What's more American than Independence Day?

Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than getting a good spot for the Alameda parade?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than barbecues?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than Amy?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than baseball?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than squinty eyed smiles?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than fuzzy pictures taken while bouncing crying/sleeping babies?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than Red Dawn?



Nothing. Nothing.

What's more American than High School Musical?



Nothing. Nothing. Seriously, absolutely nothing here. I've heard of this from Abbie and had to Netflix it...good call!

Well Done Me

As many of you know I'm studying for the GMAT. I love standardized tests. I also love doing math that I haven't done since junior high. Luckily, I think I may be smart enough. Check this out:

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Too bad none of the questions on this little quiz have appeared in my GMAT study book. Wish me luck!

The Crimson Wave

A few weeks ago I officially joined the Alameda Bike Gang. The gang started just over a year ago when I moved to Alameda and Courtney, Sarah and I decided that we would start a gang and beat up other people in the ward that didn't live on the island. However, since I didn't have a bike, I couldn't really go on the gang bike rides. When Gnu moved to the island he instantly became a member of the gang and threatened my expulsion from the gang because I didn't have a bike. Therefore, in an effort to keep myself in the club, I finally bought a bike.



Even at the risk of making this sound like a Craig's List posting (where I actually found the bike) I will continue to talk about it. According to the previous owner this is a 50's Schwinn World Tour Cruiser. I have no idea if that is correct or what that even means, but I love it! It has a basket. It is red...well, like a burnt redish color. It has one speed so I don't have to worry about all of that gear shifting thing. It has a foot brake, again, I don't have to worry about all that handle bar stuff. It is perfect for getting around the flat little island I call home.



Now, when the gang goes out late at night to cause trouble, I can go too. This bike has been around the block so many times, I can't even count. It's furthest trip has been a late night run to the library to return an overdue book. I still need to get myself a bike lock--I'm paranoid that it'll disappear the second I leave it somewhere even with a lock on it (can you blame me? Who wouldn't want this beauty?) I also need to get a helmet. Although I personally don't like helmets and am sure I will look like a total dweeb in one, I am pro-safety and tend to follow such safety guidelines (seat belts, closed toed shoes at Lagoon, etc.) in an effort to conform to society and regulations determined by the man. That and I think dying by getting my head bashed in during a bike accident would totally suck. So, I need to get these two things, and I will then ride my bike more often.



Today is the perfect day to go for an afternoon bike ride along the beach. Check out my shadow. That is the shadow of someone wishing she was on the bike and not wearing a dress thus preventing a "G-rated" bike ride for the kids in the neighborhood (read--I don't want to go around flashing my white biker shorts underneath my dress).



The Alameda bike gang is always looking for newcomers. All you need is something with wheels (a bike, long board, roller skates, Razor scooter, etc.). If we get big enough we could be in contention for a spot in the parade next year.

Freaks and Geeks

I don't know how many of you caught this little gem back when it originally aired. However, thanks to Netflix you can do what Courtney, Gnu and I did and watch it all day on Sunday. I highly recommend it!

Spending five hours of my day watching this show has gotten me to think about what exactly it means to be a freak and/or a geek. I did the little quiz on Cindy's blog. I also was a total nerd...fine, I buy it, whatever. However, it still didn't answer the question as to what it means to be a freak and/or a geek.

This quandry reminds me of a little game my friends and I played one year in college. Remember when you were in elementary school and you would break into teams for dodge ball/kick ball/red rover (insert your favorite school yard game here). Then do you remember standing there hoping that one of the team captains would pick you to be on his/her team, desperately hoping and praying that you wouldn't be the last one standing there. All of this stress because the last kid standing there was automatically designated to be on the other team by the first team captain saying, "He's on your team." We all know what that meant and nobody wanted to be that guy. Well, the game we played was basically putting people on our friend's team. Chelsea's team got loaded up with people that we found at Six Flags--yes, let your minds imagine the types of people we found there. While Brynn's team filled up with all awkward guys--she hated us so much for it. In essence, we put the "freaks" in Chelsea's team and the "geeks" in Brynn's. In hindsight, yes, I was a total jerk and should have treated all of these people as children of God, please forgive me. Nonetheless, I was trying to define the definitions of what it was to be a freak and/or a geek.

Do we ever outgrow being a freak or a geek? I spent most of last week melting in Phoenix (seriously 115, it was horrible!!) and observing many alleged freakish behaviors. It would obviously be rude to take pictures, but I was able to pull out my notebook and write them down so as not to miss anything.

I saw a lady with a bejeweled denim jacket. I love bedazzling my clothing as much as the next guy, but this may have been a little over the top. Every color of the rainbow was represented in plastic shiny jewels stuck to the shoulder and upper back of the jacket. How is it possible to not have these things poking you while wearing a bag across your shoulder?

While on a ride along with my sales rep in Phoenix, we visited a paralegal who had a sequined blue shirt on. Completely sequined blue shirt that she wore to work in an office on a Tuesday. She also had feathered bangs and side bangs and straight hair in the back. I hadn't seen this look in years...okay, I'd never seen this look in real life only movies and tv shows on Nick at Night.

I ate lunch at an average restuarant that appeared to be a local hot spot. While waiting for the server to return with the check, I looked over and saw an older gentleman reach down into his cowboy boot to pull out his wallet. People actually keep their wallets in their cowboy boots...how awesome is that? I've got to get myself some cowboy boots.

I spent about a day and a half at our booth on the exhibit floor for the Arizona State Bar show. Usually, I don't tend to see too much odd behavior amongst attorneys, they tend to be an old conservative bunch. However, two people caught my eye. The first was a lady just walking around. Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to her, but I made a mental picture of her outfit that I will now try to describe for you. I'll start at the top. Her black hair was in a pony tail covered up by an American flag bandana. Then she wore a red mesh top over a blue leotard. Then she had on a pair of pink, blue and red leggings with pictures of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean on them. I got stuck on the leggings and have no recollection of the shoes. This outfit was a masterpiece. I wonder if she wears that in the courtroom? Next was a man going by the name of David Brown. I don't know if I can believe him because I caught him being dishonest about a few other things. First of all, he had a toupee on his head--can't be honest about the status of his hair. Second, he had the initals ADS monogrammed on his shirt. Where do you get ADS out of David Brown? How am I to believe such a man? He showed up the second day of the conference in the exact same outfit.

These people all had one thing in common. It didn't matter if they were a freak or a geek, they were happy. My observation and judgment didn't change they way they acted. Not one of them seemed sad or miserable or even cared about what I or anyone else thought about them. So, now, I don't only know what it means to be a freak or a geek, but I also don't know why it matters in the first place.

So, the doomed question. Am I a freak or a geek? Do I do things that make other people giggle and write about me in their blog so all of their friends are amused by my antics? Am I being placed on someone else's "team" in an effort to mock and torment that person? Are my friends therefore freaks and geeks too? Must it be that we all have a little freak and geek in each of us and the goal of life is to just let our freak flag fly?

Just Another Day at the Park

It is summertime which means baseball time. I'm not a big baseball fan, not at all in fact. I've been to a handful of Giants games. I was with friends so I could occupy my time fine enough. However, my first A's game was super close thus allowing me to actually watch and enjoy the game. Hey, did you know baseball games can be fun? There are two rules to make baseball games fun. 1) Sit at least this close. And 2) Have a guy that looks like this sit in front of you and hit on you--awesome!

Matchy Matchy Brown Squared

Here are Erica and Courtney in matching adorable brown dresses at Kara's wedding. Being Mormon is super great, it really is. And temple weddings are wonderful. I can't imagine my life any other way...but this also means that I rarely get to attend any of those fancy weddings that grace the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings with the bride walking down the aisle at a vineyard and everyone is in pretty dresses and then you eat awesome food and dance all night. So, you can only imagine my delight when Kara invited us to her wedding. Her big fancy, in a vineyard, pretty dress wedding. She looked gorgeous. The weather was gorgeous. It was storybook. It really was. Here she is walking down the aisle.



And here is the beautiful Vicky Hill as a bridesmaid. She set up Kara and Adam and look how that turned out. The two of us get to visit teach each other which is awesome! Plus, she looks gorgeous in her dress too.



I have to say that driving for over 2 hours to cover just about 35/40 miles was well worth it when we got to go to the wedding. Thanks Kara for letting us come and for the beautiful wedding. Plus, it gave me a chance to wear my shoes that I'm still totally in love with.

A Hiking We Will Go

I woke up really early on Saturday to spend the majority of the day staring at this:



Don't get me wrong, Gnu's got a great little toosh, and I'm sure his adorable fiance Whitney loves it. However, it was really early on the start of a super long day. We went up hiking near Pt. Reyes. If you haven't been there, go, it's gorgeous. I bet Gnu would even join you if you want to stare at his toosh all day!

Hiking along the coast line made me super glad that I live in California. Sure I had gorgeous mountains in Utah, but they weren't right next to the ocean.



We hiked up a really steep hill that reminded me that I'm not as fit as I once was and even made me consider passing out along the trail thus missing my opportunity to see this:



You may notice that I am still out of breath in that picture and barely standing up. Thank you Amy for preventing me from falling to my death. I don't think I fully recovered until I was down at the beach.



and able to jump this high:



Thank you Gnu for my first ever jumping picture. I'm really proud that you were able to get it on the first try when I used about 35 pictures to get you jumping--at least you aren't in the film era anymore, right?



I got some well needed rest eating lunch on the beach and was ready to book it the 5.5 miles back to the car in order to get home in time to shower for Courtney's graduation dinner at the Gingerbread House.

It didn't take me long on the 5.5 miles back to the car to realize how stupid we were to keep hiking past our original 4 mile turnaround point. The out-of-shape factor was definitely starting to play a bigger role in my tired level. With the help of adorable new girl Tori, I was able to make it back to the car with 0 seconds to spare. Gnu and I jumped in, pawned off our carpoolers on other people and headed for dinner. (Home to shower first and then dinner--yes, I showered and got ready in about 10 minutes, I'm amazing!)



Ever since Courtney and I first discovered this little gem by the freeway on our way to the tube to Alameda, we have often wondered what it would be like to actually eat there. Courtney's graduation was as good an excuse as any...and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I do hope that Courtney blogs about it because she has all of the pictures. It was definitely an experience.

True to form of late, last Saturday was exhausting. I miss the good ol' days where I could sleep in until 11 and then watch an ABC Family movie marathon all day. When did I sign up for this event filled lifestyle? It's fantastic.

Blogging from the Bus

Today I saw a pale man with white hair. Imagine this. A pale man with white hair. He didn't have white hair just on his head. No. In fact, his arm hair was white too. Are you imagining this? Contrasted with his black t-shirt and black jeans, I was freaked out by this phenomenon. He was so white...it made me look tan by comparison. I hope I see that man again so we can become friends.

As the title of this blogs states, I'm blogging to you all now from the comfort of the bus. (Well, it was a lot more comfortable before some man thought he could sit next to me. There are plenty of other seats available, why would you sit next to the person with a computer open on her lap and her bag next to her only to make her move her bag and type on the computer all awkward like? Jerk!!) Anyway, back to the story: Technology is awesome. I'm on the internet on the bus. Who would have ever thought that we could live in a world where such luxury was possible? I wonder what fine things will be next? Teleporting? I sure hope so!

Stealing the Show

As many of you may recall, Courtney and I began serious rehearsal of the Air Supply classic, Making Love out of Nothing at all, several weeks ago. I told you all that we were trying to perfect it for open mic night or other such opportunities to showcase our talent. Well, to be quite honest, I wasn't planning on ever letting a performance of that song leave the apartment. Much to my surprise, Courntey was. Last night at acoustic night at the institute, we held nothing back and performed our best to date performance of the Air Supply classic.



We moved many in the audience to join in and sing the chorus. Look at the smiles of happiness and glee from those who could witness the spectacle.



Now, to be completely honest, it was mortifying. I don't sing in public and I'm pretty sure Air Supply is the only band that could inspire me to do so ever again. We did fall apart a little at the end when I couldn't control my giggling when I was supposed to be doing the "Making Loves" but we were able to pull it together and finish on a very lovely "Out of nothing at all."

Even better were the not so subtle promptings to join the choir that were focused in my direction all day at church. Sorry Mackenzie, I don't do the choir. I'm going to go ahead and hide that "talent" under a bush. We'll save the choir for the real singers.

Copying Natalie

So, my life coach posted this on her blog, therefore, I must follow. This is actually pretty funny. I went to Google and typed in "Alisa needs" and pressed enter. These are the top nine things that I need:

1) Alisa needs a home without children (this is so true, I have sticky issues. I love my nieces and nephews but prefer living with adults)

2) Alisa needs to quit working (again, couldn't be more true if I made this stuff up))

3) Alisa needs to think through the issues (like I'd admit if that one was true))

4) Alisa needs food every couple of hours (preferably chocolate!) (I didn't even have to add in that last part, it was already in Google, so true about the food though))

5) Alisa needs help...and not just the psychiatric kind (now this is getting a little self-destructive))

6) Alisa needs to get her own (don't even ask))

7) Alisa needs to wait for Annette to not be around because she doesn't want her...(again super true, I don't know what comes after her...but I know it has got to be true. I don't want anything to do with Annette, I can't stand her.--if an Annette is reading this I'm not talking about you, promise))

8) I'm not saying Alisa NEEDS any enhancement, but her size seems to vary (ha ha ha ha ha, awesome!))

9) Alisa needs to sing deeper more (how perfect is this because it leads me to my next blog subject))

Thanks Natalie, that was fun!

You Should Never Tell a Lie

Before you all head out for a weekend of fun, please keep this following lesson in mind:

Other People's Kids

Okay, I'm sick of looking at my feet every time I open my blog...yuck...what was I thinking when I decided to post my feet on the internet. I've reached an all time low. The shoes are great, but next time I will refrain from showcasing my feet with them. They are much cuter from my angle anyway (looking down from just over 5 feet away).

Anyway, I've recently become an aunt for the 5th time. I love being an aunt. It is so fun to spoil little children and dress them up in adorable little clothes. I am also lucky that I get to live by one of my nephews and the baby in utero (Heidi Anderson--no mom and dad, Stephanie and Erik aren't going to name her that, but I think it would be funny).

Berkeley, my adorable nephew, just loves animals. I went down to Stanford to go to the local carnival and study math with Stephanie. It was an awesome day. Here is my adorable little nephew:



I never knew how much of a Dr. Dolittle he was. He is riding that pony like a John Wayne natural.









After that horrible experience was over for Berkeley, we decided to test his love for animals out in the petting zoo.







The whole ordeal was so traumatic that it took a Capri Sun,



a sno cone,



and another Capri Sun to help the poor kid recover.



We eventually went back to Stephanie's for so much needed naps. Berkeley is a good kid and I'm sure he's going to be a great big brother in August.

I'm in Love

That's right mom, I'm in love. Don't start planning the wedding though because it's not like that. When I was in Portland I got distracted by all the fancy shops and got sucked into a Nordstrom only to fall in love with these:



My feet have never been more happy wearing animal bi-products (although I'm pretty sure that no zebra's were killed in the making of my shoes). I hope you all enjoy the nice shot of my feet, they look white and big at this angle.

Remember the Cheesecake?

Well, awhile back we went to Tahoe. It was wonderful. We still talk about it. In fact, I just got back from Ali's house where we laughed about the awesomeness that was that weekend. You may remember that I made the most delicious cheesecakes, yummmm. Well, Erica was talking about the cheesecakes and then Elisa piped in and said, "Bret [Gnu] totally watched me eat it...off my chest." The entire room broke into laughter. She was referring to her fall while skiing and meant the "eat it" as in fell and wiped out. However, this was right after cheesecake talk...it was amazing. My stomach still hurts a little bit, as do my cheeks.

Oh, good times.

I know this doesn't truly appease Leslie, Amy and Natalie. I did promise Amy a good 30 minutes devoted to the blog this weekend. However, this story was truly funny.

It's Bathtime in Berkeley

That's right tomorrow is the first Friday of the month and that means everyone in Berkeley takes a bath.



I was walking around the Cal campus a few weeks ago when Brett was in town and someone had filled it up with bubbles. Awesome. I was so tempted to jump in.

I try to Blog but...

As my life coach so lovingly pointed out to me today, I've only blogged four times in the last month. I'm sorry. So, tonight while watching a very depressing first half of the Jazz game I am blogging. Good thing I can't upload any of the awesome pictures that I need in order to tell stories with.

Dang it!

I'm going to have to regroup and try something else. Wait for it folks.

Riding the 51

I take the bus. Yes, I also own a car, but it usually only comes out on weekends. I take the bus to and from work. I love this set up and always wanted to take the bus when I lived in SLC, but I couldn't seem to get over the fact that in order to do so I would have to wake up one hour earlier in order to get to work at the same time. There also wouldn't be a cost savings on gas, and I would have had to walk a couple of blocks downtown for my transfer. However, I always imagined myself one day living in a place that I could just take the bus. Now, I take the bus. My bus is usually a big fancy bus with soft seats that recline a little like tour buses. My fellow bus patrons also commute into San Francisco and are relatively quiet with the occasional loud talker on his/her cell phone. I enjoy my commute and riding the bus.

This past week I had two opportunities that made me incredibly grateful to ride Bus O daily instead of any other bus. Bus O only goes to and from Alameda and San Francisco. Bus 51 goes from Alameda to Berkeley through Oakland. I usually take this bus when I leave work really late (I take the BART to Oakland and then the bus to my house). Last week my boss' boss was in town, and we had dinner after work. We ate at a steakhouse in the new Bloomingdale's mall. Of course I went shopping after dinner. I didn't find anything, but I also spent too much time shopping because I barely missed the BART I needed, so I was left waiting for 20 minutes for the next train. I therefore barely missed the bus I needed, and I was left for 30 minutes waiting for my bus. Yes, mom, I was standing in the middle of downtown Oakland at 9:30 PM (it was dark). I was completely safe. Anyway, I met a couple of interesting people while I stood there waiting for the bus. One homeless man was really nice to me and wanted to know what kind of a store JCrew was. I guess that did mean I ended up buying something because I had a bag with me. Anyway, he was pretty funny and told me not too worry lil' darlin'. Who doesn't love being called a lil' darlin'?

Finally, the bus is approaching a new person joins the crew of people waiting for the bus. He seemed normal enough. I got on and sat down. I later realized that I only paid $1.50 for the bus when it actually costs $1.75. I guess I owe AC Transit $.25, sorry. So, it was late and cold and I was bare legged in a skirt. So I sat on the seat on top of the heater. It was so toasty wonderful. Unfortunately the new fella came and sat across from me. He kept looking at me too. When on the bus you should look forward, out the window or down if you do not have anything else, like a book, to occupy your eyes with. Don't stare at the other strangers. (Yes, I did stare at the Jason Lee guy from Almost Famous, but he was almost famous--ha ha ha, I'm hilarious). Anyway, creepy! I was totally grateful when he got off the bus a few stops later.

Overall a less than stellar bus ride. I missed my fellow quiet commuters that don't stare at me.

I took Friday off of work. I had to take my car to the dealership in Logan. Guess what? A 51 bus stop was right next to the dealer, awesome! So, in the middle of a Friday afternoon, I innocently enough I hop on the bus. Big mistake! Big! Apparently it was field trip day. The bus was full of at least 30 8 year olds. Luckily they were all in a very giving mood and decided to sing for all other patrons on the bus. That's right. They sang, the entire time they were on the bus. I learned about the planets in the solar system (Pluto was still included) and how many minutes are in an hour, and hours in a day, and days in a week, and weeks in a year. I also got to listen to Yankee Doodle, This Land is Your Land, The Star-Spangled Banner and some other patriotic tunes that I couldn't quite place. Plus additional songs that I couldn't pick out or knew. True to 8-year-old form, they only had one volume level for their singing voices: LOUD! It was the longest 10 minute bus ride of my life.

I'm taking a moratorium on the 51 bus.

There's no place like home

On my way home from Seattle, I had a layover in Salt Lake City and decided that I should definitely spend the weekend with my family. Families are awesome.

Here's me and mom. We spent Saturday up in Park City shopping and eating. By spent Saturday, I mean, we woke up around 10, got ready and left around 12 for Park City. Bought a lot of clothes for the grandkids, got lunch, and then hit two more shops for new clothes and shoes. We were home by 3 and ready for a nap. I made my dad take us all to the new restaurant Pine. It was a good meat and potatoes place.



Here's me and Jeanette. Little sisters are so fun. I can still beat her up, easily.



And here's Mike.



True to form, I have no pictures of dad. He's like a ghost or something because we can never get a picture of him. I have no idea how Kellie was able to get one in North Carolina. It must have been the pistachio popsicle that distracted him long enough to snap a picture.

I then went to the Jazz game with Paul. Jazz games are usually a ton of fun. The Energy Solutions arena can get so loud and out-of-control. Plus, it was right before the play-offs and Phoenix was in town. (I totally have a crush on Nash--too bad about the stitches). Well, no offense to Paul, but the night was very underwhelming. The Jazz got totally schooled. It was the quietest I have heard the Delta center ever.

Well my weekend in Utah was awesome. Thanks for letting me come visit mom and dad. As always, I got to do free laundry and eat well!

It rains 9 months out the year in Seattle

That's right, I learned that in Sleepless in Seattle. And it is true. Think about it like this: there are 12 months in a year and only 3 of those months are sunny or 1/4 of them are sunny. I was in Seattle for 4 days it was rainy for 3 of those 4 days or 1/4 of them were sunny. Awesome.

Good thing the one sunny day was the day I wondered around town. I had a half a day in the city and I was going to go see stuff. I went to the Space Needle.



I went to the market and saw the pretty trees in bloom.



I went to the sculpture park.




I went to the aquarium. These are blowfish. Bad picture, yes.



And I did not go to the Science Fiction Movie Museum even though the building looked cool. I knew that there was nothing in there worth $15 from me.



My first night there I went to dinner at the Pink Door. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't. I did, however, steal a pen from the restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious. I took it to go and ate back at the hotel, but next time I'm staying for the cabaret show.

The next night I got to go out to dinner with Jason Campbell--one of the funniest guys I know. It was pretty tasty.

I went to Olympia on the rainiest of days, that wasn't too fun, but it was very green and pretty. I had been craving fish and chips and made the horrible mistake of ordering fish and chips at the restaurant we went to by the state capital building. Yuck! A mistake I won't make next time.

All in all, I like Seattle and I'm super glad I get to go there more often for work. Hurray for traveling to fun places!