cups of a dry red wine
frozen OJ concentrated
muschrooms
red onions
green and red bell peppers
wild rice

Mix together 3/4 flour, tspn of salt, plenty of sprinkles of pepper, in a bowl or plate. Preheat oven to 375. Wash your chicken off and coat all sides in flour. In a skillet add olive oil and minced garlic clove (chopped finely for those who don't know minced.) Then fry all sides of your chicken breasts until the flour turns a golden brown. ( Make sure you have open a window or fan on.) Once chicken is browned place in a casserole dish. In a deep pot mix together your wine and oj. Once boiling turn down your heat and let the juices simmer for a few minutes. Next, pour your juices over the chicken and cook for 30 minutes.

Add more butter and olive oil to the skillet and sautee your vegetables. Once the chicken is finished cooking pour your vegetables on top and continute cooking for 30 minutes. Baste the chicken every 10 minutes. Cook your wild rice and serve the chicken on the top of it.

Super yummie- This is what I cooked for Easter Sunday dinner. The boys seemed to eat like they had never seen food before!

A new yummie

2007-06-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

As much as I love to cook and tell everyone about it, I figured it might be time to post some of these ...creations for y'all to try.
I actually just cooked these and they were sooooo good. I think I might go buy another onion.

This is SUPER simple and anyone can do it. The good ole onion rings for those who don't have a deep fryer.

1 onion (I used a purple one, but any sweet onion will do)
handful of flour
red pepper
Tony's cajun seasoning
1 egg white yolk
2 teaspoons or 2 big squeezes of Italian dressing
oil
1 skillet
1 backing sheet

Preheat your oven to 400. Cut your onion up in whatever style you want. In a seperate bowl mix your yolk white and the Italian dressing and mix well. In another seperate bowl, mix your handful of flour, as much red pepper as you can handle, samething for the Tony's cajun seasoning.

Take your cut up onions and saturate them in the yolk Italian mix. Then roll the onions into the flour mixture. In your skillet pour your plain cooking oil-(not olive oil) and fry all sides of your onions. Basically 1.5 minute on each side. After all sides are fried, place the onions on your cookie sheet. Cook them for 3.5 minutes then flip the rings and cook them for another 3 minutes.

Eat em up!!

Jackson-land

2007-06-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

I believe it is safe to say I am finished traveling, personal travel that is, for awhile. This weekend I headed to Jackson and Hattiesburg for a friend's wedding. And now, I plan to stay in California until late August for Meg's wedding. However, back to the Jackson trip. After arriving late Friday evening we settled for a simple night of bowling. Then the next morning we were off to Hattiesburg. It was great to visit with friends again. This time it was friends from the football team, sorority, and plenty of others.

So there's always a kicker right?? Well, while I was in Memphis a family friend told me she wanted to move to London next summer. Then this past weekend I found out another friend is moving to London the beginning of July. I keep finding evident signs that I don't belong in California but wow- London- now that would be a blast! I have always wanted to move over seas. I have already been to London and definitely think it's a great place.

So, now you all know what I am thinking about... Let's pray I figure out what I'm doing with my life soon!

What a stud

2007-05-26T15:46:00.001-07:00

check out my nephew. What a stud!

Political Views

2007-05-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 70% Conservative, 30% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

This week's lesson

2007-05-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

This week I can't say I have learned much but I have learned a very important thing. Always remember when you bought your eggs.

Today, I decided to bake a cake to have for dessert tonight. I came home cleaned my apartment, finally unpacked from the weekend, ran a few errands and then headed to my kitchen. Got the blender out, poured in some cake mix, poured in the water, poured in the oil, cracked an egg, cracked another egg and actually looked at what I did to find a horrific smelling black egg in my bowl.... needless to say the smell caused me to throw up my lunch. I can't even go in my kitchen right now. Geeze all I want is a freakin piece of cake!

The Wedding

2007-05-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Reception

2007-05-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

Stories to come later....

Rehearsal dinner and Bridal Luncheon

2007-05-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

To much to write. I'll try to get the video I created on here for all of you who weren't at the rehearsal dinner.

A haha

2007-05-14T21:15:00.001-07:00

The Landlord

The closing of a Memphis Landmark

2007-05-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

As most of us have walked along 2nd street in the early morning hours headed towards the birght blue, white, and red lights we come into view of the "No Discrimination" sign that ultimately leads us into the Prince playing, disco haven called Raiford's of Hollywood. Whether you worked in a bank, grocery store, or just visiting Memphis from college, Rai Rai's always opened it's doors to everyone allowing a good time. Maybe it was the fact it is the only disco bar left in Memphis, maybe it was just the smog that filled every square inch that you couldn't see 2 inches in front of you, the infamous pole that so many of us have danced upon, Paula walking by handing you your ice cold 40, the back tables filled liquor bottles, couches and rolly chairs that made Raiford's raiford's or just watching the sun rise from the back porch sipping your luke warm 40 at that point.

The best part of Raiford's may have been watching friends karate chopping mid air and doing a jump kick while singing along in-tact to Kung Fu Fighting or maybe mom and dad at the club on the dance floor tearing it up. Or it could just have been watching friends realize how they were dancing was quite ridiculous and then proceed to dance with themselves while looking at the mirrors thinking about how great of a dancer they are.... good thing only they can see themselves in the fog.

Although, Rai Rai's definitely will be missed there are several classic touches no bars in Memphis will ever be able to top. One for instance that I am greatful was always available on call was the Raiford's limos, excursions, caddies, and horse carts that would drive you home at no charge just so you wouldn't drink and drive. One of my best memories is Paula driving me and a friend first to waffle house where we gossiped all about the Raiford groupies and then were dropped off safely after an evening of fun- a classic moment in time.

Even though this means an end to a classic late night spot that oh so many of us enjoy I am excited to see where the new late night spot will become (hopefully something will be kicking by the time I ever move back).... I'm sensing that the Soul Burger and Hazel's is about to make is scene on the map again!

So here's to the ice cold 40s, cash only policy, and the great memories of the jerry-curled pimp dj.

Be patient

2007-05-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

....ok be patient with me. I'm trying to update my blog to fit more my personality and add all the changes. This means, I'm trying to learn how to write HTML codes to make these edits so it most likely will keep changing daily until perfected....uhhhhhhh