San Diego Zoo

It was such a fun weekend in San Diego! One of the highlights is definitely the San Diego Zoo. We are such animal lovers, and it was just like heaven for us hanging out and seeing all kinds of creatures. There were popular animals like polar bears, pandas, hippos, giraffes, monkeys, koala bears, etc. We've also seen many unique and unfortunately endangered animals.


It's been many years since I visited a zoo, not to mention one of the best zoos in the U.S. I have to say, it was exactly what I wanted. Being around nature and the animals not only brings a new aspect to our lives, but also refreshes our soul.

Couples Weekend -- San Diego!

Jeff and John had already been in the West Coast, so Jenn and I flew into San Diego to meet up with our husbands and spent a fun couples weekend getaway in San Diego. It was relaxing and fun....exactly what I needed!

Friday, August 29
11:35 a.m. Arrived in San Diego
1:15 - 2:20 p.m. Lunch at Cesar's Lounge (Mediterranean)
2:20 - 3:00 p.m. Strolled the Gaslamp district
3:30 - 6:30 p.m. San Diego Zoo
8:30 - 10:00 p.m. Dinner at Acqua Al (Italian)

Saturday, August 30
10:00 a.m. Brunch at Mission Cafe
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Nordstrom San Diego with Jenn (boys were patiently awaiting in the hotel watching Illini vs. Mizzou game)
1:30 - 3:00 p.m. La Jolla
3:30 - 5:30 p.m. Drinks and light appetizer by the Pacific Beach
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Boys body surfing while girls reading and hanging out on the beach
8:45 p.m. Dinner at Nobu (Yum!!!)
11:00 p.m. Drinks at Basix

Sunday, August 31
12:35 p.m. Bye Bye San Diego...flying back to Chicago

"I'm kind of a big deal"

Our Executive VP, Jack, came to town from New York to spend an evening with us as our Chicago Office cMM Summer Outing. We started in Casey Moran's in Wrigleyville for drinks and dinner, then headed to the Cubs vs. Phillies game. It was such a fun evening, and I have to say Jack is definitely my favorite person in our entire cMM team. He is such a good sport to wear a bidazzeled yellow shirt and white shorts (over his pants) the entire night. And...Cubs win!

My Pledge

I pledge to count my blessings everyday;
I pledge to constantly remind myself what really is important in life;
I pledge to start focusing on our hopes instead of our fears;
I pledge to stop doubting and start dreaming;
I pledge to focus on the positives and never stop believing;
I pledge to concentrate on visualizing the life I want to have with Jeff and our future family.

Recurring Dreams

These scenarios came up again in my dreams last night and the night before!! I have been having these recurring dreams since I was a teenager!

"I'm taking an important exam, but somehow I'm so distracted that I can't finish it on time."

"I'm getting ready to go somewhere very important, but for some reason, I'm interrupted and deterred, so I ended up being extremely late."

Anxiety issues?

Summer Sluggishness

Oh you know want I mean! It's summer, and it's hard to have motivation for anything except for play. Now it's passed mid August, and I can't help but feeling a little depressed that we're moving towards the end of my favorite season.

In addition to fooling around, what have been keeping me more upbeat is re-connecting with old friends. I've been missing some of my good friends from college, and I feel really lucky to finally got in touch with them after over 10 years. I'm so glad that everyone is doing well. Kairat is running his own business and has 2 boys. Aigul is also working back home in Kazakhstan and has a cute 4-year old son. Denis and Suzi have been living in Portland, and they are 5-month pregnant now!

I'm such a nostalgic and sentimental person, and I really hope one day we can all meet up and catch up on everything over drinks.

Napa Wine Tasting

As part of our 2008 comScore Media Metrix National Sales Meeting (August 11 - 14), we visited Napa for wine tasting today. Two wineries visited were V Sattui and Merryvale. While in Merryvale, we had a very informative wine component tasting seminar led by a sommelier in their largest cellar. It was an amazing experience.

I have been drinking a lot wine in the past few years, and I do have a few favorites. I thought I was more of a Merlot girl, but I found out Cabernet is really my true love. I particularly love Merryvale's 2005 Cabernet, as well as the 2006 Pinot Noir Carneros. Chilean wines are also impeccable. Try Casillero del Diablo 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon -- it's delicious and surprisingly affordable.

Everytime I come to the San Francisco area, I have the urge to move here. Everytime I visit the wine country, I am more and more convinced it is the place I'd like to retire in.

Swedo Golf Outing 2008

Swedo Golf Outing is probably the largest charity event among U of I alumni every year. Since Jeff and pretty much all of his friends play golf, I have also been volunteering with the girls to help raise money for the Swedo Foundation.

The Swedo Foundation was formed in 2002 to create a lasting tribute to R. Gregory Swedo, an U of I alumni who was tragically killed in a hit and run accident in November 2001. The annual golf outing is a great way to get friends/family together, play golf and enjoy a beautiful summer day. It's $120 per golfer, and all money raised will go to the Foundation.

Jenn, Marie, Jen and I are participating this year again (we have been volunteering to raise money since 2003). It's awesome that Jessica and Suzanna also joined us this year. We are sponsoring Par 3 -- "Hole in One for $10,000".

As always, we provide food and drinks out of our own pockets and sell them to raise money. This year we have home-made cookies, home-made lemonade (with vodka), snacks, fruits, water, etc.

Since my "Asian massage" has been so popular over the years (many golfers have been asking about it prior to the outing), we decided to raise the price to $15 from $10 last year for a 5-minute shoulder/neck massage. Many have complimented my skills and techniques; some even mistaken me as a real masseuse! Ha! We raised over $1,000 this year for hole in total. Everybody is having fun, and it's all for a good cause. What can be better than that?

Don't Mess with China

The Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony is absolutely top notch! It is perfect in representing China as a highly-populated country with disciplined and intelligent people. I'm impressed with the country's seriousness on extreme precision while taking center-stage in this event. I have to admit the performances not only gave me goose-bumps and brought me to tears, but also made me proud to be a Chinese (from Taiwan).

Retro Marriage

Obviously, "stay-at-home wives" has became a growing phenomenon in the 21-st Century....Whoa! Where did this come from? No kids and no job? I admit it's not that I haven't thought about it (I often say that I'd like to be a say-home-mom with no kids but 4 dogs when I grow up), but the fear of feeling guilty, useless and even boredom drove me away from it.

In this economy, honestly, money is more attractive than anything to me. I often think about retirement, world-traveling, or just the definite next step -- selling our condo and purchase a single family home. I have to admit I love making my own money. It's a sense of independence having a career and a sense of accomplishment every time I close a sales deal.

Maybe not now, but at some point, I'd love to be a stay-home-wife for my dear husband and be a home-maker (so what exactly is it?), of course, after I've done everything I want to do in my life.

Tornados in the City

It's a crazy night with tornado's in the city of Chicago! I had a work dinner to go to, and I hated it. C'mon! It's Monday night. We are all exhausted from the weekend. If you ever lived in Chicago, you know how precious weekends are in the summer. Everyone is out and about...BBQs, Cubs games, Dog beach, Golf Outings, or just hanging out. Many companies offer summer hours on Fridays. Practically no one is in the mood to work on Fridays during these 3 months.

But we were all forced to have dinner tonight with our VP who came into town from New York for a conference tomorrow. It then became a huge group with 13 of us. I guess after dinner started, it was not as bad as I thought it would be....got a chance to meet others from our Reston office.

So glad I'm home now. Looking forward to crawling into bed anytime soon. What's next? A bright and early morning in Navy Pier for a breakfast forum at 7:30 a.m.

Catching up on The New Yorker

So I really need to catch up on my The New Yorker reading....It's already early August, and I'm still reading the mid-June issue. Looking back, the only time I read The New Yorker was when I was on the train going to work and coming home. If I took lunch, I would sit on the lawn by my office building and enjoy my reading. Sometimes before I went to bed I would catch up on some if I didn't already pass out on the couch. If I read in bed, I'd pass out even more quickly.

The thing is I'd rather read slowly than missing any articles. It's a great periodical. It makes politics a fun read. It has topics I would never acquire from any other publications. It has the best short fictions. It educates me about Science, a subject I'm fascinated about but never was good at. It has interesting views on current TV programs, theaters, books, etc.

I can go on and on about The New Yorker. It's one of my favorite subscriptions, and I can't believe I had been missing out till early this year.

Alright, it's time to leave the computer and bury myself in The New Yorker. It has calming effects on me on a Sunday night.

"I am mine"

We saw a great tatoo on a cute girl's back, which says --

"I know I was born and I know that I will die.
The in between is mine.
I am mine"

BUT...found out it was the partial lyrics of a Pearl Jam's song. Unoriginal.

MonDog Day

It's my favorite day of the week -- Saturday!!!! I know for sure it's also Scraps' favorite day...ha...he probably thinks Saturday is his day in our family. I bet he is thinking on every Saturday morning, "Daddy and Mommy are gone the whole time for 5 days doing their own stuff, and we should do things I want to do today!"

He typically waits patiently for us to wake up until about 7 a.m., then after his breakfast, he first paces around our bed and makes funny noises. He knows I love his funny noises and would then let him com up to our bed to get his morning lick and give him his morning kiss.

MonDog is Chicago's largest Dog Beach in the city. It's exhilarating and relaxing to hang out and to see Jeff fetch Yellow to Scraps in a beautiful summer morning. Seeing Jeff and Scraps play together, I often say to myself, "I wish time could just stop here."

Lollapolooza 2008

It's our second time to Lollapolooza, and it's a memorable experience. The memorable part is not just about the music, but the whole experience.

We got there at around 2:30 p.m., and it was a humid, sunny, 85-degree day in Chicago summer. Jeff, my husband made sure that we drank a lot of water to prevent heat stroke. As always, my cautious husband complements my carelessness.

It was a lot fun the first few hours after our arrival....Beers and good (but not extraordinary) music -- Electric Touch, Louis XIV, The Kills. I was looking forward to my first experience of The Black Keys, but to our disappointment, the speakers were not functioning well, and they sounded interrupted and partly delayed.

Certainly, majority of the people attended the first day of the Lollapolooza is to see Radiohead. We put our blankets down to save some spots for John, Prow, Matt, etc. But it did not work....almost 75,000 people start cramping in front of the AT&T stage, where Radiohead performs. During the whole time, I was thinking about leaving our spot and go somewhere less crowded and meet up with everyone at the end of the show. Everyone's sweaty body touches each other...humid...no air coming in...at one point, it felt like everyone around me was smoking (pot or cigarettes). An hour feels like 10 years....I was convinced I was eaten by weird fishes and slowly dying. When I can hear Radiohead's live performance of Weird Fishes?

Fortunately our friends did find us! But when Jeff went to get us dinner, he had not returned for almost 1 hour. Just 5 minutes before the show started, I had to clime on Prow's shoulder to find Jeff....I used a borrowed rainbow umbrella as a "landmark" and hoping he would see me. While impatient and sweating audience started throwing things at the umbrella wanted me to get down, I saw Jeff. What a relieve....I didn't want to see the show without my husband. I almost had a panic attack.

After the music came on....15 minutes as the starter. I yelled out, "It was all worth it!!!" And come on, it's Radiohead. I probably would do this only for them.