ina ink

Lucas is walking!

2011-10-18T21:11:00.004-04:00

Lucas is now 11 months old! Well, the little guy is just growing up faster than a weed, and he decided to start walking last week. It's been a work in progress for sure. First it was a step or two before falling over. In his excitedness and eagerness, he would get bouncy and lose his balance when leaning forward too much. I think he was ready to run before walking! This week he has made definite progress - walking halfway across the living room, from couch to music table, and all around his daycare classroom. I can't believe just a year ago I was still anticipating his arrival. And his 1-year birthday is just around the corner. My how time flies!

My sister visited from Seattle last week and my parents came up for the weekend. We had a good time driving up to north Georgia to taste some fried apple pies, photograph Lucas in a pumpkin patch, and make a short visit to the base of Amicalola Falls. Happy Fall, everyone!

Time flies!

2011-01-21T17:11:00.005-05:00

Lucas at 9 weeks old!

Okay, so I have been a terrible blogger since the baby arrived! I spend most of my time on Facebook these days, but for those who are actually reading this, here's a quick summary of the last two months:

November 14, 2010: Baby decides it's time to make an appearance. I start contractions around 4 am, head to Piedmont Hospital around 7:30 am, and Lucas Cole enters this world at 5:28 pm. It's a boy! 7 lbs 8.6 oz, 21" long.

The rest of November and early December we kept to the house for the most part. My wonderful mother spent the first three weeks with us and helped with the baby, cleaning and cooking. My sister was able to come visit for Thanksgiving and spend a week playing auntie. My dad also visited several times between work and helped out with a lot of handy things around the house. A huge thanks to them all! We also had visits from neighbors, friends and in-laws.

December 18, 2010: My dear SIL Jennifer weds my brand-spanking-new BIL, Scott, in Pensacola! This was really a great trip, as we were able to celebrate a new marriage, introduce Lucas to the extended Bachmann and Williford families, and also get out of the house for a bit. It was a nice long-weekend trip, and I think we handled our first trip with baby pretty well. When we returned, we spent a nice quiet Christmas at home. My sister was able to visit the week after Christmas for another week, so it was great having our own in-house auntie/pediatrician with us once again!

December 28, 2010: My parents had a traditional Chinese 1-month party for Lucas (he was actually closer to 6 weeks old, but the timing worked out so that my sister could be in town for the dinner.) We had a wonderful dinner party at Shangri-La Chinese Restaurant in Augusta with about 45 people. Lucas got showered with many generous gifts and red envelopes from my parents' friends. We had a great 9-course meal, complete with angel food chocolate chip cupcakes and lucky hard-boiled red eggs for party favors made by Mom.

New Year's Eve was spent quietly at home with a few friends that came over for dinner and Wii games until the ball dropped. Lucas and I fell asleep shortly after midnight.

January: We enjoyed our last week with DH home before he started spring semester at GSU. But then we got hit with a major snow and ice event here in Atlanta on the 9th, so classes were canceled for almost the whole first week. We hunkered down at the house for 5 days, then ventured out for a short walk on Friday, however there was still ice on the roads. Things finally started melting when we got above freezing on Friday and Saturday.

Today: I'm working on finishing up many thank-you notes for many nice and generous baby gifts for Lucas. I'm also trying to get baby announcements done before I am heading back to work and Lucas starts daycare on February 1st. My, has my maternity leave flown by! Lucas had his 2-month appointment yesterday: 2 shots, 12 lbs 14.6 oz, and 22 1/2" long. He's growing up so fast! Happy New Year!

Due Date

2010-11-08T20:22:00.003-05:00

Well, it's my due date and baby has decided to continue to hibernate. I had an appointment this morning and not much is happening. Baby is in position and snug as a bug in a rug. I don't blame it since it's been freezing outside each evening. Maybe it's waiting for it to warm up a bit? I'm back for a check-up on Friday, unless things progress between now and then. Meanwhile, we are about 1/2 way done painting the nursery, and hopefully once that is done we can get all the furniture in place. Maybe Baby B know's it's bed isn't put together yet and Mom and Dad need a little more time? Otherwise, I'm feeling fine minus a little allergies and getting lots of naps in while I can. Sesha has been a real snuggler with me on the recliner in the living room. Boy is she in for a big surprise soon!

Sesha's progress

2010-11-03T11:20:00.003-04:00

As I was being attacked on while using the computer this morning, I finally thought to take another photo of Sesha in comparison to the computer mousie like I took when I first got her. It's been about 5 months now, and she's about 6.5 months old. I guess since I see her every day, it doesn't seem like she's grown that much, but looking at the photos, I can definitely tell! These days, she still has her manic, crazy kitten moments, and then the definite crashes where she's sleepy, lovey, and cuddly. Most evenings, she likes to climb up onto our chests (or belly) for a long evening nap while we're watching TV on the sofa. Thoth still tolerates her - he's such a softie that she usually gets her way, whether it's a food bowl (there's 2, but somehow the one he's eating out of is always the one she wants), an open windowsill, or a spot on a piece of furniture. She still attacks his tail, jumps on his head, and wants to play with him a lot, but he's a good sport and still enjoys alone time with us when she's preoccupied or crashed out in one of her deep sleep catnaps.

Eat Pray Love

2010-10-30T23:19:00.005-04:00

I enjoyed a little movie night at the Picture Show (discount theater in Marietta) w/DH tonight - Eat Pray Love. It was better than I expected, and I had to laugh when the following line was presented - how timely! Too late to back out now...

"Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it's what you want before you commit."
— Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

I think I might have to read the book now. Add it to my long reading list, after all the ones on pregnancy, newborns, and toddlers...

Eggplant Parmigiana

2010-10-29T21:49:00.003-04:00

Heather, Jennifer, and I headed to Scalini's Italian Restaurant this evening to partake of their famous Eggplant Parmigiana - said to induce labor within 48 hours. (Well, Heather doesn't like eggplant, so she opted for chicken parmesan instead.) I had actually never tried the EP before, and thought it was rather tasty. The eggplant is sliced, breaded, fried, then baked with the cheeses and sauce. We also got a side of spaghetti with (I chose meat) sauce. Of course, there was also endless salad and the famous garlic rolls. We topped it all off with dessert (spumoni for me and DH) and made sure to take our photo with the baby wall on the way out. So, will anything happen in the next 48 hours? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

38 weeks

2010-10-25T13:28:00.005-04:00

Well, it's my last week of work for awhile. Although I know it's going to be plenty of long hours at home, I'm still looking forward to it! The spackling of walls in the nursery was finished this weekend, so we just have to paint the upper half, then the furniture moving can be completed. Hopefully the baby will allow me to get things finished up at home next week during my week off before my due date.

I attended my friend Heather's baby shower last weekend - here's an updated shot of the three of us. Heather's about 38 weeks here, and Jennifer and I are about 37 weeks:

We're plannning a "baby eviction party" sometime in the next week to partake of Scalini's famous eggplant parmesan - reported to induce labor. We'll see if it really works. Other than the usual discomfort finding a comfortable sleeping position, swollen hands and feet, a little pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome, and some minor aches and pains, I can't really complain!

Baby B's Shower and Update

2010-10-04T15:02:00.005-04:00

I was the recipient of a wonderful baby shower for Baby B on October 3rd, thanks to our terrific friends Melissa Jo & Sam Feuer and Jennifer Geist. The food was fantastic and the gifts were more than generous. Baby B is so lucky to have such great mentor mommies to help me along the way! Thanks everyone!

I had my 36-week appointment today (a little later in the week than my normal appt, as I will be 37 weeks on Monday) and everything looks good. I've been feeling hiccups on the upper left side and kicks on the upper right side, and the doctor confirmed that the baby's back is on the left, feet at the upper right, and head down, which is great! I also have good iron levels now and got my wonderful flu shot. So everything's a go - we just wait!

Surrey with the fringe on top

2010-09-15T17:11:00.007-04:00

Okay, so maybe there's not actually fringe, but I was very excited to receive our infant car seat and stroller frame from my wonderful coworkers at work last Friday. We had one of our Beer Fridays at the end of the day, and I got an impromptu shower from my fellow architects - what a nice surprise. DH was a cohort in the operation, so I have to thank him too. I finally got it out of the box, so here's pictures of the whole thing put together, complete with CAT scan...

I have to say, the Graco Snug Rider stroller frame was literally a *snap* to put together - the wheels and frame all snapped together right out of the box, no tools needed, with little spring-loaded tabs that locked the pieces together. Also, the one-hand operation is great too - you engage the thumb trigger and twist the handle, and *voila* the frame will collapse. We decided to go with this combo due the lightness of the frame (12 lbs, sans car seat and baby) compared to many of the heavier stroller systems out there. I'm probably the one who will be lifting this thing in and out of the trunk a lot, so weight was definitely a big factor for me. When the baby gets to be about 6 months or so where he/she can sit up, we can upgrade to a lightweight, upright stroller. Can't wait to be able to put our new wheels to use! 8 weeks and counting...

30 weeks and counting

2010-09-03T07:05:00.003-04:00

I've made it through 30 weeks and things are going well. This week, the baby has been wiggling around quite a bit. A little different-feeling than the occasional poke or punch or kick I was getting before. Now it's more or a rolling or internal wiggling feeling - what is baby doing in there? I can also definitely feel hard spots or a bony spot - maybe the head/rear vs. a fist or foot? It's hard to tell. My biggest symptom this last week has been swollen hands and feet. I am hoping the cooler weather coming our way soon will help relieve this! Plus I am looking forward to fall in general, as it's one of my favorite seasons.

My friend Val has her first of many fall art festivals starting this weekend - check out her website, PenguinArts. I designed her penguin logo - isn't it adorable? Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!

Baby B Baby Pool - Let the Games Begin!

2010-08-26T16:11:00.003-04:00

Two posts in one day? Unheard of!

Actually, I've been meaning to set this up for awhile - enter our baby pool and take your guess at Baby B's gender, weight, length, and birthday! Prizes to be determined - I'll update that on this page when we've decided. Have fun!

Enter the BabyBachmann1 Baby Pool!

Month 7

2010-08-26T07:44:00.005-04:00

My friends Heather (due Nov 2), Jennifer (due Nov 7) and me (due Nov 8), 8/13/10.

I just realized I haven't updated in awhile. I've been on Facebook too much, I suppose!

Well, I've made to to my third trimester. I'm about 29.5 weeks at this point, with only 10.5 weeks left to go, plus or minus. It's been a pretty uneventful pregnancy so far. My worst symptom to date has to be these swelling feet of mine over the last week or so. Back pain has not been bad, occasionally I get arms and legs that fall asleep, and I'm having to take iron for anemia. I didn't pass my first, 1-hour glucose test last Monday, so I had to go back and take the 3-hour glucose test this past Monday. Thankfully I passed this time, so no gestational diabetes. What a relief. DH and I took a breastfeeding class at the hospital several weeks ago, and we're signed up for a childbirth class in a few weeks. Some friends are working on throwing a baby shower for us at the beginning of October, so we're working on the registry at Babies"R"Us and amazon.com. There are so many baby products to research! I've been having a ball going to the fall baby consignment sales here around town. I've been able to get many little outfits (unisex, yellow, green, or neutral colors), like overalls and onesies for dirt cheap. Of course, there's still room for the pink and blue outfits later!

Sesha the kitten is getting bigger every day. She and Thoth get along better for the most part, although the part where she wants to play all the time doesn't always please him. He's a good sport and will tumble around a bit with her, but then gets tired of it quickly and tries to get away from her. He does make some funny growling sounds at her at this point, but she doesn't seem to deterred by them.

Great Expectations!

2010-07-04T22:38:00.006-04:00

DH and I are so happy to share that we're expecting a little bundle of joy on November 8th! We are very excited and a little overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done in the next 4 months, but I am sure we will manage just like everybody else does. The 20-week ultrasound looked great. It was so neat to be able to see baby's head, eyes, spine, chambers of the heart, kidneys, hands and feet. We were so glad to see that all looked well with our little peanut.

To answer some of the typical questions... I have been feeling great and was very blessed to be free of any morning sickness (far from what I expected!). I'm about 22 weeks along now, and have been feeling baby moving around maybe the last week or so - particularly in the last two days I have been feeling actually pokes, and DH felt one today! Maybe a little hand or foot? We are not going to find out if it is a boy or girl - waiting for a surprise, and making two lists of names. Our new kitten has been good mommy and daddy practice for us - she has unending energy and has trained us to be watchful and up at all times of night. I think architecture school was probably good training for me too - good to get a refresher on being up all hours of the night again. Otherwise, things have been pretty uneventful, but I'll try to make note of any interesting happenings.

As for our holiday weekend, we enjoyed the Marietta fireworks with some friends last night, and then early this morning, DH ran his 9th Peachtree Road Race. The weather was perfect for the run, and SIL and I had an enjoyable time watching the race for DH to come by my usual spectating spot at Colony Square. Happy Independence Day, and thanks to all the men and women in our armed forces who protect our freedom each and every day!

New Fur Baby!

2010-06-05T22:34:00.006-04:00

We've added a new fur baby addition to the Bachmann household! Here she is, yet to be named. A friend had a stray cat have her litter in their garage, so being the softies that we are, of course we had to take one in. (In fact, if you're in the Atlanta area, there are 2 more calico kittens available - let me know if you're interested!) Although DH and I had already been talking about getting Thoth a "sibling" at some point too, so the timing just seemed to work out. I picked her up today, and she's in quarantine in the "master bath suite" until she's old enough to get all of her testing done. Thoth did get to see her several times today from a distance, and seemed interested and not too bothered by her presence. She appears so far to be fearless, spunky, vocal, cuddly, and a loud purr-er. Hopefully the transition from a 1-cat to 2-cat household will be smooth. Name suggestions and kitten advice welcome!

To Infinity and Beyond!

2010-05-19T10:44:00.003-04:00

DH and I headed down to Titusville, Florida last Thursday to meet up with some family and friends and to witness the final mission launch of the space shuttle, Atlantis. We staked out a spot along the river east of Titusville at Parrish Park around 10 am on Friday. There was a small beach along the north side of the road, so we were armed with chairs, a pop-up tent (thank goodness, because it was sunny!), sand toys for my bonus niece (3 yo), and picnic food. There was quite a crowd as the morning wore on, and by lunchtime, you'd a thought it was Gameday! RVs, surfers, families, retired folks, students, people with dogs, were all out and waiting to watch the launch. I've been crazy busy with deadlines since coming back to work this week (among other things going on too), and so I haven't had a chance to go through all the photos yet, but here's one at liftoff. The launch was pretty much on time, around 2:20 pm, and I was glad I had thought to bring a little radio (and batteries!) so that we could listen to the AM station with the countdown. The skies were clear so we had a great view of liftoff, the arch of the shuttle, the contrail into infinity, and the rocket boosters falling. What a fantastic experience!

Birthday Cake

2010-05-07T08:15:00.008-04:00

I must say, I think I had one of the best birthday cakes ever (okay, maybe runner-up to the Pac-Man cake I had once in elementary school...). My birthday was last Friday. DH surprised me and my birthday crew with fabulous cake from Brazilian Bakery. BB is a local place, just across the street from our neighborhood Publix. They have very tasty fried meat pies and pastries, and also very yummy desserts, which we have only made a small dent in the long counter-full of goodies. This cake was layers of yellow cake with an inner layer of a delicious cream filling, whipped cream icing, meringue crunchies on the sides, and strawberries on top. Moist, tasty, and to quote my friend Tim, "stupid." (As in, that's stupid good!) YUM! Thanks, Honey!

Easter weekend

2010-04-08T15:38:00.005-04:00

We had a nice trip to Alabama visiting family and friends over Easter weekend. Our Civic also rolled over 50,000 miles, ironically just outside of Talladega. On our drive over Friday night, we made a quick stop for dinner in Birmingham specifically to visit an old GT favorite that has now moved to Vestavia Hills, Kool Korner Sandwiches. Kool Korner was an old Tech standby on 14th Street for the best pressed Cuban sandwiches in town, until a few years ago when Mr. Ramirez was convinced by his son to move to Birmingham and retire with his family. Well, that lasted 2 weeks. When we walked into the store, Mr. Ramirez had just left, but his son was there and called him to tell him that 2 visitors from Atlanta were there. Well, he turned around and came back just to visit with us, and that was very touching. There also turned out to be a late dinner rush, so he hopped back behind the counter to help out after visiting with us for a few minutes. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, along with a new guava turnover that we were treated to, and I intend to make it part of our trip to Alabama whenever possible!

The new Kool Korner storefront in Vestavia Hills:

DH enjoys his first bites, including plantain chips, of course:

Enjoying my Cuban:

Mr. Ramirez behind the counter:

DH and I also celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this Tuesday, 4/2/10. Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!

60mm

2010-03-18T21:21:00.004-04:00

A friend of a friend lent me an old AF Micro Nikkor 60mm 1:2.8 D lens last weekend to play around with. It's been interesting playing around with it, since I am so used to using my 18-200mm VR lens. I've been using it on manual focus, even though it is AF, because it does get a little squirrely with the body sometimes. A couple of fun shots that I've taken:

My kitty buddy, Thoth

Thoth's pentapus (only 5 legs) toy

My friend Val's kitty buddy, Sherman

Kitty buddy looking out the window

Wheatgrass and blue bottle in the kitchen window

Sleep is good

2010-03-07T19:36:00.004-05:00

I've been getting over a sinus cold for about the last two weeks now, so not much to report. Along with the typical OTC meds, I've been trying to take my vitamins, eats lots of veggies, drink lots of water, and of course, get in LOTS of sleep. Which made me think of a small, but important change to my sleeping habits these last few months. I was on a random trip to IKEA where I probably came out with nothing I planned to buy, yet found other things that I needed while I was there. One of those items was a contoured foam pillow. I'm a side and back sleeper, and for some time was waking up with my arms behind my head (for neck support in my sleep, I suppose), or with back pains after sleeping more than 7 hours. I saw this pillow, and decided to give it a try. Well, after about a week of getting used to sleeping on it, I've had much better sleep since using it, and highly recommend it for you side/back sleepers out there. Now to get DH one for sleeping on his belly...

In other news, I've managed to make it to two major concerts in the last two months, which is probably a record for me. We went to see Silversun Pickups and Muse on 2/27, and They Might Be Giants this past Friday, 3/5. Both excellent shows!

Small Flash Class

2010-02-24T22:31:00.004-05:00

I took a fun Small Flash Crash Course this past Sunday with instructor Michael Schwarz, who is a professional photographer, digital photography consultant, and teaches for the Nikon School. I was a little intimidated going into the class, worried that everyone was going to know so much more than me, etc., but I went with a friend (thanks, Adam!) and found that everyone there was just as eager to learn and share what they have learned. The class took place at Professional Photographic Resources (PPR), which rental all kinds of professional camera equipment and has a studios for rent. (Incidentally, I hear that it's also a great place to rent camera lenses if you want to try one out, even for amateurs like me.) We mostly used Studio 1, complete with a huge, white, coved cyclorama wall and floor. The studio is so large, you can even drive in and photograph a car! We also took about 2 shots outside during the course of our 1-day class. I learned a lot about using the SB-800 in a studio setting, and I hope one day I might be able to get even a small bit of the equipment I would need to re-create shots like these! Many thanks to our model, Marc, who put up with our jokes about him blinking (we were constantly using flashes in his face *all day*) and put on a great face for the "paparazzi"! Here are some of my better shots from the class:

San Francisco Recap

2010-02-16T11:59:00.010-05:00

We did so much in San Francisco, I decided to create a list rather than paragraphs. Naturally, being part of an Asian family, a lot of our visit centered around food. Here's what we got done on the laundry list. (You might want to loosen your belt a bit...)

Wed Feb 3:

First significantly delayed flight (ever), due to a loose sheet metal flap at back of plane that did not have anything behind it for fasteners to attach to - happy to get on a new plane that would stay in the air, even though it put us back about 3 hours. Still beat parents to OAK.
After arriving at OAK, got the rental car and headed to downtown Oakland for a snack while waiting on parents to arrive - Ying Kee Noodle House = lots of food for little $!
Made it to San Jose for the night - stayed with Aunt Sophy and Uncle Chi-Yin for a few days.

Thurs Feb 4:

Visited the Intel Museum in Santa Clara. Had fun getting a personlized tour following a bunch of school kids on a field trip. Didn't know friend Kent worked on the 6th floor, but no matter since we met up with him and Mandy for lunch on Fri.
Lunch with bonus sister Erin and her friend at Golden Era Vegetarian Restaurant in downtown SF - mock chicken was great! Followed up with a walk through the drizzle around Union Square and San Francisco Centre on a search for coffee/gelato/crepes. Found it at Melt - lycee gelato was delicious!
Took scenic/long way back to SJ after dropping Erin off in Hayward - stuffed pizza dinner waiting when we got back.

Fri Feb 5:

Dim Sum (#1) at Hong Kong Saigon Harbor Restaurant in Sunnyvale with the family and friends Mandy and Kent from GT. My aunt warned that we had to get there right at 11 AM, or we wouldn't get a table - she was right! By the time we sat down and had a few bites, the place was packed, including a line out front by the time we left!
Visited the Computer History Museum in Mountain View - exhibits were getting reworked there, so not much on exhibit, except for the amazing Babbage Differential Engine No. 2 - the second one built in the world by a Microsoft exec., to Charles Babbage's exact drawings, except his house can't hold the weight of the machine right now, so it's on indefinite loan to the museum. The docents ran the machines, showed us how it worked, how it was put together. Incredible!
Quick dress change and we were on the way to R&G Lounge in SF Chinatown for the Rehearsal Dinner. Sis was flying into SFO, and since the wedding rehearsal ran a little late, made it via BART just in time for dinner. Shark Fin Soup, Salt and Pepper Crab, Peking Duck, Mock Abalone (mushrooms) with Greens, Beef and Scallops, Roasted Chicken with Shrimp Chips, Honey Prawns with Walnuts, Steamed Whole Sea Bass, and to finish it all off, Red Bean Soup with Tapioca - the best I've ever had! (This is only the beginning, folks!)
Post-dinner ice cream gathering at Fenton's Creamery. Oh my goodness, talk about some serious ice cream sundaes! Sis, D and I shared the black and tan sundae, and it's a good thing because it was gigantic! I am in love with their toasted almond ice cream. Fenton's also made a cameo appearance in the animated movie Up - check out the scene near the end!

Sat Feb 6:

Dim Sum (#2) at Dynasty Chinese Seafood Restaurant in San Jose with family and some other relatives. Pretty good, but DS#1 was still better.
By the time we finished Dim Sum, it was already time to head over to the First Chinese Baptist Church in SF Chinatown for the wedding.
Saw the wedding party heading into the streets of Chinatown for some pre-wedding photos on our way to the church - I got a couple good shots. The wedding was beautiful - the sanctuary was a unique, square layout with sunken seating, and then steps back up to the altar area- - very intimate. The reception was at the Bancroft Hotel in Berkeley, in a space that reminded me of a large, cozy library/study complete with huge fireplace. Dinner was Spanish paella, complete with cheese and bread platter, olives, and sangria. Dessert was coconut wedding cake and 4 other types of flavored layer cakes, all made by Ani's mom and aunt. Everything was delicious! Fun things at the reception included a wedding trivia game adminstered by Brian and Ani, a slide show of the two of them, and a "photo booth" in a corner complete with remote control so that the guests could take photos of themselves. (Can't wait to see that photo album!)

Sun Feb 7:

Dim Sum (#3) at South Sea Seafood Village in Sunset with family, including cousins Ging and Billy and new baby Damien, Uncle Chuck & Aunt Denise (Chuck's my mom's cousin). This was the most interesting Dim Sum place, as you ordered everything a la carte from a checklist menu (much like sushi), and they brought it to your table instead of carts around the restaurant. We also tried some specialty teas - gingseng and lychee flavored. 7.5-month-old Damien stole the show, with everyone wanting their turn to play with the baby. We visited Uncle Chuck and Aunt Denise's house in the neighborhood after lunch - what a beautiful view of San Francisco from their back deck!
Drive into SF for some quick sightseeing stops so my Sis could get some sights in before her flight back out. Drove down the curvy part of Lombard Street, walked along Fisherman's Wharf to see the (very few) sea lions at Pier 39, drove through North Beach/Little Italy, then headed to my Uncle Kai and Aunt Jackie's in Hercules for dinner.
After settling in, D, Sis and I headed out to dinner with Cousin Ian for the taco truck experience. (The "adults" were not as adventurous.) Ian has the taco truck culture down, so we put our complete trust in him, and it did not disappoint! The truck we visited was Mi Grullense, with a partner truck of same name on the other side of the parking lot. Ian said the usual truck was better, so we tried tacos from that one, and D ordered a burrito from the partner truck. Yum!
After tacos, we headed into the Mission district for a quick stop at Bi-Rite Creamery before taking Sis to the airport to catch her flight. Flavors we tried included salted caramel, mint chip, and coffee toffee. The salted caramel was interesting, but perfect for someone (like me) who always needs that little bit of salty after sweet.

Mon Feb 8:

Outing to Muir Woods to see the big redwoods (and apparently the banana slugs were on the move, according to signs at the entrance to the park). The trees were so peaceful and majestic - amazing nature.
We headed to see the Jelly Belly Factory, but needed lunch on the way. Luckily we spotted (the only) In-N-Out Burger (in Marin County) off the interstate, so we made a stop so that D could experience his first "double double, animal style." I enjoyed my cheeseburger and strawberry shake.
Jelly Belly Factory Tour was interesting - I learned more about jelly beans than I ever knew (not that I started off knowing much about how they are made). Got our free samples, then headed back to Oakland for dinner.
We got into Oakland earlier than anticipated, so we had some time to spare before dinner. Perfect for a quick stop at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, which my uncle had suggested. The Cathedral was very modern on the inside, with its signature horizontal fins to let in natural light all along the exterior walls. The space was inspiring, even on a cloudy, rainy evening.
Dinner was at Binh Minh Quan Vietnamese Restaurant in Oakland - whole roasted catfish, beef salad (like carpaccio), fish soup, frog legs (yes I tried a bite, yes tastes like chicken), and another stir-fried beef dish. All good.

Tues Feb 9:

Headed to San Mateo area for the day to meet up with my high school friend Wendy. Had lunch at a GREAT Mongolian hot pot restaurant, Little Sheep, in downtown San Mateo. We got the half spicy, half original broth and all kinds of meat and veggies to cook in it. It really hit the spot on a cool but sunny day. We walked down to a little Taiwanese restaurant, China Bee, for jelly tea afterwards.
Wendy had to get on a conference call in her car (a mobile working day) for a bit, so we found the San Mateo Japanese Tea Garden while she did that. Then we all headed to Half Moon Bay State Beach to see the ocean and enjoy the sunny weather (we were expecting it to rain, but it didn't after all!). We got some gorgeous pictures, stopped in downtown Half Moon Bay for some coffee and dessert.
We headed back to El Cerrito to meet up with our family for one last dinner at Jac's Asian Bistro. Talk about Hong-Kong style Cantonese comfort food! All of the usual suspects, hot soup, chow fun, salt and pepper fried short ribs (YUM!), egg pancake, fried rice hot pots, oh it was all so good. It was such a great way to end our trip.

General notes:

Thank goodness for our TomTom - although it didn't always pronounce the names right (Spanish names esp., e.g. "San Hwah-zay" for "San Jose"), it got us where we needed to go.
Time to get back to the gym - just in time for Lent!
I love my family - got to visit both mom's side and dad's side and had a great time seeing them all. Such a blessing!
There's still so much to see (and eat) - guess we'll have to save some for next time.
Speaking of that, when are we going again?? :)

My photo albums:

SanFran Part 1

SanFran Part 2

HappyValentine'sDayHappyChineseNewYearHappyFatTuesday

2010-02-16T11:46:00.003-05:00

It's been a crazy but fun two weeks, with no time to blog! I'll start by saying that I'm working on my San Francisco trip recap, but wanted to go ahead and record what I've been up to.

We were in San Francisco Feb 3-10 for a family wedding and sightseeing. My cousin Brian got married in a beautiful, intimate ceremony, and we welcome Ani and her family into ours! We ate a lot of food (see recap to come), visited a lot of family, and did I mention food yet?? Needless to say, I must have gained a couple pounds, and with today being Fat Tuesday, be assured that I'll be taking on (regular) exercise for Lent. We got back from our trip, I went back to work for half a week, then Chinese New Year/Valentine's Day weekend was here. Sis-in-law and future Bro-in-law, as well as MIL and stepFIL came into town to celebrate with us. Royal China Dim Sum was good, but I have to say after 3 really fabulous Dim Sum outings in San Francisco in the last week, this one just didn't compare. But Happy Year of the Tiger/Happy Valentine's Day to you all! I hope you get some pancakes for dinner tonight...laissez les bon temps rouler!

Dress shopping

2010-01-27T21:30:00.004-05:00

I'm just going to take a few sentences to complain to the cyber-world about the lack of pretty dresses in stores these last few months. I had the worst time trying to find a party dress back in November/December, and now that a have a wedding or two ahead of me this year, I'm once again trudging store after store trying to find something that is not (necessarily) a) a solid color b) shiny satin c) empire-waisted/bohemian d) ugly print or e) a cheap material that does not drape well (read: clingy and wrinkly). Oh yeah, and I forgot f) black! Perhaps I am looking in all the wrong places. But it's been a trial finding something to wear to a nice afternoon wedding. After about a week of on and off shopping, I have finally found 3 acceptable things to wear. Now to decide which to go with... here's a swatch of each without giving away the whole outfit...what's your vote? :)

Happy (Belated) New Year!

2010-01-20T21:33:00.004-05:00

Belated Christmas with my family.

Winter walk along the Augusta Canal.

My sis and me at the Augusta Canal.

Wow! I just realized it's been almost a month since I posted!

We had a quiet Christmas at home before heading to my parents' house for a belated Christmas/New Year's get together while my sister was able to fly in. We celebrated the new year at my parents' Chinese Association in Augusta. The evening consisted of board games, karaoke, line-dancing (mostly by the older adults), playing with the kids, and culminated in a countdown, balloon-drop at midnight (which we helped to rig the night before), and Dim Sum goodies after midnight. All in all a good evening.

Happy New Year!

After New Year's, we headed to Charlotte to visit with SIL and got some big news - SIL got engaged on New Year's Eve! (Congratulations, J & S!) So we were very excited to be able to visit with her and FBIL for the weekend. We got treated to some delicious, homecooked, vegetarian meals by FBIL, and had a good time hanging out.

Back to reality, work has been busy and full of deadlines, but that is a good thing. We are looking forward to heading out to SFO for my cousin's wedding in early February. Any suggestions for things to do, places to eat, etc. are welcomed!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T14:35:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! Peace and joy to our family and friends near and far. We hope you get to spend the day remembering your blessings over the year and enjoying the Christmas spirit.

DH and I enjoyed the midnight service last night at Northside UMC, and we're spending quiet day at home with presents, food, and lots of couch time. We'll get to spend some family time next week with my side once my sister is able to fly down. Looking forward to next week! Happy Holidays!

Ornaments - part 3

2009-12-22T23:58:00.003-05:00

Today's ornament theme is kitty ornaments! These are ornaments we picked up to honor our feline friend, Thoth. Here he is in the living room, where he likes to admire our Christmas tree. Thankfully, he has no interest in climbing or eating our tree!

This is a cute one that I found shortly after we adopted Thoth. It's made of wood, and the part you can't see is that the torso is hollow with a jingle bell inside.

This is another cute one that's a Hallmark ornament. I thought it would remind Thoth about how important it is to be a good, angelic kitty so that Santa Paws will bring him good treats on Christmas! :)

Other than working a few days this week, I've been baking cookies and writing holiday cards. I plan on making a nice pork tenderloin for our Christmas dinner, so I need to hunt for a good recipe! Suggestions welcome!

Ornaments - part 2

2009-12-21T22:26:00.005-05:00

Today I'm highlighting some gifted ornaments.

This glass house with the "Department 56" hanger was given to us my my MIL when we moved into our first house.

This glass Christmas wreath was given to us by my FIL and SMIL when we moved into our first house as well. I believe they got it in Vermont at a glass factory they visited while on a trip. (The name is on the box that I store it in, but of course, that's already back up in the attic.)

This beautifully cross-stitched and beaded ornament was made by our dear friend, Connie. We had a crafty little group going for awhile back in college, and we did a handmade ornament exchange one year. I still love looking at it when I bring it out every year, and it also reminds me of my dear friends, too!

This is a terra cotta ornament, from Florence, Italy, that our dear friend Cyndi brought back for us after she worked there for several months. He has such a jovial face! It reminds me of all the fun game nights and dinner parties that we've had together over the years, and also a reminder that the season is a time to remember all of the blessings we've had over the last year.

On a bit of a side note, but in keeping with the season, I was so pleased to find out that our family was blessed with a new baby cousin yesterday! Congratulations, An and Eric, and welcome, little Jacob, into our family! A wonderful Christmas present, indeed!

Ornaments - part 1

2009-12-20T21:50:00.007-05:00

In honor of Christmas week, I thought I'd blog about some of the meaningful ornaments we have on our Christmas tree. We like to get ornaments to commemorate where we've traveled or things that have happened in our lives. It makes the tree become sort of a way to document and reminisce what we've done over the years. Here are a few of the ornaments from our beginnings - when David and I got married:

This was our first Hallmark commemorative ornament, 2002 for the year we got married. It says "Our First Christmas 2002" with a couple embracing inside a heart. (Aww...isn't that sweet?)

We spent our first Christmas married down in Fort Lauderdale with DH's cousin's family. Highlights of the trip included being with his cousin's kids (who were about 3 and 5 YO at the time - always fun to be around kids at the holidays!), stone crab claws for Christmas Eve dinner, visiting the beach on Christmas Day, sailing out from the intercoastal waterway out into the open sea on Christmas Day, and looking at Christmas lights on palm trees! This orange (which was really hard to find!) reminds us of the great time we had in Florida!

And a little bonus - my Christmas cactus started to bloom this week. Here's the first bloom, all opened up today!

I hope all of you out there have a wonderful and safe Christmas! More ornaments to come tomorrow!

O Tannenbaum

2009-12-13T10:52:00.004-05:00

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,
wie treu sind deine Blätter!

We got our live tree up this weekend! It's petite, but beautiful - I think DH found the perfect tree. We were able to reach the top of it (without a stool), and all of our meaningful ornaments fill in the tree beautifully without even having to bring out the generic metallic balls to fill in the blank spots! I was totally prepared to not have a Douglas fir after DH warned me that he thought most places would not be carrying them this year (thought he had heard about some growning problem with them), but thank you, Home Depot, for still having a small section of them. We've always gotten a Douglas fir. I guess what I like about them (over Fraser firs) is that they are fuller, you can hide the lights better in them, and it looks more like the artificial tree I had growing up. It's a tradition I am pleased we were able to keep. O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum! Du kannst mir sehr gefallen!

Kicking off the Holiday Season

2009-12-04T21:55:00.010-05:00

DH and I attended Red and Green Scene last night at Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery, the AIA Atlanta holiday party which was in partnership with USGBC, ASID, IIDA, and ASHRAE Atlanta this year. When I bought tickets about a week ago, there were about 400+ people attending. At the party last night, I heard there were over 700! We had a great time visiting with professionals, friends, vendors, acquaintances, and even met a few new folks. The food was pretty good, although probably a little overly elaborate for heavy hors d' oeuvres (but hey, I feel I got my money's worth), and the lines for food and drinks seemed to be pretty long at times, but hey, they were serving a *bunch* of people. In light of the fact that my office, and probably many others out there, decided to conserve and not host fancy holiday parties for their employees and/or clients this year, we enjoyed our one "fancy" party of the year. Entertainment by the band, Kingsized, along with Two Dames Aflame Burlesque Troupe was great as well as fun! There was a party photographer as well as other friends with cameras at the event, so hopefully I'll have some better ones of me and David soon. That's us with our friend Vanessa above, who is a rep for a flooring company. I hope that all of you out there have a fun, safe, and memorable holiday season this year!

A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear little sister, Lena, today! Love you!

Weekend in Atlanta

2009-11-17T10:25:00.003-05:00

We had a great time with family in town this past weekend! I sort of felt like an Atlanta tourist on Saturday. MIL, step-FIL (aka Bonus Dad), SIL, step-SIL (aka Bonus SIL) and stepniece (aka Bonus Niece) came to Atlanta to visit. We went out for Dim Sum, visited the Georgia Aquarium, had late lunch at The Varsity, went to a GT Volleyball game, and then the "kids" went out for coffee and dessert at Cafe Intermezzo while the grandparents put niece to bed. All in all, it was a fabulous weekend with a whirlwind of family and friends joining us intermittently. Bonus Niece had a great time, I think (they also visited Zoo Atlanta and Imagine It Children's Museum while I was at work on Friday), and she is the cutest little girl I have ever met!

Susan G. Komen follow-up

2009-10-31T16:28:00.004-04:00

We had a great time at the Susan G. Komen walk last weekend! Although it was cloudy, damp, and slightly windy, we managed to enjoy ourselves, get a couple of freebies, and enjoy the company of many others as we walked the streets of downtown Knoxville. We also celebrated SIL's birthday in style - we went to an awesome German restaurant for dinner where she was serenaded by our waiter on accordian and a kitchen guy on trombone. They played a German polka on the way to the table, Happy Birthday, and then topped it off with Rocky Top since we had already been talking about the Alabama/Tennessee game throughout dinner with the waiter. It was great!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Our in-residence Halloween kitty, Thoth, will be thrilled to greet trick-or-treaters at our door tonight. My candy basket is full, apple pie is baked, and we'll be joining some friends to watch the GT/Vandy game later. Go Jackets!

2009 Komen Knoxville

2009-10-07T11:05:00.005-04:00

I'm going to be participating in the 2009 Komen Race for the Cure in Knoxville on October 24th. My SIL decided that this is how she wanted to spend her birthday, so DH and I are on Team Love Cake with her! If you are so inclined, please consider supporting me as we support a cure for breast cancer! See my donor page.

The last time we participated in a Susan G. Komen was in Honolulu with my cousins in 2007, just before a family wedding. As you can see in the group photo, we had a blast, and my cousin's MIL is a cancer survivor! I'm looking forward to being at World's Fair Park, since the last time I was there was 1981 for the World's Fair.

Skateful Weekend

2009-09-28T20:38:00.005-04:00

I had a really great weekend! Despite the floods of this past week, deciding not to go to Big Spring Jam in Huntsville so DH could see Silversun Pickups, and more rain this past Saturday, our garage dried out just fine, and we didn't get anymore rain in there over the weekend. To reward our great patience, God gave us an absolutely gorgeous, sunny Sunday! Plus, I finally finished my meds and finally (I hope, fingers crossed) have gotten over my dual ear and sinus infection (double-yuck!).

Friday night, we saw our fave GT Volleyball team defeat NC State! The girls were as awesome as usual, and it was also alumnae night, so we saw 33+ former GTVB women recognized during the break!

Saturday night, we went to see the sneak preview of Whip It, a movie that is opening up next weekend about a girl growing up in smalltown Texas with a former beauty pagent mom, who finds her niche in the Austin roller derby. It's the first movie that Drew Barrymore has directed, and she also acted in it as one of the "Hurl Scouts" - the main roller derby team featured in the movie. I thought it was a really enjoyable film, and also got a cool t-shirt that reads: "WHIP IT - BE YOUR OWN HERO," complete with an image of a 2x2 rollerskate. Bonus!

Sunday morning, we got to see our former GT Wesley Foundation campus minister, Rev. Bridgette Young, preach at the Emory University ecumenical service in Cannon Chapel. We were very excited to be able to see her in action as well as briefly visit with her, as she recently moved to Nashville to take on a new position as the new Assistant General Secretary for Campus Ministry in the Division of Higher Education, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. She was not only our campus minister, but she also married us almost 7.5 years ago! And she told us that we were truly the happiest couple she has ever married, because we genuinely liked being around each other. I thought that was such a great compliment! The service was wonderful, and I especially loved hearing the Voices of Inner Strength (Emory's gospel choir) and their performance of our closing song, Flow to You. Truly an inspirational way to get my week started!

Sunday afternoon and evening, we continued our skate-themed weekend by going to watch the Southern Fried Smackdown - the first regional roller derby that the Atlanta Rollergirls have ever sponsored. It was some awesome action, and those girls skated their hearts out. There were teams from Texas, Kansas, Florida, Tennessee, and of course, Atlanta. The trophy was also pretty awesome - the Southern Fried Smackdown logo cut into the bottom of a cast iron skillet - it was impressive! Way to skate, girls!

Catching Up & The Exciting Adventures of Thoth

2009-09-14T13:02:00.008-04:00

Okay, I'm clearly behind here. Let's see if I can recount the goings-on over the last few weeks...

Shortly after we returned from Houston, we received word that David's Grandmother Clo was not doing well. Basically her heart was wearing out, and she was not getting enough oxygen. Dear Grandmother Clo passed on August 29th*, and we quickly made arrangements to be in Cullman, AL, for her funeral on September 3rd*. She lived a good, long 94 years, and I know she is happy to be with Grandaddy Art after being without him all these years. I feel truly blessed to have known her. We did have a great opportunity to hear stories about her life, and to help start clearing things out of her house. It's quite a task when someone has lived in a house for over 40 years! (Another adventure, for another post).

Meanwhile, back at the "ranch," our kitty, Thoth, had somehow managed his escape out of the house while we were packing the car Thursday morning to leave. We were gone Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday, returning at about 11 pm. I was outside the front door peeking in the sidelight and saw no cat. Unlocked the front door and stepped into the foyer and still no cat. Went into kitchen and saw food bowl, still piled up with food as we had left it. (Begin PANIC!) I turned to yell out to DH, "The cat is NOT in the house!" Of course, DH had to say, "That, or he's dead somewhere in the house." Yeah, not a great thought, although it would be highly unlikely that he just dropped dead in the house right after we left and didn't touch a bite of his food. SIL and doggie had already planned to spend the night at a friend's house to visit, so she and the doggie headed out to assist in our kitty recovery efforts. Meanwhile, I searched behind all closed doors in the house to make sure he wasn't trapped in a closet somewhere, and DH searched the grounds shaking the kitty treats (which doesn't normally work, but it was worth a try since it had been a few days). I resigned to going to bed because I was exhausted and still suffering from clogged sinuses. We left some kibble and water on the front steps, and left the front door open so we could glance out of the storm door occasionally. DH stayed up and watched movies and checked outside the front door periodically. At about 2:45 am (Sunday), I felt a cat being dropped next to me in bed! DH happened to look outside, and Thoth was sitting on the front steps. He immediately started meowing when he caught sight of DH, and then immediately purring after he walked in the front door and DH picked him up (if you know our cat, this is unusual!). (End PANIC!) Other than being a little dirty, he was just fine. He spent the better part of Sunday either grooming or napping. And being very loving (also unusual!). We enjoyed it while we could. I was glad that he appeared very happy to see us.

Overlaid on all that, our dear friend Cyndi was returning from Denmark a month early, due to the illness of her Aunt Kaye. Unfortuately, Aunt Kaye passed away a few days before she returned. Despite the consequences of her early return, we were still very happy to finally see her after a long year away, and met her at the airport and visited with her parents and brother at the same time. We were also able to stop by her house and have dinner with her family ("Crazy Chicken" - again, another story for another post) on our way back from Alabama, so that was also an enjoyable time despite everyone's sadness.

This past week, we've enjoyed a few GT volleyball games with the restart of the season, the last of the Louvre exhibit at the High Museum, an Australian Rules Football game. I also participated in the Corporate Challenge 5K walk last week, and finally rejoined the CRC after a little hiatus, so I'll be working off a little weight I put on earlier this year by being holed up studying for my AREs. (Thank goodness they're over!) On that note, I, along with two other coworkers, made it in to the "Achievements" column in our local Atlanta Business Chronicle. Nice recognition!

*Update - I got the dates a week off and corrected them.

Houston = humid but fun

2009-08-26T16:51:00.006-04:00

DH and I had a whirlwind long weekend in Houston. It was the convergence of many relatives. Simply put, several convenient coincidences allowed members of both my mom's and dad's side of the family to be there while we were. This meant herding ~~cats~~ ~~bunnies~~ (my cousin Justus has 2 house bunnies, Badger and Peppercorn) relatives, several cars, big meals out, and random sightseeing - all typical at my extended family reunions/vacations.

Highlights from our trip:

Thursday: We arrived mid-morning in Houston. After a quick stop at my aunt's house, we headed to lunch at Ninfa's on Navigation (awesome fajitas and homemade tortillas), a trip to the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, taking photos of ducks and ducklings at my cousin's girlfriend's office park pond, visiting my maternal Grandma and Grandpa's resting spot, a big Chinese dinner with family at Fung's Kitchen, and hole-in-the-wall Mexican shaved ice.

Friday: Breakfast and coffee at Brasil, an outing at the Menil Collection (including the Cy Twombly Gallery, Rothko Chapel, and Dan Flavin Installation), hanging out at my cousin Justus's apartment (where we stayed), visiting cousins Eric and An's place (playing with doggie Skyy), and attending my cousin Marina's Rehearsal Dinner at Cafe Ginger.

Saturday: Early morning play time and photo shoot of the bunnies and cousin Justus, breakfast at Baby Barnaby's, a walk downtown to see some of the skyscrapers (yes, nerdy architect stuff), coffee at "The End of the Universe", a visit to the Beer Can House, and, of course, my cousin Marina's wedding at The Houston Club. The bride and groom were beautiful and handsome (respectively) and a great time was had by all! (We also played a late game of Ticket to Ride, which I actually won! So of course I had to add that in there.)

Sunday: I took an early walk with my cousin and his girlfriend through their Montrose neighborhood and took some photos while DH caught a few more winks, then we headed to Laredo Taqueria for some late breakfast (excellent tacos and homemade tortillas!), a group of cousins headed to the theater to catch District 9 (interesting) and took us by a Jamba Juice (to satisfy my craving - they really need to open some up in Georgia!), a quick stop at the Williams Water Wall and Galleria Mall before another big Chinese dinner at Confucious Seafood Restaurant with the family, then a cousin outing to see the Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders - our first ever MLS game!

Monday: We hopped onto a flight at the crack of dawn and got back in to work in Atlanta at noon. (Thanks, Justus, for getting up so early!)

Click on the images below to see my photo albums:

Houston - Part 1

Houston - Part 2 - Marina and Nicholas

Houston - Part 3

Busy Bee

2009-08-10T12:34:00.004-04:00

Not much to post about lately, just life going on as usual - house projects, work projects, weekend visitors, movie outings, and my arch-nemesis, house cleaning! I did get a new camera backpack and camera strap to try out. We're taking a trip via airplane soon, so I thought it would be a good time to test out the camera backpack. I searched all over the internet trying to find one with easy access, sleek design, and good price. In addition with some feedback from friends, I decided to go ahead and get one with a small laptop sleeve in it as well (even though I don't have said laptop yet) and room for at least a shoe-mount flash and maybe 2-3 other lenses (also don't have those yet). I ended up ordering the Kata DR-466 Digital Rucksack with Reflex E camera strap. Additional bonus: there's a $15 rebate currently for the backback I ordered ($20 if you get a more expensive one). The camera strap comes in three sections - a cushy neck section, and then two straps that go on either side of the camera. There are release clips that allow you to remove the neck strap and hook the two ends to D-rings on the backpack straps, transferring and distributing the weight of the camera to your shoulders through the backpack straps and relieving your neck. The neck strap portion has two small zippered compartments - one on either end. I can fit my USB SD card reader and my tiny Nikon ML-L3 wireless remote control in there nicely. I could also put an SD card in there, but with a 16 GB card, I don't really need to carry around extra memory! I did read many online reviews before purchasing, and one thing that I already knew was that the Reflex E strap by itself could be a bit long if you are short, which indeed it is, but at the same time, the end lengths are perfect when you hook it onto the backpack. Really, I think I need the neck portion shortened. But the strap by itself does allow you to carry the camera cross-body and lift the camera to take a photo without having to shimmy your arm back out of the strap or shimmy it around your in order to lift the camera up to eye-level. Thought it was a pretty cool system, so I'll have to review it once I use it more.

Me testing out the new camera backpack and strap with my assistant, Thoth.

Some great bee shots that DH took the other day as they buzzed around our driveway hydrangea - you can see the pollen on the bee's rear in the second photo.

Stamp happy

2009-08-05T14:22:00.005-04:00

Not a craft project...I got my official Registered Architect stamp today. Actually, another co-worker and I both got our stamps today, so we had a little fun testing them out. Don't really plan to be using it any time soon, but you can be sure to see them on our Christmas cards this year! :)

Tree Removal

2009-08-01T12:53:00.005-04:00

Late Sunday night during a heavy rain storm, one of our silver maple trees fell in our driveway. We were very thankful to have a few friends that offered to help with either a chainsaw or truck. In the end, our friend Adam came by this morning with both to help us cut it up and haul it to the county landscape waste area. Luckily, the tree missed the house, just made a very small dent in the back of my car trunk where a small branch hit it, and didn't damage the driveway. It was the last of three major branch trunks on that tree, and we knew it was starting to rot at the base. Thanks very much to Adam and DH for getting this done!!

Before:

After:

Thanks for the flowers!

2009-07-17T16:47:00.005-04:00

I got these gorgeous flowers at work this afternoon - delivered by FTD. They are so beautiful! It did come with a note, "I am so proud of you!" but no name. Thanks to the sender - they made my day! :)

Update: Flowers are from my *fabulous* SIL! Thanks, Jenn! You're the best!

Call me Registered Architect!

2009-07-15T15:19:00.006-04:00

I got my FINAL PASS for my FINAL ARE in my inbox this afternoon! It's hard to believe after all the school and work and studying that I finally got through this exam! I am more relieved than anything that I will not have to be retaking anything in 6 months. It's been a lifelong quest and I am very proud to finally have achieved it.

There's still paperwork and money to be exchanged in the upcoming weeks, but as far as I am concerned, you can call me Ina Bachmann, RA! (Registered Architect, for those that don't know.) Bye-bye "Intern Architect," hello liability! Thanks to all of you who have offered up support, prayers, kind words, and good thoughts! :)

Orlando Part 1: Sea World

2009-07-10T22:01:00.003-04:00

Orlando

We arrived late Sunday evening in Orlando and enjoyed a great Cuban dinner at Bongos Cuban Cafe at Downtown Disney. We were able to stroll around the West Side area very briefly after dinner, as the shops were closing. But we planned to come back another day to check more of it out.

Monday morning, we took our time getting up and getting ready. I ran over to the resort grocery store to grab a few things for breakfast - milk, eggs, cereal. We finally got out the door around 11:30 am and headed to Sea World. We were met by a whole line of cars queued to get into the parking lot (as we expected). Luckily, the parking and tram part went quickly, and we were soon at the ticket booth. SIL works for A-B, so she had 1/2 price coupons for admission, which was very nice. We started by checking out the "Believe" Shamu Show, which was a great start to the day. Our seats were labeled as part of the splash section, but we never actually had any of the killer whales get close enough to our seats to get us wet. As hot as it was, it might have actually been refreshing!

After "Believe," we were getting hungry, so we headed over to The Terrace to grab a bratwurst sandwich to share (hoping it would tide us over for a little while) and water. SIL checked out the A-B store, then we headed over to the Clydesdale Hamlet to see the Budweiser Clydesdales. They have 6 Clydesdales in the barn there, and they were enormous! Beautiful horses to see in person!

Next, we checked out Shark Encounter. Then we headed for the sea lion and otter show, but it was already packed out. Made a mental note to show up really early for the next show. DH wanted to ride a ride at this point, so he and SIL headed for Manta. I usually like most roller coasters, but for some reason I was not in a roller coaster mood this day, and I was also uneasy about leaving my very nice and expensive camera in a locker, so I told them to go ahead and I would look around some other exhibits that I wanted to see while they were in line for Manta. I checked out the underwater sting ray tank at the base of Manta - it was pretty cool because you were looking up through the bottom of the tank and could see the undersides of all of the rays swimming around. Then I went to see the penguins and puffins and decided it was about time to head over to the sea lion and otter show to wait in line. The seating area was still closed off, so I walked nearby to Pacific Point to see the sea lions and seals. They were all basking in the sun and sleeping. One baby sea lion was trying to nurse, much to the protest of the mama trying to nap. DH and SIL called about then having gotten off Manta, and we met outside the Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island stage to wait for seats to open. After about 10 minutes, they let us in and we got pretty good seats. As folks trickled into the seats, a mime clown appeared and proceeded to deceive, harass (in fun), and mimic the crowd shuffling in. He would hold up fingers as if to ask how many seats a family was looking for, then motion them to follow him, then he would lead them past all the seats and out the exit on the other side! He went up to a family that entered with an elderly lady in a wheelchair, took over pushing the wheelchair for them, and zoomed her around the front until she finally turned around and realized that her daughter was no longer pushing her chair! And taking the cake was the elderly lady that showed up in an electric scooter. He hopped onto the scooter, standing and straddling her lap, proceeded to drive the scooter, shooing the crowd in front of him, around the front to a spot where she could park in the wheelchair section! He was a hoot to watch! Finally the show started, and as we learned, otters are not as easy to train as sea lions. But the show was fun, and we got to see 2 sea lions, an otter, and a walrus in action. The "sword fight" with the otter was pretty cute. And the trainers/actors did make the best of a couple of miscues with the animals.

DH and SIL went to ride Kraken next. I decided to sit that one out as well, and watched the Journey to Atlantis water ride for awhile, and checked out Manatee Rescue Dolphin Cove while I waited on them. The manatees were not that exciting, even though they were *slowly* feeding on lettuce. The dolphins were much more fun to watch. There was one side of the cove cordoned off for people who wanted to pay to feed some small fish to the dolphins. They had a nice overlook on the opposite side, so I went up there to watch the feedings. The dolphins showed a lot of personality - some would pop right up alongside the feeding area, allow their heads and sides to be petted, and some even purposefully splashed people! They are some smart and funny animals for sure!

After DH and SIL finished riding Kraken, they met me by Dolphin Cove and we walked the rest of the park. Stopped by the Sting Ray Lagoon and Turtle Point to see the big sea turtles.

At this point, it was about 5 in the evening, and we were pretty worn out and ready to head back. So we said bye to Shamu and headed home to wash up and get dinner. We ended up going back to Downtown Disney Marketplace to have dinner at Portobello Italian Trattoria. The food was pretty good, and we had a very accomodating waiter. Afterwards, we checked out the Lego store and World of Disney store. We scoped out a few things to think about purchasing, then headed back to get some sleep so we could get up early for Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. More about AK in Part 2!

Fabulous Fourth!

2009-07-09T11:57:00.004-04:00

We had a busy but great Fourth of July long weekend. I got up on the 4th at my usual crack-of-dawn hour to get DH and SIL to MARTA for the Peachtree Road Race. Although DH is still sporting a week-old broken rib, he walked it without problem. It was too bad he couldn't run - he actually got a group 3 number this year - best number ever! SIL had a group 6 number, so she ran and caught up with DH walking and they did the last bit together. After a brief scare and driving back home to find that my wallet had been in the glove compartment the whole time, I staked out my usual spot at the Colony Square fountain to watch. I am so proud of my PRR-ers!

We spent the evening at friends Steph and Chris's house for burgers and fireworks. I got to play with my new toy - a Nikon ML-L3 wireless remote control that I managed to pick up from Showcase during lunch on Thursday. DH and I got some great long-exposure shots of sparklers and fireworks. Can you see Chris spelling his name with his sparkler? So fun!

Sunday through Wednesday we spent trekking with SIL to Orlando to spend some time at the parks. We stayed at my parents' newly-renovated timeshare, so that was great! We spent Monday at Sea World and Tuesday at Animal Kingdom. Saw lots of animals, rode some rides, and luckily didn't get rained on until late afternoon Tuesday, right after the AK parade. I'll post more details and pics in a day or two!

New TV Setup

2009-07-03T12:49:00.006-04:00

Before:

and After:

It took a few hours over the course of 4 days, but we took our time and finally got our new TV stand put together. I think it looks great! Plenty of room for the Wii and accessories on the left side, center speaker and receiver in the center, and the other components on the right. The three drawers fit Will controllers, manuals, and remotes nicely. We like it very much!

Birthday fun

2009-06-18T17:34:00.003-04:00

David's birthday "burgers"

Blowing out the candles
Big bite!

We had a nice, small gathering to celebrate DH's birthday last night. We met up for dinner at FIGO Pasta in Virginia-Highland, then headed over to GT for Flicks on 5th, a series of movies being shown outside on 5th Street at Technology Square over the summer. Last night featured Slumdog Millionaire, which some of us had already seen. There were a couple of skips in the viewing, so those who saw it for the first time should definitely rent it and watch it again sometime. It was a little on the warm side, but not too bad. My birthday "burgers" turned out really cute, but really too much sweetness. Next time, I'll try making them with the mini muffin pan and smaller rounds of brownies so that they are more bite-sized and less sugar! Looking forward to spending some time this evening with our new TV and getting the DVD player hooked up so we can check out how a movie looks on it!

PASS #8!

2009-06-15T14:37:00.004-04:00

I had Pass #8 for Pre-Design sitting in my Inbox this morning - YAY! One left to go, scheduled for June 29th - Lateral Forces. It will be nice to get a break from studying in July...

Joining the digital age

2009-06-13T22:34:00.003-04:00

We finally made our new TV selection today. It not only took the DTV transition, but also the long, slow, failing of our current, 12-yr-old, 20" CRT to get us to join the digital age in TVs. (No, we still don't have cable.) In the end, after all the research, comparing costs between stores, reading specs, and dragging our feet, we decided to go with a 40" Samsung LCD, 1080p, 120 Hz, blah blah blah. Looking forward to its delivery sometime this week. I guess we'll be entertaining ourselves with DVDs and Wii in the meantime. (Unless you want to invite us over to watch TV.) Happy Early Birthday, DH!

Kitty Photo Shoot

2009-06-12T14:36:00.003-04:00

Playing with my camera is a lot more fun than studying, unfortunately. But this photo shoot with Thoth didn't last all that long. He had his back turned to me and gave me the silent treatment after a few minutes. These were longer exposure, therefore some of the blurriness. I think I got a couple good ones. Double-headed kitty turned out funny, so I'm posting it too.

Counter Service

2009-06-05T23:41:00.005-04:00

A couple of shots from our meal at Marietta Pizza Company this evening:

Pizzas coming out of the kitchen.

Our neighbor's pie and beer, and the beer taps beyond.

My slice and DH's stromboli - yum!

There's something to be said about sitting at a counter in a food establishment. A lot of times DH and I get a table, but every once in awhile, if a restaurant is really busy, there always seem to be two spots at the counter for us. I guess in my younger years, I remember the Aiken and Charleston Woolworth stores having a counter, but I don't think I ever ate at one. These days, my favorite counters in Atlanta are the ones at Ria's Bluebird Cafe, OK Cafe, and Marietta Pizza Company. There are also counter seats at Baraonda with great view of the pizza oven, but I haven't had the opportunity to sit there yet. Also, I am sure there are many others out there that I just haven't run across yet. (Suggestions welcome.)

When a place is really busy, we always seem to get good attention at the counter by the barkeep or whoever is running the counter. They always seem like the busiest person in the place, since they are waiting tables, pouring drinks, and working the register sometimes, but I have always had pretty snappy and attentive service. And I certainly do appreciate it!

Zen Cat

2009-06-03T22:17:00.002-04:00

I have too many photos to process through that I've taken over the last week - we attended some of the GT Baseball regional games. Alas, the bees succumbed to a good Southern Miss team. I'm a little sad that college baseball is over, but that just means we now have volleyball season to look forward to!

I've been meaning to post this for awhile. DH snapped this one of Thoth napping back in March. He appears very zen to me. That or a black hole. What do you think?

Siesta Key Pics

2009-05-25T23:57:00.004-04:00

Siesta Key/Sarasota, Florida

Okay, I finally got through the 600-some-odd photos we took and tried to pare them down. There's still a bunch, but hopefully they are somewhat interesting and enjoyable. Click on the photo to see them all. I am sure I'll be looking at them all week, still wishing I was at the beach! Enjoy!

PASS #7!

2009-05-25T17:17:00.004-04:00

I have so much to catch up on - golf lesson #3, my new stash from the bead show, our vacation to Siesta Key... but this was the best thing to come home to after a much-needed, relaxing, beach vacation, despite a few cloudy and rainy spells. This was especially a surprise, because out of all the exams I have taken, I came out of this one feeling the worst. The big man upstairs was definitely with me on this one. And it is much appreciated! Exam #8 is next Monday, so the updates may be a little slow in coming. I'll try to get some vacation pics up, at least. A Happy Memorial Day to everyone, and a special thanks to all the men and women in uniform who protect and have protected our freedom, especially my military friends!

Floppy Hat Day

2009-05-10T23:46:00.002-04:00

I can't remember the last time there was a Floppy Hat Day, but I know it's been several years. Back when I was in school, there was an annual Floppy Hat Giveaway Day in April at a Georgia Tech Baseball game. This weekend, we were thrilled to discover that Sunday was going to be Floppy Hat Day! We got there about 30 minutes before the game, and was able to snag our coveted white hats just in time - it was getting near the bottom of the box. Our collection is pretty complete now - I believe we have navy blue, macaroni yellow, pale yellow, and now white! I think we missed a year here or there way back when, but I think we have all the colors covered now. The team pulled through and got us our second win of the weekend at the bottom of the 9th, so we came out with a series win again f$u, which should get the team up in the rankings this week. Since it was the last regular-season home game, it was also Senior Day (3 seniors), Mother's Day (all of the players' moms got roses and got to stand on the field for pregame). Depsite a few showers intermittently during the game, it was definitely worth staying until the end. Go Jackets!

Adventures in Golfing - Lesson 2

2009-05-10T10:22:00.005-04:00

I had my second golf lesson yesterday. We started off by riding in our golf carts to the start of the first hole on Celebrity's golf course to learn how one actually starts a game. (Side story: Coach Jeanne has wanted everyone who has not driven a golf cart to have a chance, and drive with a passenger that has driven one before, so I haven't gotten to drive one yet! I first drove a golf cart on my Uncle's nursery property in Houston - I think I was maybe 11. It was the first thing I ever got to drive, and it was fun!) She showed us how the tee boxes work, how to read a scorecard for information on the holes, the yardages, etc. Then we drove back to the training facility for our lesson. We were missing one class member, and another class member didn't get the email, so we didn't go over our mental game quizzes this week - probably next week. We did some stretches using a golf club, then did a quick review of stance and our mini swing. Then we got to start working on building our power swing - full back swing, but stopping the follow-through just after hitting the ball (she calles this swing "some-none" because the back swing is above your hands, but you stop the follow-through below the hands, and the mini-swing "none-none" since you are not lifting the club above your hands). She had golf club shafts with a sliding tennis ball fitted on them. When you swing the "club" back, the tennis ball slides down toward the handle. When you swing and stop just past center, the tennis ball slides back down to the end and gives you the feeling of the weight of the golf ball being hit. This was an exercise to help us channel our energy into the ball. Then we did it for real, with an iron and real golf balls! That part was the most fun - actually starting to hit some balls, and with the "plumb line" technique she's showed us, they actually go pretty straight! Her goal is to have us hit the ball every time, and never miss. Coach Jeanne also stressed the importance of muscle memory and ending on good hits so your brain remembers the good ones. So we all ended our lesson when we felt we had hit several good balls in a a row, and have a few exercises to practice this week on our own. Up next week: the short game!

Happy Mother's Day to the moms!

Sublime revisited

2009-05-06T12:07:00.003-04:00

We made another stop by Sublime Doughnuts on the way to work this morning. DH has more of a descriptive review of the place the first time we went last week. Today, I tried two of the day-old doughnuts, which are buy-one-get-one-free: a S'mores doughnut (choc icing w/graham cracker crumb dusting and marshmellow in the center) and a Yin Yang twist (twist of regular and chocolate dough). Both were good cold, and after a 10-sec zap in the microwave at work, they were even tastier. Still did not beat the fresh strawberries n cream one I had last week, though. DH tried the honey glazed cinnamon twist, and it was very delicious! Not sure if he would rate it better than the caramel apple fritter he had last week, but I think they were both his kind of doughnuts. This place is going to be dangerous, as it is on the way to work...

ARE #8 scheduled!

2009-05-05T22:35:00.005-04:00

I've scheduled ARE #8 for 6/1. I was not wanting to study during my vacation time in mid-May, but ARE #7 prompted a small change in strategy for my test-taking. Since my feeling after General Structures was the worst of all the ones I have taken (you come out of these having no idea how you did, and like you've been whacked about the head for a couple of hours with some boxing gloves), I've decided to wait on my results before taking Lateral Forces (essentially part 2 of Structures). Normally one would want to take these back-to-back, since the material is related. If I passed GS, then I will take LF in late June. If I did not, then I'll have to retake Structures under the new 4.0 format in 6 months, which combines GS and LF, and that would render me taking LF useless whether I pass it or not in the current test format. Anyway, all I can do is wait on the results, and in the meantime digest as much Pre-design information (probably the most scattered and comprehensive of all the tests) as possible. Maybe being on a relaxing, do-nothing, beach vacation will actually help me get more studying done! Here's hoping...

Adventures in Golfing - Lesson 1

2009-05-04T09:35:00.002-04:00

I had my first-ever golf lesson on Saturday, with three more to go. I'm taking them with a group of women through AIA netWorking Women, a committee within AIA Atlanta that promotes teamwork and relationships between architects, designers, and partners in allied professions. The lessons are being held at Celebrity Golf Club in Tucker, and our instructor is Jeanne Dooley, whom I liked very much. In our first class, we learned about width of stance, body position, basic grip, arc of the swing, and practiced hitting with a mini swing. The hardest part was keeping the stance, body position, and mini swing in balance while standing on a half-round foam log! My lower back and rear were not surprising a little sore yesterday. Time to start working out those muscles, since I'll be using them the next few weeks. Next week, we work more on the swing and also talk about the mental game. Stay tuned!

Crafty Spurt

2009-05-02T21:39:00.005-04:00

I got the crafting bug this week, since I was taking a little break from studying for my AREs. I'm a new fan of Amy Butler, and happened across a few of her patterns that were discounted due to a little outer packaging wear and tear at Knitch last weekend. (Knitch is where DH bought me some wool yarn so I could knit a cool coordinating hat to go with my awesome new indigo blue winter wool coat for my anniversary gift - it's the traditional 7th anniversary thing.) So this week, I decided to try out one of the easier ones to feed my crafty itch. I made the toiletry/clutch bag (largest one) out of the Stash and Dash Bags. Since we are going to the beach in a few short weeks, I thought it would be handy to have a little wristlet that I could throw my wallet, phone, and maybe a few other small things into. Although I did not use Amy Butler fabrics, I think it still turned out pretty cute with these fun floral coordinates that I found at Joann:

Side 1:

Side 2:

I also made Amy Butler's Birdie Sling a few months back with the Amy Butler Ginger Bliss fabric (which is discontinued) that Val brought back from me from the big quilt show in Houston, but kept forgetting to photograph it:

The bottom fabric and lining (sorry no pic) is the Ginger Bliss, and the top is something I found at Joann to coordinate. It's been a handy shopping bag!

Another year older and wiser

2009-05-01T09:14:00.003-04:00

I had a great, not too eventful birthday, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Work went by pretty quickly. DH and I headed out for birthday dinner at Baraonda (link down on the right in my "Fave Eats" list). We shared the calamari appetizer, the Proscuitto di Parma pizza (best pizza EVER!), and of course, my free birthday dessert, tiramisu! Now I have had tiramisu many a time, and do have particulars about a good tiramisu (like, cream cheese is NOT a substitute for mascarpone!), but the one we had last night was one of the best, truly sublime pieces I have ever tasted.

After dinner, we headed over to Midtown Art Cinema to catch a special screening of Road to Roubaix, a documentary of the famous Paris-Roubaix, cobblestone-ridden, bike race in France each April. It was very interesting (certainly not something I would *ever* want to attempt!), and I can't believe the stamina of these riders that take on the race!

Speaking of sublime, we finally stopped by "the doughnut place" that several people have been telling me about this morning to grab some breakfast. Sublime Doughnuts is located at the corner of 10th and Hemphill, where the old West Campus Bookstore used to be by Tech. See that strawberries and creme doughnut pictured on the website - THAT'S what I had for breakfast this morning. Go try it - 'nuff said. Happy Friday!

Orchid Daze

2009-04-19T20:05:00.002-04:00

Orchid Daze at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Sorry for the lack of posting - been busy studying. Test #7 this coming Saturday. I've been meaning to post a link to these photos that DH and I took at the last weekend of Orchid Daze at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Enjoy!

March Madness, part 2

2009-04-08T23:13:00.004-04:00

Well, I actually won third place in the March Madness office pool! Whoda thunk? My $14 of winnings will at least pay me back for playing ($5), and my sister is claiming the rest, since she influenced me to put her Heels going all the way. First place went to a co-worker's teenaged son, who is probably going to spend his winnings on a video game or two. Second went to another co-worker, who paid himself back $5 for playing, then donated the rest to the beer fund.

DH and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on Monday with a nice dinner at La Grotta, a very nice and long-standing Italian restaurant in Buckhead. They are offering a prix fixe "Stimulus Menu," which was very tasty - a glass of wine, appetizer, and entree for $21.95! (There's also another location at Ravinia - theirs is called the "Bailout Menu.") Normally their entrees probably start at that price! The special is running through the end of the month, so if you're looking for a new place to try, we highly recommend it. For Starters, we tried the Golden Beet salad and Risotto del Giorno - both were excellent, but the Risotto was absolutely delicious (chicken and zucchini) and could have been a meal in itself. For Entrees, we tried the pork tenderloin scaloppini and the grilled marinated hangar steak - also equally delicious, but I really liked the hangar steak. I may have to go back for my birthday at the end of the month...hmmm... We had dinner here after our wedding 7 years ago, so it was a very nice evening of memories. Of course, we had to splurge a little - we got tiramisu AND creme brulee for dessert. Yum!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

2009-03-30T11:42:00.003-04:00

Wauka Valley Farm Sheep Shearing

We went on a little adventure yesterday with friends Bev and Rich to see a sheep farm do their biannual sheep shearing. It's a little farm in North Georgia, between Dahlonaga and Cleveland, called Wauka Valley Farm. We had a great time despite the unexpected chilly weather watching the sheep get shorn in the shearing barn, seeing the wool wares from the sheep (they know which wool comes from which sheep!), visiting the llamas and alpacas, and of course, lots of petting the sheep dog and sheep kitty. The farm sends off the fleeces that are not sold during shearing weekend and get it cleaned and carded. When they get the cleaned wool back, they dye the roving and sell it for spinning or other crafts. The colors they had were really beautiful, and I bought 4 ounces of roving that was dyed a mix of spruce blue and teal for my friend Val for only $10! (It was a lot of wool for $10!) We had a great time and didn't smell too sheepy at the end, despite the mud and mist. Click on Daphne above to see more photos. Baa!

Criss Cross Elegance Bracelet

2009-03-25T13:07:00.004-04:00

I took a class with B.J. Kahn this past weekend to make this beautiful beaded bracelet. I didn't get much done in the class itself (about half the flower and 1 inch of the herringbone weave of the cuff), but was able to get myself through the rest of the directions the next two nights. It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but the cuff actually splits in half and crosses itself underneath the flower and then rejoins into one band again. I think it turned out pretty well! This is was the model. I love going to Bead Bayou - it's such a cute little bead shop and everyone is so nice. Too bad it is so far away from my house - way up in Alpharetta, but then again, that's probably a good thing or else I might be broke!

PASS #6!

2009-03-23T11:36:00.006-04:00

What better way to brighten a Monday than getting another "PASS" in my inbox! So Mechanical & Electrical Systems is in the history books - yay! Next up - General Structures on April 25th. I've already been brushing up on statics - I sort of forgot how much fun it was. Maybe having an excellent structures prof in school helped. (Thanks, Prof. Gentry!)

We had a great weekend, between attending a friend's 40th birthday, spending a lazy afternoon with friends, and SIL in town visiting yesterday through Tuesday. I made an excellent cake on Saturday (butter *DOES* make it better!), but forgot to take a photo. You can pretend that it looked like this, minus the raspberries.

March Madness

2009-03-19T14:41:00.003-04:00

Ok, once again, I got sucked into the office pool. Due to tight economic times, I only entered one this year. My sister better cheer hard - I have her Heels winning the whole shebang, shindig, big dance, whatever you want to call it. Let the madness begin!

Do you know your U.S. History?

2009-03-17T23:44:00.005-04:00

My coworker, Milvia, is taking her citizenship test tomorrow to become a naturalized citizen, and will hopefully be taking her oath of citizenship tomorrow afternoon! I am so excited for her! I guess my parents went through all of this in some form, either before I was born or very young, but it has been interesting to learn about the process through her. I've been helping her with her history questions for the citizenship test that she will be taking orally tomorrow morning - they will only ask 10 out of a possible 100 questions that they are to be prepared for. I remember most of this from school, but, admittedly, there were some I either didn't know or had long passed from memory so I could make room for other useless bits of trivia (like stuff for my AREs - haha!). Milvia is a champ - she's learned it all like the back of her hand, and I am confident she's going to do great. Take a look at the Civics Questions, and see how many you remember!

Ides of March

2009-03-15T18:51:00.001-04:00

Today is the day DH and I celebrate Thoth's birthday - isn't the ides of March befitting to a black cat? Anyway, our beastie boy is about 7 years old now, 13 lbs. He spent the day napping, getting extra treats, and an outing outside to eat his favorite - fresh fescue. Here are some pics of my two boys out in the front yard. (And no, DH is *NOT* choking the kitty in the bottom left one!) If he were the cuddling type, he might have spent some time in front of the TV with me watching NCAA basketball today, but he chose instead to indulge in Kitty TV (aka the Window) getting in some good bird observation time. We had a good bit of rain this weekend, but the trees are budding and the birds are aflutter. Looking forward to Spring!

PASS #5!

2009-03-12T14:30:00.004-04:00

I just got PASS #5 for Building Planning in my inbox - YAY! That means all of my graphics portions are DONE! According to my friend Brian, that makes me an ARCHI----!

ARE #7 scheduled!

2009-03-11T17:54:00.002-04:00

General Structures has been scheduled for 4/25! This gives me time to make it through our anniversary, Easter, Tax Day (why did we decide to get married the week before taxes are due??), a project deadline at work, and *before* my birthday. It also gives me about 6 weeks to study, and since a lot of the Lateral Forces material is intertwined with GS, it allows me to get through all of the material (okay, ideally), and then schedule LF for a week or two after this one. Then all I will have left is Pre-Design! I'm still waiting on results from ARE #5 and #6 (which I just took, but I should be getting results in 2-4 weeks).

White and Gold Ribbon Day

2009-03-10T18:03:00.011-04:00

It was a beautiful day for a Ribbon-Cutting! I was able to stop by today for the opening of the Georgia Tech Women's Softball Complex, Shirley Clements Mewborn Field. The sun was out and everyone was excited and complimentary about Rosser's work on the job. To top it off, the girls won the first game, 2-1! Go Jackets! (Photos complimentary of DH.) I'm looking forward to the new stadium celebration on March 28th!

Snow, Lit(eracy) and Flip

2009-03-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'm having to play catch-up here. Let's start with the beginning of this week. We got snow in Atlanta on March 1st! (Happy Bday, Mom!) After a whole night and half a day of rain, fat flakes fell at our house from about 11:30 to 3 or 4 in the afternoon. We took Thoth out for a short adventure, but he did not like the big flakes landing on him and made a beeline back to the porch after walking out a few feet from the front door. Late afternoon, the snow slowed down and turned into sleet, and then the wind really picked up and melted/evaporated a lot away. The next morning, we only had a few patches left.

DH and I attended a free lecture Monday night sponsored by the GT Wesley Foundation as part of the Landiss Lecture Series, "Asking the Value Question in Science and Technology." The speaker was Dr. Stephen Prothero, professor at BU and author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - And Doesn't. He was a really easy speaker to follow and understand, and his topic was really relavant to the college campus and specifically to the mission of the Wesley Foundation, I thought. Without getting in to too much detail, his research boils down to the fact that although most Americans are "religious" in some form or fashion, they really don't have a lot of knowledge about religion, domestically, or in a world view (knowledge about world religions). He has a quiz that you can take testing you on your general knowledge of religion, and I found it to be a little challenging. I did buy the book and look forward to reading it, once I get these AREs out of the way. My summer reading list is becoming quite long...

After the lecture, we decided to join our friends Denise and Brandon, who are old Wesley friends that also attended the lecture, for a bite to eat. First attempt was Figo, but alas, they close at 9:30 and we just missed it. Just down the street is a new restaurant with gourmet, but affordable (except the Japanese Kobe burger at $47!), hamburgers, called Flip, which happened to be open until 10, so we just eeked in there. Denise and I had both been wanting to try it out, and usually they are packed out, so this was actually perfect. Between the four of us, we tried, the Flip Burger (D), brisket burger (B), cheese and bacon burger (mine - yum!), and chorizo burger (DH). All were quite tasty, from the reviews. We also tried two sides - the sweet potato tots (tasty) and tempura fried okra (cut lengthwise - good, but like Six Feet Under's better). The interior has a pretty cool red on white theme, with very sparse table settings (white on white) and brushed aluminum chairs and fixtures. We enjoyed it, and plan to try it again sometime.

And finally, I got through the week and took my 6th ARE this afternoon - Mechanical and Electrical Systems. It seemed to take me a little longer to answer these questions than the other M-P tests so far, but then there was problem-solving and calculations involved in order to answer the questions. All in all, it seemed about the same in difficulty as the others. So now I am waiting for 2 results to come in and 3 more to go! I'm looking forward to enjoying some fabulous sunshine outside for the rest of the weekend - the first warm one of the year - and dinner with friends at Scalini's tonight - yummy garlic rolls!

Photo shoot with Thoth

2009-02-26T10:28:00.006-05:00

Instead of talking about how I smelled gas in the house the other day, and DH got the demo guys to look at it, and they found a leak in the hot water heater and shut off the gas, and the gas company came to look at it and gave us a list of 3 things to fix before they turn the gas back on, and so we had no hot water or heat last night (not so bad, really), I thought I would entertain you with my attempt of self-portrait with cat last night...

Take 1: I'm looking at the camera. Thoth doesn't know what's going on, and he definitely didn't make it into the frame.
Take 2: Okay, I pointed the camera down a little more, got more of the cat in, but my hair fell in my face. Thoth still doesn't know what's going on.

Take 3: Thoth managed to struggle his way out of my arms and ran upstairs. Attempt to take one while he was on the bed. He knows what's going on now, and choosing not to look at the blasted flash box that mom is shoving in his face. Typical cat.
Take 4: This one got deleted. Cat was all over the place, I was laughing and had my eyes shut. Best not to share.

Take 5: DH came in to see what was going on, offered to take photo for us. Honestly, probably the best of the bunch. (Goes to show that sometimes it's just easier to ask for help.) I call this my "Wilson" portrait.

Take 5: Last attempt. Cat reluctantly obliges one last time before drinking water out of the faucet in the bathroom. He's definitely got that look - geez, are we done yet?

I'm hoping the gas situation is resolved by the time I get home from work, *fingers crossed*...

Same old, same old

2009-02-25T13:13:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging (although sometimes I don't think there's anyone reading this blog, anyway), but there has not been too much to report. DH was released from his contract at work due to lack of work, so he's been at home working on the house. It's really been a blessing in disguise, since he's been able to be there to supervise the demo, deal with the insurance adjustor, and get plumbing quotes for the drainage line that is going to need to be replaced between the house and the street. Joy. But at least I'm not having to take off from work here and there to meet people at the house for all this. So at this point, the insurance company has taken care of the demo for the most part, and given us a check for the replacement value of refinishing the den. Now we need to get the pipe fixed. Then we can put everything back. We'll get it done eventually...

We spent a great, low-key weekend with my SIL in Charlotte last weekend. Got to try 2 new breakfast places in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood - John's and Zada Jane's Corner Cafe. Both were great. Our waitress at John's (Greek-owned breakfast diner) looked just like Julianne Nicholson and was super-sweet. We had super service, and enjoyed our pancakes and grilled biscuits. I was also introduced to their cheeseburger omelette, which is exactly what it sounds like, minus the lettuce, ketchup, and mustard! Zada Jane's also had great pancakes, and we also tried their "Vegless Avenger" - a very clever name for an all-meat omelette. A superhero omelette it was, indeed! The rest of the time, we kind of chilled at her house, did laundry, played Wii, and hung out with her BF and BF's dachshund, Eli. Looking forward to a low-key week ahead, with my next ARE (Mech/Elec) coming up a week from Saturday!

Christmas in February

2009-02-10T22:38:00.006-05:00

We spent a great weekend in Aiken (SC) visiting with my parents and sister. It was sort of a late Christmas gathering, as DS decided not to fly home during her New Year's holiday due to unreasonable airfare. Actually, it was nice to celebrate on such a wonderfully warm weekend, and in fact, my parents proposed that we just start celebrating it later, as a Christmas/Chinese New Year get-together, which sounds great to me! We spent most of Friday evening catching up, playing Wii, eating our traditional Chinese hot pot dinner (aka Chinese fondue), and of course, exchanging gifts. Saturday was so warm, we went wandering around downtown Aiken to see the shops and what's changed since last we were home, and then took a walk through Hopeland Gardens. We took some very nice family photos, thanks to the nice sunshine! Here are some of the shots, and also the very nice earrings by Jennifer Chin/Lush Metals that my DS gave me - thanks, Sis!

PASS #3 and #4!

2009-02-03T19:50:00.000-05:00

I went into my local Prometric at the crack of dawn this morning to take my Building Planning test. It was definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I can pretty confidently say that I think I passed, barring some huge, unforseen something that I might have overlooked. After my 5:45 hour test, I ran home to grab some late lunch, then headed into the office for the end of the day because there was something I needed to check on for work. Opened my email, and lo and behold, my dear State of Georgia Professional Licensing Board contact had scanned and emailed me my last two score reports. I've been waiting over 11 weeks for the Building Technology one! Anyway, I am pleased to report PASS #3 in Building Technology and PASS #4 in Building Design/Materials & Methods. I am actually a little sad that I have finished the three graphics ones - to me they were easier to study for than the multiple-choice ones. Four down, one score in wait, and four more multiple-choice ones to go...

We'll be coming 'round the mountain when we come

2009-02-01T19:14:00.001-05:00

DH and I enjoyed a fun, short hike up Kennesaw Mountain yesterday. It was a beautiful day, one of the few sunny weekend days we've had in awhile. I needed a break from studying, and I've been wanting to do some hiking in the Kennesaw Mountain area. We started with the shortest hike - 1 mile up and 1 mile back down. The hike starts from the Visitor's Center, and ends up at the peak. It was steep in parts, but no steeper than other GA mountain hikes that we've been on. We got about three chances to see the Atlanta skyline on the way up. In this photo, we're at the parking lot rail near the peak that you can drive up to. (We hiked to this point, of course.) It was sort of nice to see a lot of other people hiking, too. In fact, there were no cars parked in this upper lot when we got there. Above my head is the downtown Atlanta skyline, and if you look straight up from DH's right ear, there's a mound in the distance - Stone Mountain. Just up from the upper parking lot, there are a few more stairs and a path up to take you to the actual peak. We found the U.S. Geological Survey pin, and then headed back down. I forgot to time us going up, but it took about 25 minutes for us to get back down. We enjoyed a little picnic with homemade chicken salad sandwiches, then headed home. We'll have to try one of the other trails next time.

Cheap Eats

2009-01-30T12:47:00.005-05:00

I have to admit that I really enjoy going out and trying new restaurants. In fact, we treated my FIL and SMIL to a nice meal at 4th and Swift the other weekend (NOT cheap eats), partly to celebrate FIL's birthday, but also partly because I have been dying to try their food. One of our friends is the Chef de Cuisine there, plus the reviews have been great. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. If I had the money, I'd be there for dinner every night. Some of our favorites that we tried were the brussel sprouts salad (never ate much of these, but I could definitely eat these again!), Three Little Pigs (pork tenderloin, homemade pork sausage, and pork belly with mac and cheese - need I say more?), and the seafood risotto. DH also had probably the best, non-Chinese duck that I have ever tasted.

That being said, with the economic crunch and all, I've been trying to buckle down on my food spending a little. I'm a little concerned with the way the building market is going, and worried that one of us could potentially lose our job, therefore I'm trying to save now just in case. It's so easy to go out and grab something for lunch or dinner during the work week, since there's not much time for cooking. So, I've been trying to have PB&Js for lunch during the week, stretching leftovers, trying to eat down the freezer. I've always been a fan of tofu, so I still try to stick with my "JimmyChow" diet (even though my former co-worker is now retired) - meat only one meal per day. I've added a little exception that bacon for breakfast does not count. I was reading CNN today and ran across this interesting blog: Poor Girl Eats Well. Some of her dishes look really good! And she's a Trader Joe's fan. I'm going to have to check out some of her recipes!

Happy Year of the Ox!

2009-01-26T09:45:00.003-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year to everybody - wishing you health, wealth, and happiness in the coming year! We had a great time meeting friends for a Chinese New Year Dim Sum gathering at Royal China yesterday. I was pleased to be able to hand out "hong bao," or red envelopes with lucky money, to our friends' recent additions. This is Aidan eyeing his new found wealth with his mom, Susan - isn't he a cutie? Hope to enjoy a few more Asian food outings this week with various friends. Also, my next ARE is next Tuesday, so I'll be studying a bunch this week for that. Wish me luck!

It's a bird, it's a cat, it's a birdie the cat pillow!

2009-01-19T11:59:00.005-05:00

Thanks to my friend Val who is an avid quilter, I have recently been exposed to the wonderful world of Amy Butler. She is a fabric designer and creates a lot of neat fabric lines especially for quilting. I found an easy and cute free pattern, Birdie the Cat Pillow, off her website and decided to try making one of these for Val's birthday present, since we both wanted to make one. Here he is and the birthday card that I also made:

I used the same flannel fabric front and back, with felt for the face. I modified the face a little by adding a little kitty nose and changing the straight lipped-expression to a smiling one. Isn't it precious? Now I need to make myself one! Speaking of cats, here's a pic of Thoth napping yesterday - ah, the life of a cat...

Here's looking at you!

2009-01-13T15:01:00.005-05:00

I was fortunate to attend a really nice luncheon today. One of my fellow female co-workers, Joanne, received a "Women on the Way" award from Atlanta Woman Magazine, and was able to invite a table of guests. It was in the Oceans Ballrooom at the Georgia Aquarium, with windows into both the whale sharks tank and the Beluga whales tank. I swear this one Beluga was posing just for me - here's lookin' at you, kid!

Beautiful Sunset and Extreme Home Makeover

2009-01-12T22:53:00.006-05:00

In case anyone missed it today, here was the sunset. We've had so much rain and cloudy skies in Atlanta these last few weeks, it was sort of nice to have to put my sunglasses on today. Also, there's a beautiful full-ish moon out tonight too - sorry I don't have a photo.

We're in full "Operation Demo" in our downstairs room. After all the rain we got last weekend, we had another wave of water that came through from the exterior wall/crawl space behind our laundry closet. We've probably got some foundation drain/french drain issues, or some issue with the retaining wall outside. Anyone know of any good exterior waterproofing/excavation companies? (Already been through the Aqua-Guard quote, but would rather have an exterior solution rather than an interior one.) DH cleaned just about everything out from the room over the weekend (two heavy things that the two of us together can't lift remaining), plastic-wrapped the opening from the kitchen to the downstairs, plastic-wrapped the air ducts. Tomorrow, we'll start removing some drywall. And oh yeah, did I mention my in-laws will be visiting this weekend? Fun, fun...

Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test

2009-01-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

I found this awhile back - started it as a draft and forgot to post it! I guess my results are quite telling - good thing I am doing what I am doing!

---

Your result for Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test...

Spatial

"This area has to do with vision and spatial judgment. People with strong visual-spatial intelligence are typically very good at visualizing and mentally manipulating objects. They have a strong visual memory and are often artistically inclined. Those with visual-spatial intelligence also generally have a very good sense of direction and may also have very good hand-eye coordination, although this is normally seen as a characteristic of the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include artists, engineers, and architects." (Wikipedia)

Take Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test

Unexpected extravagance

2009-01-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

DH and I, along with some of his side of the family, decided to keep Christmas pretty small this year. My family has never been one for extreme extravagance on birthdays, holidays, etc., but tend to give things that are needed, practical, and of good quality (quality over quantity, right?). I never had a problem asking for a good drill or sewing machine for Christmas from my parents, but that would be a big gift to me. (I do agree that SOs should not give vacuum cleaners and blenders for Christmas unless it is specifically *asked* for, i.e. "I want a pink Cuisinart Artisan Food Processor" - that is OK.) DH and I exchanged two small gifts each this year, and that was fine with me.

This past weekend, we took a little trip up to the North Georgia Premium Outlets (which I highly recommend) over the weekend, partially hoping to hit some after-Christmas sales, partially to catch a movie with friends that live up that way. I had heard a lot of good things (and good prices) about the Coach outlet store, which I had never been into before. If you know me, the trendy Coach bags you see in department stores are not really my thing, nor am I the type of person to spend that kind of money. Quality, but practical - that's me. Before going into the store, just to check it out, I told DH that *IF* I were ever to buy myself a Coach bag, it would be small, hobo-style, classic, one-strap, solid-colored (those who know me would probably guess the color correctly), with none of that stamped Coach logo stuff on it. Also, either a zip top or flap over the top so things wouldn't fall out. And of course, it would have to be something I could see myself using forever and a great price. (For me, a purse that I found on clearance for about $20 is a great deal.) Well, we step into the store, and I could immediately walk past most of the displays at first glance - not interested, too much pattern, awful (for me) color, enormous. Upon walking in to the back corner of the store where the clearance section is located, a very nice saleslady was quick to point out that all of the clearance items were an additional 50% off the marked price. This quickly piqued my interest (who doesn't like a 50%+ off sale?), and I quickly scanned the upper shelves that I could see, as the lower shelves were swarming with women who had that driven look in their eyes that was a mix of sensory overload, eye-candy bewonderment, and bargain-hunting frenzy. Top center shelf, nestled between two enormous tote bags, I spotted it. A little black leather hobo, single strap, single flap, simple contrasting white stitching, and silver buckle. Too good to be true, I thought. Once I was able to squeeze my way through the front line and reach up to grab it, I did a thorough inspection. The stitching is immaculate, the leather looks perfect, the whole thing felt really well-made. Now, the price...I flip the tag open - MSRP $218, Factory $199, red-marked $129.99, 50% off. For $65, I was sold. Plus, after my last ARE test just one week ago, I went out for retail therapy right afterwards to work off some lingering nervous energy, and didn't buy a SINGLE thing. I confirmed the discount with the aforementioned saleslady, and asked if there were other onces like it elsewhere in the store. "No," she said, "that's my last one - that's what we call a 'onesie' - a one-time deal." Now to convince DH... I found him floating around the store, muttering mostly about how he didn't like most of the bags and the ridiculous prices (a wristlet for $89??). I showed my find to him and said, "What do you think?" DH approved. If this is the only Coach bag I ever own, I am happy. I was very pleased with my find, and thought I got a great deal considering the quality of the bag. Yay, and happy late Christmas to me! I've only been using it for 2 days and I'm in love with it. It was worth every cent. I'm even considering giving it a name - suggestions welcome!

What Font Are You?

2009-01-05T17:11:00.004-05:00

"You are Times New Roman.
Some call you timeless - others call you a snob. Either way, you're a class act all around. Just don't take yourself too seriously."
---
Not sure if I agree with the results of this one. Maybe I'll retake it when I am in a different mood. Another silly quiz to pass some time away - enjoy!

What Font Are You?

Meal at The Shed

2008-12-31T10:05:00.004-05:00

Last night, DH and I took advantage of a $50 gift certificate (that expires today) and tried dinner at The Shed at Glenwood. It was a nice little place - plenty of seating (it wasn't that busy last night), quality food and drink selections yet casual, and great service. It's located in the new Glenwood Park neighborhood, which is one of those new Atlanta urban redevelopment areas - small retail mixed with housing and a neighborhood park.

I ordered from the Prix Fixe menu for the evening, while David ordered off the regular menu. The Prix Fixe included 3 courses, with two options for each. I started with the Roasted Beet Salad with Organic Vermont Goat Cheese, Orange Segments, and White Balsamic - I thought it was really good. It was made with heirloom beets, which I found quite tasty (two kinds - one sweeter, one milder), especially with a little goat cheese with each bite. DH is not a fan of beets, but tried them, sans goat cheese. My main course - Rigatoni with Housemade Pork Sausage, San Marzano Tomatoes, Ricotta - was really yummy. I really liked the pork sausage ragu with a huge dollop of fresh ricotta on top. The pasta was al dente (yes!) and there's probably enough left over for me to make two small lunches out of it! DH didn't think all the flavors went together well, but I enjoyed it. And my dessert choice was the Flourless Chocolate Cake, Orange Anglaise. A modest slice, very chocolately, with a thick chocolate layer on top and cake underneath. The cake was very crumbly in texture, but not dry. I liked the orange sauce - it was like eating orange-flavored chocolate. DH got a small plate of mixed olives to start (some better than others, a mix of tiny ones and a couple of huge ones), and ordered the large portion of Steamed Mussels, White Wine, Garlic Cream Sauce, Fries. The sauce was quite tasty - a creamy broth flavored with garlic, cream, and some lemon. It was great to scoop up some of the liquid as a chaser after each mussel. DH would probably rate them as good (but not exceptional) mussels. All in all, I enjoyed the atmosphere and service, and the food was good enough that I would try it again. Looking forward to the next season's menu.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Crafty Christmas follow-up

2008-12-30T13:20:00.004-05:00

Since the gifts have now been given, here's a pic of the two bracelets I made for Christmas gifts. The first one was from a pack of beads - turquoise oval nuggets, bronze bicone beads, and teal beads. The second one was my own mix of faux freshwater pearls (all I could find in my hurry, otherwise I would have preferred real ones) and clear AB beads, and aquamarine bicones. Hopefully the recipients will enjoy wearing them!

Also, here's Thoth sporting his Christmas bandana that I made for him last year:

We're planning to spend a quiet New Year's Eve watching the Peach Bowl (Go Jackets!) with some friends and having dinner. We are planning to try The Shed at Glenwood for dinner tonight, so maybe I'll write a review about that tomorrow. Took my ARE #4 yesterday - it went as well as can be expected. Still waiting on results from ARE #3, but I heard a bunch of scores were released by Prometric last week (they were doing some sort of quality control?), so hopefully I'll be getting my letter soon. I guess I'll be starting to study for the next one next week.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T18:51:00.002-05:00

DH and I are enjoying a nice quiet Christmas at home for the first time in our 6 years married. Last night we attending a Christmas Eve service at Northside UMC. The music was really good and we enjoyed singing all of the Christmas carols. I always enjoy flipping to the front of the United Methodist Hymnal and reading John Wesley's Rules of Singing. We sat around some good singers, and some people who weren't singing at all. DH and I were trying to make up for some of the slack. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the service when we wished those around us "Merry Christmas," that the woman in front of us turned and said to us, "We really enjoyed your singing." Ah, more people should follow John Wesley's rules!

We're working on a yummy dinner for two - grilled ribeye steaks, green beans, and sticky rice with mushrooms. I think we'll be having vanilla ice cream with apple bundles and cinnamon sugar cookies for dessert. I hope everyone out there is having a Merry Christmas!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - NYC

2008-12-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

(Sorry this took so long to post!)

Thanksgiving 2008 - Part 1

Thanksgiving 2008 - Part 2

Day One - Monday 11/24 - Arrived via Amtrak/MTA from Springfield through New Haven to Grand Central Terminal just before lunch. We managed to find our way to friend Ben's apartment in Brooklyn, where we ended up staying for two nights, due to our other friends catching a nasty bug on their drive up - we didn't want to get sick too! Thank goodness for friends, and we are certainly very grateful that Ben and Annelies didn't mind us crashing at their place. Plus, we got to spend some quality time with them, see their cool new apartment, and meet the two new adorable kitties! We spent the afternoon wandering around Midtown - we just decided to start at Times Square and work our way around from there. David made a stop at Midtown Comics, and I wanted to see the Hoffman Auto Showroom by Frank Lloyd Wright at Park and 56th, which is now a Mercedes-Benz showroom. (I missed it last time.) On the way, we ran into the Lever House plaza, which contained several fountains (the water was drained out due to the cold) of Sanrio character bronze sculptures by Tom Sachs! That was an unexpected treat! Once we found the showroom, the salesman that greeted us at the door (like we looked like were going to buy a Mercedes?) was very friendly when I asked if it would be okay for us look around the interior (yes, we're architects - the easy, generic answer) and take some photos. I asked if he knew what had changed since they acquired the space. He pointed out the original features and even the original furniture that FLW designed that is still in use by the sales staff! I thought that was pretty cool. We finally headed back to Brooklyn to have pizza at Grimaldi's with Ben and Annelies, one of the few coal-burning pizzerias still around, and looked around the pier down the street near the end of the Brooklyn Bridge, overlooking the river and downtown Manhattan. It was a nice view and we got some good night shots.

Day Two - 11/25 - Tuesday morning we headed up to the Upper East Side to meet up with Val and Tim at the Met. They were feeling slightly better, so they wanted to attempt some museum time. It was crazy busy (although perhaps the Met is crazy busy every day?) and we managed to check our coats and start exploring. We hit the back wing first so we could grab a bite to eat for lunch in the cafeteria. Then we took Tim through the Egyptian area so we could get to the American section (most was closed off for renovations, including the FLW room), so we could show him what we could get to in the American wing. We were able to see Tiffany glass, Stickley pieces, and a few other Arts & Crafts items. V&T took off shortly thereafter as they were still regaining their energy back from being sick and were ready to crash for a bit. David and I continued through the Early Christian/Byzantine area in the center, then the Asian wing on the upper right side before calling it quits. We spent about the whole day there, so needless to say, my feet were hurting! Still haven't hit much of the left wing - maybe next time. We decided to try Carnegie Deli for dinner - WAY overrated. Although the corned beef sandwich was impressive in stature, I was not impressed by the taste. We should have gotten pizza...

Day Three - 11/26 - We decided to move to the hotel with V&T today, since the parade was going to be EARLY the next morning and we didn't want to have to commute in from Brooklyn at the crack of dawn. Once we moved our stuff over to the hotel, we headed out for the MoMA. It was still out in Queens last time we were in NYC, so this was going to be our first visit, and our first look at the new building. They had some pretty great pieces, and we also got to see the Van Gogh exhibit. The VG exhibit was okay, but I thought the exhibit at the High was better, with more space in the gallery to move around. It was very crowded with not much elbow room. The building itself was very nice, with a sculpture garden in the courtyard. We left for lunch and came back to finish the other half of the museum. Had a great diner-type lunch two blocks away at the Astro Restaurant. We headed back to the hotel to bum around and rest up a little, then headed out toward the American Museum of Natural History to see the parade balloon inflation start up for the next morning. I think they call it "Float Night". We had plans for a late dinner just around the corner at Ocean Grill, so it worked out perfectly. One of the architects at work has a daughter that waits tables there, so were were able to meet up with him and his daughter served our table! The seafood was excellent - I had to get the scallops, but next time I am going to try the sushi! We turned in right after dinner, as we had to get up early to stake out our spot for the parade!

Day Four - 11/27 - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! We got up around 6:30 am and were able to get to our predetermined spot (as researched by Val) for good parade-watching at 51st and Broadway by around 7:15 am. (This is probably the absolute LATEST time to get out there and get a good spot - parade starts at 9 am.) We were at the SE corner, by the Stardust Diner, probably about 4 rows back. Luckily, we had a family with two small girls and another group with grandpa in a wheelchair in front of us, so it probably helped us short people see a little better than having all standing people in front of us. We made small talk with those around us, and had fun talking to the girls. One was sporting her Sponge Bob t-shirt, and was very excitedly anticipating seeing him in the parade. (In fact, she squealed the entire time Sponge Bob passed in front of us - it was very cute!) Finally the parade started, we saw the clowns, the floats, the balloons, the bands, and in particular, the Georgia Tech Marching Band! They were the second marching band to appear in the parade, just after the Snoopy balloon. We got video, Val got photos, we were able to see the drum majors and directors and call out their names since they were on our side of the street. They saw us and waved, so that was cool. And we got to hear them play Ramblin' Wreck as they passed us. What a treat! After Santa passed and the parade was over, we headed back to the hotel to rest and recover from standing for several hours in the cold, then headed back out to make a pilgrimage to B&H Photo and Video, where Val and I both got our Nikon cameras from. The store was a sight to behold! Each department was very organized, with its own help desk and number system for you to speak to a staff person. Once you decided to purchase something, you got a ticket to pay with downstairs, and your items are transported via an overhead conveyor belt system to behind the cash registers, where you pick up your package once you pay for it. I was told that this was the first time in 30 years that they were open on Thanksgiving, so lucky us! I hope they had good business! I highly recommend ordering any of your camera equipment from there - free shipping on a a lot of things, great service and fantastic prices. We then headed to Brooklyn to Val's Cousin Rick's for a nice, quiet Thanksgiving meal - delicious and a great ending for a great day!

Day 5 - 11/28 - This was our last morning in NYC. Since Val and Tim were feeling a lot better at this point, we wanted to hit a few more things for them before leaving town. The Travel Inn was reasonable and great, and they let us keep our car parked there (on-site, free parking all week!) up until 5 pm after checking out! We took V&T to see the windows at Macy's. The 34th Street side had scenes from Miracle on 34th Street, and the Broadway side had the theme "Believe" with a few interactive windows - heat sensors from putting your hand on the glass, I think. I loved the Believe windows - lots of neat imagery and ideas. We then headed to Little Italy/Chinatown for a quick walk-through and pizza at Lombardi's, another coal-burning pizzeria. I think this place is by far the best place we've been to in the city. (I'll take other suggestions for next time, but I think Lombardi's has officially made my "can't-miss" list.) We packed up the car and left the city after lunch, headed to Val's grandmother's in Winchester, VA, to spend the night.

Day 6 - 11/29 - We had a great but short visit with Val's grandmother and mom. We drove the rest of the way back to Atlanta on Saturday, huddled around the Sirius radio and Val's phone waiting for football updates, as our beloved Yellow Jackets were playing the dreaded uga (sic) in the annual Governor's Cup that afternoon. The ACC games are apparently broadcast on XM, so we could only get updates. Luckily, Val's mom was watching back in VA and calling with the updates. It was a bit of a nail-biter toward the end, when we could get a very static-y AM station passing through Charlotte, but in the end, we were victorious! Go Jackets! We made it home in the evening to a very meow-y but loving kitty that was glued to my hip for the next few days.

All in all, a great trip. Not enough time, as usual, but I guess that leaves more for next time!

Elf Yourself!

2008-12-19T09:51:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Crafty Christmas

2008-12-18T21:22:00.004-05:00

I've been studying, writing holiday cards, studying, shopping, studying, making crafty Christmas presents, studying... do you see a pattern? I made two easy but nice (I think) jewelry pieces for MIL and SMIL last night. Not posting a pic since there's a chance MIL might be reading... anyway, I'll post a photo of them next week. We're visiting DH's Alabama family this weekend, so trying to get things wrapped up tonight.

Also, I found out today that two of my cousins are expecting babies one month apart from each other! I am very excited for them and looking forward to their exciting summer next year. This may warrant another visit to the west coast...

ARE #3 scheduled

2008-12-11T16:23:00.002-05:00

Wow - there was a corner on the market for December test appointments! I couldn't get a reasonable time slot (really, NO time slots, but that's probably because it's almost a 6-hour test, so they probably only do a couple each day) for the last graphics test that I planned to take in December (Building Planning), so I'm taking a 2.5-hour, multiple-choice one instead. I have Building Materials and Methods scheduled for 8 AM on Monday, December 29th. Back to hitting the books!

Sanrio Sunshine

2008-12-09T22:27:00.005-05:00

Those of you who know me well know that I grew up on Sanrio characters, much like you might have grown up with Snoopys (DH) and Belles, or My Little Ponies, or Barbies, or G.I. Joes. As I have gotten older, though, I haven't really grown out of my love for Hello Kitty and gang. Some of my favorite Sanrio characters growing up include HK herself, the Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Tuxedo Sam, Pochacco and Keroppi. They continue to bring a smile to my face today, and I still indulge myself on the cute pad of stationary or pen whenever I come across a store or, these days, Target. I even have a little tabletop Christmas tree that is now decorated with little Sanrio resin characters - tres cute! My current love is Chococat, since it reminds me of my dear black kitty, Thoth. My DH is kind enough to tolerate my infatuation, and in his random online searches came across this amusing blog of a man who doesn't quite get his Asian wife's love of all things Hello Kitty: Hello Kitty Hell - One Man's Life With Cute Overload. What made me think about this today is that I discovered the ultimate Sanrio indulgence for the adult Sanrio fan - a Hello Kitty credit card! I don't really need one, but I can't help but think just how much better my retail therapy would be if I pulled this out everytime I needed to do a little shopping to cheer me up! :)

PS - Sorry on the delay of the rest of my NYC post - still trying to get photos sorted out.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Massachusetts

2008-11-30T20:56:00.004-05:00

I'm going to try and summarize our trip by state, so hopefully this works out to two parts. Part 1: Massachusetts...

Dad, Mom, Lena, me, and David in our annual scarf photo.

As I mentioned in the last post, we made it to my sister's via Amtrak from Boston (South Station) to Springfield without a hitch. We had a great weekend seeing my sister's place and visiting Northampton, Chicopee, Springfield, Holyoke (where my sis and I were born), and Longmeadow (my first home). Northampton was really charming, and we enjoyed a nice brunch at Sylvester's as well as a big Christmas kickoff shopping weekend in all the shops (20% off weekend). We had a cold but enjoyable walk around the Ashley Reservoir, which was actually partially frozen the morning that we walked it, but beautiful nonetheless. We also had a really nice dinner with my old babysitter, Betsy, and her mom, Ruth. It's been 27 years since they've seen me, so it was a fun reunion for all of us!

Lena, Ruth, Buddy, Betsy, Mom, Dad, David and me.

My sister's birthday is coming up this Thursday (Happy Early Birthday, Lena!), so we went ahead a celebrated while we were all together by having dinner at a great little German restaurant in Chicopee, Munich Haus. We then went back to her place and indulged in a very yummy Truffle cake that we bought at a bakery in downtown Northampton.

Enjoying our wurst and schnitzel at Munich Haus.

Monday morning, we headed to NYC via Amtrak to New Haven and then MTA Metro-North Railroad (a commuter train) into NYC Grand Central Terminal. Our friends Val and Tim picked up a pretty nasty bug on their drive up from Atlanta, so we were advised to stay away from their hotel room initially. Luckily, we were able to stay with our dear friend Cyndi's brother, Ben, in Brooklyn for the first two nights, so other than a little longer commute time to get into the city, our travels were not delayed too much. Thankfully, Val and Tim were able to recuperate somewhat and able to start seeing the sights with us on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more on our NYC adventures in the next post!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Part 2

2008-11-23T08:35:00.003-05:00

Well, we made it through Boston and are now enjoying a great weekend at my sister's place in Chicopee, MA. It is COLD here! We went about 20 mins north yesterday to shop in quaint little Northampton (home of Smith College), and it was supposedly 3 degrees farenheit with wind chill! Brrrrrr! We spend today visiting the neighborhood that my sister and I lived in for the first few years of our lives, which is about 20 minutes SE from here - Longmeadow, MA - and then having dinner with my old babysitter's mom, and maybe even my old babysitter herself and her husband! That would be really cool. I have not seen them since I was 6 years old. Looking forward to another good day, and then we head to NYC in the morning. Please help me pray for snow not rain this coming week, otherwise it will make for some pretty stinky parade-watching. More pictures and stories when I get back next week!

Is your cat plotting to kill you?

2008-11-14T16:14:00.004-05:00

Got this from a coworker today, and had a good laugh. If you have a cat, take the quiz and see if your cat is plotting to kill you...

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Part 1

2008-11-11T20:50:00.004-05:00

Calling all trip advisors! This New England tour that I am planning is becoming more and more complicated... I'm trying to get from Boston (MA) to Springfield (MA) to NYC. I think trains will be my friends, and probably a pick-up by my sister in Worcester to get me to her place near Springfield. Anyway, I'll be through all these towns starting next Wednesday through Thanksgiving, so any trip advice or sights to see or restaurant suggestions are appreciated!

My trip has become part work, part pleasure. I've being sent in someone's place to attend the Greenbuild Conference in Boston, which is exciting for me. I haven't been in Boston since I lived in MA, so probably about 5 years old, and even then, the only thing I remember is the Boston's Children's Museum, in all it's glory (at least at 5). Also, the Greenbuild Conference is a gathering of like-minded architects, builders, designers, and vendors with green buildings in mind, and since that's going to be the wave of the future, anything I can learn is a plus. My DS is in Chicopee, and I have not had the opportunity to visit her since she moved there almost 1.5 years ago, so I'll get to see her and my parents, as well as my childhood area, for the first time since age 6. And then of course the finale, NYC. We'll be enjoying the sights there for sure. MoMA is definitely on the list, and a couple of restaurants. And seeing my beloved GT Marching Band in the Macy's parade. Sounds like a whirlwind, I know, but I am really looking forward to it all! Now to figure out how to pack for 11 days of cold weather in my little carry-on suitcase...

Mario CAN Defeat Hunger!

2008-11-08T10:37:00.006-05:00

So we didn't win a prize, but I hear we were one of the finalists for Best Use of Labels. We should have won! Anyway, here is Rosser's creation, and we loved it! We used Ronzoni pasta and Melba Snacks boxes for the background sky and cloud, large tomato cans for the brick wall, green beans for the pipe, and various tomato, pork and beans, black eyed peas, and sauerkraut for Mario. This is me with our Team Captain, Becky. Go Mario! He's on display through the 16th, at Underground Atlanta, downstairs near the food court, around the corner from Orange Julius.

Evil Eye

2008-11-07T16:12:00.005-05:00

I'm having fun with the new camera. Of course, my first experimental subjects are DK and DH. Here they are with their best evil eye faces!

We are going to the Canstruction Gala tonight, so I'll have photos of our company's piece de resistance up soon. I hope our "Mario CAN defeat hunger" will get a prize - he turned out pretty well! Also, I just realized that Wednesday was my first year blogiversary. Happy Blogiversary to me, and thanks for reading!

New 'do

2008-11-04T22:39:00.003-05:00

After getting my hair really chopped at the beginning of September, it finally started feeling like it was growing out all of the sudden this last week! The back had gotten to the point where it was getting longer than the front, jamming into the back of my neck or collar when I tilted my head back (threatening to be a baby mullet), and just getting plain shaggy. So in honor of Election Day (and there being an opening with my stylist), I went in for a haircut this evening. I had originally wanted a graduated bob when I got my hair chopped, but I think Robbi thought it might be too much of a shock since I was already getting about 11 inches chopped, so she tried to be on the conservative side. Well, I have to say that she outdid herself tonight, as I am loving my cut, and hope it stays like this for awhile!

Camera update - just checked tracking and it looks like if all goes well, the camera should be coming to me at work tomorrow!! I am SoooOOOooo excited!!

Nikon D90 ordered!

2008-11-02T15:13:00.002-05:00

Woo hoo!! I've made my big purchase for the year, now I just have to wait for it to get here... YAY!!

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d90/index.htm

Accessories will be welcome for Christmas gifts...