Down Came the Rain

... and washed the spider out...

It's the end of June and it's pouring rain AND we are having a thunder and lightning show. On days like today, I like to stay home and make a nice stew filled with vegetables, or bake chocolate chip cookies. Fresh ground coffee or a nice brewed hot tea would also do the trick.

I've crashed my laptop twice in the last 30 days. Not fun. I'm having to use Francisco's laptop, and it's super slow and the buttons are all messed up. In April, I met with a personal trainer from my gym for a free consultation. They are trying to get everyone to step up their weight training. I cut back on my cardio by HALF and by the end of May, I realized I gained easily 10 pounds. Now I'm in the gym almost daily to try to lose this weight so I can fit into my clothes comfortably, and to look good for summer.

My daughter turned 18 and chose the college she will be attending this Fall. I attended 3 of the college Welcomings with her and was impressed by all of them. The University of San Francisco was DEFINITELY the epitome of what the rest of country thinks of the Bay Area: environmentally aware, culturally diverse and socially involved. The cafeteria on that campus blew me away with the number of different "kitchens" in there. They had the typical sandwiches and such, but they also had a sushi bar and juicer/smoothie station with wheatgrass everywhere. You won't find elevator music streaming through the cafeteria speakers. No, instead it was loud club music - haha! Garbage receptacles are in three's throughout the campus; one for plastics, cans and glass, the other for paper/cardboard and the last for anything else. I don't think my daughter was impressed.

Work has been MAJOR crazy for me, but being in commission sales means that the money and the sales are not guaranteed. In addition to that, the time, gas, and money spent is not reimbursed. All I can do is continue getting clients in the pipeline and working smart. I know it will eventually pay off.

I miss not being able to blog and catch up on blogs I subscribe to. I'm still a year behind on my blog-reading and my PerezHilton.com reading. This blog that would normally take me 20 minutes or less to write, now takes about an hour with all the interruptions from Frankie.

I attended my first Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco last weekend. Although I wasn't able to stay as long as I wanted, I was glad I was able to go and watch all the families in the parade and standing next to some funny guys providing commentary on the sidelines.

Until next time... Peace, love, respect :)

BYOB... Wheel

Bring Your Own Big Wheel, or BYOBW as the cool-folk know it, was how I spent the last half of my Easter this year. My 16 year-old son was baptized in the Catholic faith (15+ years a little late) that morning after Easter Mass. Since my older 2 kids were going to spend Easter with their father's side of the family, I really didn't have any plans. I decided to head out to San Francisco and see how crazy this BYOBW really was.

It was a gorgeous sunny day out in the City. No fog, no traffic, no idiot drivers. Perfect.

My friend Lisa turned me on to this event. Every Easter Sunday afternoon in San Francisco, people get dolled up and ride Big Wheels, toddler bikes or anything with wheels down a narrow, curvy street. I found a great parking spot facing downhill within a couple of blocks from the end of this race. Once I parked my STICK-SHIFT car and turned the wheels inward in a 90 degree angle, it hit me. SHIT. I have to get this thing out of reverse without stalling or hitting the car in front of me. DAMNIT!

Anywho, off I skipped with glee to witness grown-folk careen down the steep, curvy street looking like over-grown children on Big Wheels and such. I found a safe spot on the sidewalk to watch these crazies... in front of a utility pole - hehe!

--DAMMIT! Appointment to show homes to get to. Will continue later...--

(Days later - hahaha!)

Now, where was I? ... parking my stick-shift car down a narrow street within inches of the car in front of me... finding safe spot on sidewalk... Oh yes! There were TONS of adult spectators, but you would have thought they were kids on Christmas morning. The majority of us could not control our laughter as we watched in anticipation of someone biting it royally down that last sharp turn.

(This guy went down the hill in a heavy duty garbage can on wheels. I voted him Best Costume/Ride.)

The event doesn't last more than a couple hours. Winners are announced towards the end of the event as the last of the riders careen down the hill. Towards the end, we noticed riders going down the hill multiple times. I guess they don't have an issue with that, since it IS a free event. My friend Lisa and I are going to participate in this next year. I'm on a mission to find an AWESOME kids bike to deck out... and a costume.

My First Album

You gotta fight, for your right

Cassette Tape

Beastie Boys' "License to Ill" was the first cassette I ever purchased... at the flea market, so it was most likely a pirated copy. It was the best of both worlds: rock & rap.

My Top Celebrity Sightings

No autographs, please...

Hollywood

Tommy Chong - Noticed him at a Chicago airport waiting for our flight to LAX. I pretended to read while trying to get a better look at him in the lounge. Then I walked by him in First Class while boarding the plane and gave him a nod and a grin, but inside I was squealing with delight.



Heidi Fleiss - AVN Awards in Vegas one year. Celebrities galore. But as I was walking towards Heidi, I froze in amazement. This was, afterall, the Madame herself.



Cyndi Lauper - After the Pride parade in SF one year, she gave a speech and had an after-party at Blake's on Telegraph in Berkeley. Danced with her and some fans, and brushed up against her peacoat. I was tempted to lick her coat, but didn't want my fanatacism to show.

My Most Quotable Movies

My humor is like a box of chocolates...

Adam Sandler signature

"Popeye's Chicken is the shizznit." - Little Nicky

"Who do you think I am, Albert f***en Trump?!" Stealing Harvard

"It tastes so good when it touches your lips!" & "Your my boy, Blue!" Old School

"If peeing your pants is cool, then consider me Miles Davis." Billy Madison

My Most Memorable Birthday

Who you callin' old???

magazine[2]

My Dirty 30 was the MOST memorable birthday for me yet. I celebrate my birthday as my birthday MONTH, naturally. The celebrations started off with some Girls Night Out thing at a local dive with male strippers and ended with a nice dinner at favorite hometown restaurant, Cap's, with a Raider tailgate or two that may or may not have included beer bongs. I would give you details, but then I'd have to kill you.

Uhhhh... AWKward.

Buh-bye!

Buh-Bye

What makes an awkward moment so awkward is knowing you should end a conversation, but not wanting to insult the other person with your bluntness. First dates are the WORST! I learned quickly to arrange meeting at a loud, busy place that way the escape would be easy.

Will I Ever Go Back to School?

Back to school, back to school...

Miss Lippy

I'd love to go back to school just to continue learning and being challenged mentally. Could you imagine a 50 year old doing kegstands? Oy vay! I'd stick to the books.

Things I Have No Patience For

Just a little patience, yeahhhhh yeah

Boys with Knives

I wish my eyeballs could throw daggers when I have to deal with rude people, being late and/or lied to my face.

You Better Werk, Werk it Gurl

Once upon a time, I was really involved in the real estate community and its organizations, and then I got super busy with work and my career that I stressed myself out, started binge drinking and getting angry at my then boyfriend, went to counseling for anger management and drinking, and finally became a semi-hermit for 5 years. The traveling for work and pleasure was great, but the constant socializing/networking kept me away from my kids and family. In 2004, I was the local chapter President for this women's real estate organization. Once my term was over, the slow unraveling of my career and life began.

Within a span of 6 months, I had one of the biggest break-ups of my then relationship, I purchased my first home, I FINALLY made a 6-figure income (a goal I cannot remember even setting-but I reached it and I was proud of myself), vacationed in Cancun and accomplished another life-goal of climbing the Mayan ruins of Chi Chen Itza (with then boyfriend who was texting and calling one of 3 girls he was seeing), and ending with my brother committing suicide on his 35th birthday.

Phew! No wonder I turned into a spazmatic hermit. I swore to never put my career before my family again and "turned to God" while in counseling.

Flash-forward to about a year or two ago when I began to attend weekly real estate marketing meetings and renew my membership with the real estate organization I once flourished in. The first several meetings, I would sit in the seat closest to the back door at any event/venue; I would keep my eyes cast downward, and avoid any "networking". Keep in mind that in 2007/2008 MANY folks in real estate had to abandon that career path for a REAL job, so most of these fresh faces had no idea who I was and I was so relieved for that.

Then came the questions about where I had been, what had I been up to, all questions I so badly wanted to avoid, and HAD avoided for 5 years. I still had a hard time talking about my brother and the downward spiral my life had taken. Do I lie and say everything is fine? Everything is perfect? I was just "taking some time off with my family"? Damn. Some of them had an idea, but I didn't really feel like discussing what a shit-hole my life had been and how I was finally digging myself out of in front of 50 other real estate people.

Needless to say, I just smiled and said life was good and I was ready to start getting back out there. A few of them pried and prodded, and I felt obligated to give them a quick rundown, much to my displeasure. It took almost a year for me to stop doubting myself and my knowledge/experience. I became more social and made new friends, though I don't care to be center-stage any longer. It wasn't attention that I needed, it was validation from an industry that was mostly older, white people; and there I was, a 18/19 year-old, Hispanic teen-mother trying to get her feet wet in real estate. I had finally acheived that in my mid/late 20s and I felt like I threw it all away, only to start over in my 30s.

I broke out of my cocoon at the end of 2010 by modeling for that women's organization, that almost 10 years before I had helped charter.

(That's me on the right, planting a smooch on a colleague.)

Adventures in Wine

Gone are the days of $100+ bar tabs. The occasional trip out for drinks or socializing has to count. San Francisco was once a weekly trip, now I might visit a few times a year. Wine tasting is almost sacrilege, being that we are a mere 40 minutes from Napa & Sonoma Valley.

In any case, we are making the best of what we have. The county I live in is known for its agriculture. My neck of the woods is known for apples, corn and cherries and is now adding grape vineyards and olive trees to make a realistic profit off land.

Back in the good ol' days (early 2000s), Brentwood's first Wine Bar opened in our downtown area. It was definitely a place to lounge and dip your toe in the world of wine. Over the last few years, it has switched owners and been re-vamped into a new kind of wine hangout.

This bottle of Educated Guess caught my eye while taking refuge in the wine bar from the sweltering heat of the Farmer's Market. I'm a math nerd, so I was drawn to the bottle like a moth to a flame. I have yet to try the wine.

I can't remember when I took this picture. I'm sure it was my first night back after not having been at the wine bar in a couple years.

This wine flight is all local wines. My favorite was Bloomfield's Devil's Daughter. The point of this picture was to remind myself to make this table. Most of the tables in the wine bar are wine barrels with glass tops. Each table is filled with different items. This one with the corks is my favorite.

The local vitners are banding together to get an appellation for their own wine label.

A REAL Post for 2011

The last several posts on my blog have been writing prompts from Plinky.com. I haven't had a diary for a couple years, mainly because my last complete one was taken along with many personal belongings (useless to those theives) that I left in a car. As much as I desperately need to write about some things going on in my life, I feel like this might not be the most appropriate place to post them, since it's not an anonymous blog. Who knows, the more I think about it, I might just say to hell with it and write about it anyway. We'll see as I type more...

In October of 2010, I switched real estate offices. I was getting fed up with the owners and managers constantly trying to be "friends" with the agents and gossiping about everyone. I can see this going on between co-workers, but it's not acceptable behavior for an owner or manager. The office I left had a few other locations, but I would always avoid having to go into the main office. I, too, started falling into that sink-hole of negativity. As much as I tried to reverse my bad-attitude for that office, some other issue would arise and I would be frustrated at the way management would handle it. It was like being in a bad relationship: both parties keep falling into their bad habits to the point that the only solution is just to walk away.

Real estate is still pretty slow. The banks aren't foreclosing on properties right and left, which means there aren't many homes out there for us to sell. Even if we do find a potential buyer, the lending requirements are still pretty strict, and not everyone is able to qualify. This lack of money is definitely starting to take a toll on me. I just want to be able to start paying bills again. Even though Francisco takes care of all the finances right now, it just not the same as having my own money. I don't think I could ever get to a point in my life where I would be okay with someone else making all the money - haha!

This past summer I attended a lot of local community events. Brentwood (my hometown) has Downtown Thursdays: car show, live music and street vendors in the evening. It was a nice way to spend the warm evenings out listening to a small band play while sipping on wine and chatting with friends/family. Saturday mornings were usually spent at the Farmer's Market, also in Downtown Brentwood. A seafood company from Santa Cruz would set up and we usually had a few raw oysters before heading into the Wine Bar for mimosas. Of course, this is after walking through the vendors, trying free samples and buying our fruits, veggies and olive oils. It was at one of these Farmer's Market Saturday's that I took a picture of my youngest enjoying a plum, which was later published in our local paper as a "Kid of the Week".


People from all over the Bay Area come to Brentwood around Memorial Day Weekend and into a few weeks of June to pick cherries. It's a huge event for some famililes. Growing up in Brentwood, I never knew what the big deal was. I just remember the streets and parks being packed with out-of-towners. My cousin drove out from Pinole with his kids, and my mom, baby Frankie and I joined him. We picked about 2 pounds of Bing cherries. They were DELICIOUS!

This is a pretty long post, so I'll catch you up on another day. There are still pictures and trips to Santa Cruz and the Boardwalk, Hazel's hamburger challenge, concerts in San Francisco, Neighborhood Clean-Ups, soccer games and college admittance...

My Childhood Idols

I'll tumble for ya

Boy George - Cheapness And Beauty

When I was a kid, I idolized mostly musicians. This was the age of MTV, so to see these stories play out in 3 minute videos was amazing. Pat Benetar for "Love is a Battlefield" - give me some combat boots and a torn dress and I'd be all over those railroad tracks! Boy George - I studied his hair & makeup religiously... and then tried it out on my Barbies. Same goes for Cyndi Lauper. LITA FORD - holy moley. Don't know what it was about her, but I wanted to BE her! Joan Jett - no explanation needed. And then there's Mr. Shel Silverstein.

What My Home Says About Me

Hi, my name is Virginia, and I'm a flight risk.

Boxes in the living room

My home is very bare. Hardly any decorations or pictures on walls. I lived in my current home for a year before I actually unpacked some boxes and hung a few frames on the wall. I think it reflects EXACTLY who I am: someone who doesn't like to get attached and low maintenance. Commitment phobe??? Who said that??!!

Kanye's Workout Plan

I read while I cardio, therefore I am.

Richard Simmons

My fitness routine is the same all year long. I start with 40 minutes of hill intervals on the eliptical on level 3. Then 4-5 one-minute planks. Depending on how much time I have, I'll do 4 reps of 20 ab excercises with 10 lbs: left obliques, right obliques and upper abs. Twice a week I do 120 leg lifts for lower abs. Staggered throughout my workout week are lunges, squats, and weight workouts for all body parts.



Now where's my gallon of Dreyer's Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream????

Talking Versus Texting: My Preference

Cell Phone

I prefer texting. There's no need for me to have a long, drawn-out conversation with someone if I only need 1 or 2 simple answers. If it's business & is going to require a lot of explaining then I prefer to talk. And if it's girl-talk, even better over coffee or drinks.