Going to Boston

that means i will be eating donuts.

New Digs

This is the view from my new office :) I guess this eco-friendly business ain't so bad after all.

Happy Birthday Chester

His highness participating in his favorite activity, playing with cameras. Saturday afternoon Chester held a birthday party BBQ at a picnic site within Tilden Park. Post BBQ a smaller group of us headed over to Chester's pad for drinks and games. A game called "What the Fuck" was kind of interesting...the premise is similar to a "would you rather a) or b)?" line of questioning.

Dinner at Les Amis

Friday night we went out to Les Amis for our weekly "date night." What happens is that I cook almost every day of the week and during the weekend Forrest takes me out to a really nice dinner that someone else cooks. It is a schedule that is really working out very well :)

Located two doors down from Rubicon, this little french restaurant is cozy but not small on taste. We both had the tasting menu, but got different options where a course was presented with options. Can I please say SUPER YUMMO?

On the menu...

• Amuse Bouche - Truffle Scrambled Eggs
  
• Cauliflower Soup with creme fraiche and caviar
• Beet Salad with Goat Cheese parfait and citrus sauce thingy
  
• Seared foie gras with loganberry OR a Sushi style Tuna (kind of like carpaccio but with thicker slices)
• phantom course - we can't remember
  
• Veal medallion or Cod
• Dessert - Chocolate Mousse thing OR assorted sorbet
  

Weekend in Sacramento

Last weekend we packed up all the Kangs, Forrest and myself into my mom's car and drove up to Sacramento to spend the weekend with Forrest's family. His parents were hosting a dinner and open house for their friends in celebration of our and Ann's weddings. It was nice meeting everyone and spending time with the fam - but holy moly was it tiring....we were pretty much exhausted from all the talking after two days.

F*@K, SH#T

Last week I was on the road again...off to Phoenix and Houston for a series of seminars around our company's products. I don't have to go, but I like to go because it gets me out there talking to the people and it helps to reset my assumptions. Also, it is really one of the only opportunities to get outta the office so it's tends to be a nice change in scenery.

I traveled quite a bit at my previous company as well so sometimes I miss being on the plane....

that is until, my wallet was stolen in Houston - EEEK

I'm not sure if it I lost it or it was stolen because there are two potential instances in which it disappeared and I'm not sure which one because I can't clearly account for the time in between. The last time I had my wallet in my hands was around 2:30pm to buy some soup for lunch. Then later, after our seminar was over...I went to grab my bag and noticed it was missing...when I found it, it was around the corner from the registration desk (where it was originally residing) and now missing one wallet - containing all my credit cards and identification and cash.

Effectively I was stuck in Houston.

I have received TONS of "advice" on what other people do to avoid these scenarios. I will admit, I don't care to hear about it because I realized those precautions were what I needed to start doing - also, telling me what I "should" have done, doesn't make my shit re-appear, three states to the right.

Anyhoo - after many phone calls back and forth to Forrest, we finally got everything squared away - my passport arrived with a wad of cash via FedEx the next morning and I was headed home.

Once at the airport, I learned that my flight was delayed two hours....once I finally boarded, I took a two hour nap to learn that we were still grounded....once we were on the runway, we learned we had engine trouble....once we were airborne, we had a medical emergency....but ironically enough, my plane was chock full of doctors and medial assistants on their way to San Francisco for a conference.

My new favorite place

So a new place opened up across the street from our house, next door to the former Fremont Bar. I went to check it out on Saturday thinking it would just be a new nail place....but on no, I was so mistaken - it is a spa with yoga studio! I have mad love for spa services and with only four lanes of traffic separating me from Cocoon Urban Day Spa, Forrest may need to move us into a different neighborhood where such things aren't so close.....this is dangerous people, just dangerous....

Football part deux

Sunday we headed off to the Niners vs. Ravens game with the in laws. This weekend's tailgate was the polar opposite of the previous tailgate. First of all, there were about 38 fewer people and none of us has to man a grill for a sweat shop like shift. We arrived at a leisurely pace to the stadium, hung out around the car and had a nice lunch. Once inside the stadium, however, Forrest and I both started to lose our general faith in humanity. When did the fans get so retarded? I can understand what happened last week, because we sat in the cheap seats, but even in the lower reserve? Is there no safe place?

Steve and Susan's wedding

Saturday we drove up to the Jack London Historic Park in Glen Ellen to attend Steve and Susan's wedding. They had their ceremony on the grounds of the Beauty Ranch. The house that Jack London built with his wife, but never got to live in. The story goes that there was a fire that burned down the original structure (the ceremony was within the walls of the ruins) and he died before the new structure was complete and his wife never lived in it after his passing. Sad story...but a picturesque beautiful place.

obligatory couple pic. I was hoping this would be a good candidate for our first ever family Christmas card, but Forrest chose to veto it.

Steve's dad got ordained online and performed the wedding ceremony. It was cute because he seemed to get a little choked up here and there.

Kangate 2007!!

That's right bitches, that's beer pong. We know how to do this. Every year, my brother Sam and I would pick a football game to go to, to get there early and tailgate for. This year...it wasn't quite the "Kang-gate" anymore as I turned into the Junod/Kang Tailgate plus 40 some odd people. That's right - 40 people.

In years past, it was something like 4-10 people so I'm not sure what happened here but suddenly, I found myself buying $1,000 worth of food/drinks and rotating ice in and out of 4 coolers that were holding food in our apartment.

The Niners didn't win but I'm not surprised there...hopefully next year the Packers or Colts will be back in town for some real ass kickin :)

Not a bad view from our nose bleed seats, but you get an interesting mix of people. Behind us we ended up with some SUPER drunk Seahawks fans that then proceeded to pee on Venus. Apparently the toilet challenged young man couldn't help himself and proceeded to get arrested while still holding his penis in his hand.