Real Life Update

It's not every day that almost immediately after beginning a new job you get to take a vacation, but that is exactly what I did! I had a trip planned about a month before my niece was born to go out to San Francisco and help Ari and Rachel for a week after all their other help died down. I told my supervisors about this trip during my second interview and told them I could always change something around if it affected my potential to get the job. But they are both really cool people and told me that would be fine. One awesome thing about my company is that the option to take vacation time begins right away rather than having to accrue it through a certain amount of hours worked. I also get 14 days within my first year, which is unheard of for journalists! Unfortunately, I came in with about 6 months to go before the beginning of a new fiscal year so I received a prorated 7.5 days of vacation until December rolls around. That's OK though because my trip to San Fran was totally worth it!

I got in on Monday, May 19 and finally got to meet my beautiful niece, Sasha, in person. She was exactly 1 month old but still pretty tiny. Rachel and Sasha met me at the airport and although Sasha was asleep, it was the perfect greeting. I just stared at her in amazement and disbelief of her very mini features while Rachel recorded my reaction for Ari to see later. Sasha was wearing a onesie I bought for her at a cute store that says "My Auntie Rocks." It was so cute to see her in it.

Hopefully by now most of you have seen my hundred or so pictures from my trip but here is one of my favorites that we took on my first day...



Isn't she precious??? I have to say that bonding with Sasha was a really amazing experience. Even if some it involved me changing her poopy diapers or her vomiting on almost every outfit I wore, it all seemed OK because she was so cute and I love her so much! Many times while she was awake, she would just stare at me with such innocent curiosity and looking back at her would physically make my heart ache. There aren't many times in life you get to experience the good kind of heart aches.

Throughout my visit, I spent lots of time with Rachel since Ari was back at work. We would run different errands and Sasha would come along. We walked around Sausalito quite a bit, which I never mind doing because it's seriously one of the most beautiful cities in the world in my opinion. We ate at some really yummy restaurants too. The one that stands out the most was called Burma Superstar which is in the city and Oren highly recommended it to me so I was determined to eat there even though for dinner there tends to be a line out the door and sometimes parties don't get seated for hours. Thankfully, Ari called an hour and a half ahead of time to get our name on the list and we only waited about 10 minutes after we arrived. The food was amazing and very different. I'm not sure I've ever tried Burmese food before this.

We also got a chance to meet up with my cousin, Devin, who lives in Berkley. I have always wanted to see that town so we drove there and ate at a world-famous pizzeria called Zachary's. Man, was that pizza delicious! I will never forget it. It was also really good to catch up with Devin since we don't chat on a regular basis.

On my last day (Sunday), Ari and I woke up and ran the length back and forth of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge. The total distance is around 4 miles but it was so easy to run because I was so distracted by the amazing scenery around me. Not only do you get a great view of the city of San Francisco, but you got a great view of Sausalito and the water. We had a really good time running and taking pictures every so often on the bridge. Thanks Ari for slowing down your pace for me...I promise I once ran a half marathon!

Overall, I had a great trip. It went by way too fast and I didn't get much sleep since I tried to help out as much as I could at night. But it was so nice to spend some time only one year later in San Francisco with my wonderful brother and sister-in-law and my adorable new niece.

Now that I am back at my job, things are slowly but surely progressing. This week I've gotten to do a lot more hands-on things rather than just sitting and observing. The massive amount of information and instructions are also beginning to absorb into my brain so that's good. Today I attempted to write an entire story on my own, which my editor did not expect me to do. He was happy if I just began a story! It was pretty hard, but I think I did alright. We'll see once it's edited. As they say in Spain: Poco a poco (little by little).

And last but not least...the love life news! Things with Oren are going really well. It's been exactly a month now since we became a couple and we are still having a lot of fun. We try to see each other a few times during the week and do a lot of stuff together on the weekends. We seem to mesh really well personality-wise and like to do a lot of the same things. Needless to say, I really like the bloke! Here is a picture of us from one of his music shows where he played the guitar and sang for three hours!:



That's about all with me. I hope this post finds you all happy and well! Drop me a line when you can. Besos!

Lots of News!

Hello All! It's been a while since I've made a post but that's because so many things have been up in the air since I got back from Spain. It took me some time to re-adjust to the "states" and to figure out what was next. I hope all is well in your lives. Here is a little bit of what is going on with me...

First and foremost, baby Sasha Rose is here! I am so pumped to be an auntie and she is one of the most gorgeous newborns I've ever seen (no bias here!). This photo is from her birth day, April 20, 2008. I learned from a movie that the literal translation of "to give birth" in Italian is dare alla luce, which means to give to the light. This photo reminds me of that translation. Welcome to the light, my beautiful niece.




I am going to San Francisco to help the new parents out May 19-25th so the anticipation is pretty high for me. I can't wait to meet Sasha in person.

In other news, I got a job offer I couldn't refuse (little Godfather reference for ya there)! It is a publication writer position for a company called IHS. It's a major information company that focuses on the petroleum industry. I will be writing in daily wires, weekly reports and monthly publications catering mostly to all the geologist-types out there. It will be a new challenge as I will be learning about an entirely new subject matter and I will be learning some technical writing, which is a very valuable asset to have as a writer. Here is a link to the web site if you want to take a look: http://www.ihs.com. I start May 12 and I am going to be paid pretty well for only being in the real world a couple of years. Me alegra!! (This makes me happy.)

Also, there is a new boy in the picture. ;) His name is Oren and he lives here in Houston. He's a technical engineer for Schlumberger and a musician on the side. And for all my family members you might want to sit down for this...he is actually Jewish! He's Israeli-American and has dual citizenship. Fluent in both Hebrew and English and just really one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. We made things official yesterday and it's been a lot of fun so far! I promise to keep you all posted.

Whew! I think that's about all. Looks like Houston is my new home for a good while, which my mom is pleased about. I want to hear from all of you and I wish you all love.