My heart is open

Suzanne is a friend of mine in the blogosphere. She and I have been blog buddies for a few years; I feel like I know her (ok, just a little. not in a creepy way).


She posted today, and emailed me directly, about a close friend who recently lost both of her babies soon after birth.  The family is struggling, and Suzanne is hosting a fundraiser to help cover their hospital bills, lost income, and costs back at home.  While a small donation certainly won't heal their emotional wounds, it might help ease the financial strain that they are facing.


Suzanne has written a beautiful post, which includes photos and a message from her friend (the mother), and more information about the family and how you can help.  I encourage you to check it if you have a moment.  She has also gotten several great companies to sponsor the fundraiser, and she is offering entries to win a ton of cool prizes if you donate and help spread the word.


It's not often that I use this space to ask for help on behalf of myself or a friend, but I felt compelled to share.  I can't even imagine what they must be going through, but I want to help however I can.  I've made a donation to the Love to Zaria fundraiser, and I've added a badge to my sidebar to make it easy to donate if you feel so moved.


Thanks for listening.  

How Not to Get a Job

A quickie little post to tide you over until I post a big, photo-laden post about the proposal...

I've been helping our CEO hire for one of our open positions at Disqus, and I've been absolutely horrified (and ok, entertained) by some of the atrocious cover letters in my inbox.  I remember going through the same thing last year at Fantasy, and it never fails to make me just a little bit sad.

That said, I thought I'd offer a little advice (or anti-advice, really) -- How Not To Get A Job 

• Capitalize random words in the middle of your sentences.
• Use the wrong job title in your cover letter. The more times the better!
• Better yet, don't include a cover letter at all!
• Write entire paragraphs with no punctuation.
• Address your letter to "sirs".
• Have a 2 (or three!) page resume when you just graduated from college 6 months ago.
• Just copy paste chunks of your resume (or worse, our job posting) into your cover letter. No need to customize!
• Wax on and on about your "freakish obsession with grammar" but fail to recognize the difference between a comma and a semicolon only one sentence later. 

These are just a few of the lovely tips I have to offer.  I'd quote bits from cover letters, but that just seems mean.

Seriously, people.  If you want a job, learn to write.  And if you're applying for a job in recruiting, you should probably know how to submit a proper application.

Rant over.

I love a piano

We interrupt the "blogging about unpacking and also about how I have a bunch of giveaways to do and reviews to write and a salami party to plan but omg I'm buried in boxes and can't write that fun stuff yet" for some breaking news!

Last night, I saw an ad on Craigslist for a free piano. And then I saw this photo.

I decided that if there was anything I could do about it, this piano would be mine ours.  I talked to the guy who posted the listing this morning, and he said the only catch was that it had to be picked up by Wednesday at noon.  After confirming with my landlord that it was ok to have a piano, I started calling around to figure out how I would be able to get this piano to our house in under 24 hours.

I unsuccessfully posted a TaskRabbit Task, but thanks to Craigslist, I found movers who listed both pianos and last minute moves as things they could do. They asked for $180. I went to look at the piano to make sure I wanted it (you know, to make sure it wasn't broken or anything). I haggled the movers down to $160.  I'm meeting them at the piano's current home between 9-9:30am so they can load it in the truck and drive it to our place.  And then the piano will be mine ours.  I even cleared a little space for it in the formal living room room where I am currently keeping the giant stash one of the giant stashes of boxes yet to be unpacked.

"But Kim! There's no such thing as a free piano! Are you sure it's not terrible? Why would they just give away a perfectly good piano?"  That's why I checked it out tonight, genius.  :)  It actually sounds really nice.  It's in pretty good tune, though I'm sure it'll need to be tuned after the move.  The guys getting rid of it have to move (landlords are selling their house), and don't have room for it in the new place.  One of their old roommates brought the piano with him and left it in the house when he moved out, so they're not losing money on it or anything.  They just need it to be out of the house and can't take it.

Win for me us!  Of course, I am just assuming that Will is going to be happy about this (I'm sure he will be), because it's going to be a big surprise for him when he gets home (along with the Everything Is Unpacked Yay surprise? Right? That's still gonna happen?).  I might get to talk to him tomorrow, and I'll try my best not to say anything about it...hooray for surprises! And a piano!

Virtual House Tour! And An Update Update!

Hello! 

A fun little update...in the form of a video tour! What? I know! Just what you've always wanted! An awkward and slightly (hopefully not too) nauseating video of my new house! Yehaw! 

Oh yeah, apparently since I'm not a YouTube partner, I can't change the thumbnail for the video to be the first frame of the recording, which was KINDA the whole reason I decided to start outside the front door, but whatever youtubes. I could've added captions and stuff apparently, but I am far too lazy for that. I mean, the reason I did a video was that I am too lazy to take a bunch of pictures and upload them.  Besides, that's what awkward narration is for, right?  :)

I've also included a little update of that nasty "little" list I posted the other day. In case you're wondering how things are going.

• Thursday after work
• get a massage oh yeah woo hoo! massage cancelled due to therapist's migraine.  :(
  
• Google+ hangout with Aly decided not to due to amount of stuff to do.  :(
• unpack swag bag suitcase from BlogHer
• pack bag for LA (going home this weekend)
• mail something to Will. It's tricky, because he gets to his next resupply in 4 days, and the one after that only 6 days or so after that. So I have to get on it. And possibly pay for some quick shipping. Hopefully I don't have to do this Friday/Saturday, but I might have to. I mailed it. Because I am awesome. And he got it today, and it made him happy. I am the best ever.
• Friday after work
• fly home fell asleep on the plane before we even took off. Maybe I was tired?
• Saturday
• relax with the folks, maybe ship a package to Will? Send Lyz her post-blogher "left behind" package?
• not planned: deal with a bunch of crap going on with the final weekend of our office redesign/installation. boo. :(
• evening dinner with Los Angeles bloggy ladyfriends on my way out the door now! See you soon, A Serious Girl and Dopey LaRue (who is also here)! We'll miss you, Junket!
• Sunday
• Disneyland!
• Monday
• Fly home in the morning
• Disqus beach trip in the evening cancelled due to me not realizing the timing was terrible for everyone, which will actually be better because I should keep on unpacking.
• Tuesday after work
• pilates! (also yoga at work)
• unpack something! 
• move gift wrap stuff to guest room
• assemble kitchen cart, assuming it's arrived? maybe wait for a friend to help with this one.
• do some laundry? I can only assume I'll have a ton by then.
• Wednesday after work
• ballet...hopefully I'll find my shoes by then shoes = found!
• dinner with a visiting friend (Hi, Rachel)
• unpack? assemble kitchen cart?
• decide whether to hire a TaskRabbit to help with furniture assembly
• Thursday after work
• happy hour officewarming party fun times at work
• Reed flies in
• Friday
• take the day off work, spa day! I have a feeling this will be much-needed.
• evening at IKEA :)
• main closet organization?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Saturday
• brunch? 
• pick up stuff I bought from Steve & Kate's Camp in El Cerrito
• Target run?
• unpack, assemble IKEA furniture (bookcase, dresser, tv stand)? 
• Taskrabbit the assembly while we unpack?
• reorganize office/guest room furniture?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Sunday
• unpack
• Reed flies home
• haircut
• Monday after work
• NOTHIN BUT UNPACKING!
• Tuesday after work
• pilates (also yoga at work)
• unpack 
• make sure things are tidy enough for the housekeepers to come tomorrow
• Wednesday after work
• ballet 
• walk around the house, marveling at how clean it suddenly is (hopefully)
• unpack - can I please be done unpacking by this time?
• Thursday after work
• office managers meetup night?
• Friday
• drive to Yosemite to pick up Will!
• Sara B concert at Shoreline cancelled because Sara isn't performing after all, due to conflicts with The Sing Off's schedule, boo hoo, but less stressful
• sleep over in San Carlos?
• Saturday
• Monterey Bay Aquarium with Katherine - and Will!
• Sunday
• lounge around all day with Will, finally.
• Sleep.

A Not So Quickie Update

Project: Unpack Before Will Gets Back From The JMT is well underway, despite its lengthy title (and despite the curveball he threw me...he's coming home a week early!).

I've made lists of things I need to buy, and with the help of a few friends, have actually gotten quite a bit of unpacking done. Dude, I did like, 5 boxes tonight. Because I like to organize my brain in lists, here's a little list of to-do's. Warning: it's long. This is the next two weeks of my life. Starting with...tomorrow.

• Thursday after work
• get a massage oh yeah woo hoo!
• Google+ hangout with Aly
• unpack swag bag suitcase from BlogHer
• pack bag for LA (going home this weekend)
• mail something to Will. It's tricky, because he gets to his next resupply in 4 days, and the one after that only 6 days or so after that. So I have to get on it. And possibly pay for some quick shipping. Hopefully I don't have to do this Friday/Saturday, but I might have to. 
• Friday after work
• fly home
• Saturday
• relax with the folks, maybe ship a package to Will? Send Lyz her post-blogher "left behind" package?
• evening dinner with Los Angeles bloggy ladyfriends
• Sunday
• Disneyland!
• Monday
• Fly home in the morning
• Disqus beach trip in the evening
• Tuesday after work
• pilates!
• unpack something! 
• move gift wrap stuff to guest room
• assemble kitchen cart, assuming it's arrived? maybe wait for a friend to help with this one.
• do some laundry? I can only assume I'll have a ton by then.
• Wednesday after work
• ballet...hopefully I'll find my shoes by then
• dinner with a visiting friend (Hi, Rachel)
• unpack? assemble kitchen cart?
• Thursday after work
• happy hour officewarming party fun times at work
• Reed flies in
• Friday
• take the day off work, spa day! I have a feeling this will be much-needed.
• evening at IKEA :)
• main closet organization?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Saturday
• brunch? 
• pick up stuff I bought from Steve & Kate's Camp in El Cerrito
• Target run?
• unpack, assemble IKEA furniture (bookcase, dresser, tv stand)? 
• Taskrabbit the assembly while we unpack?
• reorganize office/guest room furniture?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Sunday
• unpack
• Reed flies home
• haircut
• Monday after work
• NOTHIN BUT UNPACKING!
• Tuesday after work
• pilates
• unpack 
• make sure things are tidy enough for the housekeepers to come tomorrow
• Wednesday after work
• ballet 
• walk around the house, marveling at how clean it suddenly is (hopefully)
• unpack - can I please be done unpacking by this time?
• Thursday after work
• office managers meetup night?
• Friday
• drive to Yosemite to pick up Will!
• Sara B concert at Shoreline
• sleep over in San Carlos?
• Saturday
• Monterey Bay Aquarium with Katherine.
• Sunday
• lounge around all day with Will, finally.
• Sleep.

Unpacking schedule may vary based on my mood.  Things to unpack: pots and pans (waiting on kitchen cart), books (waiting on 2nd bookshelf), movies (waiting on tv stand), games, tech crap, office stuff, canned food, dresser stuff...and I feel like there are more things but I don't want to walk around the living room taking inventory right now.

I think it's reasonable, though looking at the list makes me feel a little crazy.  I can do it!!?

PS no plans (well, besides Tues Pilates and Weds ballet) the week after this list of wonders...except oh wait, that next weekend we fly to Washington for a wedding, and the one after that we go to Colorado, and the one after that probably a wedding in Santa Barbara (travel plans permitting), and then we will both crash and sleep for a few days?


I feel lucky to have so much awesome in my life, but um, am I a crazy person?  Seriously, please let me know.  I'll be in bed.

The first post-BlogHer11 post

So BlogHer was fun.  It was really fun. And now I am well stocked on Allegra and Command Hooks and Glad containers and all sorts of goodies.  I had a ridiculous amount of fun with Tricia, Lyz and Suki.

Obviously.

We made friends, and I'll do some shout outs when I go through and organize the gigundo stack of business cards I collected (like a boss). I didn't use my digital camera once, but I took a TON of iphone photos - tweeting #blogher11 was what all the cool kids were doing, and y'all know I'm the coolest of kids (ha). 

Some favorites include:

• Being socially rejected
• Eye Candy at the Expo
• The joys of walking
• A Serious Sleepy Girl
• Last night at the conference
• Drunk Ricki Lake

Yeah, the conference was fun (did I mention that already?). We've been waiting for 4 hours at the airport for our severely delayed flight, but we're going to be boarding soon and oh man, I'm gonna sleep on my new Tempur-pedic travel pillow. 

More posts to come, with lots of giveaways and updates and blog love.  For now, I could use a drink. And a nap.

Yosemite

I love Yosemite.  I've been going there practically since I was born (there are pictures of me there as a newborn, when my parents were not much older than I am now) and I feel a sort of calmness when I'm there. Even the drive there fills me with a sense of centeredness, I feel myself start to loosen up and give in to nature.  I know that sounds sort of hippy dippy.  It's hard to explain...I guess it's the closest thing I have to a religious/spiritual connection of some sort.  When I go to the park, I'm happy. I could stare at the river or rest under the trees for hours, breathing in the piney air and listening to the sounds of rushing water.  I love it.

When I heard about the record snow levels this year, and the resulting record high water levels, I knew I had to get there to see it.  Will was planning a camping trip for early August (this weekend), but I am (obviously) at BlogHer and unable to go (sadface, but not totally, because BlogHer is awesome), so I convinced him to join me on an impromptu trip to the park.

We didn't have a reservation, and my only requirement was to see the waterfalls. Specifically Vernal Falls, because in my mind that was an easy walk with a good payoff (oops, I forgot the part where it's a steep uphill walk that is not as short as I thought - oh well, worth it).  We left early, around 7:15am if I remember correctly, and got to the park around 10:30, right around when the Crane Flat campground was opening. For the first time all summer. We got a spot, and though it wasn't the *best* spot in the world, it was a campsite within the park's boundaries, and I was happy.

We made a little list of things we wanted to do, and every single thing on that list was vetoed by the park rangers who told us the river was too high and fast for rafting, Hardin meadow was still soggy and snow-patchy, and the bridge at Hetch Hetchy was closed due to too much water coming off the waterfalls.  We decided to go for North Dome, a strenuous hike, but one I was gearing myself up for.  Except when we got to the trailhead, a group of hikers told us they had gone about 1.5 miles in only to be stopped by a huge snow bank covering the trail.  Not wanting to lose the trail (and because at this point, it was already around 4pm), we drove onward towards Lembert Dome (at the suggestion of the hikers).  We stopped at various points along the way, whenever we felt like stopping.  It was new for us, not planning and just kind of going with the flow.  I'm glad we did it.  It felt good to be out there just the two of us, driving and stopping and admiring this beautiful part of the park that we had never visited together.

The slideshow below features around 60 of my favorite photos from that weekend (we took over 300). If you don't want to watch the whole thing, you can click here to just browse the photos on PicasaWeb (and leave comments too!).

Checking In From BlogHer

I'm writing this from the plane, on my way down to my hotel room in San Diego for the 2011 BlogHer Conference.  It's been quite a week, and it's looking like this will be quite a weekend...and quite a next month or so as well.

If you've been following along on Twitter, you know that Will is in Yosemite, getting ready to hike the approximately 220 miles of the John Muir Trail, which begins at Happy Isles (in Yosemite Valley) and ends at the top of Mount Whitney. He'll be gone for about 3.5 weeks, and I'm doing my best to fill my schedule so the time passes quickly!  We were up until about 2am last night getting his gear packed, and arose at 5am today to shave his head before his friends picked him up. I got to sleep again from about 6:30-9:30am after saying goodbye (ps - goodbyes are hard), but was fighting the sleepy eyelids as the plane drifted through sunny skies.

Now I'm sitting on my bed in the hotel room at BlogHer, waiting for Tricia to arrive (our 3rd roommate, Lyz, doesn't get in until late). I just got here, and I'm already a little overwhelmed.  In that excited way, of course, but still a little overwhelmed. This is a HUGE hotel (and very fancy, I might add), with restaurants and stores and all that jazz, and I'm a little worried about getting lost running from event to event. I hope we scheduled enough buffer/travel time between things! We have a nice view out the window, of a hotel (maybe?) whose name I can't make out, but it's pretty odd looking.  I think the sign says San Diego Wine & Chfaslkfj Club? Fallbrook Dining Somethingorother? And I want my roooooooomies to get here!


The next month and a half will include a visit from Tricia (post-conference), a trip home and a day at Disneyland, a visit from Reed, an officewarming party at work, SaraB at Shoreline, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and as many pilates/dailey method/ballet classes as I can squeeze in before I drive either to Yosemite or Mammoth to pick Will and his hiking partner up from the end of the trail. Oh, and we're going to some weddings and a football game in Colorado. And I'm probably forgetting something.  Oof!

For now, vacation BlogHer!

I'm hoping to post a few things while I'm at the conference this weekend, including some beautiful pictures from our recent trip to Yosemite (in honor of Will's trip) and a massively awesome giveaway.  Stay tuned!

Teaser pic:

Will and I on our way into Yosemite Valley a few weeks ago.