Tuesday, July 12, 2011

My Bucket List

So before anyone asks - no I'm not sick and I don't have a short time left to live. I just decided to write down my bucket list and publish it on my blog. Hopefully I have a good many more years left in which to tick things off the list.
For those of you who don't know what a bucket list is - it's a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket (die).

So here goes: (in no particular order)
1. Visit Australia
2. Visit Hawaii
3. Go on safari in Kenya
4. See the Northern Lights
5. Learn to surf
6. Swim with dolphins
7. Visit every Disney (WDW and Disneyland Paris visited already)
8. Buy a brand new car with cash
9. Serve in a soup kitchen on Christmas day
10. Help in an orphanage in a third world country
11. Go to the carnival in Rio
12. Lose at least 100lbs
13. Complete the London Marathon
14. Leave a 100% tip in a restaurant
15. Drive across the US in a motor home
16. Ride a Harley Davidson
17. Be debt free
18. Fly long distance first class
19. Go on a cruise
20. Buy a cake from the cake boss store in Hoboken
21. Chase a storm
22. Go to the Daytona 500
23. Walk through a corn maze
24. Go whale watching (and see a whale)
25. Adopt a dog from a shelter   Forgot our first westie Millie was a rescue dog
26. Have a hot dog at Coney Island
27. See the ball drop in Times Square on NYE
28. Seeing the New Year in whilst in London
29. Read the top 3 best selling books (currently Tale of Two Cities, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit)
30. Watch the top 10 IMDB movies (currently I've seen two of them)

Friday, July 8, 2011

Midnight Magic

Tonight's post is written by my husband Dave

Was waiting outside the office for Sarah to pick me up when a nice old man approached me and proceeded to tell me about how he has been making and delivering sanitary bags for the homeless and delivering them at midnight to SF. He then explained that his car (rolls royce phantom apparently) was in a garage and he left his wallet at home (some 90miles north) and didn't have enough cash on him to pay the parking ticket.

He then said that he was called Midnight Magic and that Robin Williams was going to play him in a film about his life! In return for helping him he would get me a part in the film.

I looked him up and down. Very shiny black shoes , clean cloths, freshy shaven and topped off with a straw hat.

I explained I had no cash and Sarah turned up just as he was getting pushy about going to a cash machine. I googled "midnight magic robin williams" in the car ride on the way home (sounded like a film I would like) and looks like I just had a brush with one of SF's oldest conmen, he's a legend!

Wish I took his photo (had my camera out photographic the street cars, which is why he probably picked me) but didn't.

http://tinyurl.com/6ldxacj

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

About Me

Ive just enrolled in a new Bzz campaign, the site is about.me, and it lets you link all your social network sites and other sites together and displays them on your own personal page, that way your friends can keep track of you. if you sign up for an About Me page now you will receive 50 free business cards (shipping not included)
You can visit my about.me page here.



As a Bzz Agent I am given products and services to try either for free or a small amount, I then try the product/service and tell all my friends what I liked (or didn't like) about it and report back to Bzz.
You can sign up to be a Bzz agent in the US or in the UK.

Monday, July 4, 2011

4th of July

We are celebrating our second 4th of July in the US, and for us it is a quiet one.

It was only this year that I actually learned what 4th of July was all about, clearly I wasn't that well educated at school!! So for those of you (possibly the Brits reading this), here is a bit of info about 4th of July (taken from Wikipedia)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.

So hopefully all the Americans are grateful to us Brits for getting them a day off work!!

Last year we celebrated with a BBQ and went to Pier 39 and watched the fireworks, what should have been a 30 min drive took nearly 2 hours and cost $30 in parking, so we decided to give it a miss this year, especially as the display only lasted 20 mins and it took us over an hour to get home too!!
This morning we celebrated with pancakes.

And this afternoon we had a BBQ. The sun has been shining all day long and has been really nice and warm out - I have a red head and shoulders to prove it!!, and even though it is still daylight we have heard some fireworks already, and there have also been some going for the last two nights. There is a firework ban in San Francisco, so I imagine there won't be many going off, but hopefully we will see a few from our balcony being let off by the 'naughty' people!. The fog has started to roll in already, but hopefully it will clear for the thousands of people heading to Pier 39 for the fireworks on the bay, I'm just glad we won't be stuck in the chaos that is trying to leave the bay after the show!! We will be sat on our sofa watching the Macy's 4th July firework display on TV.

Oh say can you see....... I must admit I do think the US has an awesome National Anthem and it gives me goose bumps every time I hear it, and I especially enjoy seeing it performed at major sporting events when the fighter jets fly over too. You are definitely a patriotic country.

Happy 4th of July America.