Good Times in PA*

My parents came and visited for a whole week in September (please ignore the fact that I am writing this two months later). My brother had the week off for work, and my job hadn't started yet, so it was just the four of us hanging out like old times (Aaron had to work**).

My lovely parents at Half Moon Bay (location of the Mavericks Surf Competition-- apparently the waves get HUGE at a certain time each year)

My dad and I at Half-Moon Bay (I guess we took all our pictures on the same log)

The Lone Cypress on the 17-Mile Drive near Pebble Beach

Matt, my Dad, and I at the Carmel Mission

Outside of a cute inn at Carmel-by-the-sea

Aaron got Labor Day weekend off! We decided to walk across the entire Golden Gate Bridge and back. Note for future tourists: the second half is about the same as the first half--save yourself the time and energy and just walk out halfway.

In other news, I am officially one month into my new job in Lead Tax Services at Deloitte in San Jose and am loving it. The people are great, it's a reverse commute, and I am learning a ton each day.

*PA = Palo Alto
**I hate it when people brag on their blogs and in Christmas letters, but I'm going to be hypocritical and do it anyway (but in a small font). Aaron works 80-120 hour weeks every week with very few exceptions. And I have never once heard him complain.

My California-Celebrity Encounter

I met a famous model while walking our neighborhood paths. That's right-- I discovered that I, Lauren Inouye Purcell, share the same zip code as the model for "Donkey" from Shrek (doubters who google "Barron Park" + donkey + shrek will see that I blog the truth).

This may be the coolest thing that has happened to me this summer. However, I am a little confused as to why our neighborhood has donkeys in the first place. If I was on a neighborhood committee and someone suggested we get a neighborhood pet, I would make sure that the animal's lifespan wouldn't exceed the suggester's tenure on the board. That way I wouldn't get stuck cleaning up after it.

Donkey, from Shrek. According to Wikipedia, "he enjoys such foods as waffles, parfait and 'upside-down coconut soufflé with mango chutney sauce.'"

Donkeys can live 30-50 years. Above, our very own Barron Park Donkeys.

Decorating: First Attempts

One of my favorite computer games from the nineties was Civilization II. A few minutes into a new game, a picture of a cave with a rock to sit on would pop up with the caption, "The people have spontaneously decided to redecorate your throne room." At that point, you could select an area of your throne room to upgrade. My first step was usually to change the rock to a chair. Throughout the game, you could continue to upgrade until you had a beautiful throne room (see below). I never got that far. But I did receive a guiding philosophy for my home decorating attempts: you don't need to upgrade the whole throne room all at once. Just be thrilled that you have a chair now instead of a rock.

I made some pillows. My mom had helped me make bean bags for our second grade fair, and I figured out it's basically the same concept.

A little painter's tape made it easy to make a Piet Mondrian knockoff. Computer desk: Craigslist. Couches: Sketchy warehouse in San Jose. Fruit: Crate & Barrel (did someone say gift certificate?). Coffee table: Ikea, how we love you.

I painted the frames in a geometric pattern. I also put together the bookshelf (notice the slight lean to the right). And that's our TV that only plays movies.

Thanks to Matt for the awesome keyboard!

Thanks to my most excellent mother for helping me sew these window treatments while I was in Virginia.

It may not be a grand throne room just yet, but at least we have progressed beyond the "cave and rock" point.

Anniversary in New York City

Aaron came down to Virginia two weekends while I was there, and I went up to New York for our anniversary.

One point for anyone who knows who shares our anniversary (it's his birthday). Two points if you know what couple got married on our anniversary this year.

Aaron pretending to be one of the Henrys (was it the eighth?) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We got to see Wicked. It lived up to the hype.

Aaron and I in Central Park.

Virginia!

Since Aaron was going to be in New York for seven weeks for training (and we thought it would be unfair to his roommate to ask for a roll-away cot), I went home to Virginia for a while. I got to spend time with my parents, go to DC, and see Mary Poppins with one of my best friends since elementary school, Jessica. I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of my family!

My eyes are closed, but having a stranger take the picture is always a gamble.

The beautiful inside of the Kennedy Center (before the usher told us to stop taking pictures).

Before the play started. 

 

 Jump to 1:00 to see the Step in Time number 

You'd think...

If you thought that not working right now meant that I would have ample time to blog, you'd be right. However, if you thought that that time would actually translate into blogging, I apologize for grossly disappointing you.

I've made a goal to be better and blog every week, or at least every other week, or, realistically, once a month. These next few blog posts are going to be my attempt to get caught up.
 

Shortly before leaving for New York, we went to Santa Cruz where Aaron discovered a love for body boarding. I stayed on the beach and read. I foolishly reasoned that because I was half-Asian, I did not need to wear sunscreen. I had apparently forgotten that I was also half Scandanavian. Needless to say, I burned and peeled.

My awesome friend, Valerie, came and visited. We had a lot of fun going to the beach...

Hanging out with Lisa (three accountants always spells fun times)...

And eating at places recommended by Yelp and realizing that I am not a foodie. The virtues of the raved-about olive and walnut bread were completely lost on me. I say, "Give me mediocrity, and give it to me for under $7."

California Adventures

"So did you two go to the gym after work?" the cashier at Trader Joe's asked Aaron and I as we stood there in our tee-shirts and shorts.

Sorry, buddy-- no gym, no job. For two weeks, Aaron and I had no responsibilities except to explore California and spend time with each other before he starts his job. It was amazing.

Half Moon Bay

 

Aaron, the Karate Kid

 

The Roof of the California Academy of Sciences

 

Big Sur, California

Operation UT to CA

Aaron drove the truck we rented, and I drove our car behind him. We just wanted to get the drive over with. No chatting at the gas stations, one bathroom stop, no food breaks. Thirteen hours later, we were there. The boxes are mostly unpacked now, but things still look a little sparse. Decorating is on the to-do list.

Our new place and laundry confessions

We went out to California last week and signed on a little apartment in Palo Alto that we'll call home for at least a couple of years. We looked at about seven places, but this one was a standout. It has everything we wanted except a washer and dryer. We don't have one now-- so we're used to living without one. I guess I should say Aaron's used to it, since he is much better about doing the laundry than I am. We have been married for about ten months, and I have done the laundry completely by myself twice now. I refuse to feel guilty about it, though, because I know I am doomed to laundry duty for the next x years (where x = age at death - 23). I will put in my time.

Here is the place as of right now. Since I won't be working for a solid four months, hopefully it will look somewhat more decorated once we get moved in.

We'll be moving on June 10, 2010. We're sad to leave our neighborhood here in Provo, but we are very excited to be starting the next phase of our lives.

Moving On

We're pretty excited to be moving to California. But the difference in cost of living between Palo Alto and Provo is almost laughable.

For example, compare the two houses below.

The one on the left is located in Provo, Utah. The asking price is $1.25 million. That gets you 6,898 square feet, seven bedrooms, home theater-- a house fit for the the typical multi-level marketing success story.

The house on the right is in Palo Alto, California. A little bit more expensive-- $1.4 million this time. And a little smaller-- 2,012 square feet, four bedrooms. From the outside it looks like the cottage from Roald Dahl's Matilda where the impoverished school teacher, Miss Honey, lived.

Maybe one day we will have more than two consecutive feet of counter space. Until then, my mantra must be, "square footage is so overrated."

--Lauren

Defragging Screenshots = 10 Nerd Points for Lauren

Lets all be honest, all three of you who read this blog will agree with this post's title if you read Lauren's latest post. But, thankfully I like people who earn nerd points on a regular basis, so being married to Lauren works out quite well.

On a different note, something has happened the past two times we've gone to Costco that I find quite funny. Each time, we clip out a couple coupons with the grand plans of saving a couple bucks. The first time it was to save $3 off the Garlic Chicken Pasta (which is delicious). Yesterday, it was toothbrushes and some kind of wannabe Cliff Bars. In any case, the result is always the same: after buying our groceries, on our way out of the parking lot Lauren yells out in anger, either hits me on the leg or slams back into the seat, and holds up the unused coupon. The initial reaction is then followed up by periodic comments over the next week about how we forgot to use our coupons. It's a pretty funny sequence of events. Funny enough that I will likely try to sabotage all future coupon efforts of any kind.

So Satisfying

I debated about whether or not to post this because of the nerd-points factor. But I decided to confess to the world (or at least our readership of 5 people). Everytime I defrag my hard drive, I take a screenshot of the before and after chart. It just makes me feel so productive even though I didn't really do anything.

Just the Right Size

My mom knew I wanted Rich Dad Poor Dad for Christmas, so she bought it online. When it arrived, she was surprised to discover that it was so tiny it could have belonged to part of my American Girls doll collection (I have told Aaron that if we don't have any girls, either a small part of me will die, or one of our boys will learn to like dolls).

In the end, it was the perfect size. If I typically remember only 10 percent of what I read-- why read the other 9o percent?*

*Disclaimer: I know there are lots of reasons to read a book in its entirety, including a changed outlook on life, a broadened cultural horizon, and the satisfaction of finishing something you started. They did not apply in this situation... Still worth the five minutes it took to read? Most definitely.