Monday, December 31, 2007

I KNEW this was the dress!

Sorry, sorry, I know I haven't posted pictures of me in the dress yet...but here is further proof that this was a good purchase. If Mindy Kaling and Oprah (and my gut instinct) were right, I should have known Real Simple Magazine would be right too. Nothing like a little affirmation to close out the year!

Happy New Year! Entry about skiing and New Year's resolutions forthcoming...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Lightbulbs of Fire


Call it what you will, this morning (it woke me up at 6am) I had the following dream:

I was in the passenger seat of a small car, driving up the freeway, presumably home from work. The driver was driving a little faster and a little closer to other cars as I'd have liked. Up in the sky off to our left, I saw this bright orange flashing, smoky light, kind of like a fire. Suddenly there was a loud noise and a giant (like, the size of an 18-wheeler) lightbulb came careening down through the sky, burning bright orange. There were those big billowy fire clouds all around it, like what you see when a car explodes in a movie or something, and the lightbulb crashed not far behind our car. We kept driving, and the car spun out, as bits of glass and fire crashed all around us -- I think at some point we drove through those fire-clouds. I woke up and was really hot. Like, really hot, and my heart was beating super fast.

I went back to sleep, cuddled up to The Boy, cause, well, you know...dreams are scary. But when I woke up about an hour later, I suddenly had the perfect gift idea! Was the glowing, burning lightbulb a premonition? Coincidence? YOU Decide!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Seemingly (and mostly) Unrelated Paragraphs

I had lunch today with the fabulous Andrea, a friend I've known since our Once Upon A Mattress days in high school, who just happens to work about 15 minutes away from Google. I just love lunch with her; it's like the best combination of blast-from-the-past and gabbing-with-a-girlfriend and I was looking forward to it all morning. And then at lunch she confessed that she reads this here blog (total readership: 9?), and I figured I'd throw in a little shout out. So, HI ANDREA! I WANT TO EAT LUNCH WITH YOU EVERY DAY!

It was raining this morning, and I wore my rainboots (or Wellies, as some fabulous people [cough cough Andrea cough cough] call them. I am not cool enough to call them Wellies.) for the first time all year. My rainboots are awesome. I got them a few years ago from Land's End, and they look like this, except they're light blue with a grayish darker blue trim. Also, they're not for kids. Or ARE THEY??? I also kind of love these kids ones, because who doesn't want their feet to look like strawberries?? Oh come on, you know I do. Let it be known that I love these (b&w AND "multi"), these (love me some watermelon!), and these (I could SO rock the pink argyle!). I think these are the ugliest things ever (from the "old lady loves to garden" collection, I suppose. color = vegetable???), and I detest these for some reason (though I'm sure they're both very popular). And I can't decide if this pair is cute or atrocious. Kind of like a child's scribbling gone bad.

My friend Dina posted about this in her blog, and I had to re-post here because it is so fabulously awesome. It belongs to the category of things I think are SNL sketches until I find out they're real. Ladies and Gents, please check out Business Bib at your earliest convenience. Warning: the pictures in their flickr photoset are kind of freaky. Either way, I kind of want to forward it to all of my managers. And, um, scratch that, I just did. And, um, also? I just clicked on a random piece in the "showroom" to look at (I thought the name was funny), and it was this one. Spooky...

I love the way the "mom" character on that vacuum commercial (how vague can I be?) says "spooky." It makes me giggle every time.

The videos on this Gmail Blog post made me a little smiley inside. I'm not having kids for a long time, but when I do, I kind of want to steal this guy's email journal idea.

I don't read Jon Carroll in the SF Gate all that much, but I frequently like what I do read. For example, this post about money and how we use it and how weird and silly it all is. I tend to have thoughts like this a lot, about how we're all movin' along in our little world, taking care of our day to day schleppings (just made up that word, oh YEAH i did!) and not thinking about things like how silly it is, for example, that we hear a strangely distorted version of a popular song, press a button on a plastic device, and have a conversation with our friends in the Netherlands from our sofas in Berkeley. Or how we open our laptops and click "print," and our managers receive boarding passes printed to their desks in another state. Technology sometimes freaks me out.

Our holiday bonuses have been announced, and that means I will soon be the proud owner of TiVo. I can't freaking wait. If I had TiVo yesterday, I could have logged on to my TiVo account and set it to record the channel 5 news yesterday evening, and I wouldn't have missed seeing a .1412412135 second clip of me wrapping presents for underprivileged children. Glory! It shall be mine! (more on those kids later)

Also, with my bonus, I might just have to purchase THIS GLORIOUS PIECE OF WORK. I fell in love with it here when I saw it on dooce, and I fell in love with it again when it was a decoration at the Google Holiday Party, and I am just so in love with it that I feel like it already belongs in my home, and I am just going to be disappointed each time I look at the empty space on my wall where it will someday hang. My god, I love it so much, and it would be so perfect on the wall above my TV. Also, this piece (which I also saw on dooce) is on sale, and thus, I might have to get both. But we'll see. Let's not go crazy, here.

I bought a tent from a guy at work today for $15. I figure it's a good investment, since I wished I had one this past summer, and I definitely plan on taking multiple weekend camping trips once it gets warm outside again (ha! It's mid-December and I'm already thinking about summer!)

So, yesterday I spent 2 hours at a warehouse in Milpitas, CA checking and wrapping gifts as a volunteer project with Family Giving Tree. Google sent a bunch of us over there, and I'm really glad they did. This is really a worthy project, and if you have a second, you should take a look at their website. It started as a school project at San Jose State, and has blossomed into a truly fabulous organization that provides gifts to over 75,000 kids each year. I'm proud to have been a volunteer elf here this year, and I hope to be able to do it again (and maybe for more than 2 hours, which just wasn't enough time!!!) next year.

This weekend, I will attempt to ski for the first time with The Boy's family (for the first time, ever, not just with his family. just to clarify.). It should be interesting, and fun, and all that, and I'm excited to finally become a big girl and strap on a pair, but mostly, I'm excited for SNOW. We don't have snow back where I come from (oh, Los Angeles, with your 1 inch of snow every 25 years, maybe), and I'm SO STOKED to experience winter. And we're doing it at Timberline Lodge which just looks like the perfect place to do it. As The Boy said, it will be a "good introduction to winter." I never knew people actually needed to be introduced to winter, but hey, you learn something new every day I guess. So, I'm very excited, especially since, as this is a 4-day work week for me, the week is almost over! The downside? I still haven't unpacked from my 5-day excursion home last week, so between tonight and Thursday night, I have to unpack, put away laundry, wrap presents, re-pack for snow, and clean my apartment (it was a disaster zone when I came home late Sunday night, and I do NOT want to experience that again).

Only a few hours left of work, and then I'm off to Project Get Ready For Vacation, Part II! YEAH!

Rockin' the ALL CAPS,
Kim

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

A Champion List-Maker

So, as you probably know if you've read a few of these blog entries, I like to make lists. I don't just like it, I love it. I excel at it. I could probably win a list-making competition. I rule at lists. Something to be proud of? Probably not. But here's another list, because that is the way I like to organize my thoughts.
  1. I have to go to Target and possibly IKEA for work today (to buy Legos and pillows and other such decorative items for the new lounge I set up). I am way too excited about this.
  2. I have been feeling a little guilty lately because my most recent blogs have basically been me posting videos and saying "go watch this" without any explanation. I always get annoyed when bloggers do this, because sometimes I am at work while I am reading and can't watch a video. Sometimes I can only read quietly. But here I am, having posted far too many "check out this video" posts...mostly out of laziness. I am too lazy. New Year's Resolution: Don't Be Lazy!
  3. I have made approximately 3 different holiday gift lists. These are not wish lists, these are lists of each person I am getting a holiday gift for and what I am getting them, including different colors for whether or not the gift has been purchased. I am so damn organized I annoy myself. Why the multiple lists, you ask? Well, since you're so interested, I'll tell you. The first was online, using Google Docs, because I was thinking about it while at work, and wanted to be able to access the list even if I couldn't find the piece of paper it was written on. The second was on a piece of paper, because I realized I couldn't take the online list shopping with me unless I printed it out, which I was too lazy to do because I was curled up on the couch (there happened to be paper and pen nearby) and my printer is in the bedroom. The third was on paper at work, because I had left my original paper one at home and wanted to see if I could remember everything to know how much Google Schwag to order online. The fourth I am thinking about making right now, because nothing says Holiday Season like a list. Also, I am anal and want to make sure I haven't forgotten anyone/thing before I make my work-related Target run...you know...since I'll be there anyway.
  4. I don't know what I would do if I found out that Target had bad employee practices or something.
  5. Same goes for Bed, Bath and Beyond.
  6. And IKEA.
  7. I am going home for post-Chanukkah tomorrow. The next few weeks look like this: Los Angeles (5 days), work (4 days), Oregon/Washington (8 days), Berkeley/New Year's/no work (4 days). Basically, in the next 3 weeks, I am working for 4 days. And only using 6 of my vacation days. I love the holidays.
  8. One of my co-workers brought in a huge tin of holiday cookies from her dad. I will be eating them soon. I have also been eating a ton of holiday cookies that I made in a cooking class at work. I love cookies.
  9. My BFF Reed makes really nice hats, and I have been wearing the ones she has made me almost every day, and getting tons of compliments. She should feel free to make me as many hats as she wants to.
  10. My cube at work looks like the holidays vomited all over it. I need to take pictures, but I left my camera at home. It's a crappy camera anyway. When I get back next week, I'll be sure to post pictures. I think.
Well, the list has 10 items, and I'm anxious to go to Laura's cube and fill my mouth with cookies, so that will have to suffice for now. Oh, and the holiday party dress? Totally a success. Thank you, Oprah and Mindy Kaling (aka Kelly Kapoor).

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Wednesday. That is all.

I have been having a crazy week, and today is no exception. I have a brief moment to pause and reflect while I anxiously (seriously, though) await my delivery from IKEA. This has been one of the greater hassles of my life, and all I can say is my co-workers better appreciate the deluxe new lounge I am setting up! The delivery is supposed to arrive "between noon and 4pm," and it is currently 3:20pm. There's not much in this world that is more frustrating than waiting for a delivery. Why do they always come at the end? And why do I have a meeting that starts at 4pm? And why do I have a sick feeling that this isn't going to be easy?

In other news, here are two videos for you to watch. They are funny. You should watch them.

  1. Give the Jew Girl Toys. I do love Sarah Silverman, and this video is just more reason to.
  2. Here Comes Another Bubble. A Cappella meets Dot Com. I thought it was pretty funny.

Also, my new party dress (in "mauve," which is the burgundy one) just arrived today. I tried it on in the bathroom at work (couldn't wait to get home!!!), and was a little underwhelmed. Sad. Sad. Sad. But that's what happens when you get your expectations up too high. It's really quite pretty, and I think once I practice and learn to tie it right, and wear heels (instead of my jeans pushed down around my ankles because I was too hurried to take them off), it will actually look nice. Of course, now that I ordered it, it's on sale for $30 less than I bought it for (which, admittedly was $70 less than the original price), so that's a little annoying, but oh well. I needed it ASAP, for the holiday party at work this weekend.

I want to go home and try it on and look fabulous and indulge my girlieness! I do! Also, I kind of want to curl up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and knit while I watch HGTV. Ah, it's looking to be quite an evening.

Happy Chanukkah, All!