trying to win

“everyday seems i turn another page
and it feels like the heartache fades a little more away
Look in the mirror and i like what i see
hey, you didn’t take that much, baby, out of me
something proud and something strong
fills the absence of a memory that’s dead and gone” — deana carter “to the other side”

a few notes from me tonight, as i know a new entry is way overdue.  hope you’re doing well.  i am. :)

i’ve been working plenty and working hard.  i feel like i’m getting a lot done, though, which is good news.  a few more small projects are in the works before the next round of magazines.  and i continue to have a blast playing with the boys between all the work. :)

and i’ve been good about going to the gym, though i admit to missing 10 days this month, which is way more than i wanted.  anyway, i’ve gone to running and walking lately.  interesting, right? ;)

and i’m loving the new hbo series “in treatment.”  it’s rad, and i love that it’s new every night.  plus, it has josh charles (from “sportsnight”).  definitely check it out.

and tomorrow’s marke’s 25th birthday!  celebration will continue through saturday night, at least.  he’s so old!

okay, so back to “in treatment.”  more next time (and new photos coming soon).

more than a memory

wooo!  garth brooks was so amazing!  (of course.)  dad and i went to the 1pm show today, the first of today’s garth triple-header.  the place was packed and going nuts the whole time.  he played two hours with of hits, and i never wanted it to end.  of course, i can think of 3 more songs specifically that i would have liked to hear.  problem is, i can’t think of any he did play that he shouldn’t have.  he just has sooo many amazing songs!  and he is seriously an incredible performer.  so charismatic.  and the sound was pretty decent considering we were in a huge arena (the staples center).  so we had a great time, and i love garth.  :)

also, the directors guild of america awards are going on 13 floors below me right now.  apparently there are celebrities there, though i can’t say i actually saw any.  they set up a red carpet, and there were about 20 people gathered around watching as people arrived.  unexpected.  super random.

anyway, one more night in la…

roofing

just a few notes tonight…

had a productive (but short :)) day of work before heading up to la this afternoon.  joined my parents and cousin theresa in malibu.  driving through malibu makes me miss it very much.  it’s another home of mine, and i do love it there.  we had dinner together at coogie’s, which was good even though we failed to spot an celebrities there tonight.

then we went up to pepperdine to see the men’s volleyball team take on ucla.  we rooted our best, but went down 3-2 in a great match.  and we were without star aussie paul carroll.  hopefully, he’ll be back soon, though!  and no matter what, it’s fun to watch those guys play!

and now we’re hanging out at the hotel in century city.  tomorrow’s garth day, and i’m so stoked!  more after that!

batterizing

“you’re my dixie girl with a summer smile
oh, just enough sweet but just enough wild” — chuck wicks “good time coming on”

woohoo!  this girl is blogging from a whole new computer tonight! :)  today was the day.  my new macbook arrived in the mail this morning.  it’s first mac (that doesn’t belong to the company i work for but instead belongs to just me).  and i am already loving it! :)  i’m still getting used to some things, but it’s awesome all the way around.  it’s going to serve as a sort of second computer for me.  it’s little, so i take it anywhere i want without really thinking about it.  i’ll still use my big laptop to do some stuff here.

in other news,  work’s going well.  i’ve managed to keep quite busy the past couple of days.  of course, yesterday we also found time to pull a little prank on marke (who was out monday-wednesday with the flu).  jason, chris, and i covered his office walls entirely in fluorescent pink wrapping paper with little hearts on it.  pretty hilarious when he found it this morning! :)  yes, i work in a cool place.

and tomorrow after work, i’m headed up to la for the weekend to hang out with the family.  the plans include a volleyball game at pepperdine (it’ll be great to get back to campus), garth brooks in concert, and just enjoying seeing everyone.  should be fun (even if it rains).

anyway, enough out of me!  more next time…

boys i don’t actually know

“when you think tim mcgraw
i hope you think my favorite song
some day you’ll turn your radio on
i hope it takes you back to that place” — taylor swift “tim mcgraw”

well, my weekend wound down quietly.  i hung out, took it easy, watched sports.  went to see “27 dresses,” which was cute and didn’t make me nauseous.  ;)  actually, it was fun and kind of made me have a little crush on james marsden.  definitely a fun romcom. :)

yesterday and today were busy days around a very quiet office.  most people are out right now up in santa clara at a show.  marke’s out sick with the flu.  so that makes it very quiet and also means that i managed to get a ton of work done, which is good news.  and today was a little weird, but in a strange (and probably a little selfish) way, i think it was a good day.  i feel good about it.

after a good workout at the gym tonight, i went to target to get the brand new chuck wicks album.  gah!  that boy really makes me swoon! :)  the album’s wonderful!  definitely check it out!

and speaking of celebrity crushes, i might have a completely inappropriate (due to age) crush on ryan sheckler.  i’ve been loving “life of ryan” since it debuted, and i loved tonight’s episode.  he made me cry.  seriously!  gah!  i love how normal the guy is.  (and that he’s always gotten straight a’s in school.)  anyway, yeah.  stop judging me. ;)

and finally, heath ledger.  i’m really sad about his sudden death.  i think he’s among the best young actors.  amazing, really.  i feel absolutely awful for michelle williams and matilta rose.  what else can i say about this?  it’s upsetting, and now i really want to go and watch a bunch of his movies.

and so for tonight, i’m off…

on the move

“got the radio on, my old blue jeans
and i’m wearing my heart on my sleeve
feeling lucky today, got the sunshine
could you tell me what more do i need
and tomorrow’s just a mystery, oh yeah
but that’s okay” — taylor swift “a place in this world”

wow!  it’s been quite a while since i’ve last written.  i promise i’ve been very, very busy.  and now i’m just relaxing at home, so i have a few minutes to make sure you get caught up on everything. :)  i’ll try to keep this orderly. ;)

first of all, i’ve been working a lot lately.  or just really hard.  things there are busy, i have some new responsibilities, and it’s all fun but a lot.  also, we have two new girls who started monday.  they’re called sandra and michelle, and they’re both going to work on producing our trade shows.  they both seem nice.

and speaking of work, i made my first ever real business trip.  yes, i’ve gone to conferences and to meet our big printer, but this was different.  it was meeting a client.  our biggest client.  anyway, tuesday night after work, i headed up to oregon (the portland area; wilsonville, specifically) with lauren, cindy, and sandra.  we met up with sally, who lives in portland but works for rtc, for dinner at macaroni grill.  always delicious.  then we made our way to our hotel room for the night.  and then wedesnday morning, arrived at our client’s offices at 9am.  and we were there until 5, except for a lunch out with them.  and we learned a lot about our upcoming new project, so that was good.  even i still have a lot more to learn about my part, specifically.  anyway, it all went well, and i didn’t mess anything up or anything like that. :)  and i was back home at 11pm wednesday night.but i’ve been having some of my own fun lately, as well. :)  thursday after work, i raced up to la to pick up adam at ucla.  then we had a delicious dinner at his local chipotle before heading to the wilshire theatre in beverly hills.  we had tickets to see one of my very favorite current performers, taylor swift!  we had great seats in the front row of the mezzanine but on the side, where it was just those two seats.  like in a theatre.  i’m sure there’s a name for that.  anyway, we had awesome seats!  and the surprise (at least to me) opening act was teddy geiger, who i like.  he was good, especially with his all-strings band: fiddles, cello, guitars, him sometimes on keyboard, as well.  anyway, he was good!  and i’m glad i got to see him live!  anyway, then it was time for miss taylor!  she was so great!  i wasn’t sure how she’d compare live to her recorded album, which i love dearly.  but anyway, she was incredible!  so much better live!  and that’s quite a feat!  so anyway, i had a wonderful time through the whole show.  she played about an hour and 45 minutes.  and afterwards, she took photos and signed autographs for anyone willing to wait in line.  adam and i were near the back of the line and ended up waiting just under 2 hours to meet her, but i totally think it was worth it!  she was so nice and giving everyone hugs and just wonderful!  love love love it!  and i got home at 2am, pleased with an awesome night!

check out all the photos from the show on flickr!

and last night, i was tired but had an invite to the movies, so i went with katrina, marke, and marke’s friend matt to see “cloverfield.”  well, i really liked the story and the idea of how to tell it.  on the other hand, the intentionally shaky camera work was over-the-top.  the guy would have had to have been the worst cameraman ever to move the camera that much.  and i was getting really nauseous.  i can’t ever watch the movie again because i know now what it does to me.  and i wasn’t alone.  marke had to leave for a bit.  and he saw somone else throwing up in the hallway when he left.  so anyway, cool story but it made me very physically sick.

and tonight i’m enjoying “air guitar nation.”  it’s a documentary about the world air guitar championships.  so fun! :)  definitely not making me sick. ;)  and i would recommend it to just about anyone.

so that’s enough out of me for right now.  i’ll be back soon. :)

she just takes it

well, i’ve been a bit remiss in updating this recently, but i have a few minutes right now.  i haven’t been up to too much that’s super exciting, but i do feel like i’ve just been enjoying myself.  things seem good. :)

i’ve been working, like usual.  work’s going well.  i’m excited about some new projects and keeping up with the old, regular ones.  and i’m getting ready to head up to oregon on tuesday evening, so that’s cool.

and i’ve been good about going to the gym, as seems to be usual these days.  it’s a little busier there than usual, as happens at the start of  each year with all the new year’s resolutions made.  whatever.  they’ll be gone soon enough. ;)

and it was a sports weekend.  yesterday, i caught some of mavericks online, which was cool.  great waves and reminds me of home!  :)  and i caught lots of football and basketball.  i went over to marke’s last night to watch my tom brady win! :)  and then we ended up hanging out last night afterwards with katrina and their other friend adam.  we rented “wet, hot, american summer” and ordered pizza and just hung around.  good fun. :)

and as it’s now sunday night, i gave myself a nice manicure and pedicure and am catching up on some tv.  and of course, i’m eagerly awaiting a new episode of “brothers and sisters” in a few minutes! :)   one of my fave shows!

anyway, so that’s about it.  fun but quiet.  more next time. :)

hanging out of the book

just wanted to post a quick little update. :)  let’s see…

things are good here.  i’ve just been working the past couple of days.  i’ve been working super hard, which is kind of nice.  i know that’ll end quickly.  immediately.  haha!  anyway, there has been some fun stuff, too.  i played guitar hero (on wii) for the first time ever at lunch today.  i’m not so good at it, but it’s cool.  and something really funny happened today that i can’t really tell you about, but i promise i laughed really hard.

i’ve been going to the gym.  the gym totally sucks in january.  it’s full of people about to break their new year’s resolutions.  but until they do, they’re really just in my way.  glad this only lasts a couple weeks. :)

did way, way, way too much laundry last night.  laundry here sucks.  but i did it, and i’m planning on cleaning out lots of old clothes in the very near future.  that should be awesome! :)

and it’s cold here!  what’s with that?

oh, and i’m starting to get really into the elections.  it’s bad this is happening in january because november is far enough away that i could make other people very crazy.  at least marke likes to discuss these things even more than i do! ;)

i’m going to bed early tonight.  my bed is warm, and my eyelids are heavy.  more next time…

it just keeps getting funnier

“everything is fine, fine, fine
through the sunshine and the rain
i got a peace of mind
you know i can’t complain
i make it a point to thank the Lord
when i got Him on the line
i’m feeling good and everything is fine” — josh turner “everything is fine”

well, it was a good friday and a fun weekend, so things are looking up, even with all the rain coming down right about now.

friday at work was cool.  i got a ton of work done in the morning — way more than i had anticipated i could — and freed up enough time to finish up my desk.  i cleaned a ton of stuff out, took down my bulletin boards, and figured out how to keep way less stuff on the surface of my desk.  and i put up a couple new … i guess they’re still bulletin boards.  they’re similar to what i have in my apartment.  they’re foam covered in gray fabric, and i put up some photos and mementos with pins.  it’s much cleaner now.  i am really excited about it, and it’s a good step towards keeping my entire life fully organized. :)

also on friday, i learned i’m officially going on my first business trip.  not like to a conference for me or anything, but for meetings with a client.  in a week and a half to portland to talk about a huge deal.  pretty exciting, though i’m also a little nervous!  cool, though. :)

my friday evening was quiet.  i went to the gym.  i talked to some friends online.  i caught up on a little tv.  i tucked in relatively early.  that’s about it. :)

saturday i got up early for a day of disneyland.  i met lindsay (marke and katrina’s friend i’ve met several times before) and a bunch of her friends (of course including marke and katrina) at disneyland.  the enormous threat of rain scared a lot of people off from the park, but we enjoyed the park and all its short lines all day long with zero rain.  basically we win!  i think the happiest place on earth must have just had a little bubble around it!  anyway, lindsay’s other friends were really nice (i’d been worried about spending the whole day with a lot of strangers), and we had a lot of fun!  and in the evening, we met up with even more people at the rainforest cafe in downtown disney for a late dinner.  by the end of that, it was after midnight, and i was completely and thoroughly exhausted, so i headed home.  after walking through the door, i pretty much just crashed.

today, as sundays should be, was my day of rest. :)  i lied around the apartment for the majority of the day.  watched some tv and some sports.  napped.  it was fun.  and in the afternoon, i went to see “juno,” which was really, really good.  funny and interesting and sweet.  definitely worth seeing.  made me smile. :)

and now i’m just hanging out.  i probably should have unpacked some more (my suitcases have exploded in my living room), but i’ll do it later.  tonight, it’s been dinner, tv, and talking to friends online, and it’s good stuff.  so i’m off soon to get some sleep before another week.  hope you had a good weekend!

heterosexual union of desks

“why would you wanna make the very first scar
why would you wanna break a perfectly good heart
it’s not unbroken anymore
how do i get it back the way it was before” — taylor swift “a perfectly good heart”

well, it was back to my regular life today.  and i really enjoyed it! :)

so yesterday, i spent the day hanging out with adam a bit.  we lied around on the couch hanging out, and then we went to chipotle for lunch.  delicious!  and we wandered around the stanford shopping center brieftly.  and in the afternoon, mom took me to the airport.  i flew home uneventfully to john wayne.  marke picked me up there and brought me home.  and i opened up my suitcase, made a mess, and went to bed (late).

this morning, it was straight back to my regular routine.  i was up with the alarm, packed up my stuff, and was off to work, stopping at 1 <3 bagels for my favorite breakfast.

and work.  well, i started out the morning by sorting through some stuff and taking care of the stuff that needed to happen.  and then brian and chris were discussing moving around all the desks in the art department.  they came up with a cool plan, so we started at lunchtime.  we moved around nearly everything in the room!  i have a new desk in a new spot, and i think it turned out really cool.  a new desk for a new year!   and then in the afternoon, it was back to more work before taking off for the day.

went to the gym.  that felt awesome.  i missed that place when i was home.  sick, i know. ;)   and then i ran a couple quick errands before heading home for the night.

my big plan for the evening was to watch the ucla-stanford basketball game.  well, it got really messy in the second half.  the officiating was a joke.  i know, you probably don’t believe me because i might be biased, but it really was atrocious.  and for whatever reason, i really was way too into the game.  good thing i wasn’t there in person.  who knows what i might have done! ;)  anyway, it’s over and there’s another game saturday.

and i’ve been watching fab tv since then!  it was two episodes of “newport harbor” and the latest “project runway.”  and i am thinking i should probably be off to bed very soon.