Two Year| Month Three: We're Thirty!

Since February Tim & I have been very busy. In March we went to Mill Valley to see friends get married. In April we worked hard. And on May 18, Tim became an adult...or at least turned 30. Since I will be following behind him shortly. So last night we enjoyed a fine meal at Lula's in Santa Monica and did a very short pub crawl because we are no longer 21 years old. Yes, it was something that definitely aided in showing are age.

Second Anniversary: On Wednesday

Do You Guys?
Originally uploaded by cebread

Two years ago, Tim and I stood up before everyone we loved (and could make it all the way to California in February) and promised to love each other more each day.

Then we smashed cupcakes in each others faces and ate mini burritos.

Today, Tim had to go to the dentist because his temporary crown broke. And I had to go to work to try and wrangle expert depositions. Not quite as much fun as getting married.

But we were still happy because when we came home from long days at work and dental care we had each other.

As we start towards are third anniversary, we will continue to have stumbling blocks, tribulations, good times and amazing moments but most importantly...we will have each other.

One Year | Month Eleven: Lovely LA Weather

Nice Day for a Beer or a Soda
Originally uploaded by cebread

December was a whirl wind for Tim and I.
Lots of work prior to the holidays.
Tim and I started a monthly podcast called Candy is Dandy (found at candyisdandy.net) .
Then a weekend up in San Fran for the Topspin Christmas Party.
Then a week plus in Columbus for Christmas and New Year's/my mom's birthday.

December was a whole lot of busy and therefore we neglected our blogging duties here.

January we have been keeping it low key, resting up from the fun but hectic holiday season.

The past two weekends we have been experiencing unusually warm weather even for Los Angeles. Today Tim and I went out to Venice Beach and walked along the beach, looking at street vendors and enjoying the sun. On our way back to the car we stopped at Fig Tree's Cafe for a snack and some cold beverages.

Hoping all everyone's 2009 is starting off in lovely ways.

One Year| Month Ten - Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cecilie's Plate of Thanksgiving Goodness
Originally uploaded by cebread

Hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving.

Since Tim and I have a busy December coming up, including going to Columbus, Ohio for Christmas and my mom's birthday we opted for a relaxing Thanksgiving at home in Pacific Palisades.

We cooked a Turkey Breast and hwatched the Pixar movie Wall-E which was adorable!

Also took the time, as is tradition after Thanksgiving, to decorate for Christmas and do some Christmas shopping. (We're almost done with shopping!)

Check out our living Christmas tree here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cebread/3073165044/

One Year | Month Nine - Jetlag

Anpanman (アンパンマン)
Originally uploaded by tmread

Cecilie and I have uploaded our photos to Flickr -- Cecilie's also included some interesting videos. Please check them out -- when we're less jet-lagged, we will have more posting. Until then, the photos express far more than we could right now in words.

Cecilie's Japan Photo Set
Tim's Japan Photo Set

Picture of the Day - Day 6- Hōzōmon gate at Sensō-Ji Temple, Asakusa

Hōzōmon gate at Sensō-Ji Temple, Asakusa
Originally uploaded by tmread

Today was our last full day here in Tokyo.
We went to Asakusa to see the Senso-Ji Temple and buy some final gifts to take home.

Tomorrow fly back to LA and return before we even left (due to the date line). Its been an unreal week and I think I will miss Tokyo once I am gone.

Picture of the Day - Day 5- Rush Hour at Shinjuku Station

Rush Hour at Shinjuku Station
Originally uploaded by tmread

Evening rush hour at Shinjuku Station. Thankfully, this is our "home" station so we could just watch the rush.

Picture of the Day- Day 4- Feeding Time in Ueno Park

Feeding Time in Ueno Park
Originally uploaded by tmread

The rough life of stray cats at Ueno Park in Tokyo.

Picture of the Day - Day 3- Prayers at Meiji-Jingu

Prayers at Meiji-Jingu
Originally uploaded by tmread

Yesterday in the afternoon we went to Meiji-Jingu (Meiji Shrine). This is a photo of devotions people leave. Its a small wooden envelope and you put money in it and write your prayer. There were prayers written in all different languages.

Picture of the Day - Day 2 - Shinjuku Arthcitecture

Shinjuku Architecture
Originally uploaded by tmread

Here is some of the skyline in Shinjuku where we are staying. The round building on the right is called the Cocoon Building. Seems appropriate.

One Year| Month Nine: Lost in Translation

As many of you know, Tim and I have been planning a trip to Japan for a very long time.

Here we are in Japan! Tokyo specifically, even more specifically Shinjuku.

We got in last night (which was Friday here in Japan). Today has been our first full day. Tim's friend and former El Angeleno, Jac joined us and took us tons of places.

Since I am tired (still jet lagged) and am hoping to drag Tim out for some ice cream or something, this will be a brief entry.

We are planning to post a picture of a day and once we return to LA we will do a full recounting of the trip.



link to Tim's flickr

The picture above is from when we went to Tsukiji Fish Market and got sushi for breakfast. I know it sounds strange but 1)Our time clocks are all messed up 2)it is not uncommon in Japan. For some reason I was the lucky recipient of the smallest piece of sushi in the world.

If you are curious about what we are up to further, you can check our twitters which post to this page.

More later.

One Year| Month Six: Top of the World

This weekend was pretty mellow. Tim and I took Timon, the wayward intern at TopSpin out for sushi on Friday night. Timon is still in college and yet is far smarter than Tim and I combined. He is a math major if that gives you any hint.

Then Saturday Tim headed out to see Dark Knight. I could tell from the previews it was going to creep me out. I will wait for it on DVD when I can pause it etc.

And Sunday we reserved to spend together. But today when it came we had no idea what we wanted to do. And Tim had the bright idea to head to Temescal Gateway Park up the street from us and do a little hiking. We had done this once before and liked it. There was an elusive waterfall trail that the prior time we had somehow missed.

Tim decided to test out his new GPS device for his camera. It allows feed information into each photo letting you know EXACTLY where in the world it was taken.

We were meandering up the trial and talked to a guy on the trail who said that getting to the top was ideal for photographs. As he said "A tripe Nikon" moment. We were already a little winded and doubted we would make it to the "top."

But as you can see from the picture we did. It was gorgeous. It was a bit hazy so we could not see all the way to downtown but being able to see the ocean and Century City all in one view was still amazing and well worth the hike up. Thankfully, what comes up must come down and going down a mountain is far easier than walking up.

Our muscles were a little jiggly afterward but I think we will be okay. We'll see how things are tomorrow morning. We would like to start hiking more. First, I need to get some better hiking shoes. I wore my chuck taylor converse. Not exactly serious hiking shoes, what with no cushioning or traction. I think a trip to REI is in my future.

Check out all of Tim's pictures from the hike here. Also check out the map of the pictures. It gives you a rough idea of our route.

One Year | Month Six: The Who

A few months ago Tim was passed some secret information about this concert that would involve Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam and The Who.

Well, it was exactly secret...and he wasn't so much "passed" the information as emailed about it through the Pearl Jam fan club. So he told me about the concert and asked if I would like to go? And as I like all four of the above mentioned bands I said sure. The best part is it wasn't someplace far away or difficult to access from our home near the ocean. It was the VH1 Rock Honors.

Saturday, July 12 came. In preparation for the event we visited the dentist in the morning because everyone knows The Who were big proponents of good dental hygiene back in the day. Okay, not really, it was just a fluke. But it didn't hurt, you never know who you might meet.

That night we rolled out to UCLA. Traffic to park was not bad at all. It turns out UCLA knows how to deal with big crowds of people.

We got to the Pauley Pavillion around 7p. An hour before the show was to start. It was a good thing because that was around the same time the other million people there to see the concert showed up. And all of us had to filter through four or five metal detectors. While we waited we did some people watching. There was every group represented in the crowd, young and old there to see The Who et al. There was also a WIDE range of dress. We saw women in practically ball gowns to men in cargo shorts and flip flops. It was crazy. Tim and I were in our usual casual attire of jeans and tee shirts. Keep it simple for a concert after all.

We bustled into our seats and were excited to find though we were high up from the floor we had an excellent view of the stage. I was thankful I finally broke down and got contacts so that I could see far. We sat back and waited for the show to start.

First, David Duchovny introduced the Foo Fighters. Not sure how he and The Who go together but whatever. Foo Fighters came out and were rocking from first note. They did Bargain and Young Man Blues.

A set up was rolled out including a pinball machine that clearly indicated some Tommy was going to be played was rolled out. As well as a large plastic bubble with a person in it. (But who was inside?!) Rainn Wilson took Elton John's part in introducing The Flaming Lips. The lead singer was in the giant plastic ball and used it to surf the crowd. It was very cool. The Flaming Lips did a Tommy Medley. I was a little disappointed that Eyesight to Blind was not part of it. But the theater dork in my was pleased with any part of Tommy being performed.

Then Incubus played. Neither Tim or I are Incubus fans and they didn't do a great job at their cover of The Who. They did "I can See for Miles" and "I can't explain." Both were okay but weren't as good as the prior to bands. Tim and I had a lengthy discussion after the concert of other bands that would have been a good replacement for Incubus.

Tenacious D did Squeeze Box which was perfect for them. And they did it well.

Then Pearl Jam was up. Pearl Jam covers tons of The Who songs in their own concerts so Tim and I had been speculating about which songs they would cover. The first was "Love Reign O'er Me" which was so powerful and I got teary. Then they did "The Real Me." Which was also great.

And then, last but not least, The Who. They did 9 songs so I can't comment on each one but those guys can still rock it! Due to high corporate aspect of the concert (being thrown by VH1) there was NO encore. So unlike most concerts where people come out at least once for one more song, the show seemed to be over very abruptly. It was good nonetheless.

And then Tim and I headed home, our ears still ringing a little but pleased to check another awesome band off our "To See Live" list.

If you feel left out that you didn't get to go to the concert you can catch it on VH1 this Thursday July 17, 2008 and probably many months to come.

One Year | Tuesday: 英語が解りますか?

Not much happening around our apartment lately -- Being pictured (in the upper left hand part of a brief article on Wired, Topspin coming out of stealth mode, an article (and cover) of Billboard Magazine -- very routine lately.

So we decided to keep the week low-key and tonight booked our travel to Japan. We will be staying in Shinjuku (a ward of Tokyo) and flying in on Singapore Airlines. At this point, we don't have much planned -- we may meet up with my friend Jack Suzuki who I used to work with at THQ before he moved to Japan; we're considering a trip to Kyoto while we're there, and checking out a shrine or more -- possibly the Meiji Shrine. Of course, there's all kinds of other stuff to check out... exploring Shinjuku, going to Akihabara, Tsukiji fish market for an omakase sushi meal, and so much more.

Though we're very excited, it also makes us a bit nervous: this isn't exactly a trip to, say, Seattle... and there's that whole language thing. But, we've got Pimsleur CDs and some books to get us up on the important things. You know, "My husband ate some bad tuna, I think he needs an ambulance." "Help, I cannot get my wife to quit playing pachinko." And, of course: 英語が解りますか. (Do you understand English?)

As the trip draws nearer, we'll certainly have more to say... but for now, just getting the tickets booked and airfare set, that's just another dull day here in the Palisades. Hopefully a week in Japan in October will be just a bit different.

One Year | Month Five: Topspin's 1st Birthday

I realize a lot of people aren't completely sure what Tim does for a living. This is evidenced in my mom's explanation of "he works with computers."

The last year and handful of months Tim has been working for a start up called Topspin. And even I can't always really explain what the company is but if you check the site, the CEO does an excellent job of explaining (which is likely why he is the CEO and not me.)

The culmination of the last year is that Topspin is featured on the cover of Billboard magazine (that is the CEO on the skateboard). And in honor of all these amazing accomplishments and reaching the one year mark, there was a party.

Last night, Tim and I dolled ourselves up and rolled out to Venice to Air Conditioned Lounge for the big night. When we arrived the bouncers outside informed us "there was a private event" to which we said "we know, we are here for it." Grudgingly, we were permitted enterance.

The inside was really cool with huge booths for sitting and cool bars. I got to meet the various Topspin team members who I had heard so much about. Meet one of the founders (and the creator of Pro Tools) Peter Gotcher and his wife.

It was nice to celebrate the accomplishments of the company as Tim has put so much time and effort, sweat and tears into the company. And I think this is only just the beginning.

The best part of the night for me, was each time I met one of Tim's co-workers, they would tell me how awesome Tim was and how he made their lives better and kept them sane. And all I could say is "he does that for me too." I am so proud and gratful I am his wife and get to be by his side for all these amazing milestones.

Happy Birthday, Topspin!

One Year | Month Four: Trip to Seattle

Tim and I left on Friday for a long weekend in Seattle.
The big question we got before our trip was “Why Seattle?”

Admittedly, Seattle is not a tropical vacation spot. Its pretty much known for being gray and rainy. But Tim and I wanted to go because I really liked the city and haven’t been there in over 8 years. And Tim had always been interested in visiting the city in light of its connections with music among other things.

And so in honor of our 29 birthdays which are both shortly coming up, we decided to take a vacation.

Friday we left on Virgin America. We stayed at the luxurious, W Hotel. Which was so much reasonable since Seattle is NOT tropical.

Friday

I dragged Tim over to Pike Place Market for lunch. After looking around about we ate at the Athenian Inn and then got coffee at the Original Starbucks. Probably much to Tim’s annoyance I decided to say “Oh look at Starbucks!” all weekend which exist every block in Seattle.

We went to Dinner at Purple and had awesome Tapas and drinks. It was soooo neat looking inside!

Saturday

After searching for some breakfast. We jumped on the monorail to Seattle Center. Where we took the amazing (and slightly scary) elevator up to the top of the Space Needle.

We then went to the Experience Music Project which was awesome! I learned how to play Louie! Louie! And we got to see Dave Grohl’s Drum Set.

After resting up at the hotel (as Angelenos we are not used to so much walking!) we headed to Pioneer Square. So many neat stores there.

We had yummy steak at a place called Union Square Grill where they willingly gave us the complete recipe for the BEST mashed potatoes Tim and I have ever had.

Sunday

We got up and were told about this place that had “all you can eat” waffles. With the turtle like speed meant that getting more than one waffle was a majority of the morning. We decided the place was more “all you care to eat.”

We walked around Pike Place Market and through an area called Belltown.

We finally experienced the Seattle rain which is more like someone rudely spitting on you.

We considered going to the Seattle Art Museum, but the cost was rather expensive, we browsed the museum store instead. Which is free.

Later when the weather improved, we walked along the water front enjoying how in Seattle, it stays light far later that in LA.

Today we headed back to LA. Luckily there were two seats in first class and Virgin’s upgrade is VERY affordable. And SO worth it. Reclining chairs and food that was some of the best of our whole weekend.

Now we are home, recharged and ready to head into a short work week.

One Year | Month Three: Birthday Season Begins

For some reason Tim and I have an unusually high concentration of friends with birthdays in the April to June months. Due to this, we tend to spend a good deal of these months out at dinners and other birthday related events.

To kick off the birthday season this year, we went out to dinner with our friends Steve and Sophia to a lovely tapas/wine bar called Tasca in honor of Steve's birthday.

Every dish we had was tasty. We ate everything from beef carpaccio to Moules frites. My personal favorite was the zucchini blossoms stuffed with crab. I was the designated driver and also was the only one who is not into wine. But everyone else enjoyed many allegedly good wines and ports with dessert.

We then rolled over to Urth for lattes (espresso for Tim and and I; chai for Steve and Sophia). We discussed pressing issues like why U2 and the Beastie Boys are overplayed and the contents of my purse.

The last stop of the evening was Steve and Sophia's apartment to view funny youtube videos.

We had to take our leave due to Tim's impending trip to San Fran. It is earlier than usual this week for a full company meeting to meet the new CEO.

Next weekend is another celebration because our friends Greg and Angela got married!

One Year | Month Two: Preparations for a BIG trip

Tim and I are planning a big trip. We have been thinking about this trip since before we got married actually.

It is a trip to Japan. Why Japan? Why not, Japan? Tim and I both think it seems interesting and culturally, it seems far more different from the U.S. than places in Europe. So we have been researching when the best time to go would be and what we should see.

Currently, we are shooting to go for a week in October 2008. And as summer approaches we are swinging into full planning mode.

Today however a very important step had to be taken care of...I had to apply for a new passport. I had one once upon a time, when I was an exchange student in France, when I was about 12. So obviously, my passport has expired. And also, I haven't a clue where it is now. So I had to say it was "lost." Which is pretty much the truth. I went to the Tarzana post office, as it was one of the few you could do passport stuff on a Saturday. And after some flubs (you cannot have an application in which you have scratched something out and put something else in apparently)I was done with the application and in the near future I should be getting my new passport.

Next step is to decide what week in October will be best for the trip, start looking for flights.

One Year| Month Two: A new couch

Though in the movies life in Los Angeles is constantly exciting, Tim and I do not live the movie star life (thank goodness). Our excitment this weekend...looking for a new couch.

As of late we have been looking at our well worn futon, which serves as our couch and thinking it was time for a change.

The futon mattress was part of the futon I bought after I had been in LA for six months. For those of you not keeping track, I have lived in LA almost 7 years. When I bought it the store told me it would last about a year with everyday use (it was the cheapest one they had). So I have gotten my money's worth on the mattress. The original frame, ceased to function about three years ago and we have since been limping along with a metal frame from IKEA which cost almost nothing...and it shows.

The metal frame has gotten bent due to poor engineering. And calling the mattress lumpy is probably being charitable. So now that Tim and I no longer live in a single room and have big kid jobs, it seemed like it might be time to buy an actual couch.

But we'd kind of been lazy about actually going to look at couches because, furniture shopping is not the most exciting and thrilling thing to do. And though nice furniture is great, spending your money on a couch...is so grown up.

Today, the weather was nice and Tim was in the mood for some good Middle Eastern food. So we headed to The Farmer's Market where we knew he could get a nice shawarma. It also happens to be in close proximity to a Crate & Barrel, so we decided to at least look at couches.

And we found a great one. The things we were looking for in a couch were:

1. Has style - check
2. Won't look dated in only a year - check
3. Comfortable for sitting - check
4. Seems like a good place to take a nap - check

So once all of those were checked off we walked around a bit and discussed and decided it was time to pull the trigger. Dan, our helpful C&B employee helped us and even aided us in picking out the color for the legs (we got to choose everything - special!)
He even told us that the name of the sofa, Rochelle was after New Rochelle where the Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore show took place because it is kind of retro like that.



We selected the color aubergine because it is both dark therefore being a little more forgiving in the stain department but also not a bland color like brown. We have a bad tendency to gravitate toward browns and tans because "oh hey, it will match anything." And we thought breaking out of that would be a good idea.

Since it is not one of the two stock colors (which were light blue and dark blue) it will be an impossibly long 9 to 11 weeks before our new couch arrives. But we have lived with the old futon for this long another few weeks won't kill us.

Now I need to start looking for some fun throw pillows....

The First Anniversary: Fun, Food, and More Fun (plus a heck of an airport experience)

As you probably know, today is the first anniversary of our wedding. It's hard to believe it's been a year already -- in some ways it seems like the wedding was yesterday; in other ways, it seems like it's been much longer.

This time last year, we were at Malibou Lake Mountain club with a lot of friends and family, enjoying the time and with Hawaii on the mind. Now, a year later, we're back in LA after taking a weekend trip to Las Vegas.

And what a trip it was.

Our flight was scheduled for 8:30 PM on Friday. We left Palisades at 5:30, thinking we'd have plenty of time. Traffic was heavy... really heavy... REALLY HEAVY. We nervously watched an hour go by... we were still five miles from the airport. After two hours, at 7:30, we were just getting into Lot C. We grabbed a bus and got into our terminal around 8PM and ran over to our check-in counter. The lady at the desks said that we'd missed our chance to get on the flight, but we must have had an extra-pathetic look of defeat, because she checked us in and let us check our bags.

Then we got in the security line. It was about ten after 8 at this point.

Security dragged and it took forever -- in perceived time. After about 15 minutes we got through security, but it was amateur hour and there seemed to be a lot of people who didn't understand the drill... ("Oh, you mean I have to check my shotgun and can't take my knives and bombs through the metal detector?")... painful.

I got through security first, and with no attempt at retaining any dignity (we were going to Vegas at all, it'd be out of place), sprinted full tilt through the terminal in my socks, clutching my shoes, phone, boarding pass and jacket. Our gate was of course at the other end of the terminal and it was past 8:25. Yelling "excuse me"'s and hearing the laughs of the amused travelers in LAX, I made a beeline for the gate. When I got there, it looked like the plane was gone. Then a guy ran from behind me towards the actual gate door itself and said, "MY WIFE IS COMING, LET US ON!!"

I then realized the plane hadn't pulled away. I ran over too, saying the same thing, and the guy at the gate said, "No one else can board". The sight of two guys screaming about their soon-to-be-arriving wives must have been too pathetic and he waved us in -- although I think the fact that we both pointed out our wives and my notable addition of, "You've got to let us on, we're trying to make this trip for our first anniversary!!", he finally caved.

"No assigned seats, take the first open seat you see" he said. You didn't need to ask twice.

We were off for Vegas. After an uneventful flight, we arrived, took a shuttle to the MGM Grand, and checked in. Then we got some dinner at the Studio Cafe (turkey sandwich for me, chicken strips for Cecilie) and hit the floor. We then made our way to New York New York, passed through, walked through Excalibur so Cecilie could see how bad it was (worse than I remembered), and took a train to Mandalay Bay. I quickly burned through my money and I don't think I won anything at any point Friday -- not even a 5 cent win on a $1 bet at slots. At this point it was getting late and our legs were sore, so we wandered back to the hotel.

The next morning, we went to the Venetian for breakfast, and stopped at a cafe where we got some great quiche. We explored the shops for a few minutes and also stopped at illy for an INCREDIBLE couple coffees. Seriously, these may have been laced with something. Cecilie was not feeling well and within seconds of the first sip was healed. I actually levitated off the floor and did not touch the ground for about three hours. It was ridiculous. Some of the best coffee I've ever had...

We went up the strip to the one casino I'd wanted to visit the most: The Wynn. It's incredible. It fits the mold of the floors I like (MGM, Venetian, Bellagio) -- darker, lower ceilings, relatively open floor layout with good visibility. I sat down to play some roulette and Cecilie joined me for a minute. She lost her money and wandered off to play slots. I stayed for at least an hour or more and walked away winning over a thousand dollars (holy cow!).

I was ready to get out so we walked to the Mirage, and within about ten seconds, walked out. We then walked to Caesar's and hit the forum shops. I got some chocolate from Vosges and got Cecilie a present out of my winnings. We strolled through the Forum and Caesar's (seeing Pete Rose again) and then took a cab back to the MGM. We were pretty tired and ready to relax.

Saturday night was the big dinner plan: Joël Robuchon, our second five-diamond restaurant. We got there early and hit the slots for a few minutes on the floor, where I got a surprise win. We then went in, but were told our table wouldn't be ready for 20 minutes, but were invited to sit in the lounge while we waited. We did, and got a couple drinks.

After a while the table was ready. We elected to do the 6-course tasting menu which was unbelievable. Each course had a predominant taste, each very distinct. We started with an amuse-bouche of an avocado puree with granny smith apples in it, some sort of tomato, and a whipped light cheese. The second course was eel and avocado wrapped in a truffle paper with a gelee on the side having some sort of celery preparation and truffles. Next up was a seared scallop with pasta. Then sea bass with leeks and asparagus; lamb shoulder, and a long string of desserts.

We left, completely stuffed to capacity. It was incredibly delicious, very different from anything I'd ever had, and fairly rich. We went back to the room and I crashed out, having had too much wine with dinner (a Barolo that was incredible).

We checked out in the morning and played a bit, but there wasn't much luck to be had. We made our way to McCarran airport where we played some more slots and waited for a plane delayed for hours due to SFO's ridiculous flow control that seems to be able to wreck the schedules of anything that gets within 2000 miles. We came home and are now unwinding after a tiring but fun Vegas getaway.

We can only hope the next year is as good as the first has been. It's been a great year with ups and downs but having each other has made it so much better.

PS: Don't take US Airways. Seriously, just don't. Avoid it at all costs.