Locked out.

Wolfgang and I are still learning this whole big city living with one car and two jobs kind of thing. We take each other to work, catch buses to each other's work, etc. It hasn't been that bad actually, but today wasn't so good for Wolfgang.

Today he forgot to take an extra key to the apartment when I took him to work, and didn't realize this until he got home...aaaand had to wait outside our apartment for almost 5 hours. He tried a few options of trying to get in, but no suck luck. Poor guy, I really did feel bad for him. Luckily he walked to a nearby Taco Bell and chilled for a while, until he felt awkward and felt like a homeless person who won't leave.

In the end, he survived the heat and was alive and well when I got home. I told him to make up for it, we could eat out anywhere he wanted to {our fridge is empty anyways, but that's a different story}. Paradise Bakery was closed too early, so Panda Express it was. We are high rollers like that.

Needless to say, I think we'll now hide a key somewhere outside our door now.

Hair with benefits.

A year ago sometime this last week or so, I decided to cut my hair real short. I was excited but nervous that maybe it wouldn't look too great. I had it cut by an amazing hairstylist and artist in Vegas, of whom I still try to get my haircut by any chance I get, which has only been 2 or 3 times in the last couple of years.

I had also decided that if I was going to make such a dramatic change on my hair, I had to go all out. I colored and highlighted my hair, and also decided to splurge on some hair product too.

When I had a roommate in Hawaii who knows how to cut hair and was an ex-hair instructor, she convinced me that there is a difference in hair products (in this case, shampoo & conditioner to be exact). At first I was very skeptical, and thought paying more for a brand of shampoo was overrated and just a trap. Needless to say after she gave me some of her fancy stuff, I was converted; I could honestly see/ feel a difference.

So, I bought these two at that hair appointment that day, a year ago.

And guess what? I'm still using them! They are also only 10.1 oz & 8.5 oz, mind you. Yes they cost about double what I would pay at a store for the stuff I would normally get, but I do have to say, the investment has paid off. With the powers combined of short hair and good product that I only need about a half a dime size of each, these bad boys have lasted me a year, and I probably have at least another month left in them. {And yes, I do shower and wash my hair daily, thank you very much}

I feel pretty happy about that.

California.

The goal of this blog post is to effectively share about our visit to CA, with minimal amount of words and pictures; I'm usually not so good at this. We'll see how it goes.}

Back in around April or so, Wolfgang and I randomly decided we wanted to go to San Francisco for our wedding anniversary this year. We bought cheap flights then waited, and waited, and waited....and finally were able to go this past Thurs-Tuesday. We had a great time, and took over 400 pictures. Ridiculous, right? I'm pretty sure we can delete a slew of them though.

Here's the condensed version of our vacation:

We flew into L.A. thursday morning and headed up to Paso Robles, where my aunt and uncle live. It had been 10 years since I had last seen my uncle, and a few years short of that since I had seen my aunt. It was so great to see them and to enjoy their company, and of course for them to finally meet the husband. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to prove this event, but it did indeed happen. We stayed with them that night, and then again on our way back. I swear these two will never age. I hope to be like them. They are so fun to be around, and it was good to catch up, reminisce, and play with the pets too, of course. We even watched a 20 yr old home video of when we all were together on the lake, and it was pretty funny.

The next day we headed up to San Fran! We were there for 3 nights, and stayed at two Marriotts, obviously. There we did all the touristy stuff, like:

Had delicious fresh clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl from Boudin (it's a must),



while meeting up with one of our good friends from Hawaii, and also having ridiculous sundaes at Ghiradelli Square. We miss his presence.

We took our time heading up the coast, so that's pretty much all we had time for the first day.

The next day, we went to China Town. Wolfgang was overwhelmed {in a good way, I guess} by all the crap you could by in the stores. His most favorite find apparently was this: (enough to take a picture of it). Thank goodness he didn't actually buy it, or anything for that matter.


We ate at a restaurant there in China Town for lunch, and that was an experience in itself.

Next we headed over to the Fisherman's Wharf to check out the Sea Lions. May I add that they were hilarious? I could have watched them for hours; they were just naturally comical. The extremely passed out ones were my favorite.

The little light colored Sea Lion in this picture, can you see it? (below) He's completely passed out with his neck and head completely cocked back! Ouch. So funny.
These two were pretty funny also. The big one in the front kept having his mouth in the water, but he was so out of it that every time he would somewhat notice, he would take his head out of the water...then it would end up right back where it was. The little guy next to him is so cute too!



We finished the day off with good ol' Lombard Street. Such a beautiful street with beautiful landscapes and cute houses!



The next day was our 2 year anniversary! Time flies. We had an amazing breakfast then we met up with my wonderful first roommate in Hawaii. She was so great to live with, and is a wonderful hostess/tour guide. First time I came to San Fran I stayed with her and her wonderful family. We ate lunch at Ike's Place which was pretty dang tasty. We then went to the wonderfully beautiful area of Presidio with its huge mansions nearby, old military homes, and beautiful parks. It was also the first time I had ever seen a huge military cemetery. It was very humbling. There we took pictures of the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge.
From there we went to "The Painted Ladies," because Wolfgang insisted on seeing the "Full House" {early 90s TV show} house. Needless to say we don't know which one it was? Pretty sure it was painted since then, or its really none of the above.



Obviously there were other more important things than us when taking this picture...



Our next big event was the following day on our way out of town, when we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was SO cool. I've been wanting to go to this for years, ever since I saw it on tv or something for the first time. Since in my next life I will be a marine biologist {didn't really work out in this life} and my obsessed love for the ocean and its creatures, I had a great time, and so did Wolfgang too. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by the beauty and complexity of God's creations, that I can't help but tear up a bit and just be in a total euphoric mood. Luckily no crying at the Aquarium.

We took way too many pictures there, but here are just a few.


Someday, I WILL pet you, dearest Killer Whale.


Well, it looks like I failed on my goal for this post.

We had a great time, even if I had an obnoxious head cold the whole time {it started the day we started our vacation. So convenient, right?}. The weather was great, a little cold but it was nice to be cold rather than dying in the heat for once. We were happy and glad we had the opportunity to take this nice little trip.

Back.

Back from mini vacation, getting over a head cold, and back to work. We took a few too many (hundreds) of pictures, so that'll be a doozey to get through; Will blog about it soon.

G'night!

The job.

I've worked several days at my job now, and it's going pretty well. The first day was pretty bad; let's just say first day at work + 1,200 frat boys = not a great day.

Each day gets better and better. So far my highlight has been when I had to 'work' IN the pool which consisted of chillaxing and blowing a whistle for a part of my shift. It was fantastic.

I do however feel like an old woman at my job. I'm older than many {most?} of my co-workers, and my feet KILL by the end of the day, and I also have bad shin splints from walking on concrete for 8 hours. Is my body already starting to deteriorate?! That's depressing.

Sometimes I feel frustrated or maybe even a little upset because this job is something I would be doing while in high school, but right now I'm just trying to focus on the fact that I'm very very grateful I finally have a job: an income and something to do(!), and that's all that matters right now, and to go on from here. I'd like to pretend that I'm suppose to learn something from this, and that better things are in store for me in the near future.

Thanks for clarifying the 'A.D.,' otherwise I would have REALLY wondered if this metal shiney plate was placed in concrete in 2007 B.C....

Threat.

Dear Blogger,

I do not like how you have behaving lately; I find it offensive and unacceptable. I would like to just say that I have already made another blog with a different blog 'provider,' so I might make the switch. Please don't make me do this; you know how I get attached to ridiculous things, kind of like my hotmail email address, and how I still haven't made the complete switch over to my gmail account.

Consider this your warning.


Sincerely,

Me.