Lessons

It's been torture to be sick this weekend - the weather has been outstanding.

The past couple of weeks leading up to my company's annual SF forum last week has been stressful.  Many of you know this.  Namely, my husband and daughter.  And looking back on it all, I realize that I've essentially stressed myself into sickness - very amateurish, I know, but at the very least it's given me an opportunity to refocus.

Zane and I discussed the lessons I've learned on our porch this morning over a cup of coffee / tea:

1. I will likely never escape stress in my professional life- I will have to fine tune my ability to keep perspective.
2. I'm in SF for a reason, and there are certain goals that I want to accomplish in my position this year because
3. I work my ass off for my family than for my own ego (I hope).  I did not work this hard, as a first generation Asian American to break into a male and caucasian dominated world and falter because I couldn't handle the stress.  While I'd prefer not to play 'The Man's' game, I'm playing it and I'd prefer to get out ahead than behind - we live a good life and I intend to keep it this way if not improve it greatly.
4. And finally, like stress, I will never escape jerks in my professional life - I will just have to fine tune my ability to manage them too.

In other news, I'm pleased to note that I started running last week until I got sick, that is.  Hoping to jump back into this habit once I'm 100%.

Have a great week, everyone! Stay healthy!

All About (mostly about) Tito Nicko

This past week, my brother spent another 4 days with us before heading back to Taiwan. It was a rare and wonderful opportunity for him and Anna to hang out and hang out they did. For me, it lessened the blow around the fact that I really just can't take off from work these days (at least until the first week of March after which I will seriously be planning some much needed R&R).

Over the course of a couple of days, my brother and I were able to catch up on life. Namely, how married life is treating us, balancing work, our parents, cities we see ourselves settling in and reminiscing on crazy childhood stories. What's more, Nicko and Anna were able to bond even further on this trip. My favorite moment was when Anna sighed, held N's hand and said, "I love my Tito Nicko."

Their routine went something like this: Sleep in until about 9:00am, shower up and head out for brunch. Anna never failed to make her uncle proud as she ate every last morsel of her meals - very clearly an appreciation we gained from our Filipino parents who took pride in the fact that they stuffed us silly with food...for every freakin' meal. No wonder why we're such eaters!!

Nicko's favorite brunch place was Mama's. Read his 'review' (email he sent during the day after they got back) here:

Yo, we just had brunch at "Mama's"......I mean damn that was the shizzy. I don't understand why people just don't fight each other waiting in line for that stuff. It's like the crack of American breakfasts.

After brunch, they would come back to the apartment and grab Sasa Boy. It was a well deserved outing for the pup as he was rejected by Nicko at every occasion he offered to snuggle with him at night. He enjoyed success at sneaking into bed with him once, which quickly earned him the nickname, snugglepuss, from Nicko. The weather was awesome the week he was in town so their park visits with Sasa was extended to a couple of hours after which they'd head back to the apartment.

Nicko needed to practice and noted to me how impressed he was that Anna was happy to let him do so after their afternoons at the park. She would applaud his efforts at difficult passes when he was practicing and was filled with questions about his trombone. They played music games and we determined that indeed, Anna has the Javier music gene. She has an excellent ear and great rhythm - the fact that she hums for a great portion of the day is probably the biggest giveaway.

After practicing, they would both take naps...together, all lazy-like on the couch while Zane and I slave away at work. Hahaha. Zane would get home shortly after they woke up and I would scramble like a crazy person to get out of the office at a decent NORMAL hour to meet them for dinner. We had Filipino food at Max's in South SF, Japanese in Japan Town, and tapas at Iluna Basque here in North Beach. Then, Nicko and I typically stayed up late watching the Olympics or Spike TV's special on ALI!! Yea, that was sweet.

Quite a routine, eh?

It was particularly great for me to hear from my big bro how fun and easy it is to hang out with his little niece. His sentiment went something like, "dude, she's so down to do whatever! it's so fun to hang out with her."

In other news this week, I got my hair cut and went to AsiaSF with some friends from work last night! I'm writing you today hung over :) Here are some pics for your entertainment (some from last night, from last weekend at the Palace of Fine Arts and others that didn't make the cut in previous posts):

Christina takes a blow job shot at AsiaSF! HAHAHA

OK, back to normal photos below...

February 5th - Having coffee at Wash. Sq.

Valentines Day, we go to the Palace of Fine Arts and enjoy the sunshine.

Climbers.

We then went into the Exploratorium and played :)

Then we enjoyed the beach before heading home for a nap...

Sasa plays on the beach.

Click here to see the entire album.

Anna took this shot of Sasa...

...and then herself.

Snugglepuss enjoys a nap with his pillow.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Valentines Day & Chinese New Year!

We've been enjoying fantastic weather this Valentines Day weekend and we've been out and about to soak it all in!

We kicked off the weekend on Friday night by heading to our first visit to the San Francisco Ballet.  After work, I whipped up a teriyaki chicken and veggie dinner for Anna while Zane and I enjoyed a glass (or two) of Pinot Grigio with some crackers and cheese.  We hailed a cab and arrived at the Opera House with enough time to explore the beautiful building.

Our seats are definitely in the nose bleed section, but it didn't stop Anna from enjoying herself.  Next time though, I'd like to spring for the better seats - it's a pretty big building so when you say you're willing to sit up in the balcony, you better know just what that means!

Yesterday, we decided to walk the historic Valejo steps and really enjoyed the quaint houses along the way.  We headed up Hyde Street after our serious hike uphill and treated ourselves to some mango ice cream (Zane & Anna) and strawberry ice (me). Yum!  We took a break on a bench near the Hyde street pier and then headed home for an afternoon nap.  :)

Sasa runs up ahead of us on the Valejo steps (these steps are a block from our apt)

Climbing the stairs we look back at the view.

This camera couldn't capture how clearly you could see the Bay Bridge in the background.

At the top of the steps with the Bay Bridge in the background!

The Bay, looking south from the top of the steps.

Someday, we'll live here...

Or here...how cute is this?!

This was a charming boutique couture wedding dress shop on Hyde St in Russian Hill

Sasa takes a break with us on the bench too...it was a ridiculous sight.

Zane has the rest of the day planned out for us, on this lovely Sunday.  It's 11am as I round out this post and we've all had a fabulously stress-free morning.  This week, Tito Nicko comes back for a few more days before he heads back to Taiwan and we're all SO EXCITED!

Have a great week, everyone! 

Whizzing By

Phew.  Made it through the week - while this blog is a good way for us to take a minute to reflect on all the wonderful things that we experience every week, it's nearly impossible to get a moment on the computer without it having to do with work!  It's a battle to stay off of ANY monitor when I'm with Z & A, unless of course, it's the series premier of LOST!!

The bit news is that last weekend, my brother and Dad came into town - it was great to hang out with my favorite Javier men.  I'm sure it won't come as a surprise for me to report that we ate very good food, and a lot of it :)  It dawned on me, hanging out with Nicko, that he and I are getting old - particularly when we discuss our parents' health and the pending full retirement of our father who, we've been informed, will be visiting his children across the globe if he's not hangin' with his boys in the Philippines.  He plans to sell the EL house and it's weird to think how the house we grow up in won't be the 'base' anymore...

We met up with Dex and Papa's very good friends, Tito Butch et al and Tito Mel & Tita Lilia.  It's great to know that we have 'family' in the bay area to visit - we're especially excited that on any given Sunday we have doors to knock on to request a full fledged Filipino brunch :) (Note that I'm kind of joking about that but am mostly serious.)

I'll let the pictures posted below tell the story.  Click the picture below and it will take you to the picasa album.

Nicko + Papa

In other news, we enjoyed our first visit to the famous Exploratorium (Hands-on science) museum located at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina district.  We got a full year membership as a gift from the De Leon family - we were SO EXCITED when we got our cards in the mail.  We've been talking about visiting there and the California Academy of Science (Natural History) since we arrived - what a wonderful surprise!

Our visit ended up being a bit of a premature celebration of the weekend as we attended their After Dark series of 'cutting edge adult focused subject matter with mixed drinks and cocktails'.  Basically, Anna was pretty much the only kid there but barring the special side presentations of 'adult content' and cocktails, the entire museum was available for her to check out.  It was a ton of fun!  We ended the evening by finally trying out Sushi on North Beach a mainstay in the area for 3 decades. The owner if Japanese and I love how the staff was able to say where they get their fresh fish and which that evening was absolutely fresh.  YUM!

We've all just woken up from a nap to find the sky clear and sunny.  Headin' out!! Tito Nicko is back in a few weeks for a few more days before he finally heads back out to Taiwan...