Is anything better than a Friday off of work?

I took the day off today so my dad and I can check out some of the exhibits for the 01SJ Festival. There's also First Friday's happening today which coincides with 01SJ to form Subzero- a SoFa Street Fair of sorts. I actually have a couple (4) photos up at South First Billiards for tonight's event. My childhood best bud, Leticia, is hosting the activities there and encouraged me to put some stuff up. Super self-conscious about it--but--what the heck? Right.

So any way, I'm just relaxing upstairs watching one of Dame Helen Mirren's greatest roles of all time--Mrs. Tingle, in Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Classic.

We finally have Comcast On Demand in both our upstairs office and living room downstairs. For some reason there was about a 3-week difference in getting it in both rooms. Weird.

Nathan and I are going to stay up in Oakland this weekend. Looking forward to getting out of the South Bay and spending some time up there--too bad we just missed the Alameda Antique's Flea Market. Wah! Next month--maybe. Depends on the cash situation. We are going to the A's game Sunday which is really rad. Does anything beat a Sunday afternoon baseball game filled with a hot dog and a beer? Doubtful.

Ok. Gotta get back to doing nothing. :)

n.

Kiera: My one-name-only baby model niece.

My sister entered (basically just posted a photo of) my niece on the Parents Magazine website. They are looking for their next "cover baby/child". If you feel so inclined, vote for her by clicking the photo.

p.s. The dress she's wearing in the photo on the lawn is one I bought for her! :)

Ready to spend an evening with my four girls...

Yup, those four girls. Like many, many, many, many, MANY other groups of women, I will be spending an evening with not only my own group of girl friends, but my other four fictional girls as well. I haven't read any reviews and I've been ignoring the rumor mill as much as possible; I just want to sit back, sip my portable cosmos and enjoy the silly girl-gabbing, the serious girl talks, the fashion, the flair, the men (gay & straight) and (of course), the sexiness that is Sex and the City.

Despite only working three days this week, I am feeling beyond ready for the weekend. Even though lots of cool things went my way this week with some potentially really cool opportunities in the works; I do feel a bit drained today.

Only a bit longer 'til work is over & the relaxing can begin.

Yay.

Holiday from blogging...

So it's been awhile since I've posted anything new. There isn't really a reason other than I've been pretty busy lately and taking on way too many projects, etc.

Here's a quick update list:

• Saw Indiana Jones, Baby's Mama, Iron Man and loved all three. Highly recommend them. :D
• Been applying for some freelance writing gigs (most don't pay). Currently doing some music reviews for one company.
• Still trying to get the home in order. Making progress on the "man room". Got a new desk & created a better work station. I actually really like to hang out up there now.
• Going up to Sacramento this Saturday for an early (like two months early) birthday party for my nephew. He's turning THREE and I cannot believe it! They grow so fast.
• Super excited for Sex and the City opening night! Planning a girls night out to the movies.
• Trying to plan for Comic Con. Finding a room this last minute was a BI-ATCH, but mission is finally accomplished. Now just need to get my con tickets. Kinda excited and kinda anxious since the last time I went was like 4 or 5 years ago and it's just exponentially growing every year. Should be a lot of fun though.
• Been doing some advocacy with Oxfam around their Climate Justice campaign. Had a really great meeting with Congressman Honda's aide this week. Really looking forward to getting deeper into the campaign.
• Looking forward to checking out the 01 (Zero One) San Jose Art & Technology Festival. I went last year for a couple days and it was really cool. Plus I'll get to hang out for the day with my dad which is always awesome. We also want to check out the Robot Exhibit at the SJ Museum of Art.
• Been devoting some time to the Wii Fit, which is completely awesome! I've got my fitness goals set up and I really enjoy doing the Yoga & Strength Training exercise. But dayam is that thing mean when it tells you how overweight you are! Bastard.
• I've been doing lots of music reviews for KSCU and getting back into lots of new music, which is never a bad thing. Some new albums I've really enjoyed are: Ed Harcourt, the Submarines, M83, Lemuria, Dirty on Purpose, Okay, Mates of State, Subtle... definitely lots of cool stuff.
• Been falling behind on my 365 project (egah!). Actually I think I only missed one or maybe two days of pictures but still. I definitely feel apathetic about doing it lately. I think I'm just working on too many things at once. I'm gonna try to focus more on it though starting next week or even this weekend (this includes updating my Flickr).
• Trying to work on designing a new layout for my Trapped in the Suburbs wordpress blog but I'm struggling to understand how Wordpress even works. I switched over so that I can have multiple contributors (team blog), and Wordpress offers way better options in terms of doing that than Blogger does. But Wordpress seems way harder to customize than Blogger. So... gotta devote some time to that as well.
• And in general... I've just been having lots of fun with Nathan & the little Chiweenie & family in general.

I'll try to get back into my regular 5-7+ blog posts a week. Though it was definitely nice to take a short break.

xoxoxo,

n.

2nd Beet Farm Theme Show airs tomorrow!

Don't miss out on the 2nd theme show of the Beet Farm: KSCU Staples. Call in your KSCU favorite!

Wednesday, [tomorrow!] from 7-9 a.m.
KSCU, 103.3 f.m. in the South Bay!

Call up: 408.569.KSCU!

One step closer to Lee Pace.

So my friend Julie who lives out in Minneapolis just added a comment to this blog post I wrote last week, which made me giddy.

Really, for no good reason at all.

Observe:

2 comments:
Julie said...
lee pace is one of my mom's best friend's sons! i went to the waterpark with him when we were like 13. my mom went to all of his high school plays. i never did because i was too good for that. now i wish i had! i love him too =)
May 13, 2008 3:09 PM

n. said...
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ehheeeeheeee. *me giggling like a little school girl!*um.... introduce us! :D
May 13, 2008 3:34 PM
-----------------------------
I know. Complete dork.

:D

Things younger than John McCain blog.

Just discovered the Things younger than Republican Presidential candidate (oh, and did I forget to mention “war hero”?) John McCain blog. It's hilarious!

And did I mention it's scary too?

Some of the things younger than McCain: cobb salad, the Golden Gate Bridge, and yes, the chocolate chip cookie.

:D

(source: Serious Eats blog)

Reminder: Vote for the next theme show!

Voting for my next KSCU Beet Farm Theme Show is (has been) open! Voting will close in a day or two so please take a moment to visit my DJ Blog and vote!

Pretty please? I have three votes total and they are all for different themes so I need some more folks opinions. Ya'll have them right?

Mr. Dwight Schrute will come after you if you fail to help me out in this endeavor. Don't disappoint!
photo from bbc.co.uk/comedy.

Live Now Benefit Posters

Read about these great posters on the Design Crush blog. The poster project was created by Eric Smith & the story behind them is:

"I was recently diagnosed with cancer and have begun down the treatment road. I have learned to saturate each moment in front of me with all of my energy, as well as many other tremendous lessons. I decided to create a poster series with some quotes that have driven close to my spirit throughout this whole ordeal. Proceeds from the sale of these posters will be donated towards the Live Strong Foundation. Please purchase one, or three, and spread words of hope and inspiration. They are 11"× 17" and printed on a nice recycled matte paper."

I was inspired after hearing the story to purchase a poster--although I liked them well enough as is and the story just pushed me to buy one now. :) And although I really feel that this one touches closer to home with me falling out of love with my job:

I went with the one below instead. It would apply every day and felt more inspirational for my home--which is where I'd like to hang it.

The "machine" poster would be most appropriate at work--though inappropriate at the same time. :D

Carrie Brownstein has a blog on NPR!

Carrie Brownstein, former Sleater Kinney rocker, has a blog on NPR.org. How rad is that?!

A whole new domain.

FYI, I bought up my own domain so I can drop the "blogspot". So my new address is, www.girlinthesuburbs.com. YAY!

365 Project: Playing catch up.

I was pretty behind on posting/uploading my 365 project photos from the last week or so, but I took care of that tonite. And before I head up to bed, wanted to just post one of the photos from the bunch, instead of the entire week's worth. If you click the photo it'll take you to my 365 set and you can view all the stuff. I admit I got a little lazy last week and have fallen from my theme, but I will try to get back on track.

Here's my little berry babies:

White Space Wednesday.

My White Space Wednesday photo this week. Of course, of the--my little Chiweenie.

Suburban simplicity.

Auh. There's nothing like relaxing outside on a beautiful California spring evening. When I got home from my friend Leticia's house (with a version of Photoshop!), I decided to sit outside and relax. I had picked up a bundle of new music from KSCU earlier this morning so I was all set. True suburban happiness. Don't you just love moments like this?

Above photo by me (duh!).

Pssst.

There's a new Theme Poll posted on my deejay blog. Please check it out and vote! :)

Oh yah, today's playlist is posted there as well.

- dj schrute.

The one thing I cannot live without today: my aloe lotion kleenex tissues.

Ack. Regardless of doing very little this weekend, I am feeling worse every day. I can't stop coughing up phlegm, I can't sleep, my chest hurts, my ears are starting to hurt and I am so congested.... I feel incredibly delirious. Nathan just went to TJ's to get me some honey sticks. Yummy. I seriously believe that honey soothes my throat better than any cough suppressants.

Sadly as much as I wanted to go to the Maker Faire today, I had to decline going and hanging out with my friends. For one, I feel like shit and probably wouldn't have that good of a time, and two, I am beyond broke and really shouldn't be spending $25 bucks on the entrance ticket. Not to mention once I get there I wouldn't have any money to buy stuff. Oh well. I will have to relive through my friends photos & stories (please upload lots of photos! and share any cool artists/shops with me too!).

Yesterday the boyfriend and I hit up a double-feature at the Camera 7 early on in the day (my best hours are usually from about 10-4). We saw Smart People and Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. They were okay movies. I <3 Lee Pace and I really need to catch up with Pushing Daisies(also made me want to curl up and watch my Wonderfalls dvds). Smart People was decent... hard to like ANY of the characters but I started to fell a smidgen of empathy for them towards the end.

Urm, okay. I'm gonna plant my dwarf orange tree & raspberry plant before they die. I think some sunshine would do me well for a little bit.

Go sharks! (6 p.m. game time).

Are you the cure for my respiratory illness?

I wonder how many blog posts I've started by mentioned that "I'm sitting/lounging/relaxing on the couch watching Sex and the City." I'd imagine more than a few.

I am kind of zoning out and trying to feel more tired. I've been good about going through my Google Reader consistently so that I don't have a ridiculous backlog of blogs to go through. So I was doing that and checking out my Flickr contacts, and blahbitty blah.

My cold/allergy thing is worse. Throat is hurting all day long and I made the mistake of going to the gym because of feeling bloated and gross, so now I have shortness of breath/respiratory issues.

Oh--did I mention yet that the Sharks won tonite? They came back to tie it and then (finally!) won it in overtime! They aren't the best in OT so I was pretty nervous, but they scored in about less than a minute in. As soon as they scored I knew I had to call someone. Do I call my sister or my parents...... finally I decided my parents since my mom had called me earlier and I hadn't called her back yet. She picks up and sounds a lot more mellow than she should considering the outcome... Our conversation went something like this:

Mom: (she then starts saying something rather subdued) i know, i know...this game is making me nervous, it's so hard to watch, and i have to keep peaking through my hands...........and........

Me: MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! (I finally manage to get a word in)... They won!!! Are you even watching the game?

Mom: WHAT! They won!??? Oh crap we thought it was still intermission... (yelling in the background is my dad---'what they won!?' well if you hadn't been....')...

What dorks. Apparently they had been too busy married-arguing about getting something done around the house and missed the OT goal. Too funny. I was totally counting on a "wooooowhooo" when they picked up my call. While I was talking to my mom, my sister texted me right away. We are all so stoked!
--------------
Urm... okay. I should probably try to go and get some rest so I can feel better. Thus I think it's a Tylenol pm kind of a night.

AT Spring Cure: The End.

Although I didn't get ALL my Cure 8-week tasks done, I really do feel like I accomplished a lot and if anything it gives me a great structure to work with in the future. I would say the two biggest things that hindered my dropping off in the last four weeks was no money & not enough time.

Though I am pretty proud of my entryway (i'm retiring the use of "landing strip" because of the giggles it garners haha) and my patio.

Here's the two befores:
entryway: www.flickr.com/photos/neeecole/2381122997/
patio: www.flickr.com/photos/neeecole/2325412381/

And afters:
entryway: www.flickr.com/photos/neeecole/2381183503/
patio: www.flickr.com/photos/neeecole/2453599898/

Thanks to all my other fellow curers for inspiring me through your photos & hard work!

Oh and one last bit of important information:

The Sharks won last night! Game 5 at the Shark tank is tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Game on!

My lungs are filling up with fluid.

"Each piece of bad news owes a great thanks to one Rev. Jeremiah Wright who has been dominating cable news coverage like a missing white girl." --John Stewart. Hilarious and so true.

I'm lounging on the couch watching yesterday's tivoed episode of the Daily Show. Feeling like crapola. Too bad I've used up all my sick hours, or else it would be a much happier day tomorrow. Instead I will suffer for yet another day at a job that leaves me completely uninspired about 90% of the time.

What are you guys doing this weekend? I am gonna try to make it out to the Maker Faire at the San Mateo Fairgrounds on Sunday. I'm hoping to be feeling better so that I can truly enjoy it & catch up with some friends I haven't seen in awhile.

Other things I'm looking forward to:
* Getting my stimulus check and putting it towards my growing credit card debt.
* New Office episode tonite (funniest show on tv--hands down!)
* It soon being 5 p.m. on Friday. :D
* Finding a new job
* Taking some cool classes (photography/drawing)
* Shorty's birthday (5.15)
* Laura's birthday! (didn't mean to put Shorty's first--just worked out that way)

Oh man I just had the most intense back spasm. WTF is going on!

I seriously need a week long vacation with no obligations so that I can take care of myself & get some things done (such as the things above).

For some reason my dog is whining and barking in my face. He doesn't like when I use the computer, plus I think he know his daddy is coming home soon. He's pawing the keyboard so it's time to go.

Wow. Random ass blog. Apologies for this but my mind is all over the place.

The Beet Farm Playlist: one day late.

Posted up my radio playlist from yesterdays Beet Farm Show. Check it out over on the DJ Blog.

The final 20 minutes?

It's maybe come down to 20 minutes left in the entire Sharks hockey season. The game is tied 1-1, and the third period is about to start. I really hope the Sharks can pull this one out. It will give me the faintest bit of hope. Certainly it will make the Sharks look less pathetic than they would with a 4-0 Dallas series victory.

I am also patiently waiting for the boyfriend to bring me home my latest obsession; pho. Yes, I am beyond late to the game of this wonderfully simple Vietnamese staple. Especially considering I live amongst one of the largest communities of Vietnamese folks (second only to Orange County--in the US of course). I can't say why I refused to jump on the pho bandwagon, but I'm glad I finally hopped on. Soup is good on a nice windy day like this, especially when you're feeling a tad under the weather.

How can you tell the difference between allergies and a cold? I know people's allergies are off the chain this season because of the increased amount of pollen in the air. I have pretty intense nostril clogging, pressure headaches, running nose, and a sore throat in the mornings. Sounds like a cold/flu to me.

And YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Sharks just scored! They now lead 2-1!!!!

OK. Clearly I should be watching the game and relaxing with my little Chiweenie who just climbed into my lap as I cheered.

Go Sharks! More to come.

xoxo,
n.

White Space Wednesday.

This is my submission for the White Space Wednesday Flickr Group. It was taken after my nephew Dylan created this amazingly OCD car/truck parade when I was watching him about a month ago.

iGoogle artist themes.

I'm totally digging the artist themes for my individual iGoogle page. I am thinking I'll probably switch it up daily. Right now I have the Nagi Noda theme because I couldn't resist the bright happy pandas. There are lots of cool options from Beastie Boys & Cold Play to Michael Graves & Todd Oldham to Diane Von Furstenburg.

Obviously I'm a big ol' Google-phile and this is one of the many reasons why. Simple designs, easy to use, and still some self-expressive options.

Here's some more that I like:

Beastie Boys

Mark Frauenfelder
Os Gêmeos

Bummed out.

The Sharks lost in overtime. They are now down 3-0 in the series. A part of me wants to believe, but as a long-time Sharks fan--this is classic Sharks post-season hockey. Prove me wrong.

Here's a look back at happier times:

Go Sharks! Win for me tomorrow!