Allison Krauss at the GMC

No time to drink the wine we bought earlier today- I had to get dressed and get down to the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University to work the concession stands for the Allison Krauss concert! The opening weekend of the GMC was so huge that managers at the University were assigned jobs to help out. Last night I was a ticket greeter and dinner host. Tonight I was working out at the concession stands; right on the front lines! I was a cashier and given a few hundred dollars in change, an iTouch with credit card scanner and set loose! Fortunately Elizabeth O'Brien and I were stationed near each other and worked through the worst of the kinks. Xiaodong was on the other side of me and the three of us did a pretty darn good job! I enjoyed cashiering again after years of not handling cash like this. Xiaodong's iTouch wasn't scanning cards so I was bouncing over to her register and helping ring up her orders too. The night just flew by and before I knew it I was on break listening to Allison Kraus and the Union Station band. Then back to work, slinging wine, beer and cheese trays until late into the night. Meryl and Dana kept making mistakes with their beer's so I had to help them out with those whenever I could. ;) haha. Once things slowed down I headed back with Elizabeth to count out our tills and go home for the night. With all the craziness, high expectations, and exhausted staff- everything went very well and I'm so glad I was a part of this significant event!

Emily's Wine Tasting Goodbye Tour

Before Emily moves to Idaho for her new job with the Simplot company and to live with Chuck, we needed one last wine tasting tour in Sonoma County! Katelynn, Emma, Emily and me jumped into her car and headed up to my favorite place, the Francis Ford Coppola winery! Since I joined as a wine member there earlier this year, it's been one of our favorite places to go wine tasting. They always waive our wine tasting fee's and I also get great deals on the wines. Well today was no exception! They had a double the fun event going on in September- you choose any additional wine shipment and you get 35% off that one and your previous shipment. How could I refuse? I don't even know what all I ended up with, but I went home with 10 bottles of wine!! HAHA! It was a great time with my friends. I'm sure going to miss having Emily close by.

The Green Music Center Grand Opening

The big day was finally upon us, it was the grand opening of the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University! For those of you that don't know about the GMC; it's a brand new world-renown acoustically near perfect music hall that was just completed. It's been years in the making and the culmination of opening weekend is a huge deal for Sonoma State University, the city of Rohnert Park, the county of Sonoma and all of Northern California.

All Sonoma State University managers were given jobs to help with the opening. I was scheduled to help with handing out the tickets to see Lang Lang (world famous pianist) to the guests. I worked with Nicole Hendry (Housing), Peter Flores (CMS), Letitia Cook, Laura Lupei, Jennifer Crist and several others as we helped greet, inform and direct the arriving guests to the event. The guest list included some of the worlds richest and California's most powerful players. I saw Nancy Pelosi and her husband, along with Jerry Brown (Governor of the State) to name just a few.

The music hall itself can hold about 1,400 people. But the giant door at the back of the hall can open and another 2,000 people can enjoy from out on the lawn. There were jumbo tron screens up on each side and there are permanent speakers up each sides of the lawn so they can see and hear the performance.

After the performances, fireworks were launched into the sky for over 20 minutes- that's about six songs!

Once the fireworks were over, the elite were taken to a fully catered dinner to which I helped them find their seats. After a night of drinking wine and listening to Lang Lang they were all quite hungry by 10:30 that night!

Once all were seated and I had my moment helping Jerry Brown find a particular guest (highlight of my evening!) I was exhausted. I relaxed for a bit listening to the Sonoma State Jazz band and watched some of the dinner guests dancing their way out before finally heading home sometime around eleven o'clock that night. It was a full day, but very rewarding and something so huge to be a part of it was a true gift.

Educate yourself. You can afford the 3 minutes. Vote.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

San Francisco Weekend

I truly count myself blessed to live so close to San Francisco that day or weekend trips are convenient, but also far enough away to enjoy all the beauty of the country side. Friday after work I drove my motorcycle down to meet Jeff from LA for a weekend in the city. We met at the Marriott near Union Square and had some drinks before heading to dinner at my favorite place, the Sausage Factory in the center of the Castro. We split a vegetarian lasagna with salad, bread and wine. Delish! Then we went out for drinks at the Midnight sun and then dancing at Badlands. We definitely turned some heads...what a blast!

The next day Jeff took me on his favorite jog along the bay starting on the Embarcaderro heading towards the Golden Gate bridge jogging along the piers then looping back around the Giant's stadium. It's a nice 6 mile jog. It was a bit humbling, as this was the first time someone else had to circle back for me- he ran 7 minute miles which is just too fast for me!

After finishing our run, we got ready for the day and took the muni (mass transit) down to the ball park again. We ate at a place called Pedro's across the street. This gave Jeff a chance to follow the UCLA game while we enjoyed a few beers and had lunch. It was a nice long afternoon and before we knew it, it was time to get ready to meet my friend Song and his friend Chad for dinner and drinks at Mas Sake on the Embarcaderro. Jeff and I enjoyed a few drinks of vodka red bull and cherry lime aid before Song and Chad joined us. Our table freed up just in time, and it was the table up above the crowd! Lucky us! We got to enjoy the scene of the whole restaurant as people were singing to the music, drinking and eating delicious sushi. I have to note, I loved how the DJ was playing all my favorites from the millennium years and the crowd was eating it up!

Song, Chad and I all ate the "Jess's Favorite" roll, a spicy mexican influenced roll that's my favorite! The bartender gave me a free drink since we invented the suggestion of combining the vodka, red bull, cherry lime aid. Mmm! Then we headed out to the Castro and hit up my favorite places, Midnight Sun and the Cafe. We had a lot of fun at the Cafe with tasty shots and lots of dancing to great music. The dancers on stage had quite fun time with our group and I even got up there between the shows to dance the night away. For dancing, drinking and clubbing to great music, the Cafe is the place to go, hands down!

Sunday Jeff and I grabbed a coffee and breakfast near the hotel. It was nice spending the morning relaxing and talking. Then he had to head back to LA and I was on my motorcycle again headed to the Folsom street fair to meet up with Song and Chad. We had a great time gawking about the festival and then headed out for lunch. Thanks to all of Jeff's tips about using the muni and bart system; I was able to get us to the lunch place Song wanted to hit up quick and easy using the Muni! The restaurant "The Twenty-First Amendment" was quite impressive. They had a selection of fresh vegan and vegetarian options as well as loads of home-made beers. Song and I split the flight of beers, and they were deeeelish!

Clo Cow Half Marathon

Although it was the second annual Clo Cow half marathon, it was only my first time running the race in Petaluma, CA. Amanda ran it last year and enjoyed it so I joined her for the race this year. I am so lucky living here where I live in northern California. There are races all over the place almost every weekend. We also enjoy some of the best running weather you can imagine. Here's a picture along the race route.

The cool mist keeps me from overheating, protects me from the sun (a little) and even keeps my lungs comfortable! Along the route I broke ahead from Amanda to follow my own pace. Admittely, I went a bit more aggresively than I should have. Around mile 10 my heart gave me a little kick and I knew I was pushing myself too hard. So I slowed up, but was still very happy with my 2 hour time which was 20 minutes faster than my last half marathon (the Santa rosa which I'd just learned of my heart condition). I'm thinking a 2 hour half marathing is just about perfect for me from now on. The Clo Cow finishing medals are a cow bell; and they're quite loud!!

After the race, Amanda and I went to the Sunflower cafe for some fresh organic vegan food. We had the crepes and they were phenomenal! What a great weekend!!!!

The Fall term Sonoma State "Late Night Breakfast"

Another school term, another late night breakfast! This Fall I was stationed at both the heated foods and pantry items section together. We had that food line looking amazing before the students took to it! I was in great company with Jason, Jaime, Tyson and several others as we helped to keep the food line stocked up for the hungry students. I don't remember it ever being quite as busy as it was this time. It was impossible to keep the deep fried french toast in stock, but we did the best we could. Despite a few scary incidents like when we almost dumped the syrup tray, the event went off without a hitch. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad to support and meet our students when we get the opportunity.

Grocery Ride

Arguably one of the best investments I ever made; my Kawasaki Ninja 6R. Not only do I have a blast riding it around, but it's been phenomenal having here in California for the gas mileage and speed between distant locations. Whether it's a quick trip down to San Francisco or going on a date with a guy to getting groceries (like here in this picture taken today) it's been the perfect bike.

I've been talking with my friend Ben about selling the bike to him and then me getting a new one. I've had my eyes set on a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX14. There is a beautiful new 2011 still in the shop at Carl's cycles in Boise, ID. It's more than twice as powerful than my current bike. I'm thinking it might be about time to upgrade...

H Section Garage Sale

Emma scoured the house for all the things we didn't need and threw a garage sale this weekend. She did an amazing job of selling things and ended up making several hundred dollars! I got into the spirit a bit late, but ended up going through my boxes in the garage and handing out clothes to Emily and Emma to sell. There were even a few old things I will never use that I ended up selling, like the automatic card shufflers. I sold my old mountain bike for $35. Emily and Emma sure went to a lot of work, but I think it was all worthwhile, and Emily won't have to move so much stuff to Boise!