Status Check/Self Evaluation

My self eval a year later...

This was taken from my last blog entry on December 30, 2012.  Self Eval in Blue:

Dear "Diary",
As this year comes to an end and the new year fast approaches, I felt compelled to make some new year's resolutions (even though someone very close to me is VERY anti-resolutions):

1. Be nicer: I used to be nice. But the last couple of years have made me a little bitter. I catch myself taking out my anger and frustration on the undeserving. Must stop immediately.  [SC:  Better...but still needs improvement.  Be nicer to mom&dad.  Be nicer to B.  Be thankful and appreciate them every day.]

2. Practice patience: It's not a race. Go at my own pace and don't get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Trust that I know what is good for ME. This applies to everything.  [SC:  FAIL!  I get anxious when things don't go my way.  I'm too stubborn and competitive.  STOP and think: "what's the prize anyway??" That being said...i still wanna do a 25 minute OLH.  d'oh! :) ]

3. Let it go: My forgiving nature combined with my photographic memory have often caused me great pain. If I choose to forgive, beat it up and then let it go completely. [SC:  MAJOR FAIL:  I hold too many grudges. I still believe in, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me".  But I should give people a second chance to redeem themselves (but...I DON'T i have to be their best friend). ]  

4. Take control: Stop playing the victim and take control of situations. If it is out of my control, trust in karma. [SC:  Much Improved.  I fear less.  I'm stronger.  I know I'll be ok.  In time, everything returns to its equilibrium]

5. Make health a priority: Recovering from illness and injury steals time. Life is short. Make smarter choices. Eat better, exercise more, laugh and love EVERY single day. [SC:  I could work on the eating better and the exercising.  But I laugh A LOT and i really do love EVERY single day :) ]

Cheers to 2012!  [SC:  2013 will be even better!]

<3,
Sandy

Dear "Diary",
As this year comes to an end and the new year fast approaches, I felt compelled to make some new year's resolutions (even though someone very close to me is VERY anti-resolutions):

1. Be nicer: I used to be nice. But the last couple of years have made me a little bitter. I catch myself taking out my anger and frustration on the undeserving. Must stop immediately.

2. Practice patience: It's not a race. Go at my own pace and don't get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Trust that I know what is good for ME. This applies to everything.

3. Let it go: My forgiving nature combined with my photographic memory have often caused me great pain. If I choose to forgive, beat it up and then let it go completely.

4. Take control: Stop playing the victim and take control of situations. If it is out of my control, trust in karma.

5. Make health a priority: Recovering from illness and injury steals time. Life is short. Make smarter choices. Eat better, exercise more, laugh and love EVERY single day.

Cheers to 2012!

<3,
Sandy

Conquered (some) of my fears + BONUS: Sandy Story Time!!

Since my last post, I've conquered several of my fears:

1.  Porta Potties:  In the last couple of months, I have used Porta Potties FOUR times!  I learned that if you roll up your pants, plug your nose, and don't look down too long, it's tolerable. 

sooooooooo nasty

2.  Camping:  I have never ever gone camping (Camp Curry, La Honda Music Camp, and my cousins' backyard doesn't count).  I guess I wouldn't consider camping a real fear. I've mostly just felt overwhelmed with the preparation and set up. Luckily, I went with B and his buddy who both had the gear and did all the work. :)  We went to Pinnacles State Park.  Awesome place.  You should check it out.    

Our tents!  So fun!

3.  Cooking:  I hate reading instruction manuals so I guess following recipes would fall into the same category.  BUT...I learned I CAN cook if i put my mind to it.  I cooked my first meal on Thanksgiving and it turned out decent!  However, I did make a couple of rookie mistakes.  My timing was completely off.  Our guests arrived before I did (automatic failure!!!)...and the ETA for our meal was 3PM.... we didn't eat until past 7. :(  Luckily, B got everyone drunk and happy...so hunger was (almost) forgotten. Teamwork at it's finest, yo!



The spread



4.  Climbing:  I first learned I had a fear of heights in 6th grade when I sat on the first row balcony at the SF Opera house. FRIGGIN' SCARY! This is why i fear rock climbing. I went climbing with my cousin twice.  Both times, I didn't have any issues going up, but I couldn't get myself down!  I remember shaking, crying, and thinking, "NEVER again!" 

Unfortunately or fortunately..B loves rock climbing...and B looooooooves peer pressuring.  We went once a few months back.  I hated it and I did a pretty good job of avoiding our next outting.  But...this week...B surprised me with all this fancy climbing gear so I felt obligated to give it another go. 

We went last night and.... IT WAS SOOOOOO FUN!!!  I still can't come down elegantly or even just come down like a normal person, but it was sooooooooooo friggin' fun!  I swear, it HAD to have been because of my cool new shoes!  And again, like the Porta Potties, I learned that climbing isn't THAT scary as long as you don't look down for that long ;)



my cool gear!! love love LOVE my mint green elf shoes!



my PRETTY chalk bag. B has good taste!

That's ME!  NOT!!

BONUS:  Sandy Story Time!



So yesterday, I decided to take my belay test.  After 15 minutes of struggling with the knot (I had stage fright!), one of the workers finally came up to me and asked if I was ready to begin.  He looked at my knot.  Not pretty. But safe.  He asked me to list all the safety checks. I did.  Then...this happened:

Dude:  Is that how you always wear your harness? (stoicly)

Me: Yes. (confidently)

Dude: Are you sure? (stoicly)

Me: YES! (SUPER confidently and slightly annoyed) 

Dude:  Are you really sure? (stoicly)

Me:  umm...Should I be wearing it tighter?? (unconfidently and very SCARED!) 

Dude:  No.  Your harness is upside down.  We've been laughing at you from behind the counter the past 15 minutes. We knew you didn't have a clue. (stoicly yet completely amused at himself)

Me:  OMG!  Soooooooo embarassing!!! *cackle cackle cackle* (sooooooooooo embarassed but COMPLETELY amused at MYself!)  HAHAHAAHAH

The rest of the test went fine.  He passed me (i don't know why or how) and he ended it with, "you knew everything...just be careful with that harness next time" (stoicly). 

Just another "story of my life"...  :)

Love,

Sandy

My Favorite Moments in Peru

B and I just came back from Peru a few days ago.  It was pretty amazing.  In just 12 days, we got to see so many parts of this country.  We faced humidity and rough jungle life deep in the Amazon, expericed high altitude conditions in cute Cusco, got in some exercise hiking up Wayna Picchu/Machu Picchu, and checked out the bohemian lifestyle in Barranco, Lima. 

I was left with many good memories but these were my top 10:

1.  Amazon Woman:  We were on a boat looking for pink dolpins when this topic came up between B and Pancho (our guide):

                      B:  So...where are all the Amazon women?

                      Pancho:  Huh?

                      B:  You know...the big Amazon women.

                      Pancho:  What are you talking about ?? And where are you reading all of this, B??

                      *cackle cackle cackle*

                      B:  I dunno.  There's a saying about how Amazon women are big.  But I don't see any. 

                      Pancho:  The term probably came from the fact that Amazon men used to wear masks and skirts.  So when visitors came, they mistaken them for women. 

                      B:  Oh. 

(A few days later, B was looking at pictures of himself, and goes, "Geez!  I look like I'm holding a purse!  I look like a woman!  Me:  "Yes. YOU are THE Amazon Woman!" HAHAHAHA)

Amazon Woman!

2.  Mermaids:  Pancho kept making fun of Teddy (our local guide) because butterflies kept sitting on his Teddy's hat.  The locals joke that if a butterfly sits on you, it means you are a mermaid!  Personally, I was jealous that no butterflies were sitting on my head...that is...until Pancho revealed that the real reason butterflies kept migrating to Teddy's hat, is because it's dirty and they are just attracted to all the shit on his hat. hahahaha A minute later, a butterfly sits on Pancho's hat. :D 

The butterfly on Teddy's hat

3.  Kitchen Sink:  Someone made fun of me for packing a bunch of "emergency" supplies on this trip.  But look who benefitted from my kitchen sink!

"Why would anyone ever need to bring emergency food on these jungle hikes??"-B

4.  Bathroom:  Our bathroom was separated by this flimsy shower curtain.  Enough said. HAHAHAHA  swoon!

We really got to know each other on this trip, I think....hahaha

 5.  Flashlights:  B decided to bring his video camera to film our night hike.  He forgot to bring a flashlight, so he asked if he could use my headlight.  His (MY) light, lit up the entire Amazon while I was left with two flashlights that gave off as much light as two dying glow sticks :(  But in the end, I was the lucky one. 1.  We came back with some really AWESOME video footage and 2. We learned that all the scary moths, bugs, and cicadas are attracted to bright lights. Let's just say...they all flocked to B and not me! HAHAHAHAAH

B's (MY) flashlight is the BEST light EVER!

6.  Eagle Eyes:  B's (MY) bright light seemed to pick up alligator eyes very easily.  He was seeing the them left and right. Even Pancho was impressed with his eagle eyes. After what seemed like B's 10th alligator sighting, he discovered yet another one, "There's one right there!" But this time, Pancho starts cackling..."um...that's a CAT!" HAHAHAAHAH  A few minutes later...B sees another set of alligator eyes and Pancho cackles even harder..."um...that's the LODGE!" (B was seeing the candle lights in the lodge dining room). HAHAHAHAAH FUNNIEST BOY EVER!!! I swooooooooooooooned and cackled all night!  I wanted to pounce! hahahah 

An alligator!  oh wait..it's our lodge.  :P



 6.  Hot Shower:  After roughing it 6 nights in the jungle, B found us a REALLY nice place to stay in Cusco.  SPOILED!!  The first thing we did was take a nice, long, hot shower. We didn't realize how dirty we were in the Amazon until after we showered.  It felt soooooooooo good!



Cute bathroom in the Cusco Hotel

 7.  Kindred Spirts:  Cusco is a city full of people preying on tourist.  I guess this is expected in a city that thrives off tourism.  So it was refreshing to see people doing good, honest, work--like the girls at the reception desk of our hotel, the cab driver who didn't want accept a tip but was very grateful when we insisted, and the juice lady at the Mercado market.  You could just tell she was a nice person.  She made us yummy juice and tried hard to find change for our american dollars.  Armando, one of the workers at Otorongo lodge was like that too.  He drives the boat to/from Iquitos, works as a local guide, clears the tables after every meal, and acts as the boat mechanic...and he does it all with a smile.  Really nice, good people with really good hearts.  Kindred spirts for sure.

Armondo

Juice Lady

8.  Modeling:  On the 3.5 hour train ride from Aguas Calientes>Poroy, Perurail's evening entertainment included a dancing clown followed by a fashion show.  One of the "models" tried to get B to model a sweater.  B resisted at first, but finally gave in.  He did such a good job! I was soooooooooooooooo impressed and excited! HAAHHAHAH :D  All the ladies looooooooooooved it.  Too bad! He's mine!

Can I pounce now?!  (Yes you can barf on this one, lem.  HAHA)

9.  Hot Buns:  While waiting for the train back to Poroy, I looked through my pictures to kill time.  I noticed that B's ass looked really good...so I told him so.  The old couple sitting in front of us overheard, got curious, turned around, and asked if they could see too.  (I guess B was right...I DO speak too loudly!) If B weren't there...I would've TOTALLY showed off his cute butt! HAHAHA  but I could tell B gets embarassed easily so I didn't.  Later on, as the old couple passed us on their way off the train, they wished "hot buns" and I good times for the remainder of our trip.  I told them I'll remember that one.  :) 

Hot Ass

10.  Will You Still Hold My Hand?:  Sometimes...words are unncessary. <3  


Where to next?  Who knows..."Take the map and point to anywhere"- Mae

<3,
Sandy



Thank you (I think)...

We grabbed a really early breakfast in the city this morning.  A mom and her daughter (~10 years old) came up to me:

The mom: "Hi! My daughter is too shy to tell you herself, but she just loves your entire outfit.  She noticed every detail about it and can't stop staring.  She just wanted you to know that."

Me:  "Awwwww Thanks (I think...)! That's really sweet!!"

At 9AM in the morning, instead of complimenting me, you'd think the mom would have made an example of me to her daughter:  "This is what NOT to wear...EVER!"*  HAHAHAHAHA

*B and I spent the night in the city last night.  Traffic was horrible so in an effort to make our dinner reservations, I left my overnight bag in the car and went straight to the restaurant thinking I'd just lug it up to the hotel room after the night out.  But ofcourse, I fell asleep and never got my change of clothes.  Yes...I did the breakfast of shame...BUT I WAS HUNGRY!!!!

<3,

Sandy

Part 3- The Main Event: B vs. Sandy

Ok...now to what you've all been waiting for! Pineapple infused Vodka!!!  I'll make this blog post easy for you.  More pictures, less text. 

The Main Event:  B vs. Sandy

B first tasted Pineapple infused Vodka at the Village Bistro in Santana Row.  Refreshing and delicious...he was inspired to make it at home.  Being the good researcher that he is, B found a blog that had pretty pictures and directions on how to make it. (+10 points to B for researching).  However, B never actually READ the blog, but Sandy DID...and discovered that the directions weren't very clear.  "It's ok. we will follow the pretty pictures and improvise", she said. (+20 points to Sandy for being such a motivating team captain AND +20 points to Sandy for using an "artistic license" right there BOOYA! HAHAH ).




+25 points to B for choosing the perfect Vodka for this project and picking up just the right amount (four 1.75L bottles!  Umm...to put this in perspective...THAT is 4 COSTCO SIZED bottles!). 



+40 points to Sandy for choosing the BEST pineapples EVER!



 

-2 points to Sandy for interpretting the instruction of "cut pineapple into bricks" wrong.  +20 points to Sandy bc it was NOT her fault for not knowing what a pineapple "brick" was! 



 

+1 point to B for even owning this lovely platter. HAHAHHAHAHAH



+10 points to B for figuring out what a pineapple "brick" actually is.





+50 points to Sandy for  making B wash the big ass glass container.  :D  (see previous 2 blog posts for reasons why)

+20 points to Sandy for starting to lay out the pineapple bricks. 

+20 points to Sandy for finishing the pineapple brick laying. -20 points to B for not cutting off all of pineapple rind.

+30 points to Sandy for taking this great picture of the Stoli and pinapple filled container. It's sooooooo good that Stoli should pay her to use this picture in an ad campaign. 

+25 points to Sandy for pouring the first bottle of Stoli into the big ass glass container. +25 points to B for having cool pink disco lights...in the bedroom? hahahah

+6 points to B for taking this cool picture.  +20 points to Sandy for suggesting it. :)

+8 points to B for carrying the heavy container down to the scary basement ( the weight of ~ 3 pineapples and 3 costco sized  vodkas!). Plus another 10 points for having cool GREEN disco lights in the basement.  (How did i never notice all these cool disco lights all over the place?! HAHAAH) -20 points to Sandy for not locking B in the basement JUST for fun! :D

+50 points to B for taking THIS awesome shot. 

+1 point to B for cutting the remainder of the pineapple...laying down the rest of the pineapple bricks... pouring the rest of the vodka...and bringing the last containers down to the basement.... 

+50 points to Sandy for taking a picture of B's beautiful pineapple bricks.  She admits he is a better pineapple brick layer than she is. So...+100 bonus points to Sandy for being so HONEST, FAIR and RATIONAL... ALL THE TIME. :D 

+50 points to Sandy for taking this picture of all the arts & crafts of the day. 

Plus another 100 points to Sandy for taking this one!  :D

And........all scores are forgotten as we relax with a bottle of apple cider purchased earlier in the day (but also because i'm lazy and hate mental math..shhhhhhh).  Anyway....OUR cider and OUR Pineapple infused VODKA is going to be waaaaaaaaaaay better than this manufacturered stuff! WE WIN!!!! YAY!!!

<3,

Sandy

p.s. sorry B for being a brat. IJMU. 





Dumb and Dumber's Adventures: Arts & Crafts (Part 2: The Warm-up)

The Warm-Up

When we were finally ready to start our projects, we figured we'd start with the easy one first-the apple cider.  B was told, "All you  have to do is wash the jugs, pour in the unfiltered/pasturized apple juice, dump in the yeast, plug up the jars, store them in a cool, dark place for approximately two weeks, add corn sugar to taste, and then bottle it up". 

I got things going by gathering the jugs into the sink to give them a good rinsing.  I filled one up with water and started swishing it around in circles.  The water couldn't reach the top, so I switched from doing circles to an up and down motion. Unforunately, I got carried away...and on a downward thrust, I crushed one of our treasured tulip glasses that was sitting in the sink!  Sooooooooooooooooo sad!!! (stupid accident #3). So now B is left with only one tulip glass...lucky for him, I still have four at home! I just felt EXTRA dumb because I had just broken that stupid glass container at the store no more than an hour earlier. HAHAHAH

The rest of the project went more smoothly.  We had some apple juice and yeast spillage, a jug plug that got plugged in too deep, and we didn't fill the jug plugs up with water. Eventually, we resolved all of this and we were good to go.  We decided to reward ourselves with a break and a side by side tasting of Black Albert and a Green Flash Double Stout. Aaaaahhhhh...the good life. 

HUGE jug.

Our apple cider will sit in the basement for ~2 weeks.

PRETTY!

Stout tasting. Only one tulip :(  Black Albert wins in taste, but Green Flash wins for biggest head.

<3,

Sandy

P.S. three days later, we learned that making apple cider is waaaaaaaaaay more complicated than we were led to believe (a MILLION times MORE complicated! i'm not being dramatic. ask B!).  So...we might end up with apple vinegar instead of apple cider.  Only time will tell...(approximately 2 weeks...to be exact!)  

Dumb and Dumber's Adventures: Arts & Crafts (Part 1: The Prep)

After a  crazy, expensive, and overindulgent weekend in Vegas…we decided to spend a quiet, low-key, simple weekend at home.   

We thought it'd be the perfect weekend to try our hand at “cooking” some pineapple infused vodka. Seems simple enough:  buy a couple of pineapples, some vodka, and a couple of containers, right?  So that’s what we set out to do Saturday afternoon.

The Goal, as tasted at the Village Cafe in Santana Row

Part 1:  The Prep  

1:  Headed to Cost Plus for some containers. Purchased one large (semi air-tight) glass container and a couple of glass bottles.  $$$

2:  Took a detour to Willows Market for some Black Albert...but found some other stouts and ice wine as well..then we hit up a couple of bike stores in search of THE handlebar.  $$$$

3. Sorta kinda ran into Beer, Beer, and More Beer - a place that specializes in home brew kits.  We figured we might as well buy contraptions to "cook" up some apple cider to go along side our pineapple infused vodka.  Purchased 2 jugs, 2 jug plugs, wine yeast, corn sugar, and a bottling kit. $$

4:  Waded our way through Costco (aka Crazy Town)  for four 1.75L of Stoli and a case of pineapples $$$$  and then a polish dog and pizza snack ofcourse (um...how can you not?!). ¢¢  

5:  Got home in one piece after hours of slow/careful driving to protect our investment of glassware and alcohol, only to hear a loud “CCCRRRRRUUUNCH!!” when B’s fancy pants cars seat automatically slid back, allowing him to comfortably exit the car!  HAHAHA  (Stupid accident #1  <---yes, i started the counter...because if I'm involved, you know there won't ever be JUST ONE stupid accident!). 

Yup...you guessed it!  His car seat smashed the large glass container...ONLY the KEY piece to our project!  Tired yet determined, we unloaded the car and braved it out again for another container.

6.  But first, we had to make a stop at Whole Foods. We forgot the unfiltered/pasturized apple juice  for the cider!  So we picked up 5 things of that and some prosecco.  (We are NOT alcoholics, I swear!)

7.  We finally made our way back to Cost Plus and beelined it to the glass containers.  I, ofcourse had to "test" the air-tightness of the jar (when did i get this cocky? i have no idea).  I held the big ass container by the lid and said to B, "HEY LOOK!  THIS IS A GOOD ONE!!!" and ofcourse "CRRRRAAASSSSHH!!!"  The friggin' jar falls to the ground, breaks into a million pieces, and B gives me a dirty look. PRICELESS! HAHAHAHA CACKLE CACKLE CACKLE.  (Stupid accident #2). 

As if it couldn't get ANY worse...some asshole laughs at me and goes, "I guess you get one for the price of two!"  while two store employees rushed over to make sure I was ok, "please step aside, we don't want you to get hurt". *CRINGE!!*  All i could think was, "GET ME THE F*CK OUTTA HERE!!" but ofcourse before we could do that, the girl guilt trips us into signing up for the Cost Plus Rewards Card..."it's the least you could do, right?" she says. (SMART GIRL!!).  B agrees to sign up for it.  She punches in his info into her handheld computer, but it doesn't work (surprise surprise) so she has to write it down by hand.  I couldn't help but laugh at myself and think, "CAN THIS TAKE ANY LONGER?? GEEZ!!)**.

**Note to self:  No more touching shit at the store.   

We finally make it out of the store and B tries to make me feel better by telling me I could win the "Darwin Award" with that one. hahahahahah AND IT WORKED!  HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

But sadly, by the time we got everything we needed and made it home, we were too exhausted to cook so we watched more of "Breaking Bad" Season 3 instead.  Anti-climatic a bit?  hahaha 

Well, to summarize...this weekend wasn't quite the low-key weekend I imagined it would be.  Although it wasn't VEGAS, somehow...we STILL managed to turn it into a crazy, expensive, and overindulgent weekend.  d'oh!  HAHAHAHAHA

Dumb and Dumber's Adventures:  Arts & Crafts (Part 2: Cooking) COMING SOON!!  In the meantime, here are a couple more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Buying the Containers

(Part of) The Motherload!

<3,
Sandy