It was someone's birthday Friday.



It was a nice little round numbered birthday.  (That's a 3, not a 5...weird font and the picture is blurry.)




Happy Birthday Laura!




Hope you had a great one!




I know the red-headed-slut shots made it a fun night for me.  :-)

Love, sissy.

Flickr Link to more photos HERE

After a long Day 3 of trekking through Rome's ruins, we got a good night's sleep and woke up bright and early to face our last day in Rome.  We were also moving hotels due to a tennis conference, so it was my official first backpacking day.



 Boom and Erik woke up in different hotel rooms, got dressed without ever speaking or seeing each other and walked out into the hotel lobby to discover they were wearing the exact same outfit.  All day it looked like Stef and I were being accompanied by medics.  I love how this photo gives you the idea of not just how short Boom is but how tall Erik is.



Our first planned stop after checking into our new hotel was to take a walk through the Borghese Gardens to reach Galleria Borghese.  Along the way we stopped for a snack at one of the vendor carts in the park and we finally experienced the joy that is Paprika Pringles.  Don't let anyone tell you that these are the equivalent to the American BBQ Pringles, because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.  Sadly, the Pringles Website said they have no plans to bring these delicious chips to America.  Phooey.



Borghese was beautiful inside and out.  So many pretty things to see...but you couldn't take photos inside, so I was left with just my memories and whatever I could photograph along the grounds.



OK, so not EVERYTHING was pretty.  I apologize, but I just had to.  He was begging me to take his photo.  How does one sit on a cool concrete step and not realize that his ass is hanging out?


  

After the Galleria we took a stroll through Rome and I had a great time taking photos of all the wonderfully colored buildings and residences.  I love how warm everything is and how quaint the windows and doors are.

     

I also tried to get a little artsy.  I think I'll frame and hang these in my entry way when I grow up and have my own place.

We followed Rick Steves' walking tour from the guidebook Boom and Erik had to see the Spanish Steps, then Trevi Fountain and then the Pantheon.

        

More ominous clouds as the storms closed in, but I think they actual made the pictures look better.



We did something a little fun with this photo.  Click on it for a larger view, and then try to find Boom, Stef and me in the shot.  Kind of our little version of "Where's Waldo?" Italy style.

 

Trevi Fountain was crazy with people, but it's understandable considering how magnificent it is to see.  Every little detail is just beautiful and we couldn't help but throw in a couple of coins and make some wishes.

 

  

This place was pretty dang cool.  It was once a pagen temple that is now a Catholic church. But the main draw about this site is the massive dome with its 18 foot perfect, open circle.  It lets in light and and rain and thus there are holes in the temple's floor for draining any water. Seems odd and yet really cool to me.  So what do they do when Sunday mass falls on a rainy day??  No one could tell me.

We decided to take a small break, have some gelato (oh yeah, be jealous of all the gelato I got to have on this trip) and then we were going to retrace all our steps from our walking tour during the day so we could see all the same sites again at night.  In theory, we were excited. In execution, we felt a little crazy.

I took some time around the piazza we got ice cream in to take in some of the sights for your viewing pleasure.

     

    

We had a lovely dinner at an outdoor cafe.  A carafe of wine, a little pasta, great panna cotta for dessert and a lot of laughing.

     

I gave Stef and Erik my Italian phrase book opened to the Nightlife and Getting to Know You sections. AKA - The dirty section. Not that we had any plans to use some of the phrases in those sections, but it was pretty funny to imagine ever having to use those lines.  I think Erik's expression says it all.

We were all ready for a good night's rest after dinner and walking back through all the sites, but there was a small snag.  Our new hotel location meant we had to take the metro to a train and we must have misread the timetables because we missed the last train and we really had no idea how far we needed to go and we didn't  want to wander around in the dark.  I could see a sign for a bar up the block from the metro and decided that we should just go in, order a beer and ask the bartender to call a taxi for us.  Believe me, this was the best idea we had the whole trip. 



This was our bartender. I never got his name, but I say we call him Marcello.  Name that movie.

 

It was like the bartenders thought we were the royal family with the awesome service we received.  They brought us a huge platter of bar snacks (that we didn't order and we weren't charged for) and they kept the drinks coming (which of course, we were charged for).

We didn't know how to order shots in Italian, so we went with the colors we knew.  Pink shots came first and then we dared Marcello to make us a viola shot (purple).  Everyone in Italy wears purple.  We never figured out why, but almost every retail shop window had mannequin after mannequin shrouded in purple clothes.  Marcello was game for this little dare, but unfortunately he couldn't get the shot to turn purple...instead we got a verdi (green) shot.  Boom, a beer and a shot in, pointed at Marcello and shouted, "FAIL!" We all giggled at the joke, but he didn't understand what "fail" meant.  I had no idea what the Italian translation was, but figured out the translation for "to lose," which is Pertere.  Upon my shaky conjugation to "Pertato!" Marcello took a moment to think and then sadly said, "Si...YES, I LOSE!" 

 

We gladly took the green shots and then some appropriately named BOOM-BOOM shots.  Then Marcello came out with a tray of new shots and said proudly, "Si, I no LOOOOOSE!"

    

Voila, Viola!

    

It ended up being an unexpected, perfect evening and closed our last night in Rome in such a memorable way.  I think it may have been my most favorite out of all of the experiences we had.

Florence is next!

Today I learned that I like my dirty martinis "up," as opposed to "on the rocks."

I'm becoming so sophisticated I can't hardly stand it.

12:45am: My friend Molly and I arrived at molly's apartment, tipsy and pretty exhausted from a long week and an entertaining evening. We hiked the four flights up to her apartment and collapsed onto her sofa.

1:00am-ish: I get up to take out my contacts and brush my teeth. I return to find molly passed out on the sofa. I wake her up and send her off to the bathroom and pass out on the sofa. As my head hits the pillow I vaguely wonder if I should have eaten something or at least finished my bottle of water.

5:40am: I start to have a coughing fit (yep, that cold is still lingering), but I'm in such a drunken stuper that I can't bring myself to fully wake up to drink water or blow my nose.

5:42am: Molly loudly says something I don't understand, but it wakes me up enough to open my eyes and notice that her closet light it still on, which makes me wonder if she ever made it back to her room after I passed out or if maybe she's still drunk in the bathroom. The good friend I am, I swig some water from the bottle near my head, listen intently to see if I can hear where molly is located in the apartment, can't figure it out and decide to roll over and go back to sleep.

6:50am: Garbage trucks start beeping and making awful, loud noises.

6:52am: garbage trucks continue and Molly shouts over the racket, "I apologize for the garbage truck symphony!" This confirms for me that Molly is in her bedroom and not lying on the bathroom floor.

7:00am - Garbage trucks cease and then Molly's blackberry alarm starts to go off. We both ignore it and go back to sleep.

7:15am: My blackberry alarm goes off. I also ignore it and figure I don't really need to be into work on time because the two bosses that care about me being on time are on airplanes. Yeah.

7:16am: Molly moans and shouts out, "I think I'm going to die.". I realize that when I move my head it makes the whole room spin violently.

7:20am: the garbage trucks come back. Molly and I giggle and discuss how san francisco has garbage pickups three days a week.
The room spins some more and I think I'm going to die.

7:25am: I make my first trip to the bathroom because I feel like I'm going to puke and when I get all the way down the hall my stomach settles down. Stupid stomach. I brush my teeth in an effort to start getting ready for work and hoping that I can fool my stomach and head into thinking that they're not hungover.

7:40: second uneventful trip to the bathroom. Molly is moaning again. I shout out to her that I think I might die. She asks if we really need to go to work today. I tell her that I could probably get away with it. She groans because we both know she has meetings.

8:00am: Molly makes her way to the bathroom to shower after numerous attempts to get out of her bed and telling me that she thinks she's dying. I fall back onto the sofa and immediately fall asleep.

8:20am: Molly emerges from the bathroom and wakes me up so I can take my turn. She asks me if I think that its weird that she just took a nap standing in the shower. I tell her no.

8:30am: I lean against the shower wall and shut my eyes. I let the hot water hit the back of my aching head.

8:40am: I wake up and get out of the shower.

8:50am: I'm dressed and molly is dressed, but we're still not sure we can do this.

9:00am: Molly calls for a cab while I try to find all my belongs that got struin about during my drunkenness the night before.

9:07am: cabbie buzzes the apartment and we head out. The cabbie buzzes again when we're already halfway down the stairs - we don't want him to leave so we start to run. Hungover. Down four flights of stairs. I'm lucky I didn't die.

9:10am: I realize the cabbie is going through the broadway tunnel. It's stop and go traffic, the air is stagnent and I think I'm going to be sick. I tell myself to breath and repeat silently "do not throw up in the cab. Do NOT throw up in the cab"

9:14am: we're almost out of the tunnel and my stomach starts to lurch. I calmly tell the cabbie that I will make it out of the tunnel, but as soon as we get out of the tunnel he needs to pull over.

9:15am: cabbie pulls over and, according to molly and the cabbie, I "gracefully" jumped out and puked into a street grate on the corner. Pedestrians don't even look twice at me. I hop back in the cab feeling SO MUCH better and the cabbie hands me a couple of paper napkins. This is the second time in my life that I've ever had to puke from drinking too much.
My mom must be so proud reading this right now.

9:25am: We arrive at the office and molly goes in while I go to the ladies room to brush my teeth again.

9:30am: I enter the office and one of my bosses immediatly asks me if I'd mind ordering pizza for the whole office for lunch. I smile and try not to think about food. He asks me if I'm ok and I tell him I think I'll make it. I don't really believe this yet.

9:35am: same boss comes over to my desk and asks me to do one other thing and then tells me to go home as soon as I can. I begin to think I might make it.

10:00am: the rest of the office has arrived by now - we all determine that we all feel like or at least woke up feeling like we were going to die.

It's now almost 11pm - I haven't died yet, but it's still touch and go.

And out with co-workers. I can't erven tywp

My body hates me today. I took a ballet class at Crunch, which wasn't too bad. I haven't taken the class in over a month so I figured I'd be a little sore and it's actually not TOO bad and I probably would've been fine if I hadn't gone out drinking afterward. Not that I'm the type of person who parties and gets drunk during the week, but, yeah, that was me last night. In honor of my friend Kash who's off to grad school in Boston a bunch of us from the 21st and 22nd avenues went out to Trad'r Sam's to reminisce, laugh and say goodbye to our dear friend. I really thought I'd have a drink and then go home, but the drinks at Sam's aren't in your usual glasses, they come in BOWLS. We all had a scorpion bowl, a volcano (also in a bowl) and a couple shots of what they call a scooby-doo snack. The guys and Lin and April each had an Irish Car Bomb which is a shot of Irish Whiskey that you dunk into a 1/2 pint of Guinness and then chug. It's pretty gross, but does the job well and fast. It was a great night, and I'll miss Kash dearly, but DAMN I'm tired. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep...I kinda feel like my head isn't connected to my body. My body hurts and my head is fuzzy...it's only 8:30am....I hope I don't pass out or something because I really want to crawl under my desk and sleep. This totally sucks, I don't know how I let myself drink that much on a Wednesday night. I have to remind myself that I'm not in college anymore...I actually HAVE to think during the day. uurrr errrr...I don't think my Jamba Juice is helping at all, it tastes too much like the drinks I had last night (sans alcohol OF COURSE!).

Must work....must stay awake...must be able to answer phone and put together sentences....

My goodness it's hard to find time to update this thing. Good thing it's free (at least my account) otherwise I'd totally be wasting my money.
Quick update: My b-day was a blast. Lin, Kash, Brian and I head out to the Marina for some food and drinking fun. I wanted to bar hop a bit but we ended up going to SilverCloud (A Karaoke bar) and I didn't get to get up and sing my song until pretty late, so we just stayed there most of the night. I sang "Dancing in the Street," pretty well I might add, while trying to fend off a shirtless, drunk guy that was also celebrating his birthday. He was trying to steal the mic and dance with me -- I think he was pretty harmless. After that we taxied to Trad'r Sam's in one of those cool new British cabs with the seats that fold down so you can fit five people in the back comfortably. Very cool, but not a great ride if you're drunk and the one riding backward. Brian bought me a shot at Sam's that I can't remember the name of, but it was strong, nasty and put both of us over the line between drunk and GONE. We took some pictures walking the five blocks home that after they were developed neither Bri or I can remember what we're doing, why we're doing it or where we are. Interesting.

New Stuff: Went to Disneyland a couple weeks ago. Sooooo much fun. I hadn't been since grad night back in 1999, so a LOT has changed, including the addition of California Adventure and The Tower of Terror. I rode the Materhorn and Thunder Mountain a bunch of times...too bad Space Mt. won't re-open till next year, cause I probably won't get to go back to DL for another four or five years :-(

Just catching up with work right now...things not as hectic as in my past entries though, which I like. I'm also in the process of finding a new apartment. Hopefully I can find a studio or one bedroom for myself. I've looked at a bunch of stuff and have a couple more appointments set up, but nothing has really struck my fancy.
Kash is out of here after next week, so we're planning a Great America trip for this weekend. I haven't been since H.S., so I'm all excited about all the new rollercoasters, and Kash is as big a rollercoaster freak as I am, so I don't have to worry about having to go on rides by myself. I love how I can just take off and do anything on the weekends...ahh, the joys of being an adult with a steady job. :-)

Speaking of steady jobs, I should get back to work..again, it's very difficult to keep this thing updated when I'm interrupted by phones and people all the time and barely have a minute to check my VM or email let alone write up something witty. I'll see/do something cool and want to write about it, but then never have time. grrrr. Not that it matters, cause I don't think anybody reads this :-( Maybe one day I will have readers and LJ friends!!! :-p