Perfection in the Form of a Wedding

It feels a little weird to update this thing midweek, but here goes:

Last week was the busiest week I've had since moving out here. My work week was essentially condensed into only 3 days (more on that in a bit), so I needed to get everything I would normally have 5 days to do done in less time. That involved me staying at work late Monday through Wednesday, but I always enjoyed what I was working on, I never stayed too late, and there were always other people there. The good news is that I managed to get everything done on time. Even with all that, though, there was still plenty going on.

On Wednesday, Apple announced the iPhone 5. This impacted me as a potential consumer (since I'm in the market for a smartphone) and as an employee that helps develop software on Apple platforms. I've had lots of people ask what I think about the iPhone 5, and ultimately I don't have much to say. It was pretty much what the industry expected it to be, except for the fact that it lacks Near-Field Communications (NFC) which allow you to do things like tap your phone to a sensor to pay for things at checkout. It seems to me to be the incremental upgrade everyone was hoping for, and it also sold out the fastest of any iPhone yet. Again, nothing new to the story here. Do I think it's an awesome product? Yes. Will I be getting one? Maybe. My dad and I seem to be the last holdouts on the planet in getting a smartphone, and I'm not sure I'm ready to let him win that race...

The coincidental followup to the Apple announcement was the Microsoft Company Meeting on Thursday. This was a day-long event where thousands of people assembled to watch presentations and demonstrations from executives throughout the company. They also stream it for employees to watch, which is good since not everyone can go (not enough tickets, employees around the world, etc). It was quite an experience being there; I'd never been to anything like that before. There were high and low points, and I walked away pretty excited about the next year for the company, and the role I will play in it.

The other reason I had a shortened work week was because I agreed to be Kristen's (my friend from Tufts) +1 to a wedding in California last weekend. This had been planned for at least a month, but I had no idea what I was in for. My flight left on Friday afternoon (so I took a day off of work) for Sacramento, which is only a 1.5 hour flight. It went by even fast because as soon as I sat in my seat, I passed out until we were getting ready to land. After killing some time in the airport, meeting up with Kristen, and getting to our hotel, we got dinner in town. We called it an early night since we were both tired from the week and traveling.

Disclaimer: I didn't bring my camera, so I don't have pictures. The post after this will have tons of pictures to show you my day-in-day-out routine of work, so just deal with the wall of text until then.

We spent Saturday in an area called Old Sacramento, named after the fact that it keeps the old-western/gold-rush aesthetics of decades ago. It's a very strange place because it really does look like it came right out of an old western movie, but it's right in the middle of the state's capitol and next to I-5 (the major highway that runs all the way North to Vancouver, B.C.). There is a lot of interesting stuff there, but really it made me thankful that I live in a modern society. Although if I lived during the time, I probably would have thought the telegraph was coolest thing ever.

Attending a wedding was also a good reason to wear the suit I bought a few months ago. Packing it was definitely an interesting exercise - apparently you fold half of the jacket inside-out and then tuck the other half into the inside-out half. It worked like a charm, and before I knew it we were off to the wedding. It was at the bride's mom's house, and I didn't really know what to expect. It was almost an hour away from the city, and got very rural very quickly. Once at the house, though, I started to understand why those chose that location.

Rolling hills and valleys spread pretty much as far as the eye could see. Trees dotted the bare ground, giving the land a touch of green. After parking the car, there were little carts to take us up to the house, where you walked through a trail of sunflowers to the front lawn. Immediately following that were the seats for the ~200 people attending and the wedding canopy, all outdoors without a cloud in the sky. There was a small pond just beyond, with a little paddle boat. Guests started to congregate and shmooze, while everyone in the wedding was getting ready and taking pictures.

Eventually we took our seats, making sure Kristen got an isle seat so she could see everything and have a got spot to take pictures from. I had never met the couple getting married, and I really only saw them for a few minutes before they were finally married. It was a picture-perfect ceremony, and I will admit to tearing at the event (for many reasons). After that, everyone proceeded to the reception on the other side of the house. We sat with some of the newlywed's friends from school (high school and college) and their dates. We had a great time meeting them, watching the requisite slideshow, eating awesome food, and watching people make fools of themselves (us included) on the dancefloor.

I could go on and on about everything that happened, but hopefully by now, you've got the picture. If not, allow me to be more direct: people in Hollywood film romance movies hoping that the wedding scene turns out even half as good as this wedding actually was. When I say perfect, I really mean that I don't think there's a single aspect of the whole event I would have changed. Granted, I know as much about weddings as I do about art history... nothing. This is the first real wedding I've ever been to (not counting relatives from when I was too young to remember), so every one I go to from now on has the bar set pretty high. If anyone needs a +1 for a wedding in the future, look no further (references available upon request).

I returned to Seattle on Sunday night, wishing my extended weekend vacation wasn't over. This was the last major thing I had planned until Thanksgiving, so for now I'll just continue learning what it means to live and work in the pacific northwest. Possible activities include a bar-tending class, motorcycle driving class, hiking, mountain biking, electronic music festivals, baseball/soccer/football games, and more.

Everything Falling into Place

This was the first week without any major events planned. The only big thing was we got a bit of furniture delivered on Thursday (more on that in a bit), but that didn't require much effort on our part. That enabled me to start figuring out how to go about running errands, which is just another step to making this feel more like home.

Labor Day was great. It was technically my first day off of work, and a 3-day weekend was great to sleep in and just get a lot of stuff done. Additionally, Calvin's family was in town celebrating his grandparent's anniversary. The impact for me was that they had a giant BBQ which we were invited to. Even better was that they gave us a bunch of the leftover food, which we are still working on. Tonight is pasta with chicken Alfredo. Previous nights' feasts include leftover chinese, onion sausage, baked beans, and more.

Work was fairly uneventful. The person in the office across the hall from me just started on Tuesday, and I've been answering a lot of their questions which really makes me feel like I've settled in. It's really the first time I've been able to help someone else, which is a great feeling. I've also started to hang out with people from work outside of the office. I joined a fantasy football league with some of them, and have been doing okay so far, but Payton Manning absolutely destroyed me. Good for him, I guess. Last weekend I met a bunch of people from work for pizza nearby, and Calvin has a friend who had people over to watch the Cowboys/Giants game on Wednesday. Saturday night we had a few people over for drinks before heading out; I continue to find bars and restaurants that I absolutely love out here. This place Linda's has an outdoor seating area, and an additional smoking area that is littered with "No Smoking" signs (read: hilarious).

Furniture delivery this week was definitely a big deal, though. Andrew was around to let the movers in, and apparently our sectional fit in the elevator with just one inch of vertical space to spare. Everything worked out though, and it really makes the living room a lot more "livable". I also managed to finish installing a cabinet and DVD case. Calvin also picked up some plants and scattered them around. I could go on about more, but here's a picture to give you an idea:

The only thing left for the apartment is the dining table and chairs, but that should be here in the next couple weeks. After that, everything will be in place.

Seasonal change has started to hit Seattle, although it's still been fairly warm, reaching the 80s at times. At night the wind makes it pretty chilly, and I'm mentally preparing myself for the grey, overcast skies to come. I'm enjoying the awesome weather while it's here, though. At some point before fall and winter take over, we're going to take a nice picture of Rainier from our apartment and mount it on a wall. Calvin is pretty good with a camera, and although you can't see Rainier in this picture because it's not that clear of a night, it'll give you an idea of what we're looking for:

Yes, that was actually taken with my camera. Believe it. Props to Calvin.

This week will be pretty interesting. I'm curious what Apple will do during their press event on Wednesday. This weekend I'll be in Sacramento for a wedding with a friend from school. I will be wearing the suit I purchased a few months ago for only the second time. That's big deal for me.

And now for something completely different:

We've started watching the show New Girl with Zooey Deschanel (from such classics as (500) Days of Summer). I absolutely love it. I thought I would not enjoy it because it seemed too contrived and the characters were not entertaining. Well, I'm eating my own words. Yes, it's a little weird at times, but after the first couple of episodes it had me hooked. It's not for everyone, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like it.