Kids wear me out - Part 1

These are my nephews Franky & Ethan. Franky is 10 and Ethan is 4. They and their mother Cathee (my younger sister) came out here for a visit. Rob & I loved having them here. The boys are hilarious and are quite the little characters. It was such an action-packed mini-vacation that it's taken me a whole week to recover. I kid you not. (Pun intended). They had what my sister and I call a "Mamma Lynda Vacation". When we were kids, my mother would plan our family vacations with as much activity as possible. When we were done with the vacation, we'd need a vacation from our vacation. In the four days they were here, we took them snowboarding at Mountain High, sightseeing in Chinatown L.A., hanging out at Legoland, and dinner in Koreatown.

Here is a recap:
Day 1 Snowboarding at Mountain High - Wrightwood, CA
As always, work kept me from enjoying the snow. So, Rob took my sister and the kids up to the resort. This was Ethan's 1st time snowboarding. According to Cathee, Ethan was crying hysterically because he was afraid to snowboard. She said he cried all the way until the beginning of his lesson. Once he started, he LOVED it and there was no stopping him. This was Franky's 2nd time snowboarding. This put him in a more advanced class than his little brother. It was great for Franky, but sucked for taking pictures of him in action. I got a reprieve from all the excitement and met them for dinner afterwards at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. Yummy!

All day 1 pics and video were taken by Cathee

View of the Mountain
Franky strapped into his board and waiting for his lesson to start.
Ethan on the "magic carpet" lift for kids
Franky, Cathee, and Ethan

Video of Ethan Snowboarding.

Art inspires me

This is a post I didn't get to finish because of my hectic work week. I originally started it on Monday 02/11. Fair warning, this post has a lot of photos.
I am constantly in search of inspiration. Because of my hectic schedule, I fuel my ideas via blogs and websites. This past Saturday I decided to step away from the computer screen and immerse myself in some art. It was the closing weekend of Takashi Murakami Exhibit at the MOCA - Geffen. I was surprised to find a long line of people waiting to buy tickets to get into the museum. I thought "Wow! People are really into art here in L.A." Then, I remembered that Murakami is well-known for these:

... and my bubble was burst. There was an inordinate amount of people who were there to be seen or say they had been there. Despite that, the show was phenomenal. Murakami's work exuded a well-executed balance of whimsy with a thought-provoking undertone. The colors were both eye-catching and unbelievably vibrant. The installations pieces were the most captivating. Two of the major pieces encompassed entire rooms. As a fan of anime, I also enjoyed the fusion of anime with high art.

For those who could not attend, here are some photos from The Hundreds blog.

All about me

Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation?
Project Manager for a Creative Photo Retouching Firm by day. Stationery designer every other available minute of the day.

2. What color are your socks right now?
No socks. I am wearing flip flops courtesy of Southern California weather

3. What are you listening to right now?
A random radio station

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
Cupcake from Dot’s Cupcakes

5. Can you drive a stick shift?
Of course. I only drive stick shift

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Red or Chartreuse

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Rob

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
I appropriated this from someone else’s blog.

9. Favorite drink?
Vitamin Waters or Sparkling Water

10. What is your favorite sport to watch?
I actually watch enjoy Motor sports like F-1 or Rally Car Racing, NOT Nascar. I watch college football. I told you... I’m a guy’s girl. I'm also obsessed with the Olympics.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?
I’ve dyed my hair all sort of colors. My favorite is red.

12. Pets?
Dottie & my husband Rob.

13. Favorite food?
This list is entirely too long and I’ll just save it for another post.

14. Last movie you watched?
“Lady & Tramp” with my nephews

15. Favorite Day of the year?
Christmas

16. What do you do to vent anger?
I blog. I call my best friend Cicely to vent.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Legos and crayons.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring?
Spring because I love the promise of summer that comes with it.

19. Hugs or kisses?
Hugs:)

20. What kind of pie?
Old Fashioned Apple Pie

21. Living arrangements?
Rob & I rent a shoebox... I mean granny cottage.

22. When was the last time you cried?
When I was angry at a co-worker, he made me so made that I cried.

23. What is on the floor of your closet?
Shoes, a laundry basket, and our hiking backpacks.

24. Favorite smell?
Anything citrus

25. What inspires you?
Everything... People whose blogs I subscribe to, my grandma who is 100, my mom who was the 1st career mom on my block, my best friend who thinks I can do anything. I could go on and on.

26. What are you afraid of?
Being totally destitute and living on the streets.

27. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
Cheesy

28. Favorite car?
Land Rover or original Toyota Land Cruiser

29. Favorite cat breed?
Ixnay on the cats

30. Number of keys on your key ring?
6

31. How many years at your current job?
2.5 years.

32. Favorite day of the week?
Thursday

33. How many states have you lived in?
3 – Virginia, Georgia, & California

34. How many countries have you been to?
11 and I hope to add more stamps to my passport.

I tag Summer, Jordana, Rebekah, Elizabeth, & Missy.

Happy Valentine's Day

I took this photo on my way home from work one night.
It just so happened the lights in this building were on in the shape of a heart.

I know, I know for many Valentine's is a disgustingly commercial holiday. However, I am sap. I love Valentine's Day, but not for the typical reasons. I don't expect my husband to take me to a romantic dinner or show up with an extravagant bouquet of flowers. I enjoy the holiday because I use it as a moment to celebrate my friendships and relationships. This year, I made my own cards. Here's a photo of my creation.

Enjoy your day and take time to celebrate your friendships. Sorry this post is so short, but I gotta get back to work.

A Guy's Girl Converted

You are a guy's girl

Turn on the game and lift a beer You're a true guy's girl - the easy-going, jeans-and-t-shirt sort. Burgers and fries are an essential part of your diet. Definitely low-maintenance and very natural, there's still gobs of femininity under your sporty exterior. Pulling out the little black dress and strappy sandals every so often knocks your man's socks off. Besides knowing the latest sports scores by heart, you actually enjoy hanging out with your significant other's friends. In a romance, you're your man's friend as much as his lover, and he never has to worry about playing mind games with you. The perfect mix of the girl next door and the sporty chick, you're spontaneous & fun.

I took an online quiz and got the above results. I didn't really need to take a quiz to know that I'm a "guy's girl". I've spent the majority of my life having mostly male friends. When I was 4, my best friend was a boy named Robbie. In high school, I had a slew of guy friends that were like my big brothers. This tendency carried on through college and well into adulthood.

This is not to say that I have never had or have women friends. I have just found that I have had differing priorities. When I was kid, I had no interest in Barbies, but I loved to play house and dress-up. In high school, I would giggle like the best of them about crushes on boys, but I didn't share their fascination with make-up and boy bands. I could go on and on. However, I think you can see the pattern.

Flash-forward to the recent past. In June 2006, I got engaged. Suddenly, I became a girly girl. I became obsessed with dresses, shoes, flowers, etc. Looking back on it, the change was remarkable. For while, I think even Rob was a little surprised.

Up until this point, I've had one female friend that I trusted unfailingly - Cicely. A byproduct of this change is now I have a network of women friends. I've bonded with several women over the obsession that is wedding planning. While others, I have met through blogs. The one thing that has been a welcome surprise is that it's been a gift to belong to a circle of women. The support and camaraderie has been a blessing. I never realized what I was missing and I really am grateful. To my friend who has always been there and my new friends thank you, for broadening my horizons.

Pinkberry

There's been a lot of hub-bub about Pinkberry. There's even been a L.A. Times article about this phenomenon. I had a rough day. So as a treat, I thought I would investigate Pinkberry for myself. Thankfully, there is one right by my office. I took a short break and headed over there.

The store was bright and cheerful. The staff was incredibly helpful and gave me a few small samples. With all the choices they had to offer, I went with a small green tea flavor with Cap'n Crunch Topping. Here's some photos I took before I dove into it.
It looks delicious, right? The little girl in me was excited about the Cap'n Crunch. Two spoonfuls later, I felt cheated. I equate cold and creamy to sweet and delicious. In this case, it was tart?! I just couldn't get over the tartness of it. When I have a dairy product and it tastes sour, all I can think is that it's gone bad. I ended up eating most of the Cap'n Crunch. I gave the rest to my co-worker who happily devoured it. Pinkberry fans, you can keep your frozen nastiness. Just point me in the direction of the nearest Coldstone Creamery or Baskin Robbins.

I love my job?

Perhaps, the above comic strip is a bit extreme. Although, I can't say that work is "fine". I took a position change with the company in December. At the time I thought it was a good idea. I thought it would be a welcome change. I've always been an advocate of shaking things up a bit. It started off well enough. Our workload was slow. I was able to blog, read blogs, etc. In other words, fool around with my computer most of the day. It was really quite lovely. Aside from my previously mentioned traffic frustrations, I was really liking the new position.

Of course that all came to a grinding halt 2.5 weeks ago. Now, I feel like I'm trapped on a runaway train. With my line of work, it's either feast or famine. We are definitely in feast mode.

My day is non-stop. I'm up at 7AM. I shower, get dressed and am out the door. If I'm lucky I'm out the door by 7:30. Most days, I'm in my car and on the road by 7:45. Should the gods of traffic decide to smile upon me, I make it in to work by 9AM. From the time I clock in, I'm caught up in a flurry of answering phone calls, sending emails, and keeping track of a particular sales rep. Keeping track of said sales rep is no easy task. Frankly, I am in awe of my supervisor S who manages to do it and make it look easy. My day typically ends with a mad dash to Fedex. If not for the Fedex staff that knows me and simply takes my packages, I swear I'm libel to really do something I might later regret.

The last couple of days have been really rough. I've had to return to the office after my Fedex run to help with the extra workload. After all this, I make it home at 7:30-8PM.

It's weeks like these that really make me wonder why I decided to be a career woman. I could be a cute stay-at-home wife. Then I remember, I can't cook to save my life or stand to be at home all day... I guess I'll have to just continue to being a slave to the man. Let's hope next week goes a LOT better.

Friday's Feast #178

It's been a hellacious week at work. I've been dying to blog, but haven't had any spare time. Here's a quick post.

Appetizer
What is your favorite kind of cereal?

This is a childhood thing... I love Cap'n Crunch. For the most part, I'll take oatmeal with fruit and honey.

Soup
When was the last time you purchased something for your home, what was it, and in which room did it go?

We got bookshelf that is dedicated to my design tools. It isn't terribly chic. However, it is so nice to be able to go to one place and find most of what I need when I'm working on a project.

Salad
What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever seen?

I can't think of any at this moment.

Main Course
Make up a name for a company by using a spice and an animal (example: Cinnamon Monkey).

Sage Elephant

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I haven’t ______ since ______.

I haven't blogged since Last Friday:(

Friday's Feast #177

Friday's Feast is a meme of five questions cooked up by the chef each and every week. Enjoy!

Appetizer

How many times per day do you usually laugh?

Answer: More times than I can count. Life is funny. People are funny.

Soup

What do your sunglasses look like?

Answer: Currently, I am without a pair. That's a crime by L.A. Standards, but I just haven't gotten around to buying a new pair.

Salad
You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?

Answer: Vancouver with a stopover in Seattle. I've always wanted to take the Pacific Surfliner and see the Pacific Coast. Going to Vancouver, would add another stamp to my passport.

Main Course
Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.

Answer: The food. I have never seen quite the quality and variety of cuisine anywhere else. I love the food here.

Dessert
If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?

Answer: Pink. I saw this photo and thought it would be so amazing if the sky were actually that color.

What's in a Name?

I am bad wife. I have been married for exactly 5 months and 6 days and I had yet to legally change my last name. Today, I decided to take a big step. I went to the social security office to start the name change process.

The procedure with Social Security was relatively painless. I downloaded a form from the internet and filled out all the appropriate information. I gathered the necessary documents and trudged over to the office in Glendale. I walked in and got a number. I read about three chapters in my book when my name was called. The social security employee took all of five minutes to change my name from Anne N(Middle Name) K(Maiden Name) to Anne K(Maiden Name) R(Married Name). Just like that, I had a new name.

It happened so quickly that I was in a mild state of shock. It was so simple that I began to wonder why I procrastinated. Was my I afraid that changing my name would mean that I'm losing my identity? Did I think it would make me a less independent woman? Now that we shared a last name does that make Rob and I more married than we were before? The truth of the matter is that I was simply reluctant to give up my last name. For 30 plus years, I have been Anne K(Maiden Name).

I have always had a love/hate relationship with my last name. K(Maiden Name) is a very ethnic Filipino last name. I spent the entirety of my childhood having every teacher and classmate grossly mispronounce it. Something about the disproportionate number of vowels to consonants made it difficult to pronounce. It had gotten to the point where I simply asked people to call me Anne K. My blog name is a prime example of this.

One of the things I love about my maiden name is that it ties me to my cultural heritage. K(Maiden Name) is a Tagalog word that loosely translate to "kind, generous person". When older Filipinos would read my maiden name, they would immediately comment on its meaning. It gave me a small sense of community and small sense of pride. Another thing to consider is that every award and achievement that I had ever earned are tied to my maiden name.

• Ninth Honors English Award- Anne K(Maiden Name)
• Honorable Mention for Photography 1993 Student Gallery Art Show - Anne K(Maiden Name)
  
• Bachelor of Fine Arts - Anne K(Maiden Name)
• First New Car I ever purchase is registered under Anne K(Maiden Name)

I could go on and on. Those are just a few of my personal faves.

In the end, I think I may be making a mountain out of a molehill. No matter what label/name I go by I'm still the same person on the inside. Being married isn't the magical elixir that transforms your life and becoming Mrs. R didn't magically a different person. So, despite what it says on my Social Security card, please just call me Anne K.

My eviiilllll plan

I took my first step towards WORLD DOMINATION... um... Not quite. I just wanted to say that for dramatic effect. Actually, I took my first step towards starting my own business. I bought my web domain name. I reserved the .com & .net versions of it. I'm not going to reveal the name of the company & site until I have my other paper work handled.

Right now, I'm in the process of sketching out the design and layout of my website. I have also found two new clients that are happily allowing me to design a good portion of their wedding paper products. This will give me extensive work for my online portfolio. I'm really looking forward to working with them. They're both giving me a lot of creative license.

I just need to keep the motivation and momentum up. This is the year for me to be proactive.

Cloverfield

"Cloverfield" racked in 41 million dollars in ticket sales this weekend in US and Canadian theaters.

We were among the many viewers of this movie this weekend. I went in with low expectations, especially with all the hype and marketing that surrounded this movie. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I really loved it. Then again, Rob & I are both fans of J. J. Abrams. The movie was unconventional, but is worth seeing. You'll either love it or hate. I'll reserve my review for a couple of weeks from now. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. To help nudge you towards the theater, here's a trailer.

22.2 miles

If I took a direct route from my house to my office, it would be exactly 22.2 miles. On a good day, it would take me 20 minutes to cover that distance. I previously worked 5AM to 2PM, which allowed me to cover that distance in about 20-45 minutes. It wasn't horrific. It was livable.

Last month, I was offered a new position with my company. With it came a schedule change.
I was set to work from 9-5. I was ecstatic. I get to sleep in! Ha! I was oh so very wrong. My dear sweet husband reminded me that I would be commuting at the same time as a majority of L.A. No biggie, right? I'll just take surface streets.

A month later, it takes me 1 hr. 45 min. to get to work. I've tried different routes, leaving early, and avoiding major freeways. All I am left with is the urge to sit and scream in my car. I now know for a fact that my car has great soundproofing. When I have my daily primal scream, no one in any of the cars adjacent to mine look over. I suspect it's because they are all screaming internally. To add insult to injury, I got reprimanded at work for my tardiness. I would cry, but that would just make me even later for work. There has got to be a solution!

Sometimes, it's just not fair...

Last Wednesday, while I was stuck at work staring at this...


Rob, our dog Dottie, Kevin, & his dog Piper went to Charlton Flats to see the snow. L.A.'s local mountains have been gifted with snow this year. This was Dottie's first experience with snow. Here's some of Rob's photos.

Self Portrait

Dotties's 1st Portrait in the Snow

Piper is in her element.

Piper & Kevin

Piper on the lookout

Dottie investigates the snow

Evidence

I am so jealous. While I was answering phones and managing advertising jobs, they were frolicking in the snow. Rob even had the audacity to rub it in when I got home. Hmmphh... Husbands!

This weekend, I will be vindicated. More on that later.

Comments are welcome!

I have read on various blogs that it is National De-lurking Week. I have "made myself known" at several blogs. In the spirit of that, I post this.

Two Thousand...Great!

Taking a cue from Sarah K. Chen, a photographer whose work I admire, I decided to do a list of things I'd like to do this year.

2008 Checklist

1. Replace my stolen digital SLR camera. I miss taking pictures.
2. Do more freelance invitation design. Possibly launch my own website.
3. Setup an actual emergency fund
4. Add another stamp (or two) to my passport.
5. Take my Civic out for a roadtrip
6. Go on a Girls’ Trip
7. Do a boudoir photo shoot.
8. Train & participate in a 5K.
9. Volunteer for a non-profit organization.
10. Get back into Outdoor sports, i.e. Rock Climbing, Kayaking, et al

We'll see how well I do with my list as the year progresses. I figure writing them all out on a public forum will make me more likely to do them.