New Year's Eve

Here it is, the last night of 2012. What a great year! I can't believe how much I was able to get in this year- and zero relationship drama to boot! ^_^ It's going to be a marvelous blog book, can't wait to get it all put together.

Tonight Emily and me went to dinner at her favorite sushi place near her house Sakura Sushi. Chuck was suffering through the flu so was at home passed out on medicines. It was very delicious and I enjoyed seeing where Chuck and Emily go for sushi. The place was absolutely packed with people out for New Year's Eve. They were putting out the sushi as fast as possible, I quickly got this picture for a brief moment when no one was behind the counter.

After dinner I went out with Emily, Chuck and Kade for drinks at Red Feather. Unfortunately Chuck was stilllllll sick with the flu that was going around this year (and that I was starting to get) and the medicines weren't helping much. So he and Emily decided not to go out for dancing afterwards. The drinks at Red Feather were delicious as always! They accidentally made me the wrong drink, so I got a second one for free, no problems with that from me!

After Red Feather Kade and I headed over to the balcony. We had a drink there and enjoyed people watching and seeing friends in Boise out for the New Year. These guys really went all out and I was so impressed with their costumes and makeup that I had to get a picture with them, too. I should've gotten a closeup of the one with the checkerboard face, it was stunning!

I snapped a picture of Eddie, Kade and me.

There was crazy dancing on the box, I was out there shaking it up and having an absolute blast on the dance floor! Before I knew it we were toasting in the new year and then Kade and I headed back to the hotel he'd reserved through his friend Steve. It was a most memorable and treasured New Year's indeed!

The Hobbit

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Hobbit and the rest of the Lord of the Rings books when I was in Junior High. So now that The Hobbit was finally released I was excited to see it. What I didn't know was that it's being released in THREE PARTS!? You can imagine my confusion when nearly 3 hours into the movie they were just nearing the dragon guarding the dwarf's gold... regardless they did a great job with the film and it was fun to see it with my friend Kade!

Skiing Bogus, Merry Christmas Chuck & Emily!

For Emily & Chuck's Christmas present I took them skiing at Bogus Basin complete with ski's, pass and a lesson for Emily! We started out the morning skiing together on the beginners hill so Emily could get her ski legs on. Then it was time for her lessons.

Chuck and I skied around to the back side and did a few runs- man was it COLD! When we rounded the crest and headed towards upper nugget I took this panoramic on the cat track looking over bogus and down on the Boise valley.

Then it was time to meet up in the lodge and have lunch with Emily. When we headed back out, we decided to try taking the ski lift so settled on chair #2. Emily's favorite run was Sunshine. She was so cute learning to ski... it reminded me how it was to first start and how the hills looked so steep and the snow seemed insurmountable. You did great Em!

I love spending time with Emily & Chuck! I sure do miss seeing Emily more often, but I'm glad she's up here with Chuck.

Family Bowling Time!

Tonight Kali, Andy, Casey, Chuck, Emily and me went out to twentieth century lanes to get our bowling on! We all had fun, Andy had some good moves and so did Emily. I think each of us had a strike at some point in the night.

We played two games and I was pretty sure Andy was going to beat me on the second one, but I won out in the end. I came in just a little under my old average from when I was on league. It was really nice spending time with my family and hanging out. I'm glad we all made it out! Afterwards Chuck and Casey went to play poker and Emily and me when home. Andy and Kali were headed back to NYC the next day, it was a nice wrap up to their visit.

Shige Sushi Express

I've been enjoying Sushi for years, but this was the first time I've ever been to a place where individual pieces come around on boats that you just pick up off the boat if you want to try it. Very cool idea. This way you can have several of the types you enjoy and only one bite of any you don't care for. Great idea! It was a nice dinner with Andrej and his cousin (who was visiting from Germany), Emily and Chuck.

Sun Valley Vacation

Today I drove up to Sun Valley to spend the night at the Sun Valley Lodge and go skiing with my cousins! I drove up in my Dad's explorer with Casey and Kari following in their car. It's a longer drive than I remember, closer to 3 hours than 2. We grabbed lunch in downtown Sun Valley and then checked into the lodge. The rooms were very nice- and I had mine all to myself with clothes strewn about everywhere!

Kali and Andy had been enjoying the hot tub and joined us afterwards up in Casey and Kari's room for drinks. Chuck and Emily had given me a 44 north huckleberry vodka for Christmas which we drank with some seven up and cranberry juice. We had an absolute blast catching up and talking about all sorts of things; it was lovely! We had dinner plans at the pioneer saloon downtown Sun Valley- so we took a car as none of us were in shape to drive. Oh, except Kari who is with child, so I guess she could have driven, but we took a car anyway.

We bought several drinks at the bar and then had a delicious dinner; I had the scallops seafood plate- YUM! Then we had some of the wine Casey brought... oh man was I enjoying my night! HaHa! After dinner we took the car back to the hotel and headed to bed; couldn't stay up too late as skiing was the next morning!

The mountain was absolutely gorgeous! What a splendid day up on the mountain! I absolutely LOVE skiing this place! Casey, Kali, Andy and me met in the lobby with our ski's and gear. We took the shuttle to the mountain, grabbed our ski passes and hit the lifts. Up, up, up- this is the largest mountain I've ever skied. Kali and Andy showed us around with Andy tending to lead us down the hill and Kali keeping an eye on Casey. It did get rough for me though; I was fighting a cold (Sinus pressure) and was a bit hungover from the drinks the night before (nausea) and then of course was getting motion sickness (queasy). What a fun combination- NOT! I drank some water and had lunch, then found some dramamine pills in my jacket and took a sudafed. That afternoon I was feeling much better!

Sun Valley added a gondola since the last time I was here, so it was really exciting to take that up the mountain. Talk about NICE! It was very comfortable and fun to be able to talk to Casey, Kali and Andy all at once. Plus, of course there was a great view of the valley below.

One of the last runs of the day I remembered that my RunKeeper program also tracks downhill skiing. So I pulled out my phone and turned on runkeeper for this 2.5 mile downhill ski run. Andy and I went as fast as we could, we made great time! The mountain closes up at 4 and it was time to head back to the lodge. I packed up the rest of my stuff and said my good-byes to Kali, Andy, Casey and Kari as they were soaking in the hot tub! It was a wonderful trip and so glad and lucky to have had the time with my family.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is finally here! I found this fun picture of Sailor Moon and posted it to my Facebook and wished everyone a very Merry Christmas! It was a very nice Christmas morning with my family.

As usual, we were spoiled with presents. There was snow on the ground, the sun was shining and the four of us were all together and having a nice family Christmas morning.

Mom and Dad were very cute together, opening their presents. And yes, even Chuck was there :)

Every Christmas is special, and unique. But this one just had a strong sense of family connection for me. Mom and Dad gave me a framed picture of their wedding picture and two pictures of them with some text about them for their 35th anniversary. Mom created a scrapbook for me and one for Chuck of us from birth to High School from all the many pictures she has. She did it in the modern style with all the cute little 3 dimensional art pieces- so very special and touching. My favorite part of the album was the poems Mom included from Chuck and me. Chuck wrote one about his big brother and what a nice guy he is and I wrote one about who I was in High School. These treasures touched my heart.

The only thing that could have made it even better is if Emily had been here, but I understand she wanted to be with her family for the day. She flys into Boise tomorrow night. She and Chuck got me a bunch of amazing presents, I can't thank them enough! I got an electric wine opener, two bottles of huckleberry vodka (one Koenig, one 44 north) and a money clip! My parents also got me some workout shirts and a moxie java gift card and then we went shopping at Macy's and I got new shoes and shirts. Yeah!

That night we went over to Aunt Erni's house and met with up Kali, Andy, Matt and Artesia and their family. We had dinner together and then I played gin with Kali and Andy with their nieces. It was a very nice Christmas Day!

Our Family Christmas Eve

This Christmas eve we gathered as an extended family at the Dunne's home like we do every year. However there were so many new and different things this year. This is the last year our Santa will be with us. He's been giving us Christmas presents for over 30 years. All my life, this has been the Santa that gave me all the amazing presents like my first Nintendo gaming system that Chuck and I got together and were the envy of the cousins. haha! His contribution to our family is touching and has meant so much to each of us over the years. We also had a new member of the family, only 9 days old, little Ben Stivison. He was such a great boy! He didn't whine or fuss all night long - despite being passed around and even held by Santa! We also had just about everyone in the family there as Kali, Andy and me were all able to travel home for the Christmas holiday.

I sure love my cousins!

As we carry forward our family traditions; one that really stands out is the Pinata! Started years ago by Mont and carried forward by Guy and now by Cameron all the little ones always enjoy taking a swing at the Pinata hoping to get to the candy inside. It's such a wonderful tradition seeing each of the little ones starting with the youngest and working our way up to the older cousins taking their swing.

Another thing I've come to look forward to each year are all the delicious holiday deserts that Carlie makes. Kari also made a delicious holiday white chocolate brittle that I just couldn't get enough of!

I really can't imagine not being here with my family for this Holiday each year. It's such a special event filled with Love and Tradition. I'm very blessed to be apart of such a close knit and loving family.

2012 Running Goal Completed!

My running goal for 2012 was to run 100 miles per month, or 1,200 miles before 2013. Today, I ran a half marathon up the greenbelt and achieved that goal! It felt so amazing to have realized such a long term fitness goal. I couldn't have done it without my street team (Jeff, Trisha and Amanda) who kept me going throughout the year with races throughout the bay area and lunch time jogs. I also couldn't have done it without my Runkeeper! As always, the route and timings are posted on my Runkeeper page. I'm ecstatic that I enjoy running so much and proud of my achievement. I'm looking forward to 2013!

To Boise for the Holidays!

Today I headed to the Oakland airport on the Airport Express bus from Sonoma County. On the way I was able to enjoy reading my kindle (Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey) which was a nice change from doing the drive myself in my car. As we were passing Petaluma I looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky and snapped the picture. I enjoyed the beauty of it all knowing that soon I'd be in the freezing cold temperatures of Boise.

Sonoma State Christmas Cupcakes

It's Tradition! Every year, the student systems team gets together and we decorate cupcakes that Amanda bakes for us and then we deliver them to our customers and co-workers at the University. This year Amanda made Chocolate, Vanilla and Cherry. They were so delicious looking- it was hard not to eat them while decorating! We listened to the Glee Christmas CD and decorated the cupcakes and then delivered them. It was fun to do and I had a great time with Jaime, Cindy, Erica and Amanda.

Las Vegas...Again!

This weekend Kam and I flew from Oakland to Las Vegas.  We had been planning the trip since this summer and we were both pretty excited.  Kam reserved a room for us at the Cosmopolitan- where I'd stayed earlier this year with Andrej.  So I had an idea of what it would be like.  We checked in around 9am and scoped out the room.  It was great- walk in shower and tub area, automated lights, climate control and music all from the TV!  We grabbed our all you can eat buffet breakfast and then took a long nap.  Then we went shopping at the forum shops and the miracle mile shops.  Kam's friend Meghan from High School was in the area, studying at UNLV.  She came over and we had some drinks in the room as we got ready for our night and then met up with Song, Ed, Cole, Pete and Chad for dinner at the Garden Grill at Circus Circus.

After dinner, we headed back to our room for some more drinks with Meghan and then we headed out to club Krave. When we got there, it was closed! There was a guy out front directing people over to club Piranah. He gave us VIP passes so how could we refuse? The club was nice and had good music, but wasn't quite busy enough- especially in the VIP area. It was nice having our own bar tender and two dancers, but odd. Kam was really enjoying his time away from the ship so after another Tokyo Tea (we estimated he had arond 35-40 shots in total that night) he was adamant we walk the strip! So we headed out to appease him and ended up taking him on the Bally's entrance ride. haha.

We walked Meghan back to Planet Hollywood and then headed home for the night.

Sunday we did some gambling and met up with the guys again at Aria for drinks before they headed back home. Then Kam and I went to Paris to see Jersey Boys. It was such a great show, the only detraction was an elderly lady behind us that mumbled in disbelief at each profanity. So yeah, she was busy mumbling for most of the show. The songs were great and I'd really like to take my Mom to see the show sometime before it leaves Vegas.

Monday morning I got up despite really really not wanting to and I ran the Las Vegas strip.  When I got to the top I took a picture of Mandalay Bay, and then ran towards the Stratosphere, taking pictures of each major hotel along the way.  I had a blast and am so glad I did it.  The pictures and map of my run can of course be found here; on my Runkeeper.

After my run there really wasn't much time left, we cleaned up the room, checked out of the hotel and did some last minute slot machines with free drinks (one of our favorite past-times) before taking the shuttle to the airport.  It was a lot of fun, I'm glad I was there with Kam and showing him some of my favorite places for his first visit to Las Vegas.  The pictures I took are all posted on my photobucket.

Kamron visits Northern California

Kam flew into Oakland Monday, December 10th from Hawaii.  He's been working on a cruise ship and had planned his first few days vacation with me in California.  Each day I left work a little bit early so that we could go do some of the sights in Northern California.  Tuesday night, we went wine tasting in Healdsburg.  I ended up becoming a wine member at Thumbprint and then we went to Stephen and Walker where Kam put his tasting skills to the test.

After Stephen and Walker, we went to Francis Ford Coppola's winery for a tasting and quickly realized Kam was done with wine.  HAHA.  We went straight away to dinner at the Rustic restaurant which was having a themed dinner night.  They would cook up the dishes and bring around a whole plate for you to choose what you want.  My favorite was the arugula pizza.

Wednesday night we watched shows with the roommates.  Thursday night we went up to Armstrong woods and walked around a bit before the sun started to come down.  We grabbed dinner at the Main Street Station in Guerneville- the Italian food was pretty good.  I had a lasagna and Kam had a shrimp fettuccine.  Friday night we zipped down to San Francisco and did some shopping in Union Square and the shops over on Market.  Then we had dinner at my favorite place- the Sausage Factory before hitting up my favorite clubs in the Castro.  We went to Midnight Sun, Badlands and the Cafe.  We didn't stay out too late, as we had a 6:50am flight Saturday morning to Vegas... who scheduled that!?!?  ;-)  haha!  My bad....

The Crystal Method in Concert

Tonight I went with Emma and Katlelynn to see The Crystal Method in concert at the Ruby Skye club in San Francisco.  We started by hitting up a few local bars along the way to our destination; Katelynn had some good suggestions.  My first drink of the night Emma recommended: the liquid cocaine shot - Yikes!

Before things got too crazy in the club, I took this video showing the main stage, the mirror ball and the balcony up top.

The club was out of this world, huge main stage, multiple screens, lots and lots of dance floor space with a giant upstairs balcony. I can't believe this was my first time here. I'm definitely looking for upcoming events here and hope to come back very soon!

Somewhere in the night of drinks and dancing Katelynn started chatting it up with a group of Australian guys who were visiting the US and surfing their way up and down the California coastline. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and even got a few crazy dance moves in with them.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Every year people ask what I want for Christmas and I never provide very helpful responses.  Partially because I don't expect people to buy me gifts and also because it's not always on the tip of my tongue; things that I would really like or need.  This year I decided to try something different and list some things that I'd really like or could use and post it here.  So here goes!

Archer Flask
One Time Donation to the Human Rights Campaign
Under Armor Running Shirt (Medium, White)
Guess White Leather Carbon Bracelet
Guess Wallet and Card Case - or any slim "cards & ID" case for going out without a wallet
White Wines - Riesling, Late Harvest, Ice Wine
Red Wines - Merlot, Malbec, Syrah
Sailor Moon iPhone 4S Cases #9, 22, 46, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62.
  Note - searching on eBay may result in cheaper options with the same design.
Men's Medium Size Slippers (Size 10-11)

There's some ideas for ya!  If I think of other things I'll add them to the list later.

Gia's Birthday Party

Every year Gia throws an "Ugly Sweater" party for her birthday party that I always look forward to! There's always a lot of people having delicious snacks, playing beer pong, having drinks and toasting marshmallows to make s'mores. Yum! I try to always get a picture in my ugly sweater with the tree. This year Gia was near so I got us both! This particular sweater however, was not so ugly and I kinda rocked it. haha!

Earlier in the night I had picked out a small women's fruit sweater which was really the best ugly sweater available, but Tim (far left) really wanted it so we traded after this picture.

(Tim, Miranda, Gia, Ross)

It should be noted this was also the first night I discovered the amazing combination of Whipped Cream Vodka with root beer. It's like a root bear float, delish!