Goodbye 2008...

This calendar was a huge part of my life in 2008. Since it is the last day day of 2008 I thought it would be fitting to honor my 2008 calendar in a photo as I prepare it for retirement. Happy new year's eve everyone!

Gorgeous Sky

The sky this evening had the most brilliant shades of pink and orange. Unfortunately the pictures I took do not do the colors justice but I still wanted to share one of the pictures.

Dinner With Friends

I met Liz, Rachael, Carolyn and Casey for dinner this evening at Carlito's in Santa Barbara. We all used to work together, but Liz and I now work for other companies. It was nice getting together, catching up with these ladies and hearing about what is going on in their lives.

New Books

Yesterday was library day. Woo hoo!

Run Fat Boy Run

Ted and I watched Run, Fat Boy, Run yesterday night. It was a lot funnier than we thought it would be. We are both fans of Simon Pegg and his performance in this movie was hilarious.

Carvel Ice Cream

After lunch today Ted treated me to a Carvel ice cream bowl. It was yummy, but I think my favorite part was the cute Lil' Scoops cup that had a picture of a whale on it. I'm not sure the significance of the whale but it was cute.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

I saw this movie today. It wasn't what I had hoped.

Transition House

My company partnered with the Transition House in Santa Barbara to purchase items for low income families. Several of us went to Transition House to drop off the gifts. This picture was taken on December 17th, but I just got a copy today.

Cookies And Stollen

My coworker, Dan, bakes cookies, cakes, bread, etc. Today he brought in a delicious sampling of his holiday cookies and stollen yeast bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stollen). I did not try the stollen, but I did sample the cookies. My favorites are the pecan fingers and the peppermint candy canes. Delicious.

Movies, Movies, Movies

I guess this post title should be movie, movie, but that doesn't sound as catchy. Ted and I watched both of these movies last weekend. Actually Ted and I watched The Incredible Hulk, and I watched Miss Potter. I enjoyed both, which is surprising since I don't normally enjoy superhero movies.

Gifts

Here are the gifts I am giving the two members of my department. The gift bags hold picture frames. The baskets will eventually hold homemade brownies. They have been cooling for a while but when I tried to cut them they were still too warm. Seeing as the baskets are empty it's not quite the full effect, however I wanted to take and post the picture before it got too late in the day.

Holiday Rush

I did some shopping today amid the holiday rush. even though parking lots were full I didn't feel any of the stores I went into were overly crowded. All in all considering it is the last Saturday before Christmas the crowds weren't too bad.

Stella Mare's

My department had our holiday lunch at Stella Mare's in Santa Barbara today. I am so bummed (sigh) I forgot to bring my camera. I took a few pictures with my camera phone but I am very inexperienced taking phone photos so they did not turn out well. Instead I decided to upload a few photos of Stella Mare's from my wedding day. Ted and I got married at Stella Mare's event center which is at a different location than the original restaurant, but the feel and the decor of both locations (French provincial) is the same. Next time I will make sure to take my camera.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer

My coworker has the neatest display in her office of the characters of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She has figurines of the main characters from the cartoon. She even thoughtfully typed up a short description of the story and characters for passersby.

Dinner With Megan

I had dinner with my friend Megan this evening at Via Maestra 42 in Santa Barbara. It was great catching up with her, but it was a reminder we don't get together often enough. Perhaps that will be something I work on in 2009... being better about getting together with friends. Something to think about...

Company Holiday Party

My company's holiday party was held this evening at the Carriage & Western Art Museum in Santa Barbara. The museum collection includes carriages, buggies, wagons, saddles, and equestrian tack. It is a neat place to explore. I took a few pictures of the store front facades and some of the carriages and wagons.

Decorated Tree

I decorated our tree this evening. Yea for the holidays!

Christmas Tree

Ted and I picked out our Christmas tree this morning. We decided to go for a small tree as we were not sure how Callie would respond to a tree in the living room. After picking out the tree we had a late breakfast at Lompoc Restaurant. We then headed home to set up the tree. Callie was very curious about the tree skirt. After deciding she liked the tree skirt she went to check out the tree. Surprisingly after her first inspection she hasn't paid much attention to the tree. The final picture is our Christmas tree ready for lights and ornaments. I love our little tree.

Miss Potter

I was supposed to watch Miss Potter this evening but I didn't. Perhaps I will watch it tomorrow.

Josh Groban

My Secret Santa surprised me with another gift. I love this album.

Twilight

This evening's sunset produced extremely brilliant purples and pinks. I tried to capture the beautiful colors however these pictures don't do them justice. It was quite spectacular.

Secret Santa

Ted and I are participating in a Secret Santa gift exchange with his sisters and his two cousins. I received my Secret Santa gifts today in the mail. New books, yahoo!

The Tales Of Beedle The Bard

Ted ordered The Tales of Beedle the Bard and it arrived in the mail last week. I am such a fan of the Harry Potter series and I can't wait to read these tales.

The Strangers

Ted and I watched The Strangers on Saturday night. The movie was quite a bit scarier when I thought it was based on a true story. We watched it at night and Ted had to stop the movie a few times because I was so terrified. After we watched the movie I checked it out online and realized it was very loosely based on a real experience. I wish I had known that prior to watching the movie.

Walrus

Somewhere between saving the picture on my computer and uploading it to my blag the picture got rotated to the right. Regardless I hope you can tell this is a picture of a stuffed walrus. My company is purchasing holiday gifts for two local families, and one of the items requested is a stuffed animal. I saw this walrus today and could not pass him up.

Pismo Beach

Ted and I went to the Monarch butterfly sanctuary in Pismo Bach today. Unfortunately we arrived in Pismo Beach in late afternoon and we didn't get to see many butterflies. However the ones we did see were beautiful. After the butterfly sanctuary we stopped in the pet store to check out the animals. We were treated to these two adorable kittens who of course I wanted to take home with us. After that we stopped in at Mo's for delicious bar-b-que. All in all a very nice afternoon/evening.

Dinner With Ceci

I met my friend Ceci at CPK for dinner this evening. I have not had the opportunity to spend time with Ceci in several months so I was thankful for the opportunity to catch up and spend time with a good friend.

Holiday Decorations

Ted and I are going to pick out our Christmas tree on Sunday so I got out the decorations this evening. It's so exciting seeing the ornaments we haven't seen all year and remembering where each one is from. Stay tuned for pictures of our decorated tree...