Alex learns wine tasting IS just like the movies

"Oh, Jesus. Don't ask questions like that up in wine country. They'll think you're some kind of dumbshit, OK?"














Some friends and I went on a winery tour this past weekend in Livermore courtesy of my lovely cousing Stacey. Lucky for us, I think everyone knew when we walked in that we were dumb, so we could ask all the silly questions we liked. And, ask we did. Well, I didn't, but everyone else asked some awesome questions. There was lots of learning and drinking going around.

One fun thing we learned is that all of Alex's wine knowledge is based from the movie Sideways. We discovered that Wine Country means most of California. We determined that the wine is actually stored in the barrells that we could see when we were tasting, and they were not there for decoration. Patrik and Alex found out when we were leaving that they had driven south, not north to get to where we were, and that Napa was very far away indeed.














Though we did not come at the height of grape season, it was nice because there were hardly any crouds. If there ever were any crouds, Stacy used her clout with the local wine people to get us our own tasting bar.

We tasted Zinfendels. We tasted Chardonneys. We tasted Pinots... oh the Pinots we tasted. We even tasted a Merlot... yes we even had Merlot.














We had a fun time indeed. Our friends were very sad that we had waited so long to do such a fun thing, since they are leaving in a few weeks. We told them they would just have to come back and visit during the height of harvest so we could experience a different side of the wineries. Everyone was all about it until we found out that is actually the worst time to come because you will get swarmed with bees and fruit flies.




























Patrik was drunk by this point and when shooting, couldn't get everything in the photo.














Patrik, sad that it is not the height of grape season.














Stacey, our guide, answering some silly question I am sure.

For more pictures than Alex, click here.

Wii test

"Wii made a revolution. Join it."














Nintendo has been all about trying to reach new markets with the wii, I put this idea to the test this past weekend when I went home to Chicago. I was hoping to get a bunch of people to play with the wii to see how it would fare amongst different people.

Unfortunately, I was very busy with the whole throwing two showers and they only people who got to enjoy the funness of the wii were my family. But, that included my parents (both in their 50's), my brother and his wife (who is pregnant). This was a great test group to start with.

We started with bowling and moved on from there. The family really enjoyed bowling. It was amazing how results of wii bowling were very similar to real life bowling. We also tried wii play. My mom struggled the most with wii play because the whole moving the remote and sensor bar being so sensitive thing.














My dad and brother did amazingly with fishing, better than anyone else I have seen.

We boxed. And, this is where my brother struggled the most. My dad figured out that all you need to do is flip the remotes a little, while my brother exhausted himself trying to use actual boxing moves.













I think the favorite of my brother and dad's was tennis. They got really in to it. Things got really interesting when they started trying to do jump serves and actually were jumping around.

























All in all, everyone enjoyed themselves. And with the exception of fishing, I kicked everyone's butt. Which was a nice change from playing against all the gamers that I seem to be hanging out with lately.

Flashbacks to College

"Learned everything I know without gaining any knowledge... in college"














(me in college... Im the one without the crown)


Saturday I found myself feeling like I was back in college.

Down the street from where I work, there was a brightly colored bus parked with music blaring out the windows. Two men were standing outside handing out free bottles of dole's new fruit spritzers to anyone who would take them. The one big difference was most of the people put the bottle down into or next to the garbage cans half a block away.

Later that night I attended a party where I knew no one except the person who brought me, who also knew no one but one of the hosts. We stood awkwardly with a drink in our hands against the closest wall and avoided eye contact with most people. Neither of us talked to anyone beyond the stray awkward comment and one sad attempt at starting a sports related conversation with some stander byers. And yet, with all the free drinks we walked away thinking it was a great party.

Ahhh I miss college.

Oh, and I have already come upon a problem with the special K diet: it says nothing about alcohol. I guess that is part of the "up to" six pounds catch. Though, while on this diet, you can't drink very much. The lack of calories equates to lack of tolerance for alcohol.

Ducks!

"Someone has to be the the loser, and when it comes to video games, that someone is me."














Friday night PJ and I were driving around East Bay when we saw a strange little man dancing on a balcony. We decided that seemed like a fun place to spend the evening so we bought some beer at the nearest gas station to bargain our way in.

That beer bought us admission to a night of fun, tacos and video gaming galore.

Kevin was our host for the night and he cooked some of the best shrimp, mushrooms, as well as other juicy taco fillings that I have ever had. Lots of eating ensued.

To work off these delicious calories, we followed the pigging out with much playing of the Wii. We boxed, we played air hockey, and we shot at various targets including spaceships and ducks. It got me very excited about my own Wii which PJ had brought home earlier that day.

The night was great fun and it made me very sad to know that nights like these will soon be coming to an end as many of our friends are moving away from the Gold Rush State to the Big Apple. And, we thought the commute to East Bay was bad.


Amila kicking butt and taking names

























The Puhala's are fighters to be feared













No one could take PJ's boxing seriously, not even PJ













Alex kicking my butt

I never met a calorie I didnt like

"I'm on a seafood diet... i see food and I eat it."

Ever since I moved to Texas and gained the "Texas Twenty," I have been trying to lose it. I figured when I moved to San Francisco I would start walking around more, eating heathier, being healthier. Instead, I think i gained back any weight that I managed to lose while in Africa.

Then came the trip to Mexico, and when I got my pictures back, I decided to make a plan. I set a goal of losing 20 pounds by May 19th. This gave me just about 17 weeks to reach my goal.

I started off pretty strong. I worked out atleast three days a week and was eating pretty healthy. It was not a strict diet, but I stuck to cereal for breakfast veggies and hummus for lunch and some sort of "sensible" ish dinner. And, in the first six weeks, I lost six pounds. Trouble is, I have not lost any weight in the past three weeks.

So, I am cracking down on myself again and trying a stricter diet. Yes, I am trying a fad diet. For the next two weeks (starting yesterday) I am on the Special K diet. They boast you can lose up to six pounds in two weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

Celebrating Lower Car Insurance Rates

"Calories consumed on your birthday don't count... nor on vacation or after a break up or during your best friend's birthday....."




(Me hiding from calories)









I turned 25 this past Saturday. Weeks before, I was saddened by the fact that I would not be surrounded by close friends or family. Turns out, I was just being silly.

When it came to my birthday weekend I was surrounded by awesome friends and good times. No family was around, but the weekend's festivities by far made up for it.














The night before my birthday PJ and my friend Kevin took me to Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. It was very yummy indeed. I actually ended up eating PJ's meal because I liked his better and he was not really digging his at all.

For my birthday day PJ had originally planned a surprise activity for after I got off work. Unfortunately, it hinged on the weather being good, and the weather was not good. Despite this temporary set back, there was still a great night in store.














Instead of going go carting (the original plan), we ended up going to see the Oscar nominated shorts downtown. PJ has been raving about "The Danish Poet" since he first saw it, and so of course, I wanted to see it too. I am glad I did because it won for "Best Animated Short" at the Oscars.

Since I worked so late, we were not able to grab dinner before going to see the movie. But, as we arrived we found amazing, FREE, street parking, so the night was already off to an awesome start. After the movie going, we turned the corner and stepped into this little bar that was pretty much empty. And, while they did not have all the hard alcohol it took to make certain drinks I was craving, it had enough to keep me happy throughout the night.

I did not want the night to end, though I think everyone else I was with wanted it to end about two hours before it finally did. When we left the bar there was this neat little pizza place on our way back to the cars that was still open, so we stepped in and grabbed the bite to eat we missed out on before the movies.














So thank you to all you who came out and made my birthday. And thanks to all my dear friends from home that I could not celebrate with but called so they could take part if only for a little while.

Me jumping through the window I'm having so much fun













The friendly John Barleycorn bartender we (I) annoyed all night long with ridiculous drink requests like Appletini's and Buttery Nipples.













Patrik showing Amila where she is













Patrik and PJ making Alex out of focus by jumping in the picture













Patrik angry at me and PJ threatening me with a stick if we don't go home soon

Ski trippin

"You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But, sometimes you meet people you can't forget, those are your friends."


























Bert was nice enough to watch over Nelly while PJ and I went and killed ourselves on the slopes of Tahoe. We had a wonderful weekend with PJ's brother and father.

It was an amazing weekend of stars, sun, sweat, and snow bunnies.

Like most of our road trips, we drove up during the hours of the night. So, we missed most of the beautiful scenery there was to see besides the stars. We arrived in the late hours of the night, or early hours of the morning, depending on how you look at it.

The next day beautiful weather awaited us. It was not beautiful skiing weather mind you, but beautiful weather. Girls were in tank tops and guys were in t shirts. And PJ and I were bundled up in all the winter gear we could gather and sweating our skies off.

The view from the top of the mountain of the lake was clear and beautiful. Unfortunately, our camera man (PJ's brother) forgot his batteries. So, we had to wait until the next day to snap some pretty pictures. Except this one snapped on a phone camera.
















Sunday, was not so pretty. We woke up to rain hitting our window and cold air freezing our feet. Lucky for us, at the top of the mountain, the rain was snow. Unlucky for us, not only did the altitude freeze the rain, it froze our faces. Through it all, the wind and snow stinging our faces, our legs crying out in pain while we fly down the slopes, we had a fun time.






























And, I only got lost twice. :)

Missing Texas

"Ive been sent to spread the message... God bless Texas!"
















I will be honest. I hated Texas when I moved there. It took me over a year to get to like it really. Of course, then I leave a year later. And while I love San Francisco, there are just somethings that I miss from Texas.

Wisconsin, Chicago, so far in San Francisco, I never found a better:

Dentist.
Jim Slater, DDS
I hate the dentist. When I was younger, one of them actually drilled the side of my mouth. Of course, it was because i hit his arm, but he told me to raise an arm if it hurt. I did and I hit his arm. The drill went from my tooth to my cheek. OUCH. So I went to a different dentist after that, actually a few. But, I never found one I liked until Texas.

That man was amazing with my mouth. When he drilled, there was no pain. Okay, a little pain because I don't get novicane, but very little pain. I miss my dentist :(

Hair Dresser.
Lauren at L'image
I had a hair dresser in highschool who was very good at doing updo's for formals, but besides that, I never found a place, even in Madison that I loved my hair cut and color every time. Until Texas. I actually felt like I was a cliche. I actually talked to my hairdresser about life, we gossiped, it was freaky. And, in the end. I always loved my hair. The one time I didnt, she re did it for free.

Seamstress.
Bridal Alterations by Linda.
I had to deal with a lot of weddings while down in Texas. Some, the dresses were not so nice looking, another one, a little too tight looking (I gained a few pounds in Texas). These were no challenges for this woman. She made all my dresses look AMAZING on me. Even, and especially dress that originally just looked ugly on me.

Vet.
Daryl Williams at Chastain Vets
Ohhhh how i miss that Vet. They were amazing with Nelly. They were sticking things up her and giving her shots and she was as calm as can be. I think she had a thing for her young male vet because she behaved like an angel.


And of course I miss my friends, and the DNA group and the DNA parties, and going to Jackasstors... but they closed because they knew we were leaving. And, a little part of me misses my job... my wallet.

God Bless Texas

The final post on Mexico

"Facing your fears is the best way to realize you were totally rational for having them"














We played, we drank, and we slept.

We had tons of fun in Mexico. Our last big adventure was PJ's idea. We went on a zip line canopy tour. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of this. I did not want to risk bringing my very expensive camera only to see it drop 500 feet below me while I was hanging by a thin cord. I had enough to be scared/worried about, like my body dropping that 500 feet.

Okay, the cords were not that thin. And, I did not come close to falling (or at least that is what i was told). But, the guy in front of me did drop his camera once. Lucky for him I caught it and brought it to him at the next tree stand. So, at least one of my fears was rational.

This tour was fun and exciting and the views were beautiful. But to be honest, I was scared out of my mind the entire time. I highly recommend it for people who like a bit of a thrill 500 ft about ground at very high speeds. PJ loved it. And, I am glad I went. I was definitely the fastest one there because i was so scared i would scrunch into the tightest little ball i could and be done before the cord had a chance to break.














If you want to check out all the pictures from our vacation (or most of them atleast)
My Puerto Vallarta Pictures

Taking it off road

"One tequila, two tequila, three tequila... floor"












The first big adventure we had was with our two friends Sumi and Aaron. We decided to go on a Tequila Doonbuggy tour. Now, as you can tell from the pictures PJ and I are not on a Doonbuggy. We ended up on an ATV after a heated battle with the guy running things, which was continued after the trip was over as well.

If there is one thing we learned, it is you get what you pay for. There were some tours we booked through our concierge that were a little more expensive, but they were higher quality and much more enjoyable. So, keep that in mind when traveling to Mexico and a time share agent tries to rope you in.

Anyway....

Here we are getting ready and looking bad to the bone.













Dont let me fool you. PJ drove the entire time, I am just posing.













This is how it really was.













Along the way we stopped at a beautiful pool area with a waterfall.













We decided to go cliff jumping... though the cliff wasnt that big.

























Then near the end, we went on a Tequila tour. We had to taste all the different tequila's... WITH NO LIME OR SALT!!! And, my God, was that stuff strong and awful tasting... until we reached the end. Then they gave us the good stuff that tasted nothing like tequila and was flavored like caramel, chocolate, and coffee... mmmmmmmmmm

























Oh and I forgot to mention, on the boat trip, the crew liked to call me brittney spears because how my hair looks... apparently I need to get some new highlights put in.

Adventures at Sea

"Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour... A three hour tour"














Our tour had more than five passengers and it was longer than three hours, so no fears, we did not get ship wrecked.

We set sail way too early in the morning to go whale watching and snorkeling. We chose to do a little sailboat vs the booze cruise our friends went on. While ours was a little more expensive, it was much more enjoyable.

The crew was amazingly helpful. They offered everyone anti sea sickness pills before we left the dock. I passed, thinking I wouldn't need it because I sail(ed) all the time. And, actually I was fine until I ventured under the deck to use the restrooms. Then I got some not so pleasant feelings.

They also made our drinks very strong and tasty. And, the minute PJ started thinking the drinks were not strong enough, they made them stronger. Though, at that point PJ and I definitely did not need it.

We saw whales, lots of beautiful fishys and lots of water. And, we had fun. PJ was actually amazed at how much fun he had whale watching. He thought it would be sooo lame, but he was the first to start jumping out of his seat when he saw a whale. As the drinks went on, he was jumping up more and more at whales the rest of us never saw, but he swears they were there.