santa fe in august

Hooray! We finally locked down our reservations for vacationing with Chris & Claudia (& hopefully a couple others - you know who you are!) in August. They've kindly invited us on their annual New Mexico/Colorado trip, which they rave about every damn year, so we just had to give in and go. Unfortunately, we can't make the whole luxurious trip, (we're hoarding vacation days for a loooooong honeymoon), but we can swing a long weekend to join up with everyone in Santa Fe.

We fly into Albuquerque and take The New Mexico Railrunner Express (a train!) from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, where we'll be staying at the Don Gaspar Inn, which looks beautiful and is highly recommended.

While we're there, we'll take some time to visit the Peña Gallery to meet Amado Peña, an artist my dad went to college with. Other than that, the plan is just to eat good food and drink good drinks while we enjoy the company of good friends.

Sounds good, right?

new years eve 2008

new years eve 2008, originally uploaded by ashleyv.

I finally got the photos up from our New Years Eve party. We had such a great time; crab was boiled, much champagne was imbibed, wigs and feather boas were worn, pictures were taken. Here's just one. You can check out the rest on my New Years Eve 2008 photoset.

halloween 2008

It was quite a Halloween this year. We went to a great party just down the street, hosted by a couple of our friends. If you want the whole boring story of how it came to pass, it's below. But, with no further ado: my Halloween 2008 photoset.

          

JR already had a costume planned, since his was a team effort. I, on the other hand, had no idea what I was going to be. Last weekend we tried a costume store in Lower Haight, but it was so crowded and everything was just jumbled up, and since I didn't have a plan, I couldn't pick anything that was right. Anything that did strike my fancy wasn't even near the right size. I saw an incredible Marie Antoinette wig strung with pearls, but they didn't have any matching costumes, so we left. I bought some orange/black striped tights in the hope that I could come up with something simple around that.

By 10am on Thursday, I was really starting to panic. My aunt and uncle were coming in that night, so I'd have zero time to work on a costume the night before. Then JR sent me a link to a costume more my size on buycostumes.com. The clouds parted and a ray of light shined down upon me. They had tons of costumes that would (should) fit, and if I ordered by 3pm, it was guaranteed to arrive by 3pm on Halloween. I can't say enough great things about buycostumes.com. USE THEM!

Then I spent forever trying to decide which costume to go for. They even had some sexy ones, and I was kind of leaning towards that. In the end, I chose two from two different sizing systems, to be sure that if one didn't fit, the other hopefully would. I ended up with a pirate costume, and a Marie Antoinette costume. The catch: they were sold out of decent wigs. They had some really crappy ones that looked like they were made out of the same material they sell for you to stretch all over the place into cobwebs, but no way! I got my order in, and then I had to get back to work. I'd have to leave the wig hunt for Friday.

The package needed to be signed for, so I worked from home, and miracle of miracles, it arrived before 11am. The delivery guy joked about how I was cutting it a little close. No kidding! I tried them both on. Marie fit. Then I tried on the Pirate. Explain this to me: how can an XL be so enormous on top that it won't even stay up, but so tight in the bottom that it won't stay down? Then I put on the wrap-around corset-like middle thing, and it literally wouldn't lace up. That's not very good for the ego, I can tell you that much.

So Marie it was. Now a mad search for a wig. I knew the Haight shop had one the weekend before, but it was doubtful it would still be there, and they'd already set up lines in expectation of the crowds to come. Oh well. Best bet. There was a long line out front, but it went pretty quickly. And they had ONE wig left - the one I fell in love with. We got JR a wig too, and some glasses. And me some tanga pants. And then a gold mask too. We finally got out of there, fully prepared to costume up. Yay!

busy weekend!

What a weekend! Thursday was the conference, then afterwards JR & I hung out with our friends Mandi & Mike who came in for the conference from San Antonio. The four of us went to Swatdee right around the corner to have Thai for dinner. After dropping M&M off at the place they were staying, we drove out to the airport to pick up Colleen & Jeff, JR's sister and brother-in-law, at about 10:30pm.

On Friday morning we had breakfast at Tartine. I had the always delicious bread pudding.



The whole day was essentially a slow photowalk; down 24th and Dolores, up and down Valencia for a while, taking photos and shopping. It's great to just ake your time to notice what's around you.



After having lunch at Papalote, we came back up to the house and I took a loooooong nap. We left at 6pm to head downtown for the Giants vs. Dodgers game. It was great (albeit freezing cold)! We got to have totally bad for you ballpark food, because that's the law, you know.

Saturday morning we went down to Kookez and had a delicious breakfast, which includes enjoying the company of Shy & Deano. We loaded up on carbs to be fully fueled for our visit to Muir Woods. It was beautiful as always. Got to see an otter, and several chipmunks. We continued on to Muir Beach, and then Stinson Beach where we had a late, late lunch that was pretty meh. Unfortunately, I was messing around with the settings on my camera, and came out with hardly any decent shots. Colleen's photoset of this weekend kicks my photoset's ass. Check hers out.



Everyone started working on photos and blogging and doing computer work, and it was nearly 9pm when we realized we needed to get some dinner, and most places around here close at 9:30. We almost ordered in Chinese, but decided to drive up to a little place we know. We were afraid they were about to close, but imagine our surprise when we open the door and hear karaoke streaming from the bar. We had a great meal and a number of alcoholic beverages before we moseyed on over to the bar area to watch the karaoke.

My favorite singer of the night was a middle-aged Chinese man in a Metallica t-shirt who only sang heavy metal. I'm talking 'Feed My Frankenstein' & the like. And his wife was dressed in full San Antonio style headbanger getup, complete with teased up hair and mini-skirt. Very entertaining.

I was literally pushed into doing a song, which I promptly slaughtered: Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond. Apparently the number of Tsing Tao beers you drink is not equivalent to the same number of Mai Tais everyone else is drinking which make them bulletproof on stage. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Fun times.

On Sunday, we split up; Colleen & Jeff went down to the wharf, while JR & I ran a ton of errands in an effort to be ready for the party we're throwing this coming Saturday to launch "Backyard 2.0", which we've finally finished. It's awesome. Still much party prep to do though, and since I woke up pretty damn sick Monday morning, I haven't been much help. The turnout is going to be frighteningly good - I'm not sure where all these people are going to fit!

Back to coughing and moaning and generally feeling sorry for myself. And pizza - pizza is on the way has arrived, which makes everything better.

btw - lee, don't read the previous post

it involves breasts, namely, mine. i hope i got to you in time.
sincerely,
-ashley

goin' back to TA-HO, to TA-HO, to TA-HO

Tahoe, here we come! JR and I are renting a condo in Tahoe this weekend with Lindsey & Angela, and Alex & Jasmin. Oh the drinking to be done! We got a condo for 6 at Granlibakken, which looks really cool.

We've got a lot to do today before we head out - get the oil changed, finish laundry and packing, pick up a prescription, pick up a package from the post office, drop off Winston at a new PetHotel, go to JR's boss's party for a while, and buy liquor and wine and snacks and alcohol. Did I mention the alcohol? For there will be hot tubs.

Awww yeahhh.

gone skiing (sort of)

And... we're off! For the Forsythe annual ski trip! And the "sort of" part is because I don't actually ski. I tend to get drastically injured just walking, and I almost split myself in half AND broke both feet off at the top of my ski boots last time I tried. And I tried HARD! (But I literally thought, "This is it, both of my legs are going to snap off at the ski boot, because it is physically impossible for my skis to remain horizontal, with my boots remaining vertical, while I am prone and wrapped around something that shouldn't be on a bunny slope.") Actually, I think my actual thoughts (and what came out of my mouth) was more akin to "fuck! fuck! fuck! ohmigod! fuck! fuckfuckfuck! FUCK!!!" (rinse and repeat.)

So these days I kick back with hot toddies in front of the fire and read a book or surf the interwebs or take photos or nap, and stay nice and warm all day until all the friends and family come home, freezing and windburned and wet. Then we eat good food, drink, and play games of great hilarity. It will be so terrific to see everyone!

We're at the airport right now, and we board our plane soon. We fly into Albuquerque (via Phoenix) and then we're renting a car to drive to Red River. Five people, all their ski gear and miscellany, in an SUV. That should be fun AND comfortable. Let it be known: I'm pre-calling shotgun.

Enjoy the weekend full of torrential rain, SFers! See you soon! And don't even try to break into our house while we're gone, you nefarious thieves - we have a ferocious cat guarding the place (you don't want to fuck with the Mercury), and a cat sitter who ranks just behind Merc in don't-fuck-with-ness. Hi cat sitter! (You know who you are.) Thank you!

Wow - I feel so much better! I've been holding back on the obscenities recently, which (let's face it) goes against my nature. What a relief!

congrats, stovall!

I just have to give a shout out to my friend Jon, who finally (FINALLY!!!) left "that company" for a great new job at Rackspace. So now, instead of looking at spreadsheets all day long, he will be doing amazing things with his exceptional design skills.



Cheers, Jon! I wish you the best!

happy birthday, jr!!!

Well, we did it! We successfully pulled off a surprise party for JR tonight! Despite a close call when Shannon hadn't gotten my e-mail yet and kept saying, "Absolutely! We'll go celebrate your birthday with you on Friday night!", and Aaron kept saying, "But that's date night. We can't go.", and the back and forth of "We can do date night any night!" and "We'll see...", he was still surprised. He had no idea.

The plan was for just JR and I to go to dinner at Kookez and then to go see a movie, just the two of us. Unbeknownst to him, Deano and Shyer had made a cake, and Aaron and Shannon were waiting for us at a special table at Kookez, with balloons and everything, even a mug full of sugar-free candy. We had a nice long dinner with all our bestest friends, drinking wine and beer, and JR and I took a night off from our diet.

Deano and Shy put 31 candles on the beautiful cake Shy had made, and brought it out in a fiery blaze. :) The cake was delicious! After we had our cake, we all counted through the candles and recounted our entire lives up to this point. JR started it off, and he noted the last 2 candles as the best years, starting when he met the best girl. I'm totally keeping those 2 candles.

I love you, JR. Happy Birthday. Best years of my life too. And only more to come.

just a regular ol' tuesday

Today is just like any other Tuesday, except Aaron & Shannon are looking at a rental just a few blocks away this morning that we really hope will be THE ONE, and tonight is the Google Dance.

It's been really nice having Aaron & Shannon in again; we can get a glimpse of what we've really been missing this whole time - close friends to go to dinner with, or have movie nights with, or get smashingly drunk with at a moments notice. Last night we took the bus and then walked to a great little restaurant at Market and Church called Chow. It's one of those places that we've always wanted to go, just never taken the opportunity. It was yummy: really good food was eaten, and Stella Artois was consumed. Ahhhh... A week or so ago we got a taste of how nice it is to have friends so close after going over to Rick's place to learn how to play craps - you can have a great time, consume too many alcoholic bevs, and WALK HOME. We really, REALLY hope they get this apartment a few blocks away.

Also, going rental-hunting with them this weekend was very eye-opening. Read Aaron's description of it: it's dead-on. Each one had something perfect AND something absolutely intolerable. The land-lady at one was like something out of a movie. You can't write characters that are that freaky.

Although this wouldn't happen any other time, they also saved me from a street-cleaning day parking ticket yesterday. Our neighbor Pam came banging on the door to let them know my car was still on the street, and they moved it and then moved it back. Yay!!!

The other part of the normalcy of the day is Google Dance tonight, where a gazillion SES Conference attendees come to the G-plex to drink and rabble-rouse and see all kinds of cool stuff and listen to good music. Depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, there may be actual dancing. We'll see. And then I get to ride the shuttle home, so I don't have to worry about driving. I love that! Plus, I get a cool t-shirt. And come on, that's really what it's all about.

Hopefully I'll get good photos tonight and then be the responsible blogging/flickring adult that I'm supposed to be and immediately upload them and blog about the event. Why they have to do this on a Tuesday night is beyond me.

Between 10am and 6pm though, it really is just a normal day. Maybe I need to find some way to become involved in organizing of these things, because just talking about tonight makes me feel like today is a blow-off day. I'd rather be helping set it up than doing my regular work.

So, be sending your good vibes our way at around 10am Pacific time, because that's when A&S see the last place.

And, after re-reading this post, I see that the repeating thread is alcohol consumption... Here's to a less alcohol-related post in the future. *clink*

congratulations, aaron!!!

Congrats are in order for my good friend Aaron, who has gotten a fantastic position with Ironport | Cisco, and will be moving to SF with his GF Shannon in September. This makes JR and me giddy with delight - it will be great to have old friends in our "new" city.

They were here visiting just a week or so ago, and they went to all those great events with us: the opening of the Dark Matters showing at YBCA, and the Laughing Squid party at Flora Grubb Gardens (see my earlier post). We also dropped by Jenna's for one night of Brett's Birthday Week extravaganza, and had a great time.

When they headed out, they ended up on the plane from hell, and were stuck on the runway for four hours in Disco Plane 2, Electric Boogaloo. Seriously. FOUR HOURS. Of that! I would have lost my mind, and that would be after having a seizure.

Aaron has been quite the jetsetter, because the day after they got back to SA, he turned around and came back out here for a full day of interviews, and since it's a great company and work environment, he fit in and they loved him. Of course, he couldn't get out of SF without more plane trouble, so after JR dropped him off and got back to work, he called to ask JR to come get him, because his flight had been canceled and he couldn't get out until the next day. That sucks, but it gave us an evening to celebrate with a positively glowing Aaron.

I can't stress enough how excited we are to have Aaron and Shannon moving out here. It will be fun helping them find a place to live, and then introducing them to all our favorite SF spots. And it doesn't hurt that that makes one more smart and talented person leaving that company - you know the one.

So congrats, Aaron! You rock!

jonstovall is a stone. cold. bitch.

See the comments on my previous entry to know why I'm pulling him into a room and asking him if there is a dagger he would like to remove from my back.

"i work at an internet company"

I'm losing track of all the funnies from a friend of mine about working at a company that has made it it's mission to be an "internet company"...

• I can't read Twitter because I work at an Internet Company.
• I can't see Flickr because I work at an Internet Company.
• I can't use Campfire because I work at an Internet Company.
• I can't see YouTube because I work at an Internet Company.
• I can't use Gtalk because I work at an Internet Company.
• I can't see Vimeo because I work at an Internet Company.

What's next? "I can't access the internet because I work at an Internet Company."???

This just begs for a "redneck" kind of joke:

"You know you don't work at an internet company if..."

sxswi 2007

Well, we're back. Great panels, great schmoozing, got to see some of my own personal internet rockstars, and drank til the wee hours. Incredible parties. Check out some of the photos:

Flickr Set: SXSWi 07

So far, I've only uploaded the ones from my powershot. I still have to upload the ones from my Rebel.

After the conference was over, JR and I headed for San Antone to see family and friends. I got to see my dad's new house (amazing!). My sister Karolyn came down from Houston one night. And we had such a great time with our friends! Hi friends! :)

That's all for now. I'll tell you how I torqued my back while crashing to my knees (busting my right knee for the THIRD time now), but it'll have to wait.

gone skiin'

I am off for the "Something-th Annual Forsythe Family & Friends Ski-stravaganza and Get Yer Drunk On". I coined that name myself, so don't hold JR's parents responsible. I also think it requires "jazz hands" on the "-stravaganza" part, but whatever; do what you like.

There will be so many of us there we had to rent 3 houses!!! I'm so looking forward to seeing everybody! I myself do not ski, but there are plenty of other things to do, like ... drink hot spiked cider while I read by the fire, and ... play drinking games at night!

There will actually be fun stuff for the cripplingly clumsy, like snow tubing and maybe some snowmobiling. Hmmm... I wonder if those require coordination after all... Anyhoo, this trip is a big, snowy-white, blank page waiting to be filled. Yippee!!!

joe and jr at lime

joe and jr at lime, originally uploaded by ashleyv.

Last weekend our friend Joe came to SF for Adaptive Path's MX conference. While he was here, we got to take him out on the town. We had dinner at Fresca (ask him about "horrifying fish platter"), drinks at lime, and the next night, dinner at Empress of China, on the top floor of a building in Chinatown, with a great view of the city and the bay. It was great to see him, and it made us miss our friends and family in San Antone. If only Julee could've come with him. We miss her too!