tari is in texas, y'all!

Hey y'all I'm back

2007-08-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Pictures to come soon. For now, a summary:

Samoa was great. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had hanging out with my mom and sister - I am really missing family and friends out here. Great to see my grandma and other relatives over there (my grandma and I both cried the day I left.) Had a ball swimming in the ocean and snorkeling, especially nice because I didn't get a chance to get in the water at all this Australia trip partly because of a packed work schedule and partly due to a cold wave in Brisbane. Ate a lot of food, and way too much junk food...that combined with heavy meals in Australia have caused me to gain 10 pounds! Now I just have to figure out how to lose it since I'm not into the gym in my apartment building, am way too shy to patronize a commercial gym (as well as way too cheap and unmotivated)and it's too hot to ride my bike.

Australia was great. Work went extremely smoothly, we rocked our three GMP production runs and preliminary data shows good results-high titer and no plasmid degradation, yay! Also, I love Brisbane..it was great to spend a month in a real city...where I could walk outside and there would be people everywhere, I could walk to restaurants, shops, the waterfront, parks, gardens, you name it.

Finally, the last of our vacay pics

2007-06-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

My sucky picture of the Hilton interior

hilton elevators, originally uploaded by tariann.

At the pub:

cute pete, originally uploaded by tariann.

pete!, originally uploaded by tariann.

Pete's last night in town...walking around Southbeach

night, originally uploaded by tariann.

pav and i, originally uploaded by tariann.

brisbane at night, originally uploaded by tariann.

Diving with the Sharks!

2007-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

We got to dive inside the 2.5 million Liter Oceanarium at Underwater World!

20070520-152355 copy, originally uploaded by tariann.

20070520-152742 copy, originally uploaded by tariann.

20070520-152927 copy, originally uploaded by tariann.

20070520-154536 copy, originally uploaded by tariann.

Underwater World

2007-06-20T08:49:00.003-07:00

Mooloolaba Underwater World on the Sunshine Coast was awesome.

pete, originally uploaded by tariann.

shark with buddy, originally uploaded by tariann.

s, originally uploaded by tariann.

side view, originally uploaded by tariann.

ray, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1359, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1360, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1361, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1363, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1364, originally uploaded by tariann.

Air New Zealand flight to Australia plus gold coast

2007-06-16T12:40:00.001-07:00

And off we go!

DSCF1313, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1315, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1316, originally uploaded by tariann.

After more than 20 hours of traveling, Pete and I stumble out of the airport into the bright Brisbane sun, acquire our rental car (a Ford Prius that ends up being really fun to drive once we get the hang of it!), I spend about a half hour in the rental car parking lot trying to figure out how to turn it on and then psyching myself up for driving on the other side of the road. We head down to the Gold Coast where we spend the weekend at the Sheraton Mirage Resort. We spend most of our time swimming, sunbathing and eating. Good times!

hotel wildlife, originally uploaded by tariann.

first night's dinner, originally uploaded by tariann.

surfer's paradise!, originally uploaded by tariann.

Chiara's grad party

2007-06-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

Pete and I flew to LA on Saturday, May 12, 2007 and met up with my friend Chiara at Zuma beach in Malibu where she was having a party commemorating the completion of her pHD in Classics. Congrats girl, good job! We were sort of tired after our flight (4 screaming kids behind us...including one who woke up Pete by squeezing his head and trying to take off his hat :))so we spent most of the party laying out in the warm California sunshine.

chiara composes a shot, originally uploaded by tariann.

sampling the spread, originally uploaded by tariann.

susannah and i , originally uploaded by tariann.

pete behind the lens, originally uploaded by tariann.

The weather in LA was gorgeous all weekend and we had a great time running around town, meeting up with various folks, eating and shopping. We stayed at Le Meridien in Beverly Hills which was really nice and conveniently located.

May 6 2007

2007-06-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

In preparation for our May trip to Australia, Pete and I took a class at Surface Interval Scuba in Arlington, Texas to learn to scuba dive! This has been a desire of mine for a long time...and I'm glad we finally found an excuse to just go do it. After a week of classroom work and pool dives we spent the first weekend of May doing our final dives at Clear Springs Scuba Park in Terrell, Texas and we are now PADI certified open water divers!

Here are some pics our awesome instructor Randy Cook took:

one of our favorite restaurants to eat at in brisbane

2007-06-12T07:38:00.001-07:00

....is this japanese place called Sono that is right around the corner from our hotel. my favorite thing to get is the giant garden salad and an order of their onigiri...rice balls filled with ume. yum!

garden salad, originally uploaded by tariann.

salmon, originally uploaded by tariann.

sashimi, originally uploaded by tariann.

seafood salad, originally uploaded by tariann.

April 11

2007-06-11T10:47:00.001-07:00

Our second day in Australia, my colleague Lily and I decided to take a walk around town. We stumbled upon the Botanical Gardens and explored them for a bit

duckies, originally uploaded by tariann.

ibis, originally uploaded by tariann.

botanical gardens, originally uploaded by tariann.

me, originally uploaded by tariann.

Apparently someone had been partying there the night before

party?, originally uploaded by tariann.

party, originally uploaded by tariann.

We then walked through to the goodwill bridge and across the river to southbank

goodwill bridge, originally uploaded by tariann.

rooftop garden, originally uploaded by tariann.

view of southbank, originally uploaded by tariann.

ship, originally uploaded by tariann.

clock, originally uploaded by tariann.

Checked out Southbank a bit, did some shopping, then headed back to the hotel over the Story bridge

bridge view, originally uploaded by tariann.

brisbane, originally uploaded by tariann.

southbank, originally uploaded by tariann.

bridge photos, originally uploaded by tariann.

more sanctuary pictures:

2007-06-11T10:22:00.003-07:00

he's laughing at us, originally uploaded by tariann.

Emus!

2007-06-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

Emus!, originally uploaded by tariann.

these guys are curious and naughty. they come right up to you and try to steal your cameras and sunglasses

Kangaroos!

2007-06-11T10:21:00.001-07:00

DSCF1145, originally uploaded by tariann.

DSCF1147, originally uploaded by tariann.

giant rats, originally uploaded by tariann.

here i am, petting these strange giant rats they have in Australia

giant rats in the shade, originally uploaded by tariann.

boss feeding a roo

2007-06-11T10:17:00.001-07:00

boss feeding a roo, originally uploaded by tariann.

Fountain plus naughty little boy

2007-06-11T10:15:00.001-07:00

*, originally uploaded by tariann.

this little kid dropped trou and just started pissing into the fountain here. I didn't get my camera out until he started walking away. Hope this doesn't make me a creep...I just thought it was funny.

there were a ton of these guys

2007-06-11T10:13:00.001-07:00

lorakeets, originally uploaded by tariann.

pretty birdie

2007-06-11T10:10:00.003-07:00

i forget what this guy is called, originally uploaded by tariann.

Eagle

2007-06-11T10:10:00.001-07:00

chomping down on some little animal, originally uploaded by tariann.

check out the bloody beak, originally uploaded by tariann.

winking owl, kookaburra and lizard

2007-06-11T10:09:00.001-07:00

winking owl, originally uploaded by tariann.

kookaburra, originally uploaded by tariann.

lizard, originally uploaded by tariann.

Australia

2007-06-09T08:33:00.001-07:00

I arrived in beautiful Brisbane Australia the morning of April 10, 2007. I relaxed by the pool at the Hilton waiting for my room to be ready. The hotel is nice. Very slick, clean and modern...like a W but less cold and more homey. The picture on that link of the room is exactly what my room looks like. :)

After we got our rooms, we all took quick showers before heading out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where I got to not only see exotic birds and other animals but got to hand feed kangaroos and cuddle a koala. Very cool! I even saw a baby koala in her momma's pouch but she was in a protected area and I couldn't get a good picture through the fence.

More pictures to be uploaded soon. In the meantime please enjoy the Koala pics or check out my flickr sets if you can't wait!

koalas!

2007-06-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

cutie koala booty

more koala butt

i love him

can't get enough of the fur balls

Eary April Musings (no pictures)

2007-06-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

I started a paper journal on the plane to San Francisco with the intention of capturing blog posts to later type onto the computer. Here are my thoughts from April:

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Pete and I step outside the apartment on our way to my hair appointment and it is snowing! In April! (You saw the pictures of our barbecue two weeks ago when it was warm and sunny- I thought that weather was to stay!) Texas weather is crazy! Too bad because I was really looking forward to the Texas heat while I was in San Francisco fog, only to be teased by one and a half days of sunshine and then wind and cold. Last night we actually had to take the comforter back out of storage and put it on the bed it was so cold. But still the absurdity of the snow made me smile.

I got my hair cut and Pete played around with his new laptop. An Apple I Mac, fancy fancy. He loves it. Feels so good to have gotten my hair cut...for some reason my hair and nails grow crazy fast...even my hair dresser commented on the amount of grow out I'd had since my last appointment. Hair is fine with me...I like it long but my nails drive me crazy...I want them short and neat and since I can't keep a manicure, they look gross long.

So now I'm on a plane bound for SF again. Pete and I got to the airport crazy early because we dropped his car off for service and we weren't sure how long it would take to get to the airport from the repair shop. We hung out for like a minute before I got bored and decided to go through security (unfortunately there are no pre-security restaurants shops or bars at DFW)with over an hour to kill. I spent this time in a bar near my gate where I proceeded to accidentally get very drunk and almost miss my flight as they changed gates on me and I had difficulty reading the computer as I stumbled to my former gate only to find about 100 service men and woman lounging in the gate area. But I made it, and I upgraded to Premium Economy and the plane is pretty empty so I got bulkhead and the entire row to myself. Nice.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Last night my parents picked me up from the airport and I gorged on a Wahoo sandwich and watched a weird arty movie on IFC with my dad (we thought we were watching a horror movie and kept waiting and waiting for it to get scary but it just kept getting weirder and then it ended)before meeting up with Phil, Joe, Victor, Andy, Jaime, Adam and Jason hanging out in front of the Peacock lounge on Haight street.

This morning we got off to a late start, each family member dawdling over their own errands whilst lazily getting ready for Sunday brunch. I tested out my new webcam and Skype connection, talking to Pete and showing him my parent's new kitchen.

The sun was shining but the air had a bit of a chill to it. Auntie Joann and Luis once again hosted an awesome party with great food and drinks and conversation. The kids excitedly hunted Easter eggs in the backyard as the adults wandered around catching up with everyone. Unfortunately I was having such a good time revisiting with friends and family I did not take any pictures at all this weekend. I'm not Peter, it doesn't come second nature to me to capture memories on camera. I am usually too busy enjoying the moment and it is only when I look back at my meager picture offerings at the end of the day (or more accurately for me, the end of the month) that I express regret for not having captured more moments and events to share with others.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
(Monday April 9 disappears by the magic that is crossing the International Date Line)

Easter Sunday evening I got on the 12 hour Air New Zealand flight to Auckland where I would lay over for an hour before getting on another Air New Zealand flight for the 3 hour ride to my final destination of Brisbane, AUS. The flights were not bad at all...the trick is to take full advantage of AirNZ's Premium Economy class, especially on the long haul flight...it is definitely worth it. The seats have a little bit more leg room, you get to board early with Business class, you are separated from the rest of the aircraft, the food is a little bit better (served in courses...with a nice salad, fresh bread and a fancy New Zealand cheese course if you are into that). Juice water or champagne are offered immediately after boarding, water bottles and in-flight kits containing ear plugs, eye mask, socks and toothbrush and paste are waiting for you, also there are help yourself snacks available during the entire flight...fruit, cookies, water, juice,etc. The flight actually went by quickly...I ate dinner, watched a movie, slept, woke up for breakfast and then we landed.

Changing planes in Auckland wasn't too bad either...you don't have to go through customs or change terminals...you just do another security check and then hang out in the international terminal with oodles of duty free shopping, a fancy bar, and internet and massages for a fee.

Now I am in sunny Brisbane in the cab en route to our hotel. So excited!

Catching up....

2007-05-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry dad! It's hard to motivate to sit in front of a computer and write in this damn thing! I finally uploaded my pictures from the last three months so I'll send a blast of them at once.

March 2007

One weekend the weather was awesome in Fort Worth and I went on a nice long bike ride along Trinity River Trail and then Pete and I had a little barbecue on our balcony using the George Foreman. We made killer Boca burgers with all the fixings and drank beer.

Then I went to San Francisco on business for two weeks (Sorry no pictures), got to visit family, see my friends and make some money. Hooray!

Fun times

2007-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

The weather was awesome last Saturday so Pete and I went on a nice early morning bike ride along Trinity River Trail which is this cool fully paved trail that runs for miles along the river. It is nice and flat and scenic and well maintained and basically perfect for walking, jogging or bike riding. We were really excited to find that it is so close to our house and plan to make good use of it this spring and summer (provided we don't wilt in the heat).

In fact, I'm headed out there after I finish this post for a nice afternoon ride.

On Sunday we tidied up the house a bit and ran some errands before heading downtown for guacamole and margaritas. Then we headed over to the flying saucer for some pints on the patio. Good times.

This week I've been busy preparing for my business trip. In case you didn't know, I'll be in town from March 18-30 and I'm staying at the Clarion in Millbrae right by the office. Give me a holler if you wanna hang out. I think the hotel has a pool...hopefully the weather will be nice and the pool is not ghetto like the one at the Thunderbird in Chico with bloody band aids floating in it.

I also had my last photo class so now I just have to keep on taking photos so I get good practice. Here are some shots I took on our class field trip two Sundays ago:

February continued...

2007-02-26T15:15:00.001-08:00

Wednesday the 14th was Valentine's Day and I treated myself to a new hairdo..adding chunks of red to my hair in honor of the holiday. Victor came to visit and he and Pete had a romantic dinner at Razoo's while I was at my photo class.

The next day the three of us drove to Tulsa, OK to see AFI play at Cain's Ballroom. It was a cold 5 hour drive to Tulsa though, with nothing much to look at besides the barren Oklahoma landscape, occasional snowfall and strange things being transported on flatbed trailers.

Like giant cows with realistic veins?

The show was awesome, it was great to see some familiar faces and fun to hang out with Smith, Jason, Adam and Jake. Right before the AFIs came on Steve and Kana showed up and our night was officially made. After the show we found this rad cycling themed bar to hang out at. That is where the following pictures were taken:

I've been real bad about this...

2007-02-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the month long absence...dad called me yesterday to remind me that when both Pete and I have failed to update our blogs, he starts to worry. :)I haven't taken any relevant pictures in a while and I've used that as an excuse not to update my blog. Lame! So I'm going to try to get out and take some pictures. Until then hopefully these verbal ramblings will suffice.

So, let's see...what has happened since Jan 22?

The first weekend in February Pete and I went outside our comfort zone and attended a vegan potluck at the home of a stranger (a grad student I met on Craigslist)and it was fun. Everyone there was really nice and friendly and interesting. It felt good to interact with other human beings for a change...the food was good and the conversation even better.

I started my photo class at the beginning of February. It has been really good...interesting and informative but quite a lot of information to process all at once. There is a great deal more than I thought to taking a good photo than just having a good eye and a good camera. There are a lot of things to think about and the way all the different camera settings interact with each other and light and depth and exposure make it seem as if I am trying to learn another language.

On February 8, Pete and I flew to San Francisco for my brother's graduation. If you haven't already...check out some of the pictures Pete took of the ceremony. My bro is a handsome dude.

After the ceremony Aunty Joann and Uncle Luis had a nice get together at their place. It was awesome to see everyone again and felt good to relax and catch up with family. Pete took some fun pictures that he has yet to publish online. Help me bug him about processing them before Anna and Luca have kids of their own.

That Friday night my parents were nice enough to give us a night at the Hilton on the Embarcadero which we upgraded to a suite overlooking the ferry building and bay bridge. We invited our friends over and drank champagne before visiting the revolving restaurant/bar at the top of the hotel.

To be continued...

another sunny day...

2007-01-22T20:01:00.003-08:00

yesterday the temperature rose above freezing...into the 50's even! so pete and i celebrated by taking a nice walk around our neighborhood and into downtown.

this mural continues down the length of the tunnel (the train passes overhead) and repeats the same theme on the facing side as well.

patriotism, originally uploaded by tariann.

we explored the wooded area between the purina factory and the train tracks. there were many hobo encampments to be seen.

hobo road, originally uploaded by tariann.

purina factory up close

factory upclose + birds far away, originally uploaded by tariann.

and here we are downtown, reflected in the mirrored exterior of a building!

self pic in a dirty window, originally uploaded by tariann.

just wanted to post some x-mas break highlights

2007-01-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

The following were all taken thursday, december 28 when pete and i had the pleasure of spending the day hanging out with nanny, aunty gina, maya and isabel. we had a nice sushi lunch in the inner sunset before exploring the conservatory of flowers in golden gate park.

nanny at lunch, originally uploaded by tariann.

aunty g and isabel, originally uploaded by tariann.

at the conservatory

2007-01-21T18:27:00.001-08:00

flowers, originally uploaded by tariann.

cousins!, originally uploaded by tariann.

i don't know why maya looks in shock here

these were my favorite, originally uploaded by tariann.

creepy looking flowers

we didn't pick it..it had already fallen off, originally uploaded by tariann.

don't worry...we didn't pick this flower..it had already fallen off

the boys

2007-01-17T19:08:00.001-08:00

the boys, originally uploaded by tariann.

Sleepy time for all the animals in the house

snow!

2007-01-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Pete got me out of bed early this morning to see the beautiful white blanket of snow on everything. Apparently the snow took everybody by surprise as it wasn't expected to hit this far north. There was less than an inch on the ground but schools were closed and there were tons of accidents (due mostly to iced over freeway on-ramps and overpasses, i think). Judging by the amount of cars still in our parking lot, a lot of people took the day off.
Here are some pictures I took from my balcony this morning.

It's been real cold lately

2007-01-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Our cats don't really interact with each other much besides the aggressive sniffing, pawing at each other, chasing each other around the apartment and wrestling...they certainly have never been into cuddling or sleeping together but the cold weather must have driven them to drastic measures because yesterday i opened the door to our storage closet to see the two of them curled up in the same space!

tommy and marvel in our messy closet

picture from Terese

2007-01-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Isn't it cute?

Pete and his family's kitty Noah Geniella in Hopland

happy MLK day and happy b-day Chiara!

2007-01-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well I've been back in Texas for 2 weeks now and I've just now finished uploading all my x-mas pictures into flickr and putting away all our gifts. The house is clean and the kitties are napping and I'm just trying to stay warm. I should leave the house for a bit but it is just too cold for a Californian like myself (it's been in the 30's all week and there are icicles on my porch). I found some jobs I'm going to apply for so that and this blog should keep my busy on a cold day with no work to do.
I signed up for a beginning photo class at the University of Arlington so that should be good. Hopefully I'll meet some people and at least improve my photography skills a bit. I got this sweet camera for my birthday but my photo results have been less than stellar. I took loads of pictures x-mas eve at Nanny's but they all turned out super blurry. Sorry family, I didn't realize how dark it was inside and how unsteady my hands are. Good thing my hubby is such a good photographer...I'll have to bug him to send you all some of the beautiful pictures he took that night. Here are those of mine that came out ok (note they are mostly food pictures as food has a tendency to stay still.) :)

Nanny and Mavis

Jake and holiday greetings

Uncle Joey and the bar

the tree

Appetizers