wine

We went wine tasting today on our way back from our trip up to Cyrus, and both places where we stopped had some really interesting (in a good way) wine, and I bought a couple of bottles to have another time. We got back in time for me to show my friends around our revamped office and then grab dinner.

so full

Lounging at the hotel where we're staying for the night after eating so much food that I look pregnant. I've been too busy hanging out and having fun to update since Friday, which is my favorite reason for not updating.

almost there

If my brain and I get along for the next few hours, we will make it to the weekend, which will be full of good things (and hopefully not too much work):

(1) Sleeping in on Saturday

(2) Two of my favorite people arriving on a jet plane Saturday evening

(3) Hanging out with those friends (and a few others) Saturday night

(4) Going up to Sonoma on Sunday for dinner at Cyrus

(5) Three-day weekend (taking Monday off!)

(6) Wine tasting in Sonoma on Monday

aloha

Even though I came home from work a little bit cranky, my boyfriend still gave me my birthday present: an extremely silly poem (which I'm not allowed to publish online, but have posted on the refrigerator) and a surprise trip to Hawaii in four weeks. Now that's what I call a beamish boy.

icing on the cake

An afternoon meeting turned out to be birthday cupcakes :)

2^5

It's my birthday! I like some numbers more than others, and 32 seems like a good one. Here's to the power of two.

The year has started off well so far -- the dogs didn't bark to wake me up, my friends have been sending funny emails and quick message on Facebook, I had a good lunch with some coworkers, and a negotiation call ended up being with a lawyer who was a law school classmate of mine, whom I had just run into a couple of weeks ago. It was one of the smoothest calls I've ever had.

I hope these are indicative of how the rest of the year will go, at home, with friends, in the office, and at work.

early

My parents sent me flowers for my birthday, which is tomorrow.

no on 8

My exciting moment of the day was finding out that Prop 8 was overturned. It has no practical effect for me, since I'm straight and not a big believer in the institution of marriage, but it just appeals to my sense of justice and logic.

routine

It's always been convenient that my boyfriend and I work in the same department, so that we see each other every day, but it's so nice to know that now I'll get to see him every night, too.

democracy

I find it hilarious that in an online poll of my department to brainstorm ideas for ways to reward people for good work, one of the current leading ideas is: "Dress up [the general counsel] for a day in the outfit of your choice."

at the car wash

The guys were having a dude moment, washing a vintage car in the driveway. I asked them to do "sexy poses, like girls in silly movie scenes about car washes," and this is what resulted.

time capsule

One of the side effects of being a pack rat who moves a lot is that I have a lot of boxes full of random things that represent various phases: boxes from law school, boxes from when I lived in midtown, boxes from Switzerland. I generally give up on unpacking before I get to the last few boxes, but this time, I did a more thorough job, which meant that I got to rediscover some old memories with good friends as I unearthed, among other things, photo booth pictures, a magazine from Argentina, postcards from Russia, a volume of printed and spiral bound emails. I've had some pretty good times with really cool people.

this is it

By engaging in another mad session of unpacking yesterday, preceded by a morale-boosting dance party with my dog, I unpacked most of my remaining boxes. Today, my boyfriend moved some furniture into the guest room (just in time for our guests this weekend), and he'll move the rest of his stuff in gradually.
The place is looking less like a storage locker or skating rink, and more like a home.

breather

I'm going to give myself a night off to eat leftovers and Cheetos while watching bad TV and reading children's books. I've got a solid week of work behind me and a solid weekend of unpacking ahead of me, so tonight is a night for just me.

these little piggies

I decided to get a pedicure to reward myself for a week (and upcoming weekend) of hard work.

win

I was in a meeting a little while ago, and had a sudden epiphany: it's Friday! I couldn't completely stifle my excited reaction. My job is great, but that doesn't diminish my love of weekends.

hatched

It was indeed a productive day. I even correctly estimated the amount of time it would take to get the work done, which somehow makes it even more satisfying.

counting chickens

This is going to be such a productive day.

a thousand words

I love looking through pictures of me and my friends, especially if those pictures were taken during trips to random places like Yap or San Sebastian.

scot

A morning conference call is so much more enjoyable if one of the people has a Scottish accent.

let it slide

I've finally come to terms with the idea that I can't keep my Google Reader unread count at 0 -- there's just too much Internet and too little time. I managed up until February, when I went on a two week trip, and haven't been able to keep up since then. For a long time, it was over 1000, but now it's under 300, and I've decided that if that's one of my worries, then my worries aren't so bad.

working like a dog

Work has gotten really busy, but my dog (and his "coworkers") always provide fun company and distraction during the day (during one meeting, my dog lost interest in the discussion, and started wildly chasing his tail, much to the astonishment of the other meeting attendees).

Here are a bunch of them scrambling for treats from our biggest resident dog lover.

And here is my dog with my boyfriend's dog, sitting on the couch in my office, waiting for something interesting to happen. They gave up after a while -- apparently, dogs don't like watching humans drafting contracts.

comparing notes

I hang out with a lot of lawyers, but almost all of them are coworkers. I rarely spend time with groups of lawyers who are at other companies or law firms. I did that yesterday for the first time in a long time, and listening to the amount of discontent (or at least the desire to appear discontent) expressed by this group of law firm lawyers was both depressing and uplifting. Depressing because I know some of these people, they were my law school classmates, and it's sad to see them feeling trapped and dissatisfied with how things have turned out so far, and uplifting because it really is good to keep a sense of perspective and to see the life I've avoided living.

unpackrat

I spent about four or five hours unpacking and arranging some more of my stuff this afternoon. I really avoid packing and unpacking as much as possible, but I have to admit that the fifteen boxes I got through made a big difference, and the place is starting to look more like home.

We went to go see Inception again, and had lots of new theories and levels of theories. I wish this movie were based on a book so that I could read it and have something more concrete to base my theories on, especially if it followed the general rule that the book is always better and more complex.

groove

It's weird, but sometimes, I like when I have a ton of work to do, and I get in a groove with it, and just cross item after item off of my To Do list. You'd think that I'd rather just not have anything to do at all, and while I admit that downtime and slow periods are great, there really is something satisfying about having of ton of things to do and then actually doing them.

seven years

I've been a lawyer for seven years now, which I find somewhat unbelievable. I feel lucky that I had a short and liveable time at the firm, and I've had two jobs that both qualify in my mind as once in a lifetime opportunities for a young lawyer. Lawyers tend easily towards bitterness, it's in our personalities, but so far, I have no regrets.

again again

Today is the second time in less than a week that I've put on my jeans and found money in the pocket. Perfect timing to sign up for a chair massage at the end of the day...

mgmt

I have a really good manager, which makes a huge difference when things get tough. If a call goes really badly, I know that I can tell him all about it, he's got my back, and he will laugh even harder than I do at some of the ludicrousness that happened. 

watched

My conference call had some spectators.

morning

Mango guava peach smoothies and poached eggs over steak in the cafe, sour gummy bears and aloe drinks in the microkitchen, and a happy, lazy Bernese mountain dog (not pictured) in the lobby. I will assume that these are good omens.

cooking for fun

I have never been the kind of person who could be depended on to cook dinner and put it on the table every day, as evidenced by the large number of dinners-for-one that consisted of gummy candy or stale cookies, but I do like to cook as a hobby, rather than as a necessity. There is something simultaneously exciting, soothing, and satisfying about finding a new recipe, deciding on small improvements, looking for the ingredients, and trying to make the final product resemble the intended dish, although never within the estimated amount of time. Even better if I'm cooking for the next day, so that there's no pressure to finish in order to eat. Instead, I can graze on other things picked up while at the store, like olives stuffed with garlic, a runny cheese, and slices of a sourdough baguette.

easily pleased

It's so easy to make his day.

inception

I love doing something that I think will be OK, and then have it turn out to be unpredictably fantastic. It's not really something you can plan, which makes it even more special when it does happen.

I am usually satisfied that I got my money's worth if I walk out of a movie theater having been entertained by a movie that turned out to be moderately smart, decent to look at, and not terribly inane. I am occasionally pleased if a movie exceeds that standard and is either smarter, prettier to look at, or more clever.

It is very rare, only once every few years, that I walk out of a theater thinking that perhaps I ought to have paid more, and that perhaps I ought to go see it again, because I probably missed a lot the first time around, because it was all so smart, beautiful, and clever, that I couldn't soak all of it in at once. Last night was one of those nights, and I won't say anything else about Inception, because part of the experience is watching it without having any idea what's going on, but it was smart and beautiful and clever, and we walked out of it and talked about it for at least an hour afterwards. The special effects, chases, and fight scenes were well done, but instead of being the main players in the movie (as is the case with so many movies now), they were just supporting members to the brains of the movie -- the ideas, the plot, the characters. It was just amazing.

I'm not a big movie person, but it's movies like this one that make me think, "Oh, I can see why some people love movies so much, it's because of movies like this." Completely entertaining without being dumbed down, with lots of things to think about afterwards, so that it keeps you entertained for a long time after the movie is over.

haha

Hit up an Indian buffet and a comedy club with some girls from work, and the joke that stuck with me is, "Do you think female suicide bombers get the same job benefits as their male counterparts? Because honestly, who wants to do a good job and then get rewarded with 72 male virgins? 'Does this feel good? No? How about this?' Better make it 72 experienced men for the female suicide bombers."

rewind

I've been on a mission to read as much as possible, and a few things have really helped that mission along: Kindle, vacations, summer hiatus for TV shows, and the mobile library van. Also, once I got in the habit of reading more, and started meeting and exceeding my goals, it became hard to stop. I have to admit that I slowed down for a while, though, when my reading choices started getting really heavy. I was reading a lot of long, dark books about the Holocaust and serial killers and civil war, and they were well-written and thoroughly researched, but sometimes, it's hard to push yourself through several 500-page books about how terrible people are and how much evil can happen to good people. I'm glad I read them, and I know I'll be going back to those kinds of books in the fall, perhaps, but for now, while it's summer and everything is made of sunshine and breezes, I'm going through a decided backlash, and my last few books were written for children. I love kiddie lit -- everything makes sense, things never get too complicated, and everything always turns out OK in the end. (And also, the books are so quick and easy that my tally is going up really quickly. It's not cheating, as long as the books are over 150 pages. That's my rule, and I'll stand behind it).

crack ho

So many crackable parts!!

office

This is what work looks like today.

noms

Lunch looks good today.

cyrus

I made a reservation to go back to one of my favorite restaurants in a few weeks. My boyfriend and I went with a close friend while he was in town last September, and now we're going back with that same friend and his newly minted fiancée, who is also super-special to me. Birthday weekend, friends in town, and excellent food -- it's going to be great. 

integration

Kindle for Android! Now I can read even for a few minutes when waiting in line somewhere without my Kindle.

sushi surprise

A small sampling of the huge dinner my sister and brother-in-law had last night. Hand rolls, soup, recipes from Nobu and Momofuko, pie from Tartine...

laugh it off

Sometimes when I do something especially boneheaded, often as a result of my contrary and speak-first-think-later nature, the best thing is to talk to a friend who can laugh about it with me. Some of my funniest memories come from my own acts of unthinking stupidity.

direct

There is finally a direct flight between San Francisco and Zurich, and this is what it looks like.

tgif

When I was a few years younger, I would maximize the benefit of traveling by trying to leave on a Friday afternoon and get back on a Sunday evening (or even a Monday morning), sometimes several times a month, and regardless of how many time zones I was skipping. I have no idea how I did that. I got in this afternoon, and am so glad I have a weekend to recover.

home

I made it home and found out that my boyfriend and dog made it before me, so I had a welcome committee, and my boyfriend had put fresh sheets on the bed and dinner on the table. I didn't get business class on the flight home, but at least I got it once I got back :)

booty

Some of the loot I'm bringing home.

brb

I have less than a day left here, and it's always hard to say goodbye to friends and past lives, but it's good to know that I'll definitely be coming back for a wedding in the spring. I usually leave a place not really knowing when I'll be back next, and somehow, knowing makes the parting more sweet than bitter.

heavy

I bought 12.5 kilos (over 27 pounds) of gummy candy at my favorite shop in Zurich. The shop owner is one of my favorite people in Zurich -- always friendly, always nice, always willing to put up with my fragmented German.

next to godliness

It's so good to have a serious shower after getting back from a little road trip.

bonus round

Four day weekend, even though the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year! We went to an amazing thermal bath resort for two days, did lots of relaxing and soaking and hanging out, and my friends got engaged while we were there, and it was just a really sweet and happy time to play third wheel.

scenic route

We took a wrong turn on the way home, and it was so beautiful that we had to get out and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes.

observation deck

I love seeing good things happen to good people.

a room with a view

This is the awesome view from the balcony of the hotel room where I'm staying tonight. My friends and I decided to escape into the mountains to go to the thermal baths.

explosions in the sky

Saw fireworks two nights in a row -- last night from above, in the mountains, and tonight from below, by the river.

timing is everything

How perfect that I am in Zurich while all of the following are happening:

(1) A four-day weekend for 4th of July (I'm a US employee, so I get US holidays while I'm traveling)

(2) Beautiful summer weather (less common in Zurich than in Mountain View)

(3) A dear friend's birthday

(4) Zuerifaescht, a huge city-wide party that only happens once every three years

(5) The summer party for the Zurich office (jamon iberico and champagne are my favorites, but there are also bouncy houses and goofy sunglasses)

barfussbar

For my first night back in Zurich, we went to my favorite bar, which is a women's swimming pool during the day, is set in the middle of the river, and has amazing views and a lovely breeze. Lots of old friends showed up, and we started making plans for the rest of my stay.

like butter

It's gratifying to come back to Zurich and see that everything still runs and works the same way -- smooth, like butter. It's the Swiss way. Nothing has changed, I still know my way around, a lot of my friends are still here, and it's going to be a good week.

bump

I'm waiting to board my flight, and the desk paged me. I went up and asked what was going on, and I had been inexplicably bumped to business class, which is HUGE when you're on a full 11-hour redeye!

twenty hours

By this time tomorrow, I should be asleep on a plane, perhaps somewhere over the Midwest, and on my way to Zurich.

pb&c

Reese's cups in the microkitchen!

hurts so good

Whoever said that money can't buy happiness never used that money to pay for a really good massage, which then went overtime.

in the black

I just realized the other day that after ten years of being in the red from law school loans (and more recently, buying a car), 2010 is the year I made it back into the black. I still have student loans (government loans have such low interest that it isn't really worth paying them off yet) and a car loan, but my bank account balance is higher than my debts. I finally have positive net worth!

meet the parents

My boyfriend's parents met my family for the first time tonight, and it all went really smoothly. Quick postmortem seems to indicate that everyone liked everyone else.

bargain

I bought a pair of shorts today that were on sale, and when I went to pay for them, they were another 30% off!

relief

It's always such a relief to finally do something you were putting off, and then find out that it wasn't as complicated or time-consuming as you had anticipated. I came into the office today to do some work, and it took less time and mental power than I could have dared to hope. Whew.

glorious apollo

My dog loves to sunbathe, and is content to spend hours lying in whatever patch of sunlight is available. Even better is if I drag one of his beds into the light for him.

shiny

The pedicure lady did a really good job today, and I like the color. The picture doesn't really do her work or the nail polish justice.

on track

After getting a Kindle last October, I set a goal to read at least 40 books a year. Since then, I've been reading books on Kindle, mostly, but also listening to books on CD and reading physical books from the library, and I've kept up an avergae pace of a book a week, which means I'll hit the 40-book target really early. It's great to set a goal to do more of something that I enjoy, and then exceed expectations.

dumplings

Quick, easy, cheap, and always delicious.

good day

New office building, summary judgment, and champagne.

yt ftw

Internet: 1, Old Media: 0.

It was an exciting day at work today.

good deed

I got two packages at work today, but one of them wasn't for me. The store accidentally sent someone else's package to me, in addition to mine. I was a tiny bit tempted for a moment, but then called the store, had them fax me a new shipping label, taped it up, and sent it back out. The shock in the sales girl's voice that I had called to tell them about the mistake was worth it.

soon

Whoa, I'm going to Zurich next week! That's really soon. It's been over a year since I last visited, so it will be really good to check in with my crew there. And to stock up on my favorite gummy candy.

work in progress

Still in the process of settling in, but my new office will suit me just fine.

different comfort food

Comfort food, like my mom's pork roast, has always been an easy way to make myself feel good, but it only recently occurred to me that there could be other kinds of comfort food.

When I was young, we didn't have cable TV, and we only had a handful of movies that my parents had recorded off of broadcast TV, including such kid-pleasers as The Ten Commandments, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Ben Hur, and On Golden Pond. My sister and I, during our summers at home, generally gravitated towards Gone With the Wind, a compilation of Christmas specials, and above all, The Sound of Music. I'm not sure that it's possible to count the number of times I've watched that movie, partly because we liked it, and partly because there was nothing else to watch. My freshman year of high school, our school did a production of the stage version, so it became even more deeply ingrained in my memory.

Until this year, when my niece got into musicals, it had probably been at least 20 years since the last time I had seen the movie, but I can still recite some scenes line for line along with the actors (and, to the chagrin of my boyfriend, lyric for lyric during the musical numbers: "Happy are they, lay-dee-o lay-dee-lee-o! O lay-dee-o lay-dee lay-dee-lee-o!"). Seeing it again with my niece made me realize that the movie is the audiovisual equivalent of comfort food for me, so I ordered it through Amazon -- although it's really just by chance that it played such a big part of my formative years (although I don't think Tora! Tora! Tora! really had any chance), putting it into the DVD player takes me back to a time when the worst thing to worry about was whether Nazis would catch the Von Trapps after the big concert. 

Watching it is like catching up with an old friend (and discovering new things about that friend, since I had only ever watched it on a bad VHS tape on a small TV, with scenes cut out to make room for 1980's commercials -- it's very different when it's been remastered, with no cut scenes, on a big, widescreen TV with a real stereo system). 

miscellaneous

Clean house, chocolate pudding, artichoke and butter, computer with a fixed mouse button, book on CD, and maybe a favorite old DVD. Friday evening.

b(a)lt

I hadn't gone to the made-to-order sandwich line at work for a while; I had kind of forgotten about it, but I'm back with a vengeance. Yesterday, I got a tuna melt (plus sprouts, avocado, and sundried tomato spread), and today, I got a BLT (with avocado and sprouts). I gave half of my B(A)LT to my boyfriend, who didn't have time to grab anything before a lunch meeting, so after the meeting, I went back for another round. Yum.

work stuff

I really like eating lunch outside in the sun. I should do it more often.

We got our seating assignments for our move back to the remodeled building, and my office and officemate look good.

yesterday

Part of my day yesterday.

prop

My dog is sometimes kind enough to hold my book for me while I read.

holed up

Although I go through fits of restlessness and wanderlust, sometimes, I really can't think of a single reason to put on pants and leave the house. Today was one of those days. It was very hot outside, and I had some edible food, a bed, the internet, my Kindle, and my dog inside. Why go outside and melt in the blazing sun if I could just stay inside reading, eating pie and pickles, and drinking ginger ale?

tgis

It feels like Sunday, but it's only Saturday!

Spent last night at my sister's, then caught up with a few friends in the city, where it was a perfect, sunny 82 degrees, then came back down south before it got cold up north, having missed the blazing 100 degree heat of the day down here, to have dinner outside in the comfortably warm evening.

bow down

I AM THE MASTER OF MY INBOX.

Actually, even better, I am the master of both my work and personal inboxes.

arts and crafts

I spent the morning with a few coworkers and other people who work at my company, cutting shapes out of construction paper, and folding, hole-punching, and tying booklets together, all in the name of public service to provide supplies to a literacy project for underprivileged kids. I've been meaning to find some volunteer work to do, but haven't found a regular gig yet, so it was good to have a little half-day thing.

compare and contrast

It got up to about 70 degrees and mostly sunny today, and I was momentarily annoyed at the "bad weather," until I realized that it's only bad when compared to the 80 degrees and brilliantly sunny weather we've been having for the past two weeks, which is coming back on Friday. In most of my former lives, 70 and mostly sunny would have counted as good weather.

spree

Ah, summer, when a young woman's fancy turns to picnics and buying things online.

I moved from shoes (most of which I returned), to clothes (some of which I will return), to gifts (which hopefully will not need returning), and, much to the relief of my bank account, I've now circled back to ordering books for delivery by the library truck. Two showed up today, and have been lying on my desk in tempting positions since I picked them up at lunchtime.

self mockery

In a fit of absent-mindedness, I looked down at what I'd just grabbed, and realizing my mistake, blurted, "That's not my phone, it's a spoon!" Honest mistake. At least I realized right away, and didn't try to check email on it, which had been my intent. Although it amused me more than just picking up the phone and checking my email.

tastes like vacation

My boyfriend and I went to Hawaii last October, and our hotel made the most amazing housemade ginger ale, of which we drank gallons. After getting back, he tinkered around until he replicated the recipe, and we can have a cold glassful of vacation whenever we want it.

chatterbox

One of the best things about being a girl is having female friends that you can call and talk to for an hour or two and just feel good about having them in your life, even if they're far away. I don't think guys get that as much.

forgotten treasure

I love finding things that I forgot I had. A random five dollar bill in the pocket of my jeans, or, just a little while ago, a Vosges Barcelona chocolate bar that I had squirreled away in my fridge and somehow erased from my memory.

summertime

Summer means tomatoes, and tomatoes mean gazpacho for dinner!

the great indoors

It's hot and sunny out today. I put some sunscreen on and took Fiver out for a fifteen minute walk, then decided it was the kind of day that is best admired from the shade. I've opened all of the doors and windows in the house and turned on the ceiling fans, and it all has the distinct feeling of vacation, because of the sun, breeze, birdsong, and plant smells coming in from outside, and the smell of the sunscreen still coming off of my skin.

25 days

I just got my email confirmation from Swiss Airlines, after five days of mucking around, and I'll be going back to Zurich for a week in 25 days! Summer is beautiful there, I'll catch up with old friends, it's during July 4th (so I'll have days off while I'm there, but will work from the Zurich office the rest of the time), I'm taking the direct flight (which just started running this week), and it just so happens that I'll be there during the biggest party in Switzerland, that happens only once every three years.

frabjous friday

Sushi for lunch, a productive day at work in which everything on my to do list for the day got crossed off, a few quick errands, then a mostly traffic-free drive up to the city to meet my sister's new baby, who is very tiny and didn't puke or cry. The flowers were from my garden, and were obviously not raised by me, since they're alive. While up there, I got to hang out with my mom, sister, nephew, and nieces, and eat some of my mom's signature pork roast. On the drive up and back, I got through a couple hours of an audiobook, and I even squeezed in a trip to the bank before coming home.

Pretty good for a Friday, right?

editor

I take great pleasure, and some annoyance, in catching typos everywhere I go. This one is from the season finale of The Biggest Loser.

smorgasbord

Potluck dinners are the way to go. Minimal stress, and lots of leftovers to eat later, especially if you're like me, and don't usually keep much food around the house.

windfall

I looked out into the garden this morning as I was getting ready for work, and a bunch of these flowers had grown so tall that they had collapsed under their own weight. I cut the broken ones that still looked good, and they're in vases all over the house. Free flowers!

dentist

The best part of going to the dentist is the moment when you get out of the chair, and you know you've got six months until you have to get in the chair again.

hostess

I love dinner parties.

perk up

My work day today started with a one hour table massage, and will end with a 45 minute physical therapy session. Definitely needed both today, after some laughable foolishness from my credit card company. I'm so glad I have my job, and not one of the many jobs out there that would make it much harder for me to stay (relatively) calm in the face of incompetence.