Starbucks Says It's Fall

The first day of September was greeted by the pre-mature return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I say pre-mature because it's still ranges from 95-100 degrees outside here in Sacramento. And of course, you have to enjoy this beverage hot! (How sadly inappropriate.)

The only downfall of this drink is that there is no such thing as a "skinny pumpkin spice latte." So my insulin pump goes into overdrive just so I can indulge in this seasonal venture. But it's sweet, decadent, cinnaminy goodness is SO WORTH IT. Until of course, I need to retest my blood sugars.

Pretty soon, we'll see the return of the Gingerbread latte and the famous red cups, which somehow signals the start of the holiday season.

Other signs that it's fall:

• Fall colors are back in fashion. Say hello to bold hues like chocolate brown, amethyst, and burnt orange! It's all over Macy's now kids. Go shopping.
• I have the sudden urge to return to college to learn something new. But it's short lived when I realize that I can't attend most of the classes and I would have to do homework again. (No thank you.)
• I can finally wear a majority of my wardrobe again... it's all sweaters. And scarves. And pashminas.
• The phones are suddenly busier at work again. And they won't stop ringing until late May 2009.
• No More Reruns! CSI, The Office, and House are all new! And The Fringe looks kind of interesting too.
• I'd say trees start turning pretty colors and there is a crisp feel to the air. But since I'm in Sacramento, "Fall" actually lasts about 2 weeks and is scrunched between summer and bitter, cold winter. Blink and you might miss it.
• It's Election Season. Time for campaign ads, false promises, and a whole lot of uncomfortable conversations with co-workers. (Generally speaking, that is...)

zOMG, Stop!

Okay, seriously. What part of a 3-day weekend to people NOT understand? I made the mistake of checking email this weekend for work and I had 43 (!!!) new emails. All sent from 5:00 pm on Friday to Monday at 1:00 pm. I mean, yes, there were some from my bosses... to be expected. But was I the only one NOT working this weekend?

Oh, and when I arrived at work today at 9, I had 16 ADDITIONAL messages. Majority of them all asking the same freakin' question.

Ugh! Can I go hide under a rock now? Please?

I have The Touch

So, after contemplation and one dead IPod Mini battery too many, I decided to head to the Apple Store at Arden and upgrade my IPod. This was a totally unnecessary purchase (seeing that I already have a Shuffle for the gym I never go to), however; I felt it was time to be rid of the Mini from circa 2003.

I think my trade up was even more justified when I took the Mini in to the store and had team members oogle the antique model and say "wow! I haven't seen one of those in YEARS! It's the Paperweight version." *sigh*

So after an hour (yes, that includes a 25 minute wait just to GET into the store), I have my hands on a new IPod Touch. The Touch comes complete with a huge color screen, calendar, photo viewing space, and I can access YouTube and Gmail on it. And the GPS will be handy in Europe, if I can find a free internet cafe. Oh yeah, and it plays all gazillion of my songs too.

And here is a nifty tidbit: if you have an old IPod and you want to upgrade, you can recycle your old one and get 10% off your purchase. It saved about $30, which is what it's going to cost me to get a case for it. (I'm such an Apple-sucker... Ugh!)

So when this pretty penny is paid off, it'll be about time to upgrade the OS on my lappy. But we'll wait until I can't stand Parallels Desktop anymore.

Belated Birthdayness Commences

Yesterday, my birthday celebration continued when my brother-in-law and his fiancee brought over a really yummy cake from Bella Bru. The cake was so pretty! I mean, it doesn't compare to the cartoon character creations my mom made when I was under 10, but it came pretty close. Especially with the paisley design on the chocolate pieces.

Here I am with the candles lit:
Now soon after this was taken, NASA called and said they saw a strange beacon of light emitting from our coordinates into space. But it was only a check up to make sure nothing was wrong. C mentioned that I should be happy that I didn't need to use ALL the candles in the box. Thanks...

As for the cake: very good! Very rich chocolate and it sent my insulin pump into overdrive as I enjoyed a very healthy slice. Final score: cake slice - 30; insulin pump - 0.

LOLz! SYTYCD style...

I have to share this "thread" with everyone outside of message board land. We're all familiar with ICanHasCheezburger correct? (Speaking of which, I need to make some for Lucy...) Anyway, I was introduced to this thread on IdolForums. com and it's full of Macros from SYTYCD Season 4. I snagged some samples for here, but you can see all the contributors and artists in action at the link above. Enjoy!

What's Up with The Del?

I had the opportunity to stay at the historic Hotel Del Coronado last week for work. The hotel was built in 1888 and is probably one of the most famous hotels on the California Coast Line. Photos and souvenirs boast photos of Marilyn Monroe, past presidents, and other dignitaries. Needless to say, it's an important place... and the hotel staff knows it.

Some images:

And of course, the hotel is haunted. But no ghost sightings were reported during our trip.

Now for my review: the property is huge. There is the original Victorian tower and then the newer "Ocean towers." The Victorian is where we stayed. The rooms were a variety of sizes. Some colleagues had rooms with large bathrooms and small closets; others had vice-versa. Some had views of the garden; others (Me!) had views of the sewage truck cleaning out the parking lot drains in the mornings. And did we mention that this hotel is very close to the San Diego Naval Base, so planes turn their afterburners on right as they pass over the hotel. Ugh! At least it stopped at 10:15 so we could sleep.

Food wasn't bad. The breakfast buffet is swarming with kiddos. (*Eh hem*... SPOILED kiddos.) Drinks, other than non-alcoholic beer, tends to range anywhere from $7.50 to $15 a DRINK. And apparently the cabanas are for members only. It's $80/day. There is a resort charge, but it doesn't cover parking. (That's another $23.)

But it's so charming! Gah! Give me a break. I'll admit the beds were comfy and the shower supplies were awesome, but way to nickle and dime me for everything I do. I can't complain too much. I mean, I did get paid to do this for 3 hours. Sweet!

I really need to start a YouTube Account...

Lucy is always a source of entertainment. Since she's still kind of a kitten, she's still got a lot of spunk, and not a lot of sense. For instance, take her run in with one of the neighborhood pigeons this weekend:

Natomas has a load of ugly pigeons roaming around. One decided it'd be cool to hang out on our backyard patio. Since I'm evil, I decided to drag Lucy from her perch in the front room and put her in front of the glass patio door to "watch the birdie." Lucy gets anxious, as expected. But the bird wasn't moving. So rather than listen to Lucy howl at the window, I decided to scare the pigeon away.

I exit to the backyard through the garage and find the pigeon staring into space. I start clapping my hands to make it fly away. Instead of taking off instantly, it hobbles over to the glass door where Lucy is lickin' her chops, spots the cat, takes off and flies directly into the glass door. I now have pigeon snot on my glass door!

Pigeon flies away to another roof, but in the house, Lucy is standing on all fours, arched back, tail straight up in the air, eyes focused. Girl was ready to go into attack cat mode.

Unfortunately, the bird was probably bigger than she was.