Meet and Greet with the Pups!

After our Sonoma trip (I'll post more on that later!), the boy and I made the 3-hour trek to Reedley to meet the littles for the first time. We were both so giddy with joy! We couldn't wait to hold them and play with them and kiss them and cuddle them! Easy there, Lennie....

A bag of peppered beef jerky and corn nuts later, we made it! The momma was definitely on guard and barking at the new comers, but after letting her sniff us and giving her some scratches, the momma let Eva take out her pups so we can hold them. Oh. my. god. We just about died from all the soft fuzzy nuzzlers! They were friggen PRECIOUS!!!! If there's really a heaven, this is what it would be - spending my afterlife cuddling with puppies all the live long day. Puppies, puppies, PUPPIES!

Capturing a Kodak moment :P

It was all I could do to not put one in my pocket and walk out. If one goes missing, it wasn't us, Eva! :P We canNOT wait to bring one home! We have our eye one one of the two pups you see there, but we still have to wait for the lady in front of me to decide. It's going to be a rough couple of weeks of just waiting. We miss miss them already!!

2 Weeks Old!! :)

Just a quick update on the little pup's growing progress:

They are now a little over 2 weeks old! Their eyes are open and ears are detached. :) They're momma is feeding all her babies lots and lots of yums to make sure they are fat and chubby! In fact, so chubby that their cute blub is taking over their eyes! It actually kind of reminds me of a certain special someone when he was just born! Shall we do a side by side comparison?? 

Mmmmhmmm... The resemblance is uncanny. Who says puppies can't look like their human daddies??

I haven't heard many updates on their activity level, but I'd imagine that in the next couple of weeks, they'll be crawling around and exploring their new world in no time! They're exactly like human babies - nothing but blobs the first couple of months (weeks in doggy years) where they do nothing but eat, sleep, poop, rinse and repeat all the live long day. I can't wait to see their personalities shine while they run around wreaking havoc everywhere they go!

Here they are now - fat, chubby, and just cute as a button! I could just eat them!! 

Chocolate and tan boy. Lookin' quite gangsta here!

Red girl. Little sleepykins wondering, "Is the photo shoot done yet??"

Sable girl. She does not look happy. She wants to nuzzle next to momma right now! 

Just 4 more days till I see them!

Fur Babymoon Part 4

Today was the last day of our fur babymoon. I was greeted with light powder of snow first thing in the morning. Never did I think I'd experience 70 degree weather and then drastically dropping down to freezing temperatures, all in the span of 4 days. But here it is, and sad me was to take on the task of not freezing my butt off my last day here. At least it wasn't raining, so I was able to go out and explore as much of NY as I can!

My first point of interest was to the Top of the Rock. Surprisingly there wasn't too bad of a line, but it was enough to be entertained by tourists trying to dodge small sheets of ice coming from the top. I was safe under the awning so of course I giggled inside. Hey, the joke was on me for not packing properly, so it was only fair that I got to laugh at tourists for doing the ice dance! I had a couple hours to spare until my time was called to go up, so I got to walk around Rockefeller Center. It was just eh, but I can imagine how magical it must look during the Christmas holidays. I'd love to see it all lit up some day! Until then... this is what I got to see:

Creative eggs decorated by different celebrities were lined up around the Rockefeller Center.

This one was my fav. I loved what this egg had to say.

I even had some time to go visit one of the biggest cathedrals in NY - the St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was beautiful, but with all of construction noise going on inside and metal beams everywhere, it sucked out all the peace and tranquility one is supposed to feel in a place like this.

See what I mean??

It was finally my turn to go up to the top! Thank goodness for another beautiful clear day because I was able to see all of Central Park. I've only seen it in movies or TV shows, so seeing it in real person made me giddy inside. Look how beautiful it is!

On the other side of the Rockefeller Center was a direct view of the Empire State Building.

Then off to Central Park! From the aerial view, I was expecting fuller trees and signs of spring everywhere, but it was still really bare. Trees here and there were sporadically in bloom, but nothing more than that.

I was disappointed, but I still enjoyed the crisp NY air. Loved walking around and catching something like this:

He was playing with so much soul.

It was interesting to see cultural differences between CA and NY. Anywhere I went, especially in the parks, you can always catch natives enjoying their lunch or sitting on benches and steps catching some quiet alone time before going back to their bustling lives. You don't really see too much of that here. People are just holed in their cubicle plugging away for hours on end. I tried passing as a native by eating a street gyro on a bench, but I'm pretty sure I failed miserably. Real New Yorkers can probably eat street food without dribbling sauce all over their pants and dropping meats all over. After just seeing what I wrote, I change my "pretty sure" to "most definitely." I was probably a hilarious site!

I met up with the boy after work and got to meet his NY team for some beers and pre-dinner noshings. After just a couple of hours, I've concluded that NY Googlers are so much more cooler than CA ones. I can actually talk and laugh with them! A true rarity here in CA...

Then off to my first NY Broadway show, Ave Q!! It was hilarious to see childhood characters that used to teach me the ABC's do VERY adult things. We laughed our asses off all night!

I was a rebel and took a picture. Got scolded twice for breaking the rules, but it was worth it if it meant capturing a piece of memory! :) 

It was also that night that I got to try my first NY pizza. It was funny to get scolded for not eating it the NY way :P What an embarrassment right?? He should have seen me at Central Park... I think he would have turned and left me there. :P

What a great way to end my NY Fur Babymoon! So many new memories were made with the boy. But we'd be lying if we said that we couldn't wait to get home to catch up on Game of Thrones and some much needed rest before going back to work again. Or I mean... a little bit of work, and then Sonoma!!! Until our next adventures....

Fur Babymoon Part 3

You remember on yesterday's post about packing light?? Well... the master puppeteer upstairs decided to have a good laugh and gave New York a good pour of rain. It totally kicked my ass today! Being a soft CA girl where the sun's out playing about 80% of my days, I was NOT ready for this. I haven't been in this kind of cold rain in a really long time. I lost a day in site seeing, but it also gave me the perfect opportunity to do indoorsy things like visiting the boy at his NY office!

I always thought the Mountain View office was so airy with all the outdoor patio spaces, but this one blew that concept out of the water! Even on a hazy and cloudy day, they still have a stunning view like this to retreat to! So jelly.

Some things I've noticed about the NY offices:

1. Coworkers actually TALK to each other and converse in real conversations - something I thought was non-existent among engineers across the board. 
2. Eating is a huge thing. I knew that eating too expensive foods was a part of the NY culture, but never did I think it would spill over in the cafeteria as well. I guess it's pretty obvious...
3. Food and the architecture is so much better than headquarters. I've had it explained to me why, but I still don't fully understand how that's possible. 
4. They're a little creepy about keeping all conference rooms aligned with the same themes of each wing. Below is a perfect example:

NY shoebox apt.

I couldn't let the boy mess around too much, so I went back to the hotel to have some quiet time. I felt guilty for not taking advantage of the weather and visiting world famous museums, but all I could think about was having a date with a glass of wine and some magazines. The pitter patter of the rain, hot waiter guys serving me... ahhhhh... I couldn't have been happier.

The boy soon followed, and after a quick cat nap, I was treated to another night of absolutely delicious noms. We went to Blue Ribbon Sushi to have the most amazing sushi I've ever had in my life. The sashimi just melted in our mouths and it was oh so fresh. We even tried fried mackerel for the first time and loved it too! The paranoid part of me made sure to only order fish from the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Pacific. It's silly I know, but I'm afraid of waking up one day with 3 eyeballs and 12 fingers. My man hands are scary enough. :P 

The service was impeccable, the food was to die for, and the ambiance was cozy. But one particular thing that I appreciated was how people dressed coming to dinner. I'm so used to the laid back CA style dress codes we have. Silicon Valley is especially guilty of it! People here don't think twice about coming in to a fancy 4 star restaurant in just shorts. They'll wear sneakers to be courteous. It was quite refreshing to see people still taking the time to dress themselves nicely and come out to eat with their friends in a fashionable manner. No jeans and a Google t-shirt, because here, that would be considered fancy. It encouraged me to do the same, and it felt great! I miss dressing up to go eat at nice places back home, but why should I when very few people care to do the same. 

For dessert, the boy took me Magnolia because apparently they have the best cake and cupcakes in town. I just about died when I went in and smelled their cute little bakery. I couldn't resist a German double chocolate cake and the boy indulged himself in a cupcake of some kind. I don't remember - all I could keep my mind on was my cake! :P But the icing of it all was realizing that this was the exact bakery that Sex and the City filmed a scene on! As a devout fan of the show, the girly tourist in me was beyond thrilled!! :D

Catching a cab in the freezing rain was painful, but stuffing our faces (yet again!) in sweetness was the perfect way to end another New York day.

Fur Babymoon Part 2

When looking up the weather for NY, we saw it would range from a sunny mid-70 degrees to the possibility of light snow. I wondered, "How can there possibly be sun AND snow all in the span of 4 days?? I'm going to pack light!" On day 2, I was so proud of myself to be able to walk around the city with a tank, jeans, light jacket, and scarf. Take THAT New York! The day was absolutely beautiful. After breakfast with the boy and wishing him a good day at work, I was really pumped to get the day started!

First stop, Statue of Liberty. For those of you that don't know me, I royally suck with anything that has to do with directions. It's a miracle that I've come this far in life without getting too lost. Ok. That's a huge lie. But those stories for another time. I legitimately get freaked out when someone asks me to find my way around somewhere new, especially when it involves the subway. I am deathly afraid of riding anything that will take me to an unknown place. I give major points to the boy who so patiently tried to get a brick wall to listen. In my mind, if I didn't listen, then maybe I wouldn't have to ride the subway! 

Well, unless I had an extra couple hundred dollars coming out of my butt for taxis, I knew I had to figure out a way to ride the darn train. Per the boy's instructions, I downloaded the CityMapper on my phone to get on my merry way. I mapped out the most easiest way (ie. riding ONE subway with zero connections. R train, you were my best friend on this trip!), and after many self reassurances and pep talks in my head, I made it to my first stop sans the boy!! It may not be a big deal to many, but it was a huge feat for me! :)

Yah!! I did it! :)

My original plan was to ride the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty up close. Everybody warned me that it would be crowded, but I brushed it off and went anyways. Yup, they were right. There were just hoards and hoards of people everywhere. It felt like all of Asia decided to congregate at the ferry station to oogle at the famous lady. After realizing that the line to even get a stinkin' ticket was at least a couple blocks long, I decided to forego it and go to my next stop, the Brooklyn Bridge.

I've never walked on a landmark bridge before (nope, not even the Golden Gate Bridge, and I live only an hour away! A shame, I know...), so I was pretty excited to give this one a go. More than the bridge itself, I had more fun walking and just people watching. How many crazy interesting people can a city hold?? Apparently, many. Half naked bums zooming up and down the bridge in what I'd imagine a stolen bike, native New York girlfriends going on a lunch power walk in their professional gear, guys running in crop tops and shorts that should NEVER be worn by neither females or males. Man... it was too much fun. In hindsight, I wish I had taken more pictures of people than of buildings. They were certainly more memorable than the bridge itself. That's not to say that it wasn't a great experience to see the bridge with all the sky scrapers as its backdrop. I'm very happy that I went.

Lunch time!!! Shake Shack was highly recommended by my very well-traveled friends, so this was on the top of my list of foods that I had to try. I rode the trusty R train all the way to Madison Park, and found the sucker. With of course, a side of long lines.  

I had to try it, so I stood in line for 40 minutes, and waited for another 20 minutes for my food. I was practically salivating when I picked up my order. Took one bite, and wow... I was sadly disappointed. The whole experience was so anti-climatic! I wanted it to be so delicious so bad! In-and-out, you win. Don't you worry - Shake Shack is no where near your playing field.

Another ride on the R train and it took me to Union Square. I spent another couple of hours walking around the farmer's market and people watching. It was an eclectic mix of businessmen, young college folks, and the clean-eating hippies finding nommers for their dinner. 

It was time to head back into our hotel to get dolled up with the boy for our first fancy NY night out! He treated me out to a delicious steak dinner at Quality Meats. Again, absolutely fell in love with the whole old-timey apothecary themed restaurant. We also loved that all the waiters paid such particular attention to all the little details of the meals like making the steak sauce. It's something we don't see too often here in the Silicon Valley.

One thing that was similar to back home was the amount of food. It was way too much and there were a lot of left overs between us. I insisted we give a homeless man our food. Who was going to be the lucky guy?? The one who took out his *&^( to pee on the sidewalk of course! My first NY street pisser! Haha! The boy REFUSED to give it to him at first and wanted to leave it on the streets for someone to find, but the meal was too delicious to bank on a "maybe." I really wanted someone to enjoy the meal as much as we did. After mustering up the courage (and a lot of incessant nagging!), he took the bag to him. Hopefully the man enjoyed a full belly of quality meat! Never a dull moment with this boy!! :)

Another NY day enjoyed! We stuffed ourselves silly and couldn't be happier! :)

Fur Babymoon Part 1

So you know all those pregger couples who go on a babymoon as their last hoorah together before they REALLY become sleepless parents for the rest of their lives? Well... I've been feeling kinda left out in all that, so the boy and I decided that it was high time we join the club, but with our own unique twist. Enter FUR babymoon. Yup. You heard that right. Fur babymoon. I mean, why not?? I won't be getting any sleep the first couple of weeks and I'll be stuck to the hip with this pup trying to potty train it and teaching it to do fun little tricks! I don't know about you, but sounds like parenting to me! Minus the asshole teenager phase, thank goodness. Instead, that will be replaced with cutesy puppy face that'll be happy to see me every waking moment of the day!

Where did we decide to go?? To NYC, baby!! After nearly 3 years of being with a Googler, I FINALLY got the chance to take advantage of its perks. My spring break and his business trip coincided, so we decided, why the heck not?! This would have been my first time going as an adult, so you can only imagine how stoked I was!

The boy booked us a glitzy boutique hotel in the swanky Soho called Mondrian. HIGHLY recommended. The service is absolute horse crap, but the place will undoubtedly make a nobody feel like a somebody. I felt pretty damn pimp every time I stepped foot in the hotel! Oh and did I mention how HOT the waiters were?! Yes, they are. It is a requirement to get hired at the Mondrian. I wish I had taken photos, but for now, my memory of the eye candy will have to do.

Entrance to the magical land of Alice in Wonderland. Please ignore the luggage cart. I meant to take a better one before we left, but I always kept forgetting. :(

Isola - the restaurant where you can have eye candy AND fill your belly with noms every morning. I'm not a morning person, but man! This place made me happy every. single. morning. 

Isola at night. Feeling like a somebody yet??

Where ghetto meets chic.

After going up 17 floors, this is what greeted us:

That would be the view from the door of our room. We had floor to ceiling windows that, according to the boy, overlooked the "real" NYC. He loved the rawness of it all. Me? I was hoping for the view of the Empire State Building, but I guess this had to do. :P Spoiled much? Why yes. Yes, I am.

When booking our room, I thought how bada$$ it would be if we had a huge window in our shower, overlooking all of NYC while dancing in our birthday suits every morning. Reality hit me the first morning when I realized that all of NYC would well... have a full frontal view of me dancing in my birthday suit. I am sorry. Really, truly sorry. But serves you right for being a Peeping Tom. Pervert.

Ahhhh. The view from our bed. No words can describe the feeling of waking up to this view every morning and walking in at night, seeing the whole city lit up, bidding us a good night. Absolutely stunning.

After ooohing and ahhing and jumping for joy for finally being here, we got ready to hit the town! The boy took me out on a quaint date to epistrophy.

A perfect first NY date night! :)

Of course the food was very yummy, but more so than that, it made me super happy to be here in this bustling city with my boy. He's told me countless stories of his life here in this city, but it evoked a different feeling inside hearing it while actually physically BEING in the city. It was different. Like I was somehow really connecting with his past life here. Weird I know... 

After some relaxing, he wanted to take me to his old stomping grounds. He desperately tried to teach me how to ride the subway. Tried being the operative word there. Haha. But even he had trouble getting back into the NY groove. He promised one train ride and 3 blocks of walking, but of course that was all a rouge to get me to walk. For those that know me, you can only imagine how my insides were starting to get fired up, ready to eat his face.

To distract me, he showed me the New York Stock Exchange. And boy did it work because I was pretty damn impressed by this building. I'm not much of a numbers kind of gal - in fact, numbers and I are never on good terms - but seeing this sent chills down my spine. It was sexy as hell. I loved the beautiful intricate architecture and the power it commanded. You can almost feel the history ooze out of its cracks. I so loved the old-timey feel many of the building in the Financial District had. I want to travel way back in time to see the city filled with classy men dressed to the nines in their business suits, briefcase, complete with a hat. Drool worthy. Can we bring THAT kind of sexy back please??

After another "3 more blocks baby!" promise, I grudgingly followed along. Before another distraction came into view. We saw the Freedom Tower from Water Street. It was a magnificent building shining brightest amongst all the other buildings. For me, it commanded a different kind of power than the NYSE. It felt like it had a civic duty to tell the world that nothing will break them as a city, and us as a country. The boy and I both intended to see it sometime during the trip, but couldn't find the time, so it actually turned out to be a good thing that we caught it on our way to Battery Park.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally got to Battery Park overlooking New Jersey. I won't lie that I wasn't winded and kinda cranky, but I couldn't deny the beauty. This is where the boy spent a lot of time doing his deep-thinking thing. I don't blame him. I don't think you can find a better place to dust off the daily stresses of corporate life. The sight was beautiful and I felt at peace.  The water, the city lights, and the sunset. Sigh...

New Jersey Skyline

We were both on CA time, and against our better judgement, we decided to cap off our night in Time Square! Yes, yes, it's a really touristy place to go, but, c'mon! No NY trip would be complete without a trip there. I've been to Seoul and they are known to have flashy neon lights EVERYWHERE, but Time Square definitely put it to shame. Man... I couldn't stop looking! At every turn, there was something big and bright flashing in my face. Until I heard "HOT NUTS!". Whatever hot nuts was, I knew I had to have some. Verdict?? Wow. Just... wow. Crack for my eyes, and crack for my mouth. I was in raccoon heaven. It was also during this walk that I had my first NY hotdog. Eh... *shrug* It was over-rated. 

As our first day in NY together, I think we both did pretty well considering being up since 4 AM! Lots of walking and definitely too much eating! Until tomorrow NY!! :)