Milestones

This past week, and the next couple of days, hold a lot of personal milestones for me. Well, maybe not a lot. Three, to be specific. Then again, three milestones in 10 days is pretty good, I'd say.

The first milestone is my 1 year anniversary here in San Francisco, which was this past Sunday. Thinking back on that first day, filled with frantic dashes to look at housing, an A's game, and collapsing into bed in the house on Bryant Street, I am amazed by how quickly time has passed. This past year has seen some good, some bad, and its fair share of sadness. While I spend a lot of my time looking to the exciting events in the future, I must pause and reflect on the shifts and happenings of this past year. Living here has changed parts of me, has made me appreciate what the East Coast does (and does not) offer, and has given me new friendships and experiences I would not have had otherwise. I'm proud to have made it to this milestone - as many of you know, and as older blog entries show, this move wasn't always the easiest for me. Life, of course, still has its ups and downs, but I made it a year as a stranger in a new city.

The second milestone is my birthday. 23! I know, so young, but for me it's an exciting age - through college, into "real life," with responsibilities and bills to pay and a desk in an office. Not necessarily what dreams are made of, but it's independence. I'm happy to leave 22 behind, honestly. I made it a year out of college, survived a move and managed to keep my job, but 23 will be better. Every year, probably, will always be better, but 23 has goals to keep, places to see, even more change. I don't know where it will take me, or where I'll be a year from now, but I think I'm okay with that. More than okay; I welcome it.

My last milestone comes next Monday - my 366th day at work. One year! I stuck it out, and will continue to stick it out for a little while yet. No major failures, enough successes, and a persistent alarm clock. I think that's the winning combination. Much of this milestone is similar to my 1-year-in-SF milestone, but I couldn't leave it ignored. A celebration will be in order, likely in the form of an enormous cup of coffee and a deliciously gooey breakfast pastry.

There we have it - a few happy accomplishments on the life calendar. And for those of you who I won't see on my birthday - I miss you! and I'm thinking about you, always.

CTown and NSolo

Wouldn't that make a great name for a band? It's even better for a pair of newlyweds. Feast your eyes on photos from this weekend:

Packed in the car, part 3 of 17.

Mmm, pork.

Best self-timer picture ever. Way to be good-looking, guys.

At the service.

At the hotel restaurant, where we drink $4 margaritas, ate appetizers, and prepared for a night of debauchery.

Please realize that there are no other pictures from after the reception until the following morning, leaving a 12 hour photo gap that erases any evidence of the fact that we went to Silk City (part diner, part dance club - only on the East Coast), danced 3 hours straight, went to Wawa at 3am, that Audrey had to go to the hospital, or that Matt didn't come back to the hotel and showed up the following morning in his clothes from the night before. Ahem. Glorious.

Roadblocks

I meant to update this sooner, but sometimes life gets in the way. Example: a glorious weekend in Philly for Carissa's wedding, and then catch swine flu (okay, not really, but it was flu) on the flight home and feeling on the wrong side of ill since Sunday night. Oh well, back at work, and already ready for the weekend (if every week was a 3-day work week, I'd be a happy girl).

I want to save my wedding recap for when I have a little more time (so 3pm tomorrow afternoon) and after I send some kiddos the pictures from the weekend.

HOWEVER, I do have a shiny spot of good news that is very unexpected and totally welcomed - I'm getting a raise at work! I had my quarterly review today, and since this one is more on the informal side I wasn't expecting much more beyond "do this, not that, and good work with this." Instead, I got frozen yogurt with Pam (green tea and lychee, YUM) and was told that I'll be getting a raise soon. HIYO! Didn't expect this at all. At. All. I'm thrilled.

Lastly, my birthday is 2 weeks (!!) from Saturday. I think I'm going to order some cupcakes to bring to dinner. I'm definitely going with 6 red velvet, but what should the other 6 be? I'm leaning towards: Snickerdoodle, Latte, or (wildcard!) Orange Creamsicle. Help me decide people - which one would you want?

Stand By Me

I love this video so much.

Bored? At Work?

Here, let these distract and entertain you:

www.textsfromlastnight.com - I try to avoid laughing loudly when I'm alone at my desk on a daily basis thanks to this site. Recent example:

(678): why did i wake up with a kid named Raphael in my bed this morning?
(770): I dont know but you did call last night to tell me you found the last ninja turtle

www.overheardintheoffice.com - Thanks to Caitlin for reminding me of this site. Here's a good one:

Engineer: Damn, I'm tired. I was up all night with a case of the number threes.
VP: Number threes?
Engineer: You know, when you think you have to go number two, but actually you have to puke in the bathtub.

Also check out www.overheardinnewyork.com and www.overheardatthebeach.com for similar boredom-killing goodness.

Another big favorite of mine is www.jezebel.com. Read this if you're a woman or if you're a guy who appreciates snark.

Lastly, if you haven't set up an RSS feed or something through Google Reader, do it now. It gets you through those long days (like today, it seems). Anyone have other suggestions? I know about FML, and I refuse to promote it.