San Francisco 2012

Hey Readers, I went to San Francisco without you. Here is my vacation slideshow.

We went to Japan town and I went shopping while my Aunt Leigh and Jared 

bonded over how boring shopping is. Later, we ate sushi with Tomoko. 

We went to Muir Woods and stared at trees. (Seriously, one of my 

favorite parts of the trip.) Then, I went to the gift shop. 

We went to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy and cold. 

But then Aunt Leigh grabbed a tiny boat and things got interesting. Then, 

I went to the gift shop.

We went to the Castro. 

We met Sister Roma and Sister Dana.

We went to Pier 39. 

I ate some cotton candy.

We went to the aquarium.

We were eaten by a giant shark.

We got really excited about a cable car ride.

We went to China Town.

All of China Town is shopping. It was awesome.

Zoo Trip

San Francisco III

San Francisco II

China Town was great. I got a lot of little knick-knacks and wore out Aunt Leigh. When we got home she fell asleep sitting up in front of the television. I got to haggle in the shops and did a pretty good job. We went to a poorly lit but super busy local restaurant. I ate the Combination Seafood Noodle Soup (seaweed, cuttlefish, shrimp, scallops, beef balls oh my). I'll post photos of all my awesome souvenirs once I settle back in in Minneapolis.

Thursday, Aunt Leigh, Tomoko and I took a drive to Muir Woods and walked through the redwood groves. I loved it. The trees touched high in the sky like a big canopy. The whole park was damp and wet. It was a beautiful day out! Tomoko cooked tofu wrapped rice, potato balls and these Japanese rice crackers. We ate dim sum and cookies. Yum yum. We stopped by the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to Muir Woods. It was a sight! It was such a clear, sunny day you could see all of San Francisco. I tired out on the car ride back (although I did get to see the Pacific Ocean briefly). I rested when we got back to the apartment. We had potstickers, steamed vegetables and rhubarb cake for dinner.

Today, we decided to sleep in. Oh my, I am exhausted. We walked around the arboretum for a few hours which gave me a slew of ideas for house plants. We picked up Tomoko and headed for Japantown. I couldn't get enough of Japantown! I got two little Domo-kun items and a bunch of little things. We went to Ichiban Kan. I went nuts! Everything was so cheap and so cute! It was great. Aunt Leigh said that if Jared and I moved to San Francisco, I would fill our apartment so thick with stuff from Japantown there would be no room for Jared. (I certainly would have a gigantic Domo-kun.) We then took our seats at Isobune Sushi. Little plates of sushi come by on small boats, and you take what you want to eat. I have had a lot of different sushi before. I did try raw oysters for the first time. I'm not sure how I feel about those. The sushi was great. Aunt Leigh and I kept asking Tomoko what everything was. Once Tomoko replied, "It's... raw fish."

All my bags are packed for my flight back tomorrow. I was sure that I could fit everything in my 21" upright, and I did. Good for me.

See you mañana, Central Time. Be prepared for a break down of nifty souvenirs and photos ala Aunt Leigh and Tomoko. (I didn't bring my camera with me places.)

San Francisco

I'm writing to you from foggy, lukewarm, beautiful San Francisco. It's day 2.5 of my visit, and my feet are barking at me. Man, sight seeing and shopping with my incredibly wonderful Aunt wears me out.

The plane ride was uneventful; I wasn't red flagged as a terrorist, and I didn't have to go through the nudy-machine. I found my gate and hopped on the plane which was only slightly delayed. I sat next to a Swedish au pair on her way to her new host family. I watched the in flight movie and read the paper. Then, we talked about current events and her time in America. I like having short, informative friendships like these. I met Aunt Leigh in the airport, and we headed off for her apartment. We ate at a noodle shop in her neighborhood for dinner. Then we spent the rest of the night talking and watching television.

The next day we went down one side of her neighborhood grocery shopping. Aunt Leigh lives in a mostly Asian neighborhood with mostly Asian markets. The markets near her house were interesting. They were open air with all new shapes, smells and tastes. I ate a dried scallop, fish balls, and a green tea cake with red beans. The produce and fish were extremely cheap. Most produce was under a dollar per pound. We then walked through the park and through the neighborhood on the other side of her apartment. We cooked a dinner of shrimp and vegetables over pesto and turned in for the night.

Monday, (incredibly wonderful) Aunt Leigh and I met up with her friend Georgette for lunch and a self-guided tour of the Museum of Modern Art. I learned about stereography (one of Georgette's specialties) and got to see a lot of Marcel Duchamp's work up close. We had coffee at the shop atop the museum and lunch at an Italian deli. Georgette was great and filled with intriguing information. We all competed for talking time. We were pushed out of the museum at closing time and took the bus back to Auntie Leigh's apartment.

Today (which is still Tuesday in San Francisco), we went to Haight Street and went shopping. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant and split two plates. We walked up Haight Street from Masonic to Stanyan stopping in every clothing and trinket store along the way. That took the majority of the afternoon. Our last stop was Amoeba Records where I picked up a few replacement CDs as well as a few albums I hadn't owned previously. My incredibly wonderful Aunt Leigh is standing over my shoulder right now reminding me to mention how incredibly wonderful she is.

Tomorrow we are going to China Town!

Scrooge McMe

Smell that crisp, Christmas air. What you say? It's March 1st? I doubt that considering my inner Scrooge is now out... and in a vengeful Super Mutant form. Huzzah.

I went a little nuts with my tax refund and spent what I consider ... far too much. The good news is that since moving is priority uno, I still have over $5000.00 to move on. Congrats to me. But, that is no excuse for the amount of excess I have taken part in in the last nine days.

My solution? Old school: Don't spend money.

I did get some good deals... and a large, very large, sum of it all went to tax preparation fees and renewing my Badgercare. And, not that I needed any to begin with... I won't need to purchase shoes, clothes or a winter coat for a few years unless I drop or gain a significant amount of weight.

So discoveries from this nine day bender:

Billiards: Actually an interesting sport to watch.
Velvet: Back in style with fast fashion and grannies rockin' cue sticks.
Nike: Best place for shoes ever. (I bought some sweet hot pink high tops that even my Gram likes.)
Calvin Klein Winter Wear: Drastically reduced in price at a store near you.

Oh and Britt and I ate out a few times near Milwaukee, so here is the low down on Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Chili's and Culver's as I experienced them.

I have never eaten at a Five Guys Burgers and Fries before. My first experience was excellent. The hamburgers automatically come with two patties so you have to ask for just one. The meat is 100% beef and cooked well-done, but remains juicy and is well-seasoned. I ordered a cheeseburger with the works. Five Guys outlines what toppings are included when you say everything, so it's a lot more up front than a lot of other burger joints. Britt and I both got fries. That was a mistake. They take a 21 oz cup, fill it with fries then top off your bag with more fries. Let's skip to the end of story: we had a brown bag of fries left over. I'm not much for five star ratings; I'll just say I liked it and I will eat there again.

The last time I ate at a Chili's I was living in Florida, 4'11" and 16 years old. Here is the update/rude awakening of today's Chili's. They nixed the pentagram decor that served as my main entertainment, and they took my favorite entre/appetizer off the menu. I ordered it off menu anyways. Chicken and cheese quesadillas with guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo for the win. (I want to add here that Red Robin's quesadillas win out overall when you compare the two.) The positive add-on: two pint glass margaritas for $2.99 after 9 PM. I would suggest not having to be at a billiards match by 9:30 PM for our next visit.

Culver's is a regular staple in Wisconsin, but I wasn't feeling another cheeseburger. I got a kid's meal with chicken tenders. While eating these (totally sober) I declared that they were the best possible combination if we crossbred a chicken and a fish.

There we have it: Shopping, restaurants and billiards. It makes for a good week to live through... and a great way to drain the life out of my checking account.

Britt making her opponent cry.

Normal Is Getting Later

Dear World,

I'd like to open by saying that I am as of right now exhausted. I have no idea why I can't sleep, but hopefully my own thoughts will be dull enough to lull me into submission.

Yesterday night, at about this time, I made the decision to stop spending money I don't have. I paid off my two store cards with my bank loan and cut my cards into pieces. Being able to see exactly how much I owe is the first step to understanding precisely how bad off I am. Also, the interest rate is much lower, and I'll be able to track how much I'm spending. Jared once told me his secret to never purchasing anything he didn't need to survive: He convinces himself that eventually whatever it is will go down in price. And then if it does, he convinces himself it will again. He's a frugal man. I just figure I should buy what I like because if I like it that much I won't tire of it. The problem is that I like a lot of things, and I don't wear out my clothing or shoes. I've also been the same pant, shoe and shirt size for almost a decade. Admittedly, I'm not the same weight, but where I have filled out hasn't effected my dress size too much (with the exception of that time I got really sick and really skinny Senior year of high school). I've amassed a hideous amount of junk. I can't eBay it off or give it away enough to bring down the piles of stuff laying in the closet. Worst of all I like all of it. Not in the hoarder way of being like "But my stuff..." but in a way that I wear all of it (when it's not being sold, stored or donated) and it's in good condition. Actually, if it's not in good condition it has already left the house. I don't wear anything with a stain... it's all I can focus on if I wear it.

Secondly, switching to the night shift has been awesome. Awesome. I get to operate on my pseudo-normal summer schedule of staying up past 3 am and waking up to the noon drill. Then, I have four hours to throw myself together and pack a lunch. All of which I do completely awake instead of in a half stupor. Best of all I get to carpool with Adam and Jennifer to and from work sometimes. This means I get to work on time, and Jared can sleep a full 8 hours before his 6 am wake up. It also means that I can stay late and pick up more hours. Customer Service training went smoothly and working as a customer service representative has been okay so far. Yesterday, I only asked maybe 20 questions --- today I probably asked ten or under. Improvement, yes?

Today (Saturday) Jared and I are going to get Chinese food after he gets off of work. Tomorrow is our 2nd Anniversary, but I don't think we're doing anything. Tuesday we're going to Swiss Colony in Monroe and stocking up of sweets and treats. Next weekend is Mineral Point Fall Art Tour.

I know I said we were going to go to Chicago last weekend, but that ended up not happening. We decided it'd be less costly to go to Galena Saturday and have a dinner in Dubuque Monday instead. This is a bulleted list of what I have to say about that:

• Gorgonzola is awful if not used in moderation.
• Sushi is better in Chicago than Galena, but we might try Taiko in Dubuque.
• L May is not that great... actually it's not that good. I cook better salmon, and serving dry salmon on sweet potatoes does not an interesting flavor make.
• Jelly Beans were the best meal I had out of the weekend.
• Pesto from the Galena Cannery is awful on pasta, but excellent on crackers.

We also saw Easy A. All I have to say is that the movie was more of a whimper than a shout, and that Stanley Tucci plays an amazing dad. He even had Jared laughing.

The Weekend Update

Thursday I worked an extra shift to make up for taking off Saturday for Joe and Brittany's wedding.
Friday Jared and I went in to Madison, visited a book store on State St. and ate some gelato. We had dinner with Jared's parents. Jared's mom makes wonderful bruschetta.
Saturday was Brittany and Joe's wedding. It was small and nice. Jared refused to dance at the reception at all. We came home that night after swinging by Woodman's.
Sunday I was back at work having a quiet, slow day.
Monday work. Went to Dubuque afterwards to grab a skirt I passed up a week before and a burger to split at Red Robin.
Tuesday work. Jared starts his job at the Cheese Factory. I call in to Foodshare to do my interview.
Wednesday work.
Thursday is my day off. I make all the business calls: city planner, water and sewer. I pay the internet and electricity bill. I pay off my credit card for this week. I also got a perm.
Friday is today. All I've done is dishes and messing with the layout on this thing.
I put in to ask for Saturday and Sunday off. I don't know if I'll survive a 7 day work week. Answering phones all day is mentally exhausting. I'm investing in caffeine.

Here is a treat from deviantart. http://einen.deviantart.com/

10 Day Postcast

It's a wonderful Wednesday afternoon and I have a 10 day (if not more) update to get to.

I started my job with Swiss Colony around the 7th and started working almost full time answering calls starting Monday the 16th. I'm getting along fine, and my sales are pretty on the nose. I meet new people almost everyday and have settled in to my hours. However, Jared just got a job in Cuba City and his hours are 7am to 3pm, so I'm moving my schedule around to work the night shift. He'll be working in the morning, picking me up from Platteville and dropping me off at work around 4:30pm in Dickeyville. My shifts will go until midnight or later, and I now have weekends off. On the plus side, I can work out in the morning and shower before work, plus chores won't be so exhausting when I'm not already exhausted. On the downside, we're not really going to have any time together during the week.

We will (thank God) have plenty of money to move on in January, and I can't wait to move to Minneapolis. Also, we can go on mini-vacations on weekends. I want to go to Chicago, Galena, St Louis and The Dells for sure. Getting my tri-state on before joining the Golden Gophers. Of course, we'll need to go up the MN to find an apartment for 2011. But, that's the farthest we'll be traveling really.

It is exciting to be able to pay bills, shop a little and not have to worry so much. I feel ten years younger not having that stress weighing down on me.

We did get to go to Irish Fest last Friday! We headed off early in the morning, hung out in Madison for an hour then headed east to Milwaukee. Ciera and I got some shopping in. I bought a Scottish Thistle necklace, a t-shirt and a hoodie. Oh! And I got a sheep lanyard for my work ID. I felt really good about my purchases and I still do now. I just look at my sheeps and smile and smile. They're little eyes stare back at me and make my grey skies blue. I even got compliments on the necklace already. I am planning on wearing it until it falls apart. But, that's seems to be the trend with me and jewelry. Ciera and I were front row for the Gaelic Storm concert and it was pretty awesome. I do wish they'd play their old songs though. What I would give for a little Pinacolada In A Pint Glass. It started raining two songs in which actually was awesome. The Storm really was a' comin'. We headed back late that night and got back in time for me to get 7 hours of sleep before work.

I do have to say, Jared has been a real sport about me working so often. He's been helping make dinners and clean the house regularly. It's pretty cool since I've been so tired lately.

I have been trying to work out regularly, but my bad foot keeps getting very sore from the jumping around and leaning on my arches. I cut back to every other day without the "rest" break (that just seems useless). My jeans are fitting different, and Jared says I look a bit different. More importantly I'm feeling good about myself for the first time in a year or so. I'm really hoping to get back to my not-on-the-wrong-medication weight. I do want to clear up that I hate scales. I really really do. It's just an awful way to measure fitness when my bones are twice as thick as my mom's and I carry weight a heck of a lot differently than most people. I just want to be in a healthy percentage and not in the "slightly at risk" category. It seems like a good goal for now.

Photos: Irish Fest