Pragmatic Proposal

NEWS FLASH - Forrest and I are engaged.

I am so very excited and happy about this new development in our relationship - and also in a complete daze from all that is still left to come :)

Running, Running Everywhere...

and not a place to rest...

So in looking at some old posts, I cam across this.

My, my how things have changed...as I am now actively training for the Boston Marathon. Although my goal time of 4:30 isn't some tremendous feat, the fact I am am voluntarily running for that long is a feat in itself.

Funny, I wonder what's next :) Ironmans maybe?

Get Your Heart On...

Did you? I know I did...LOL. As a pre-valentine's day event, the LVH* hosted a dinner and cookie decorating with the ladies. Erin and Erin stopped by, I arrived later after a compulsory workout at the gym and Susi cruised by after a work dinner and is participating in the sleepover.

Cookie decorating sounds very stepford but it's a lot of fun when you have all of us erratic characters around trying to tell a story, strategically decorate cookies while balancing the wine glass.

COOKIE COOKIE

The cookie is merely a vehicle to present the M&M's

Memorable Superbowl Moment

And I mean besides the fact that the Colts won - HAHAHAHA

Quote from Eddie George during halftime or post-show with Boomer Esiason...
"You got to keep your eye on your luggage!"

Ventana Inn at Big Sur

View of Forrest from the resort parking lot. Spent the weekend at Ventana Inn at Big Sur for a little R&R. Forrest got me a massage at the spa for Christmas and I was more than happy to oblige :) as anyone can say, when it comes to spa treatments, I may have a problem saying "no." It rained all weekend like there was a hurricane off the coast of California so we didn't even get to see what the area really looked like nor did it seem safe enough to drive around on one lane highway 1. Thankfully, it all cleared up on Sunday and we got to see some gorgeous views of the CA coastline on our way home.

From the ass of a civet....Juan Valdez

"Relished coffees from around the world" my ass - HA! literally my ass. What you are seeing on the dessert menu at Cielo is Kopi Luwak and for those of you who do not know what it is, maybe that's for the best. At a whopping $40 per cup you have have a steaming cup of what appears to be ground up civet shit. Actually it's partially digested coffee beans excavated from civet poop....how not that appetizing.

Otherwise the rest of our meal there was pretty awesome. I got the "fresh catch of the day" and Forrest had the venison with herbed spatzle and chocolate infused sauce...muy interesante - highly recommended

Chef Chu's fortune cooke

"A bold and dashing adventure is in your future within the year"

Dude I am eating there more often!

All's fair in the tax game

I am sure most people out there will agree with me when I say that I feel as though my relationship with Uncle Sam is a bit one-sided. He takes and takes, and then when you think he's giving, he finds a way for someone else to take.

Case in point, my 2006 taxes. The gov already takes some ungodly amount out of my paycheck on a bi-monthly basis and when doing my taxes, it SEEMED like I was getting a decent return back from the fed. But, DOH! Somehow the trick was that I would owe a similar amount to the state - ARG

Top 15

That's Hiroko posing in front of the Garaventa sign in the Funitel at Squaw. So you may not know this, but Hiroko sells elevators and wheelchair lifts....I know...crazy....she's in like, construction. Recently she met her sales challenge of being one of the top 15 reps for Garaventa (her company is a reseller) so her sales trip is to Cabo or Puerta Vallarta or something like that - super cool.

Damnit we are cute!

pic of the ladies in the hotel just after we returned / or before we left for the evening? I can't remember exactly. Notice the lower half - how cool our jeans are - LOL.

Who dat is sharing a bed with Linh? Actually, she eagerly volunteered to share the pull out bed with Chester and then Hiroko had to warn him about her tendency to spoon nearby sleepers. I have shared a twin bed with Linh...not pretty - she's definately a bed hog.

We had 6 people overall in the hotel and it wasn't too bad. We had the bedroom, a murphy bed and sofa pull out in the living room...I think if we wanted to be super asian, we could have fit a few more people on the floor.

Happy Birthday Dad

January rounds out with my dad's birthday on Jan 31. It's a busy month for me with roughly a birthday a week. That's a picture of the orange mousse cake that my mom picked up at the korean bakery for my dad and Forrest to share since their birthdays are so close together.

Korean Visor Madness

That gigantic bill cresting from my dome is in fact...my mother's visor. Yes it's true...my Korean mother has a gigantic visor in the car...to protect her face from the sun. All she needs now is the flippin face mask. Playing with this visor and my camera proved to provide endless entertainment for me and Sam....we were practically crying/laughing on our drive to dinner.

Just like a japanese school girl...only much much scarier.

Designer Jeans

That Vy's and my rear views in our brand spankin' (no pun intended) designer jeans. Notice the emblems on the butt pockets. Also notice Vy's ghetto booty! WOOT WOOT...next to her nubian rear end, my butt looks merely like connector joints for some chopsticks :( Instead of glutious maximus...I have a glutious invertedus.

I hate to spend a lot of money on denim...but the Rock and Republics that I am modeling here, fit sooooo good...I am now a believer.

Happy Birthday Forrest

What time is it you say? Time to take the old fogie back to the old folks home before curfew! JUST KIDDING - although Forrest did turn 32 approximately two weekends ago. I should be one to talk with 30 nipping at my heels.

Nonetheless, we all had a great time out at Suppenkuche for dinner...gotta love the schnitzel. Who in their right mind does not love fried anything, especially pork? Drinks were originally planned for Place Pigalle which looked online like a little hipster joint - but after getting there the lacking of hard alcohol proved to be too much and we progressed down the street to a place called Sugar.

p.s. super cute - would totally go back.

And wouldn't you know it? we all turned into pumpkins around 12:00 and were all trying to find ways to get outta the bars and go home...so us old folks could go to sleep. Funny thing is, Sam and Michelle ditched first and they were the youngest people there AND the most recent college grads. I mean, if 23 year olds can't stay out past midnight...what chance do the rest of us have.

Brad and Sam with cupcake nipples... p.s. if you are ever looking for some super yummy desserts, you have to hit up Miette in the Ferry Building - they are absolutely wonderful, albeit a little on the pricier side.

Sam's "nipples" are the cupcake versions of their Old Fashioned which is a dark (extremely dense) Sharfenberger chocolate cake with an almost semi-soft marshmallowy top. The cupcakes have what I assume are boston baked bean candies at the top but the full cake version places a cherry at the center.

Sam and Michelle hamming it up at Suppenkuche.