If Thirty is the new Twenty, I've got some work to do!
My big 3-0 is on March 13th and I have a few things to accomplish on the docket before then.
Since we were kids, Dad has instilled a family tradition of creating Resolutions, or "Goals" as he calls them, and we read them aloud to each other on New Years Eve. If we can't be together in person on New Years Eve (we often are together), we do a big conference call and let everyone read theirs aloud. I know people have varying opinions on New Years Resolutions, but our family loves them. It's a time of the year that I always look forward to, not only to reflect on my own progress, but to hear what Dad, Carolyn, Lindsay, Jon and Dave each come up with for themselves. As close as we all are, I am always surprised by at least one resolution from each of them...something I had no idea they were interested in, and likely wouldn't know if we didn't complete this annual tradition.
Dad recently sent me our resolutions for reference (no, we aren't one of those families that writes them and forgets about them until Jan 31st of the following year...Lindsay and Jon even tack theirs up in their kitchen!). I decided this year to "publicize" mine on the blog to help me keep accountable. So here they are - the good, the bad, the ugly:
Brooklyn's 2008 Resolutions
Mind:
* Refresh and Relearn Spanish with a Rosetta Stone Course
* Learn how to combine Excel and Photoshop Macro Skillz
* Become and "expert" on a topic at work - my current focus is social media in marketing
* Take a Photoshop course (1st Qtr 2008)
* Take Advanced Excel course (1st Qtr 2008)
Body:
* Hit 140 Pounds!
* Complete one Sprint Triathlon
* Complete La Jolla Half Marathon and SF Bay to Breakers
* Complete the SF Nike Women's Marathon (all 26.2 miles!)
* 20 (boy) Push-Ups!
Love/Family:
* Support Dave on expanding his skill set via shoe school and any other creative outlets he finds
* Take a trip with Justin and Diane (Dave's cousins)
* Work harder on communicating with full family (three sets of parents and two sets of siblings!)
So that is it - ME - dirty laundry out to hang in public. Keep me accountable and help me get there!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Tahoe, Snow and Chorizo
What do these three things have in common? The combo makes for a FANTASTIC weekend away! We rented a house in Tahoe for the weekend with 6 other people and had a great time. We have only visited Tahoe in the summer, at Jon's grandparents' lovely home, but this time we went with San Fran friends and rented a house where there isn't a care in the world. It was a 5 BR house with a large kitchen, huge living room and a HOT TUB! I have only skied twice prior to this trip, so I was a little nervous to ski at the renowned Lake Tahoe.
The drive there was a little gnarly...we bought tire chains for the snow and had them installed once we reached Tahoe. Here is a quick video of what we were seeing - crazy!
Friday, the 7 others went skiing at Squaw Valley while I worked from the cabin. It was nice to have a full day of quiet, but I was anxious at 5:00pm for them to come "home" and to let the cocktails begin! We played games and hung out that night, then got up around 8am to Jen's fabulous oat bran banana pancakes (no joke - they were amazing) and took off for Alpine to get our ski on!
Entire ski group at Alpine
We took this photo from the top of our first run. It was a "blue" and I thought I would cry when I first saw the steep decline, but I snowplowed my way through it and ended up okay!
Top of Summit Six
Here are two views of what we were fortunate enough to enjoy the entire weekend...just breathtaking.
I finally moved beyond the snowplow after a few more tries and started to get the hang of it!
Dave was able to strut his stuff, though this is pretty mild compared to his full talent. The winters he spent skiing with his family paid off - this kid has SKILLZ!!! I like this video (0:40 long) because it gives a feel for how BIG the mountain is.
We had an absolutely fantastic weekend with Jen, Alex, Heidi, Bryan, Ali and Clayton. We are already putting a "reunion tour" on the calendar for late March! More pictures (greatly narrowed down from the 1100 we took!) can be found here.
Oh and the Chorizo? Well, that was another addition to breakfast, but didn't work out quite as great as the oat bran banana pancakes. The sausages, once cooked, turned to complete LIQUID, which was then placed in the fridge to solidify, which subsequently FROZE for the next 48 hours. Needless to say, it was GROSS to see, GROSSER to clean (thanks, Heidi!). And we still wonder why I don't cook? Hmmm....
The drive there was a little gnarly...we bought tire chains for the snow and had them installed once we reached Tahoe. Here is a quick video of what we were seeing - crazy!
Friday, the 7 others went skiing at Squaw Valley while I worked from the cabin. It was nice to have a full day of quiet, but I was anxious at 5:00pm for them to come "home" and to let the cocktails begin! We played games and hung out that night, then got up around 8am to Jen's fabulous oat bran banana pancakes (no joke - they were amazing) and took off for Alpine to get our ski on!
Entire ski group at Alpine
We took this photo from the top of our first run. It was a "blue" and I thought I would cry when I first saw the steep decline, but I snowplowed my way through it and ended up okay!
Top of Summit Six
Here are two views of what we were fortunate enough to enjoy the entire weekend...just breathtaking.
I finally moved beyond the snowplow after a few more tries and started to get the hang of it!
Dave was able to strut his stuff, though this is pretty mild compared to his full talent. The winters he spent skiing with his family paid off - this kid has SKILLZ!!! I like this video (0:40 long) because it gives a feel for how BIG the mountain is.
We had an absolutely fantastic weekend with Jen, Alex, Heidi, Bryan, Ali and Clayton. We are already putting a "reunion tour" on the calendar for late March! More pictures (greatly narrowed down from the 1100 we took!) can be found here.
Oh and the Chorizo? Well, that was another addition to breakfast, but didn't work out quite as great as the oat bran banana pancakes. The sausages, once cooked, turned to complete LIQUID, which was then placed in the fridge to solidify, which subsequently FROZE for the next 48 hours. Needless to say, it was GROSS to see, GROSSER to clean (thanks, Heidi!). And we still wonder why I don't cook? Hmmm....
Monday, January 21, 2008
Congratulations, Newell Family!
Two dear, dear friends from childhood just had their first baby yesterday!!! The sex of the baby was a surprise and....it's a GIRL! Congratulations, Nay and Natalie, on welcoming Caroline Marie Newell into the world.
For those of you that know Nay and Nat, here are updates: www.newellbaby.com/
I can't wait to meet her!
xoxo
Auntie Brooke
For those of you that know Nay and Nat, here are updates: www.newellbaby.com/
I can't wait to meet her!
xoxo
Auntie Brooke
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Why I Want to be J (for a day)...
We visited our college friend, J, this weekend in LA. He moved there last March and this was our first visit down to see him, so it was well overdue (yes, we live in the SAME STATE). It's a quick 50-minute flight down on Southwest, so we went down on Friday night after work and returned this afternoon.
J is in a 1BR apartment now, soon moving into a 5BR house with 3 other guys (more on that in a moment). When we arrived, we immediately went to the fridge to scavenge for food and I was shocked, shocked I tell you, at the contents of his fridge. He has lived in this place for almost 1 year (so it's not like there is not time to settle). Not a photo on the wall, not a lamp with a lamp shade to be found (he had lamps and he had lamp shades, but not connected or plugged in). Here is J's fridge - a true portrait of bachelorhood! I found it to be hilarious....J didn't get what the big deal was. :-)
J's fridge....3 bottles of wine, a red bull and peanut butter.
Friday night, we went to a sick dinner at Katsuya, which had some of the best sushi I have ever tasted in my life. Amazingly fresh and creative - delicious! After dinner, we headed to the famed club Winston's, where we were promptly dinged from getting in as we weren't a celebrity and therefore a 'nobody'. :-) It was already 1am by the time we arrived to Winston's, so my narcoleptic butt was ready to go home and call it a night.
On Saturday, J did a great job of touring us around the different parts of LA including walking through Bev Hills and Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Blvd, Sunset Blvd, etc. We then went to his NEW place that he moves into on 1-Feb. J has lived alone or with a girlfriend since we graduated college, but has not had guy roommates since 2000. Eight years later, at the most successful point of his career to date, he is moving in with 3 other guys into a 5 BR house in Hollywood Hills. What would make him do such a thing, you might ask? Ahhh, I have the answer. Here is a picture of the VIEW from his new pad, followed by a couple short video clips of what the house looks like from the inside. In a word, it is SICK. And at what cost might this pad of luxury cost? $10,000/month. Not even kidding. It IS split 4 ways at $2,500 each...does that make a $10,000/month rent check reasonable? Only in LA!
View from J's new house
Saturday night, we went to an Italian dinner at Dan Tana's followed by a night at the club Hyde (often seen on TMZ and The Hills). We were all worried that we would have a repeat of Friday where we weren't cool enough to enter, BUT someone knew the DJ, so we name-dropped our way in. You have the option of bottle service or regular bar for drinks, so we opted for regular drinks. At $16/each, it's not exactly a happy hour type of place! The rest of the crew did bottle service...with a tab of $1,000 afterwards. I still can't get my jaw off the floor from that one.
Thank you, J, for such a GREAT weekend! We had a really fun time and I loved my "Day In the Life of J."
PS: Celeb sightings:
-- Kayan Douglas (from "Queer Eye"), grabbing food to-go from the day-bar we were at
-- Veronica from Real World/Road Rules Challenge, at Hyde.
J is in a 1BR apartment now, soon moving into a 5BR house with 3 other guys (more on that in a moment). When we arrived, we immediately went to the fridge to scavenge for food and I was shocked, shocked I tell you, at the contents of his fridge. He has lived in this place for almost 1 year (so it's not like there is not time to settle). Not a photo on the wall, not a lamp with a lamp shade to be found (he had lamps and he had lamp shades, but not connected or plugged in). Here is J's fridge - a true portrait of bachelorhood! I found it to be hilarious....J didn't get what the big deal was. :-)
J's fridge....3 bottles of wine, a red bull and peanut butter.
Friday night, we went to a sick dinner at Katsuya, which had some of the best sushi I have ever tasted in my life. Amazingly fresh and creative - delicious! After dinner, we headed to the famed club Winston's, where we were promptly dinged from getting in as we weren't a celebrity and therefore a 'nobody'. :-) It was already 1am by the time we arrived to Winston's, so my narcoleptic butt was ready to go home and call it a night.
On Saturday, J did a great job of touring us around the different parts of LA including walking through Bev Hills and Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Blvd, Sunset Blvd, etc. We then went to his NEW place that he moves into on 1-Feb. J has lived alone or with a girlfriend since we graduated college, but has not had guy roommates since 2000. Eight years later, at the most successful point of his career to date, he is moving in with 3 other guys into a 5 BR house in Hollywood Hills. What would make him do such a thing, you might ask? Ahhh, I have the answer. Here is a picture of the VIEW from his new pad, followed by a couple short video clips of what the house looks like from the inside. In a word, it is SICK. And at what cost might this pad of luxury cost? $10,000/month. Not even kidding. It IS split 4 ways at $2,500 each...does that make a $10,000/month rent check reasonable? Only in LA!
View from J's new house
Saturday night, we went to an Italian dinner at Dan Tana's followed by a night at the club Hyde (often seen on TMZ and The Hills). We were all worried that we would have a repeat of Friday where we weren't cool enough to enter, BUT someone knew the DJ, so we name-dropped our way in. You have the option of bottle service or regular bar for drinks, so we opted for regular drinks. At $16/each, it's not exactly a happy hour type of place! The rest of the crew did bottle service...with a tab of $1,000 afterwards. I still can't get my jaw off the floor from that one.
Thank you, J, for such a GREAT weekend! We had a really fun time and I loved my "Day In the Life of J."
PS: Celeb sightings:
-- Kayan Douglas (from "Queer Eye"), grabbing food to-go from the day-bar we were at
-- Veronica from Real World/Road Rules Challenge, at Hyde.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I'm a Narc(oleptic)
Though not clinically diagnosed, I seriously have an issue. Jaime, Dave and I bought tickets over a month ago for the Cirque du Soleil performance "Kooza" which was playing at AT&T Park in SF. It is also "Dine About Town" right now in SF, which is where dozens of fancy-schmancy restaurants in the area offer a three-course dinner for $30. We took advantage of this by going to the famous "One Market" restaurant (where we took Dave & Chris for their Chef's Table experience last August).
Dinner was wonderful - Caesar salad, seared scallops (Dave had duck) and a chocolate-filled doughnut (there was a fancier word for it but I can't remember) that you dunk (yes, DUNK) in a delicious cream liquid. Amazing!
Then we headed to Kooza, full of anticipation after hearing and seeing Cirque on TV for so many years. We were slightly late for the performance, but dove right in and were transfixed on the performers.
That is, until my narcolepsy hit me. I swear, it can come from nowhere -- one minute, I can be watching a major performance and completely mezmerized, and the next minute I am dozing like a blue-hair at church. Pathetic!
This favorite pasttime of mine is not new. Dave sent me the following dog clip a few years ago after I was dozing in the FRONT ROW of Moulin Rouge in Paris with our friend Laura. Front row? Really, Brooke? Yes, the performing ladies were sweeping their boas right in front of me and even touching me with the boas and - nada. Fast asleep. Dave's diagnosis is that wine is the culprit...even if I just have a glass. I love the drink, but unfortunately I think he is right!!!!
Rusty, the Narcoleptic Dog:
I'm not ready to cut off the vino quite yet, but I'm sticking with matinees in the meantime!!!
Dinner was wonderful - Caesar salad, seared scallops (Dave had duck) and a chocolate-filled doughnut (there was a fancier word for it but I can't remember) that you dunk (yes, DUNK) in a delicious cream liquid. Amazing!
Then we headed to Kooza, full of anticipation after hearing and seeing Cirque on TV for so many years. We were slightly late for the performance, but dove right in and were transfixed on the performers.
That is, until my narcolepsy hit me. I swear, it can come from nowhere -- one minute, I can be watching a major performance and completely mezmerized, and the next minute I am dozing like a blue-hair at church. Pathetic!
This favorite pasttime of mine is not new. Dave sent me the following dog clip a few years ago after I was dozing in the FRONT ROW of Moulin Rouge in Paris with our friend Laura. Front row? Really, Brooke? Yes, the performing ladies were sweeping their boas right in front of me and even touching me with the boas and - nada. Fast asleep. Dave's diagnosis is that wine is the culprit...even if I just have a glass. I love the drink, but unfortunately I think he is right!!!!
Rusty, the Narcoleptic Dog:
I'm not ready to cut off the vino quite yet, but I'm sticking with matinees in the meantime!!!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Marathon Maniacs in Training
So we had this crazy, crazy idea....to run a MARATHON this year. This being my 30th year, it seemed like a perfect time to set this goal. Lindsay and a bunch of her friends are committing to the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco this October, so I have NO EXCUSE not to join them! Two girls have stepped up to the plate to be our Coaches and we even have a monthly team newsletter! It's pretty amazing.
Today is one of our teammates' birthdays - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACIE!!!! She lives in Alabama (the team is mostly from NC originally) and is a mother of two. She is one of the funniest people I know and I am positive she will keep us in high spirits during the marathon!
I just got back from a 4-miler with 3 other girls from my neighborhood. They have been running together at least 2x a week for the last 6 months. They can TALK and RUN at the SAME TIME. This is how you're supposed to know what pace you need to be at, but I am obviously not there yet because I am more of a 'pant-in-and-out-like-a-dog' type of runner right now.
Nonetheless, 4 miles down - 22.2 to go! We're searching for a team name right now, so submissions are welcome!!! We are all ladies, of varying ages (30s) and from all over the place, but all with Southern roots. Ideas?? Winning idea gets....a sweaty bandana from the final race (you know, like rock stars do at the end of a concert? no? not the same?) Ha ha.
Today is one of our teammates' birthdays - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACIE!!!! She lives in Alabama (the team is mostly from NC originally) and is a mother of two. She is one of the funniest people I know and I am positive she will keep us in high spirits during the marathon!
I just got back from a 4-miler with 3 other girls from my neighborhood. They have been running together at least 2x a week for the last 6 months. They can TALK and RUN at the SAME TIME. This is how you're supposed to know what pace you need to be at, but I am obviously not there yet because I am more of a 'pant-in-and-out-like-a-dog' type of runner right now.
Nonetheless, 4 miles down - 22.2 to go! We're searching for a team name right now, so submissions are welcome!!! We are all ladies, of varying ages (30s) and from all over the place, but all with Southern roots. Ideas?? Winning idea gets....a sweaty bandana from the final race (you know, like rock stars do at the end of a concert? no? not the same?) Ha ha.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Photo Gig for Five!
We did a photo shoot last weekend for not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE KIDS! One set of twins, one set of triplets and one set of amazing parents. The kids were a TON of fun (yes, this is ME saying this!!!) and a true joy to photograph.
View the slide show (preferred) or the gallery.
Enjoy!
View the slide show (preferred) or the gallery.
Enjoy!
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