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Wine and Love #26

By Suki on 2012/01/26

Wine and Love is a series brought to you by Walking With Nora. It’s basically a list of what makes us reach for the wine this week and a list of stuff we’re loving.

Wine…

* My neighbor’s car was the victim of a hit-and-run this morning. They were parked in that spot in front of our house where people like blocking us in, but they weren’t the ones who blocked our driveway.

Hit-and-runs = NOT COOL. They took down the license plate, so hopefully they catch the guy.

* Someone maliciously knocked over the Vespa while it was sitting outside of the store waiting for our pickup, and now it’s got scratches all along one side. Ugh. I have insurance, but it’s one of those things that was bound to happen while driving in a city.

Love…

* Chinese New Year! It’s been one family dinner after another. So much good food and quality family time! We have more this weekend.

* I’m sore, but for good reason. Free Zumba and Yoga. I’m going with the sister, so definitely happy to be spending more time with her.

What’s up with you this week?

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Always a Toyota Girl

By Suki on 2012/01/25

I’ve owned two cars in my life and have really only driven three regularly. Every single one was a Toyota – Corolla, Matrix, and Prius. You can’t really blame me though. It started in the family. Aside from my father’s ’87 Accord, every car since then has been a Toyota – Corolla, Rav4, Sienna, and my sister’s Scion TC. My dad is about to buy his next car, and he has his eyes set on a Lexus, another Toyota brand. See, it can’t be helped!

I was recently invited to join Toyota Women Influencer Network [TWIN], and of course, I jumped at the chance. It is an online discussion group focused on vehicle choice, driving, and the Toyota brand. They asked that we share with our readers what our dream Toyota vehicle is.

I’m pretty happy with my current 2nd Generation Prius. If I had to pick a dream vehicle, it’d have to be the Prius V look [like an older Matrix] with the gas mileage of the hybrid plug-in. 87 mpg ftw! With Sasha in tow, I might opt for one of the SUV-types instead. Here’s dreaming that they one day will have amazing gas mileage!

What’s your dream car look like? Has your family influenced your automobile preferences?

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am a member of the Toyota Women’s Influencer Network (TWIN). All opinions are 100% my own.

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That Kind of Neighbor

By Suki on 2012/01/24

I don’t want to be that kind of neighbor – the one who is a hawk when it comes to the parking in front of her own home. Parking in front of one’s home is a precious commodity on this street. God forbid you’re the one guy walking all the way down the block to his car. Or even two blocks – oh no! Since we have a two-car garage, we park inside, and we don’t have that problem.

Instead, THIS is our problem, usually every week.

Bad Parking

It’s usually a different car each time, but this van has been a violator many times. The last two times resulted in a note. The next one will be a phone call to DPT. A ticket for blocking a driveway in this city is $90, plus a potential tow which would cost even more.

I don’t want to be that kind of a neighbor, but I’m sick of it. It seriously ruins my mood when I come home from work and so much of my driveway is blocked. I gave my warnings. It’s $90+ or walking down another block where there is abundant parking.

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8 is my lucky number. Hello Vegas!

By Suki on 2012/01/19

On Monday, registration for Bloggers in Sin City opened, and within days, the blog has exploded with attendee bios. What started out as 60 open spots has whittled down to 8. Lucky number 8.

8 Reasons I’m Excited About #BISC

01. It’s nearly all-inclusive! That means my attention will be focused on having fun, rather than figuring out where my next meal would be and whether or not I’ll have someone to dine with. There are several buffets on the agenda – bringing my stretchy pants!

02. Reconnecting with the bloggers I met last year! I’ve already had a mini reunion with Caryn, Terra, and Nic in Chicago and Doniree and Nicole in Portland. It’ll be great seeing everyone else!

03. Reading through profiles/comments and finding kindred spirits in wine, cheese, beer, impromptu dance parties, and most importantly, jumping photos!

04. Meeting fellow foodie, Linda, and ordering everything off the menu at Lotus of Siam. All #BiSC-uits welcome!

05. Crossing off a Cirque show in Vegas from my list. I’ve seen two in San Francisco already, and it will be my first one in Vegas!

06. This is a chance to step out of my comfort zone [currently Ryan's La-Z-Boy recliner under a blanket]. As much as I hate to admit, uncomfortable situations that one conquers can be invigorating.

07. What excites me most is the potential new friends that I’ll have all over the country and beyond that once I connect with, I can visit and hang out with. Guess I just invited myself – oops!

08. Experiencing Vegas VIP-style. What happens in Vegas ends up documented!

PS – Paper’d, a crazy cool iPhone/iPod Touch app that’ll beautify your phone and inspire you, is sponsoring this event by covering the registration for one lucky attendee. For a chance to win, you have to register! There are eight spots left. Go get ‘em!

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Manual Mode

By Suki on 2012/01/18

Photography on manual mode has been on the back of my mind. I’ve attended photography sessions at various conferences in the past, but it didn’t really click until this past Saturday.

Edgewood County Park

I attended Fun 101, an introductory photography workshop with Emily of Gem Photo [on the left below]. She went over the basic concepts of photography, not unlike the information from previous sessions I attended, but I think what really drove it home was having the chance to practice and ask questions as the photos were being taken.

Em the Gem helping out the photography students

I don’t have a DSLR any longer, but the mirrorless camera I bought has similar functions. It’s a bit easier to learn since the end result shows up on the screen right away, but it really helped having Emily’s expertise and the permission to pick her brain.

Emily in action

Our model for the day was Lisa of With Style and Grace. She was a great sport. Having so many cameras pointed at you can be nerve wrecking.

Photographer

Lisa

The rest of the photos from the day are: here. Hope that this means better photos from me! The session made me really excited about potentially going down the road of the DSLR at a later date.

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