Walk of No Shame

This is a pretty funny ad....

http://www.walkofnoshame.com/

Fiiiiiieeeeerce!

The new Martha Wash.....LOL!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lKck5BJpe_M

Getting married - AGAIN!

Happy day today. The CA state Supreme Court ruled that it's unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage!!!!!!! Hoooooray for equality!

Looks like Andrew and I are getting married again.

The first time was our ceremony in 2000 which we had in Cloverdale. The day we always remember as our actual wedding day. The second was in 2004 when Mayor Gavin Newsom made the heroic step to challenge the state, and allowed same-sex couples to marry in San Francisco. We were lucky to be the first in line to get a marriage license at the County Clerk's office, on that wonderful day, February 12, 2004. Of course, that was annulled six months later.

I guess 3rd time's a charm!

Hot Tranny Mess

I kind of feel for her...a little.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42aujhtAYzU

Update: SF and Coachella (part 2)

So, Mateo came down to spend the long weekend in Palm Springs with us. He decided that he wanted to surprise Jason so I didn't say anything. We drove the 2 hours and got to the house that we rented in Palm Desert. It was such a beautiful house: 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a pool and hot tub...plus a guest house with another bed and bath.

Oh and if you couldn't tell by the title of this entry, the reason we were in Palm Springs is because of the Coachella Music Festival. Andrew and friends of ours (Michelle, Jason G and Gordon) have been going every year for the last 4-5 years. I went last year for the first time and had a blast. We all rent a house as close to the shows as we can (hence why we were staying in Palm Desert instead of Palm Springs proper) and make a great weekend out of it. Michelle also always hooks us up with VIP passes which makes the events much more enjoyable. The VIP amenities are pretty awesome and gets us up-close and personal with all of the celebrities that tend to go to the event. This year Paris Hilton leaned on Andrew as she was trying to get through the crowd. LOL

Unfortunately the line-up this year wasn't that great. So I decided to not go to any of the shows but instead make it a lazy weekend by the pool catching up with my dear friend Jason. So, here are the highlights of this past weekend:

- Wed Mateo and I drove down to PS. We got to the house, dropped our stuff off and immediately went to the store to load up on booze, food...and more booze. Jason came over after his classes and was very happy to be surprised by the big Armenian friend in the kitchen making drinks...not calling you fat, Mateo. LOL. Andrew got in from SF around 9 and we all had dinner....and more drinks. Needless to say, Wed night was a ton of fun and very messy.

- Thurs the rest of the group trickled in throughout the day. Pretty mellow day...pretty much hung by the house playing games and by the pool. Everyone made it by dinner time and Mateo cooked for all of us. It was sooooo yummy. He made an Armenian dish which apparently is his parents' favorite dish. It was so good, that our vegetarian friend, Michelle, had two servings of the pork that Mateo made.....okaaaaaay!

- Fri was an incredible day! My husband, Michelle, Jason, Mischa (Jason's girlfriend) and Gordon headed to the festival. Mateo took me out to this place he had been to before to ride ATVs. It was soooo much fun! It took me a little bit to get the whole gear thing (ended up in the bushes within the first 4 minutes because I didn't know how to slow down - LOL), but once I got the hang of it, it was so much fun. We were like little kids up and down the hills, racing each other and just having a great time. Here are a few pics:

- Fri night Mateo and I had dinner plans at Jason and Ashley's place. Ashley had friends visiting from Santa Barbara and Jason wanted us to meet his PS bff, Joel, so it was going to be a nice big dinner party. I was a little stressed because I had a surprise for Mateo and Jason. Rex called me up the night before to tell me that he was checking out flights to come down to PS and surprise Mateo and Jason. Apparently he wanted to surprise me as well, but needed a project manager on the other end of the surprise to make sure it worked out....LOL. So, the plan was that Davey would call me when he got to Jason's, I would come up with a reason why I needed to go to my car and pick something up, bring him upstairs and lead him to the kitchen where he would casually be making a drink until Jason and/or Mateo spotted him. It worked and they were all surprised!!!! It was soooo awesome! Had a great dinner - Ashley, your South African chicken was delicious - we went out to Hunters and tore it up. Here is a pretty pic of Jason, Rex and Mateo riding the sketch train:

- Sat we decided to have everyone over to the house and have a big 'ol pool party. Tons of fun...lots of sun, lots of booze and other things. Passed out by 6PM....LOL. Rex and Mateo rallied and went out around 9PM. I stayed home. I was done partying. They got home around midnight and said the bars were a bust. Glad I stayed home.

- Sun we met Jason and Ashley for lunch and then made the drive up to LA. As if we hadn't had enough parties that weekend, Mateo and I rallied and met my dear friends Roger and Darin at the Young Hollywood Awards show and dinner. We were exhausted but glad we made it. Mateo's highlight was seeing Abigail Breslin receive an award. My highlight was seeing America Ferrera...she is gorgeous! No ugly betty here.

Anyway, that's it in a nut shell. So awesome to spend time with my friends. Love you all so much.

This weekend my sister and her fiancee are visiting. It will be nice to spend time with them and get to know Jason a little bit more. Will write again next week.

Update: SF and Coachella (part 1)

The last two weekends have been so much fun. First a jam packed weekend in SF (4/17 - 4/21), then an awesome long weekend with most of my best friends in Palm Springs (4/23-4/27). 

Here are some highlights of the weekend in SF:

- Got in Thurs night and surprised our friend Daniella at dinner. She has been our hairstylist/friend for almost 10 years. She decided a while back that she wanted to become a flight attendant. She has been working really hard at it for the last year and finally got the call from US Air that she had been hired and had to move to Phoenix. Andrew asked her if he could take her out to dinner before she left and I changed my flight and got in a day early to surprise her. It was so great to see her and catch up! Wishing her all the best in her new endeavor!

- Friday day went to lunch with my husband at one of our favorite places - Yank Sing. It was sooo good. Then went to meet up with Mateo, Mattress and Rex. Mattress was in town to surprise Mateo for his b-day. We went for a great hike in Muir Woods.

- Fri night I was able to meet the boys for dinner: Matt Duke, Gabe, Jim, Matthew, Andy, Pooh Bear (Rex) and my husband. Had a great meal at Home and then headed to the Castro for a few drinks. Ran into Mateo and Mattress...they were tore up. LOL. We weren't feeling the bar thing so we headed to Jim and Matthew's for a little Celebrity. THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Thank you Jim and Matthew for hosting us.

- Sat day was Joaquin's 4th b-day party. It was great to see Edith, Chris, Joaquin and our family (Nancy, Gerry, Kristy, Monte and the girls). It was weird to be in our old house not living there anymore. Otherwise, had a great time. Joaquin is getting so big. He is sooo cute. Here is a pic of him blowing out his birthday candles:

- Sat night was Ellena's party (the original reason why we came up to SF before all the other events piled on - LOL). That was great. Mateo and Rex did a great job hosting the party. As most of you know the reason for the party was because Ellena might need to leave the country due to a major fuck up by her school. Long story short, it looks like Ellena is working a few angles and may not need to leave the country. Thank the baby Jesus! Sending you tons of positive vibes, Ellena!!!!

- Sunday day was Andrew's parents' housewarming party in Marin. It was great to see everyone and catch up with the extended Marin family. So happy for Nancy and Gerry...their house (which has been under construction almost all of 2007) is finally complete and beautifully decorated. It has such a warm and inviting vibe. It was a great party!

- Sunday night we met up with our friends Pascal and Steven. Hadn't seen them since last year. It was really nice to see them and catch up. It was also great to see that they are doing really well. Looking forward to having them visit us in LA.

- Mon had lunch with Mateo and then he took me to the airport to get back to LA. Thanks, Mateo.

Oh and while I was in SF, Andrew and I decided it would be a great idea to invite Mateo to Palm Springs with us since he isn't currently working. We got him a ticket for his b-day and he came down to LA on Wed. I picked him up at the airport and immediately drove down to Palm Springs together. 

More after the jump...

Peoria, Arizona

So awesome weekend! Andrew Ruiz, Myk, Vet, Vinnie, Andrew Parsons and I went on a road trip to Peoria, Arizona...which is about 20 minutes north of Phoenix. We went to celebrate Myk's dad's 70th birthday. We drove down Thurs night and got in around 2 AM...I drove most of the way there. Needless to say, momma needed a drink after that long drive. We stayed up until 5AM catching up with Myk's sister, Nancy, who is sooooo funny! She just bought a house in Peoria...her first home. It is such a cute house (w/ a pool) in a really quite neighborhood. Dad lives with her.

Friday was a nice day: went for breakfast (couldn't believe the prices - $5 for a FULL meal), visited the local Wal-Mart (the biggest Wal-Mart I have ever seen) and hung out at the house playing games. We kept it mellow since the party for Myk's dad was Friday night at the local bar where Nancy and Ernie (Myk's dad) know everyone.

The party was AWESOME....and surreal. It was great celebrating Ernie's b-day. Oh I forgot to mention what a sweet, sweet man he is. He was so happy that we all drove down to celebrate him. By the end of the weekend he was calling us all his sons. Isn't that sweet? Anyway, we got to the bar around 8:20. Friends of theirs began to trickle in by 8:30. By 9 it was ON. There were over 50 people who turned out for the party. Everyone was mingling, drinking and having a good time. I said surreal before because the venue (and people) was totally strip mall USA. Young to old, all having a good time and P-A-R-T-Y-I-N-G! Oh, I also forgot to mention that Myk, Nancy and Vet created a giant faux cake that stood about 8 feet tall, decorated in red, white and blue - Ernie is a Vietnam veteran and a decorated soldier. So, at 10 PM an MC stepped out with a mic and presented Ernie with his gift. Lights on the faux cake, and out popped the stripper. I have to tell you, we were all afraid Ernie was going to get a heart attack...LOL. Anyway, Nancy put me in charge of supplying dad with singles ($ bills) while the HO gyrated all over the old man. The funny thing was I would give Ernie 5 singles for him to give away one by one, but he would take the whole wad and give them up. I then gave him 10 singles, and he did the same thing....LOL. All of us kept running to the bar to make change for Ernie....I am sure that stripper left with about $500 dollars. Teehee. 

So after the stripper, the bar turned into a karaoke bar. This went on for an hour. A few of us sang. Then after karaoke the dancing began. It was the electric slide - young and OLD doing it in the middle of the bar. At this point, we were like, "AND SCENE!".....hahaha. So we asked for the bar bill and get this, the bar bill for 7 of us for 4 hours of drinking was $110. Needless to say we gave the waitress/bartender a very nice tip. We then went back to the house, Ernie went to bed and we stayed up until 4AM hanging out and chatting by the pool. Ernie had a blast!!!!

The rest of the weekend was mellow, playing games by the pool and working on the tan. We drove back yesterday and stopped by this new favorite place called Baker's. Apparently it's a regional fast food place where they serve burgers and Mexican food. Okaaay! It is ALL ABOUT the shredded beef burrito. If you ever see a Baker's, stop in and get one. You will love it.

Anyway, thank you Myk and Andrew R. for including us in the festivities. Had a blast!

To be direct or not to be direct....

That is the question I have been asking myself lately.

I always pride myself on being a straightforward and direct individual. I try to minimize BS and get straight to the point with things. I am like that at work as well as with my friends. My thought is that spending time on BS is wasting valuable energy. I get this from my mom. With her it's always cards on the table and you always know where you stand with her. I do have to say that sometimes it can be hard. Sometimes you don't want to know exactly what she is thinking. Sometimes I wish she would keep things to herself.

Through the years I have learned that sometimes people don't want to hear it from me. Or that sometimes people don't know how to take me....especially at work. I realize that being direct can sometimes be misconstrued as having an agenda or be off-putting. I have learned that people are just more sensitive then others, and can't handle directness well. I have been in situations where people get upset because I can be too forthright. Or most recently, piss a friend off because I am not being direct enough. 

So it's a balancing act that I have to always keep in mind. I realize that some of my best relationships (both at work and personal) are those where the other person gets passed it and learns to appreciate the fact that I will always call it how it is.

So, I continue to learn everyday about myself and about others. I guess the lesson learned is that I should be myself as best as possible and hope that people will know I am coming from a good place.

Sorry for not Blogging

So, I know I have not been the best at keeping this updated. I really, really want to but haven't been in the mood. I think it's because I've been a bit depressed lately. I am sure it's because of the no-job-yet thing. I REALLY need to do something soon. There are a couple of leads that I am looking into, so hopefully something will come up for me soon.

On a lighter note, my sister-in-law, husband and girls are coming to visit this weekend. Looking forward to hanging out with them and spending time with the girls. The girls are going to love the pool. Can't wait!!!

This is the cutest thing...

So I am probably the only one that thinks this is cute. Here are two clips of my 5 1/2 year old niece singing/lysinching along to Mika: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkj_5Ju_NYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkCmTqi_0o

Makes an uncle proud!

Quick Update

Hello, I know it's been a while. Here is a quick update on the last two weeks:

- Our friends Laurent and Ann came to visit the weekend of 3/1. That was a lot of fun. Had a few dinners, met some of Ann's friends that live in LA and overall had a nice mellow weekend. Didn't realize how long it had been since we had hung out with them last, and how much I missed them. Ann is hilarious. She is so sassy and doesn't let Laurent get away with anything...hahaha...which he needs sometimes. =)

- This past weekend Matt Duke and Gabe came into town. Had a blast with them. Had a crazy night on Thurs....ended up ay my friend's Scott's place in the hot tub until 3:30 in the morning. Good times!!! I think Matt and Gabe had a great time meeting some of our friends.

- Sat night was Myk's b-day party. It was at this new latin drag bar over by USC. It was so much fun. The minute we walked in it was a whirlwind of fun and good times. Within seconds I was on the dance floor dancing merengue and salsa with - well everyone. Hahaha. The drinks and tequila shots were flowing and then the Selena cake came out for Myk. HILARIOUS!

- I also forgot to mention that Andrew's cousin Lori (from Philadelphia) was in town this weekend as well. She had a conference she had to attend in San Diego during the week, and decided to take the train up and spend the weekend with us. She is so funny and loves having gay cousins. She asked me to find her a salon where she could get a cut and color. Of course I found one and she got a great makeover, just in time for the festivities Sat night. We finished Sat night her and I drinking champagne until 3 in the morning just catching up. Needless to say Sunday was a very SLOW day for me.

Anyway, as you can see it's been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Hence why I haven't written in a while. Really excited for this weekend coming up. Jim, Matthew, Davey and Jason are all coming up (or down) this weekend. Should be a blast. Planning to be mellow, probably hang by the pool during the day, and have a dinner party Sat night. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

Will write again after the weekend.

Ciao!

Back in LA

So I am back in LA after being in SF for a week. Spent the first couple of days babysitting the nieces. That was a lot of fun but exhausting....I don't know how single parents do it. Especially with more then one kid. God bless them.

Then spent the week catching up with friends. Of course Thursday was Andy's birthday and we all got together and tore it up. Happy B-day, Andy! Hope you enjoyed it!

Then had the boys come down to LA for the weekend: Andy, Diego and Davey. Had a great party at the house Friday night. It was a great opportunity to celebrate Andy (again...lol) and have a party at our place for the first time. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves....no booze left the next day. Sure sign of a great party....lol.

AND THEN.....Mateo surprised us all Saturday morning. That was such a great moment when I was still in bed tired, hungover and half asleep...and felt someone jump on me. I opened my eyes, still blurry and noticed it was Mateo. YEAH!!!! He was wearing a bow on his chest, since he was Andy's gift for his b-day.....so sweet.

Had a crazy and fun Saturday night with the boys. Today just chilling at home giving my liver 

a break. Although, red wine sounds really good right now. ;-)

The only other highlight to mention from this weekend was Saturday night after we all got back from the bars. We all changed and went down to the hot tub. It was AMAZING and SOOOOO much fun. It was raining out, but it felt so great to be in the hot tub with the cold rain hitting our heads. It was such a pretty night....

Matt had a great idea to go from the hot tub and jump in the pool. We did this several times. It felt good to go in and out of the hot tub and into the pool. We had such a great time and laughed and laughed and laughed.....good times!

So great week in SF and a really awesome time with my dear friends this weekend. So tomorrow it's back to reality...looking for jobs, sending out my resume and hoping for an interview. Will keep you posted on that. Wish me luck.

OK, will write again soon...

P.S. Here is a picture of Matt waking me up Saturday morning....YEAH!

Here we go...

OK, so here we go. My friends have been asking me to start one of these since Andrew (my partner) and I decided to move to LA. I have been really hesitant to start one mainly because (believe it or not) I don't really like talking about myself. I am the one that friends feel comfortable talking to, but always cautious about putting myself out there. Plus the fact that since English is technically a second language for me, I have always been a bit skeptical on my writing abilities.

So, there are a few meanings behind the title "3 Years and Counting". Mainly because that is the plan with our move to LA. Andrew and I were looking for a little adventure while we could still do it, and LA seemed like the perfect choice. Close enough to be able to see friends and family in San Francisco, already having a few established relationships in LA, and of course the warm weather! We both like LA a lot, but deep down we know we will want to move back to the beautiful Bay Area in about 3 years.

Another meaning behind the title has to do with the way I operate in life. It seems that I am always working towards a 3 year plan and once I achieve whatever it is, I move on to the next goal. It was the timeframe I gave myself when I decided to make Gap a career and get myself to corporate. The timeframe I set for myself when I realized being able to buy a home was achievable, and the timeframe I gave myself after we bought our first home and get the condo conversion in order and move on to the next thing....which ended up being LA.

I will say that the last 6 months have been a bit out of character for me. Leaving Gap back in the summer without another job, deciding to take time off to travel a bit and move us down to LA, and not worrying about where I end up with work. Oh yeah, and we bought a house in LA....crazy! But I have to say that it's been a fun ride. I have learned a lot about myself...especially since I have been spending a lot of time by myself in LA. Andrew is still commuting back and forth so he hasn't been around during the week. Hopefully that will change soon since he is trying to find something local. 

So, taking things day-by-day (which is TOTALLY unusual for me) until things settle down and it feels like we are truly living in LA.

That's it for now. Hopefully that wasn't too boring. I promise to update this as much as possible. I do think this is a great way to keep abreast of what your friends are up to when you don't live in the same city.

Much love and will write again soon.