A Fellowship Kind of Weekend

I named this blog post a fellowship kind of weekend because I spent the entire weekend with some of the other people who are here in Palo Alto for the fellowship program.  Actually, many of you may not know why I'm here and for how long, so let me explain.  My company, SAP, likes to recognize top performing employees - so we have a special group called Top Talent.  Every year, all managers go through their employees and decide if any of them meet the "top talent" criteria and nominate them for this group.  Upper management has to sign-off on who gets to be part of the Top Talent group because they try to restrict it to approximately 2% of the employees worldwide.  Part of the Top Talent program is the fellowship program, which allows the employees to apply for a six-month fellowship in a different area of the company.  The idea is that the people who are top performers are more proactive with their career and are quickly moving to the top.  So by allowing them to work in an entirely different area of the company without any risk, they are able to build up their skill set faster and advance their career more quickly. The fellowship may or may include relocation, it depends on the receiving team's requirements and budget. 

Previously I worked in product development.  I'm not a software engineer, but I'm part of the product management team.  I met with customers to understand their business processes for their sales teams and then designed the software to meet those business requirements.  Part of my product slightly touched the marketing teams, but it was primarily focused on sales teams at larger consumer products companies.  However, I wanted to understand the big picture better and get hands-on marketing experience - after all, that was my major in university, and yet, I've never worked in marketing.  So I applied for the top marketing position which was available - working as the assistant to our Chief Marketing Officer.  Just to be clear, I'm not a personal assistant but an assistant who helps our CMO manage projects, gather information from all of his teams, give strategic advice, etc.  It may sound like a sexy job, and I've already had some pretty cool experiences so far.  But it's not all glamorous. Anyway, I digress, but that's the background as to why I'm here and the small group of fellows who have bonded so far.  I will be in California only until mid-February when I will return to my love, Montreal.


So last Friday I took myself out on a date, and I finally discovered an amazing restaurant here in the area.  Everyone I speak with tells me how incredible the food is around here, but I was really struggling to find a place I considered fantastic.  I've found it now!  Flea Street Cafe - they have a seasonal menu which is to die for!  In Montreal, there is an Italian restaurant which makes a Gorgonzola gnocchi that just melts in your mouth.  I haven't ever tasted anything which rivals it... until now. :-) I'm so excited that I have a place to introduce to people when they come to visit. :-)  And it rained for the first time since I arrived in California - a heavy downpour which is apparently quite unusual around here.  I thought someone was watering the plants outside of the restaurant and turned to look out the window and saw a wall of water coming down.  It was both surprising and refreshing.

On Saturday I rode my bike to Philz - he's becoming my weekend habit. :-)  That was the farthest I've ridden a bicycle in a long time.  While I was in Montreal, I would try to bike to work on most days but it wasn't very far - I think just 8 km.  But Philz's is about 10 km from my house.  I was all nice and sweaty when ordering my cup of joe, but who cares.  The bike ride was so enjoyable!

Saturday afternoon I spent with Barbara, another fellow from Germany.  She's pretty cool.  We did a tour of some of the Silicon Valley towns and ended up in San Jose at Santana Row.  I don't know if this place is well-known outside of the area, but wow, this place is unreal.  Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Tesla, Gucci, and many more.  There were Ferraris and Lamborghinis lining the road.  I really felt like I was under-dressed in my shorts and t-shirt.  As Barbara and I were walking, we saw all of these really tall women walk past us.  We guessed that they were models.  Two blocks down, there was a very tall woman modeling in front of said bright yellow Lamborghini and some photographer taking her picture.  Then several more blocks down, we see a runway.... ooooohhhhh... FASHION SHOW!!!  Barbara and I were elated.  While it was a "private party," there was only a waist-high fence separating the public from the party.  So we could see everything.  We staked out our spots and watched the fashion show... in honor of Fashion Week in NYC.  It was so much fun!

I spent Sunday at the beach with some other fellows, Roman and Celeste (from Montreal - I previously worked with Roman on a project) and the "other" Roman, from Germany.  Roman and Roman took wind surfing lessons while Celeste and I baked on the beach, reading fashion magazines and talking. It was a beautiful, relaxing day... even if I did bake my boobies (first time in a bathing suit all season - they were not prepared for the California sun!).  Afterward, we munched on some yummy Italian food and walked around Alameda before returning home.

After last weekend, I finally felt like I was making some friends that I could hang out with during the week.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Mikey and Brett, but it's hard to see them during the week with my demanding work schedule.  So it's nice to be able to expand my friend network here. 

Palo Alto Personality

I typically blog when I travel.  And when I travel, I'm able to see the cultural differences between myself and the place I'm visiting.  Usually it makes for some funny fodder, if nothing else, but also a worthwhile experience when learning about and adapting to other cultures.

However, I really haven't done the same since I've been here.  In part, it's because I'm back in the States and feel like I should already know the culture and know what to expect.  And for the most part, I do.  Furthermore, it almost feels like a betrayal to my home country to critic the culture... especially when for so long I was part of it.  But since I have lived in Montreal for the last four years, I think I am able to compare and contrast.  So I will try to be diplomatic... but really... I am just speaking about Californians... I mean, they are a different breed, aren't they? ;-)

I have noticed that Palo Alto, and the greater Silicon Valley, is nothing like anything I've experienced.  The people are nice and open but disingenuous.  And while the scenery here is beautiful, you could go from one Valley town to the next and you wouldn't know the difference - you would have no idea where you were at!  It all looks the same, feels the same, smells the same.  Every place, every day is exactly the same.  I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day sometimes.  That's kind of how I see the people here as well.

There seems to be little personality reflected in the people - how they dress, the homes in which they live, the cars they drive.  You know the saying that "all Asians look a like" or "all white people look a like" or "all Indians look a like"?  Well, I believe that all Silicon Valley people look a like - it doesn't matter their race, skin color, or hair color.  You can't tell them a part.  However, you can tell when you've met one.

There doesn't seem to be any individuality around here.  Coming from Austin, where originality is abundant, or Montreal where they live to separate themselves from the rest of the country, I've become accustomed to being different, to speaking freely, dressing freely, acting freely.  And yet, here, I feel very stifled. The air is clean and the skies are blue and clear (partly because Californians are very eco-friendly), but I feel like I can't breathe.  I just don't get the impression that people are who they present themselves to be.  I feel like there is an entire community here that needs to be liberated and set free.  They need to escape from this bubble they've built around themselves and just be.  I see that the people around here fill their days with many activities, but they don't look like they're really having fun.  I get the impression that they're doing those activities because everyone else does them and it's been deemed acceptable.

One last story and then I will stop my rant... Many weeks ago when I was shopping for my 49ers shirt, I went to the outdoor shopping center that is right by my apartment.  It's a very nice shopping center that includes stores such as Burberry, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's... the list goes on and on.  But I couldn't find one single athletic store or sporting goods store.  However, I finally came across a Nike store, and thought, "this place must have something!" 

I asked the girl at Nike if they have any "team gear" like the 49ers.  She looked at me like I was crazy and in the snottiest voice said, "no." And that was it.  She didn't elaborate.  So then I told her that I was new to the area and did she have a suggestion as to where I could go to find something like that.  She said (in the snottiest, snobbiest voice you've ever heard), "Oh. You'll have to go to Eeeasssttt Palo Alto.  You know, that's on the other side of the highway.  They may have something like that over there."  Hmmm...ok.  I found out from someone that East Palo Alto is considered the "ghetto."  Maybe there are poorer parts of the area but what I saw looked like suburban middle class to me.  I mean, there was a Sports Authority, IKEA, Home Depot, Best Buy... the list goes on.  It looked like a normal neighborhood to me.  I didn't even see any clunker cars or cars with hydraulics.  I'm not quite sure what world these Palo Alto people live in, but it certainly isn't my world.  East Palo Alto seemed perfectly acceptable to me. :-/

Anyways, there's my two cents on the personality and culture of the Silicon Valley.  It could just be that I haven't met the right kind of people yet.  And luckily, I have the other people who are in the fellowship program here to help ground me.  They are an incredible group of people so I still get a sense for what's "real."  Plus, I have Mikey and Brett and all of the Castro.  If I ever want originality and authenticity, I just need to travel 45 minutes north. :-)

Hiatus with the Hubs

Yes, I'm a little behind again. Yes, I'm a little slow.  However, better late than never, right??

The hubs was here over Labor Day weekend.  We thought we'd be really smart and use the only time off that we have in common until Thanksgiving to visit each other.  But alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  We were able to spend time each other but the time went much too quickly.

I introduced Esteban to In and Out Burger upon his arrival to California.  However, some of you may know that my husband grew up in the Oakland area when he was younger and then returned when he was in the military. So California is not as foreign to him as it feels to me. But needless to say, he had never been to In and Out Burger before. 

On Saturday, I introduced Esteban to my other love, Philz, and Esteban, too, had a coffeegasm.  Hmmmm... love me some Philz! :-)  I also introduced Esteban to my girlfriend, Pamplemousse, where we chowed down on some yummy French pastries in the glorious sunshine.  Speaking of sunshine, I find it so incredible how gorgeous the weather always is!  I think this must be the weather in heaven because it doesn't get any more perfect than this.

We drove up to San Francisco and hung out with the boys, Mikey and Brett.  We all went to gay beach at Dolores Park where I saw more than my share of nakedness - pictures were sent to a select few. ;-)  In addition, I got sunburned again... no surprises there so I don't even know why I mention it. ;-)  However, you all should feel kind of sorry for me because it blistered and now I have scabs on my back - not sexy but that's life.

Then we met up with some boys who were in town with the gay rodeo. (Note to self: I don't think I will ever escape from my Texas roots.) ;-)  Apparently they liked me and started giving me free jello shots.  I think it was only 5pm or 6pm and I was already schnockered... to the point where Esteban said I was just saying random words like "bubbles" and "rainbows" and "puppies."  I think I was living in my own fantasy world.  But I don't remember a thing about that... maybe he's just teasing me.  But if not, when I go crazy, at least we know I will be a happy crazy. :-)

We ended the evening with some yummy Mexican food and a drag show.  I made Esteban hold my purse during the show so he would fit in with the rest of the boys there. ;-) Hahaha!  The only problem is that now every time I hear the song "Extraterrestrial" by Katy Perry, I think of the drag queen who performed that song.  I can't get that performance out of my head.  So my apologies, Katy, but a drag queen upstaged you. ;-)

Both Sunday and Monday were pretty low key.  We visited Esteban's dad and stepmom in Oakland on Sunday.  I was surprised at how pretty Oakland is!  I just assumed by the bad reputation that Oakland has and the ghetto people I witnessed at the 49ers/Raiders game, that Oakland would be the armpit of America.  But that's not true.  It has the hills of San Francisco and lots of green.  It's actually quite beautiful.  We enjoyed dinner at Le Cheval, a Vietnamese/French restaurant that Esteban has been telling me about since the day I met him almost 11 years ago.

On Monday we enjoyed more Philz :-) and hung out around Palo Alto.  I thought that by having Esteban here, it would help make me feel more at home.  However, the longer I stay in Palo Alto, the harder it is for me to imagine myself here.  I think San Francisco might be a different story but can't quite say for sure since I don't live there.

So there was my Labor-less Day weekend (for once, a weekend that I didn't work!). 

Showgirls? Fo' Sho!!

Crazy, crazy week. That's all I can say. So very little sleep... I was a walking zombie. My colleague even so kindly informed me that I looked exhausted. Thank you for reminding me, as I forgot how incredibly tired I am. :-/ But I was able to participate in some cool things. My boss gave a keynote speech at Levi Strauss, and I had to prepare his speech and presentation. It was a learning experience for me, to say the least. I'm quite adept at preparing my own topics and organizing how I want to present to a customer. But it's an entirely different beast altogether to do it for someone else. Then I was preparing for other meetings and "putting out fires." Very, very little sleep.

So when the weekend rolled around and Mikey said that I should spend the entire weekend in San Francisco for my birthday, I was both excited and exhausted just thinking about it. Given our history, I knew that Mikey and I would get intoxicated over the weekend, and I would have very little sleep. And I'm an 8-hr sleep kind of girl. Without that, I feel like I'm dragging and my head is unclear. However, on Friday morning Mikey suggested that I just come up on Saturday afternoon because he already had some house guests at his place earlier in the week and he and Brett needed a night to recover. Oh I was so relieved!

Speaking of earlier in the week, I completely forgot to mention my fantastic experience at the SF Giants baseball game. It was the complete opposite of my experience at the 49ers game. Yes, I know, different sport but I can't help but to compare. The Giants' stadium is beautiful - clean, new, good beer, good food, cleaner bathrooms. The crowd was so calm. Yes, there was an energy in the crowd but it was so pleasant. There were people drinking wine in the stands. It was just so polar opposite of the previous weekend. I think I'm now a baseball fan and am looking forward to going back soon. Plus, after the game, we all went to this bar called 21st Amendment, and I tried this amazing Watermelon Wheat beer that comes with a slice of watermelon. Yummy!

So back to birthday bash weekend...

Friday night was uneventful and spent at home. I did a quick run, spoke with Ann, and relaxed. I also caught up on some of my shows such as Drop Dead Diva and Rookie Blues. All in all, it was a successful evening and exactly what I needed. Saturday morning was fantastic. I went running, went to Philz coffee (YUM!), and took my bicycle out on her maiden voyage. Then I drove to SF. Upon I arriving, we immediately had drinks at Toad Hall, went shopping, and then had sushi for dinner. It was already the perfect day... and the REAL fun hadn't even begun yet.

Then the real evening festivities began...

I had the amazing privilege to go with Mikey, Brett, Matt, and Darren to the historic Castro Theater and see Showgirls, a completely horrible movie with that chic from Saved By the Bell. But not only did I get to see that movie for the first time, it was accompanied by a drag show and lap dances by the drag queens. I consumed copious amounts of alcohol, ate copious amounts of popcorn, and experienced copious amounts of drag queen lap dances. Yes, you read that correctly. I received, not only, my first lap dance ever, but my first lap dance ever by numerous drag queens.

There are many things I love about the Castro neighborhood and the characters that live there. They are not afraid to be themselves. So many people wear some strange things and it's accepted. They love life, and love life to its fullest. There is so much friendliness and affection. You meet a person and you're instantly friends. Being different is good, being "normal" is boring. I just love it. There's no where else like it on the planet... at least not that I've experienced. If I ever live in SF, it will be in the Castro.

So I had the pleasure of having my face shoved into some drag queen's boobies. I saw some naked booties, some naked boobies, and some naked other things. The movie is incredibly bad, but the other aspects of the show totally made up for it. :-)

After the show, we went back to Toad Hall and had a whole lot more alcohol. Mikey, Brett, and I danced the night away. I made many friends, telling them all it was my birthday. I danced with several topless gay men. And I even managed to meet the only straight guy in the bar. I had so much fun that I don't even remember getting home that night.

The next morning I really struggled with my hangover. It was rough. I'm just not as young as I used to be. I immediately called my dad because I had missed his call... at 7:20am. Unacceptable for him to call so early. :-/ Then I called Esteban and started telling him about my night... at which point he informed that I had already told him all of this when I called him at 4am his time. Oops. Sorry babe. :-) Drunk dialing can be really dangerous.

Mikey and Brett took me to Philz coffee in the morning (thank god, I needed coffee so bad with my hangover!). We then went for brunch at a place called Tangerine, at which point we consumed mimosas... hair of the dog... I know many of you know what I'm talking about. ;-) Then we went to his place called Swirl, a super cute wine bar, picked up some wine (more hair of the dog) and went to Dolores Park to relax the afternoon away in the glorious sunshine. True to my nature, I managed to get sunburned. However, Dolores Park is fantastic. On sunshiney days, it's like a sea of topless men on this knoll in the park. Mikey and Brett call it "gay beach." Everyone is just drinking, relaxing, and soaking up the sun. It was the perfect afternoon. I'm looking forward to many more afternoons there. Furthermore, while we were there, one of the drag queens recognized me from the previous night and was like "It's your birthday!" Hahaha. :-) I'm glad I was so obnoxious that people remember me.

My birthday weekend was absolutely perfect. I was feeling really down and lonely on Friday night when I was speaking with Esteban, but the weekend totally perked me up. I still don't know if I would want to stay in Cali should it be an option, but I'm super happy I was able to spend my birthday with Mikey and Brett. They were the perfect compliment to my 31st.

Stay tuned for the next update, which includes a 3-day weekend with the hubby...

Knights in Shining BMW

I had an eventful weekend...really the last several weeks have probably been the most busy, exciting, exhausting days thus far in California.

Work is really starting to pick up, and I find that when I have colleagues here in town, it seems even busier. I like having my colleagues here because it helps me to learn my job when I can observe and work closely with others. But it seems like there is always so much extra commotion and nervous energy. It makes me feel a bit crazy and manic. It's just another thing that I will learn and get better at. You may have noticed that I don't speak much about the details of my job. That's because I work for an executive and so much of my work is "classified" information. As a new person, I haven't distinguished yet between what is ok for public knowledge and what should remain private. So at this point, I keep most of it to myself. I will start to share more later as I learn what I can and cannot share.

With that being said, I had a total of 7 hours of sleep over the entire weekend due to work (not because of too much fun). So that just gives you an idea of my schedule over Saturday and Sunday. But work just consisted of my weekend nights... but I have to tell you about my weekend days.

Saturday was the infamous 49ers vs. Raiders football game that I was soliciting company for. My boss gave me his two tickets because he was unable to go. Unfortunately (or fortunately - however you see it), I wasn't able to find someone to go with me. However, I really wanted to go see a NFL game and thus decided to go by myself. Plus, my boss gave me the tickets and I knew that he would ask if I went to the game. So I had to go. I knew that there would be some rivalry between the 49ers and the Raiders, but I was not prepared for what I experienced.

First of all, I took the train to the game since I didn't want to deal with traffic and parking. Plus, I thought I might consume some alcohol and decided to be safe and not drive. The train station is about a mile from the stadium. No big deal for me to walk. Except I had to walk through the ghetto. Parts of the neighborhood were just poor, but kids were playing in the streets. Other parts of the neighborhood were downright scary. Men were catcalling, people were coked out on the sidewalks, there were cars with hydraulics and rims and spinners. It was interesting, to say the least.

I got to the stadium and saw all of the crowds. The tension and aggression in the air was palpable. It's like when you're in a room with two people and they are having an argument in front you. You feel so uncomfortable, like you shouldn't be there. Well, that's kind of how I felt in the stadium. Well, no big deal. I got some beer and found my seat. Just walking around, it was so loud. There were so many people yelling and pushing. It generally felt very hostile. However, it was interesting to see that many couples, groups of friends, etc. were evenly split regarding their alliances. One person in the couple was for the 49ers, the other person was for the Raiders. I was thinking to myself that I've never seen such a mix of support amongst friends. Typically when you go to these types of events, whether it be football, baseball, hockey, etc., you see groups of supporters but they are all for the same team. You very rarely see the mix. So I thought that was pretty amazing. Until the action started...

I was in my seat and there was still lots of commotion and yelling. It was very difficult to pay attention to the game with everything going on around me. The guy sitting behind me dumped his entire hamburger on my sweatshirt during one of the plays so I was not a happy camper. The girl in front of me got into a fight with her boyfriend and spilled half of her beer on my shoes as she was waving around her arms. So of course I was getting more agitated. I looked up to see 10 policemen running in front of my row to the right. I follow their movement to see them arrest a man not far from me who started a fight in the stands. About 10 minutes later, another group of policemen run in front of me to the left and arrest another man.

With everything going on, I decided it was probably not wise for me to stick around for much longer. I already didn't feel safe since I was alone, but it seemed the crowd's aggression was escalating. I texted Mikey to see if he and Brett were home from their day at the beach. Mikey said they weren't home but offered to come pick me up on their way home, and I graciously accepted their offer.

After a closed exit on the highway and 30 minutes later, Mikey and Brett show up to rescue me. Honestly, seeing their shiny silver BMW round the corner was like seeing a knight in shining armor. While I was waiting for them outside of the stadium, 7 or 8 police cars pulled up and then all ran into the stadium. It almost reminded me of the clowns coming out of the VW bug at the circus... it was like a never-ending stream of policemen running into the stadium. So then I was really happy that I decided to leave the game early. What was going on inside???

I got in the car and Mikey and Brett informed me that I was probably in the most unsafe neighborhood in all of San Francisco and I should never go back. They checked that their locks in the car were actually locked like 3 or 4 times until we got back on the highway. The boys are a little dramatic, and I thought it was kind of funny... until Mikey sent me an article later that night saying that two people were shot during the game at the stadium and multiple people were beaten up outside of the stadium after the game. There's something to be said for one's intuition and gut instincts.

When we got back to the city, I went out with the boys to a couple of bars in the Castro. One of the bars is named Moby Dick and has a very phallic looking coral piece in the enormous fish tank. Moreover, there are many other great names of places in the Castro. There's a manicure place called "Hand Job." There's a sex shop called "Does Your Mother Know." I know I saw some others but those are the ones that stick out in my head.

On Sunday, we all went to Berkley. The boys had never been so it was a touristy moment for all of us. Unfortunately Berkley was not nearly as hippie-fied as I had been led to believe. However, I did get to see the small protest on nuclear weapons by some 70 year-olds. There was a Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, and American Apparel. Not the original town that I was expecting. But Mikey and I both decided that we wanted to go back to college. There's something to be said about those college boys. ;-) LOL. Dang, I'm such a cougar!!

Stay tuned for my next update, covering my fantastic birthday weekend...

Another week and weekend down

The second week at work seemed to be less stressful than the first. My boss was out of the office, and my colleague who I work very closely with was also on a business trip. So it seemed like I was able to complete a lot of things without the interruptions and distractions. I'm starting to learn about my job and the nuances involved with working for an executive. The great thing, though, is that my boss seems really nice, not to mention the rest of the team. I find it even more interesting to see how the rest of the marketing team is still trying to adapt to my boss's leadership style (vs. the old CMO who was in his position for 11 years and recently left the company).

It seems that everyday gets busier and busier and I find that I'm accomplishing less and less of what I intended to do that day. It's a bit frustrating so I'm intent on working on my time management this week and trying to figure out a better working style.

My daddy stayed with me for the last four days. It was so nice having him around. It made Palo Alto feel more like home. However, he left this morning to start his drive back to Texas. He's actually been out in the Bay Area for the last two months so it was time that he get back home. But I'm sad to see him go. I felt extra lonely today.

We had an incredible weekend, despite my dad not feeling well. He came down with his first cold ever in his entire life. But true to his stubborn personality, he refused to let it get him down and insisted that we go to San Francisco on Saturday. So on Saturday morning, we went to the most fantastic pastry place about 15 minutes from my place. It's called Pamplemousse and it's amazing!! Of course, I lived in Montreal where there are many patisseries and boulangeries, so many of them good. But this place in Redwood City beats them hands down. I've never had anything so decadent. However, I'm sad that I know about this place because I think I will be tempted to visit there on most weekend days. :-/

After our yummy breakfast, we drove up to Fisherman's Wharf and played tourist there and walked around, visited Ghiradelli Square. It was a gorgeous day. We had checked the weather on Friday night and it showed that it was supposed to be 60 degrees F and rainy. Well on Saturday it was probably 80 degrees without the wind and lots of sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. It was just amazing! I got some great shots of the bay and of the sea lions at Pier 39. It was an unforgettable day. Check out the pictures on Facebook.

On Sunday, we followed true to tradition and got Philz coffee, read the Chronicle, and did a couple of errands for me. I got some new gadgets at Best Buy, some bike stuff at Sports Authority, and a new-to-me bike from a woman on Craigslist. Then we went over to my aunt and uncle's house, where we all grilled up some chicken fajitas. Yum! The weather was so great that we were able to eat outside and enjoy their backyard. My aunt and uncle have a plum tree, a lemon tree, a grapefruit tree, an orange tree, and a cherry tree in their backyard. I've never been in a place where there are so many fruit trees. I love it!

Unfortunately after returning home, my dad and I managed to break my new bike. :-/ So now it's at the bike shop getting repaired. Luckily the cost to repair it is not that much so I don't feel so upset by it. However, my dad felt so bad that he cooked me a steak dinner on Monday night to make me feel better. That was our "last supper" and he left at 4am today.

So that was my week and weekend... as a tiny teaser for next weekend, I procured some 49ers tickets to a preseason game against their arch nemesis, the Oakland Raiders. Now I just have to find someone to go with me. Another problem to solve this week...

Who wants a father's day when you can have a father's weekend?

My entire weekend was spent with my dad... thus the title of this blog. :-)

So as I mentioned earlier, I finally got the keys to my apartment on Friday evening, a week after arriving in Cali. My apartment seems to be pretty good. I've now slept there for 4 nights and wake-up feeling like I don't want to get out of bed. If you know me well, you know that I have difficulty sleeping, let alone sleeping in a bed. And I just don't want to leave the comfort and warmth of my bed in this apartment. I think that says something. I must find out what kind of mattress it is before leaving...

On Friday evening after getting the keys to my apartment and lugging my three 50lb. bags up to my apartment, my dad and I went for dinner at a Thai restaurant. My favorite restaurant in Montreal was a Thai restaurant and so I compare all others to that one. Our food was good, and the company was great. :-) It's so nice to be able to spend time with my dad like this. It's almost like living in the same city with him. But when we lived in the same city, we never saw each other. So I think if we're ever in the same area again, I will make sure to see my dad more often.

After dinner, we went back to my apartment so my dad could see it and inspect everything. Upon trying to leave my apartment for dinner, I couldn't lock either of the locks on my door. There's a handle lock, but if you turn the handle really hard, it just pops the lock. Thus making it ineffective. There's also a deadbolt, but it seemed like the bolt and the hole just weren't aligned appropriately. So when my dad came back to my apartment, he looked at it for me and informed me it wasn't the door that was misaligned but my head. All you had to do was push the door back a little and the deadbolt slid right in. Hahaha!! It was definitely a blond moment for me. I'm glad that I didn't call maintenance or anything. :-)

My dad was checking out my cable TV, as he has been missing his since being in Cali for the last two months. And if you know my dad, you know that TV is the automatic way to put my dad to sleep. So he fell asleep on my couch and ended up staying the first night with me in my apartment. It was nice. It somehow made the apartment feel more like home. Meanwhile, I was unpacking those three very large suitcases and putting everything away. I'm a really organized person and generally hate chaos, especially in my apartment. I may collect lots of crap, but it all has a very specific place to go and is organized.

On Saturday morning, both my dad and I woke up pretty early so we got an early start. We went to breakfast and my dad helped me shop at Target for some items that I needed for my apartment. We then headed over to visit my stepmom's sister (I guess that makes her my step-aunt?). But then, I had to get ready to visit my gay boyfriend in SF...

The party at Mikey and Brett's was so much fun. I met some of their friends and hung out at their apartment. And let me just add that there would be a fantastic view from their multiple balconies on the three nice days out of the entire year in San Francisco. However, on Saturday night, you could not see much... not even their orange cat who slipped out of their apartment and tried to run away. Unfortunately because I had to get back at a some what decent hour, never mind the 45 minute drive back to my apartment, I didn't consume much alcohol with my drinking buddy. However, we will rectify that very soon. I laughed so much with all of the boys and had a great time. I can't wait to have many repeats of Saturday night. Oh, and it was Brett's birthday. I brought him some beer called, "Dead Guy Ale." I thought it would be funny because he's so old, he's practically dead (not really, just in gay man years). ;-) But Brett actually really likes that beer. And I did too... I may have consumed half of what I brought him. Oh well. ;-)

Sunday was an amazing day. There's no other way to say it. My dad came over to my apartment at 7am. (I know, sacrilege on the weekend. But what can you do??) We went to Philz Coffee for coffee and breakfast.... yum!!! Seriously, this coffee is un-freakin-believable!! It's to-die-for!! Anyways, afterward, we hit the road for a 2 hour road trip south to Monterey Bay. The drive was pretty fantastic. There was sunshine and blue skies for part of the way, fog and cloudiness, mountains, farm land with cabbage, strawberries, and artichokes, and the ocean. So we got to see a little bit of everything. We arrived in Monterey Bay and spent some time walking around Fisherman's Wharf. I also took a pic of my dad as Forest Gump. See below.


Then my friend from high school, Jeremy, and his family met up with us to tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a cool aquarium, but the Baltimore National Aquarium still ranks number one in my mind. However, the one notable exhibit was the jellyfish. I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E! I never knew so many kinds of jellyfish existed. Moreover, I didn't realize there were practically microscopic jellyfish. And the lighting they used was phenomenal. This was definitely my favorite part.

Once we finished, both my dad and I were really hungry. Jeremy and his family had already left to have lunch so that left just me and my dad to figure out what we were going to do. My dad suggested that we drive to Half Moon Bay for lunch. I asked how far it is, and he said it's like 45 minutes. Mind you, every time I drive north from Palo Alto going towards the airport or the city, I see the signs for Half Moon Bay. And it look us 2 hours south to get to Monterey Bay from Palo Alto. However, I just assumed that maybe the signs I saw were to go towards Half Moon Bay but it wasn't necessarily located close to the signs. Well, three hours later, we finally find our destination. Hmph. I was about to gnaw off my own arm. Then we went entered the restaurant, we were informed that they weren't seating for dinner for another 30 minutes. What?!? As a side note, the reason why we ate at this restaurant is because my dad remembered eating there back in the 70s. The 70s, people! What restaurant do you know lasts for over 30 years?!?! I might have been committed for murder had that restaurant not still existed. But luckily my dad's life was spared on Sunday because they let us order appetizers while we waited for our table.

However, despite my hunger pains and practically wasting away, the three-hour drive was awesome. Apparently, we selected the scenic route which goes along the coast of California. For most of the drive, we were in sunshine and saw cloudless blue skies. We could see tons of cyclists, surfers, boogie boarders, and kites. It was quite the spectacle!

Back to the restaurant... Let me tell you... it was totally worth the wait. We had some of the best seafood ever - seafood chowder, crab cakes, salmon filet with mango and avocado salsa. Yum!! So good. We were even going to spring for dessert because all of the other food was so good but realized that we just couldn't fit one more ounce of food in our bellies. The restaurant is called Miramar Beach Restaurant, and it's just wonderful. If you're ever in the area, this is a must-try. Here are some pictures from dinner...


So there you have it. My wonderful weekend with my daddy. :-) He decided to stay one more weekend and go sightseeing with me in San Francisco. Plus, I think we're going to have dinner with my in-laws on Friday. Another fun-filled weekend with the fam!

P.S. I did some major retail therapy this week at the Stanford Shopping center. And I feel so much better! ;-)

Office Space

So the SAP office experience in Palo Alto is so much different than in Montreal. For one thing, there are approximately 400 employees in Montreal. On the other hand, there are approximately 2500 employees in PA. Obviously the facilities have to be much different in order to accommodate the difference in numbers.

In Montreal, our office occupies half of one building. In PA, there are eight office buildings on an entire campus. In Montreal, we have a coffee machine and refrigerator that has most kinds of soda. In PA, we have Starbucks coffee, a state-of-the-art coffee machine, and a soda fountain. In Montreal, lunch is catered everyday in a small kitchen and the only choice of food is whatever is on the menu that day. In Palo Alto, there are at least three cafeteria spaces that I know of with a huge salad bar, sandwich bar, burger or specialty sandwich bar, an Asian bar, and two hot meal bars. There is always free fresh fruit and organic yogurt. And if you work late, there's typically free sandwiches and salads available.

I now work for an executive and am thus located with all of the execs and sales people. So I have to wear business casual clothes everyday and have a suit ready at any moment in case a CEO is visiting. In Montreal, I worked with development and could wear jeans, t-shirt and flip flops to work everyday. In Montreal, I never wore make-up and only half of the time fixed my hair. The other half of the time, my hair was most likely dirty and in a ponytail or braid. In PA, I've worn make-up everyday and straightened my hair all days except one.

In PA, there is a fitness center with classes such as zumba, yoga, and pilates. In Montreal, we were lucky if we even received a discount at a local fitness club with a corporate membership.

I'm now in a world where only telepresence meetings are acceptable and phone calls are frowned upon. However, 100 emails a day is OK.

The difference between the SAP world I'm used to in Montreal and my new world in PA feels extreme. I know I'm working for the same company, but it doesn't feel like it. I don't even interact with the same group of people. It's like I have a brand-new job. But like my dad said to me this weekend, many times you need to have a new job in order to understand your worth. Well, I hope that I'm worth a lot.

California Dreamin'

Wow. What a whirlwind the last two months have been! There has been so much going on that I haven't been able to blog about my travels like I enjoy doing. So the month of July was spent in Seattle with friends and family and then in Alaska with family. Those two and a half weeks were amazing. But I will have to catch up on those stories later...

So I'm in Cali!!! I'm officially a California girl. I have been here for a week but I just moved into my apartment on Friday. I did a little shopping for said apartment on Saturday and just purchased my first groceries to stock my kitchen tonight. I officially live here and am no longer "on a business trip" like it felt last week while I was staying in the hotel and eating out every night. This is my home... at least for the next six months.

So as some of you may or may not know, I was trying very, very hard to live in San Francisco... even though my office is in Palo Alto. I wanted to live in a place that had many qualities like the ones I love about Montreal so much - such as being able to walk everywhere, a sense of community, etc. However, due to some very strict rules as part of my relocation, I was unable to procure an apartment in the city and was forced to get an apartment in Palo Alto. Then when my hand was forced to stay in Palo Alto, I had to fight for the current apartment that I have (which is why I had to stay in the hotel for the first week). Anyways, there are longer, more boring details which are unnecessary. Long story short - I wanted to live in San Francisco but was forced to live in Palo Alto.

I hate to admit when I'm wrong because, quite frankly, I'm very rarely wrong and so I really have to swallow my pride. However, being forced to live in Palo Alto was probably for the best. By the end of last week, I was already working 12 hour days and was extremely exhausted by the time I was ready to go home each day. Moreover, if I had to commute 1 hour each way everyday, I think it would be really difficult to fit in my exercise routines. I still wish that I lived in a place where I could walk to the grocery store and to the pub. But there's a different trend in PA that I intend to take advantage of... cycling. Everyone cycles. There are bike paths on every street you drive... and tons of cyclists at all hours of the day. Plus, my apartment is right across the street from Stanford University, where there are tons of hiking and running trails so starting this week, I plan to take advantage. And next to Stanford campus is some prime shopping areas, including but not limited to Nordstrom's, Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, and Macy's. I will also be taking advantage of the shopping very soon. I do not have enough business casual clothes to get me through two weeks of work. So I need to add to my wardrobe. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! ;-)

The Valley is great. Every morning begins with some fog in the sky and by mid-morning it burns off and the beautiful sunshine is in the sky. It stays right around 75 degrees F (24 C) and then gets down to the mid-50s at night (13-15 C). The weather is just amazing. Oh! and my office... since I work for the Chief Marketing Officer, I have a decent office since he has a decent office. Our SAP office sits on the top of the hill and has a view of the mountains surrounding the Valley. And from my window if you look really hard, you can just see the water as well. It's incredible. I'm a really lucky girl.

When I arrived in Cali last Saturday, my dad graciously took me all around the Valley and helped me explore PA. The main road that goes through the Valley is called El Camino Real. Everything about that road is stereotypical of what I see in any movie depicting California. You can see all of the low, ranch-style houses and buildings. There are palm trees and tropical plants all around. When I moved to Canada, I was surprised when the anglophones said "eh" at the end of most sentences. I thoughts Americans just exaggerated and then it became a stereotype. I was incorrect in my assumption. The same is true for California. There's a reason why the movies look the way they do. My dad also introduced me to the best coffee I've ever had in my entire life, Philz Coffee. It's amazing. Each cup of coffee is brewed especially for you just the way you want it. Eat dirt Starbucks, I have a new lover named Philz!

In addition to my coffee love, I rediscovered another love... my roommate from Baylor University, Mikey. It's so great being back in the same area as Mikey. We had so much fun in college. While we've seen each other a couple of times since we graduated, we unfortunately didn't see each other that often. However, I've now gone to SF to see him and his boyfriend, Brett, both last weekend and this weekend. It's like no time has passed and things are just like they were back in the day. I always say the best friendships are the ones where time can pass but you can just pick up where you left off. And that's us! Plus, I was informed that the fag hag to gay man ratio in SF is completely out of balance and all of the fag hags are taken. Therefore it's a great thing we're reunited so I can help rectify the imbalance. :-) I'm always happy to help. Furthermore this weekend was Brett's birthday, and I met a whole group of fun and amazing men so I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with Mikey, Brett, and their incredible group of friends.

In order to get all around down here, I have a car. It's so nice having a car again. I often forget how much I enjoy driving until I get behind the wheel. In the seven days that I've been here, I've managed to log over 500 miles (800 km) on my car. And that's without the commute that I wanted to have originally!

So there are my first impressions of California. I'm livin' the life, but there's always more adventures to come...