Chicago

Greetings from Chicago! I'm here for an annual HR conference....my first time and I'm a bit amazed at the number of people that showed up. It's quite interesting to see all these HR professionals from all over the world here.....as one instructor said...."This is your safe house....away from all those crazy employees, your nothing is ever good enough boss, and me me me managers." AMEN! I've been having to wake up at 5:30AM everyday to make the shuttle to take me to the conference at 6:30AM. I am completely beat. Not to mention all the walking I've had to do from one end of the convention center to another. By the end of the day....I'm completely pooped out.

Tonight, for the first time since I got here, I ventured out into the city. My hotel is right on Michigan Avenue which is where all the shops are. I walked to an Italian restaurant a block away and almost got lost. People are use to walking here. A block for them is like 5 blocks for me. I left my hotel about 8PM and thought it should be a quiet evening....was I wrong. When I got to my restaurant, I thought it was a Saturday night rather than a Tuesday night. There were a ton of restaurants around me and even more people hanging out. It really felt like I was in the city....I think I can live here.

I plan to do more sight seeing tomorrow after my conference ends. For now I have to get some shut eye....

Happy Things

A few things that made me smile today:

1. Clean house and fluffy bed



2. Sasha bear looking so happy



3. Sasha's June "Treat of the Month" package....the colors are so pretty this month



4. Sneak peeks from American Crafts...just love their paper and letter stickers!

5. This man who tries to make me laugh and smile at all times....thanks honey

June Gloom...

is the weather we've been having around here. It gets sunny around mid-day and then the clouds roll in early afternoon. Kind of makes me feel glummy too. I know I know....Mark says that my last 2 posts are a bit depressing and they probably have been because I'm a bit down lately. I think I've just had it with work. It's always one thing after another. A past freelancer is threatening to sue me for defamation which is completely outrageous. It's things like this that makes me wonder if I can be in the HR field. There are days when I seriously just want to tell everyone to go f$%^ off. It's unbelievable the amount of crap people make up or in their mentally challenged heads think up. *sigh*

Here are a few pictures of Sasha right after we picked her up from Sparky's. She's so fluffy and clean I love it.

Here's a couple of her with her head out the window....

We spent Saturday running some errands, taking a nap in the afternoon, and watched Kung Fu Panda. Such a cute movie. If you haven't seen it you must go....it's a lot better than I thought. Jack Black did a really good job with the voice over and all the kung fu fighting stuff made me miss watching Chinese kung fu soap operas.

We spent Sunday cleaning up around the house and running more errands. I took Mark to Gyu-Kaku for Father's Day dinner...yum o! They were out of any kind of potatoes which was a bit disappointing but we had more than enough food to go around. Here's what Sasha got Mark for Father's Day. We figure dad likes to listen to his music on his nano and this way he can listen at work too.

Mark is traveling again this week. He left today and won't be back until Thursday. I got to go to the Japanese market tonight to pick up a few things for dinner this week. I think I'll make some udon tonight. I even bought instant microwave rice! It was on sale =)

I'm leaving you with a couple of layouts I did last weekend. I want to play with my new Studio Calico kit.....will need to wait for more pictures to be printed.

Friday Night

So happy it's Friday. It's about 9:30PM and Mark is totally passed out next to me. He's had a long week so he's absolutely exhausted. His body is needing to catch up on sleep. I was going to watch Steve Carell on Larry King but they're having a special on Tim Russert instead. Sasha is out on the balcony hanging out and I'm just browsing through scrapbook sites to see what is new.

I've been thinking a lot lately about quitting my job and doing something completely different. I just don't think I'm cut out for the corporate world. I love hotels and have always been fascinated with them so I was thinking maybe I can go into hotel management. Of course I'd have to start from the bottom but it might be ok. I really want to move but I don't think Mark is too keen on the idea. I told him we should move to Toronto so I can learn the bridal shop business or I'd love to do some event planning of some sort. Lots to think about.

I took Mark to Shinsengumi for dinner tonight but I don't think he liked it much. He only liked the beef skewers, asparagus wrapped in bacon and the grilled gyoza. I was a bit disappointed at the place too because I thought it would be much better. The one down in Fountain Valley is definitely a lot better. I think it has more selection and more beef type skewers.

Back to scrapbook browsing....more tomorrow.

Words to Live By

I have been totally unmotivated at work recently. I feel a bit disengaged and robotic. I do the work that I need to do and that's pretty much it. It's like the passion I once had is now gone. A lot of it has to do with my boss meddling in everything and not letting go and being clear on our responsibilities. The whole situation has actually gotten me down for awhile and I've been looking for something to bring me back up.

My fried Kris sent me a link to this site today. This lady is quite interesting and below is a post she had on her site:

"Please go out there and do. Live. Don’t be the same as yesterday. Don’t live vicariously online. Don’t use language that has no meaning or talk ideas you don’t really live. Don’t hide. Don’t copy others or live their ideas or life. Don’t fear doing your thing. Don’t fear doing. Instead of reading a decorating magazine, paint that room. Instead of thinking of baking, do up a cake. Run, walk, bike. Put that self help book down and pick up yourself.

Let go of the snark, your worries, your anger and fear and give into possibility, action, joy and life. Do. Do some more. Stop thinking about you. Stop blogging about just you and your kid and your pet. There’s a world out there to connect to, really connect to and email doesn’t count. Being of use is more important than being popular. Think about the lady down the street, the person at the drive through, the man fallen in the street, about politics, the environment, healthcare, another country and then do something about it. Never stop at thinking.

Dream big, work harder. Have lots of fun, lift a finger, do something for someone else. Cheer your friends on. Cheer yourself up. Celebrate as much as possible. Enjoy everything. Right now. It’s OK to want more and do more but be present with where you are or who you are with. Don’t rush the situation - even if it’s bad. Move on when you can. Don’t settle. Try everything you can and get over everything holding you back.

Go outside. Go outside yourself. Make a difference, make some change. Don’t complain about someone unless you’re talking to that someone. Don’t complain about a situation you’re not willing to make better. They don’t have it better and you don’t have it worse. Don’t make excuses. You’ll never see possibility if you do. And you’re smart and worth more than settling for a life of complaining and limitation.

Hope. Hope more. Give someone else hope. Get healthy and contribute to a healthy environment. Think about everything you do, you buy, you say. Only be lazy on Sunday and even then, be conscious. Rest is useful, giving up is not.

Live with a light heart. Play more. Remember what it’s like to be seven. Remember to listen to a seven year old because you just have more words and life experience, not necessarily more wisdom. Have more questions than answers and don’t put everything into words. Sometimes just feel things and be. Be quiet more often, listen harder, talk exactly as you mean to.

Strive for your best and not what you think someone elses’ best is. Follow through. Don’t let others’ down. Don’t let yourself down. You are better than your circumstances. Ask for what you’re worth. Make magic happen don’t wish for it. Don’t envy others’ lives, envy yours. Live it fully. Teach by example how to live well, how to be treated, how to be kind, how to be alive.

Do. I can’t stress that one enough. Take action on your life. Make the change. No more sulking, waiting, thinking, reading, talking about. It’s time. You’re ready."

Wow....this really makes you think. I want to print this out and post it in my office and read it everyday to remind myself to live a little more, do a little more, and think about myself a lot less. I'm also reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. He is the professor at Carnegie Mellon who has cancer and gave a series of lectures called "The Last Lecture". I just started and I can't stop reading it.

Mark is suppose to be home tonight but I think he missed his flight due to late meetings and bad weather. He's suppose to be back now around midnight.....actually I just checked with United and he won't be back til 2AM. Must have been some delays in DC or Texas. Poor Mark....he must be exhausted.

Ok...back to my book.

Time Flies

Today marks 10 months since Mark and I first went on our first date. It's hard to imagine it's been 10 month already. Time really flies. I'm lucky to have found someone as caring, loving, funny, and sweet as Mark.....he's truly one of a kind and he should always remember that.

Mark is currently away on travel so Sasha and I are alone til tomorrow night. It's always a bit scary for me to stay at home alone even with Sasha here. I'm so use to having other people around it's strange when I'm alone.

Here's a couple of pictures of Sasha from over the weekend. One is of her and the newest layout I made for her and the other is her hanging out on the balcony outside our master bedroom. She has been loving it out there lately. I think maybe it gets too hot for her in the room so she likes to go outside and cool off. She can spend hours out there at a time just hanging out.

I better go get ready for bed. Sasha looks like she wants to play for a bit before the night is over.

More Catch Up

It's Sunday and we're trying to be productive today. I've done 2 loads of laundry today already and cleaned up the kitchen a bit. We bought a juicer on Friday so I'm super excited because now I can make freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. There's nothing like a glass after work. We also got a mini chopping machine so that I don't have to chop up all the tomatoes and onions when making bruschetta.

Dinner was super yummy at my mom's last night. I think I had 2 bowls of rice and 2 bowls of soup. My sister gave me her rice cooker so I don't have to buy a new one. Now I just have to go to the Japanese market or Korean market to pick up a few things to go with my rice. I have to be better about eating right and exercising. Half of the year has already gone by and I need to really push myself to be better.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Mark and I went to Santa Barbara. I love it there. It's far enough where you feel like you're truly away but close enough to drive to. We stayed at the Inn of the Spanish Garden and one night at Santa Ynez Inn. I love the Inn of the Spanish Garden. I will absolutely not stay anywhere else while I'm in Santa Barbara. If you ever stay there, you have to try their double chocolate chip cookies. They are SO GOOD. The reason we stayed 1 night at Santa Ynez Inn is because we decided to stay one more night in Santa Barbara last minute and I thought we might as well be close to the wineries. Mark liked the place but I was ok with it. It had an old Victorian feel to it and I was a little bit disappointed with the room. It was still nice overall to just get away from work.....I feel like we spent some really good quality time together. It's rare to have that kind of time together so it felt nice.

Here's a few pictures of Sasha from last week. It really shows some of her few favorite expressions. She got to spend most of the weekend with her parents so I think she's pretty happy. She's currently lying next to me under the table hanging out. So cute. We're going to head to bed now.