It is almost 2am, on Monday night and I was abruptly woken up from my deep slumber... but the sheriff yelling "all of you put your hands up" on his loudspeaker. Now, I love the fact that crackheads are getting arrested/questioned/my alley is getting cleaned up... I really do. Just wish I were still sleeping...

I have been super busy with work as of late. We have a lot of cool things going on, and the start up is really starting to take off... but as most people that work for start-ups know... lots of work to do, never enough people to do it!

I should blog about my Sunday... My Montreal friend Peter came by with Starbucks, bless his heart... I dig the Cinnamon Dolce Skinny - and that is what he got me! We drove to South Center, ate at Red Robin - which pulled tomatoes because of this salmonella outbreak... and that is why restaurants, even chains, should only use local organic foods...

After that we went shopping at random stores, bought random stuff, I declined to impulse buy too much, which is good. The stores were crowded, lots of people meandering around and bumping into me!

And then came the reason why we were down south... Walmart. Well, anyone that knows me and my habits knows a few things... 1 - I hate Walmart and everything it stands for... and 2 - I hate shopping when there are large crowds... I have been to Walmart maybe 4 times in my life? Where I grew up they are sparse, you have to go way south or way west... and I just don't like Walmart. Often when camping though, you are forced to go to one, as it is the only store for miles. And silly me, I wanted this specific vacuum cleaner, and it has been discontinued for an upgraded model, and the current model was sold out pretty much everywhere in the country, except - Renton's Walmart.

The experience first started with us somehow getting lost. Then I called Walmart to see where they were located... um, the first chick says... right across from Renton Honda, so I say... where is Renton Honda. She says Rainier Ave S. I ask for the cross street, she transfers me. What? How do you not know the cross street?? So, the 2nd chick picks up... I ask again, she says... across from Renton Honda. What??? So, I say... where is Renton Honda located? She says Rainier Ave... I ask, do you know the cross street... she had to ask someone next to her... then she was able to tell me. How do you not know where you work, and why does Walmart have people answering the phones that do not know the location??

Then we finally get there... and oh my goodness, so many people! You cannot get through, everyone was walking slow, leaving their carts in the way, misbehaving children running in front of you, just honestly, a bit chaotic. In addition, the store is merchandised in a way that reminds me of a garage sale. I get what I need, including face wash. Now, the face wash made me realize why people might shop at Walmart... it was 2 dollars cheaper ($6 down from $8) that it usually is at most stores. Now I usually buy it when it's on sale for $6, but that is a sale, this was Walmart's normal price... so I can see why people would chose to shop here, especially after my last post.. but for me... my sanity and staying in the city, rather than driving to Renton is not worth the 20-25 percent savings.

So, I am already a bit panicky, because... well, it is chaotic... so I go to pay. Oh my, lines, lines, lines... Finally, I choose a self check out. We got a dirty look and lectured by the chick that worked there because we didn't put the vacuum on the sensor, just left it in the cart after scanning. It's too big, but yet, she was rude to us about it. Well, then I go to pay... and it wouldn't take credit card number 1. I know there is money on it, so I try again... Won't take... Then I try card number 2, now I know there is a lot of money on this one... It won't take... What? Finally, it takes it on the 3rd try.

Moral of my story... do not go to Walmart.

After that, we came to my apt, dropped off the stuff... then went to Umi Sake House for happy hour. Always makes me feel better! Though the bar area got really crowded as we were about to leave and people kept bumping into me as I sat in my stool, which was totally the theme of my day... go figure...

Oh, I did see a funny sign in Renton...

So, I am a crazy shopper, as most know. There is this website called Black-friday.net". Basically it lists all of the ads for Black Friday, which is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is also known as the biggest shopping day of the year and the ads are usually kept super secret, but somehow this website knows about the deals beforehand. So, this website will tell you all of the ads for major chain stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, Sears, Sam's Club, Amazon.com, just to name a few. You can choose to sign up for email alerts, and be alerted when your favorite store lists a new item for sale. You can get a one up on all of those crazy Black Friday shoppers and make sure you get that new TV, camera, furniture or any other great deal.

I thank this site for helping me get super furniture deals for my new apartment last Thanksgiving, and also some nice but really inexpensive 1200 thread count sheets from Overstock.com. Oh, wait, not to mention shelves...

The site is very easy to use, and also has a discount codes partner that is up to date all year. You should never buy anything online without using a discount or coupon code.

I know this is about 6 months too early for shopping season, but really, is it ever too early to prepare to shop ;)

After going to bed only an two hours ago... I was rudely awoken by some screaming, whistling, and pounding. Now I know I am not the only one in the building to have heard it. Well, it wasn't the usually crackhead yelling, so I threw on my robe and headed outside to investigate. Apparently there was a woman stuck between the security gate type of door and the real door in the building behind me. I called the police - and they actually came! I do not know if they came because I was calling about something other than a crackhead, or if they came because it was 5:10am and there wasn't much going on... who knows... but for the first time I saw police presence in my alley (well, second, I guess, I did see them once use my alley to do an unsolicited cut through, and just made some chick dump her beer, but that was awhile ago).

Yesterday I had to meet some clients from work in the Tukwila area. I went to Bahama Breeze for lunch, too, and it's been awhile. In Seattle we do not have many of the big chain type of restaurants - and even though I go to expense it - I forgot how nice it was to have rather inexpensive food!! It was pretty good, too. I also headed over to Linen's N Things and Nordstrom Rack to spend some gift cards. Giftcard shopping is great, because you can spend a bunch of money with no guilt! I also bought things I really did not need, like a cheese cutting plate?? It was kind of cute, so I just grabbed it.

After I got home, I listed a few items on Ebay (links to my seller page) to sell, and then Tom called and I walked over there.

We went to a restaurant that we had never checked out and is literally across the street from Tom's place, got Mike, and checked it out. On our way there though, we passed Subway and the had a handwritten sign that read, " Sorry, we cannot toast at this time." I was so confused by it, and maybe I was just having a ditzy moment, but I just did not get it and Tom had to actually explain their toaster was broken. But come on - why wouldn't they have a sign that read, "Sorry, our toaster is broken". Those guys that work at that Subway are stoners anyway...

Back to the restaurant, Cucina De Ra... So, in short, I probably would not go there again. They have a special "urban menu" - which is a soup or salad, entree, and dessert for $30 bucks. I opted for that and in truth, the food was pretty good. It was inconsistent, however. Tom and I ordered the same meal and his came with broccoli, mine did not. Mine was a way larger piece of fish than his. The service was very slow, inconsistent and just inefficient. First, our waiter waited so long to even take our order that Tom had to ask Mike and I, "Wait, did we order yet?"

When I ordered off the "urban" I was going down the list and the waiter stopped me mid order to explain that I could only get one item from each category, even though I had ordered it properly. He forgot my order and had to ask again. I ordered no walnuts on my salad, it came with walnuts. Tom was not asked for a second glass of wine(his glass was just swooped), Mike was. Mike was served after dinner coffee, with cream and sugar, no spoon. Also, we had to keep asking for more. I am a water drinker, I drink a lot of it, and the glasses they serve it in very tiny! There were other small things, too, but I cannot remember what at this moment. I feel as if the owner/manager knew we were not completely happy, because he gave us a $25.00 gift card to use on the next meal there.



After dinner we went to Tom's apartment and realized there was no vodka and Mike and I ran to the liquor store in Ballard - the only one that stays open late - with about 5 mins to spare. We got Vodka and a handle of Crown. We stopped at the Chevron on 15th and some guys were lost and I pointed them into the correct direction of the Tractor.

We got back, made drinks, Tom's friend Nick came over and we started playing Tiger Woods Golf on Xbox. OK, four people playing that game while drinking, is a long game. Then we made it more difficult by adding the rule... if you hit it OB, out of bounds, you have to take a shot. Yeah, I took shots - yuck!

Oh, this guy I met in Orlando drunk texted me a weird text, and I called him back... and he had this total immature douchebag of a friend wasted talking to me... and I felt like I was back in high school for a minute. Funny thing is, they are both from Michigan... and not where I am from, but a small town a bit north of me, but were my age.

Then Tom and I played Madden, well, Tom played I talked on the headset and pretended I played. Some guy from Syracuse decided he wanted to like marry me cuz I was a girl playing sports. I made him give me his myspace page... I went to it, and no pic of him on it!

I then took a cab home, fell asleep, and now... here I am up bright and early... I will try to fall back asleep... I go to Florida TOMORROW!