A Sacramento Halloween

This Halloween my friend Song and I wanted to do something different, but what!? He's been up working in Redding, CA for the past few months and we decided to plan something down here in the North Bay area. I came across the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom "Fright Fest" in my email and then also remembered that Sacramento is fun to go out.

Done.

We made plans to meet in Sacramento Saturday night at Zen (A Sushi restaurant). It was quite possibly the best Sushi I've ever had!! We got the Firecracker roll (which had me sweating, crying and hiccuping!), the Volcano roll and one to cool us down; the Spicy Tuna roll. Dang- deeeelish!

The place had a great ambiance, friendly service, tasty martini drinks and lots of 20 somethings out enjoying their night. This is a must do place.

Then we shot back to the hotel to get our costumes on and get ready to go out in Sacramento. This year I probably spent the least amount of time figuring out a costume. I grabbed some shirts, boots and a hat and walla- Cowboy. I even met some nice ladies from the same era and snapped a picture- perfect!

I can't believe we forgot to get a picture of me and Song; he was wearing a Star Trek shirt. He pulled off a good Sulu! Badlands was a blast and lots of people came out in costume. It was a fun night!

The next day was SIX FLAGS VALLEJO! Wheeee! The very first ride we did was probably the scariest (and the longest line) Superman!

We spent about an hour in line, but it was so worth it! I'm guessing it goes about 30-40 mph forward in a tube, then straight up, then flips upside down, then straight back down. CRAZY FUN! I wanted to do it again, but the thought of wasting time in line made my queasy stomach even more queasy so we did other rides.

I think the scariest thing at the Fright Fest was the prices! Wholly cow- that place is 'spensive! On that note, we dropped some cash over at the comic characters store, I bought an awesome green lantern shirt, belt, fridge magnet and hat. I went a little Green Lantern crazy.

As always when I'm having fun, the time flew by. Such a great weekend, thanks Song for meeting me out and making it such a memorable Halloween!

New Motorcycle Gear

One of the most enjoyable things for me is to come home from work and see boxes on the doorstep... er... you know. Delivery boxes, not boxes of my things! HAHA!

Tonight when I came home from work my new HJC CL-Max II Helmet, Icon Leather Jacket and Chatterbox wireless headset and phone blue tooth device were all ready for me to jump into and begin working on. It really got me excited about my new 2013 ZX-14R ABS Kawasaki (not yet here in California, but coming soon!). I spread everything out on the counter and took a picture before assembling the parts for the Helmet and XBi2-H (Chatterbox).

There was one major downfall; the chatterbox XBi2-H didn't fit like it was supposed to into the HJC helmet. So I sent them back to the manufacturer and expect to get a working helmet/chatterbox combo before the ZX14-R ABS arrives in Vallejo.

Tic Toc Tic Toc HJC... :)

New York City

Before I knew it, I was flying to New York City to see my cousin Kali and her husband Andy!  I'd planned out the trip earlier this summer with 3 main goals in mind; See the Book of Mormon on Broadway (again), see the World Trade Center Memorial and hangout with Kali and Andy.  I planned one major event each day so I didn't feel too rushed and it worked out wonderfully!

I got up at 4 something Thursday morning and headed to the Oakland airport for a 6:15am flight to Denver and then to LaGuardia.  I arrived at LGA about 5:30pm and took a cab to Kali's place on the upper east side of Manhattan.  We walked over to Slightly Oliver's for a delicious mozzarella pizza, salad and fried artichoke hearts.  Mmm!  For desert we hit up Cafe Lalo and I had cheesecake and Kali had the tiramisu.

Kali has the perfect place with a guest loft so I felt like I had my own space and could still be very much apart of the house.  The loft slept easy, and Kali had me up bright and early the next morning to go jogging along the Hudson river.  It was such a nice scenic route.  Then we went over to Irving Farms, a small Mom and Pop coffee and breakfast shop near her place.  We had the organic oatmeal with fresh berries and coffee.  SOOO GOOD!  That afternoon we went to the American Museum of Natural History (my only and favorite museum in New York).

There is never enough time for this museum, so Kali and me focused the time we had in the Hall of Minerals- by far my favorite section of the museum.

I can spend hours walking through this section reading about how all the minerals are formed, identified and everything there is to know about them. I tried not to take too long, thanks Kali for sticking it out with me!

After all the walking in the museum we were hungry! So we went to the Hummus Kitchen. It was phenomenal! We split some bread with hummus dip, red beats, and falafel. The falafels were so good I had to order a second plate - Mmm!

Then it was time to get ready for the play! Kali hadn't pre-purchased tickets so we went down to times square and entered into the lottery. The lottery gives up a certain number of preferred seats right before the show for only $32!!!! We both entered, but unfortunately neither of us were called. So we went and got dinner up the street at Thalia's.

After our shared dinner of pumpkin squash soup and mozzarella pizza, it was time to see Kali off and for me to head to The Book Of Mormon (on Broadway). There was a huge line of ticket holders out front at 7:30, still waiting for the doors to open for the 8pm show.

I was so excited once I got inside and found my seat. Front row mezzanine! YES! I snapped a picture of the set before the show started.

The only time I cried during the whole show was right in the beginning, and it was tears of excitement and joy as the opening number "Hello" kicked off.  The link is from the 2012 Tony Awards, but the song, setting, actors are all the same!  The rest of the play was just as enjoyable as the first time and totally worth the exorbitant ticket cost!  What a way to end my first full day back in New York City.

Saturday morning Kali and I went jogging in Central Park, and we went five miles!  I was really proud and impressed with Kali's fitness- she doesn't normally jog so far but she got up with me and ran five miles without any problem.

Saturday afternoon we went shopping and walking around New York City. We walked by the Julliard School and went shopping at Time Warner center. I grabbed a nice dress shirt from Zara. On the way out Kali noticed a Lego display with a Green Lantern figure- so I had to get a picture, of course!

That night Kali and I took the subway from Manhattan under the Hudson river to Brooklyn to have dinner and then drinks with Andy and their friends. Dinner was fabulous; at Wild Ginger, a Thai house near the bar. Then we met up with Chris, Amy, Billy, Andy and Mark. Their friend Jess was bar tending so we got some good drinks from her and had a good time with everyone.

Sunday we all slept in and it was so nice! When we finally were up to getting out all three of us headed down to the World Trade Center Memorial site. There was a ton of people in huge lines waiting to get inside. There were people from all over the world. Once we got inside, the views were a mixture of emotions; breathtaking, stunning, emotional.

All around the edges are the names of those who died. Water appears to stand still under their names and behind them it cascades over the edge into the reflecting pools below. Those pools then slowly move towards the middle and fall down beyond where you can see in the middle. Both of the footprints of the WTC buildings have these reflecting pool/memorials at their base. After that, we went to a Mexican restaurant nearby and had some relaxing us time before Monday and my departure and back to the work week.

Monday morning Kali and I got one last jog in along the Hudson river.  Not even time for the oatmeal and latte at Irving Farms afterwards, just enough time for me to shower, pack and hop a cab back to LaGuardia for my noon flight back to California.  It was a great visit, getting in all the things I wanted and most importantly spending time with my family.  Love you two!

Moving to Idaho... not me; Emily!

What a busy weekend!!! Friday night I went to dinner with Jaime at her favorite Sushi house "Hikuni" with her brother Steve who was visiting from France. It was great that I had the chance to meet him and spend time with the Russell family! We decided upon the all you can eat Sushi menu, and oh my gosh- they're not kidding! I've never been so full on Sushi before- but it was all very delicious. I'll definitely be back sometime; when I'm starving for Sushi!

No sleeping in Saturday morning, rise and shine at 5:20am because Chuck was picking me up at 5:30. Off to Emily's with Chuck to help put the last few items into the back of the uhaul and then before I knew it Chuck was following me and Emily as she drove her car towards Sacramento and I started to nod off...

Ok, so I came to somewhere between Tahoe and Reno, sorry Emily! But I knew if I was going to help drive I needed some sleep. We stopped in Reno for gas and a small snack and I took over driving the uhaul with Chuck as my co-pilot. He stayed entertained on my kindle fire playing tower defense games clear to the next gas and food stop in Winnemucca. From there I kept driving the uhaul but Chuck drove Emily's car. I rocked out to my iPhone music until we got to Jordan valley and low and behold-there was our Dad on his motorcycle. Filled up the uhaul (yes, again!) and headed the rest of the way into Boise. We parked the uhaul at my parents house for the night and we all slept well that evening!

Sunday morning I had breakfast with Chelsie; it was so nice catching up with her one on one. After breakfast I picked up the uhaul and went over to Chuck and Emily's new apartment. They finished the walk through and then Casey, my Dad, Chuck, Emily, Mom, me and one of Chuck's racquetball and teacher friends helped us unpack the uhaul. Three flights of stairs was a lot, but it wasn't too bad with all the help! Before I knew it pizza had arrived and we were finishing up the moving.

Then it was time for Uncle Mont's birthday party. I was really glad I had the opportunity to see so many of my family members and it was great seeing Mont. I had a chance to catch up with aunt Erni about her visit last weekend to see Kali in NYC and my upcoming trip to NYC. So nice seeing family!
Then it was time for my flight home... or was it? Nope- flight delayed, two hours! Baaaad news because I drove up and was going to take the shuttle home from Oakland to Santa Rosa. Now I would be stranded in Oakland! Thankfully I got a hold of Emma and she was on her way home from Napa and could make a detour my way. I flew home later than expected that night, and Emma picked me up from the airport. Exhausted from my weekend, ready for Monday.... Not!!! :)