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The more I watch NatGeo TV, the more I dislike western culture

When everything inside me looks like everything I hate, you are hope I have for change. You are the only chance I'll take. I'm on fire when you're near me. I'm on fire when you speak. I'm on fire burning at these mysteries. (Switchfoot)

Patrick and I have been watching a lot of NatGeo TV lately. And the more I watch these shows about taboos and people (especially in the eastern world- last night we watched 'China's Elephant Man') facing adversity, the more I start to despise the western world and the culture we live in.

Let's talk about my everyday life. I work in Del Mar, a community in San Diego known for it's geographic beauty (hello, ocean!), and notorious for the wealthiest of wealthy living. The cars you see driving around here are top of the line, and the lower end BMWs and Mercedes are really more like the Toyota Camries of the community. Typical Del Mar moms weigh in at about 100 lbs a pop, most of that weight coming from their boob jobs! So, needless to say, I see and experience vanity everyday, even in my own workplace!

It's unfortunate that I know women who literally only will associate with you if you have any hint of wealth. Otherwise, you aren't worth their time. They thrive off leasing luxury cars in an effort to appear of a higher social class and name-dropping clothing brands as if they know of nothing else in the world. I know men who won't even glance your way if you appear to weigh more than 110 lbs. I know men who ignore you completely if you refuse to bat your eyelashes and give them the goo-goo, ga-ga attention they crave. I also know women who publicly weep at the very thought of having to get dental work done, for fear that their social lives and prospects of sexual partners might be inhibited throughout the process. Say what?!

Remember folks, there are gazillions of people on this planet, and I many of them are much, much worse off. Now, in the interest of keeping things 'light' and 'happy' in my work environment (I mean, hell, there are less than 20 people that work here), I don't actually call these people out. But in my mind I am always screaming at these people! There are people who don't have teeth, or dental care! There are people out there who are shunned by society because they have tumors on their faces or leprosy or other medical conditions they can't receive care for! There are people who have never owned a car!

I'm amazed at how much ignorance there is in our society. I certainly won't say that I am never vain, that I never forget how lucky I am, that I never get caught up in this posh lifestyle. But the awareness is there, in my gut, and I hope that never leaves.

A 'Congrats' Party for Patrick

Big news- Patrick accepted a job offer with the dental division of Colgate/Palmolive! Which leads us to our 'life altering' news- we're moving... eventually. Patrick's new territory is from Thousand Oaks up to Salinas and inland into Bakersfield. So for the next few months while he gets accustomed to the job he'll stay with his parents in Santa Maria and I'll stay with mine in San Marcos (weekends are about to get very, very valuable). That way we won't have to pay rent! Score!

We are still having our baby girl here in San Diego, and I'll be working up until then. What happens after my maternity leave is still being discussed :) I think I'm doing pretty well not stressing about everything!

Anyway, now is certainly not a time to stress, it's a time to celebrate! Patrick had his eye on that Colgate job for a while and we're so glad he got the offer! We would have actually questioned the company's intelligence had they not offered it to him!

So yesterday I (with the help of my parents) threw Patrick a little 'Congrats' party at their house. My mom and dad were nice enough to pick up the tab for all of the food, and I took care of dessert, decor and alcohol! I made P a totally pimp banner and baked what seemed like a thousand cupcakes, and mini cupcakes to boot! He loves lemon flavored (blech) desserts, so I baked up some amaretto cupcakes from scratch with lemon buttercream icing. For those less inclined towards lemon, I also whipped up funfetti cupcakes with vanilla frosting! My parents cooked up a storm- full on BBQ and filipino food!

One of the greatest parts of the day was that Patrick's parents actually drove down and surprised him (and me)! Turns out my parents knew they were coming, but 'forgot' to tell me while I was setting up for the party (our guest of honor came a little later). I thought it was so great of them to come down and support him like that! His mom also brought a huge crate of freshly picked strawberries (I just ODed on a ton of them as I was preparing this blog)! So it was a really good time. Patrick's closest buds came, my cousins were there, and we spent the day watching sports (Lakerrrssss) and at one point in time us 'girls' went shopping!

Oh yea, and that's me, almost 6 months prego!

Peonies

I was at Trader Joe's the other day and stumbled across a bouquet of peony buds for $6.99! I should have bought every single one there, but I told myself to get a grip. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. I hoped and prayed that our wedding florist would be able to get her hands on at least 1 for my bouquet, because our wedding came right after 'peony season'. But she worked her magic and we even had peonies in our centerpieces! Swoon. Of course once my bud bloomed I had to take pics. They look amazing in the Ralph Lauren Silk Ribbon Crystal vase we got for our wedding :)

We're having a girl!

We finally found out we are having a baby girl! It was really cool to see our baby moving around at the ultrasound. We could see her mouth opening and closing and her tongue moving- I swear she was smiling :) Everything looked good- her spine, stomach, brain... they checked all of it out! Right now she's about 6-7 inches and a little over 10 ounces. She's a tiny thing but full of energy!

The day we found out, we hit Barnes and Noble and browsed through baby name books. Our top choices are Hallie, Riley, Kenlie, Brennan, and Devon. No matter what the first name is, her middle name will be Adair (Patrick's grandma's middle name).

We started our registry over the past weekend and I got totally overwhelmed with all the baby stuff. There must be thousands of car seats and strollers out there! We ended up taking a breather and going to another store another night to test out more equipment and that really helped!

Current cravings: frozen yogurt, fruit (still), milkshakes, crabcakes :) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs

East Coast Lovin'

Finally we went on vacation! Flights to DC on Virgin were ridiculously cheap over Easter week/weekend so we jumped at the opportunity. My cousin Katy and her boyfriend David were nice enough to let us stay at their swanky pad in Washington, DC for the past week. I hadn't been to DC since high school, and Patrick hadn't been there since middle school. We were stoked to finally experience the sights and museums as 'adults', and having the cherry blossoms in full bloom while we were there was a huge bonus. We also were able to visit with our friends Porsche and Donnie, who moved out there last year... AND we visited Patrick's mother's side of the family. I was a little scared because it was my first time meeting them, but they were all really friendly. They had that good ole southern hospitality in them! David was quite the host- he took us to his family's Passover Seder dinner (our first Seder!... and we LOVED his family), and introduced us to the art of eating Maryland crabs! Maybe another time when I'm not at work and totally swamped... I'll fill in more about our trip!

My brother is a rock star

Everyone knows I totally adore my little brother, Christopher. He's 9 years old and just too cool for school! He's crazy smart and is involved in a million activities: baseball, basketball, hockey, football, karate, choir, science club and chess club are just a few! Patrick and I weren't able to make it to his school's open house and choir performance, but luckily my sister caught some of the 'magic' on film for me! The video clip shows his solo.. and it rocks!

My Eggo is Preggo!

Yes, folks, Patrick and I are expecting! We found out back in January and now we are excited to share this little miracle with the rest of the world :) So, we are almost 13 weeks along (just starting into the second trimester). Of course, aside from our families, quite a few friends figured out the news a while ago (ahem, Kristi!).

How did it happen, you ask? Well, you see kids... when a man and woman fall in love...

Actually, it kinda went down like this:

October

Me: "I don't want to be on bc pills for a while- I'm too dependent on them"

Patrick: "That's coo, we can handle it if we get preggo"

January

Me: "I'm late. And I've been getting all teary eyed over really happy things, like thinking about walking down the aisle"

Patrick: "Go pee on a stick"

Me: "I think the stick expired 2 years ago"

Patrick: "Pee on it anyway"

Me: "Holy sh*t it says I'm pregnant!"

Patrick: (Insert reaction much calmer than mine)

Doctor: "Congratulations!"

Me and Patrick high five and get all lovey dovey.

I've been reading that book What To Expect When You're Expecting, and sortof being conscious of what I am eating, and popping my prenatal vitamins. I've kissed coffee and soda goodbye (ahem, with the exception of the occassional ginger ale, sprite, and sips of coffee). Patrick even read the chapter in the book written for fathers-to-be, and ever since then he's been exceptionally sweet to me. So the plan is stay as healthy as we can, without going insane. We've also been sprucing up our house with paint and new decor, to prep for the baby's arrival (and visitors as well)!

What have I been craving? Some pregnant women crave food, but early on I started craving country music. It's really not my cup of tea, but it's been growing on me! I've also been craving FRUIT. Lots and lots of it, to the point where I'll ask restaurants to go out of their way to get me a cup of fresh fruit!

Name suggestions welcome!

"Yea... I work for the Times!"

Funny thing that happened last Saturday...

My little brother plays little league baseball in San Marcos, and Saturday was the big Opening Day Ceremony for all the teams. I didn't want to be stuck behind the fence taking pictures, so I snuck onto the field where all the teams were being presented, all my camera equipment in tow...

This lady (I think the event organizer) came up to me to kick me out, and after she asked me if I was a parent, I patted her on the shoulder and said that my brother was out there... but that I worked for the NC Times! I can't remember the last time I lied to a stranger like that, but I was feeling pretty bold that day!

Of course I soon ATE MY WORDS because the main presenter/emcee started having everyone pose for me, and I ended up taking photos of every event and award and team!!! I would look over at my parents and Patrick on the other side of the fence and they were cracking up!

What did I learn from this experience? Don't say you work for the Times if you don't! Luckily- I did have a way of submitting photos, and hopefully they'll pick up on the story (however, unfortunately I don't know the names of the presenters or award winners- otherwise I would have typed up a whole story!). I also decided that day to purchase a larger memory card, since I ran out of room that day and would have liked to have taken more shots!!!

Baby Sienna

This is a cute video of our goddaughter, Sienna Trinh from January!

Pursuing my dream...

I've wanted to be a photographer since the dawn of time, but I just really never thought it was possible, since I was let to believe by many that there could be no success in the industry. Boy was I (or rather, were they) ever wrong! I've learned from working in the 'real world' for the past few years that I'm really just going to have to follow my heart and go after what I am the most passionate about for a career. So... Studio Z, our wedding photographers have agreed to let me come on board as an intern/apprentice so that I can learn the ropes of wedding/portrait/family photography. INSANE isn't it?!

My upcoming goal will be to join the Studio Z team as a second shooter, and then start doing weddings on my own!

My first wedding will be this Saturday (yep, two days away) in Coronado. I'm totally nervous and excited! I can't believe the door has opened!

Now I just have to prove myself... I really do feel like I have the talent and the passion. I just need the training and the expertise to show me the way...

Wish me luck!

(The above photograph was taken by Catherine Hall, titled Walk to Ceremony. She won the third place award for Nonprofessional Photographer of the Year: People: Wedding from the IPA 2008 contest. Gorgeous, isn't it?)

We got published!

Our wedding was featured in Ceremony Magazine's 2009 San Diego Weddings of Distinction! We were actually pretty surprised, given the fact that we put together alot of our wedding details ourselves! It was kind of a buzzkill that the magazine didn't even mention that we did all our own stationery, but oh well! There were probably 'political' reasons for omitting that information. Anyway I'm super proud of the work Trick and I did in putting our wedding together- and to us it's clear our hard work paid off! Of course we could have never done with it without the help of all our friends, family and vendors involved! They called it 'Serendipity by the Sea'... which I love, since Serendipity was the first movie we ever watched together ;)

You can find the online version of the article here: https://ceremonymagazine.ipower.com/featured.html#sdwod09

Happy New Year!

Trick and I don't usually do anything for New Year's Eve, but this year we decided to actually party! We also figure this may very well be our last New Year's Eve without child ;) (no promises though, parents!). So we went to a party at the Paramount Movie Lot (their New York City set) with two of my old college roommies, Meggie and Grace, and another friend- Maren. Due to some technical difficulties in getting a cab we didn't get there until just a hair past midnight, but really to us it was the perfect timing! Katy Perry (pop singer, not so much my cup of tea, but fun) sang and right as we got there she was singing her version of me and Pat's favorite Outfield song, Your Love! The set was amazing and there were tons of DJs and dance floors spread around. It was a great way to start 2009 :)

Holiday Bowl!

So, sad as it is, my first time at Qualcomm for a 'real' football game just happened! I haven't been there for any kind of sporting event since the Padres played and I was in high school! Patrick and I joined our friends Mike, Kris, Rob and his family at the Holiday Bowl to cheer on the Ducks- and I like to think they won because I was there :) My favorite part? The fireworks, of course! And standing next to Brian Giles (Padres) in the elevator!

Joyeux Noël

Oh, how I LOVE the holidays. I love Thanksgiving meals (yes, plural), Christmas trees and twinkle lights and wrapping gifts with pretty fabric ribbon. Patrick and I were both pretty lucky this year despite the economy (I mean, hell, we both kept our jobs!)- he had his biggest month in sales, and I got a bonus and a raise. We knew we were pretty fortunate and tried not to take it for granted.

We spent Thanksgiving in Santa Maria with the Carmichael fambam, since they (minus us) were planning on spending Christmas in Virginia. I was totally expecting a blowout family fight, since Patrick had warned me that the last time Thanksgiving was spent at his parent's house there was a war- but nothing happened and the whole week was relaxing and fun! I made a 'Williams-Sonoma' pumpkin pie (my first pie ever... well, the filling... since the crust was premade! Moo hahaha!) and it turned out really well. Earlier that day, on a last minute trip to the market with my mom-in-law and sissy-in-law, we ran into Patrick's very first girlfriend... very, very interesting. And I will say nothing more!

I am really going to miss spending Thanksgiving right on the beach in Oceanside with the Carms. It was a tradition when Patrick's grandma, Joan was around, and it was really special. We would spend the day riding beach cruisers right along the water, then head back for dinner and football.

I got Pat a PS3 and some clothes, and he got me a Canon 10-22mm super wide angle lens and a Canon speedlite flash. Yea, he loves me :) And he supports me in what I would really love to do for a career- photography. He believes in me much much more than I believe in myself... Ah it makes me get all teary eyed!

We are also totally loving a stereo/ipod system that one of my best buds Olivia gave us! We'd been using a crap clock radio for about 3 years now so it was a perfect gift! Thanks Liv!

We also were able to catch up with some old friends throughout the month. Our friends Nick and Eileen recently moved to Coronado and introduced us to the best burgers we've ever had, at a place called the Burger Lounge http://www.burgerlounge.com/. It's $8 for a burger and totally worth it. How I lived in San Diego for most of my life and never came across it, I will never know!

My brother was once again a shining star in this year's church Christmas play. I think he always does such a great job, and you can tell he totally loves the spotlight. I can't believe he's 9 now. He loves having a load of responsibility given to him and getting rewarded for it. I took pictures of all the children throughout the play and came away with some of my favorite shots ever.

We also went on a holiday cruise with one of Patrick's customers, Doche Dental, and watched the Parade of Lights. It was our first time and I had a blast. It's crazy to think how much work would go into decking out your boat in full on twinkle lights! It was also really cool to see what the San Diego 'holiday' skyline looks like at night from the water!

Christmas Eve was also our goddaughter Sienna's 1st birthday, so we stopped by Richard and Chrissy's house before heading to the church service. I can't believe how much she's grown. She's a beautiful baby and we're glad to spoil her! Now when we have a child of our own... we'll have to talk about that! For her gifts we got her a Christmas/birthday dress, diamond earrings (totally Pat's idea, and yes, they're real!), and I put together a photo book of her first year (which apparently was a real hit!).

A few days after Christmas Pat and I went to Coronado to test out my new lens and flash, and got some really great shots. There were monks visiting the island and I totally approached them and took a picture with them!

I am a quarter century old now...

Birthday time. My old roommie Meggie and I were born a day apart, so it's nice to celebrate our birthdays together with the old UCSB girls. This year we went nostalgic and met up at Buca di Beppo (on Meggie's real birthday, Nov 1). I don't really remember how the food was (but I do remember it used to be MUCH better), but I do remember how great the company was!

Some of us pitched in and got Meggie a pair of white wayfarers, which she loved. Kristi and Amanda, in their support of my artistic endeavors, got me a ton of paintbrushes, canvases and paints- I could have cried that made me so happy... or maybe that was the alcohol! I also got some lovely gift cards which I of course spent only days later. One of of my fave gifts was a giant bouncy ball Meggie gave me... which has liquid and glitter that swirls on the inside. AWESOME.

Later in the night, due to tradition, Kristi and I took our 'bench picture' :)

The next day, on my real birthday, my family went to lunch at Karl Strauss in Carlsbad (minus dad, recovering from surgery) and my sister gave me more paints (YES!) and my mom got me a Burberry scarf! I almost peed my pants I totally wasn't expecting it. I'd been wanting one for years and it was really really nice of her to get it for me. It's cashmere and has coral (my fave) in the plaid!

THEN the next weekend, Patrick surprised me and took me to Palm Springs! The first day we got there the weather was totally gorgeous and just hot enough. The first hotel room we were given was totally creepy and ghetto, but we saw an opportunity with a spooky lamp to take some really great pictures. Then we complained about the room and got a new one, which was totally different and remodeled compared to the old one! His parents also came to Palm Springs as they were going to spend a whole week there, so it was really great to see them and go out to dinner.

Wouldn't it be great if everyday was your birthday?

Halloweenies

My oh my how the time flies... I totally dropped the ball so here I go with all the catch-up!

Halloween was totally awesome and totally heartbreaking at the same time. Patrick and I were invited to a Halloween/30th birthday party (the weekend before Halloween) of a friend of his that works in one of his customer's offices. We spent the whole day of the party (last minute, classic us) looking for things to put together Harry Potter and Hermione costumes. I was rooting for us to be Mario and Luigi but it was too hard to find overalls and far too late to dye them. No, I didn't want to be one of the princesses because I really wanted to wear a mustache! The costumes worked out well. We splurged on a $30 Harry Potter scarf for Pat to wear since we couldn't find a tie in the appropriate colors, and got him a black cheapo cape onto which I stitched a paper cutout of their school logo (sorry, didn't read the books.. it was more of Pat's thing) that we printed at home. At Target we found a little boy's Harry Potter costume cape for me, and picked up some official wizard wands and round spectacles for Pat. i curl the holy heck out of my hair to give it that 'Hermione' Poof... but of course it falls into perfect waves by the time we get there... leaving me to look like some cheapo school girl who couldn't come up with a better costume. But oh well, there's unlimited sangrias. So far, so good.

We get to the party and whoa nelly is it amazing! Yetzina, the birthday girl, had turned her backyard into a crazy gothic looking party. There was a huge tent set up with long tables and huge candelabras and portraits of people that changed into monsters at just the right angle. Why this girl isn't an event coordinator full time I have no clue. She nailed every detail!

Ok... so insanely long story short (since I know you're reading this waiting for the heartbreak part), we meet these people, another couple who are totally nice and great to talk to... but then after a while Patrick and the totally beautiful girl hit it off and spend most of the night just sitting there talking about evvvveerrrrrryyythinnng... and I feel pushed off to the side and ignored (oh cmon, he's my husband, a little attention puhlease!)... so of course I get upset about it but don't show it until we've left and the whole weekend turns into a huge fight (on my part, yes, I'll admit that now) because I felt like Patrick basically fell in LOVE (ok, like) with someone else. Ok guys, you should've seen her... freaking gorgeous! And smart! And really in the end, I couldn't even dislike her! But, once my 3 day anger spree settle, Patrick was able to convince me that he simply thought she was interesting and didn't realize that her husband and I weren't really part of the conversation. I forget that men can't multitask. And I forget that I totally overreact about things that involve a tinge of jealousy. Oops.

2008... So Far

The year has really been great so far, so I thought I'd recap...

Each month so far has been filled with some great memories. We kicked off the new year in Santa Maria, so we hiked to Lizard's Mouth in Santa Barbara and spent some time at Avila Beach. I went to Vegas with my good bud Kris and met her friends- that was a blast! Our roommate (who is moving out next week, sorry to say, but YAY!) celebrated her 30th birthday with a really fun kickball-sloshball party. Patrick and I also spent a day in Coronado with our wedding photographers trashing the holy heck out of a $20 wedding dress I found on ebay!

In February Patrick turned a quarter century old :) We spent his birthday weekend in Puerto Nuevo, Mexico and had a total blast exploring baja and got a little surfy surf in... unfortunately that same weekend my grandmother suffered from a stroke and we lost Patrick's grandmother to cancer (not to mention my entire family had the flu and right after we got back I came down with strep throat!!).

When March came around my grandmother had started recovering rapidly so we finally celebrated her 75th birthday at mom and dad's house (her stroke happened the day before her bday in Feb). Christopher's hockey season ended and we spent a day at the zoo... By the way if you live in SD you should totally get a zoo membership... hello?! Unlimited skyrides!

Somewhere within these months Pat and I got a 'new' car- a dark blue BMW 330ci (convertible). It's my baby and to this day I still have no name for it. I'm looking for suggestions, and the name has to start with a 'B' (my 4runner was Betty, my Mustang was Bella)...

April and May were full of pre-wedding events, and some big family news! I was the lucky bride-to-be that had 2 wedding showers, one in San Diego and one in Santa Maria (both in April). In May we had my bachelorette party here in San Diego. My favorite part of the night was dancing my tush off in the limo bus! The big family news was that my Dad got his M.B.A! Soooo super proud of my pops!

June of course was wedding month! When Father's Day rolled around I took some great shots of our goddaughter Sienna for Richard. Wedding week was lots of fun. My cousin Katy threw me a lingerie shower which was a blast. I also had a fun sexy photoshoot with my wedding hair-and-makeup gal, and spent some time at the RB Spa with my bridesmaids. When we got back from our honeymoon in July we spent some time at the racetrack in Del Mar, and also with our good friends Richard, Chrissy, Porsche and Donnie (it seemed like we were beginning to live at Pala Casino!).

Last month we spent some time at Balboa Park with Chris and Cheryl, and went to the Natural History Museum. Chris got to see the dinosaur skeletons and a really cool water exhibit. Chris finished yet another season of ice hockey, and our Spaniard friends (the Bisbe Family) visited us in San Diego! We (the Carmichaels, ma and pa included) took them all over, and my fave part of the weekend was the cruise around San Diego bay! K the end!