New Saturday Morning Routine

Sydney and I walked to the Pasadena Farmer's Market. I think this will be the new mom and daughter Saturday morning tradition.

Sarah Palin for VP

I am extremely happy with McCain's VP pick. For someone like me there could not be a better choice than Sarah Palin. What is there not to like about this hot chick? OK, I'm sure we will hear a few things but from what I know so far I really like her. She delivered her speech without a teleprompter and overall was very well spoken. My favorite part was when she said she stood up to the "good ole boy" network. If you didn't hear it, You can read her whole speech here.

So she picks terrible children's names (Really terrible) and her favorite meal is Moose Stew, I think she is cool. She calls her husband (who was her high school sweetheart) "the first dude", she has 5 kids including a baby boy that was born 11 days after Sydney. She snowmobiles, fishes, and hunts. She was runner up for Miss Alaska (told ya she was a hot chick). In Alaska, they have bumper stickers that say "Coldest State, Hottest Governor" and lets not forget she sold the Alaska State airplane on Ebay.

Palin is Conservative, Pro-Life, she has been overseas visiting troops in several countries and she is the only candidate to have actually run a state and been commander and chief over a military organization (Alaska National Guard). KT gives her two thumbs up :)

Flashback Friday (15)

Could they be any cuter? (Matt and Rach)

I Wonder Why The Date Was Changed?

Was this a marketing error? Or is just this location changing the date and time? Either way....this pile of fliers didn't look too professional.

But hey, who cares there is a free Sorbetto or Vivanno waiting for me on Friday.

Behind on Blogs

I will catch up tomorrow night.

Happy 30th Matt!!!

Today, Matt turned 30! I keep telling him it’s downhill from there…..hopefully that’s not true....

Anyway, on this very special day in 1978 my first brother was born. I love him so much. He is fun, funny (Isn’t it funny that fun and funny sound like such different things?) and when I need him he will always come running.

I Love you, Matt and I have just set a goal: You bring such joy to my life and my goal is this: To see you significantly more in your 30’s than I did in your 20’s. Happy Birthday, I Love You!

2008 FFSU Olympics Recap - The Champ's Version

All times are in Mountain, in keeping with the rules of the competition.

1. Kimberly just kicked the dog out of her bed. 5:34am
2. Kimberly has woken up a late, and is trying to pack, get ready and take Sydney to grandma's within 1/2 hour. 7:45am
3. Kimberly is glad the judges are still asleep. 8:25am
4. Kimberly is once again headed to the Valley of the Sun! Thank you SWA! 9:17am
5. Kimberly is practicing race walking at Sky Harbor Airport. 10:48am
6. Kimberly is in the Phoenix heat sweating and waiting for her ride. I guess I didn't need to racewalk to the curb. 11:08am
7. Kimberly is reading a book about 11:11!!! 12:21pm
8. Kimberly is hanging out with two HCBC girls (Ruth and Laura) but best of all I am holding the miracle baby!!! Yeah, Herston! 12:30pm
9. Kimberly is at the golden arches chowing down on a quarter pounder. 1:11pm
10. Kimberly is going to meet Tom not Londa. 1:42pm
11. Kimberly is seeing freedom fly from somewhere in Arizona. 2:24pm
12. Kimberly is seeing status updates just fine. 2:36pm
13. Kimberly has just been ordered to please rise. 2:41pm
14. Kimberly is going in for the kill on FFSU!!! 3:39pm
15. Kimberly is is headed towards the location of Episode 1 of the Kim and Laura show. 4:02pm
16. Kimberly is standing in the rain updating her status. 4:33pm
17. Kimberly thinks she does better in practice than in the main event. 5:07pm
18. Kimberly thinks Sara should try updating her status without using the acronym FFSU. 6:20pm
19. Kimberly just dodged a orange cone on the freeway. 6:22pm
20. Kimberly is sitting at Dave and Busters and hoping to attract a crowd of guys!!! 6:50pm
21. Kimberly has attracted a crowd of guys and 2 girls. 7:45pm
22. Kimberly is contemplating recording episode 2 of the Kim and Laura show. 8:18pm
23. Kimberly is going to call the Facebook police on Sara. 8:26pm
24. Kimberly is sitting on a Harley. 8:56pm
25. Kimberly is at BWW. 9:53pm
26. Kimberly is missing her little girl. 10:43pm
27. Kimberly is thinking that one of her greatest accomplishments is being a participant in the 2008 Olympics. 11:34pm

The Keeper

Courtney's Reaction:

Warning: Boys should not look and girls will be mortified. The Keeper

Sydney Playing & Blowing Bubbles

This T-Shirt Doesn't Seem To Fit

My cousin was getting a pedicure today and took the following photo. First: I applaud her great photography skills, Second: I am so happy she shared it with us.

When The Lights Go Out

We lost our power today when a couple of transformers or circuits went out in Pasadena. I am typing this from my moms since she has power. There is a song I like by Oingo Boingo called "When the lights go out". The lyrics are not exactly true because:

When the lights go out
Not everybody has fun
Not everybody runs to a safe place
Not everybody was afraid
Not everybody starts to pray
Monsters & Madmen do not come alive
but if they did there are plenty of places to hide
We can't turn the night into day
Nobody started a fire in an alley way
Nobody seemed to go crazy
And I didn't see anyway praying to the cat's eye.
When the lights go out
People can still be trusted
Everybody is not running in circles
Not everybody started to shout.
Some people partied down.
There was a big shadow comforting me
But nobody broke windows just because it was fun.

BTW: 3 hours later, back home and power is on.

Flashback Friday (14)

When there was Ivy (Papa and I)

A Visit To My Grandparents House

Today, I drove past my grandparents house in Altadena. (They built their house in the 1940's and it was in the family until after my grandmother passed away a few years ago) There was a big truck full of dirt in the front yard and some workers walked through the open garage and for some reason I decided to ask them what they were doing. The head guy said "Oh we are working on the patio.....Do you want to see?" I asked if the owners were home and he said no, so I said sure.

I wasn't really being sentimental at all but as I walked through the garage it smelled just like it always had.....it was so eerie. The smell brought me to tears. It was a scent that nobody would ever recognize, a scent that exists nowhere but that garage and it instantly took me back and I was really sad.

In the backyard there were a bunch of changes underway. Some brick work had been removed, several planters were gone as was the Bougainvillea, the shop (workshop) area had been turned into a square dog run, the big planter on the top patio was gone and there wasn't ivy to be found anywhere. Everything was different, and for me, that was okay. It will likely look nice when finished but today it was a mess. I snapped a bunch of pictures and then left.......through the garage.


Did I say that smelling the garage was weird? Yes, I know I did but it was SO remarkable. I would never even thought before that the garage had a special smell but walking through it there was no mistaking it. There are a couple of other scents that remind me of my grandparents.....Aramis cologne, honey milk shampoo (they didn't use it but there is something about it that reminds me of being at the beach house with my grandfather), Gardenias, French Vanilla coffee.....I am sure there are others but all of those scents can be duplicated but there is no place else on earth that has the scent of their garage.

For Jane

A nice rib-eye steak sure sounds good about now.

UCSpots

The license plate on this truck is UCSpots (The O is with a heart). I am posting this for Tim.

Bad Day

Today sucked, Here are the only bright spots:

(1) I practiced updated my Facebook status in preparation for the Main Event next week. My two favorite statuses of the day were (1) "Kimberly doesn't understand why when she (customer) asks the parking attendant (worker) @ Burbank airport how she is why the parking attendant doesn't ask her how she is" (2) "Kimberly hates it when people refer to tuna sandwiches as tuna fish sandwiches"

(2) I saw the Starbucks that Queen B and I first "tried" to have coffee at. They all but kicked us for trying to use our cameras so we went to another one.

(3) I got to see Jeff.

(4) The pizza Mike ordered for lunch was really good and well worth blowing my diet over.

(5) My plane didn't crash

From Ontario to San Jose

I have never seen a cloud cover quite like the one I saw flying into San Jose a couple of weeks ago. It was really cool and looked just like cotton, I was so impressed I busted out my camera after we had been instructed to stow all items we had taken out during the flight

Happy Birthday Jinjer!!!!

May you be blessed with cupcakes every day of your life!

Support the US Olympic Team

The Olympics are over on Sunday the 24th. I have decided that until then I will boycott all foods that begin with the name of another country. For example: I won't boycott Chinese food but I will boycott Chinese Chicken salads. I won't boycott Mexican food but I will boycott Mexican Pizza's from Taco Bell.

Here's my quick boycott list:
Chinese Chicken Salads
Mexican Pizza's
French Dips
French Fries
French Toast
French Onion Soup
French Vanilla Ice Cream
Canadian Bacon
Russian Dressing
French Dressing
Italian Dressing
Greek Salad
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Italian Ice
English Muffins
Welsh Rarabit
Italian Sausage
Spanish Omelet
Italian Sorbet
Swiss Cheese
Hungarian Goulash
Turkey
Turkey Sandwich
Swedish Meatballs
German Chocolate Cake
Polish Sausage
Irish Cream

Are you in? What foods have I left out?

P.S. Thank God there isn't a country called Chai or Chicken

It's Not Blood, It's Licorice

Congratulations Elizabeth on the switch to solid foods!!!! I Love You!!!

SWA's "Want My Advice" (Take 2)

Last year, I wrote this blog about SWA's advice column. Basically, it discussed the common sense items that people write in about. I had to do a take 2 on this one because I couldn't believe this one in the August edition of "Spirit":

"When buying curtains, keep the zippered plastic bag they come in to store those extra things like toiletries when traveling. You can see the items easily through the clear bag"

OK....REALLY? How often do people buy curtains? She acts like this is a daily purchase! Just use a Zip lock bag lady! Is that really a traveling tip? And if it is, is it really the best one she has?

Flashback Friday (13)

One year ago today I had my touch up appointment on my eyeliner. For those that don't know, last summer I got my eyeliner tattooed on. Not one time have I regretted the decision! It is so much easier getting ready in the morning without having to put on that pesky eyeliner. Better than that, I can rub my eyes and never have eyeliner smudge!

Did it hurt? Yes but it wasn't terrible

How long did it take? Two appointments, about 2 hours for the first and an hour for the second

How much did it cost? It was a gift but I think about $500.00

Nastia's Pink Leotard

I don't care if it's her signature color, I don't like it.

The 23rd Reason

In June, Queen B wrote a blog of 22 reasons that my identity has gone from Kim1Champ to Sydney's mom. Here's reason 23:

I was planning on stopping by an Outlet mall and so I looked online to see what stores were there. Usually, I would look for Eddie Bauer, Williams Sonoma, J Crew, Gap and Le Creuset (to name a few). Today, I went straight for the children's section and decided not to go since they didn't have a Carters.

REALLY, Who am I? I guess I'm Sydney's mom

People Send Me Pictures

So, everybody knows, I like pictures. People often send pictures to my Blackberry. Here is a sampling of a few of the pictures I have received (from many different people) on my Blackberry in the last couple of weeks:

Happy Birthday, Jason!

You Rock! What a great family you have! I hope you have a sensational day and a great year, you certainly deserve it!

Anonymous Comment From 8/12/08

This morning I deleted an anonymous comment from my "The Store" post. I deleted it only because it referred to contract negotiations and other things that were directly related to work. Regardless, the comment just struck my funny bone so I am going to share it but I have edited out the work comments:

Why don't you ever talk about important things on your blog? I can't believe how shallow of a person you are. Life is way more important than this stupid store or the stupid restaurant across the street. Why is it you insist on blogging about stupid trivial things? I know your small mind is limited to only what is going on in your life at that very moment. Sad. You have the potential to be so much bigger than this!

Why not blog about why (OK, Here is the part I edited out that speaks derogatorily about our company) Talk about that instead of stores or coffee or your family! Let's see if your 5 - 10 loyal followers are able to keep up with something more important than blackberries!

OK-thats it. Usually I know who the anonymous person is but this time I don't have a clue so good job! So, I said the comment hit my funny bone: First funny thing: I'm shallow. Second funny thing: Nice to see that this person takes the time to read about stupid trivial things. Third funny thing: I'm glad they think I have potential Fourth funny thing: I love that they tell me not to talk about my family. Fifth funny thing: This person is obviously a loyal follower. Maybe they keep coming back because it's like an accident scene, you just have to look to see what happened or whats happening next. Thanks for reading!

"The Store"

Since the Facebook addiction started I have noticed that my old friend Courtney frequently has a status update of "Going to the store", "Working at the store", "Hanging out at store". As you know, we refer to "Avolio's Restaurant" as, "The Restaurant", The same way, "The Store" indicated possession to me. I figured that Courtney must run a store but I knew nothing about it, until this weekend........

"Eaton's Gifts" is located in downtown Monrovia. It's a great store! A dangerous store! I could spend a fortune there. I managed to get out the first time with $67~ worth of stuff but it could have easily been several $100~. They have a little bit of everything-the perfect store for unique gift shopping. I highly recommend a trip there. (There is a cute little restaurant across the street you could visit and make it the perfect little outing)

Here are a couple pics inside the store:













"The store" is located at 111 E. Lime Avenue in Monrovia. All you Southern California readers need to plan a trip. All the out of town readers you can still check it out by visiting and shopping online! Eaton's Gifts.

Williams Sonoma vs Verizon

Today I had lunch at Green Street with Brian. When we were leaving I insisted we walk through Williams Sonoma. As we were walking out I said "that's my favorite store". (Brian had no idea that I love to cook). Brian responded (seriously): "Who Knew? I was sure it would have been something like Verizon wireless".

OK, that proves it, I am a geek.....but I do prefer Williams Sonoma and Eatons Gifts to Verizon Wireless and Best Buy.

At Least It's Not The Pantry

The other day, I took this picture in the office. Somebody I know in the Pasadena office actually keeps all of these pairs of shoes under her desk! Are you kidding? How many shoes does one person need at the office? I will tell you this: (1) At least it's not the pantry (2) I know where I am going if there is an earthquake (or other emergency) while I am at work and I suddenly need sensible shoes.

Exercising For Cupcakes

I went to Violets today with Jinjer and Erin. Violets is a cupcake place in Old Town Pasadena. The cupcakes are delicious. Today, I didn't get the Elvis instead I went for a peanut butter and jelly cupcake that was nothing short of fabulous.

While there, these two women walk in. They had clearly been getting their exercise in by walking or jogging to Violets. A little sweaty, they were both wearing pedometers as well as exercise radios on their upper arm. We really weren't paying attention to them but as we were getting up to leave I looked over and they were DEVOURING cupcakes. I counted eight cupcakes on their plate and they were definitely eating them.

What in the world would possess you to exercise and then go eat that many cupcakes? Show some self control! I wondered if they did this regularly. I have to be honest, it looked like a routine to me. What do you think?