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Yeah it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything here so I’ve got a bunch of catching up to do. I’ve been asked by more than a few times the past month about what it feels like to be 26. To be honest, I was slightly afraid of sliding down the other side of the quarter-life hump but so far, this grand year has been nothing short of epic (all-rise baby!). Haha.

The beginning of this adventure started on the set of one of the greatest shows of all time…. How I Met Your Mother. My awesome sister and boyfriend had planned a 30th birthday party for her at Big Bear so I flew down to help ring in my sister’s thrd decade. But before heading up to the mountains, Bobby and I got a tour of the set at Fox Studios where we checked out MacLaren’s Irish Pub and Ted and Marshall’s apartment. To top off the ice cream sunday of awesomeness, my sister baked me a cake for my birthday.  Haha.

Bobby and I at Ted and Marshall’s apartment

Julia and I at Snow Summit

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20080218-IMG_0049, originally uploaded by enderMC.

Snowday #9: Apparently, the groundhog was wrong. Diana, Joanna and I made a day trip up to Sierra and were met with 40-50 degree weather. Gorgeous blue skies and warm melting snow. For D’s snowboarding debut, I strapped on a snowboard for the first time in more than two years and tore up some blues. Oh yeah! Topping off the trip was a burrito from Dos which was just icing on the cake of awesomeness that my Monday was made up of. Cheers to old friends.

20080209-DSC_8986, originally uploaded by enderMC.

For some reason, I seem to only see the east coast in the dead of winter. And my seventh trip or so to the east was, like the others, freakishly cold. I started off in Philadelphia to stay with Steve who gave me the grand tour of the town: Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell (no, I did not lick it but the thought did cross my mind), cheese steaks at Pat’s (wit, with whiz), the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rocky Steps and last, but certainly not least… Morimotos. mmmm… kobe beef carparccio.

After two days in Philly, I headed off to Pittsburgh to visit Dave who showed me around CMU. I was lucky enough to visit on one of the coldest days they’ve seen all winter. It was 6 degrees and it felt like it. Played some volleyball, suited up, ate some good thai food, more cheese steaks, hung out with Jai and bought some chocolate covered bacon. Yeah… it tastes just like it sounds – very odd. If there’s one thing that visiting in the dead of winter taught me was that I’m sure I could survive the cold there. Whether or not I’ll have to the next couple years, well that has yet to be decided.

Fresh tracks, originally uploaded by enderMC.

Day 7: P, Annie and I made our way to Kirkwood on Saturday in a small break in the stormy weather we’ve been having the past week. We found moderate wind and blue skies when we got there which was great but the best thing of all were the fresh tracks we were able to make down some of the Cornice runs. I joyfully ate it 3 times in the deep powder on my first run down. Haha. Well worth it.

On a side note: Acuras in San Francisco are pretty unsafe places to leave valuables. The stock alarm – useless. Last week, I had to bid farewell to my little camera, my Timbuk2 bag, my laptop, my sunglasses, my old Ipod, my ski jacket, my CDs and my groceries. But at least I still have my car… so thanks for that and thanks for leaving my ski poles but I hate you for taking my animal crackers.

20080119-IMG_2830, originally uploaded by enderMC.

Day 5: Aileen, Thi and I hit the slopes at Kirkwood last Saturday. My fifth day of skiing felt good. The weather was great (a no-jacket day) but the snow was only mediocre (moderately icy). Groomed runs made for some nice high speed skiing but the bottom of the cornices felt like landing on concrete. Watching Nancy slide down an icy double black unable to stop was the highlight of my day. Oh and how could i forget: Henry and David’s synchronized stretching session.

Ahh.. It has been awhile since I wrote anything.  But since this is the first post of the new year, I feel like I should recap.  2007 was a great year:  skiing in whistler, listening to awesome bands at coachella, eating my way through japan, scuba diving in maui, running the sf half marathon, climbing in yosemite and thoroughly enjoying life in san francisco.  But there were also rough moments: a relationship ending and Bridget passing away.  But at least there are no regrets, just great memories.  I will classify 2007 as a transitional year for me: a year that was just plain fun.  I feel that this year, on the other hand, will be more transformational – perhaps a career change, grad school or fulfilling some lifelong dreams.  I can’t see what lies ahead but am excited to find out.

First half 2008 Goals:  travel (a lot), climb Mt. Shasta (ski descent?), sail more, ski a ton, learn to lead climb, read one book a month and enjoy my last year in San Francisco (for now).  =)

it was finally a relaxing weekend of fooding, going out and photographing.  i love playing with lights.
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It was a rather beautiful day in the city this past Saturday. A light breeze, a clear blue cloudless sky and cool temperatures made for a perfect xmas tree shopping day. But unlike any of the other trips I’ve been on, we decided to take this one by foot instead. About six blocks away in Hayes Valley and tucked away off off Octavia was the Delancey Street Foundation’s tree farm.   So after a quick lunch of gyros, we headed out to find our very own tree.

It took a little while to find our tree and I was a little shocked to see how much more expensive these things have become over the years. For a decent looking tree about 6′ tall cost a good $40-$50. Yikes! In the end, we picked out one of the $20 orphans that looked surprisingly nice. And with a pot of water, I’m sure she’ll be as happy as can be. Although I suppose if she hadn’t been chopped down, it would’ve worked out better but that argument is for another day. Seeing as we had walked down to the tree farm, we had to walk back but this time, with tree in hand. =)

The white apartment building behind us looks exactly like what I would expect to find in socal for some reason – Beverly Hills-ish.  But we were taking a break in Jefferson Park, just down the street from our apartment.

I’ve never had a Xmas tree in any of my apartments and am definitely glad we picked one up this year. The smell right of pine is delicious. Mmmm…

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to share something that I am thankful for this fall season … and that would be Monday nights. I am nowhere near a TV-junkie but I do love my TivoHD and enjoy some downtime on the couch every week – particularly on Mondays. Let me explain…

1. Chuck (NBC)
This 1 hour comedic-spy-drama satisfies the uber-nerd in me like nothing else. Case and point: the main character Chuck spoke in Klingon with his college friend/nemesis in last night’s episode to defuse an intense hostage situation. No, I do not speak Klingon and I find that fact rather comforting. =) But back to the point – I love this show! Haha =). On top of the uber-nerdiness, there is the sometimes very painful unrequited love, Jayne from Firefly (who is still trigger happy), gadgets, the super awesome theme song that’s taken from Cake’s “short skirt, long jacket” and of course, saving the day.

2. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
I think you know a show is great when you start referencing specific scenes in everyday life. Take the Vicky-Mendoza diagonal for example. Barney explains that for a girl to be date-able, she needs to be above the Vicky-Mendoza diagonal when placed on a Hot-Crazy scale. Cross the diagonal into the more crazy than hot arena and well, maybe you should rethink your commitment to that one. I have to be fair though and say that the Hot-Crazy scale is an equal-opportunity coordinate system and applies to both genders no matter the creed, sexual orientation or political affiliation.

3. Heroes (NBC)
The comic book themes are heavy in this show, the visuals exciting and the characters deep. There’s the battle against good and evil, the debate about what is moral, the protection of one’s family, the battle with your own demons, the struggle for one’s identity, etc.. What I like about the most is that there are no teams. You get a feeling for who is good and who is evil but there is plenty of treachery and the constant struggle for each individual to do what they believe is right makes for a very interesting show. Plus it’s cool to see Peter kick some serious ass.

Now if only the Writers Guild and the studios would kiss, make-up and compromise so the shows could go on…

October was roller coaster ride of really high highs and really low lows. But let’s focus on what was freakin’ awesome about the past couple weeks and leave the sobering stories for another time. Halloween certainly lived up to the hype this year with Alex and I suiting up for 3 nights in the city and handing out mounds of dum dums =). I would compare the festivities to how Barney describes his “Get Psyched Mix” as “all rise baby.” It all culminated to a middle of the week MV reunion in the Marina that we all had to pay for on Thursday morning. Haha… worth it.

But like all good things, the Halloween festivities are over. Although after all that, I had the next weekend to look forward to: Yosemite. I think that was my 6th time to Yosemite overall but my first for many other things. My first time rock climbing in Yosemite, my first time lead climbing, my first time taking a lead fall and my first time checking out the Ahwahnee Hotel. Yeah that place is crazy but I know one thing for sure and it’s that they really know how big fireplaces should be – 15 feet across. =) We climbed all day Saturday at Swan’s Slab from practically sun up till sun down – sometimes in the way of the film crew shooting for the travel channel. Seriously… who climbs in Seven jeans? But my favorite moment of all was on Sunday at the top of Nob Hill. 2 short crack climbs to the top (or a scramble around the side) and a sunset view of the Merced winding out of the park that can’t be described. Think… Anton Ego eating his first bite of Remy’s ratatouille… absolutely delicious.

Self portrait on the first morning in the Valley
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Jeremy gearing up
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Joel, defeated
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Couple enjoying the sunset
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