Twi-Party

I'm really blessed to enjoy the company of the people I work with. I even like hanging out with them socially, which says a lot because we are together at least 8 hours a day five days a week. Four of us have really embraced the Twilight phenomenon (and one other has semi-embraced) and it has served as a great unifying factor for us. On Saturday we had to work a big alumni event, which also coincided with the movie's release on DVD. We decided months ago that we would reward ourselves after the event by having a Twilight Party at my house on my indoor movie screen. (Yes, it is as dorky as it sounds.) We sighed, we swooned, we squealed. Most of all, we enjoyed watching it (and the special features) together in the safety of our Twilight-loving family. :) I will try to refrain from future Twilight-related posts until it gets closer to the release of the film adapation of the second book, New Moon (November). I just want the blogosphere to note, as a point of clarification, that my love for Twilight goes far beyond my own dorky obsession and is rooted in a shared experience with a group of people I spend many hours a day with. That means it's okay.

Clouds and Windmills

Yesterday we drove over Highway 12 to a friend's birthday party in Vacaville. It was a beautiful day and the sky was filled with lots of fluffy cumulus clouds. Luckily I had the work camera with me and we had the chance to capture some of the beauty.



I've always been fascinated by windmills. They make me thing of giants. :)



For some weird reason, we also love barns.

Thoughts on Graduating

I worked at the Grad Fair for several hours this week signing up graduating seniors for their alumni ID cards. Many of them come in looking really overwhelmed and a little frightened that the time has come for them to graduate and head into "the real world." Dun dun dun. I'll admit that "the real world" is looking scarier than usual this year, but I saw the same fear during last year's go round when the economy was still sunshine and rainbows. Did I feel that way when I graduated? Rewind to eight years ago (has it really been that long?!?) I remember being SO ready to be done with college. Don't get me wrong, I love my alma mater, but even jobless and with a one-way ticket back to mom and dad's house, I was still ready to leave the student experience behind. And now, as I prepare to matriculate again from the same beautiful institution, this time with my Master's degree, I can't help but feeling...the exact same way I felt 8 years ago! It. Can't. Come. Fast. Enough. A couple of papers, a portfolio, a project and 12 hours worth of comprehensive exams stand between me and the end of what has been one of the most difficult undertakings of my life. (Granted I haven't had kids yet, so my measure of difficulty may be a little weak.) The countdown to May continues friends!

Randoms

Movie Update: I Love You Man... was hysterical! I haven't laughed that hard at a movie in quite awhile. It was a little on the raunchy side, but so funny! It was actually a private screening - the movie doesn't actually come out until next Friday - so we had to leave our cell phones in the car so there would be no chance of us filming the movie. Several of us from work went and I actually ran into a former co-worker who gave me a bunch of scoop on the newspaper I used to work for. The newspaper industry is pretty hard up right now and they've experienced a ton of layoffs. It's really sad, and I'm so glad I got out of there when I did!

Saturn: Speaking of layoffs... I found out that Saturn of Stockton is closing. I hate that people have to lose their jobs, but at the same time I feel somewhat vindicated. I always felt that Saturn of Stockton totally jived me whenever I took my car in for service. In fact, it got so bad that I quit taking it to the dealer altogether, which is part of the reason that the timing belt broke and destroyed my engine. I know the care and service of my car was completely my responsibility, but I'd be lying if I didn't secretly blame the Saturn dealership for their shady business practices.

Hair: I got my hair done today and I just keep getting blonder. I don't ask for it to happen. The girl who does my hair just makes it lighter everytime. I think I need to "just say no" - it's becoming whitish blonde and I'm not sure how flattering it is with my pasty pasty skin. Time to invest in some bronzer?

Sunshine Cleaning

I feel like I've been doing a lot of movie-related posts lately, but here's another. I'm looking forward to seeing this movie - Sunshine Cleaning. It's about two sisters who start a crime scene clean up business and stars Amy Adams (who I love!) and Emily Blunt (from the Devil Wears Prada - also dating Jon Krasinski from the Office). I love indie movies, especially indie movies with heart (think Little Miss Sunshine and Garden State). This one looks like it will fit the bill!

Your Morning R-Patz Fix

I'm not sure if any of my blog readers are as avid Twilight fans as my co-workers and I, but this is our new favorite photo around the office. It's probably not an official poster for New Moon, the second book in the franchise, but it's still swoonworthy in my opinion. Sigh.

Are you a Twilight fan? Why or why not? (Note: If the answer is NO, I may try to convert you.) :)

I Love FREE Tickets!

A co-worker got a bunch of free tickets to an early screening of the new movie, "I Love You Man." Basically it's about a guy who gets engaged and decides he doesn't have any male friends close enough to be his best man, so he goes on a series of awkward "man-dates" to find one. Paul Rudd's in it - love him - and Jason Segel (who loves muppets, which by default means I love him too). Apparently it's written by the guy who wrote Zoolander and Meet the Parents. It will probably be really raunchy and foul. Don't judge me. It's free and I have no other big plans on Thursday night. And truthfully I probably would have seen it eventually anyway...:)

SUN!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that Justin and I decided to get out of the house and soak up some much-needed Vitamin D. First we walked down over to campus and did some laps in the (heated) pool. I was pretty reluctant to put my swim suit on for the first time this season, but fortunately all of the skinny bikini girls that usually lounge around the pool deck on sunny days are on spring break, so I didn't have to worry about any judgement. I also wear a triathlon suit for swimming (not because I'm hard core, but because it offers a supreme amount of coverage - full tank top and shorts), so that helps. :) After our swim I decided to shirk my home and school responsibilities and we went for a ride along the "Delta Loop," a scenic levee tour of the delta area. The sun was shining on the water, flowers were blooming in the fields, I wore flip flops and capris. It was a beautiful thing! And I have no pictures to show for it because my trusty camera, that I never leave home without, finally bit the dust. :( Time to upgrade!

Spring Fever

I'll admit it, I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of months. Nothing too serious. Call it the winter blahs or last-semester-of-grad-school-itis. Now that winter is blossoming into spring, I finally feel like I'm thawing out and ready to move forward into 2009! Last weekend I did some long overdue cleaning and re-arranging of my house. We finally have shelving for all of our books, which is great accomplishment for us. This weekend I'm hoping to make it further down into my basket(s) of laundry (I haven't seen the bottom in well over a year) and get ahead/catch up on some of my major school projects. I'm trying to get back into my workout routine and put some long term training goals (half-marathons, triathlons) on my calendar. Springtime in the alumni office is a bit crazy, lots of events and projects to get in as we push through the final months of the school year, so I'm trying to keep my head above water in the work arena. All in all, life is good. I'll try to check in more often!

The Great Elmo Debate

*

I have always been a fan of muppets. Sesame Street, Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock. If there's a giant colorful puppet involved, I'm totally down. However, and let me just put this out there, I have never liked Elmo. He came on the Sesame Street scene in the 90's and was immediately elevated to SS "mascot" status. He took the Sesame Street glory from all the older, more established, dare I say more deserving muppets like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, and even Telly. And he did it in annoyingly cheerful third person banter. Rather than idolizing Grover, who has a superhero alter ego for crying out loud! Small children fell in love with a creature whose only claim to fame is that he likes be tickled and is the owner of a pet goldfish named Dorothy. I have found this to be a rather disturbing phenomenon.

I will admit that, as I've gotten older, my deep-seeded hatred for Elmo has diminished. I don't find him nearly as repulsive as I did in high school and college, but I still maintain that he might be a little bit evil. And I will always, ALWAYS have a special place in my heart for poor, sweet little Grover who can never catch a break. I mean, have you read "The Monster at the End of this Book?"

*This seems like kind of a silly topic to break my multi-week blogging silence, but I discovered this photo on flickr and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my long dormant feelings about the Grover vs. Elmo debacle.

Random Thoughts for a Monday Morning

(Told you it was random)

South Beach:
Today marks the completion of Week #1 of the South Beach Diet. One more week on the extremely stringent menu. I don't really like to talk about dieting, it's usually annoying to hear someone say "I can't eat that," "I'm so hungry," "I just drank a glass of water and ate a carrot so I'm full," etc. But, I'm proud of myself and am pleased to report that I made it through the first week without giving in to my weaknesses. I even attended three parties (one was a pizza party - HARD!) and still had the will power to stay away from all non-approved items - which is pretty much everything right now. I am feeling better, less tired, more healthy, etc. and it is getting easier and easier everyday. I am thoroughly sick of having omelets for breakfast though! Justin has gotten a hot breakfast almost every morning, so he is loving this diet!

Golden Globes:
I love movies! I usually make an effort every year to see all of the nominated movies (especially when the Oscar noms are announced), but it's been harder for me to get to movies this year. (Not having a car might have something to do with that.) :) Thanks to the early posting of winners on both eonline.com and cnn.com, I knew who won what before the Globes even started. I think Slumdog Millionaire was a great choice for one of the Best Picture categories. It was a great movie (and not in the depressing - typical Oscar-fare kind of way.) And although I haven't seen either of Kate Winslet's movies (both look too depressing and "real" for me), I LOVE her and am thrilled that she won TWO awards last night! I hope 2009 brings her the first Oscar of her career! Not much for me to say about Heath Ledger's Best Actor award. Was he amazing and scary in The Dark Knight? YES! Would he have won the award without the death factor? Not sure. It's still a shame that he wasn't around to see all the kudos he got for the role.

24:
JACK'S BACK! I love 24, but since action movies and television shows tend to put me to sleep, I haven't done so well following the last couple of seasons. I am, however, loving the change in scenery thus far. SPOILER ALERT: With CTU disbanded, Jack on trial for all of his indiscretions in the line of duty (HELLO? How many times has he saved the world? Beggars can't be choosers people!), and Tony Almeida back from the dead - AND EVIL! - the 24 scribes seem to have shaken things up a little bit. Tony's status has been a poorly-kept secret in entertainment circles, so it didn't come as much of a surprise to me, but it's still strange to see him working on the dark side. And was anyone else confused by the change in the storyline of the President's son? Wasn't he alive and well-adjusted during the prequel that aired in November? I'll have to do a little digging to get more scoop on what's going on there.

Uggs:
I got some for Christmas and can safely say that real ones are FAR superior to the fake ones I've been trudging around in the past couple of months.

This Beach Ain't So Great

I know it's really cliche to start a diet in January, but I'm nothing if not predictable, so I decided to join the hungry masses and start 2009 off with a diet. I'm usually not one to diet - I prefer a regular exercise regimen that allows me to eat whatever I want. Unfortunately, regular exercise hasn't been a priority in my life for several months, but eating whatever I want has and now 25 extra lbs are disrupting the fit of my favorite outfits! I decided this "development" required some serious action and am now on Day 2 of the South Beach Diet. The upside, I get to eat regularly and don't have to count calories. The downside, my food choices are EXTREMELY limited and I can't have sugar or carbs for 2 weeks! I can have as many vegetables and lean meats as I want though! Hooray! (Note the sarcasm.) I am learning to "love" V8 juice and romaine lettuce, and find myself getting excited about vanilla soymilk and cheese sticks. I have slipped up once - had a brush with some jello yesterday that was masquerading as sugar-free but really wasn't. I'll admit, I am taken in by the South Beach "promise" that I will lose 8-13 lbs in the first two weeks. I'm skeptical, but if it helps me win the $40 in our little co-worker weightloss challenge, bring on the celery!