Vancouver 2010... Here we come!

Gus and I bought tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics yesterday! I'm super excited, despite the fact that I wasn't able to get speed skating or ski jumping. The events we got are Women's Aerials Alpine Skiing, Mens/Womens Finals of Skeleton (think face first luge), Men's curling, and Men's Hockey Sweden vs. Finland. Pretty much adds up to one event per day so we can make sure to get places on time. We'll be heading up there on Thursday, February 18, 2010 and returning to the great U.S. the following Monday. We figured, "How often are we going to live this close?"

Next dilemma? Where to stay...

Not many of the hotels are taking reservations for February yet and most of the house/condo/vacation rentals are $400/night at the cheapest. Some are upwards of $5,000... Hopefully, some of the hotels will be reasonable (<$150 a night too much to ask?) but if not... sigh. We're either thinking of staying an hour or two outside of the city and commuting in each day or possibly renting an RV.

Just wanted to share my fun news and next adventure with you all! Tonight, we are going out to celebrate Gus' 28th birthday. Getting the gang together at the Hale's Brewery to enjoy some local beer and good fun. Don't forget to send him your wishes on Sunday.

Happy Friday!

Blog Updates and what the heck is Twitter??

Since you are reading this, you have noticed that I decided to spruce up my blog. Changed around some colors, etc. I did this for no particular reason other than I wanted to. :)

You may have also noticed that on the right side of my blog, I'm now feeding my "Twitter" updates. As this Sprint commercial notes, 26% of you have no idea what that means... so, I'm going to explain it in my terms.

Twitter is the latest craze in social networking. It allows people to build networks of "followers" and post 140 character updates (same as a text) on what is happening to them at any given moment. People can post "tweets" via text message, internet, and various applications for your computer or phone. Many companies use this to interact with their customers and loyal fans, celebrities post pictures and gossip, reporters and bloggers talk about their new articles, and everyday people talk about the cool purse they just bought or what they are eating. It's really simple, and quite narcassistic, acutally.

I started using Twitter a while back for work purposes, and have really gotten into it. I "follow" several reporters with whom I have relationships, and keep up-to-date on their likes/dislikes/new articles, etc. I also follow some of my favorite brands and celebrities to keep me updated on the latest news and gossip.

You are probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with me (that's you)? Basically, this is going to be the real time update on what I'm up to, since I don't update this blog as regularly as I should. I usually tweet several times a day, so if you are ever curious what I'm up to, just check my Twitter feed on this blog. Leave me comments if you are still confused or want to learn more.

PS. That Sprint commercial I linked above was created by Gus' friend Carlos. Great job, buddy!

Meet Gus' New Toy...

Gus treated himself to a nice, new 52" LCD TV this weekend. Thank you bonus money! Our first point of order last night was to watch Lost in HD. The best way for me to describe watching this TV is to say it's like having our own movie theatre right there in the living room. Wahoo!

Hugger Muggers On the Loose!

Here’s a little Monday humor for you all. This sign has apparently been posted all over London warning the people of the very real threat of “Hugger Muggers.” While I don’t find mugging funny at all, I do find the warning sign quite enjoyable. Click on the photo below to see it full-size.

Be careful out there!

Pics For the Post Below :)

LOOOONG Overdue

Hi everyone – It has been WAYYYY too long since I posted on here. I apologize. Here’s the quick run-down of what we have been up to…

1. Moved into the new townhouse. Painted like crazy the first and second weekends. Our kitchen is a lovely shade of burnt orange/red and our master bedroom has one green wall and one wall with green/cream stripes (pics to follow). Have yet to completely unpack due to items #2-6 on this list.
2. Headed down to Las Vegas for the WCC college basketball tourney. Yes Gonzaga won both the men’s and women’s divisions. Both teams headed to the big dance! Gus realized that he love Roulette and both he and I walked away from the tables with money in our pockets, wahoo!
3. Gus’ sister, Ashley, and brother-in-law, Jerad, came to visit! It was one of the yuckiest weekends I can remember in Seattle, but we tried to enjoy ourselves. Time was spent watching the NCAA tournament selection show, eating good food, shopping at IKEA, and catching a Seattle Thunderbirds hockey game. It was a short visit, but we packed it full of goodness!
4. We are moving out of the apartment. Our garage and den are officially “disaster” zones from all of the crap we’ve moved but haven’t had the time to put away. Oh well. There’s always this weekend.
5. Gus and I bought 16-game season tickets for the Mariners this season!
6. I got crazy busy at work. Our big tradeshow is happening right now, and I had two clients in attendance. I worked more than my fair share of hours which included late nights and weekends. Ugh. I need a day off.
7. My dear friend (and ex-boss) from Gonzaga’s daughter got married in Spokane. Gus and I headed over for the wedding where we danced, ate good food, and relaxed away from the big city.

So that’s it in a nut shell. I’m looking forward to most of the weekends in April because I don’t have anything major planned. MY plan is to work on finishing the unpacking, hang some pictures on the walls, and go buy a curtain rod so I can finally use the big bathroom shower, and not the silly little standup shower. Sigh.

Still no sign of a housewarming party, at this point. If we make good progress on the house this weekend, there is potential for a party next weekend. We’ll see.

I’ll post some pictures of the painted walls tonight, and maybe some from Vegas, if you’re lucky!

Work/House Updates!

Hi everyone –

Just wanted to provide you all with a quick update of last weekend. Well, I guess Friday was the most exciting.

First of all, Gus and I got keys to the new townhouse! It was very exciting and we have already been hard at work moving things, painting walls, and building the new dining room table. Next weekend’s projects include finish moving a majority of our stuff and painting the upstairs. I’ll post another blog shortly with some before/after shots of our painting projects.

Second, I found out that I was named Public Relations Society of America Puget Sound Chapter’s Young Professional of the Year 2009 for some work I did for my mobile handset manufacturing client. Wahoo! The slightly unfortunate part is that they already had the awards banquet (2 weeks ago), but were unable to announce the winner at that time due to an error in the scoring. I’ll just have to settle for a nice resume booster and a personalized plaque. All-in-all, I am very honored and excited to have this special distinction and look forward to the job security it entails! Haha!

Well, stay tuned for more pictures and updates from the new house!
~Jeanine