post valentines

I told myself I would go to bed 30 minutes ago, and here I am still up. I also told myself I would write today, but didnt. So I may as well write while Im still up. This past weekend went by so quickly. Like everyone else, Quang and I were celebrating Valentines weekend and I am happy to report that everything went superbly. Why wouldnt it, you may ask? Lets just say last Valentines day didnt go as well, and Quang probably doesnt want me typing that but because this one went so well, I dont think it matters. We discovered a perfect date formula, which includes a steakhouse dinner at House of Prime Rib, followed by a walk to the Presidio for a homemade picnic in the park. Using the leftovers from the steak dinner, we bought fresh ciabatta bread, sliced it in half and covered each half with cheese, toasted them, then laid the delicious heated steak pieces in between. Wrapped in foil, we put them in our picnic bag alongside fruit, baguette with brie and salami, and picked up an apple juice on the way to the park. I dont know what it is about the combination of the classy steak dinner, efficient use of leftovers, the walk to the park, the beauty of the park itself, and the amazing sandwiches that we had made ourselves. We were laughing, taking silly photos of each other, walking around the San Francisco Exploratorium and taking in the sights of the bridge and the Marina... I feel that this weekend has given me such a wonderful memory that that in itself is my Valentines gift. I will say this, though: the only flaw in our well-laid plans was the fact that it was COLD and we had underdressed. Even this had an element of romance to it though, for me. Not only were we freezing together, this was exactly what we had done on our first date, almost two years ago, to Half Moon Bay. A similar idea-- visit the beach in March and spend the day taking in the sights. We sat for about 5 minutes on that cold, windy, sandy beach, watching everyone else in their puffy jackets, and decided that we both must have looked like idiots. He was shivering in his shorts and summer polo, and all I had on was a grey strappy dress and sandals. We werent as idiotically dressed this weekend, but it brought us back. He also got me a great gift - a book from the store we always look into when we walk to CPK in Santa Monica. And most importantly, a note. For me, I dont know why, I am always satisfied if I receive a letter or a note on special occasions. Its the most important thing as far as gifts are concerned... is that odd? Okay, sappiness aside, we also had an amazing time hanging around doing nothing, experimenting with an enchilada casserole recipe, hanging out with friends and watching The Fighter, an excellent movie. Incredible acting by Christian Bale. I should end this now and go to bed, but I also want to mention that unbeknownst to me, my profile and pilot article was published on askmissa.com! I thought they would need three articles from me first before they would publish, so I was surprised to see: http://askmissa.com/2011/02/13/firefly-restaurant-in-the-noe-valley/ I write weekly, and maybe more. I am most excited about the opportunity (and the push) to improve my writing and build a portfolio. In other news, I found an excellent tool called Excellent Analytics to aid my content management efforts and develop tracking dashboards to measure the performance of my content plan at work. It automatically imports data from Google Analytics without my having to mess with VBA or copy and paste from the web interface, or pay for a tool. I know Im geeking out a little here, but it just reminds me of my time at Brocade when I really geeked out on PivotTables and building tools. Im excited for what this could mean, and how I am improving our tracking methods to really see how our strategy makes a difference. In still other news, I will be in LA this week with my dog, driving in probably less than ideal weather conditions. I will be careful. I am excited to be in LA again. I feel like its been a long time. Alright, thats it for now. Im putting myself to sleep.