[listening to 'it's your bday' - 50 cent]

My Whirlwind Week
Wednesday at noon, Eileen and I headed off to Santa Barbara. With the Tundra all packed with summertime clothes, road snacks, and the hot air already hitting our faces, we were ready to go! The drive went by pretty fast and we made good time arriving at 0500 hours.

First stop was Goleta beach. As soon as our feet touched the sand, Eileen takes off her socks and shoes while I'm standing going there thinking, do I really wanna have to deal with cleaning it up later? =/ It's all good though and so I let the sand and water run between my toes. Mission one already accomplished within 6 hours of the trip--to see the beach. Mission #2 was accomplished two nights in a row--Sushi for dinner--at Edomasa. That place is great. Call me a cheesy tourst for taking Eileen's picture with her old sushi guy and for buying a Edomasa t-shirt! Mission #3 - shopping. Did a damn good job of that at the Camarillo outlets. Bought a briefcase at Kenneth Cole and a pair of jeans and a top at the Gap. It's all about control though--I did stop myself from buying stuff at the Puma outlet and another pair of shoes at Nine West. I counted my shoes last week and I think I have at least 20 pairs. Reality check. =)

Other places we stopped - SB community college with the best view of the harbor, Hope Ranch, and Sans beach to catch sunset--where I accomplished Mission #4 - to catch an SB sunset. I had a mimosa for the first time at this really cute restaurant near Paseo Nuevo. Gotta go back there again for the good food and ambience - it was just soo cute!

Saturday - Congrats to Hilarie Hsu, J.D and Happy early 25th bday to Sunny!
Went to Hilarie's graduation at Santa Clara University Saturday morning. Sometimes you have to ask that question, how does a friend of mine almost become a lawyer in three years and uhh, what am I doing again? =) Had the 9 course lunch at this awesome chinese restaurant in Campbell. The front of it looks like a chinese temple. Afterwards I went to the city with my sister to feed Voltaire's dogs and then watched Bruce Almighty at 1000 Vanness--heard it was the #1 movie this weekend with $70 million with Matrix at $35 million. Met up the crew at Blowfish for a late dinner to celebrate Sunny's quarter-life crisis--uh hum--excuse me, i meant 25th bday! =) Serena and Rhonda were able to make it out which was cool! Had green tea cheesecake and ice cream for the first time together! I was glad to see Sunny was genuinely surprised that the waitress came by with it lit with a candle! =)

You're massaging me where??
Sunday my parents and I headed for Sonoma wine country. Can I already say I need to plan another trip with the crew before the summer ends!! It was soo beautiful and the weather was not too hot or too cold--it's places like the wine country and the California weather that confirm why I love living in the Bay Area so much! We stopped at the Mondavi winery for a tour and ended up buying a bottle of 1999 Merlot. I felt I needed to give props to the guy who donated $45 million for the UC Davis Cultural Arts Center and $25 million to the viticulture department.

That afternoon my mom and I went to the Raindance spa for our 1/2 our massages at the hotel we were staying at - the Lodge at Sonoma. I would recommend this place - we stayed in a cute little "cottage" and the service was great. So my spa experience - I got a full-body massage (except my ass). I told the massage therapist that I didn't really have any areas she needed to concentrate on. I just remember thinking to myself as she was massaging me, don't get ticklish! I can pretty much will myself not to be, thank God, especially with the feet! My mom got this young Filipino guy - he said she had a lot of knots in her back. I think she thoroughly enjoyed it and couldn't wait to come back for her second session the following day with my sister. I liked it too but I don't think I need it as much.

Sunday night my sister finally arrived and the fam headed out to dinner in downtown Sonoma. It reminded me of Davis. The one-laned streets with houses and businesses on either side. Very quaint and quiet. We had dinner at this small casual italian restaurant. Pretty good! My mom's dish was the best - porkloin with dried cranberries in a tasty dark sauce ( i know, i'm not very good at describing food). Just take my word for it, it was good! My sister was dizzy drunk with her glass of cabernet sauvignon by the end of dinner. When we got back to our room, I just remember passing out on the bed being full with all the food and wine I had!

After a good night's rest, this morning we woke up at 7:30 am and headed to the gym at the hotel. I think I gained two pounds after this whole week. damn it. I guess doing some cardio and stepping on the scale every 15 minutes doesn't mean you'll lose those 2 pounds. =) My sister jumped into the pool and jakuzzi (sp?) for a little bit - just to say we did =). We headed home earlier than I expected today to avoid the traffic. All in all I had a great time!!

What's work again?