Holiday Fun at Atalie's Office

A little over a year ago, my department at work had a reorganization after my boss (the head of Business & Financial Services units) and his boss (the Vice Chancellor of Administration) both left the University. After a little observation that their replacements might be more modern and progressive, I started testing the waters to see if they minded more festive approaches to the work place, and I encouraged others to do the same. 

Last Halloween I dressed in costume as a little German boy, and while my boss looked like a mix of amused & bemused, he didn't ever hint that it wasn't acceptable. So this year, myself and a few others were emboldened to ask if we could initiate a few activities, thinking the official approval would encourage more staff to participate as well. His blessing totally allowed the creativity and fun to flourish!

During the week of Halloween, entries of an anonymous pumpkin-decorating contest decorated our building's lobby- I felt so happy walking in and seeing it that first morning! People had a few days to submit/review, then we took an online vote and declared the winner, which ended up in a 2-way tie. The two winners pictured above were the McPumpkin Burger, and a carved bobcat face (our mascot) whose teeth spelled "UC Merced." They were all very cute, but below are 2 others I also thought were particularly innovative ways of exhibiting squash!.

I always thought a Viking would be a fun costume, so I spent a few late nights making a shield and a cape out of a ripped jacket and various odds and ends such as a ceramic plate and cardboard. I was told I looked a little like a 'Wildlander' from Game of Thrones as well. Either way, I felt like it turned out pretty well for being homemade/on the cheap.

We set up a 'trick-or-treat' potluck mid-morning as a chance to observe and comment on each other's new looks (I made the oreo spiders above).

I t was bittersweet because we ended up pairing the event as a farewell for my supervisor/friend Jason who was reporting for his last day in BFS before transferring to a different department. But it was awesome seeing a lot of people at work get into it- the whole Accounting department even did a theme and all dressed up as pirates- and since our Open Enrollment Fair was on campus that same day, it gave us a chance to show off our efforts and observe other alter-egos. Unfortunately half or more of the potluck attendees departed before I initiated a group photo, so I didn't get to capture the whole spectrum, but most of my closest coworkers were still around to help preserve the memory.

 During the month of December, more people in our building decorated their cubes and hallway spaces with garland/trees/winter decor than ever had before; they filled an SUV full of gifts for families in need; and the majority of my department's staff opted-in for "Elfing"- sort of like a combination of the Telephone & Secret Santa games. The first participant drew a name of the coworker they'd "elf", which meant they left a little gift or stocking of goodies in the recipient's desk space. That person would then draw a name of the coworker he or she would elf. We finished off the game with a lunchtime potluck, and on our last day of work before the campus closure, some of us celebrated via a pajama day on December 23, expecting it to be quiet, laid back, and hard to focus! That was pretty much the case, and before separating ways for our various vacation plans at 3pm (early release!), a small set of us clinked glasses to cheers the occasion.

Scarecrow Festival in Cambria, October 25-26

When I was researching things to do and places to stay while Patrick's parents were visiting, I stumbled across a cute cottage-like hotel in Cambria, just across from the ocean on Moonstone Beach. I decided it would make the perfect romantic overnight spot for a future weekend. With Thanksgiving coming up, I decided to re-investigate the prospect of staying at the inn, and while doing so I saw an ad for the Scarecrow Festival during the month of October.  Something about that jogged my memory- while in Europe earlier this year, a couple seated with us on the train to Scotland told us they had traveled to California once and one of the places they vistied was a charming town with scarecrows posted all throughout it! It all seemed like fate to me; we'd do something else for Thanksgiving- we had to go to Cambria during the festival!

Most of the scarecrows aren't of the traditional straw stuffed clothing type. There were many uses of media and space- the businesses and individuals that entered them were so creative! The businesses often made the nature of their scarecrows relevant to their names or services too; for instance, Felix was stationed outside the "Black Cat Bistro". The picture next to it has one of my personal favorites, "Rosie"- I wondered if she's supposed to resemble the robot maid on The Jetsons, because that's who she reminded  me of anyway!

 

 

Our stroll along mainstreet brought us to many niche shops and eateries too. We did several wine tastings, bought a few Christmas presents, enjoyed the most-expensive meal ever purchased on our own dime (the menu at Robin's Restaurant was phenomenal- so difficult to decide what to order!), and I got to fawn over a few interesting flowers and a store's mascot cat curled up sweetly in a wreath of flowers on a bench. By the way, the scarecrow below is the Invisible Man. :)

 

These glitzy purses (the VW bug & the coy pond) caught my eye while window shopping. They were a few hundred dollars, which is definitely beyond my price range, but thinking of the bead-work that went into it, I'd probably not want to accept any less if I was the designer!

After a night-time soak in our jaccuzi tub, falling asleep to the glow from the fireplace in cozy fresh-smelling sheets, and a breakfast in bed of fruit and homemade pastries, we spent the morning walking along the ocean clifftops down to the beach. The weather was gorgeous and there weren't too many people out yet.

Highlights from our beachwalk: misty air cast a mystical haze around the silhouette landscape; I thought Patrick was joking when he told me not to pick up seals, until I turned around and saw he was reading a sign for not-so-bright people; and washed up giant ocean vegetation that looked like a Kraken tentacle.

 

These sandpipers didn't seem phased at all by the big waves coming in with the tide; it was funny to watch them causally dart away at the very last minute like pros, while I squealed and took off.

I love the ocean; it's so mesmerizing! (Below is a short video to try to share that feeling.)  We had to take off earlier than I'd have liked because of hotel checkout, but Cambria is going on the list for places we'd like to return to.

Special Birthday Guests

September was a busy month, but definitely in the good way! After prepping for a visit from Patrick's parents, they arrived Friday the 19th. We had a fairly relaxing weekend to recover from work and their drive across the country, with local fare like pizza and wine tasting at the Vista, and a trip to the farmers & flea markets. 

They also arrived just in time to celebrate Patrick's 31st birthday on Sunday with a delicious dinner of grilled veggies & filet mignon on the patio, and a homemade from scratch German chocolate cake with icing (it took a long time to make, and the icing drizzled a little too much- past the cake, past the platter, onto the cupboard, making a mess- but it tasted good!).

We took it easy during the week as well, gearing up for the following weekend. Departing work mid-day Thursday, the four of us made way for an overnight in San Francisco. There is always something going on in the city. On the taxi route to the hotel, a Batmobile sat among a several block long lineup of other Ferraris, attracting an onslaught of gawkers. 

After settling in, we walked along fisherman's wharf area to get to dinner at the Blue Mermaid, and the way back to our hotel took us super close to the Three Twins ice cream shop....hmm, imagine that- what a coincidence. ;-) The lemon cookie flavor was AMAZING.

After a breakfast that included a plate of San Franciscan sourdough French toast for me (mmm!), we met up with our bus tour group at 9am. It was the the same company/type of tour as what we did with our friend Aditi 2 years prior, but a few things were a little different this time around.

Grace Cathedral was adorned with outdoor tapestries, and an art piece hanging from the ceiling of the sanctuary. Apparently, all these ropes were hung with the intention of being a temporary Easter decoration, and they still haven't been removed. The idea behind it was to 'see' the sounds of worship- when all the congregation is singing, the cords vibrate.


On the left, a different view of the Palace of Fine Arts stop, and on the right, a different perspective of the Golden Gate bridge. We did our tour in backwards order this time around, so we stopped on the opposite side of the bridge.

A couple places we had gone to before, like the DeYoung Tower, had been removed from the tour and replaced with a stop at the Fortune Cookie Factory and the Cable Car Museum. The video shows the different wheels and motors powering the cars traveling on the various roads designated on the overhead beam.

Instead of simply driving by the Seven Sisters painted ladies, they added a stop so you could get a photo op on the lawn where the Full House cast is picnicking in the opening credits.

Explanation for our tour being backwards this time: the ferry workers from multiple ferry companies went on strike that morning. Just our luck. The tour usually begins with a ferry ride to Sausalito, where you hop the bus to cross the bridge and explore the city; instead we started in the city, crossed the bridge to Sausalito, and planned to take the bus back again. Just our luck after all! When we got to Sausalito, our tour guide spent the lunch break elbow rubbing and information gathering. She discovered one ferry was still in service, and she got our group on it!

After our tour we began the transit cycle of getting to Monterrey for a hearty dinner at the Cannery Row Brewing Company, and the start of the more laid back portion of the weekend. In the morning, we split up so the parents could explore the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and the kids could attend the 4th Annual Monterrey Beer Garden. I'm super glad I procrastinated on buying tickets, so Patrick had to buy them on his phone the night before- turns out we got to skip a huge line of people because they had a separate uber-short line for e-tickets!

It was the perfect size festival too- lots of variety, but small enough that we got to sample everything we wanted to without feeling disgusting afterward (except the "Best in Show" winner- it ran out by the time I requested a sample; booooo).

Lunch, dessert, a live band, and friendly conversation with strangers all included. A great afternoon- we even won a prize! The event was to benefit Save the Shores, and part of the fundraising included a raffle. We put $20 in for 5 tickets and walked out with $30 in Fandango gift cards, so it was profitable philanthropy at that!

We joked, "We swear we're not alcoholics!" as we did an impromptu wine tasting immediately following the close-out of the festival. 

We met Patrick's parents at the Monterrey wharf for dinner overlooking the ocean. Even if we didn't have a window, we still would have been overlooking the ocean in a sense- Patrick had an adventurous (at least to a squeamish eater as myself) seafood platter dinner with a few marine critters on his plate.



The next morning we had planned the "13-mile Scenic Drive" along the coast, but a few people at the beer garden we spoke to recommended the drive to Big Sur instead (also scenic and along the coast, but in their opinion, has better views). We took their advice and it made for a serene Sunday morning that didn't disappoint.








There was a guy at this overlook tracking albatrosses with a radio device of some sort. At least that's what he said- in this area he could've just as easily been tracking aliens that stole his marijuana.

After driving across-and-back on the Bixby Bridge, we pulled to the side to get a better view of it.

 I can't remember if it was this spot or not, but I left the camera on the dash of the car to take a photo for a group of people. We started driving off, but luckily Patrick's dad spotted it before getting up to speed or around a curve! Otherwise we'd be deprived of lovely pictures such as this.



 



Lunch at the Surf Rider Cafe kicked off an afternoon in Santa Cruz. Their regular menu includes a rotating monthly list with sometimes weird but always delicious concoctions. This burger was stuffed with jalapenos, bacon, cherries and gouda, and the sweet potato fries were the best we think we've ever had.

A post lunch visit to the Santa Cruz fisherman's wharf to browse the businesses and watch the sea lions- always amusing. One was fighting to stay awake but would ever so slowly start to lean back, about to drift off- nearly off the platform- but then he'd jerk awake.

It would've been a disservice to our guests had we left without a quick dip of the feet in the Pacific Ocean and our toes in the sand!

And we rode off into the sunset! A great end to a getaway weekend and a welcome visit from family! :)