Happy Birthday, Aaron!

We celebrated Aaron's birthday on December 23. We went out to eat, and I made a mini ice cream cake, which was actually super easy and kind of delicious (since it's mostly made out of ice cream sandwiches).

Merry Christmas! (Better late than never!)

On December 23, Aaron and I celebrated our first Christmas in California. (It was also Aaron's birthday*, but since I already committed the cardinal sin of wrapping his birthday presents in Christmas wrapping paper, I figured the least I could do was give his birthday its own blog post.) 

On the 24th, we flew out to Boise in the morning. Aaron's mom made all of his favorite foods for dinner and the whole family came over to celebrate his birthday. Then Christmas was the next day, so it was a holiday marathon and a ton of fun. Only 11 months until Christmas 2011!

*Excellent tax planning, Purcells!

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