Weekend Wrap-Up

It’s the first day of the week but the last day of the month. I’ve returned from a long holiday weekend away from the daily grind…and found that I’m not ready to be back.

Thanksgiving lived up to everything I needed it to be. I ate my share of stuffing (and everything else)…probably more than my share to be honest…but enjoyed every minute of it. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was up in Sacramento this year to enjoy the festivities from a different vantage point…and I posted my pictures.

Also this year was the first year that I actually braved the crowds on Black Friday. And granted…I wasn’t really looking to take advantage of any special deals, I wasn’t one of those fools standing in line ready to break down the doors to get in, or willing to fight with other people over some stupid item, but damn, there are some seriously crazy people out there. I mean, I was at the mall at 6:30 on Friday morning (pretty late compared to everyone else)…and the place was completely packed with diehards going nuts. Black Friday lived up to all the negative hype I’ve always heard about…crowds everywhere, long lines, and stores a complete disaster zone. And to my complete surprise, the store with the most crowds and the longest lines that I saw on Friday morning was Old Navy. I know, I know, I was surprised too. Anyway, I did some light shopping on Friday…but ended up returning most of it on Saturday.

As for the rest of the weekend, I was able to catch up with some old friends and take advantage of the beautiful weather. Here’s to the last month of 2009.

Waiting

Thanksgiving is around the corner and I’m still waiting for more Thanksgiving party invitations to arrive. I do this every year and always find myself incredibly disappointed. Why do I never get as many invitations for Thanksgiving parties as I do for…let’s say Halloween? As most of you know, I despise Halloween…but, for some reason, I always have a number of Halloween parties to pick and choose from. I know, I know, Thanksgiving is a family holiday…but hey, you all can make an exception right? I can be family. So for all of you who have big celebrations with plenty of food, laughter, and fun…damnit, invite me over. :-)

I can’t wait for this upcoming long holiday weekend! I love Thanksgiving. It’s all about giving thanks for football and food right? Haha...ok ok just kidding, just kidding. Despite the big ups and downs of this year, I do have a lot to be thankful for. I can close out this year without any regrets and say that I had a lot of fun. Aside from all the generic things to be thankful for like...family, friends, happiness, life, etc...I would have to say hands down, making the decision to travel more this year is definitely something I can be thankful for. Coming in at a close second, is being thankful for having a job that provides me the opportunity to do all the things that I want to do. I, just like everyone else, have complaints and frustrations at work, but I have to admit, that in this rough economy, I'm lucky to have a job, much less, one that I enjoy.

This Thanksgiving, I will be in Sacramento...celebrating with the side of the family I hardly ever see over the holidays...let's all say hi to Carissa and Bradford!!! Instead of turkey, it'll be prime rib. Instead of cranberry sauce, it'll be yams. Instead pumpkin pie, it'll be cheesecake. And instead of stuffing...wait, oh no...there is always stuffing. For me, I'm not a big fan of the other typical Thanksgiving foods, but stuffing is an absolute must. There are no ifs ands or buts about it. I don't really consider myself too picky about my stuffing...sure homemade stuffing is awesome and great, but you know what? Stovetop stuffing isn't that bad either. And since I only eat stuffing once a year...I always enjoy it no matter what.

So with this holiday season about to kick-off...where are all my Thanksgiving invitations?

New Song

As most of you know, I have this annoying habit of being in a certain frame of mind…finding a song that I can relate to…and then listening to it repeatedly. I just do it unconsciously. I mean, I find myself listening to a song that I really like and keeping it on repeat until I realize that I’ve been listening to nothing but that song for weeks. Scary, huh?

Like…for example, a few years back, I remember listening to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone,” or Rihanna's "Hate That I Love You" over and over and over again. Those songs helped me through a particularly rough time. I can’t really explain how exactly it helped things…but it’s the power of being able to relate to the lyrics and finding peace in the music, right? Well, anyway, I just noticed that for the last week (it’s best if I can break my behavior sooner rather than later right…? Hehe) I’ve been listening to Michael Buble’s “Haven’t Met You Yet”…I’m sure you can tell where my frame of mind is right now based on the lyrics, huh? :-/ I mean…I feel like the lyrics eloquently says everything that I’ve been feeling these last few months (although the video is a little cheesy)…and I can find some peace in just hearing it play out.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts for now. :-)

Pretty Good

After updating my picture page from my recent trip to Boston, I looked back on the photos from this year and realized that I did a pretty good job traveling this year. My new year’s resolution for 2009 was to travel more and…I did a pretty good job of that if I must say so myself. Although, ideally, I would like to fit in one last trip next month if I can help it (place would be determined if I can get any takers to join me…hint hint), but if not…I’m ok with that.

I find that traveling is just so addictive…once I started, I just couldn't stop. And for me, it’s only been within the last few years that I’ve really experienced how much fun traveling can be. I know that this active traveling lifestyle is not something that I can realistically maintain forever, but I’m definitely enjoying it for as long as I can get it to last. There is something very addictive about wanting to plan new adventures to places I’ve never been before, exploring new cities, and taking time away from the Bay Area. This year, I focused on visiting domestic locations, which took less time to plan, less money, and less vacation time to accomplish. Next year, I definitely want to plan, at least, one international trip and hope that I can visit somewhere really cool. We’ll see how all that goes.

Anyway, let me talk about Boston. I was pleasantly surprised that the weather wasn’t as horrifically cold as I had feared. As you know, I was checking the forecast up until I had to leave for the airport last week and I was nervous. And when I got off the plane, it was pretty cold and I got even more nervous. But after the first few hours in Boston, it warmed up over the course of the weekend, which made everything better. It definitely made the vacation much more enjoyable with the weather cooperating with me. As for Boston itself, for some reason, I thought Boston was much bigger because, as a tourist, you can realistically knock out the sights in about three to four days depending on how you want to spread things out. I saw everything I wanted to see, I ate everything I wanted to eat, and I took all the pictures that I wanted to take. So…here’s to another good vacation.

Weather

What is up with the weather lately? It has been downright warm and pleasant around the Bay Area. I was walking around the City late last night with jeans and a t-shirt on and I didn’t even need my jacket…and it’s November for crying out loud. What’s up with that? It’s so weird. I mean, I’m not complaining…not at all…because if I was to complain about something it would be the fact that it gets dark so early nowadays…I would much rather trade my extra hour of sleep for a few more hours of daylight. Having it get dark so early is such a bummer. But anyways…I’m not complaining about the weather.

But I am mildly worried about the weather in Boston. Since I will be leaving for Boston tomorrow and I’ve heard horror stories about Boston winters, I have been religiously checking the forecast hoping that the weather will not be too miserable. And so far…*knocking on lots of wood*…things look good. I can handle the cold. I can even deal with the wind. But I can’t imagine having to handle the cold northeasterly winds coupled with frigid cold rain. That would be totally unbearable. Granted, I have never been one to let anything stand in the way of me enjoying a vacation, so I would still have a good time…but it would just make it a little harder to do when the weather doesn’t cooperate with my vacation plans.

With that said…it’s vacation time baby.

Bay Bridge

For the last week the Bay Bridge has been shut down due to some emergency repairs. As inconvenient as it has been for people, I have to say that I enjoyed this past week quite a bit. Granted, I don’t rely on the Bridge so I didn’t encounter a lot of the hassles that everyone else has.

Traffic in the City has been quite nice. I’ve noticed that there have been more parking spaces available, less cars on the streets, and less people walking around. I don’t know if all of this was related to the closing of the Bay Bridge…but the City has been eerily quiet, which again, has been quite nice. I have seen the news and am aware of the massive traffic issues that have been clogging up surrounding bridges and freeways (I got stuck in a few of them trying to get in and out of the City this weekend), but traffic in the City has been pleasant. I mean…it’s too bad my weekend plans pulled me away from the City…but, overall, I have no complaints.

Anyway, the Bridge is now open and everything should (and I say, should) return to normal.