Best Jib Jab Ever

By far the best Jib Jab ever, starring Brian, Tim, Jeff, Dad and Poppy. Enjoy. I have tears streaming down my face laughing, and I can't stop watching it.

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The push-up scene might be my favorite!

A Christmas miracle & fun times at home

Thursday and Friday of last week were pretty stressful. Not only did Brian and I have busy weeks at work, but we were also concerned we wouldn't be able to travel home due to the huge winter storm getting ready to hit the Eastern Seaboard. We were scheduled to leave Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PT, which meant that our flight wasn't scheduled to land until midnight ET in Newark. By Friday night, it seemed that our chances of making it on time were pretty slim. You might find this hard to believe, but I was actually the calm one! I didn't lose hope, even though it looked doubtful.

Saturday was Brian's birthday, so after a nice breakfast and packing, we headed to the airport. All he wanted was to make it home. We couldn't believe it when our flight took off on time...

...or when we landed on this snowy runway at Newark on time! Unbelievable.

The most difficult part of our travels? Getting a cab to Dale's house. We didn't want her to risk it on the road, and we ended up sharing a cab with a flight attendant who told us we were within 5 minutes of being diverted to Buffalo or Albany. Whew! Here I am waiting in the cab line...it's fr-fr-fr-freezing out there!

It was so snowy, the cab had to drop us off half a block away. Brian plowed the streets with our suitcases. We were just happy to be home - a Christmas miracle!

On Sunday, we went to Erin & Jeff's to celebrate Christmas and do our gift exchange. Here's Momma Neal with her babies.

Here are Erin & Jeff with Mr. Belvedere (in the Santa outfit) and Fifi (in her pink Snuggie).

Fifi wasn't the only one wearing a pink Snuggie. Momma Neal got one for Christmas, but I think it looked awesome on Nicole as she modeled the Twilight series she received for her birthday. Don't forget the book lamp!

We really have to pose our family pictures better, but at least everyone's smiling and Jeff's eyes are open.

The next day, Tim, Nicole, Momma Neal, Brian and I caught my first Broadway show: Next to Normal. It was incredible - the topic was quite heavy and emotional - but it was really amazing. Check it out if you have time when you're in the city.

Since our visit was short, we missed the big family get-together, but several family members met us halfway between Kearny and Pennsylvania. Here's Zak, Brian's cousin, with his grandparents. Zak's 2-month old sister Zaylee also met us and slept through lunch.

Zak looks a LOT like Brian did when he was a toddler, and I'm convinced we're going to have all boys someday. I'd be pretty happy if our sons were as cute and as smart as Zak!

Speaking of babies.... Though we didn't have time for much else in the city, we were able to meet up with Mike & Jen at the last minute. Look at Jen! Don't she and Madelynn Rose look great for 24 weeks?

After that, it was time to head to Kentucky for round 2 of our trip. We arrived after an uneventful flight on Wednesday and enjoyed a quiet evening at home with my parents - just what we needed.
The next day we met my aunt and my great uncle for lunch near the farm, followed by our first trip to my Dad's new cabin. After my grandfather died last summer, Dad didn't really have anywhere he could just chill and come and go at his leisure on the farm, so he built this rustic man cave. I was actually pretty impressed, both with its size and its construction.

I couldn't help but have a little fun. Dad brought up a ton of trophies that previously hung in his office (pre-retirement). I thought it would be fun to snuggle up in the bunk bed with the once-cuddly black bear.

Unfortunately, due to flight prices and scheduling, we had to leave on Saturday vs. Sunday. That meant that we missed the annual Paris girls' (and now boys') Christmas party. Luckily we got to visit with Lauren, Todd, Amy and her family. I miss my girls!

This year's Christmas theme was Asian. Here's Dad with his hand-carved Balinese wind chimes.

And here's Mom with one of her gifts, a palm wood mortar and pestle from Malaysia - just perfect for this pharmacist's collection.

Brian's favorite gift? One he gave himself. He has searched far and wide - practically all sports stores in the Bay Area and New York City metro area, in addition to online shops - in vain for this one particular baseball glove. Guess where he found it....Maysville, Kentucky. Since he couldn't find it online, we figured it was out of production but the sports store in Maysville must have had some left over. He was pretty pumped, as you can see!

The annual picture. Mom said it looked like I was wearing Santa's belt!

Granny K. and Poppy came over on Christmas Day. Jake helped Poppy unwrap his presents.

Granny K. modeled her new scarf from Thailand. Doesn't she look pretty? The coasters beside her are also from Bangkok.

We had a wonderful trip, but it was all too fast. Since we've been home I've unpacked, cleaned, cooked and done just about everything domestic in an attempt to avoid one of my least favorite tasks of the year: taking down the tree. For now, I'll just continue to enjoy it. Happy New Year!

The Christmas Pickle!

Every Christmas during my childhood, I looked forward to receiving new ornaments from my mom's college friends. Thanks to them, I have tons of wonderful ornaments and memories alike.

Emily, Adrienne and I decided that once we had children, we would also exchange ornaments among our children in lieu of gifts for each other. This year we're celebrating Charlotte's second Christmas, and Lucy's first (and only) in utero, and they each received ornaments from China this year. Since we don't have kids (yet), Brian and I the lucky recipients of said ornaments for now.

Today our ornament from Emily, Ryan and Charlotte arrived - a Christmas pickle!

I've seen them in stores before but never really knew the story. Not surprisingly, Emily packaged it up with a special rhyme:

"To start a tradition that surely will last. Here's a short story about the pickle of glass. The night before Christmas it's hung on the tree. While everyone's sleeping it's done secretly. And on Christmas morning when you arise, the first one to find it will get a surprise."

We won't be here on Christmas - and even if we were, there wouldn't be a ton of competition to find it - so I decided to hang it proudly for the rest of the season. Someday we'll make hiding the pickle a family tradition.

Here's a look at some of our other new ornaments this year.

One of my favorites, a handmade ornament from China.

China was really the only country that seemed to catch on to how much Westerners like Christmas ornaments. I realize that Christmas isn't as prevalent in Asia, but certainly a country like Singapore - with so many expats - would realize the marketing genius in selling ornaments to tourists. Well, lucky for me, the Singapore Flyer had a bookmark with a ribbon that I transformed into an ornament. I think it's pretty!

On the left, another ornament from China (to commemorate Brian's inquiry to our Great Wall tour guide if we were going to see pandas. Um, no...). And on the right, an initial ornament from the Easter Bonnie.

The Easter Bonnie always sends us new ornaments each year. This year she sent Brian a Yankees snowman to commemorate their World Series win.

Back to the lack of ornaments in Asia, this is a traditional Balinese mask. I'm not sure how it's intended to be used, it's so small. I thought it would make a nice Christmas ornament. Unlike the Singapore Flyer, it's a little scary for the tree, but I left it anyway.

Adrienne sent Brian this Yankees heart for his birthday (it's a week from Saturday).

My mom also sent me this globe on the left to celebrate our Asian adventures. Yes, that's Joe Torre on the left (but it doesn't look like him!)

And this is a ceramic ornament from the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite. It's the traditional pattern found on the hotel's dishes and such. I bought this ornament on the day Michael Jackson died. Isn't it weird that a gravy boat will always remind me of the King of Pop every Christmas?

You're hot, then you're cold

Update: Our building manager - as if he reads the blog (yeah right) - called back today and said "surprise! the timer on the heater was way off!" Ya think? Or maybe it just wasn't set that way until someone complained enough. Whatever. Supposedly it's on to supply 15 hours of heat today, but we'll see. I say that it doesn't really matter how many hours worth of heat you have, it's all about how warm your apartment actually is. So we agreed to monitor it over the next couple of days and hopefully we can all thaw out a bit.

In the meantime, the dishwasher won't start. SERIOUSLY?! Guess who's getting another call tomorrow. Sorry, Robert!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Before you East Coasters even begin to harass us about how warm it is in San Francisco compared to your town, take a look this:

It was 6:59 a.m. when this picture was taken. Though the 39-degree temps outside are nothing compared to some of our friends East of the Mississippi, are any of your homes just 60 degrees INSIDE? Our house is! Despite repeated pleas and phone calls over the course of four winters now to turn up the heat, the heat here remains on a timer that doesn't quite provide adequate heat. Right before I took this picture, it was 59.9 degrees inside. My body heat must have warmed it that tenth of a degree before the camera flashed, but that's still unacceptable - even by San Francisco Tenants Union. Here's what its website says:

"According to Section 701 of the San Francisco Housing Code, landlords must provide heat capable of maintaining a room temperature of 68 degrees (at a point three feet above the floor) This is based on an outside temperature of 35 degrees, so there is no excuse for heat less than 68 degrees when its 40 or 45 degrees out. This level of heat must be provided for at least thirteen hours, specifically from 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM."

Well, as you can see, it was almost 7 a.m. and we were a full eight degrees away. And unfortunately for Brian, the daytime isn't much better. We really like our place at the end of the day, but this is ridiculous and I suspect our landlords may receive a letter soon. Given our split schedules, it's always the first thing out of the person at home's mouth when the other one calls. We usually begin the conversation with, "It's fr-fr-fr-freeeeeezing in here."

And yes, we pay our rent.

One night I fully expect a photo of me sleeping in a hooded sweatshirt (hood up), will appear, but since Brian hasn't thought of that yet I'll let you check out how pathetic some of our other winter get-up is.

Need a stocking stuffer? Get these one-size-fits-all fuzzy socks from Old Navy stat. They're normally $5 and I picked them up for just $3.50 on sale. I wish I had bought more; I've hardly taken them off since Sunday!

This nap shot was actually taken during a period of relatively high heat. Though I love my Snuggie, it's not as warm as some other blankets. Doesn't it look cozy?

What I should have gotten Dad for Christmas

Adrienne sent me what I thought was the funniest link the other day: a Christmas gift idea for my father, avid hunter and Second Amendment rights advocate.



Too bad all of his gifts this year are coming from Asia. Speaking of Asian gifts, check out Emily & Ryan's blog for a picture of Charlotte enjoying her Chinese nursery decorations. Too cute!

Neals at the Niners Game

Today Brian and I went to the 49ers game. He always seems to win free tickets from work, and this was no exception. The seats were great - fourth row - and particularly close to the Gold Rush Girls (as Brian so helpfully pointed out, as if anyone could miss them)!

I'm not complaining about fourth row seats, but it was HOT. That's the thing about Candlestick Park, you never know what the temperature is going to be. Though outside the park it was probably in the low 60's, I'd venture to say it was in the mid-70's if not low-80's with the sun beaming down on us. And someone didn't wear sunscreen...

So we moved up a bit, and caught the game from the shade, but an equally good view. Well, at first...

WHAT NOT TO WEAR. Ever. That's a Santa 49ers hat on her head.

You might think this was our reaction to her outfit, but in reality we were whooping and cheering. Guess the flash is a little slow...

Cheering because the 49ers beat the Jaguars 20-3. Even though Gramps Neal made us leave in the 3rd quarter to avoid traffic (ok, I didn't really care), we pretty much saw all the action.

As a side note, yesterday we saw Precious and neither of us can stop thinking about it. It was a great film, but one of those that really makes you feel thankful that your life is nothing like it. Tremendous acting, even by Mariah Carey (I had no idea she was in it). Anyway, check it out - and New Moon - if you have time.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (and the Great Pumpkin Flop)

It's the Day after Thanksgiving. Known as Black Friday to many. But to me, it's the first official day of the Christmas season.

For those who don't know, Brian always has to work on Thanksgiving. The day before is the last day of November sweeps, and since he does the 11 p.m. show, we wouldn't be able to fly anywhere until Thursday, and that would just be a really quick - and pretty stressful - trip home for Thanksgiving. Once we landed in California, we decided to embark on our double decker (both families) Christmas trips and just stay home for Thanksgiving. When we moved to San Francisco a few years ago, I started a little tradition that helps pass the holiday

(productively), even when he's not here.

I always cook Thanksgiving for two, and we have that for lunch. The good thing about Thanksgiving for two it that it's really easy to throw together (turkey breast only) and control portions! (No big families sitting around, talking, and just picking at the food - that's where I always get in trouble). Here's a look at what we had yesterday:

Turkey, stuffing (my favorite - Granny K's recipe with a few additions of my own), sweet potatoes (healthier than mashed, and we don't need both for two), broccoli (needed something green) and cranberry sauce (I LOVE the canned kind...don't judge).

Where was the pumpkin pie?

Can you see where the inside is all soupy? Yeah, it wasn't edible. My mom makes this awesome, double-layer pumpkin pie that you don't bake - it's graham cracker crust, a layer of cream cheese and cool whip, then the top layer of pumpkin, vanilla pudding, milk and some spices. In the five years or so that I've made this, I think I've only done it right once. This year? First I forgot the pumpkin and had to pick that up late Friday. The reason it was soupy was because I hadn't bought instant pudding (even though Mom had written that in all caps in the recipe...). I'm going to give it one more go - I will NOT be defeated by a pumpkin pie. But in case you're wondering, I'm a cook, not a baker. Good thing Brian doesn't really care for sweets!

But the main course - for me, anyway - is putting up the Christmas tree.

I wasn't sure if all these ornaments were going to fit, and it took about four or five hours from start to finish, but another part of my tradition is breaking out Love Actually for the first time of the season and watching that. Luckily Elf and Home Alone were on TV after, so I not only got my Christmas tree up, I also got in some good holiday movie time.

Since most of my shopping is done (thank you, Asia), the tree's up, and the other decorations are out, the next stop = Christmas cards. Be on the lookout for your card soon!

Brian and Katie: Political Visionaries?

Is President Obama following in our footsteps?

September 2009

November 2009

Did they have to shut down thousands of miles of the Wall just to take this pic?

I wonder if he also played Chinese hackey sack with the old ladies...

Or if he did this to the Merlion during his stay in Singapore...

It's probably classified information. We may never know.

Hiking Mt. Tamalpais

Remember when we went to the Jelly Belly Factory with LMB and Greg in January as part of our attempt to branch out and try new things in the Bay Area? Well, 10 months later, we branched out again. This time Brian suggested we hike Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing that we've never been after living in the Bay Area for 3.5 years and taking numerous visitors to the Marin Headlands for great city views. Not only does Mt. Tam have cool views of SF (look wayyyyy in the background), you can also see much of the North Bay (San Rafael, Richmond, Sausalito), the East Bay (Oakland and Berkeley) and the Pacific Ocean. This is the view from a little over halfway up the climb.

It was a really clear day with only a few clouds in the sky. With the sun shining on us, we both got pretty hot - especially on the steep shortcut/climb we took initially - but we quickly cooled down when in the shade of the forest. I'm pretty sure I'll be sore tomorrow after 3 hours of hiking, but that might be good for me after virtually no exercise in NY this week.

Here's the view from the West Point Inn, a great little place near the top. They have lemonade and granola bars on the honor system (both of which we enjoyed). So Marin County.

This is my artsy attempt at capturing the scenery of the awesome views and a great day. We got lost a couple of times on the poorly marked trails on the way home, but we made it back after not too long thanks to a few helpful bikers. You should definitely check it out if you have the chance.

Home Two Weeks

A lot of people have asked me what it's like to be home again. It's been two weeks since I returned from Singapore and I'm already back into many of my routines: long walks along the marina, big salads for (or at least along with) dinner, and countless errands that keep me on my toes. Obviously it's wonderful to be home with Brian.

Brian was extremely supportive of my Asian adventure and he was good at keeping things running around here...for the most part. I couldn't help but laugh when I got home, though. First of all, he lost almost 15 pounds while I was gone. At first this made me feel guilty, as if maybe my cooking isn't as healthy as I think it is! But when I got home, I realized that he had eaten literally everything except the condiments and a few cans of soup. He also kicked the cereal habit that fueled many late mornings and late nights alike. I guess you lose weight when you don't eat!

I also got home to two duffel bags full of mail. With the exception of rent and one other bill, all of our bills are paid electronically, so that wasn't a concern. And Brian said he sorted through it and pulled out "anything important." What he left for me to sort through were the pounds of credit card offers (16 from Southwest alone), stacks of 3-month-old catalogues, and thank you notes for gifts sent weeks before I left. He says he didn't want me to miss anything. Mm hmm.

What else is going on around here? I spent most of this week in New York for work, and it was great to see many remote members of my team as well as Sarah Fight. Unfortunately I came home to a smelly kitchen. Our fridge started going out earlier in the week and despite the fact that the building manager was here on Monday, it didn't get replaced until today (luckily the freezer was ok). I itemized all the food that spoiled in that time for reimbursement - which is exactly what I wanted to do after a 6-hour flight and a 4-day work trip - and somehow they found yet another "mini" fridge that fits just perfectly in our tiny wall cut-out.

The good news is that my Thanksgiving box arrived today. My mom always sends me the nicest gifts every holiday. The highlight of my Thanksgiving box was this adorable little trivet, though truth be told there were also some cute Christmas goodies (not to mention puppy chow/muddy buddies/sweet nothings/"crack").

If the weather's nice tomorrow, Brian and I may make a trip out to Mount Tamalpais in Marin County and do some hiking. I'll try to keep up the blog a little better moving forward - certainly not everyday or even every other day like in Singapore - but more than twice a month.

Finally, here are a few "grand finale" photos from Asia. Maybe someday I'll do a highlights post, but for now...

Singing karaoke at the KTV for Whitney's birthday with Ali and so many others not pictured here.

At my going away Winesday. What a fun night. I miss my friends already!

The Porter Novelli Singapore crew: Ed, Ranjeet, Terng Shing, Juley, Ahjay, Sam, Christina, Min, me, Fion and Anu.

In the Batu Caves just outside Kuala Lumpur with Jen. Completely amazing. Several Hindu Temples inside these limestone caves 272 stairs up. Amazing, just like so much of the rest of the trip.