Pink Palm Centro

I love this phone! Although the one I have is black, I still love this smartphone. When I heard that a pink one was being released I got really excited. It looks so sweet! It is just too cute.. I wish I could trade mine in. Just recently, I saw that a white one is coming out soon. I think I'd rather have the white one.

I love how there is a full qwerty keyboard, even though it's very small, I'm still able to push every button with no problems. This device is so easy to use and the Palm software is simple. It has built-in email and chat applications, and it also has navigation and google maps.

I got my centro as a Christmas gift and it is one of my top picks as far as phones go.

Kara's Cupcakes at Ghiradelli Square

While my sister was here visiting, we took the ferry from Vallejo to San Francisco. From the San Francisco ferry building we hopped onto public transportation to get to the museum and back to Fisherman's Wharf. One of our last stops in the city was Ghiradelli Square. I particularly wanted to go because of Kara's Cupcakes.

Carla and I went in for a couple of cupcakes, and came out with smiles, ear to ear. I had the coconut vanilla cupcake, and Carla had the buttercream (pictured above). It was........DEE-LICIOUS! I've always been one to love cupcakes, or any kind of cake, for that matter. So I had high hopes going into the place. I had a feeling I wouldn't be disappointed.

Sister Weekend!

My sister Carla came to visit this weekend. I surprised her by taking her to the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco to see the Marie Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles exhibit. It was wonderful. The Petit Trianon was a chateau - Marie Antoniette's personal retreat from life at court. Here, she was able to express her tastes and fashionable style. She is best known for her extravagence and excesses, for being stylish, and for dying on the guillotine.

After recently watching the movie Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola, I was more curious than ever to learn about this famous queen of France. I remember little of her from my history classes in school. Although I do remember the famous saying "let them eat cake." From our visit to the museum, I learned that she actually did not say that. Brought up as an Archduchess, she knew much better than to say anything like that.

I loved the movie, but I wish it could have shown much more about her life during the revolution right up to her death. At the exhibit, I tried to imagine being at the Petit Trianon during the time of Marie Antoniette. Looking at the furniture and artwork in the chateau, and pictures of her botanical gardens and winding paths made me wish I was actually there, exploring the grounds- taking everything in. It was a wonderful experience, something I am glad to have shared with my sister.

My Sweet Bulldog Bob

Meet Bob Bubba! He's an English Bulldog, 8 months old. I love him so much! He's such a good dog - hardheaded- but still very good. I had to put up this pic, cuz I thought it was cute and he was actually sitting still with that santa hat on his head. We wanted to take professional pics for Christmas to send out to everyone, but didn't have time.
Merry Xmas everyone!!

New Job

So I've got a new job - a position at the IT help desk for a winery based in Santa Rosa. It takes about an hour to get there in the mornings and an hour and a half in the evening. Beside from how far it is to my house, so far, I love working there! Not only do I get the satisfaction of helping people with their silly little computer problems, I also get rewarded with wine! My coworkers told me that sometimes, when we help our users, they show their gratitude by giving wine. I think that's an awesome perk. I got my first bottle today just for sending a technician out to one of the tasting rooms for a problem. I thought that was pretty sweet. I'm really beginning to like this job.

Happy Thanksgiving 2007

I'm thankful for many many things including my new job, my family, my friends, my dog Bob, and for being safe and well. It was a nice day eating and spending time with people who care about you. Although I didn't spend this holiday with my own parents and siblings, they were in my thoughts this day and I hoped they were having fun and being happy.

Today, I made marshmallow truffles. Instead of melting baker's chocolate I used vanilla Wilton candy melts. They seemed to be much sweeter than regular milk chocolate. I also used chopped hazelnuts and sugar sprinkles. Go to the Recipes page on my website to find this modified recipe under Easy Dessert Recipes.

Homemade doggie biscuits

Today I made my first batch of homemade dog treats. I used a recipe that I found online and ended up having to add more flour than the recipe suggested. The dough wasn't firm and was very sticky - there was no way I could roll it out. I'm not sure how much additional flour I added, but it seemed like a lot. But the results came out great! Bob, my 6-month old English bulldog loved them! I used a cookie cutter shaped like a bone and they came out a little big. I had to break up the biscuit into pieces so he could eat them. He kept coming after me for more of the pieces. So I think he really liked them. The great thing is that I used all natural, organic ingredients. Go to the Recipes page on my website to find a basic dog biscuit recipe.