Farewell Four-Wheeled Friend

(Not my car, but this is what the scene looked like)

I had to say goodbye to my car last Friday. It had been sitting in front of the house dead for almost 3 months, but I'd been in too much denial to do much about it. It was basically my fault that the car stopped working (mostly due to gross negligence on my part). We decided an operation was way too expensive for an 8-year-old car with a lot of miles on it, so we pulled the plug. I ended up donating the car to a non-profit organization and watched it get towed away for the last time on Friday. I definitely had a mini-outburst when I saw the tow truck pull away from the curb with my poor, sad, dead car.
Now Justin and I are officially a one-car family. Fortunately, I walk to work, so a car isn't necessity in my life (a HUGE blessing!) I definitely miss the little things though. For example: Justin won't take me to Target. He insists that no matter what I go in for, I always spend more money than necessary. He is willing to spend more $$ for the same product at Longs than allow me to set foot in a Target. It's awful! Target is like Disneyland for adults! I love it! To get there I either have to steal his truck when he isn't looking or beg someone else to take me.
I'm making light of the situation, but inside I really am sad about my car. :( It's the first time in 13 years of driving that I haven't had a car to call my own. I did learn a good life lesson from the situation though - I need to make time to take care of my personal life! And let this be a lesson to all of you - a) don't ignore a service warning light and b) make sure you change your timing belt every 90,000-100,000 miles! Don't let bad things happen to good cars!

A first look at Firstlook

My brother-in-law Jeff and his cousins started a band earlier this year. They're all really musical, so many of our family functions turn into some type of jam session anyway, so it just seemed natural for it to happen. Firstlook just finished recording their first 6-track CD and they are planning to kick off a small tour next summer. They're just starting out, but I'm really proud of them! And, as the wife of their band manager, I feel like I share some responsibility in helping them achieve future success.

You can check out their newly revamped myspace page and listen to an album preview now!

Seattle

Looking back over 2008, I realized that I've gotten to cover a lot of territory attending various conferences for work. This year I've been to Austin, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and now Seattle. Seattle's a pretty hip town that kind of reminded me a lot of K Street in Sacramento, only with bigger buildings and more rain. It was a short conference, so we didn't have a lot of time to sightsee. We managed to make it down to Pike Place Market just as they were closing up for the night. We also stumbled across the original Starbucks where I went in and ordered a pumpkin hot chocolate - a drink I randomly made up (it wasn't bad) - and took the obligatory "I'm in the first Starbucks" photo!

Normally I attend conferences by myself, but this time I went with two other people from my division. I tend to revel in my own company, but it was nice to have people to enjoy meals and walk around with. I stayed in a hip W Hotel that kept most of the lights turned off and played techno dance beats in the lobby and elevators, which gave me some moderate concerns about my safety, but I had a great window seat in my room and had some nice quiet moments staring at the pretty lights down below. I also had the chance to walk around a bit downtown and check out some of the holiday decorations.


And here I am enjoying my "original" Starbucks drink by the Macy's. Yay Seattle!

Belated Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgivings are always a full day of family fun. We usually start off the day in Lafayette where, if we're lucky, my mother-in-law Lynn makes us swedish pancakes (reserved only for special occasions). Then we head over to San Mateo where Justin's alma mater, Junipero Serra High School, hosts an annual alumni water polo game. Justin's only missed one year since he graduated in 1998 and that's only because we spent that year in Costa Rica.

Sommer and I usually find a way to avoid actually watching the match (except for a few well timed hoots and hand claps) and this year was no exception. We took Jeff and headed to Starbucks. Prior to that outing though, we realized that the three of us have pretty much the same haircut and highlights (thanks to us having the same hairdresser - yay Stephanie!) thanks to the dad of Justin's friend Andy who couldn't tell Sommer and I apart for a minute. This is our "we have the same hair" pose - ask your hairdresser for "The Perry."

After the game we headed to Hayward to "Grandmom's" house where there is always an amazing dinner. I've narrowed my favorites to green bean casserole and this sweet potato concoction that is to die for. While there, I made Justin take some pictures of the Firstlook jam session. Their debut cd is done and in the process of being duplicated now! You can hear a preview of it on their myspace music page. Hooray!

After dinner we headed back to Lafayette. When we finally decided we were hungry again, Jeff, Sommer, and I headed out for a snack. NOTHING WAS OPEN! It was the saddest thing ever, but we came home and we all played a role in making tacos. And Justin and Sommer schooled Jeff on the couch.

I feel pretty lucky to have so many great family members! My husband (even though he annoys the crap out of me sometimes :)) is my best friend. I love Jeff and Sommer like they're blood and of course Mike Nunan is my in-law hermano to the second power. As is the norm, my family has to go it alone on Thanksgiving, which always makes me sad. But I love you mom, dad, and Aunt Pat and I am so thankful for you! I am a lucky girl in many ways. :)

5 Years Ago...

I'm sitting in the lobby of a Seattle Hotel feeling overwhelmed by the Christmas spirit. It's odd because I have a long list of blog topics that I haven't gotten to, but I can't seem to get the memories of the one holiday season I spent in the retail industry out of my head. It could be because two songs on the hotel dance/pop/muzak soundtrack were tracks on the Limited Too Christmas soundtrack that was on repeat for about 8 weeks of my life back in 2003. I took the job at the Limited Too during what I call "the dark days" of Justin's and my life. We had recently moved back to Stockton and through no fault of our own, both ended up jobless around the same time. I knew I need to make some cash fast, so I headed to the mall in early November, hoping to pick some hours doing retail sales. I was 24 years old and had never done retail work before and was feeling kind of low. I mean, I had been a big fish television producer in the small pond of Yuba City and now I was a nobody about to indenture myself for $6.75 an hour during the most materialistic time of the year. A few stores were hiring, but the Limited Too called back first. I went into my interview with two other girls (both in high school). I knew I had found my niche when part of the interview consisted of a pop culture quiz (I happen to be a vault for random celebrity and entertainment knowledge) which I totally aced. As the oldest person working in the store (even older than the managers), I usually got the most sales, could work the most late shifts, and therefore, got the most hours. Not gonna lie, it was tough working in the mall during the busiest shopping season of the year and not have the money to buy anything, but it was FUN! I loved being immersed in tween culture, listening to one girly pop song after another, and serving the needs of the customer. As soon as the holidays were over I started working a temporary full-time job on top of my 15-20 hours a week in sales and, though working two jobs got a bit tedious, I ended up staying there for 6 months until I got a more permanent (and more "lucrative" - ha!) job at The Record. Although it was a rough time in our lives financially, I look back on my Limited Too days fondly and sometimes wish I had the flexibility to go back and pick up a few hours here and there. Although now I'm 29 and would basically be a grandma in Limited Too land!

Here are some trends that were big in '03:
Step back Jonas Brothers, we sold pens, pillows, etc. saying "I love Justin," "I love Ashton," and "I love JC" (as in the other NSYNC'er). I totally have "I love Justin" socks and a pen (for obvious reasons). :)
Hilary Duff's sophomore album (No Miley Cyrus here!)
Lizzie McGuire
Jesse McCartney
The Cheetah Girls (High School Musical didn't exist yet - I wish!)
The early stages of the pop/punk rock comeback look
Initial purses/bags/wallets

The ABC's of Me

My crazy eye freckle (see below)

A To Z.
A is for age: 29
B is for burger of choice: Not a fan...okay...In-n-Out Cheeseburger
C is for the car I drive: N/A - I broke the Saturn
D is for your dog's name: N/A - Zippy the Cat!
E is for essential item you use every day: lipstick or lipgloss
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: The Office
G is for favorite game: Apples to Apples and Taboo
H is for home state: California
I is for instruments you play: Saxophone - but only in 4th grade
J is for favorite juice: Cran-grape
K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: No one at the moment
L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Casa Flores
M is for your favorite Muppet: Kermit and Grover
N is for number of piercings: 2 (ears)
O is for overnight hospital stays: None
P is for people you were with today: Justin before he went to work & Zippy!
Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Read & veg out
R is for biggest regret: See letter "C" - would have changed my timing belt at 90,000miles.
S is for status: Happily Married
T is for time you woke up today: 6:38am (and it's SATURDAY!)
U is for what you consider unique about yourself: Eye freckle, only child, non-drinker, weirdly intuitive and self-aware.
V is for vegetable you love: Green beans
W is for worst habit: Procrastinating
X is for x-rays you've had: Teeth, wrist
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Eggo waffle
Z is for zodiac: Gemini

Oh yeah...

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

I was so excited about my Twilight post (below) that I forgot about the whole "future of the nation hanging in the balance" thing. It's election day! And yes, I did rock the vote. I won't say how I voted, but I will say that my ballot included a diverse mix of both conservative and liberal politics. I don't like to adhere to labels.

Get out there and VOTE!!!

Twilight is Coming!

Twilight Trailer in HD


The Twilight movie comes out in 16 days. I. Can't. Help. Myself. I know it's cheesy and ridiculous, but I'm still giddy over it. All the girls in my office are severely addicted to the books and we're all planning to be among the first in line for the midnight showing on November 20/21. We're making shirts. It's gonna be awe-some. :)
Now if only I could convince Sommer to read it! Sister: 2 pages in the line at Starbucks is not going to cut it! Get to reading!

Apples!

We made a trip to Apple Hill last weekend with the rest of the Perry's and our friends, the Haaland's and the Child's. It's sort of an annual tradition, that unfortunately doesn't actually happen every year. This year there were lots of new additions to our group: Babies! I started off the day with an apple donut and ended it with an amazing caramel apple. It was a great day!

Our whole gang at Apple Hill


Freida and I just LOVE our caramel apples!


Justin and I trying to take a good picture.


Hermanos


Ryan, Freida, and Bella

A-MAZE-ING

I took my student leadership group, the TigerPAC, to the corn maze in Lathrop on Sunday night as a bonding activity. I forgot how much I love "the country." Being there at night with the dust and the bright lights reminded me of Sutter High football games for some reason. Ah, childhood! We had a great time. I made the girls take a picture of me in the corn, then in a corn cutout...they pretty much humor my dorkyness all the time. When I made a reference to being a "grown up lady" who didn't NEED to take a picture in the corn cutout, Randi replied "yeah, a grown up lady who couldn't decide what to wear to watch High School Musical 3." Which is a completely different story that I'd rather not discuss in this forum. (Suffice it to say, I saw the movie, it was cheesy AND amazing, and we might have "dressed up.") :)

Here are some photos:

New Obsession

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately, but I wanted to share my latest obsession: Picnik.com

picnik.com is a site that let's you enhance photos, add text, framing, etc. It's AMAZING!!! I've already used it on a few projects for work and it makes me feel like a legit designer (even though all I really did was hit a few buttons). Here are a couple of practice runs I did on some personal photos.

The Overkill Threshold

You know how it goes. You like a song. It starts getting a lot of radio play and you continue you to like it. Then, it happens. You hear said song just one time too many and you reach what I like to call: the "song overkill threshold." I am at that place now with the song "Love Remains the Same." It's the one that plays over and over again in the previews for the new Nicholas Sparks flick Nights in Rodanthe, which I really wanted to see - UNTIL the aforementioned overkill threshold kicked in. Now I'm afraid if I hear that song one more time I might lose my mind! Not only do I hear it at the movies (previews), I also hear it at the gym, I hear it repeatedly on the adult contemporary station we listen to at the office, and if I had a car and I actually drove to work I would probably hear it there too. IT'S EVERYWHERE!!!

I actually had to look up the name of the song because I had no idea who sang it or what it was called, I just knew I heard it ALL THE TIME! Much to my surprise, the singer is Gavin Rossdale! As in the former frontman of 90's alterna/grunge/rock band Bush. Bush! I loved them! As a straight-laced high schooler I felt really hardcore when I listened to Bush and now Gavin Rossdale is singing a sappy overkilled song on adult contemporary radio like some teenage emo band!?! Man. Maybe for Gavin Rossdale's sake I'll temper my dislike for the song and celebrate his return to mainstream radio.(Disclaimer: I will admit that my estimation of Bush's "hardcoreness" may have something to do with the level of my "straightlacedness.")


What songs have you reaching for the dial?