It's beginning to look a lot like...

It's Christmas Eve and feels a bit like Summer. Matt and I had to do some last minute shopping today and between dodging cars and frantic people we were shedding layers - now, down to a t-shirt and capris, I'm finally comfortable. The one problem is I seem to be the whitest person in all of San Diego. Everyone else is sporting December tans with sunglasses lines (some tinier than others from the "sunglasses" the tanning salons provide).

Ah Christmas, the season of board shorts and tube tops. I can't wait to see Santa in his spanking new cutoffs coming down the chimney!

Headin' Down South

I don't know how it happened, but the holidays are not only upon us, they're almost over! After a whirlwind week wrap up at work (returning from Vegas and dealing with the emails that encroached upon my inbox) Matt and I packed up last night to get out of dodge. Miraculously, we woke this morning at 5am rearing to go - OK, that sounds nicer than it was. We woke at 5am, couldn't get back to sleep, and since I knew I could sleep in the car we hit the road (Matt is too nice sometimes).

Driving down we hit the precursory traffic in LA - if there weren't traffic, it wouldn't be LA. After a nice healthy lunch stop at In 'n Out, we were in the homestretch. I was so bummed stopping - somehow I got my hopes up I'd see a barefoot Britney, but no. Oh well, maybe on the way home.

Crossing into the SD boarder, I realized we weren't in Northern California anymore. All of a sudden cars and trucks seemed to be bigger, clothing smaller, drivers more aggressive (yes, more!), and bumper stickers redder.

The funniest part about making it in to town, as I was cursing the double wide wrangler that cut us off, was Matt said, "You know, even as a kid I had Nor Cal tendencies" eluding to the fact that he was "nice" on the road. Mm hmm.

Vegas Baby!

It's always a bit comical to me that corporations decide to hold their sales conferences' in Vegas - which begs the question, is it the time of year when you want sales folks to learn the most, pay the most attention, and walk away truly knowing the products and road map, or is it the time when you want folks to bond, party, and walk away feeling more tied into the company. I think the latter. Regardless, it's Vegas - the city of 24/7 isms and possibilities.

We arrived to Vegas Sunday afternoon after a not-too-terrible delay. Molly and I checked in and made our way to the Venetian for lunch. To get to one hotel you need to walk through the smokey lobbies and casinos of 5 others or you can opt to walk the strip where you'll be solicited for everything from lap dances to heli rides over the Grand Canyon. We chose the strip. The trip played out from there toggling between fantastic restaurants, night clubs, bars, and of course conference rooms. Funny, it was easier to keep my eyes open at night.

The isms:

• One night we went dancing with Product Management and Marketing. On the dance floor was an eclectic mix of 60somethings grooving (in ways no-one should), boys loitering, and girls prowling.



• Daily I saw at least 4 weddings.



• The food is good, not great, but it all seems to be cloaked in butter or extra oil - maybe more fuel to keep people gambling longer?

Ah Vegas - in another 5 years I just might be ready to go back.

Just another SF Friday

How does time work? if at one moment you’re walking down the street and you’re in the best mood, and someone says hello and they’re not that good looking and have a weird affect, you say “ey” and keep walking as quickly as possible, how would you have acted in another moment? Say a moment of depression? Or boredom? Or drunkenness? Or sympathy?

Linz, Steve, John, Matt and I went to the Groove for dinner tonight and it was excellent. After (too much) sushi, we went to a wine bar for a toast and a conversation, mostly around ‘what would you do if you weren’t doing….’

After wine, the crew were headed out to meet another group of fun #somthings. Being too tired. I decided to head home.

Almost home I happened upon a short, khaki and blue sweater clad man (balding in the back, but that goes without saying). I decided to stay back a few feet – avoid conversation at all costs, you know. When I sped too much. “Hi, how are you?” He said. “fine, how’s every ting for you?” I blurted. “Well, I’m in San Francisco…what do you think?...? Great!” My heart skipped. The city is happy again. The city makes people happy.

'Tis the season to be busy

Belly dancing, concert, dinner, rock climbing and shopping - oh my! The temperature has dropped about 20 degrees, and activities picked up an equal amount - roughly x20.

This weekend kicked off with an SNP dinner with Lynnette and Jess - somewhere in the middle of the Richmond (I thought we were in another city it felt so far away). The restaurant was amazing - decorated perfectly with pillows, gold and blue paint, and hanging cloth panels. During dinner the resident belly dancer got us up (ok, me) and grooving.

Friday we enjoyed a concert night - Iron and Wine. Linz, Steve, Matt and I met at Bart, had a quick Stop 'n Go deli dinner (with mini bottles of wine - classy) and boarded Bart to Oakland. At the concert I learned two things - Iron and Wine is amazing, and Oakland has a tighter density of hairy men than I've seen anywhere since Eastern Europe (99% of the men there had beards, staches, or goatees).

Saturday was a day of rest - shopping rest. Ashley and I made our way to Marin on the hunt for the perfect glasses. Instead, I got a dress and Christmas presents. Post shopping we explored the backroads of Sausalito to find the perfect sushi place (having lunch at 2:30 the "perfect sushi place" was the only place that was opened).

Saturday night brought dinner with Rob and Emily - they were doing Christmas presents before dinner by the ice skating ring at Embarcadero so it kicked off the dinner with holiday cheer.

Finally, the weekend came to a close with a fitness day Sunday - gym then rock climbing with Rob and Emily.

I need a nap from all this!