this morning we packed up the car (including the dining table we bought for cheaps), had farewell stumptown coffee with the bot, and headed home. soon after we left town, scottel sent us a sad shot of the empty seat randall and i had just been sitting in. i responded with my own version of that seat. it was great to see you scottelbot. take care of yourself and that dog!
2011 is beginning much like 2010 ended: tasty eats, nerdiness, good pals, and warm drinks. today our gang started off with star wars pancakes, met up with jenny l for some oversized lunch, and ended it playing lasers with the pup.
but before we really get into this year, let's have a quick peek back at 2010.
2010 was a strange year. there was a lot of just hunkering down and figuring out life. plus a bunch of domestic travel. it started by being the year of doing (classes, volunteerism, etc.), had a brief time where fun got thrown out of wack, and ended with a whirlwind where did the time go. not everything was pleasant, but it was all life. here are the highs and lows as i remember them.
1 - grandma e.
i hate to start the list off with bad news, but she was a trooper of a woman who was never afraid to speak her mind. her funeral was also my first ever. i was sort of dumbfounded by how she looked, and have to admit that it was difficult to see her that way. visiting the midwest for the brief period of time was also surreal. family, to say the least, is a complicated organism.
2 - new york, ny.
although the trip was cut short, and started off with pretty tragic news, it was still an amazing visit. i hadn't been back since december 2001, and it was a definitely a trip that was way past due. so many good eats and good friends to see. to be honest, i'd move there in a heartbeat. the fever is definitely back.
3 - four eyes
i spent my whole childhood life wanting glasses. i ended up being one of two family members who didn't need them (and this is extended family we're talking about). i eventually decided i was glad not to have them, only to be told i do need them. go figure.
4 - say something funny
this year i finally took an improv class. it's something i'd been wanting to do for about 15 years and finally got around/got the guts to do it. you can even see part of our "graduation" show.
5 - stand back, i've got a badge
i put out a fire, triaged a disaster scene, learned how to turn off all the utilities, how to lift people out of a building, and how to get them out from under a building. i also learned which buildings were safe, how to tell if it was safe, and what to do if it's not. the sffd's free NERT program is amazing. i've got a badge to show off, and i'm ready for the emergency.
6 - i failed my first class ever
for some reason i have never gotten around to getting my motorcycle license. scottel told me to 13 years ago, but i finally decided to try this year. randall and i took a class that would have us skipping the driving test at dmv. only caveat was that you had to pass their test. i didn't, i crashed the bike instead.
7 - ordinary skeeple
laura, shin, and karen talked me into joining the brewskeeball league. we sort of sucked, but it was loads of fun. i don't know if i'll continue because it cuts into other things, but it was definitely awesome
8 - 26
i finally started volunteering at 826 valencia. i help out on wednesdays for the bayfarer newspaper. it's sort of fun to watch the kids' story ideas evolve into full blown articles, even if they are about justin bieber.
9 - victor yang's world premiere
chris's film premiered in la, and we all took a mini vacation to celebrate with him. complete with kyochan chicken.
10 - there's too much to take in
as i say every year, a year is hard to summarize in 10 neat bullet points. life is too messy and fun for that. some things that i am looking back on are: oysterfest, octoballs/dumpling food parties, ballet outing with le chuck, a singing telegram birthday, hanging with baby goats, the great macaron adventure, i finally figure out how to successfully play poker, kayaking in the bay, baby jamers graduating and heading to college, 4 years at sugar (hello to new coworkers, farewell to old friends), games team family, jelly belly factory tours, my favorite haircuts ever, a stupid roast chicken obsession, great america f yah, so many wee ones, a new not-so-mini minicar, epic shows (jonsi twice even), goodbye and hello to little b, layton outfits, ticker tape parade, so many nerd fridays, and of course this here trip to portland.
i don't have any expectations for 2011. we'll just have to see what we get. but here's hoping it's a good one for all of us.
happy new year pals!
xo,
-sabs.
ps. as a bonus, here's 2010's list of cities (places I spent at least one night). as you can tell we've been keeping it close this year. if i have my way 2011 is going to blow this year's out of the water.
San Francisco, CA
Beverly Hills, CA
New York, NY
Blue Earth, MN
Mather, CA
Portland, OR
and now for today's eye-candy.
and by portland style, i actually mean old man style thanks to randall and scottel. after a day of shopping, art checking out, and vintage video games, i kicked off the evening by predictably roasting up a chicken. we had a nice pals meal, and then tried to toast the new year's at scottel's house. sadly (or unsadly) the albero did us wrong (it was a flat bottle, wtf?), so we headed out to the victory.
victory indeed. we had hot toddies and the bar passed out free midnight champagne to everyone who was there. it was a nice mix between sabs style and old man style, and was the perfect way for this crew to ring in the new year.
happy new year all, the year in review will go up tomorrow, as it's too late and i'm far too sleepy to do that s now.
may 2011 treat you beyond well!
the weather this weekend was really amazing. if the rest of the summer wants to be gloomy except on the weekends, i am totally okay with that.
today i accomplished a bunch of the usual household errands, and then spent some time with the stirk family taking photos. we met up at the exploratorium (so picturesque, as all the brides, grads, grooms and escorts who were being photographed will tell you) where lil' carlie look fierce and mom and dad stood around making goofy faces to make her laugh.
afterwards i headed over to anneh's house to enjoy the sunshine. when i got there she was chatting with scottel (he's in china for work right now). video chatting is fun. odd and weird (as it has been for years), but fun. it was like we were there, only not. i mean i can't walk outside and get some awesome chinese food on a stick.
The weekend has begun. Tomorrow is the karen shin wedding extravaganza, but today is for pals.
After work we ran a bunch of errands, walked a sushi dog, napped, and then met up with scottel (who's in town for the wedding bonanza) and anneh. We ended up grabbing food from the new french truck (think taco truck but with stuff like skate cheeks and escargot puffs) and then heading across the street for wine at terroir. The food was pretty tasty (although it got cold quickly), but the atmosphere at terroir was bleh, think techno dance club music and jerkface bartender (if it's just a wine bar, is he still a bartender?).
Afterwards we met up with the very best wes and juju for some more sfpopfest fun. Also they are pals with the folks in ballboy so we are hobknobbing with the band.
Ps. I am totally gonna karaoke tonight.
Pps. I am going to try and attach two photos via bberry. Let's see what happens.
Ppps. Sorry wes, someone can photoshop you into one of these pics.
scottelbot is on his annual pilgrimage to california, and as always he placed a reservation at the chateau (that's what we call our house, i'm not sure why). he arrived today, on what is quite possibly the hottest day ever (unattractive note here: it was so hot i swear my knees were f'ing sweating), stopped by my house, cleaned up his act, grabbed my helmet and picked me up from work.
while i have been on a moped, and a scooter, i have not been on the back of a motorcycle since i was a kid (i was 5 the last time). i am also a pretty big safety nerd and think motorcycles should be driven in proper attire like leathers and denims. so when scott said, "are you dressed for this?" and i said, "no, but pick me up anyway." it was sort of a surprise even to myself. i mean i was wearing a short-sleeved summer dress with slip on shoes. definitely not clothes for the situation.
luckily for me scottel can handle his wheels and we made it home in one piece.
ps. i hate the hot. hate it so much, my bones are melting and soon i will be a puddle of goo.
pps. it was a fun. now i want him to take me to work too.
ppps. if you had seen my dismount you would have all laughed. it was about 30x less graceful than a 12-year-old boy dancing at the school dance. and i'm talking about the nerdy one, not the kid with the smooth moves.
meet jet. she's scottelbot's amazing pup. seriously i don't care how smart or awesome your dog is, this dog is the best behaved most awesomely trained dog i have ever met. i mean for crying outloud, she knows the command "cuteness" where she will lie down and put one paw on top of the other like she's posing for a senior portrait or something.
she is however also a bit dopey. you know the reflections caused by mirrors and lights? well this puppy can chase them around the house for hours. this evening her and i have invented a new game. i put the light on the wall in a place where she can reach it. she snaps for it, touches it with her nose, and then i swing the light to the opposite side of the wall, wait for her to snap/touch and then swing it back. we have done this for hours now - okay maybe just minutes, but still, either way scott's got a lot of dog drool to wipe off his walls.
i'd steal this puppy if i could, but despite the fact that we drove here, we are flying home tomorrow and trying not to check bags. that's right, we're flying home, without our car. don't even get me started.
this afternoon we all hopped on bikes and drove around portland. i called trike - i thought it was kitschy and fun, but little did i realize it was harder to drive and i would have to exert more energy. i also almost crashed, but we're not going to talk about that.
after lunch our bike gang rolled up to sbritt's house. he was too busy for us, but we kidnapped his sweet wife maho and their cute little puppy snappy. we then went to the local park and terrorized the childrens. now we're going to go crash a kid's birthday party. i dare say, i think you can see a pattern emerging.
