MrAndrewBradley

SOPA Blackout

2012-01-18T06:10:00.000-08:00

Tell Congress to Stop SOPA and PIPA. See what websites are going dark today, including Wikipedia.

Five Moves in One Year

2012-01-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about college, I'm talking about my office. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed every move. The first move was from an office in Rocklin to our current office in Roseville. The second was from my original office to a slightly larger one. Two weeks ago we decided to move some things around and see if a new open office layout worked for us. Although it was workable for me, we decided to make another switch to better increase productivity among all staff. I moved back into an office and now I'm all set, even got to go to IKEA again.

My desk and my neighbors birthday sign

Other half of the office in the open office format

New (current) "cube" layout

My desk in my new office (with IKEA light and picture)

The Other half of my desk

Snowless

2012-01-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Neighbor Side | Bradley Lodge Side

Pine Needle Free

Last year we were skiing at this time. We did 25 runs in just four hours at Bear Valley. There were many feet of snow at the Bradley Lodge and we enjoyed hanging out with friends. This weekend, we still hung out with friends, but instead of skiing or using the snow blower, we raked pine needles. Although this will save time come spring when we have to clear our lot for fire safety, it was a little odd being able to see the ground and rake in January. We didn't see dirt in 2011 until May. Beyond raking my mom and grandma organized the kitchen cupboards and painted the some of the trim on the Bradley Lodge green, it looks great. Now we're thinking about adding some stone to the front of the Lodge to add some extra beauty.

Lots of Branches Fell During Wind Storms

Pine Needles Under Tarp to Keep the a Little Dryer

We Also Organized the Cupboards, Renters Find Interesting Places to Put Stuff

Sierra Nevada Brewery Tour

2011-12-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

We went to the second largest micro-brewery today ... Sierra Nevada in Chico. My dad (a beer aficionado) was perhaps the most excited for the trip, but my mom, grandma and I were all looking forward to the tour as well. We started off at the gift shop and by looking at the impressive antique Santa collection they have, then it was tour time. We got to smell the hops, see the grinder, take a look at the various tanks and learn about the entire process before heading in to see where the beer is bottled and packaged for shipping. The tour finished up with free beer tasting, not a bad way to finish up if you ask me.

Beyond the tasting and tour I was impressed by the fact that they produce most of their own electricity through solar panels on every roof and hydrogen fuel cells and they ship their used barley to farms throughout the state as feed for cows. They also offer benefits similar to what you might get at Google or Facebook including "beer bucks" with every paycheck (redeemable for free beer), an onsite health clinic and free childcare. We were hoping to eat at their onsite restaurant, but the wait was more than an hour, so we headed to Paradise's Black Bear Diner. Of course I had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and strawberry milkshake. It was a great day trip from Sacramento and hopefully we will go on the tour again and have an opportunity to eat at the restaurant.

A Progressive Christmas

2011-12-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Since we celebrated Christmas with the entire family a few weeks ago in Redwood City, we had a low key Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We started off by heading to my grandma's in Lodi on Christmas Eve. After picking her up we headed to take some time to remember my grandpa at the cemetery before heading to see family in Modesto. After great conversation and tasty pizza we headed back to Lodi.

On Christmas Day we slept in, had a scrumptious breakfast and headed to the movies. I was surprised to see a long line at the Lodi Cinema before 10 a.m., evidently lots of people enjoy going to the movies on Christmas Day. We saw War Horse (really good movie) and even got free popcorn since we signed up for the e-newsletter. Once the movie was done we headed back to my grandma's house, spoke with all of the family via ooVoo (like Skype), FaceTime and Tango, played Pinochle and then it was time for Prime Rib and wine. Although I had eaten plenty of cookies already, we piled in the car and went to see more family in Lodi for dessert. The Christmas Tree cake was just what we needed to stay in the holiday spirit and the ice cream helped too.

The day after Christmas we continued our progressive Christmas by heading to Sacramento. I went to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with a friend at the Esquire IMAX theater in Downtown Sacramento (and got free popcorn again - this time for a Foursquare check-in). When the movie was over we headed back to my parent's house for a tasty dinner featuring pork crown rib roast, roasted vegetables and french bread with pesto. We capped the night off with more cookies and watching the Sacramento Kings beat the Lakers.

Social Life

2011-12-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think I don't have much of a social life, but over the last week I have had an event to attend almost every afternoon or evening. I started off with a happy hour at Claim Jumper on Monday with a business networking group I'm a part of. Tuesday my entire office came together to cook for 17 families who needed a holiday meal through Volunteers of America. Wednesday I helped deliver the meals during lunch, then went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner before checking out Christmas lights in Rocklin with some friends. Thursday I had a lunch with Citizen Voice/Safely Out at Pride Industries in Natomas, I sit on their marketing and communications committee. Friday it was time to discuss the next Placer Business Tweetup over lunch at Freebirds.

Steve Batz | BaysidePictures.com

Saturday I worked on cleaning my house to get ready to have seven family friends over for dinner on Sunday. Sunday my roommate and I prepared a tasty pasta dish for friends and then everyone headed to Bayside for a Christmas service featuring Lincoln Brewster and the Silhouettes from America's Got Talent.

Finally, on Wednesday a group of friends and I went to Roseville's Crush 29 for an elegant Christmas dinner, wine and their gourmet s'mores. &lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;feat=flashalbum&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;RGB=0x000000&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fmrandrewbradley%2Falbumid%2F5689520083298670353%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/embed&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Christmas At Bayside 2011 from Bayside Church on Vimeo.

Christmas, a few weeks early

2011-12-11T15:27:00.001-08:00

Since my brother and his family will be in Oregon and Washington celebrating Christmas we got to celebrate Christmas a few weeks early. We also celebrated my aunt's birthday right on time since she flew in with my uncle and cousin from Texas for the day Saturday.

I helped kid-sit on Friday before and after my field trip to Facebook until my parents and grandma arrived. Once they arrived my brother and sister-in-law headed to the Facebook Christmas Party at San Francisco's City Hall (it looked like a spectacular event). Saturday my dad and I headed to SFO to pick up my aunt and her family. Once we we arrived back we celebrated my aunt's 50th birthday with cake, gifts and a few hilarious cards. Throughout the day we continued our family tradition of eating, watched the kids open some amazing Christmas gifts and even watched my nephew do some tricks on his scooter at the local skate park. My aunt also surprised her youngest daughter and my grandma with a special gift ... tickets to see a taping of the Ellen Show in Burbank, needless to say both of shocked and very excited.

For dinner we enjoyed crab cioppino, another traditional meal in my family, as we had at my house last year. The dinner was spectacular, as always, and we followed it up with cheesecake and red velvet birthday cake. While watching multiple episodes of A&E's show "Storage Wars" my aunt also noticed that their best shot to get on a flight with their passes (she's a flight attendant) was out of San Jose at 6:20 a.m., they had been planning on flying out of SFO a little later in the morning. I volunteered to drive since I am oddly familiar with waking up early on occasion.

Today I dropped my aunt and her family off at the airport, got gas in Livermore and then made it to Bayside right as the 8:15 a.m. service was starting. The service featured the fantastic 200+ member Bayside Kids Choir singing Christmas songs.

Visiting Facebook

2011-12-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

I barely made it to the Facebook corporate office in Palo Alto before they move to their new office complex in Menlo Park. I have wanted to visit Facebook since my sister-in-law started working there over a year ago, but today was my first chance. After finding a place to park (not an easy feat for the employees, a little easier for visitors), I took the obligatory photo of the address sign and then headed into the lobby to sign in and take more pictures.

The lobby offered a few more photo opps, including a framed Facebook logo that had signatures of various executives and celebrities, a lego sculpture of the Facebook logo, a "HACK" sign (hack is for all intensive purposes Facebook's motto) and a TV screen that shows all of the connections people are making around the world with Facebook.

Once inside the offices I saw the famous wall (and took a few pictures, I practically blend in). After the wall I looked around the office, saw Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and what I believe was the rest of the executive team in conference room surrounded by glass and then headed to get some snacks. Free food is a staple in the office and that was great ... I decided to help myself to cookies, Polar Bear Coca-Cola, Starbursts, etc at one of the snack stations. They also have the new Coca-Cola choose your own adventure machine that can make every flavor of Coke and then some.

While eating and taking pictures I got to see more of the office heading over to the employee cafeteria where I got to speak with Facebook's head chef. He was great to talk with and all I can say is the new Facebook campus will have amazing food options for all of the employees (and occasional guests). Lunch was great and reminded me of the tasty buffets on a Royal Caribbean cruise without the ocean view and without having to pay for a cruise.

Did You Know ... that instead of "Casual Friday" a few Facebook staff believe in "Corporate Friday"?
If your still curious about what the inside of the office looks like, search Google Images for "Facebook + Palo Alto" and you can see pictures that other people took.

An Expansion Tour

2011-12-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today I had the opportunity to visit The Meritage Resort and Spa, listen to how the Napa Valley Destination Council is helping to promote the region and walk through the expansion at The Meritage Resort. The conference was a great opportunity to hear what each of the five regions within the Napa Valley is doing to help bring visitors to the area. I recommend visiting The Meritage and Downtown Napa during every visit to the area (both are clients).

After the conference we stepped out onto the Vineyard Terrace for wine and appetizers and headed out to the construction site for a quick tour. The 7,300 square foot ballroom has drywall up, the gym is starting to take shape and Crush Ultra Lounge, a sports bar with six luxury bowling lanes, is also looking great. I cannot wait to see the finished product that opens towards the end of April 2012!

Before heading to my brother's house in Redwood City I had a beautiful dinner at Siena that included Filet Mignon and flour-less chocolate cake (I was nice and ordered an extra one of these to take to my brother and pregnant sister-in-law).

Zoo, Cupcakes, Chicken and Beef

2011-12-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

It was an eclectic week of eating. I started the week off at the News10 Blogger Bash that took place at the Sacramento Zoo. The event featured some tasty appetizers from Mendocino County (one lucky attendee won a trip) and cupcakes from Drizzle Cupcakes in Sacramento. Since I was still a hungry and needed to use a coupon before the end of the year @YetAnotherSusan and I headed to Chick-Fil-A Arden Fair for a quick dinner and milkshake after the event. While there we got to talk to the person behind the restaurant's Twitter handle and I even got to take home a mini "Eat Mor Chikin" cow.

After finding out that Five Guys opened in Roseville my roommate and I knew we had to try it. We had both been to Five Guys before, but never so close to home. Saturday night we embarked on our journey to the land of free peanuts and tasty burgers. I got a "Little" Cheeseburger "All the Way" (meaning it has all the standard toppings and condiments), he had the Bacon Cheeseburger with added jalapeno peppers (he likes spicy) and we shared an order of Cajun Fries. The food was good, the free peanuts while we waited were excellent and all of the staff was great. I believe I will be adding Five Guys in Roseville to my regular rotation of restaurants that is growing by the day (In-N-Out, Daphne's, Boudin, The Counter, SmashBurger, Jack's Urban Eats, Chipolte, ...).

First A&W and Christmas

2011-11-27T21:21:00.001-08:00

On our way home from the Bradley Lodge my parents, grandma and I stopped by the first A&W Restaurant in Lodi, CA for lunch. Despite my grandma living in Lodi this was my first time visiting the restaurant that opened in 1919! The root beer float was amazing and my dad's milkshake looked great too.

Once back at Fort Bradley I quickly got all of my Christmas stuff out of the garage and started to put up my outside lights and tree. Three and a half hours later everything was decorated, the "fire" was lit, the house was vacuumed (lots of "pine needles" were on the carpet) and the laundry was started.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T20:33:00.001-08:00

We had a great time at the Bradley Lodge this Thanksgiving. We started out celebrating the gender announcement ... I'm getting a niece in April 2012. Our family continued to celebrate by eating for the rest of the week. Between meals, I made sure to run everyday - got up to 4.4 miles (elevation is 5,100' - total climb was 680'+) - my brother and his family went sledding at Bear Valley, we headed to Murphys for appetizers and even saw the Dorrington Christmas Tree Lighting.

It's a Girl

2011-11-23T20:56:00.001-08:00

My first niece, my parent's first granddaughter, my grandma's first great-granddaughter, my brother/sister-in-law's first daughter and my nephew's first sister will be born sometime in April 2012. We found out the gender officially last night and celebrated at the Bradley Lodge today.

Leave comments for name suggestions ... other kids are Luke and Levi.

Siena at The Meritage Resort and Spa

2011-11-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

My job is full of contrasts, but I like both ends of the spectrum (sometimes it's the times in the middle that are the most difficult). Two weeks ago I was waking up at three in the morning and working until midnight. Last night I had a client meeting at The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa and ate a fabulous dinner at Siena, the resort's signature restaurant. Our meal at the Chef's table was served family style and everything tasted amazing.

We started with a Caesar Fondue (salad) and a large platter of Caprese.

That was followed by minestrone soup.

Then pene pasta with three difference sauces and meatballs that were larger than baseballs.

After that they brought out lots of salmon and a chicken.

Since I was already incredibly full, I had to polish it off with a dessert trio. The trio included flourless chocolate cake, tiramisu and something cool with fruit. Since it couldn't just be a trio, we also had Spingies (Sicilian style donuts) and a chocolate plate.

I was too busy eating to turn the flash on and I actually missed taking pictures of a few dishes. I also neglected to take pictures of the Trinitas Cellars wine we were served.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-11-13T20:16:00.001-08:00

Well it's official, I'm one year closer to the big 30. I had a great time at the pre-celebration in Napa (it was nice of all the celebrities to come out for my party at Mondavi) and I had a great weekend with my family at the Bradley Lodge. We relaxed, ate dinner at Sarafina's in Arnold and Google even remembered to say Happy Birthday (along with about 100 other people on Facebook and Twitter)!

Napa Valley Film Festival

2011-11-12T19:24:00.001-08:00

I attended my first film festival this week, although I didn't see any films, so I'm not sure if it really counts. I was there working on behalf of a client to tweet during the event (it's frowned upon to tweet during movies). It was a lot of fun to hang out at the Bosch Culinary Stage at the Oxbow Public Market, drink some wine from 1976 while talking to the stars from Bottle Shock in the Buick Tweet House at the Avia and be at VIP parties at both the Napa Valley Opera House and Robert Mondavi.

It was a busy 27 hours, but luckily I got to hang out with my friends from The Meritage, meet the celebrities, eat some amazing food (Siena, Gott's Roadside and Pica Pica) and I even walked away with an early birthday gift from Bosch.

I'm looking forward to my next trip to Napa (maybe this week or next week) and was glad that I could be a part of the inaugural film festival, can't wait for next year. Now I'm at the Bradley Lodge celebrating my birthday!

Convoy of Hope

2011-11-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

After learning nine days prior to Convoy of Hope that I would be doing all of the media outreach for it, I had no idea what to expect. I knew it would be a challenge, I knew it would be a lot of work and I hoped that the media would help spread the word to the community, especially to those in need of assistance. Thankfully every major Sacramento news outlet answered my prayers and helped let the community know about Sacramento's largest humanitarian event of the year, Sacramento Convoy of Hope. A huge thanks goes out to all of media including KCRA, News 10, CBS 13/Good Day Sacramento, FOX 40, The Sacramento Bee, KFBK, KLOVE, Roseville Patch and many other local Christian and Catholic Radio stations for covering the event, before, during and after.

All of that coverage and the help provided by more than 2,300 volunteers to more than 13,000 honored guests made my long days (waking up as early as 3 a.m. - I even had to drink soda for the caffeine) worth it. It was an honor to be a part of the event, to work with the leadership team and to speak with a few of the volunteers and guests.

Unplanned

2011-10-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

I had two events planned this week. A live shot with Chef Mike Collins from The Meritage Resort and Spa at Fox40 on Tuesday and the IABC/AMASV mixer at Lounge on 20, Wednesday night. It wasn't going to be too exciting, I was going to catch up on reading, relax, sleep lots and maybe get a few runs in over the weekend.

Thursday:
Plan = gym, work, home
Actual = gym, work, Jars of Clay concert at Bayside with Andrew Ripp and Dave Barnes, got email asking me to take over media relations for Convoy of Hope

Friday:
Plan = gym, work, watch a movie, read
Actual = gym, work, Convoy of Hope media outreach, trip to OMG Yogurt for pumpkin froyo, dinner at Burgers and Brew, Matt Nathanson concert at Ace of Spades

Saturday:
Plan = sleep in, clean house, run, church, read, watch TV
Actual = woke up early, did media outreach for Convoy of Hope, cleaned house (more than I thought), got $14.91 at Coin Star by trading in my pennies, nickels and dimes in, church, talked to neighbor, put out Halloween decor, watched TV

Sunday:
Plan = sleep in, go to the gym, run, read, watch TV, blog
Actual = went to my parent's church, grocery shopping, got a haircut, got gas, ran, read, wrote blog and will be watching TV shortly

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned and that's what makes it so amazing.

Fall Organization at the Bradley Lodge

2011-10-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

First, the Bradley Lodge has changed management companies. It is now available to rent through Cedar Creek Realty. All you need to do is call them and they will personally book your stay. If you know my family or me, just contact us and we'll help too.

This weekend was my first time at the Bradley Lodge since the Fourth of July ... yes it had been more than three months! Normally we focus on the outside of the lodge: painting and staining, replacing the deck, clearing the property of pine needles, etc. This time we focused on the often unseen storage areas and the garage. These are the areas that we keep some of our stuff throughout the year that is not accessible to people that rent. There's nothing too exciting, so don't bother trying to break in. It was a great opportunity to throw away some boxes, get some of the holiday decorations better organized and we even made it easier to turn on and off the water, by removing a piece of wood, adding a step and most importantly adding an extra light.

Beyond work, we played dominoes (I won, scoring 200 points less than the person in second place), pinochle (I think we tied in wins/losses), went to the new doughnut shop, ate some great food and played lots of Words with Friends on my new iPhone 4s. To cap off the weekend and get ready for winter we also placed our new snow and rain gauge out on the deck. Now we can more accurately measure up to four feet of snow (we previously used a yard stick).

(snowshoes are in the bags hanging from the wall)

Happy Birthday

2011-10-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's birthday week for the Bradley's. Natalie and Luke had their birthday's earlier this week and my dad's birthday is tomorrow. This weekend we celebrated and had a party for Luke. He, his friends and family members from across the Western United States (California, Washington and Arizona) all headed to Safari Run in San Mateo for an afternoon of fun in their play structure and an amazing cake. We then headed to BJ's for an after party, pizza and a Pizooki.

Mountain Biking Adventure

2011-10-09T17:49:00.000-07:00

After purchasing my first Living Social Adventure about a month ago, it was time to experience the adventure today. I got up early and headed up to Truckee, passing through some snow on the way. When I arrived in Truckee at Cycle Paths it was foggy and cold, but it quickly cleared up and we had bright sun and perfect temperatures for our entire ride. The ride was fantastic, the views were spectacular and the bikes that they supplied were amazing (they retail for around $3,600) with full-suspension and disc brakes. Everyone that we went with was at about the same skill level, so we got a long ride in (8-10 miles). The guides from Tahoe Mountain Guides were all very helpful too, even giving me a few pointers as I rode. Once we arrived back at the trail-head we were treated to lunch by Smokey's Kitchen and Catering. All-in-all a great experience and I look forward to not only going mountain biking again with Tahoe Mountain Guides, but to going on more Living Social Adventures. Just to prove I was there, I also decided to fall off my bike and draw some blood, luckily I now bike with first aid supplies.

The Roseville Galleria Re-Opens

2011-10-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a year since the debacle that was the Galleria fire. There was the "Rebuilding Together" and "My Mall" campaigns (I still have my t-shirt and still wear it to the gym) and there was me helping to let everyone know that the mall was partially re-opening. Today, the Roseville Galleria "re-opened." I'm using quotes because as you can see by the photos there are still quite a few "coming soon" store fronts, which was a little disappointing. I hope they will all be able to open before the true start of the holiday shopping season.

Now for the good ... the Disney Store is amazing, they have movies playing in the hallway, so you're welcome to park the kids (and I presume husband) there for awhile. The mall has two kid/family play areas, once again another place to park (or bribe) the non-shoppers. The mall seemed to be brighter than it used to and there were newly designed light fixtures hanging from the ceiling (I think, I really cannot remember what the lights looked like over a year ago). The outside of the Victoria's Secret store looked nice and the balloon trees were awesome. Another cool thing, they will have an ice rink for the winter (see photo).

The bad ... some stores are still opening soon. There was a Zumba class going on, that was just odd to me. There are also unconfirmed rumors that although the Galleria increased security during the reconstruction, they might be going back to pre-fire levels within the next few days. I hope this isn't true, tonight I saw a lot of security walking throughout the mall and Westfield staff was at every entrance handing out brochures and welcoming everyone back to the mall.

Two other things of note opened today. The new Terminal B at the Sacramento International Airport and on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, a 99 Cent Only Store opened in Roseville. To my knowledge the 99 Cent Store was the only one that had people camping out in-front of it for days (they were waiting for a $0.99 TV).

Here are some pictures from my trip to the mall earlier this evening.

The New Terminal B at Sacramento International Airport - SMF

2011-10-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

For $1 billion I knew it was going to be amazing, I just didn't know what to expect. The new Terminal B at the Sacramento International Airport has been needed for decades and under-construction for a few years. Today they let the public come in and take a tour. The Central Terminal includes check-in, baggage claim, a few restaurants and a relaxation area with rocking chairs for people to watch the airplanes go by. Oh, it also includes a giant red rabbit. Nothing says "Welcome to Sacramento" like a giant red rabbit, almost as good as the oddly colored Tower Bridge that spans the Sacramento River between Sacramento and West Sacramento. All of that said, the central terminal is beautiful, large, functional and seemed like it would be pretty relaxing and inviting for all air travelers.

Once you've checked-in, it's time to take the monorail/people mover to Terminal B. This is where you finally go through security (which was beautiful today ... there wasn't any ... although the TSA and Sac Sheriff were present). Terminal B is also home to many of Sacramento's favorite, locally owned restaurants including Esquire Grill, Burgers and Brew, and Cafeteria 15L. One of my favorite parts of the new space, many of the seating areas include outlets to charge laptops, iPads, phones and other devices. Outlets are normally almost impossible to find in airports. For more information on The Big Build, check out The Sacramento Bee.

Although not every airline will be flying out of the new Terminal B, Terminal A is still pretty nice and I like the giant stack of luggage in baggage claim.

Some fun facts:
3,000,000+ labor hours were used to construct the Terminal and Concourse (725,000 square feet)
68,000 board feet of reclaimed redwood was used in the terminal ceiling
6 acres of terrazzo flooring and 2 acres of stainless steel roofing make up The Big Build
14,000+ light fixtures illuminate the terminal
44 seconds - time it takes to go 900 feet from the Terminal to the Concourse on the monorail

Visiting with Family and Taking a Trip to the Farm

2011-10-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

The family converged on Lodi for a mini reunion on Saturday and Sunday. My dad's brother and his wife from Georgia are in California for two weeks traveling around with my parents. Last week they were at a house in Jenner and then on the beach in Capitola, this week they are at the Bradley Lodge. Knowing this, we all met in Lodi at my grandma's for an amazing time of talking, hanging out with the kids and being together to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary (side note: My parent's celebrated their 40th anniversary in Napa a few weeks ago too. They stayed at The Meritage, enjoyed dinner at Siena and my brother and I gave them the gift of a couples massage at Spa Terra. They also spent a night at The Napa River Inn). We got a picture of three generations of brothers, ate some tri-tip and of course had my semi-famous brownies and my sister-in-law made some tasty red-velvet cake. On Sunday, my grandma, brother's family and I all headed to Phillips Farm (also home of Michael David Winery - think Seven Deadly Zins), to check out their pumpkin patch. Although it wasn't 100 percent open yet, we walked through their corn maze, took pictures on an old tractor, chased the ducks and picked out some pumpkins. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the sunshine.

Touring Napa and Sonoma

2011-09-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

As virtually all of you know, one of my clients is The Meritage Resort and Spa. My trip to Napa this week had a little something extra, I got to try new things. First, instead of my "normal" room with a balcony and/or room with a view of the vineyards I was able to try a "The Room With No View." It's a reduced rate room (sometimes as low as $99), it has all the same amenities of a normal room, except the window doesn't look out onto anything too exciting. Perfect for me, since I'm rarely in the room and if I am, I'm looking at my laptop, the TV or sleeping.

For dinner I actually didn't go to Siena, I headed to Oxbow Public Market (Napa's version of San Francisco's Ferry Building). I ate had two great tacos at C Casa, before heading to Three Twins Ice Cream for dessert. There are definitely some other places I want to try.

I also got to head out with a few new members of the sales team to take a look at what some of the other Napa Valley properties offered. We started out at the Westin Versa Napa. It was pretty, had some contemporary lines and looked nice. We didn't get to see it all, but it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves, so that was good. Next, we went to the Napa Valley Marriott. The sales team there greeted us with open arms and showed us everything from the restaurant to an on-site Starbucks to meeting rooms and guest suites. It all looked great on the inside, the exterior needs some work though (the inside was just remodeled, the outside still looks like it did when it was built). Our final visit was to the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. Although older (I think they said it was built in 1929), it has some beautiful details. The lobby was warm and inviting, the pool had tons of lounge chairs, the rooms had some cool features, the plants were all mature and the hotel had a room that featured all of the table decor, plates, silverware and glassware for events. Some of the rooms were pretty small (think San Francisco small), but if you could afford them the suites were amazing (we saw one with a jacuzzi that was half in the bathroom and half in the bedroom, perfect for honeymoons). The spa was also huge and gorgeous, not sure if it's as cool as Spa Terra (not much can beat being underground), but it was nice. All things considered I still love The Meritage and cannot wait for the expansion to be completed in Spring 2012.