Update on My Firsts: Travel Adventures

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, so apologies for not checking in and keeping up with these firsts. Business has picked up for me, so I've been juggling a few projects while attempting to keep my sanity and "me" time. Also, I've been doing some traveling and busy doing "firsts" that I haven't been able to do any writing.

Some of the "firsts" I've done these past couple weeks include:

Day 99: Cried Hard During a Movie

Cory and I love to watch movies, whether it's going to the theater or renting from Redbox. We usually watch comedies or hero/action movies, but we've been hearing great things about 12 Years a Slave, so Cory decided to rent it.

That was one of the hardest movies I think I've ever had to watch. If you plan on watching it, get a box of tissues ready. There was a point where I didn't think I could finish it because it was just so heartbreaking. What's even more heartbreaking is that so many of the things that happen in the movie still occur today.

Director Steve McQueen did a phenomenal job of capturing the emotions of each character and really drawing you into their struggles. Brad Pitt was a producer and also had a cameo role towards the end of the movie. Lupita Nyong'o certainly deserved the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Day 98: Pleasure Reading In the Middle of the Work Day

I read alot of books, but 99% of them are non-fiction and self-help books. I rarely read a fiction book, and pleasure reading during the middle of the work day has never crossed my mind. I do keep to a strict schedule of work...kinda, sorta.  I wanted to finish the book I had blogged about before, and I was itching to find out what happened to one of the characters, so instead of waiting until all my work was done before curling up to relax, I started to read right after I checked email in the morning.

My Type-A ego kept yelling at me to get back to work. How dare you read a book when there is work to do?!?

I ignored the voice and kept reading. It felt good to rebel...

Day 97: Detour to Starbucks

When driving to my second office (Starbucks) there are usually 2 routes that I take, and there was construction on the route I chose this day. I had to take a detour, which led me down a road I've never been down before. It almost felt like I was in a whole different neighborhood. Well, technically I was, but it's funny that I've been down the other streets in this area but not this one.

I really should explore the area where I live more often!

Day 96: 12 Hour Day

Day 95: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie

Day 94: Projeqt, A Powerpoint Alternative

While researching alternatives for Powerpoint to create a slideshow for a client, I came across Projeqt, a web-based app that allows you to create visually dynamic presentations. You can incorporate feeds from various social media accounts into your presentation as well. I just played around with it and created this very, very short presentation...

Day 93: New Camera & Learning Photography Terms

Cory's birthday present arrived - a Fujifilm FinePix S4800 digital camera that has 30x zoom, which is one feature that my current point and shoot Sony camera does not have. Although I would love to have a nice DSLR camera to take more professional photos, the FinePix S4800 does give you a taste of manual control over shutter speed and aperture. I'm still playing around with it and learning all the different features.

I still have alot to learn about ISO and working with different lighting conditions. I came across this video that explains ISO if you're just starting out in photography...

Day 92: Audi A3 Launch Party

Audi has been promoting the heck out of the new A3 sedan these past few months. All of the dealerships across the U.S. threw big launch parties, and I attended the party at Audi San Diego. Read all about it on my Audi blog.

Day 91: The Getty Center

I've been wanting to visit the Getty Museum in L.A. for awhile now. The weather wasn't looking too good in the morning, so we actually had cancelled plans to go up. However, the skies cleared up in the afternoon, so we ended up going after all and arrived about 3pm. The museum closed at 5:30, so we rushed through and tried to see as much as we could.

Day 90: Reaching Out to College Friend

I haven't seen my college friend Judy since she graduated and went off into the world, which was about 14-15 years ago. We had a blast in college. Judy is a free spirit who always had alot of energy and always wanted to be out and about. My most memorable time with her was when we drove up to Humboldt for a couple days and partied our a**es off!

I found Judy on Facebook and reached out to see if we could meet up since she now lives in L.A. We made plans to see each other, but there were time conflicts so we ended up not being able to connect.

Day 89: Madison Gallery, La Jolla

I've passed this gallery many times when I'm in La Jolla, but this time I was drawn in by the interesting art in the front window (pictured above). I was greeted by one of the dogs by the reception area, but the two women who were there seem to be too preoccupied to even say, "Hello."