Under the Weather...

I got back from a few succesful trips on Sunday night only to find myself at the doctor yesterday morning. I left with a note that says "Stephanie deserves a raise!". Well, not really. The note said something more along the lines of "Stephanie should not go to work all week." Seriously. I'm no job-hater. I like my coworkers and I kinda like going to work every day. I mean...on my way home from the doctor, I had to go to the store because really, when is the last time I ate a meal at home? ...yeah, I can't remember either.

I'm doing ok though, so don't worry. Last night Silvia came over with her family and though we definitely don't speak the same language, it was wonderful spending time with them. Some exciting things are happening for Sil this week, so I'm grateful for the time that I have to be a part of it.

On another note, spending all this time at home is kinda turning me into a cleanaholic. Which is a good thing. And I'm off to clean the bathroom floor before getting ready for the day.

Hmmm...maybe working from home isn't that bad of an idea after all...

I'm Back!

And I'll have pictures for you probably by Monday evening. This is going to be a very busy week for me outside of work so hopefully I'll be able to keep you up to date on the latest happenings in my life.

I just got back from Utah tonight after my flight was delayed for 2 hours; good thing I really like playing Minesweeper, eh?

Hope everyone was/is well while I've been away. Be back with more soon.

Greetings from Atlanta

Hello there! I arrived in Atlanta a few hours ago and so far the day has proven to be pretty interesting. I sat next to a young Brazilian guy (I say young since he's my age) on my flight and impressed him with my Portuguese. He said that if the days of the week were all I needed, I'd be good to go. :) We talked for a good portion of the flight and he practically slept on my shoulder for a good hour. What is it with me and Brazilians?? I love them, I tell you. As soon as I checked into the hotel and received my luggage, I headed to the CNN Center to get some Chick-Fil-A. Oh yummy. Then when I got back to my room, I had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. Oh yummy again.

While I was in the cab driving up to the hotel I was looking out the window thinking about how much Atlanta is like Charlotte which made me feel all homey and happy. Then the cab driver looked at me in the mirror and said "Atlanta is very ugly city, compared to San Francisco, no?" I just smiled at him and said "San Francisco is very beautiful, but its still beautiful here." I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Have a good rest of the week everyone!

Where My Time is Going

Last year it was the Gilmore Girls. Now its Felicity. Tiffany owns the first season and so far I'm loving it. I'm not sure how I missed this show when it was on TV, but I did sit by one of the actors on a flight to London once. Remember that, Bev?? Maybe if you're lucky I'll post that picture tomorrow as its quite funny.

After watching a few episodes of Felicity last night, I went on a run. I was in a relay race on Saturday and although I haven't really run since the half marathon in May, I really enjoyed it. Somehow running this 5k got me in the mood to run again. I ran down Lake Street and a by the time I got to 18th Ave, I realized that I could see in the windows of everyone's homes and I could see tons of Christmas trees! I put a good song on repeat and enjoyed the scenery. I even said "Merry Christmas!" to the people that I ran past. In a city that is so often afraid to offend others, I was touched to see so many people openly displaying their Christmas decor. Who knows why they decorate or if they realize the true meaning behind the season, but it made me grateful for everything I have. The city I live in, that I can go running outside at night in December and not freeze to death, that I have incredible friends and family. I shouldn't worry so much about stuff that doesn't really matter.

I leave tomorrow for Atlanta, so I'll probably be light on posting while I'm gone. On Friday I'm flying to Utah for my Dad's 60th birthday party which should be a blast. There are a few people whose presence will make my canceled trip to North Carolina OK. That doesn't mean that I don't plan on going to North Carolina sometime in the near future; just that it is going to be OK this weekend. Have a nice week everyone!

What's the Difference??

Although I know that plenty of people out there read my blog, I rarely get comments. I'm not sure why. But my friends, I'm looking for a response here, so help a sister out, would ya?

Pray tell, can you please tell me what the difference is between two friends (meaning a boy and a girl) meeting up for lunch and a "date"?

k thanks. I'm looking forward to your comments.

Brian Regan

Last night I went to see Brian Regan at the Masonic Center. This isn't from last night, but in case you haven't seen him, here's a clip:

Where are you?

Today while I was addressing some of my Christmas cards, I noticed that my friends are all over the nation. So I made a map to show you were those who are nearest and dearest to me live. Its crazy sometimes to think that I lived in the same town as all of these people at one point, and look where we all are now! By the way, if you're upset that your town isn't dotted on my map, it might be because I don't have your address to send you a card. :) So send it to me and you might be lucky enough to receive one.

Taking my own advice...

This morning my coworker looked at me and said "What do you have to lose?" So I took my own advice and took a chance. Things so far are turning out swimmingly. yay.

Creches & Kershisnik

Try saying that three times fast. I couldn't even say it once without messing it up. Anyway; tonight I went with some girlfriends down to Palo Alto to check out the Annual Christmas Creche exhibit where over 500 nativities are displayed in the local church. Along with this amazing exhibit, this year an artist named Brian Kershisnik was able to show a piece of his art.

The angels seen here are all life size, so this small image doesn't even show the tiniest bit of detail that we were able to see tonight. What a beautiful portrayal of the birth of Jesus Christ. I've heard a lot of people say lately that they just aren't in the Christmas spirit. Well, guess what? I am in the Christmas spirit and I have been for over a week now. I've been saying Merry Christmas to people on the phone at work even. Hooray! Merry Christmas everyone!

Sweepers

Someone I was with tonight made a very interesting comment that I'd like to talk about briefly. This friend of mine was telling me that he was giving his roommate relationship advice and the advice he gave was to be a "Sweeper." What he meant by that is just this: If you like a girl, don't spend so much time questioning yourself. Just jump in and sweep her off her feet. Better to put your whole heart in it and take the risk.

Seeing the movie "Enchanted" this past weekend has made me think a lot about this as well. I can only really speak for myself, but as a little girl, I was taught (from movies and fairy tales) that one day a "prince" will ride up on his horse and sweep me off my feet and carry me off into the sunset. At the age of 21, I was swept off my feet. I thought I'd live forever with my handsome prince, but somehow there was a mixup and we didn't go riding off into the sunset together like I thought we would. I try to tell myself though that the magic that I once felt when this happened can happen again. I can still meet someone else who can sweet me off my feet, turn my life around and make me feel like a deer in the headlights like I did those years ago.

My point is this. I wish that guys would just take more initiative and more of a chance on relationships. If a guy likes a girl, then he should jump in with both feet. If you do it, what do you have to lose? Everything. If you don't do it, what do you have to lose? Everything. So you might as well give it a shot, right?

The Rumors Are True

Yesterday I went and saw the movie "Enchanted." It's as good as everyone says it is. I loved it.

I Think I'm Touchy.... and Reviews Anyone?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being overly sensitive. I'm an planner, for goodness sakes. When plans don't go the way I am thinking they will go, I get a little touchy. When my roommate told me tonight that she was going to a birthday party, I told her that I hadn't heard anything about this said birthday party. I mean...she said that she was sure I could go if I wanted (which I'm fairly sure is true), but I decided that I'd rather spend time with someone who I thought could use my friendship more. Then I was shot down again. So I opted for option 4 (I didn't mention option 1) which consisted of eating too much chocolate and playing video games with my neighbors.

I've decided that from now on, I'm going to stick with plan A. I should have just gone to Sacramento as I had planned earlier this week.

In other news, I found out some good news about a guy I used to date. If anything, its been making me think a lot. I also went to the gym 4 times this week. My gym attendance has been lacking a bit lately with all of my travel and laziness, so I was proud of myself. I signed up today to participate in a 7 mile relay race next Saturday, so I'd better get running big time this week or I'm going to be in big trouble come next weekend.

And last but not least, I did read two books while I was out of town over the past month, which I guess is only possible due to the amount of time that I've spent in the airport and in route to my destinations lately.

The first, "The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club" by Laurie Notaro. I thought that based on the looks of this book, that it would be hilarious and that I would relate well to the topic at hand. {I often think that my autobiography will have a similar title one day}. However, I just found Laurie to be crass and not very funny at all, actually. I have to admit that I finished the book solely out of obligation and the hope that it would maybe be funny as I got closer to the last page. I was wrong. I mean; telling stories about that time that you were drunk is one thing and can be very funny and amusing; but telling stories about how you're a raging alcoholic and making it seem like that's ok? Not ok. Not worth the read my friends.

The second book I read was actually inspired by an ex of mine. One of the things he enjoyed doing as a couple was reading together. While we were dating he would bring options and I could choose what we were going to read. I always chose the same book, but Peter Pan by J M Barrie was in the stack every time. He told me that it was his favorite book and I was curious. So when I had the chance to read it over Thanksgiving break, I jumped at it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even watched "Hook", you know, the movie you know you watched in the 90's with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman. It was a lot of fun actually to watch the movie after just having read the book. (I didn't have quite the same reaction after reading Anne of Green Gables and then watching the movie).

Very interesting stuff here if you want to read more about Peter Pan and its background.

I'm Back, But Who Cares!

The night that my camera was stolen or lost in New Orleans, I lost some pictures that I was sad to never see again. I had a darn good time that night, and during my entire stay, so I've stolen some pictures from my coworkers to make up for the loss of my camera. I'm just glad that I downloaded my fish feed pics. I would have been twice as mad if I would have lost that documentation.

This is me and Coleen. People often ask me at the meeting if she's my sister. I don't really see it in this picture, but maybe we look more alike in real life.

Oh how I wish I could remember what was going on in this picture.
Nevermind that I don't know what I'm laughing at or if I'm dancing, it cracks me up.
It was right about this time that I realized that I was missing my camera. Blast!

This action shot of a bead flying at my coworker's head is the best. It must have been quite early in the evening due to the lack of beads on the ground.

There we are on the balcony above Bourbon Street.

It seemed that no matter how many beads we threw down on to the street, more appeared on these tables. "The Tables of Mardi Gras Plenty" is what they should be called.

laissez les bons temps rouler!

Felted Beads

Last night at the Ladies Activity Club we made felted beads. It was something that I never would have thought to do myself and I loved it. And of course, the company was fantastic as well. You can check out Emily's post on it here.

I was concerned that my beads weren't the same size...

But when you look at all three together, you can't really tell. Aren't they festive??

Rebecca's attempt at Barbie earmuffs, or something like that.

The reason I'm including this picture is so that you can see the bead garland on the wall behind me. If I make a bunch more beads, I can have one of my own. Thanks Allison for letting me take some extra felt home!

Highlights from being Home for the Holidays

As I've already told you, I didn't "do" a whole lot while I was in Utah. My nephews were over at my parents' house quite a bit, so we had some bonding time. One of the first nights that I was home, my nephews found the costume box in the basement. Keep in mind that I have one sister and she has three boys. The costumes that we have are...shall I say, "girly." For the record, in about 15 years when my nephews are bringing girls over to my parents' home, I will be breaking out these pictures for all to see.

Riley, whose costume would be much more effective without the white shirt and tie.

Sam, who I want to call "Maria" for some reason when he's wearing this costume.

And here he looks like some type of wacked out Nun.

It took me a while, but I was finally able to talk Will into putting on my old Spanish dancer costume. On the other hand, Sam jumped right into his mom's old tap dancing costume.

I'm beginning to think that trying on funny hats and costumes runs in the family.
Here I am modeling a wolf cap in Park City the following morning.

And just because she's so stinking cute, here's Hannah who hates my guts right now. Awesome.