My Life, As Told Between (Baby Cakes') Naps

2000 –  Ushered in the New Year in Vegas, decided to go to law school, visited Hawaii for the first time with K, J, and C, ended a friendship, graduated college, moved back home to San Jose, applied to law schools, got a job as a paralegal at an immigration law firm, taught LSAT classes in SF, Palo Alto and Berkeley on the side.

2001 – Loss a dear friend in a plane crash, visited law schools, flew to England with L to visit old friends and old haunts, got accepted at HLS, moved to Boston, met lots of wonderful people, struggled through contracts, watched in disbelief as the towers fell.

2002 – Finished my first year of law school, explored the north east, showed off Boston to visiting friends, enjoyed too many afternoon teas at the Peninsula and chocolate buffets at Le Meridian, moved to DC for a summer internship, moved back home for another internship in SF, went to Rosarita with M, C and K.

2003 – Discovered pilates and weight watchers, toured England and Scotland with M and K, flew cross country interviewing at law firms, accepted an offer in NY, finished my second year of law school, moved to NY for the summer, ate too much, gained tons of weight, was wined and dined by my law firm, did a little work, accepted a job offer in NY and then regretted it.

2004 – Celebrated the new year with friends in SF, brunched weekly at Johnny D’s, celebrated mardi gras in New Orleans with C, A and S, traveled to Prague, Vienna, and Germany with L and M, graduated law school, moved home to San Jose, visited Hawaii for the second time with L, reluctantly studied for the NY bar, received a serendipitous offer for a job in LA, took the CA bar, took a post-bar trip to Australia and Vietnam with C, moved down to LA, started working as a lawyer.

2005 – Spent Memorial Day weekend in Cabo with C, C and M, celebrated mine and K’s birthdays in Vegas on what would be dubbed the first annual Quad trip, dressed up as a “Business Brownie” for Halloween, visited C in Oregon, went to my first and only country concert, joined a running group, flew to England to celebrate the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 with K and R.

2006 – Met my perfect match, ran my first (and second) marathon, spent another Memorial Day weekend in Cabo with C, C and M, went to Tahoe for the second annual Quad trip, took several fun trips up north, dressed up with friends as eski-hos for Halloween, got a new job, moved in with T, took a cruise to the Caribbeans with T, spent my first Thanksgiving with T at my family’s house in San Jose, spent my first Christmas in Fresno with T’s family.

2007 – Ran another marathon, drove to Santa Barbara for the third annual Quad trip, went house-hunting, bought a condo, got engaged, flew to Hawaii for a wedding, dressed up as a sailor for Halloween, went to Disneyland with my new soon-to-be family for Christmas.

2008 – Discovered a hidden crafty streak and DYI-ed everything for the wedding, ran my fourth marathon, researched and met with wedding vendors, took pilates classes, read way to many wedding blogs, got the best dog ever, tasted wine in Mendocino on the fourth annual Quad trip, had the best bridal shower/bachelorette party, took dance lessons, got married to the best husband ever, went to Maui for our honeymoon.

2009 – Attended weddings in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Hawaii, went back to Cabo for the fifth annual Quad trip, tried to cook more, celebrated our one year anniversary, learned of my middle sister’s engagement and witnessed my youngest sister’s engagement at Thanksgiving, enjoyed every minute of my life with my family and friends.

It was cold and cloudy this weekend so we spent most of it curled up on the couch playing videogames (T) and reading (me).  Managed to pry ourselves out of the house on Saturday to attend our friend’s annual cookie decorating party, where T made a scandalous gingerbread girl and I, apparently lacking any creative juices, made a very boring star.  Sunday we met up with T’s brother and his boyfriend to watch The Princess and the Frog, which was pretty cute, at the Grove.     

Didn’t make it to my 10 mile run on Saturday because it was pouring Saturday morning.  Sadly, by the time T woke up, the downpour had turned into a light drizzle and I felt like a wimp for not going on my run.  Am very worried about the 20 mile run next week considering how little I”ve run lately…

We got a tree this year and have been trying to decorate it with meaningful ornaments that remind us of something – a trip, an inside joke, etc.  These s’more ornaments aren’t particularly meaningful (other than indicating my love of s’mores and all things desserty), but I love them.  I first spotted them on a friend’s tree last year and have been keeping an eye out for them ever since.  Unfortuntely, I can’t seem to find them in any stores.  So cute though!

Can’t believe 2009 is ending already! November just flew by. I threw a birthday party for T’s 30th’s in early November. Inspired by the recent pizza-making party we went to, I threw a panini-making party. We bought tons of breads, meats, toppings, and cheeses. I prepared some appetizers (bacon wrapped dates, crab rangoon, and stuffed mushrooms), T grilled up some steaks and we had friends make their own paninis. I’d also prepared some crepes so we had crepes and ice cream cake for dessert. As usual, we bought way too much food and had leftovers from the party all week. I’d originally wanted to host a nice sit down dinner, but when the guest list started growing, I realized my plans were exceeding my limited cooking abilities. In fact, I almost failed to pull the panini party off, but fortunately several of T’s friends are excellent cooks and, more importantly, arrived early enough to help get everything ready.

The next day, we headed out to Disneyland to take advantage of their free-on-your-birthday promotion. It was fun, but exhausting. I don’t know how parents are able to spend all day with their kids running around that place – we were tired by 5pm and had to head home!

The following week we were off to Maui for my friend K’s wedding. It was such a great trip. T and I rented a three bedroom condo we shared with friends who were also attending the wedding. The wedding itself was perfect. Small and intimate on a golf course overlooking the ocean. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there, we relived part of our honeymoon by laying by at the Westin’s pool, went snorkling at Molokini and Turtle Town, got massages, drove to the top of Haliakala, ate plenty of shaved ice at an amazing shaved ice place, and went to the Feast of LeLe, the best luau on the island.

Got back late Wednesday night and drove up to San Jose bright and early Thanksgiving day, with a stop in Fresno to pick up Alfie from T’s mom (who was dog-sitting for us). My parents and sisters went all out on dinner and totally outdid themselves this year. Delicious turkey, broccoli and cauliflower sides, home made buns, stuffed mushrooms, pumpkin cake, etc. In fact, my parents spent the entire weekend preparing all of our favorite dishes. We both came back 5 pounds heavier.

The best part came at the end of Thanksgiving dinner, when my littlest sister’s boyfriend proposed to her in front of the entire family. It was so sweet. My mom brought out a brown package at the end of dinner and told L someone had left it for her on the porch. Staring suspiciously at her boyfriend, she opened the package only to find another box inside it, and another, and another…we all started staring suspiciously at H at that point. But the boxes kept getting smaller and smaller and soon it was too small to contain an engagement ring. He denied any knowledge the entire time. At the end, she got to a tiny box with a note in it, he got down on one knee, pulled a ring out of his pocket and proposed. We were all in tears, it was so sweet! So now we have two weddings in the family to look forward to! Can’t wait! I love weddings.

Needless to say, all to this eating has been horrible on my diet and my running. I’d gotten up to a comfortable 18 miles before we left for Hawaii, didn’t run much in the subsequent weeks, and had to struggle through a 14 mile run yesterday. Hopefully, I’ll get back in shape soon. I’m really looking forward to this marathon and the new route, so I’d hate not to be ready for it!