Magical Christmas Sweater

I heart the Christmas season! Especially all the fun parties and decorations. Last night I attended a Magical Christmas Sweater Party that one of my friends hosted and we had a great time! Everyone was to bring out the most festive Christmas sweater and accessories they could come up with. I decided to craft my own sweater at the last minute (about 2hrs before the party) and then ended up winning the Ugliest Sweater Contest! Just goes to show what a little glue and some tinsel can do for you! I topped the entire outfit off with a Christmas lights hair bow that I borrowed from my 5-yr old cousin and some knee high "I Heart Santa" socks! I don't know what everyone was making a big deal about...I wear this outfit all the time! :)


In case you are wondering, you too can have your very own Christmas Tree sweater for the introductory low, low price of ONLY $19.95! Place your order now to guarantee delivery by Christmas Eve! :)

We also had to bring a White Elephant gift to share with everyone. I was under the impression that this meant really awful gag gifts, however, I must have been mistaken because mostly everything was pretty decent. I chose to bring my empty toothpaste container, toothbrush and contacts holder. I felt really bad when all the gifts were being opened and everyone had usable gifts, then came mine! Aah! There also wasn't a whole lot of stealing gifts, people were being really nice. I first stole someone's Santa Claus Mr. Potato Head, then someone traded the iPod speakers they had gotten for the Mr. Potato Head. So in the end I went home with a small set of iPod speakers. Luckily we had some people leave early so the person who received my awful gift was able to trade and get something better. What a relief!

BTW- notice who has FINALLY joined this century and is able to immediately post pictures from a digital camera. That would be ME! I finally broke down and bought a little FujiFilm FinePix digital camera so I can carry it around with me easily and not have to wait for my film to be developed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Another one has now come and is almost gone and I have so much to be thankful for. For one my Adopt-A-Family (aka cousins mother in law and her friends) so graciously welcomed me into their home for another Thanksgiving spent away from mine and created a wonderful gourmet meal for us all to share. We had a lovely evening with a slightly smaller crowd than I have been around for many other holidays but still very lively. I have been slightly under the weather with a stomach bug and cold so I slept in most of the morning and then finally got my day started. I was able to catch a few minutes of the UT/A&M game however not really being a big football fan I really didn't watch long. I am now curled up next to my roaring radiator and trying to figure out what movie I will watch until I fall asleep. All's well and I am blessed with each day so what more could I ask for! I hope everyone has had a wonderful day filled with love and many memories and of course lots of turkey!

Yosemite Camping Trip

Last weekend a few coworkers and myself decided to brave a trip to Yosemite and go camping. Little did we know that the weather in October gets pretty chilly, like 28 degrees, chilly! AAAH! Then we heard about the rock slides that were occurring in Yosemite Valley and were a little skeptical about going. However, the rock slides were not anywhere near our camp and we thought we could prepare enough to brave the weather, and off we went. The first night we ran out of firewood, and the 30 degrees sleeping bag I had gotten was just not warm enough. The next morning we awoke at 5:30AM to venture off on a 17mile hike to the rock that is known as HalfDome. The hike would take us from about 5600ft. to roughly 8800ft., over the mountains and through the woods. :) We started at about 7:30-7:45AM. It was tough adjusting to the altitude, but after the first mile, which took us about an hour, I was all warmed up. The rest of the journey up was awesome. There were several waterfalls and there were so many people traveling along with you that the pain was bearable. I was truly amazed at how encouraging EVERYONE was along the way. And the higher up we climbed, the more incredible the view got. At one point the group I was with decided to take a break and we just all fell silent as we looked down on where we had been earlier that morning and where we were heading. It was an AWE moment, that I like to think we all had with ourselves and each other. After about 7hours we finally made it to the base of the rock we were to climb. 7hours!! Unfortunately, we decided that we would not have enough daylight to climb all the way up and back down so we stopped there. I must say I am a little disappointed that I/we didn't make it all the way up, which was my personal goal, but I am very glad we all made it! Naturally, as we started the journey back down it started to snow! We arrived back to our cars at approximately 7:30PM, about 12hours from the moment we got on the trail. We headed back to camp, tired and some of us in severe pain, and attempted to get some rest. The weather the second night was predicted to be a mere 18 degrees. Sunday ended our trip, a day early. Overall, the trip was outstanding, however we were all so tired and more importantly cold that we could not picture staying another day. I have included some pictures from our hike and posted more on my Flikr page. Check them out! The one above is me saying "I made it!"


This is the beloved HalfDome! There are cables on the other side that you use to pull yourself up. That was the goal. Maybe next year, when it is not so cold! This has made it to my list of things to do before I die!


One of my coworkers and myself at the top before we started our descent.


A few of us crossing over Nevada Falls, one the two waterfalls. One of the girls kept calling the pine cones, acorns! This drove me crazy! Pine trees DO NOT make acorns, and acorns DO NOT turn into pine cones! I just needed to express that! :)


Just an example of how cold it was, the water streaming down the side of the mountain froze! A few of the people I was with recorded some footage of a black bear, however I was not lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one. It is fairly intimidating all the precautions they suggest you take in order to thwart away the bears. I still wanted to at least see one from a distance. :( There were signs all along the trail for bears, bobcats and mountain lions. Imagine running into a mountain lion, that would be scary.

Updated pictures

Hello all! I have added some pictures from San Francisco and Napa Valley from a few months ago. These are just a sample see more here. Enjoy!




Imagine my surprise when we took a ride on a boat named after little ol' me!!


This was a statue outside of the Mondavi winery I thought was kinda cool. The wineries were just as much about art as they were about the grapes/wine.


I really don't have much of a sweet tooth but there were some fun salt water taffy/candy stores around Monterey and San Fran. and I was drawn to all the varieties they make. I think the people in the store kept looking at me like I was crazy for taking pictures of this candy but I think they are kinda fun!


Of course you can't miss the Golden Gate when visiting San Francisco, so here it is. It was a fairly windy day and there were lots of sail boats out in the bay, which made for some neat pictures.

Concerts in the Park

Well this is me enjoying one of the many free concerts in the park offered around town on Fri. and Sat. nights through the summer. It's not really the hippie fest as this portrays, but it does have that laid back summer vibe. I think it is so neat that there are so many free things like this to do in the summer. The concerts on Sat. rotate between several different parks through out East Sac, and they are all easy to get to even if you want to walk. They are very family friendly so there are lots of children running around playing while the parents hang out. The music varies as well, so far it's been a little bit country and a little bit oldies. Everyone is welcome to bring picnic blankets and coolers with food/drinks, or there are some vendors selling burgers and etc. They basically last from about 5ish to 9ish and then everyone heads home. I haven't been to one on Fri. nights but they are supposed to be just as fun. They are held at a park downtown and seem to be more adult oriented. I think the music is a little more rock concert like as well. Maybe I'll go to that one sometime who knows, I'm ok with the kids running around.

Notice my haircut, too. I went shorter this time and I love it! Super easy and a little bit funky too!

Side note: I'll be coming home in a week! Can't wait to see everyone that I can!

Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull

OK, I have been anticipating the release of this movie for a year now, when I first heard that there would be a fourth. I must say I was not disappointed, however a fifth would certainly be pushing it. Like many children of the 80's Dr. Jones is one of my heroes and isn't so bad to look at either! I of course never saw the first three in theatres since I was less then 10 years old when the last one was released, I do however own the box set which I watch quite often. The fourth one, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull, was an older more mature Dr. Jones yet still had the adventure and excitement of the previous three. I really enjoyed the subtle references to the previous movies and thought that they really incorporated past characters into the plot well. The supernatural theme that is in the past movies was very present in this one as well, a little too much for my taste, but still keeping with the trend. It fit nicely with the time period that the movie is set in so it worked. Harrison Ford was charming as always and Shia LeBeouf was nice eye candy as well. All in all I can't complain. I went in expecting an exciting movie and it delivered.

Visitors from TX

Hello all! After a month I can finally say that I am all settled in my new apartment. It is so convenient to lots of restaurants and shopping, I just have watch out for where I park! Two parking tickets so far, but I am learning.

A few weeks ago I had a nice visit from my sister and her friend Margaret. We had alot of fun exploring Northern California. Our trip to San Francisco was my favorite, I have fallen in love with that city! New York still has my heart followed closely by Austin but I can say that San Francisco is right up there. We were unable to get a tour of Alcatraz which I was disappointed about, but we did get to take a Bay Tour that took us out around the SF Bay, under the Golden Gate and then around Alcatraz. It actually turned out better because we got to hear more of the history of the city and nearby, which we would not have gotten with the Alcatraz tour. Then we had a nice picnic near Pier 39 and Fisherman's Warf, walked through Ghiradelhi Square, and then took a cable car ride down Hyde St. The cable car was fun, Hyde St. is the one that is super steep (almost at a 90degree angle, at least it felt like it anyways), and we felt very cool hanging on to the side of the cable car. We must have been in every tourist's picture as the car went by! After a long day of walking around we then ventured to our car to do some driving around, and around, and around! HaHa! We went in search of the famous Lombard Street aka "the Crookedest Street" and several hours later we found it. Many of the streets were not through streets or they were one way in the other direction, needless to say it was an adventure just driving around. And I can't forget the steep inclines that we met going up and then down each street. It was certainly a good thing that my brakes were intact! Oh how it would have been to be a fly on the wall in that car as we were driving! We finally made it to Lambard St. and made our way down the sharp curves that certainly give the Crookedest Street it's name. We then made our way back to Sacramento. I was surprised to learn that it is only about a 2 1/2 hr drive from here so I will definitely be going back. You really get a sense of the arts and culture that "the city" has. Everyone here refers to SF as "the city" so I have to as well to fit in.

The next day we had a lazy day and slept in then went and walked around the mall for a bit. That night I took the girls to one of my favorite places here, Tower Records. They have a restaurant and movie theatre where the old Tower Records was, and I enjoy it. It doesn't matter when you go to eat there, it is ALWAYS super busy. We then went and saw the new Indiana Jones Movie, see my next post for my review on that.

On Memorial Day we decided last minute to make a drive down to Napa and experience wine country. Again I was surprised to learn that it is not far from here either, only about 1 1/2 drive. Unfortunately alot of the winery tours we were closed for the holiday, which I thought was odd, so we just drove through a couple of them and enjoyed the scenery. We got out and walked around the Mondavi winery, and drove through the Cakebread winery because those are some of the more well known and larger wineries. It was very picturesque everywhere there. The grapes were not on the vines yet but it was still cool to see the rows of the different types of grapes they use. The trip home was yet another workout for my car since instead of going back the way we came, we decided to take an alternate route, through the mountains! I don't think I have ever driven on such winding and narrow roads before in my life!

Oh, I forgot to mention our trip to Davis for the Farmer's Market. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before about Davis, but it is where my school is about 20min. from here. They have this really great Farmer's Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays with live music and then of course booths with fresh fruit and veggies. On Sat. they even have lots of activities set up for children like face painting and others. There are booths set up with prepared food as well from different restaurants in the area, and people just come to hang out and enjoy the free concert.

After all the fun we had it was sad to see them go, but I am really glad I got to spend the week with them. They made it home safely after a 5 hour flight delay and then a 3 hr drive home! Aaah, how miserable! As usual I don't have pictures yet, but I will post as soon as possible!

Theater Review: Thoroughly Modern Millie

Guess what, I won again! The tickets were to the same 24th Street Theater to a showing of the play Thoroughly Modern Millie. This play was super cute, about a girl from Kansas that moves to NYC and tries to survive with all her new modern ideas about life and love. I just love the concept because I like to think of myself as alot like Millie, smalltown girl moving to the big city where life is faster and more "modern". This Runaway Productions Company does a great job at bringing these Broadway musicals to the smaller theaters. The cast was familiar as I had seen many of them in the previous show of Cabaret. The only main criticism I have this time is that there wasn't much room for the orchestra so they had them down front and the conductor kinda blocked, or obstructed, the view from the first couple of rows. Other than another job well done! Kudos!

Movin On Up...

...to the east side (well, sorta).

Well I am coming back after my unplanned blogger leave of absence over the past few weeks. No worries cousin J, I am alive! I have just been so busy that I haven't taken the time to write, but have no fear I am back. I currently am in the process of moving into an apartment that is in fact to the east of where I was living before. I am so excited about this move, it is a much more convienant location and a cute little studio apartment. Once I get everything settled and my internet up and running I will post some pictures of my space.

The past few weeks have brought some exciting things into my life, mainly being that my two day a week job has now become three days a week. May not seem like much but it has certainly been nice to keep busy, plus the extra $moola doesn't hurt! I am really enjoying this job and starting to feel very comfortable in understanding what I am doing, which gives me a little more independent work to do.

I also went to Carmel and the beach a few weekends ago and had a great time with Cousin C and family. Carmel was such a cool, quaint little beach town that was fun to explore. I will be posting pictures of that trip and tell you more as well, soon.

Sadly, soon I will no longer "officially" be a Texan as I am getting my CA driver's license and having my car registered here. I must say it is kinda sad to loose that part of my identity, but life must go on. I am actually surprised that I am sad about this because I have always been slighly indifferent about having that identity. Don't get me wrong I LOVE TEXAS, but I am not as hard core a fan as most. I guess as many say "You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of the girl!"

Movie Review: I Am Legend in the IMAX

Another one of the tickets I won was to see I Am Legend at the IMAX theater. When the movie was released back in Dec. I was slightly neutral about whether or not I wanted to see it, but when you get free tickets why not? The big plus for this movie is that Will Smith was the main character, and in fact the only human in many of the scenes. The premise behind the movie makes you think, but I didn't realize how violent it would be. The whole idea is that you are the last human on Earth when you discover that in fact you are not really the last one. It was amazing to see the scenes of a completely baren NYC. The scientific ideas in it were interesting as well. While this movie was on a special showing at the IMAX, it was not in 3D, which was probably a good thing. I normally enjoy a scary movie, but I wasn't thrilled by this one. I must be going soft! It was just too violent scary.

Theater Review: Cabaret

Note: I posted the previous post using Word and the pictures didn't work, so if you don't see any know I am working on it and if you do, then good!

Now on to the review… I have had a streak of good luck in the past two weeks winning tickets to both the theater and to the movies. Thanks to the TicketClub that is through the local newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, I got to enjoy some really great shows. First the theater; where I saw a production of the Broadway musical Cabaret. It was held at The 24^th Street Theater here in Sacramento and they did a lovely job. The theater is a small community theater that is located right in the middle of a cute neighborhood, obviously off of 24^th Street. The cast did a fine job, especially the lead characters of the Master of Ceremonies/Emcee, Clifford Bradshaw, and Sally Bowles. The other "smaller" roles did well also, however there were a few numbers that I noticed one or two cast members looking fairly lost. The tickets I was given were front row so I had a perfect view. It is one of those musicals that even though it is kind of racy in subject matter; it looks like it would be lots of fun to be in. The setting is a "burlesque" club in 1930's Berlin as the Nazi party is coming to power. It really has a lot to offer in the form of entertainment, fun, love, political issues. I am so glad I won these tickets.

Snow, Skiing, and Sickness!?

Well I have been putting off writing a new post for the simple reason of feeling somewhat uninspired. I do however have a lot to catch you up with. I will begin with back in Feb. when I took a trip to Tahoe with some fam. and had a marvelous time. The pictures I have posted are just some scenery shots that I managed to get out in between bouts of nausea. Yes, I spent most of the weekend sick and in bed, but the parts that I was able to stomach were great. I managed to make it skiing the first day that I was there which was an adventure. Being my first time I took a little lesson in the morning and then was able to hit the slopes by myself later that afternoon. Of course when I say "hit the slopes" feel free to take that with a literal translation because most of my trip down the mountain was sliding down on my back (Luckily there are no pictures to record that sight)!! I did well in the lesson but after lunch I lost some of my confidence and found myself making crash stops a few times. It was all in the name of fun though and I would go back in a heartbeat. The second day however was not so much fun. That is when I woke up sick and, not to sound gross, needing to stay near the bathroom. The day we came home I woke feeling better but as the day progressed and we started to make our descent down the mountain the previous days nausea came rushing back. That is the day that I managed to take pictures, but I am not very thrilled with most of them. I discovered first hand how difficult it is to capture the nice pristine snowy images that are everywhere, with this being the first time in my life to every actually experience snow. Check out the one with the car that is buried in snow. I found it fairly amusing!

 

This is the Truckee River I believe, don't hold me to that though.


This one is actually Donner Lake, which is where the infamous Donner party was stranded. I'm not going through the history lesson again.


I took a picture similar to this on my trip to Tahoe in the fall just without the snow of course. It was the same pier on Lake Tahoe and everything though.


Here's the car! The snow was gross and dirty but I couldn't resist taking this picture. Wouldn't you hate to know that was your car?!

As usual I posted more pictures on my Flickr page.

Movie Review: Juno

So, I have wanted to see Juno since before it got noticed. Then it became this quiet masterpiece and got nominated for all these awards and has done really well. I finally made it and am in love with it! I absolutely adored this movie. The writing was so clever and witty. Every detail was taken care of. I saw an interview with the writer and some of the cast on Oprah, and the writer Diablo Cody actually had a hamburger phone as a teen (you will understand when you see it, and you must go see it). It was that kind of detail that showed in watching this movie. Ellen Page did a magnificent job of portraying this character; the entire cast was perfect in fact. I haven't been this excited about a movie in a while and I am just head over heels for this one! Is it noticeable?! There is not a single thing that I think could have enhanced this movie to make it better. I thoroughly enjoyed the soundtrack as well. Nicely done, Juno!

BTW, I am writing this post using Microsoft Word 2007 and posting from there, so we'll see how this turns out.

Week of Celebration

I guess this is a bit of continuation from my previous post. This week is somewhat of a week of celebration I guess. Fat Tuesday followed by Ash Wednesday started off the season of Lent. Is it called a season? Anyways, I usually choose to give something up for the days of Lent. This year it snuck up on me and I didn't actually decide on something until today. I have decided to give up chips and salsa, mainly because I finished my supply this afternoon. Some of you may think that this is not really a big deal; however you may not understand my addiction. Hi, my name is Michelle, and I am a chips and salsa-a-holic! So this will be a serious challenge for me. Hopefully I will be more successful at this than I have been with my New Year's resolution. You may recall I am working on better dental hygiene. I have been a little better, but not flossing/rinsing everyday as my intentions were.

Chinese New Year started today (as well as Korean and Vietnamese New Year). I have always been fascinated by this for some odd reason. This year starts the Year of the Rat. I was born in the Year of the Cock. They say the year you were born in says something about your personality. I read that Cock's are eccentric and selfish, among other things I don't recall. I don't think I would describe myself as selfish. Sometimes I do think I am a little weird so I guess that could interpret as eccentric. We went and ate Chinese food last night in celebration. I'm not really sure that they really celebrate a so called "New Year's Eve" but that's what we decided to make it. Actually we thought it started yesterday so when it didn't we called it the eve celebration. Maybe I'll pretend I was waiting to start my resolution for the Chinese New Year! Ha!Ha!

Happy Day To You!

Well several big days have come (and gone) since I last posted, so I would like to say happy day for Groundhog Day, Super Bowl, and Super Tuesday! I realize that considering these days "big days" is strictly matter of opinion but why not celebrate anyways, right!

I found it interesting that on Sat. when I was searching online for the Groundhog results it took me FOREVER. Ok maybe forever is a bit of an exaggeration, but it took too long in my opinion. I feel like this day no longer holds the lure that it once did. Or maybe it never did and I just thought so because I was younger or maybe I am just too lazy to get up that early to hear the outcome. In any case once I finally found out that the Groundhog did indeed see his/her(?) shadow I was disappointed because I am always ready for warmer weather.

Super Bowl Sun. turned out to be interesting though. I attended a Super Bowl Party that afternoon to take in the game (Ok really to take in the commercials). I did watch some of the game, mainly the end when NY took over. If I had to pick a team I say I was rooting for NY simply because of the underdog status. Not a big football fanatic, which I have been told is sinful being from the state of TX. I took a great little Black Bean Salad/Dip that is worth mentioning. I found the recipe on the Food Network website, which I always enjoy, and it turned out to be a hit. I doubled the recipe because I thought I would need to and it made ALOT. I have been snacking on the leftovers for a couple days now. It went really well in my Taco salad that I made with ground turkey, rice, and butter lettuce. Check it out; I am giving my thumbs up for this one! I also enjoyed the halftime performance with Tom Petty. The commercials however, didn't impress.

Finally, today is Super Tues. so, GO CANDIDATES! I am trying to cast a more informed vote this year by trying to get to know all the candidates and their views. I am by far not a political advocate so I shall not get into my very limited and poorly informed opinion, but I will say I really am feeling the importance of this year. I have to embarrassingly admit that in previous elections I have voted purely on the "vibe" I got from watching the candidates. I am on a mission though, to become more educated this year.

I now bid you Happy Day, whatever it may be! :)

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Apparently Sacramento isn't so wonderful in winter. It has been raining, and raining, and raining here! I have been told this is how it is every year at this time. To understand, a little geography lesson is in order. So, Sacramento is located at the foothills of the Sierra Mountain Range. Which means when it is snowing in the Sierra's it is usually raining in the foothills. A good thing for all the ski resorts located in Tahoe and various places, but a little bit of a downer when you are in Sac. The few moments that the sun has managed to peek through everyone is outside and taking it all in. I did enjoy the occasional thunderstorm, but this isn't even that, it's just RAIN! Oh well, I guess I'll have to get some rain gear and get used to it.

Other news: My job is going great! It got off to a very slow start, just learning the basics of what I am to be doing, but now I am really getting into it and enjoying it. I hope to be able to get more hours now that I have gone through the basic training.

Since I am not taking classes this quarter, the days that I don't work have been pretty boring. I am usually spending my time thinking of all the crafts and etc. that I could tackle, but most of it doesn't get done! The nice thing about the quarter system, I am finding out, is that there isn't too much time missed if you don't go a quarter. I can't wait until classes start in April though, and I can have more to do. UCDavis has a neat recreation program, so I think I am going to take a knitting class for a couple of days, to help pass some of my time for now. I had a hard time deciding which one of their classes I wanted to take, but ultimately it came down to which one was on my list and was most affordable. Easy Knit Hats won so I'll have to show my progress once I get started.

Get Well Soon!

Many of you whom read this may have received my email regarding prayer requests for my close friend and former roommate, Lindsey. I am posting here for any others that may read and believe in the power of prayer. My friend was admitted yesterday to a hospital in San Antonio, TX with viral meningitis. While the viral form is not nearly as severe and threatening as the bacterial form, I say if you have to be admitted to the hospital, it is a BIG DEAL! She is in good spirits, just tired and achy, which is part of this sickness. No word yet when she will be released, just being held for observations now. Against her wishes I am making a big deal over this because no matter how big or small a problem may be it is never to big/small for a prayer! Please take the time to say a quick prayer for her quick recovery. Thanks to everyone and Get Well Soon, Linds!

Hello New Year!

Ringing in the new year always makes me feel good. No matter how well I did with the previous resolution I always feel like the slate has been cleaned and this will be "the year", whatever that may bring.

This year I spent a very quite New Year's Eve at home. While I admit it was a little lonely being by myself, I took full advantage of having the entire evening to pamper myself and bring in the new year in style. I cooked a nice dinner, took a long bubble bath, did my nails and then curled up with a movie. I babysat that morning so I was actually pretty exhausted and barely even made it to the midnight hour.

My plans of continuing the pampering the next day were sorely interrupted, when we showed up at the pedicure place, that told us they would be open, and no one was to be found. Oh well, I guess I'll have to drag myself back and have my pedicure at another time!

This year my resolution is to take better care of my teeth. Not that I have bad dental hygiene, but I don't always follow the floss-rinse-brush cycle very well. So I have bought all new supplies and am on a mission. I am even making a special purse size kit so no matter where I am I don't really have an excuse. We'll see!

BTW, if anyone noticed my avatar change on my Christmas Cheer post, apparently it changes everytime I make a change. Bummer, I kinda like that picture!