Missing Cali

I've really been missing the West Coast, especially the Bay Area, and today my longing for the picturesque Bay was made worse by an email I got from Sherman's Travel. Here is what it said:

San Francisco ...A la carte

"Cable Cars, clanging bells, climbing hills, walking along the Bay at Fisherman's Wharf, Clam Chowder at Pier 39, taking the boat to Alcatraz, Hornblower dinner cruise under the Golden Gate.

Looking at you are Painted Ladies and people in Chinatown, beckoning you are Italian restaurants in North Beach, Museums and Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park and Twin Peaks looks over the Bay, the Bridges and The Pacific.

Giant trees at Muir Woods taking you back in time, Sausalito perched on the hillside, tasting at wineries in Sonoma and Napa, The Monterey Bay Aquarium with its giant fish staring at you and Pebble Beach brushing you with its scenery and luxury. History taking you back 300 years in Monterey.

Run away to San Francisco for a dew days during the summer the fog keep s the city nice and cool. We'll handle your hotel and tour reservations."

Dear Sherman's Travel:

Can you find me a home that I can afford and a job I love?

For those of you who still live in the Bay......how do you feel about roommates! :)

Fun Times in NYC

I spent a long fun weekend in New York city this past weekend as a re celebration of my 29th Birthday. (Above pic is cherry blossom tree just south of Central Park. They made the city smell so good.) I got into Newark on Thursday and went straight to my sisters office. Once she got off work, we headed down to the East Village to meet up with a few friends and my cousin Genna. We had some pretty good sushi and a great Patron Margarita. Then we headed to a Brazilian place had a beer then it was time to head back home.

Friday I did what I do best when I'm in NYC, SHOP! I hit up a couple of great places including Century 21. They have designer clothes from half the price. I also had to make a stop at H&M, love that place. Once my sister was off work, we headed to MOMA, on Friday's after 4 p.m. entrance to the museum is FREE! If you're in the city on a Friday, this is obviously a great deal. From there, we headed to the Upper West Side to go to the Guggenheim Museum. On Friday after 5:45 they have "pay what you want." The suggested donation is $10 per person (it's normally $18 per adult.) Most of the exhibits were the work of Cai Guo-Qiang. One of the exhibits was clay statues that were being created in the museum. They were inspired by pictures from China's fall from Communism. They were so realistic and amazing. The "Gunpowder Drawings" were also very interesting and way to hard to explain. Bottom line; If you're in NYC, make a trip to the Guggenheim before May 28th to see all of the great exhibits there now!

From http://www.guggenheim.org/:
Cai Guo-Qiang is internationally acclaimed as an artist whose creative transgressions and cultural provocations have literally exploded the accepted parameters of art making in our time. This is especially true of Inopportune: Stage One, Cai’s largest installation to date, which presents nine real cars in a cinematic progression that simulates a car bombing, occupying the central atrium of the Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda.

What would a trip to NYC be with out some great pizza. After our museum run, we grabbed a slice from Pizza 33 in Murry Hill. Yummy.

My cousin's Genna and Aaron were in town, so we headed back down to the East Village to meet up with them. We had a great time catching up.
On Saturday my sister and I did some more shopping, including a trip to the Chelsea Market. I LOVE this place. All of the fresh food, live music and free wine tasting, what's not to love. Here are a couple of may favorite, but to check it all out go to: http://www.chelseamarket.com/.

• Eleni's Cookies: My sister bought 2 cupcakes from this place and they were AMAZING!


• Amy's Bread: Hot and fresh out of the oven, you can watch them bake it next door to the store


• The other place, I can't remember the name, I want to say it had the word milk in it. Had fresh milk, milkshakes and a small menu. We had an organic free range chicken sandwich with avocado, bacon, cheese and a spicy aoli(sp?). I wish I could go back there for lunch today!

After all of that, we cooked dinner for 12 at my sister's apartment. After that we headed down to Greenwich Village to watch a couple bands at the Baggot Inn. If you get a chance check out Jose James, he did one song with one of the bands that was there.

This is the Church across the street from Ground Zero where they've finally started major construction. This church, St. Paul's Chapel, was completely unharmed during the 9/11 attacks. Pretty unbelievable. When you are down in that area of lower Manhattan it's hard to understand how this church didn't even have a broken window.

All in all, another great trip to NYC. Thanks for letting me crash at your place Katie!

The Right Stuff

"Oh oh oh oh, Oh oh oh oh, Oh oh oh oh...The RIGHT STUFF!"

Ok, is it just me or are the rest of you totally excited the the New Kids on the Block are coming out with a new album and going on tour! I haven't stopped thinking about seeing them for a second time since the rumor first started to float around. My sister and I were laughing so hard yesterday while we emailed each other about old NKOTB memories. My sister even said she still has a scar on her finger, because she cut herself cutting out an "O" in NKOTB. Both of our rooms were filled with NKOTB stuff, but she took the time to cut out NKOTB and each member of the band and tape them above her bed. I was not that extreme and didn't suffer any injuries hanging my NKOTB posters or wearing the button on my Guess jean jacket!

My dad bought us tickets to see NKOTB at the Oakland Coliseum back in the day. I remember how badly I wanted to go, and what he must have gone through to get the tickets, well in typical 4th or 5th grade style I was no longer "in to" the New Kids by the time summer was over. I still went to the show with my Batman earrings and my MC Hammer style pants on and LOVED every minute. I remember Donny flying in the air on some sort of contraption. It was my first concert, and I'll never forget it. I could imagine getting New Kid's tickets that summer was kind of like getting tickets to Hannah Montana this past year. Thanks for taking us to the concert dad. I'm sure we may not have thanked you properly 20 years ago!

With a tour in the near future, I just might have to join their fan club to ensure my seat at one of the shows. Is there a chance that we call all relive our first NKOTB concert in Oakland? Who knows, but I'll telling you, that I will go out of my way to see this comeback tour!

Who was your favorite NKOTB?

Hillary = Joey

Katie = Danny (although she said that Jon was looking good in the above picture!)

Heather = Joey....keep the votes coming in!

Is it just me....

Or are birthday's not as fun as they used to be. I don't normally use my blog as a place to talk about my daily life, but as I look back on my 28 years, I can't help but think "Where did all of the good birthday's go?"

This morning I woke up with a sick feeling in my stomach....I just knew it wasn't going to be a good day. Bad weather, weird things going on at work and my 29th birthday just happened to fall on a thunderstorm filled Monday. I spent most of my day consumed with work for our upcoming opera, but it wasn't just a normal busy day. I spent 15 minutes with a lady who said, and I QUOTE "You are not Southern enough." As a West Coast born and raised girl I found this statement totally rude. I'm sorry if I talk too fast or loud for your liking. I know that some times I should slow it down, but you don't have to tell me I need to be more southern....that's just weird.

My birthday finally got better with some fun gifts from my coworkers (MT, I loved your cards and candy. BN, I'll always try and remember to wear stripes on my birthday! Sarah, Oooops, the blow up flamingo and palm tree did temporarily made me feel like I was some place other than the office!) and happy hour apps at the Westin Hotel before the Grizzlies game. Thanks Bridget, Amanda and Brooke for going to the game with me.

Here's a quick little shout out to everyone that made my day!

To my girls from NHS:

Thank you so much for the amazing birthday card. I don't think you really know how excited I was to get a birthday card filled with love from some of my favorite girls.

Thank you Tracy, Alix, Ashley, Kristin, Heather, Amy, Kelly, Angie & Suzanne.

I have an amazing family that also made me feel loved today too; Thanks Mom, Dad, Katie, Kyle, Gma, Judy and the rest of my family.

Last but not least....Thank you Shawn, for the flight to NYC, for the cute cake and super cute purse and for being there for me every day!

I am hopeful that my 29th year will be a year filled with adventure, excitement, amazing memories, exploration and growth.