Anyone wanting to save a buck or two??

I knew it.

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

That's why I was excited to find out about the promo I'm about to tell you about.... I know it's had its critics: is msft is bribing its customers to use their new search engine? Perhaps. But does it get you presies and save you money in the meantime? Absolutely.

So above first is the "cashback" search on any product that you'd like to buy...not sure how diverse it is, but for the products I've looked for (aka the ZUNE!!!!!), it has saved me $40+ bucks and my coworkers have had the same experience. So try it already! All you have to do is download the live.com search perks app and you'll be set. All you have to do is download this app: here.

Just in case that didn't sell you yet, there is a smaller promo that is kinda cool - for every search you do on live.com (aka instead of google.com), you get 'points' which can be turned into products come April....even for signing up you get 500points :) That app is here and just use live.com for your searches instead of google.com and you'll get credits to turn into prizes soon.

Now lastly (for now anyways - have I mentioned I can't help it???), I'm going to solicit myself a bit... Not sure if I've mentioned it to all of you or not (ginny?!?!), but I wanted to make sure you all know that I can get all msft products for a big discount at the company store (which happens to be literally in my building now), so that means not only vista and office, but any xbox game (scene it or the new acting rock band anyone?) or wireless mouse you'd like - for a VERY reduced cost. SOOOOO....I promise I get no commission, but point being I'd be honored to help any of you out if you're looking to buy xbox, xbox games, zune, office, vista, msft, etc. items for anyone on your cmas list this year - just let me know and it's totally legit!! :D

Ok, if anyone else has any money saving tricks this season (besides the obvious "don't buy me anything" suggestion which I TRULY am abiding by this year...), add it to the comments on this blog and share it with everyone!!!

Love and miss you all :D
E.

It's my party...

...well you know the rest ;) Don't worry tho - I'm not really crying. I am actually excited - I managed to swing myself a date at the department christmas party!! I'm so stoked I can't wait for Saturday. I'm bummed Clay won't be here - but I think I can manage her myself. She's a 4 year old girl :D


FINALLY someone out here took me up on my babysitting offer! She is the daughter of a coworker and soooo precious - I can't wait. More on that to come for sure.

I miss all my kiddies up here!!! I'm afraid I've become some sort of freaky old woman from which people shelter their kids...everywhere I go I stare and them and wave, it's all I can do to not take one of the babies I see in the store and run off with them! Ok, ODDviously I would never do that, but times are desperate out here where not only do I not have any friend's kids, nephews, etc, but it's even at a time when my friends are poppin' out fresh pickens down south!! MAN I wish I could be there to babysit David and watch him grow - same thing for George, Hayden, Grace, Sarah Beth - ALL OF THEM!!!


Ok I've got to quit before I get too emotional ;)


So back to my party...we just had our Christmas party here in the new Visitor Center - cool compared to my prior employers, but I must admit - LAME compared to the other Msft holiday parties. But what do I expect - I AM only in HR after all - not like I'm in a revenue producing group or anything! ;)

REGARDLESS (have I pointed out yet how much I HATE the word irregardless?? It's not a word people!!!!), it was a nice party. I guess. Sick of families and kids on a certain level though - unless you met me yesterday, you KNOW I love kids, but perhaps for once a company party could be aimed at the single folks instead of the parents and kids???????

Ok, I'm sorry everyone. I'll quit.

I love and miss you all.
E.

Clay and Erika invade Vancouver - pt. 2

So I can't believe I left out one of the most critical aspects of our first day in Canada - we OF COURSE did our research to ensure that the Ga/Ga Tech game would be on tv and that we would have absolutely 150% certainty that we could watch and enjoy the good ole' fashion hate up north. So Canada finally did us good by showing the Seattle station that was playing the game. PHEW! That was when we decided we'd stay through Saturday - otherwise I can guarandamntee you we would have fled back to our home country to do so.

So that's the good news - the bad news is that NO bars open up until 11am (not even for us!) and the game started at 9am (which, by the way, is a major setback to living this far west - but then again I guess that's what screwdrivers and bloody mary's are for). No worries - we're flexible and adaptable. So we wake up bright and early, watch the first half of the game on our 11 inch tv in our hotel room and then run out of the hotel at half time and back up to the local sports bar. You thought we were in an urgent American crisis before - but trust me this time was 50 times more serious! This time I was Elizabeth Shue as I burst into the restaurant - "We're American! And Georgian!! Turn it to KIRO ASAP!!!". Phew! All set. So speaking of Bloody Mary's, that's what we order - the bartender says "Well I don't know how my bloody mary is, but my bloody caesar is fantastic." "What's in a bloody caesar", we naively ask. "It's basically the same thing but kalmata juice is used instead of tomato juice. I think to myself I'm not really a big olive fan, but I'll give it a shot - I mean she did say it had celery salt on the rim so that sounds yummy. She gives us a sample of the juice - Clay approves - I guess it's ok too. Watery and a little slimy, but ok - if it's her specialty... Just hurry up and get it and be quiet so I can watch the game!!

She serves us our drinks, I take a sip, and they are pretty good I guess - this salt is super yummy. Go Jackets!! Then Clay asks "So what is in Klamata Juice?" - and here is the horror folks - "tomato and clam juice". Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt??? CLAMATA juice??? I thought it was kalamata like the olive!!!!!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Clay was so good though - without even skipping a beat he swipes my drink away, tells the bartender he'll drink both of those and that I'll take something else ;) So as I wipe my tongue with my napkin over and over trying to get that nasty slimy sea creature out of my mouth I held back my gag reflex and tried to focus on the game. Eww. Even typing this story out makes me want to go take a shower!!! Gross!


But I digress - back to the game - which was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOHOOOOOOO - FINALLY WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That game was fantastic!!! MAN I was thrilled. Clay - not so much - but he went and pouted outside while I celebrated at the bar. AWESOME!!!!

Ok I guess I'll quit rubbing it in all y'all dogs faces...for now. Back to Canada....

So after the (amazing) game, we decide to drive up to North Vancouver where there is supposed to be amazing views of the city. So across the really cool Lions Gate Bridge we drive and up the mountain we head in search of said views.

Only one problem - it was so rainy/foggy that we could hardly see 20 feet in front of us, let alone down the mountain or across the river!! So yet again Canada wins this round - but of course we don't quit there. We haven't let Canada defeat us yet, so we drive further west to Horseshoe Bay which is where the ferries come and go from Seattle. Cute little town where we enjoy lunch and more football before we head back to the states. (ps-I'm sure you guys have figured this out by now, but anytime you see a blur of khaki and red in one of my pics, you can rest assured that it's Clay in his standard Seattle uniform ;)

Perhaps the funniest part of this trip was seeing a "self-serve" line in the bar and grill - there are literally gas station-type coolers behind the bar where we saw people going to purchase beer to go after they ate/drank at the pub!!! Ummmm - hello - anyone else think that is a terrible idea???

Ok so we think we've seen all of Canada that we can and been drenched for as long as we can stand, so back to the border we head.

At this point it's about 5pm on Saturday night so surely the border isn't too bad. UHHH yeah right!!! Canada gets us one more time before they boot us out of the country.... Over 3 hours, 2 car battery jumps (luckily not ours), much complaining and confusion, drama dealing with the other drivers around us stuck in such an awful predicament, and a mere 3 questions at the border and finally we're back inside US territory. Talk about frustrating!! Here is the 3rd and final time I wanted to yell "But we're American! Let us back in!!!"

So all complaints aside - we're back home and even more appreciative to be American ;) Or as Donna would say "Home again, home again - jiggity jig" :)

Clay and Erika Do Vancouver - pt. 1

...and we're off!!

...like a herd of turtles...

Who knew that the roads would be so crowded on thanksgiving morning?? Shouldn't these people be with family? Argh. It's driving me nuts. Took us forever to get out of the city, but once we finally did things picked up and we were at the border in about 2 hours. It was cute - Clay was nervous but luckily the canucks let us in no problem. Another half hour or so and we were in Vancouver - it was beautiful!

We checked into our hotel and immediately set out to find the Cowboys/Seahawks game, which we did at a local bar and grill. Immediately upon entering we ask the bartender if the NFL game is on and Clay quickly announces "We're American!". I'm pretty sure that was his way of explaining the desire to watch american football, but to me it brought back the scene from "The Saint" when Elizabeth Shue is running for the American Embassy gates through the rioting crowd and she yells "I'm an American!!" as she runs as fast as she can to the closing gates.... I'm quite sure that our situation wasn't as desparate - but it sure felt like it!

So there we sat and ate lunch while watching the game (Seattle sports teams are a lost cause by the way) and quizing the locals on what we needed to do during our visit. I'm so glad we did because they recommended we go check out Granville Island - an artsy island just across the river from Vancouver. Even more importantly they recommended a restaurant called "The Sand Bar" that was WONDERFUL. The food was great but the heated patio and view were amazing: the patio was covered and enclosed on 3 sides with heat lamps throughout, a huge fireplace on one side, candles everywhere, and tables with big comfy chairs with a blanket thrown over the back of each seat. The view was amazing - here's an example -->

The next day we decided to take the hop on/hop off trolley that went all the way around the city and was equipped with drivers who narrated the tour. It was definitely a good decision as we got the back story on the city, got to see all of the different neighborhoods within the city, and most critically - was covered!! It rained all day Friday and Saturday - you'd think we'd be used to it by now, but it sure puts a bit of a damper on tourist activities! Nevertheless, we managed to check out the city and see beautiful Stanley Park where a few HUGE old trees actually survived the logging era (we can't wait to go back during the spring or summer and see all of the greenery without the rain), trendy Yaletown and Gas Town, and the largest lived in Chinatown in North America.

So that's the good part of our trip. Don't you worry though - there were definitely times that made us not such huge fans of canada...(it wouldn't be a peach in the rain post without some rough time rants!) So after walking around in the rain realizing we could either shop or eat....or eat or shop...we decided we should hit up some museums. So we headed over to the space museum where I wanted to see a planetarium show - easy enough since the trolley is hop on/hop off, right?? Almost. So we get to the museum, hop off our trolley, and go inside. Doh. All the planetarium shows are over!! Fine. We look around in the gift shop and wait a half hour for the next trolley. But don't worry Clay - tonight is the OmniMax - I can't wait to show you how much more amazing it is than a regular IMax and the local theater is the largest in north america!! Ok so we return to our hotel, get ready, and plan to take a cab to the science museum where the theater is located. I do my research - I know what time the shows are - even find that there is a 2 for 1.5 special tonight and both shows (the Alps and Hidden Caves) look awesome. I try to buy tix on the phone but it isn't possible - at least I confirmed the show times, prices, and location!

We go to our concierge and ask for a cab: "Nope" he says "AC/DC concert tonight and no cab companies are even answering the phone anymore." Fine. We can hail one ourselves. Out into the street I go, I hike up my jeans just a tad and flail my arms around at the first available cab that drives by. Woohoo! I rock at this - a real city gal. The cabbie is great and drops us off right at our museum, even a little early.

We go in and find out some bad news: "All sold out" they say, "a big group came in and bought out the entire theater." Whaaaaaaaaaaaaatt????????? How RUDE!!!! Dangit! Well fine. "Any good restaurants around here for dinner?" Hmm....the worker thinks... "other than mcdonalds? not so much."

FINE. Two strikes on this city now. We hike across the street to the local train station and go to the regular imax theater. I question this decision, but Clay insists, very positively suggesting "Let's make the most of tonight - we are already out..." So away we go to the sub par but hopefully good imax. Now admittedly I only wore shoes based on the original plan of cabbing it all night, but regardless what happened next was ridiculous. We get out of the subway station and hike over to the imax building - no biggie. UNTIL we walk, and we walk, and we walk, and we walk......... you see this pic to the left?? You see that pretty building and those pretty white sails??? Yeah. The imax is

ALL -
THE -
WAY -
IN -
THE -
BACK!!!!!

It might not look like it from this pic - but that was a HIKE. So we finally get there and read the marquee for what great adventures lie ahead of us.

Apparently no one informed us it was kiddie week. So it was either Nutcracker in 3-D (45 min) or the Polar Express (2 hrs). Hmmm. Now you might not all know Clay as well as I do, but trust me when I say I knew he would NOT like either. But once again, the trooper that he is, he insisted.

$30 tickets, a $20 coke and nachos later - we were in the imax theater. us and the only other 11 people in Vancouver who thought the Nutcracker in 3D was worth watching at 9pm on a Friday night..... After running away 5 of them from sitting close to the weird adult couple without children, we sat through the entire film. It was neat that it was Clay's first 3-D film, but aside from that I can't say there was a single noteworthy item from the entire flick - it wasn't even the real nutcracker! Instead it was the horrible British version of a girl falling in a frozen lake and dreaming up a trip-influenced nutcracker rip-off. Needless to say the next time I hear "Nutcrackah!! Nutcrackah!! Be Caaahr-ful!!" will be too soon!!!

After that we went back to our hotel where there was a rooftop bar/restaurant that spun around the hotel in hopes that it would finally redeem our day.... One appetizer later and we find out the kitchen is closed, the drinks are severely overpriced, and the music cheesy and too loud. Yet we still managed to have fun and end the day on a high note - "Canada you won't beat us today!!"

So enough of our first impression of her majesty to the north - try not to hold your breath until you hear part 2 tomorrow ;)