San Francisco Pride

Thursday night Andrej flew down from Boise to visit me for the weekend and go to San Francisco pride!  After picking him up at the airport we drove past the San Francisco city hall and took the picture of it all lit with pride colors.  Since we were already downtown, we decided to get dinner at my favorite pizza place in the city, Patxi's!

Friday we went wine tasting, starting at Francis Ford Coppola and then tasting on the Healdsburg town square stopping at Hawley and then Thumbprint.  We had an absolute blast of course, and even created some new Andrej-isms.  I'd share, but it isn't appropriate for this audience.  One that I can share he posted on facebook "That's right, I said that.  I can't see straight and it's your fault."  haha!  After all the wine we had to stop in at the shed for a bite to eat and sober up.  That evening we went out in San Francisco to the clubs.  Met some new friends and had a blast.  We couldn't stay out too late since Saturday morning I had a 12 mile run with Amanda starting at 6:30am.  There's no breaks for pride when Marathon training!

Saturday we found ourselves back in the city and went to a few notable places.  We took pictures at Dolores park and enjoyed the beautiful weather and people everywhere.  That night we went out for the pink party and had a blast at Badlands.  Andrej got us a room so we could stay in the city that night before pride.  Sunday was an absolutely perfect day for the parade.  Bright and sunny, just cool enough in the city to not feel overheated.  We spent the day at civic plaza just observing all the craziness of the event.  As the afternoon waned, it was time to get Andrej across the bay to the airport.  Before taking him back, we stopped off for dinner at my favorite sushi house in the city; Mas Sake!  We had the Sushi Cupcakes and then I had my favorite "Gess's Roll".

I had such a blast with Andrej, I'm exhausted... but I'm already looking forward to his next trip!

Marathon Training in Boise

I may have spent the weekend camping, staying up late with friends and dancing but come Monday I had 14 miles to run to keep on track with my Marathon training!  Katelynn and I got up early and drove down to Veterans Memorial park off state street where we met up with Jake.  Katelynn and I jogged along the greenbelt to downtown while Jake rode his bike.  We left Katelynn in the downtown area to have breakfast while Jake and I continued on to complete the 14 miles!  It was nice being able to spend some more time with him while doing one of my favorite things; running!  You can see a map of the route and all the delicious statistics on my Runkeeper post of the run.

That afternoon Katelynn and I picked up Jake and we grabbed lunch at Cafe Rio.  Then the three of us went wine tasting in the snake river valley.  We went to one of our favorites Ste. Chappelle and then a new place; Williamson's Orchard.  We had fun tasting the wines and showing Jake out on his first wine tasting experience!

That evening we had Sushi with Emily and Chuck at Sakura before I said goodbye-for-now to Boise and Katelynn and I headed back to California.  What an amazing weekend!

Esthetic Evolution

This weekend Katelynn and I flew from California to Idaho to visit Emily and Chuck and head up to the 9th annual Esthetic Evolution in the mountains near the Twin Springs resort town.  I wasn't sure who we'd bump into but I always meet new friends and find old ones and this year was no different!  I was thrilled to see Skyler, Benny and Cyrus were already there when we arrived.  We parked my Dad's explorer nearby and settled in.
It was so much fun spending time with Katelynn and showing her the sound camps, dance stages and walking around the event.  Running into old friends and sharing drinks and stories really made the feel of this 9th Esthetic Evolution.  I really missed my friends Katie and Tim, but they've promised me we'll all meet up next year for the final (10th anniversary) campout.

On Saturday a guy from Boise drove up to meet me and hangout down by the river with me and Katelynn.  I was really excited to meet him in person since we'd been talking online for about a month and hadn't yet hungout yet.  We ate watermelon by the river, got some sun and even braved the freezing temperatures of the water to the point of dunking our heads!  Katelynn dipped her toes in a bit, but never made it all the way in!  As the sun began to dip down I was sad Jake couldn't stay for the evening party (you had to have a ticket to get into the event and it was sold out) but I was already looking forward to the next time we could spend time together.
The rest of the evening was a mix of dancing and partying out in the woods while spending time with new and old friends and listening to the music.  I'm already sad to think that next year is the last year for the event.
All weekend long Katelynn was alarmed at my food and water rationing but to my credit come Sunday morning we'd eaten and drank everything just in time to head home.  haha!  ^_^

Motorcycling to Mendocino

Today I grabbed a cliff bar, put on my motorcycle gear and found a place on the map about 100 miles away.  The city of Albion along the coast caught my eye.  I headed to Albion on my motorcycle in my winter gear (the sturdy leather jacket and full gloves, wearing jeans) as I know that rides along the coast can be cold.  Even though in Santa Rosa it was in the mid-80's and getting hotter.  When I drove through Cloverdale it was approaching the 90's.  Once I got over the mountain it dropped to the 50's and it felt like the 30's!  It was so cold!
I stopped at a mercantile in Albion and realized there was really nothing there so got back on my motorcycle and headed up highway 1 a bit further to Mendocino.  I stopped at a little organic coffee shop in Mendocino but unfortunately I wasn't feeling too good.  I think driving for an hour on an empty stomach, going from almost 90's to freezing and then coffee wasn't that great for me.
On my way out of town I went to get gas and was shocked at the price, $6.26 for regular!  People pulled up saw it and then pulled away.  I got a gallon's worth then headed back towards home.
While I was driving back I felt something prick me behind my ear.  I swatted back behind my ear while driving along and then I felt a sharp pain!  I pulled over as quickly as I could and took off my helmet trying to figure out what was hurting me behind my ear.  I could only barely feel something there but couldn't see anything, so I took pictures with my cell phone to try and see what it was.  Still couldn't really see much and I was worried it was a bee sting.  Now, I've never been stung by a bee before and I'm in the middle of no-where worried I could be allergic with no one around to help me out.
I jumped back on my bike and headed for Kaiser in Santa Rosa as fast as I could safely drive, whichhhhh is pretty fast.  I picked up another motorcyclist when I finally reached the 101 headed south and he probably just thought we were having fun flying down the freeway.  Long story short, the personnel at Kaiser identified it was a bee sting and I'd be okay.  By now I was feeling awful and terribly starved.  I headed home after my adventure and had a big meal and a nap!

Half way there!

This morning I got up bright and early for a Friday and went for a jog before work.  It's notable because it marked my halfway point to reaching my goal of 1,200 miles for the year (100 miles/month)!  It's great being a bit ahead of the curve since I had all of the month of June to reach 600 miles but June's not quite half over and I'm already there!  Nice having miles in the bank!

The Summer Grill

One of the may nice things Summer brings us at Sonoma State University is the outdoor summer grill!  Each week they adjust the menu items so it's pretty common to see me there once every week.  Some of the standing items are my favorite; the Cesar salad with jalapenos and small cherry tomatoes or the famous quesadilla with chicken guacamole and jalapenos.  It's great because the weather is usually gorgeous, cost effective and a great way to just get away from your desk and see other people from the campus out enjoying the beautiful day!

7 Layer Bean Dip Party

Tonight Katelynn and I hosted a 7 layer bean dip party at the house!  We had discovered a really delicious 7 layer bean dip recipe a few weeks back and decided to share it with her friends.  She invited all the usual suspects Emliy Seguine, Tiffany White and Mike Simpson, Elyse Jurbina and Matthew Mason, Katelynn White and Brian Jessen and Kaela Talafili.  We all enjoyed a pot-luck style dinner and I think I opened three different red wines.  It was a really nice night- sure do enjoy these peeps!

Marathon Training - 12 Miles

Today marked the first official uptick in our marathon training schedule.  We all normally run weekdays and weekends, but today we are pushing ourselves up to 12 miles to keep in line with the marathon training schedule.  Jeff, Trisha and me met up with Amanda at the Starbucks in Sonoma and jogged a route Amanda picked out for us.  We ran 8 miles and then took Jeff and Trisha back to their car and then Amanda and me finished off the last four miles to round out our needed 12 miles.  You can see the route and run statistics on my Runkeeper page.  Marathon here we come!

Juicing & Blending!

Emma and Evan have always been big fans of juicing but I never really got why they liked it so much.  Recently I watched a movie called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  The point of it is that we eat all sorts of unhealthy and downright sabotaging to health here in America.  The main character is actually an Australian who was having all sorts of skin issues and took up juicing to heal himself and also get in better shape.  I was totally fascinated.

Last night I asked Emma to show me how to use the juicing machine and set out to purchase organic vegetables.  I prepared these vegetables and fruits and made my first juice!

It was so delicious, the next night I had to juice again and I used these ingredients.

I always have more juice than I can drink at night so Katelynn and I decided to use the left over the next morning in shakes.  We make a shake with Kale, frozen blueberries, pineapple and occasionally a banana and we blend it all in with the leftover juice from the night before.  What a healthy and delicious lifestyle!  I think this will always be a part of my healthy eating for the rest of my life!

Deputy CIO

This May I subsumed some new work responsibilities.  Previously I was responsible for the business analysts over all of our Student System as well as Finance.  Effective May 1, 2013, I am now over all of the PeopleSoft development and change control staff as well.  My new title is Deputy, Chief Information Officer.  It's a great opportunity to further understand the technical side of my job and work with both the development and business analysts to prioritize and accomplish the work we need to in support of Student, Finance and HR enterprise application systems for Sonoma State University.  Peter, Meryl and Xiaodong will continue to support Security and HR and report up to Jason, the CIO and also my boss.

In support of my new job responsibilities I had to fly to LAX tonight for a full day meeting on Thursday.  For dinner I met up with an old friend who I only connected with again randomly in the airport earlier this year; Myles Sanford.  We went to dinner at Paul Martins American Bistro.  It was really nice catching up with Myles and hearing about what he's been up to over the years.  After dinner he took me to my hotel in his mini cooper.  It was a special edition that had a setting where the car could talk to you- it was an absolute blast!  It actually had me contemplating purchasing one...

Thursday morning I was up bright and early for the full day meeting for the Technical Users Group (TUG).  The timing was just perfect, it gave me an opportunity to introduce myself and see the other 22 TUG representatives from each of the other CSU campuses.  We reviewed our normal agenda and also had two separate oracle database training sessions; one on our existing functionality and one on a new tool that Oracle is pedaling.  It's going to be an exciting and BUSY year at work!

Giants Game!

Jaime's brother Steve is visiting this week from Paris, France with his boyfriend Sev.  They wanted to get the family together and go see a Giants game in the city.  It was also the very first Giants game that Jaime's boys Cooper and Chace have been too.  Jaime invited me along, so I drove my motorcycle down.  I certainly had sticker shock on parking prices; I couldn't find any good "Motorcycle" parking areas so I just paid for a parking spot - $35!!

On my way to find my seat I passed by the vendor areas and was totally surprised to see all the food you could buy.  You could buy Ghirardelli chocolates, hot cocoa or ice cream sundaes right next to a cocktail bar.  They had everything!!!

When I found my seat, everyone was there ready for the game!  Steve & Sev, Jaime's Mom, Jaime, Chace, Cooper, Ryan and me.  I actually paid quite a bit of attention to the game and it was fun.  It was nice sitting by Ryan because he was really into it and I could ask him any questions and he had a lot of information!

It was a really cold evening and I actually wished I'd brought warmer clothes than just my winter riding gear.  I had a cup of the Ghirardelli hot chocolate to warm me up before getting on my motorcycle for the hour drive home.

Katelynn's Almost Half Marathon

This morning Amanda and I were headed out from the house on our normal weekend run.  We decided to do something between 10-12 miles.  Katelynn had so much fun running the day before she said she'd start out with us and then turn back when she was ready.  We had a nice run, talking and jogging along together.  About mile 4 I suggested a route back to Katelynn, but she said she wanted to keep going.  At mile 6 I suggested a way back, but no, she wanted to keep going.  Ends up she did the whole route with us without ever training or anything!  She's a running superstar!  You can see the route and run details on my Runkeeper.

That afternoon I went up to FFC's winery and picked up my wine club shipment.  Another nice weekend behind me and a full week ahead!

Wine & Desserts!

This afternoon I took it upon myself to organize my wine collection.  With all the wine tastings I enjoy doing when friends visit and my wine club memberships I needed to figure out what I had and identify which ones were for special occasions and which ones I could do without.  I categorized them into these groups and put them with labels in the pantry from left to right - Special Occasion, Great Reds, Everyday Reds, Dessert or Sweet Wines, Gifts and Katelynn's wines.

That evening Emma made us key lime pie!

Then we opened a bottle of Chateau Diana's bubbly moscato and enjoyed them together.  What a nice evening!

Giugni's

This morning Katelynn and I went for our first run together!  She's been wanting to work on her cardio.  I took her for a four mile jog behind the house and we listened in to Zombies, Run!  You can see our route and jog details on my Runkeeper page.

That afternoon I met up with Steve Woods, previously of Boise State University, Associate Registrar in Saint Helena for lunch.  He is considering multiple job opportunities, one of which is near me in Napa Valley!  It was nice having lunch at Jami Dye's favorite sandwich shop in St. Helena and catching up with Steve.  Giugni's sandwiches really are the best!