Category Archives: life

paris day 2

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Why didn’t I find out about this sooner?!? JOSH JACKSON is doing a Q&A session in Berkeley tonight!!! Maybe I can find a way in…

Work is kicking my butt. And I’ve only been there 2 weeks! The hours are long and when I get home, I don’t have much energy to do anything besides watch TV before heading to bed. So I’m tired. But I’m loving it… I’m learning a lot (media buying is very different from the sales side), I’m working on some great accounts, and maybe best of all, I get to be back in San Francisco. I just wish that I didn’t have to wait so long for my first paycheck, lol. I have another week and a half to wait, which seems like forever from now. Especially since I spent a good portion of my last paycheck while I was in Paris. EEEK.

I officially dropped Las Vegas and Six Degrees from my regular TV schedule. I’m still not completely caught up with TV after missing a week and a half worth of shows while I was in Paris. And I just have no desire to figure out what’s going on with these 2 shows. Plus, I’m very tempted to catch Day Break (Taye Diggs!!!) when it premieres so I figured I had to get rid of something if I was going to get invested in another show.

I read that The CW cancelled Runaway. HAHAHAHA. I bet they’re wishing they renewed Everwood. I’m still a little bitter. I don’t let go of things very easily. :/

So anyway, more Paris stories, anyone?

Sat, October 14: Day 2
We woke up at 7:30am after a really restless night. I kept waking up in the middle of the night and would stare at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep again. Damn jet lag! Anyway, after showering (OMG, the shower is about as small as the elevator!) and getting ready, we went down to the breakfast room. There was a beautiful spread of baguettes, croissants (so flaky and buttery, YUM), hard-boiled eggs, milk, coffee, and orange juice. I’m usually too rushed in the mornings to eat breakfast so it was a pleasant change to sit down and eat before heading out for the day.

It was time to conquer the Metro. We somehow figured out how to buy a carnet of tickets but then we almost got on the RER instead of the Metro train. OOPS. After that first mix-up, we got on the correct train, even managed to transfer trains, and ended up at the Eiffel Tower, which was the meeting point for the tour. We spotted our tour guide as he rode up to the base of the Tower on a segway. Hee! We went over to introduce ourselves and we found out that his name’s Mike and he was originally from Sacramento. Small world!

As soon as the rest of our group arrived (2 other couples from CA and South Africa), we walked over to the City Walks Headquarters to practice on the segways. Mike showed us how to go forward and backward, turn and stop. I WAS AWFUL. At first. To go forward, you have to lean forward just slightly. I was totally overdoing it. I would lean forward too much, which, of course, propelled me forward *really* fast. Plus, I was also pretty bad at stopping. To stop, you have to shift your weight backwards quickly, by leaning back or kind of sticking your butt out. I almost hit Mike because I couldn’t stop and I was going too fast. Hehe. But after a few more minutes of practice, though, I got the hang of it and I loved it! 🙂 Once Mike deemed all of us competent, we were off for about 3 hours of riding around the city. I had 1 “moment” at the beginning of the tour — I think I was getting *too* comfortable with the segway and I started going faster and faster. I didn’t realize that Mike had stopped at Les Invalides to talk a little bit about it and I ran right into one of my fellow tour mates. OMG. It was one of those situations where your mind is telling you to do something (in my case, STOP!) but my body couldn’t react quickly enough. Neither of us fell off our segways or got hurt so it was more embarrassing for me than anything else. We had a good laugh. Anyway, the tour took us from the Eiffel Tower, through the Les Invalides area, along the Seine and to the Louvre, where we took a much-needed lunch break. It’s much more tiring than it looks! I guess because you’re putting so much pressure on your toes and heels. We had lunch at a cafe in the Tuileries Gardens. I had a ham and cheese quiche (amazing!) and Rob had a hot dog. It sounds strange since you know, we’re in France and he’s having a hot dog. But surprisingly, they’re really popular there. And they do serve them differently — the hot dog is in a baguette with melted cheese on top. YUM.



We were tired after the Segway tour so we went back to our hotel to get some rest before going out for dinner. It’s funny because Rob and I have completely different travelling styles. I like to be out all day and see as much as possible while Rob needs to have a break in the afternoon so he can rest and take a nap. We definitely had to make compromises in the way we spent our days! After Rob’s nap, we took a walk down Boulevard St. Germain and went to Pizza Vesuvio for dinner (I was craving Italian food). I had Spaghettie alla carbonara and Rob had a pizza. He also ordered a Coke, which cost 3.60 euros. That’s like $5!!! I was forewarned that sodas were expensive in Paris but that blew us away, lol. The food was excellent, though. And I was so proud because we managed to order everything and ask for the check all in French. Following dinner, we headed down to the Seine and strolled along the river for a bit. Paris is so beautiful at night! *sigh* Then we grabbed Haagen Dazs ice cream (strawberry for me, cappucino caramel truffle for Rob) on the way back to the hotel.

Up next: More walking!

paris day 1

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I’m finally getting around to blogging about my trip… I kept a written travel journal but I also want to have kind of a “recap” here on my site. It’ll probably take me months to finish it up though, lol. I guess you’ll just have to bear with me. 😀 Anyway, here goes…

Thurs/Fri, October 12-13: Day 1
Waking up early to get to the airport was hard. Security was easy. Probably because we were heading out of the US instead of coming in. Though Rob was asked to take off his flip flops when we were going through security at SFO. Weird, right? Speaking of weird, I saw the craziest thing at the Chicago O’Hare airport (we changed planes there and it is a NICE airport!). I had to use the restroom so I walked into a stall and immediately noticed that there weren’t any toilet seat covers. Then I noticed some sort of sign on the wall with instructions. It said to wave your hand in front of the sensor and a plastic toilet seat cover would be dispensed directly onto the seat. When you’re finished, you wave your hand again and the toilet flushes along with the cover. OMG. Has anyone ever seen this?!?
Flights were uneventful. But uncomfortable. It’s so hard to sleep on a plane when you have no legroom. I barely got any sleep. One day I’m going to fly first class, damn it. 😛 We landed, picked up our luggage, and found the taxi line with no problems. Unfortunately, the jet lag was setting in. UGH. We left San Francisco at 9:30 on Thurs morning and arrived in Paris at 8:30 on Fri morning. It seriously felt like I had been awake for 24 hours even though technically our flights were only a total of 13 hours. The taxi ride was looooong. We were heading into Paris during the morning rush so it took a little over an hour cause of the traffic. As we got closer to the city, I started to see glimpses of the Eiffel Tower. SQUEEEEE. That’s when it hit me. I was in Paris!!! I had been looking forward to and planning the trip for months and it was finally here. 😀 Our taxi driver took us around the turnabout at the Arc de Triomphe… that was INSANE. Twelve streets feed into the turnabout and it’s pretty much every driver for himself. Anyway, we finally arrived in the Latin Quarter at Hotel Claude Bernard, our home base for the week. It’s a really small and charming hotel, centrally-located and has all the basics, including free internet access in the lobby! That was a pleasant surprise. When we checked in, our room wasn’t ready (it was only about 10:30am) so we left our bags and headed out to get familiar with our arrondissement. And find some food (airplane food was horrible)!
After walking around aimlessly for awhile, we finally walked into a boulangerie to get a sandwich. We managed to order a Croque Monsieur (a ham sandwich with cheese on top, so good) but it was tough. We know almost no French and coupled with the jet lag, we just weren’t very sharp, hehe. After some more walking (this really helped us stay awake and adjust to the time change), we decided we needed coffee and happened to stumble upon the all too familiar Starbucks sign. We HAD to go in, LOL. I got a Tall (Moyen) Mocha, which was completely different than the mochas they serve here in the US. It’s not as sweet and chocolate-y so it tastes more like coffee. It was to die for. Too bad it was about twice the cost!
We went back to our hotel since our room was supposed to be ready by this time. It was so we grabbed our luggage and headed to the elevator. WOW. I have *never* seen a smaller elevator. It only fits 2 people at a time. So with our huge suitcases, Rob and I had to take it up to the 5th floor one by one. We arrived at our room, opened the door and found that it wasn’t much bigger than the elevator. LOL. We freshened up and unpacked and then decided to do some more walking so we wouldn’t be tempted to fall asleep. According to the trusty street map, the Luxembourg Gardens are just a few streets away so we headed in that direction. As we approached, we grabbed a mozarella, tomato, and cheese panini to enjoy in the gardens (YUM — the bread was so soft and the cheese so flavorful). The flowers were still in bloom so the garden and its fountains were absolutely breathtaking.



We then set out for Boulevard St. Germain to find Monoprix, which is a store that carries grocery and household items. We purchased bottled water, orange juice (I was still a little sick at this point), and miscellaneous snacks for the week. It was now 5pm and we were *exhausted* so we went back to the hotel. We watched CNN for awhile (it was the only channel in English!) and finally went to sleep at 8pm.

Up next: Segway Tour!

birthday

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It’s my BIRTHDAY!!!

Yay. Well, except for the fact that I’m sick. YUP. Been sick now for 2 days. I was sick for my last day at work! So I was sniffling from being sick and teary from all the emotion of leaving. My own office totally spoiled me with a going-away/birthday party and great gifts. I got a spa treatment and also a gift certificate to a dinner cruise while I’m in Paris. *sniff* I’m going to miss them all so much. 🙁

Anyway, I’m still not feeling 100% but I guess I’d better get up and start packing and doing laundry… 1 more day til I leave for Paris! I just hope I feel better for the flight. Guh.

mini golf birthday

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I’m heading into the last 2 days of work at my current job. It’s a very strange feeling… I’m sad to leave all my great co-workers, I’m scared that I might be horrible at my new job, but I’m really excited to be doing something different. I’m totally all over the place. :/

I had a really fun (early) birthday shindig today with some friends. We played miniature golf down in Castro Valley (I SUCK) and then came back up to Berkeley for pizza at Zachary’s (OMG, SO GOOD). Rob also got me the yummiest strawberry cake from Neldam’s Bakery. Aaaahhh, I feel so spoiled. 😀

Anyway, I thought I’d upload some of my recent favorite songs since I haven’t done a music post recently…

Right click, save as…
username: cookie
password: monster

Fergie – Fergalicious
Fergie – Clumsy
These Fergie songs are damn catchy.
JoJo- Too Little, Too Late
Michael Buble – Home (I just discovered Michael Buble and fell in love).
Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars (Acoustic) (This song makes me go… GUH. Note: this file’s in m4a format).

Countdown to Paris: 4 days!

ipod shuffle

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I kinda want a new iPod. Damn Apple.

I was perfectly happy with my 30gb iPod until the other day, when they announced the new iPods. Longer battery life, a new search interface, movies/games capabilities and an 80gb model.

80GB! IWANTONESOBAD.

But I won’t. I need to save money… for Paris, for Christmas and maybe for a car (!). I *am* thinking of getting a Shuffle, though. It would be perfect for working out. My iPod can be a little bulky, especially when running, etc.

Speaking of money wasting items, the Nintendo DS Lite is now available in pink in the US. Love it. I’d be able to play Mario Kart! That might just be reason enough to get it. Hehe. Except… NO, I WON’T. I WILL STAY STRONG.

Anyway, it’s Friday night and you know what I’m doing (well, besides looking at things I can’t afford)? I’m sitting here playing with the new iTunes (which rocks, by the way)… going through all 1500 of my songs and downloading album artwork. My iPod screen is incomplete with out! I obviously… WIN AT LIFE. 😀

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

new job???

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Someone tell me…

WHY I AM WATCHING DANCING WITH THE STARS??!!?

Anyway.

Life has been feeling a bit like a whirlwind lately. After a couple of weeks of communicating back and forth with an old manager of mine, she officially offered me a job today! I had been toying with the idea of starting the search for a new job (feeling a little bored at my current job) but this opportunity pretty much came and dropped itself in my lap. It’s in the same industry (media buying), the position itself is a promotion, and the salary is about 30% more than I’m making now. It’s pretty much a no-brainer. It’ll definitely be more responsibility and more hours but I’m ready for a change. Now I just have to give my notice. My boss is the BEST and I adore working for him… it’s going to be so hard telling him I’m going to leave. Ack. Just thinking about it pains me. :/

Ok, must think happy thoughts…

OMG. Just one more month ’til Paris! Woot.

golf

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My office is closing early the Friday before Labor Day so we can have a “Guys and Dolls” golf tournament. We’re all going to be paired up (a guy and a girl — hence the name) and then we’ll alternate shots on a 9-hole course. I thought it sounded like fun so I signed up even though I’ve never picked up a golf club in my life.

Until today, that is.

My boss thought it would be fun to take me out to the driving range so I could get some practice… WOW.

I SUCK. I kept running the club into the ground. Hehe. And then when I would actually make contact with the ball, it would roll about 2 feet. NO JOKE.
*le sigh*

No one will want to play with me! 😛

I’m hoping Rob will take me out to the driving range again this weekend just so I won’t make a complete and total fool of myself next Friday.