A Texas Christmas - Day 1 & 2
Saturday/Sunday Dec. 18th and 19th

A slightly sad goodbye in Oakland as I had to leave Josh for 7 days during my favorite holiday. Plus I really would have loved to show him Texas and have him meet the Fam. Hopefully we will get an opportunity to go to Austin together sooner rather than later. I was, however, quite greatful to be heading out to sunny Texas as the forecast for the Bay Area was for a week straight of rain! I also left for my holiday visit quite stuffed up but this didn't seem to stop me from smelling the heavenly smell of TX BBQ as I got off the plane (the Austin airport is awesome, they only have local restaurants as options in the food court areas, one of those being Salt Lick BBQ). My Dad & Donna picked me up and we headed to Cistern to meet up with my brother and have a few beers at the bar before dinner. I am proud and thankful that the very first food to hit my lips was home cooked brisket... ohhhhhh mmmmmm.... it was technically just a quick snack for me as my folks didn't want me to starve before going to dinner. We left for dinner and yes, I wasn't all that hungry, lol, so I skipped on ordering the chicken fried steak the size of a football and went with baked potato soup and salad. By this point I was fighting some seriously stuffed up sinuses and my throat was very sore so I was just ready to go home. My Dad's netty pot to the rescue - except it didn't work too well :( My Dad said he'd never seen anyone as stuffed up as me :(

Sunday morning, another netty pot and with a little bit clearer head, we all headed out for brunch in La Grange. I was reminded how much I miss country cream gravy as I was pleased to see that every egg dish came with home fries, bacon and a side of biscuits and gravy - yum! And then, omg, I didn't realize my meal started with a cup of fruit and ended with a giant piece of chocolate cake! All for $12 - sweet! Spent the rest of the day hanging out with the folks and my brother Trey, watching the Cowboys win, goofing off on the computer and opening a few gifts. Just the 4 of us, not a big event, but some special gifts all the same. I got exactly what I wanted and needed: a little sound machine for my bedside table :) Between the squeeling tires of people doing their best to back into the most difficult parking spots on the steepest hill, my roommate coming home late with his whistling habit, drunk people walking up the hill to Coit Tower and then Ferrel Parrots of Telegraph Hill all heard clear as a bell with my 100 year old bedroom windows and paper thin old walls... I have become addicted to my "ocean sounds" app on the iphone. It doesn't work as well on my slow/old iphone 3G so I needed a replacement. I also got a UT scarf which I am looking forward to using next season - Hook 'Em!

The Frank, Rimerman + Co. 2010 Holiday Party

So this is the ONE photo captured (end of the night, hence my shoes in my hand and us looking a little too relaxed) due to me forgetting my purse on a table in the ballroom and then it being stolen. We took some really cute photos too :( which is what I'm most sad about since we were all snazzy and dressed up. "Things" are replaceable and although it's a giant pain to be stuck with my old/slow iphone now, I can't replace the photos we took that night on my camera.

On a better note! ...We had a WONDERFUL time!!

October 30th
New boyfriend, new apartment, new roommate, new neighborhood... and now new car. Not a happy moment at first since it was out of necessity and not planned. My Jeep was on his death bed, literally had a death rattle (transmission going out) and a high pitched squeal when in park. Fun times. So, after lots of time spent in front of my budget, rearranging some items and finding extra wherever I could, I was able to come up with a monthly car payment. Actually lease payment. My new and RELIABLE (yay!) car: 2010 Honda Fit sport -

NEW APARTMENT!

<--Out with the old and in with the new!-->
...with a few things ;)

Big Move!
...ok tiny move, just across town. But very excited, new place, new (and first unknown) roommate, new/awesome neighborhood... YAY!

I loved my first SF apartment, it was cute, had parking, a grocery market across the street and 2 blocks from Golden Gate Park. It was a good run. As soon as the opportunity came my way to move totally across town to North Beach (italian district with all the italian food you could imagine, cafe's and pub crawls and strip clubs, woo hoo :P ) I was SO done living way across town in the part of the city that is always foggy and colder when the other side isn't! LOL. I wouldn't have dared moved to North Beach if I didn't have parking or if I couldn't find a roommate to afford this awesome pad. If you take a closer look at the itty bitty photos offered up here (sorry), you might notice that in the photo on the left, my old apartment, I can practically give you a tour from the one photo. Kitchen, living room, bathroom and behind me, my bedroom. Done! In the photo to the right... you get to see my fantastic kitchen and a smidge of the living room. ha! It takes a few more photos to see the rest :) One large bedroom, <----mine, a smaller 2nd room and then a sort of 1/2 bedroom, better suited for an office or could be a kids room. We (and I mean me) like to use this for a storage room and the Bass' private bathroom quarters. We are on the top floor of a 2 unit + basement unit house and the above is a pic from our rooftop access. Very cool to watch the blue angles fly by during Fleet Week. Wish I'd gotten some pictures.


...work in process

ALASKA!

Mom flew up to SF on Thursday, the day before so we could begin our vacation relaxed and ready to board the cruise ship the next day. Friday we boarded the ship around 1:30pm and went to check out our room. Mom's very first cruise, my second, but it was my first time in a room with a little balcony! Made such a difference. Really not much bigger than the windowless room I shared with Mel on our cruise, but with the sliding glass door all the way across and mirrors on one side of the room, it was so much more spacious and fun to hang out in. Plus I could just be in my robe and stand on the balcony and get some good pictures, way more warm than being up on the deck with the wind blowing you around.

Our cruise left San Francisco and our first port was Victoria, British Columbia. Mom and I had been there on another vacation a few years ago, so we decided to do the bus tour through the city and up to Craigdarrach Castle.

Ketchikan was the next port on our itinerary. Not a long stop, but we had time to go on a rain forest zipline tour. I loved it!! While on one of the little bridges we saw movement in the trees below, noticed a half eaten salmon on the ground and were able to get a glimpse of a black bear walking around under all the foliage. That's Mom to the left coming down the last line.

We had a full day in Juneau which started with a bus ride and a little city history on our way to the our guided hike out to the

waters edge of Mendenhall Glacier. It was really pretty to see it so close and mom and I took a photo with a chuck of the glacier :) After that we headed out on a whale watching boat. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the boat was all windows, closed for the ride so we would stay warm and then once we found the area where the whales were feeding, all the windows folded up. Our driver, a 4 generation native, said that they almost always found whales, but would consider seeing a couple flukes a very good day. We saw like over 30! There were a handful of whales in the one area and they were up and down, up and down, cruising and then they would doing a really tight arch to begin their dive down and that is when the fluke pops up out of the water.



Skagway: White Pass train ride, bus tour up to Canada to see the Yukon suspension bridge, Liarsville/salmon bake

- work in process

Met Josh
June 20, 2010
Annabelle's

For the last 9 months I was having a blast with friends, enjoying my apartment and life in SF and also navigating the dating scene. Not a huge fan. I like dating someone, but finding the person to date is quite painful.

This particular Sunday I had accepted a movie date from a guy I'd had coffee with, but not much of a connection, he was nice, but there was nothing else. I wasn't really thrilled to go on the date, but I like movies... what can I say?
I had just bought my new camera so I headed downtown early to play around with it and take a few shots. Since I was dreading the movie date I had committed to I decided to grab a cocktail and Annabelle's was just around the corner from the movie theater. I was at the bar and nursing a martini while I perused my camera manual and then in typical fashion I began to chat with the bartenders. This guy sits down next to me and he seemed to know them so we were all chatting a bit. I'm not sure what was so fascinating about the conversation, but this guy and I went off on our own tangent for a few minutes and it was just really fun. It was the most fun I'd had in a very long time, but sadly I had to leave to go on my stupid movie date :( I felt silly since we'd only talked for a few minutes, but I figured if he wanted to hang out again it could be fun. I was in a hurry so I just gave the guy my card, felt impersonal and cheesy and I figured he probably wouldn't call. Couldn't have even told you what he looked like, but he had a nice smile and was wearing a hat. I wasn't even thinking about a "date" with him, I just new it was nice to laugh, have fun and easy conversation with someone and not feel like I was being interviewed.

About a week later I got an email from Josh, the guy :) We emailed just enough to find out we were both very busy most of the month of July, but that we still wanted to try to go out for drinks. We settled on Friday, July 23rd.

Josh's version (told by me so I might get some details wrong): He said it was a typical Sunday, he was in a bad mood from having worked and closed the bar Saturday night and opened the next day. He was about to walk right past Annabelle's and go to BART because he wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody. Then he changed his mind deciding he'd have one shot of Fernet and then go home. As he walked up to the bar he realized a girl was sitting next to his usual spot and he "wasn't going to sit by another pretty girl at a bar", he wasn't in the mood. Josh walked down to the end, but didn't find a better seat so he came back and sat next to the girl. Me of course :) He figured I was going on a date even though I never actually said I was, so although he also had a fun time talking to me, he was a little unsure about following up, even though I did give him my card.

Apparently it was my spazzy nature that lured him in. Who would've figured? :) Josh later told me that it was my physical rendition of my story of tripping and flailing into my bus seat and whacking a guy in the head with my purse that got him interested in me. I honestly didn't remember doing that and was a tiny bit mortified I did... but I guess I can't be too embarrassed since, well it's totally me and it worked!

First Date:
Got home from work on Friday to freshen up and then meet this guy Josh out for drinks and dinner. I was not in a first date mood, they are really exhausting. Cranky about it actually, just wanted to stay home. He texted me to meet him at B Bar at 7:00. Perking up... thinking "I like B Bar..." Allright, a little more motivated.
I'm at the bar early, thank goodness because I don't want to have to do the look around for the first date guy that I cannot remember what he looks like at all! I texted him I was wearing an orange jacket so he could have less problems finding me, in case he was in the same boat!
He arrived... Hello! CUTE :) I totally didn't realize when we met that he was so cute... and bald. Great eyes, Great smile and really works the bald thing. Tall and slim - just handsome! *sigh - yay me! First date already going much better than my cranky pants had imagined :) Then, within the first 5 minutes, I remembered why I wanted to see him again. We just talked like mad and couldn't stop, it was so much fun! We had to pull ourselves away to go to dinner. He took me to this really awesome place, Organic, where he suggested we start with Prosecco. (swooning) It took us forever to actually get to the menu because we couldn't stop talking! We had a delicious dinner, we shared everything, great wine, tons of fun conversation... it was the best first date ever. We talked and walked several blocks and I thought we were going to part ways at the BART station, it was getting close to midnight and I knew there was a last train to Oakland soon. He suggested one more drink at a bar on the corner. Ok I thought, he knows the train schedule better than I do and knows he needs to get across the bay. Josh said he just watched the clock, which was behind my head, go past the time for his last train, but he didn't care. He was enjoying our evening too much :) So at the end of our 6 and a half our date, he made me wear his coat while we waited for a cab for me. A week later we opted to meet earlier so wouldn't have to stay out so late to get a 6 hour date in... yeah, we met at 5:30 and managed an 8 hour date instead. ;)

Girls Visit - Buffalo, NY!
June 2010

Since Mel's move from Virginia to Buffalo, she and Tom found a house! It's really cute and has a huge lot, great for hanging out on their porch in the backyard. So Chandra and I flew up in late June for a visit. Melanie took us to downtown Buffalo for some live music and gave us a tour. We ended up hangingout in our PJ's, talking and watching movies for the majority of the time which is usually my favorite part of our being together :)

My second favorite was our visit to Niagara Falls, a first for me and Chandra. The force of all that water is really just indescribable and very cool to witness. We sprung for the Maid of the Mist boat ride which takes you to the middle of the horseshoe falls end. There is so much mist you can't really get any photos. A tiny bit scary too, feels like you might get sucked in closer and then be crushed into tiny bits from the force of the falls! The free snazzy blue ponchos are a bonus. After touring the American side of the falls, Melanie drove us over the border to Canada to see the view from that side. Equally impressive and so nice to face it and see it from a wider view. On the American side you are looking over the railing down at the falls or from the water looking up. We hung out on a cafe's patio and had a few beers waiting for the sun to set and see the falls light up. Once it gets pitch dark, fireworks go off, everyday during the summer... I think. We decided to start making our way back to the car while the other tourists stood around gazing at the fireworks. This was a great plan because we had to walk along the main street anyway so we could also watch the fireworks. Then, in typical Shelby fashion... I fell. Off the curb. Rolled my ankle enough that it hurt like the dickens. I limped back to the car, took some advil and elevated it for the ride home, then iced a bunch over the next 24 hours. It was swollen and left me limping a bit for a few days, but overall it could have been much worse! Ugh... I'm gonna need a walker before I'm 50.

FINALLY. I've been working on this scrapbook for over a year. There were some serious coupons for shutterfly so it motivated me to finalize our London scrapbook (2006 - I'm so terrible!).

Click here to view this photo book larger