phyncke

I am enjoying some free time this weekend. I took Friday off and extended my three day weekend to a four day weekend. Glee. Yesterday, I had to take my car into the shop to get the bumper fixed and that will cost some money but it was totally my faulty - I hit a pole in the parking garage. Oh well.

I am really enjoying reading the Ardor in August stories and there are some great ones in this bunch. If you have not checked out the archive for 2015 you should here -

http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2015_AinA/works

Just look through those and have some fun. I am working my way through them.

It is going to be hot this weekend so I am going to try and beat the heat. Today I am going to get my car and do some sale shopping and go to the bookstore and maybe go to a movie.

So that is the plan. Hope you all have a great weekend and happy Labor Day to those in the US.

About to change my layout to fall one in a few moments. Getting with the program. :P

Cheers!


by yueshi at mondlichtung

Who knew bowling was where it is at. I tell you really. We went to the Albany Bowl with our Group On coupons. I was mainly going to hang out with my friends. My back is good and I did not want to wrench it again - so I did no bowl. But we had the two for one thing going on and had prepaid so it all felt free. Really good.

Well the place was jumping, all the lanes booked and there was a wait. They have arcade games there so there are things for kids to do - there is a bar there so I guess adults have something to do.

And yes, bowling is fun - if you rock it and are good, if you suck and are bad, bowling is fun. Even if you are just hanging out. I saw a bunch of people just hanging there and not bowling. The place was fun. I am kind of glad about it - bowling is a totally American kind of game that reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to have bowling birthday parties when I was young. We bowled candlepin - those are the little balls they have on the East Coast,not the big ten pin stuff. Candle pin is much harder than bowling big balls too.

Anyways, that is how I spent my Friday night. Bowling. Rock on.

Hey all ... here is a Sunday quick update. I watched the men's tennis match this morning and found it really heartwarming to see Murray take the gold. He played his guts out against Federer and the crowd was really with him. In general I am not really a fan of professional athletes in Olympic competition. I don't like the men's basketball and the tennis so much. I really think that amateur's should be competing in the Olympics. But this was a good moment. Really nice. I do feel that professional athletes have enough glory in general and I would rather give others a chance to compete for these medals.

In other news...
I am getting my hair done today and going to the salon. I am also going to get my nails done. Woot. Full on beauty treatment. I also bought a new handbag. I found a really nice one and am kind of tired of carrying a back back around. This one looks more professional. It was a little spendy but it is a really good handbag. It has a shoulder strap and all that. I like it a lot.

Work front - I have a program event this week, planning a staff morale party in September and just lots going on. Sending invites for a donor party in September. Things happening.

Cheers to you and hope you are having a good weekend.


by laurahonest

I have transitioned to my Autumn layout which uses the art of Alexandre Dawe both for the banner header and the default icon. I reuse this layout every year because I really like it. Click in to my journal to see it.

Weekend plans will include some retail therapy and some down time. Glad that it is Friday and I am off for the weekend.

Hope you are well! Any plans for the weekend?

Here we are on Sunday, of the long day weekend. Here is a treat for the eyes, no doubt, pulled from my standby site, We Love Guys.

*Not safe for work*

( Derek is here... )

In other news...
I am having a good productive weekend thus far and got a lot done yesterday. I had a new DVR installed by the cable company so I will not longer be a slave of the Dish schedule here and I can record the daily showing of What Not to Wear. I miss that every day and want to record that. My net increase in cost is 3.00 so not so bad for the new thing.

I spent some time cleaning out my large size clothes to go to consignment. I have lost 6-8 sizes in my clothes so some of my skirts and jeans are way too big. I took them to two consignment stores which take plus size clothing and will see how I do with selling them there. I had a credit at one store and got some smaller size things. I am still a plus but a much smaller plus. Yays! I can fit into the XL size at most stores. So yays!

I also did some laundry (large load of sheets and towels) and went to visit a yoga studio down the street. I wanted to see how it was. My idea is to find a place I can walk to from my house and go once a week to a yoga class. I will see how that goes. :)

I am going to a movie with friends today - Step Up 3D (ya) with the gals from work.

Hope all is well with you and you are having a good weekend.

Cheers. --Me


by sardonyx_78

I am so glad the weekend is here, even though I had a really great week at work. A terrific event which I think elevated the level of my career somewhat. My name was mentioned in the Chancellor's circle...just a great thing all around. The best thing about it was that the event I was planning and executing was a student centered event and I could tell that it worked from that standpoint. This was most important to me. They felt taken care of, had a good time and really enjoyed themselves. And THAT is what it was all about. I forgot to take pictures but I think someone got a few of the location before it was filled with students. We had an unprecendented turnout (about 120 more than we expected) but that was handled well by our caterer and location manager. Just great.

I also got approved to go to Los Angeles for our next alumni event and this will be the first time I will travel for work at the Uni. This also steps up my game. I think I am due my reclass now. Yays.

I found myself really exhausted after all this and am still a bit tired. But not too tired to go see Alice in Wonderland today. I got advance tickets on the web for me and my friend R*** and we are making a day of it at the B*** Street Mall in ****ville. Yays. I am all over it. I am really looking forward to this and this is my one entertainment thing this month so I really hope it lives up to the pre-release hype. I have my popcorn and snacks and am ready to go!

I have to learn not to watch Animal Planet. I lost it watching the Animal Cops thing and this story about this neglected horsy. It always turns out ok but it was just so sad. I tell you, sobbing here. Horses are such beautiful animals. Meep. I just don't get people abusing animals. I never will.

I hope you all are well and having a good weekend. Cheers!

Blinkie by yue_akuma at thehappyfactory

So Happy Valentine's Day to all you people out there. This is a treat for us single girls (and anyone really, married folks can look too!). I thought I would post a few of my favorites from old posts. I have a huge file accumulated of some great pictures so these are worth a repost. I am posting three pictures previously posted for your enjoyment on this holiday. Cheers to you and I will return next week with a new one.

*Not safe for work! So don't click in if you are on company time*

( Various men this way... )

In other news...

I am on my second month of Shabbos observance and it has settled into a weekly routine. I can see how it gets to be a way to organize yourself. You get all your stuff done by Friday so that you have free, unencumbered time from Friday night to Sat. I have been lighting the candles and saying the prayers that I know. Really enjoy it and it is supposed to be a reflective time so that is cool.

Today I went to a birthday brunch at a colleagues house from work. KK and I are becoming good friends and she is also my yoga instructor on Wednesdays. There were a nice group of yogi types and a variety of backgrounds there. Really cool people. There was one guy there who was so stunningly gorgeous that I swear...he looked just like I imagine an elf would look --- long flowing dark hair and luminously beautiful blue grey eyes...pretty much a Noldorin type. Really beautiful. He was Israeli and very intense. Wootles. I have a mild crush on him of course. Heh. I hear tell he is single but will see what to do about that. We had a really nice long chat. That was fun. Nice to know I am not dead. :P

I did no laundry and no marketing this weekend. Hit the major sales at Macy's and Nordstrom and got a gorgeous set of sheets for 20.00 (full price on those was 100.00). Very good deals on other things too. I have gotten to the point where I don't even look at things if they are not on sale. I am just not going to buy anything I cannot get a deal on. Call me cheap or whatever. I won't waste money like that.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday today. Couples doing fun things and singles enjoying the singleton status. We rock!

Tonight's Olympics are the ice skating short program and the men's skiing freestyle (more moguls). Yayus.

Blinkie by darklingfae

We love nudes, yes we do and I got my latest pic from a blog called "We Love Nudes". So appropriately named. I think this guy is a body builder and I love the pose and expression here. He is trying to look really mean. He he he. He so gorgeous though. He really is. Woo. Sizzle.

( Alejandro de la Guerdia... )

All the news...
Low key weekend and I have a furlough day on Monday which I love and next week is Veteran's Day. I am all over that. So essentially I have a three day work week. I have Monday off and Wednesday off. Hoo dee doo da. I like working less. Just love it. Less is best. I always have plenty of things to do here. Yes indeed. I have a story I want to write and things to do.

Yesterday, I took my friend's kiddo to an Army Navy surplus store so he could get himself a camouflage jacket. What is it about boys and army gear? He thinks it is cool so that is what counts, I guess. Who am I to question cool. I draw the line at the machetes. :P *kidding* No, he did not get one of those. It was ironic that the army-navy store was run and owned by a Muslim-Arabic family. That was totally ironic to me. Not making any judgement on that, just stating what the case was there. It is a very popular establishment in A*** and no one cares who owns it really as they have the best gear in town. Just an interesting factoid about it.

So today, I do my foraging for food for the week. Farmer's market and other grocers. I did really well last week at not buying lunch or dinner out. I brought lunch each day and cooked in. I chock that up to adequate preparation and proper shopping. So I will attempt that again this week. I did not over spend either. So yays!

Hope everyone is well. I got a really cute Christmas ornament that looked JUST like my cat. It is her total image, a white cat. I just love it. It was expensive but I had to have it. It is gorgeous too...one of those delicate ones. I really hope I don't break it or she does not break it. O.o I don't know about you, but I am totally ready to decorate for Crimmas. I want to put my tree up NOW! *stomp*

Anyhoo. Have a great day and beeee good.


by izabeth at absentines

I got this photo from the Gods of the Stadium set for 2009. This will be my last one before vacation so I thought I should make it a good one. Enjoy!

*Not safe for work!*

( Dieux du stade... )

Yesterday was fun as I found some things on sale that I needed. I got some sandals on sale and they were less than half price. A nice pair of Merrill's that were marked down from 89.00 to 29.00 and they are really great. They are to replace a pair of Birkenstocks that I have that are totally worn out. I also found some great deals on shorts at Kohl's. I got two pairs for 7.00 each. Both marked down from 40.00. Yay. I don't know about you but I cannot afford to pay full price for anything these days so I was so happy to get these things. I needed the shorts for my vacation so woopety.

We are heading into a heat wave and it is going to be very hot here in the Bay Area. IN the immediate vicinity it will be in the 80's but in the greater Bay Area they expect it to hit the 90-100's. I am so glad I live here were we get the bay effect and the cooling effect of the water. It does keep the tempature down. Thank goodness.

Cheers to all! And hope you are enjoying the weekend.

So, in a strange turn of events, I decide to do a Saturday post. Buns will be posted tomorrow but I am in the mood for a little update.

Yesterday, at work, we had our Summer Pool Party and BBQ at *** Canyon and Rec Center, a Uni facility. It was all sorts of awesome. It was part potluck and part subsidized by our department. Our biz ofc person made the very helpful suggestion of having the food delivered by Safeway and that was a total bonus. The delivery truck brought it right up to the site and we did not have to schlepp the food all over town and worry about refrigerators and what not. It was GREAT. I was jumping for joy when the truck got there and the delivery dude thought I was a bit goofy. I was very happy. :P The party was very good. We borrowed this ginormous grill from the RSF and a few tables and that was all she wrote. Everything was set up and the staff arrived. I had some dicey moments when I thought the burgers were going to run out but it turned out I had 2 extra packages of those (8 extras) and the hot dogs all got eaten. I had extra veggie burgers too. It all worked out and I managed to give away all the extras and send the desserts and chips back to the staff who had to work. Yays!

We have big news brewing on the home front here. It looks like our landlord is selling our house. My neighbor B*** and I are trying to rally the other tenants and see if we can put together a tenants in common purchase of the property. If we all work this out together it is a very affordable way for us to get a prime piece of Berkeley real estate. I contacted the landlord and he is amenable. Just have to see if the others who live here would go for it. Then all the complications of making that deal begin. I am tired of all the insecurities of new landlords and the threat of losing my housing sooo...will see if this works. My piece of the pie is very affordable and my mortgage payments would be less than my current rent. bonus.

So that is all I have. I am off on Monday..START day and thinking of going into North Beach, SF. Tonight we might go see the Adam Sandler flick Funny People.

I am good and just thinking about all the possibilities of condo ownership. Would be great!

Cheers all and have a great weekend.


by izabeth