Shane is Trulia Big Deal

Get it? Trulia big deal, truly a big deal! HAH!

It's a tad belated since he's been there almost a month now, but I just wanted to post how excited and proud I am of Shane for getting such an awesome new job as Senior Software Engineer at Trulia! 

Trulia is an all-in-one real estate site that gives you the local scoop about homes for sale, apartments for rent, neighborhood insights, and real estate markets and trends to help you figure out exactly what, where, and when to buy, sell, or rent.      

Source: Trulia.com

Right now he's working on Trulia's Email platform. Millions of emails go out every day to people buying, selling and renting homes and the agents and brokers that help them.  Shane is building tools to do it better and faster and build out for growth.  He's into that sort of thing.

Shane has always amazed me with how smart, talented, and dedicated he is to his craft and I'm so glad that Trulia can see that too.  He's amazing!!!

Cedar Point

Shane and I spent the last week in Shane's hometown of Toledo, Ohio. We had a great time seeing and catching up with everyone.  The most noteworthy parts of our trip were Shane's sister Kristen's graduation party (woo hoo! so proud of you!), Shane's nephew and godson Nico's baptism, and a trip to Cedar Point with Shane's Dad, sister Lily and sister's boyfriend Josh.

If you're not familiar with Cedar Point, then you're probably neither a native of the midwest nor a roller coaster enthusiast.  Cedar Point has been named the Best Amusement Park in the World for 14 years running.  There's nothing else I can say to do justice to how awesome their rides are, but I encourage you to at least watch this video of my favorite rollercoaster, the Millenium Force...

God I love roller coasters.

Before & After: The Guest Bedroom

This is a bit belated since we've already had 4 house guests by now (with lucky numbers 5 and 6, my parents, coming in July!), but we DO have a complete and functional guest room! YAY! Which means.... PLEASE COME VISIT US!!!  All the cool kids are doin' it!

Before....

And After...

Summer Vacay: Cabo 2012

Better late than never, right?  Most of you have probably seen the full set of photos on my Facebook, but for the rest of you, here's some photos and details of our much-needed summer getaway to sunny Mexico!


Day 1, Friday:

We arrived in Cabo, after a leisurely (and surprisingly short) direct flight.  We checked in at the hotel, took in the beauty of the ocean and the mountains in the distance, then headed straight to the pool with a drink in hand!

Day 2, Saturday:

Slept in, had coffee and breakfast on the patio, napped in the hammock, basked in the sun (with more drinks in hand, of course), had our first massage, then went for a fantastic dinner out in the city....

 

 
Day 3, Sunday:

We took an early morning shuttle to Cabo San Lucas (the more touristy of the two "Cabos"). Walked around, ate chips and salsa, had a few drinks, then caught a glass-bottom boat to Lover's Beach (or Lover's beah) to see the famous Arch.  We ate the BEST late lunch at a little taqueria, did a bit of shopping, and then took the shuttle back to our hotel. Oh, and then we got another massage :-)

 

Day 4, Monday:

Our last full day in Los Cabos! So sad! We stayed at our hotel most of the day to soak up all the fun-in-the-sun time that we could.  We walked into the city for lunch, and ended the day with a long walk on the beach and a farewell dinner at our favorite restaurant.

Day 5, Tuesday (my birthday!):

We had most of the morning and some of the afternoon to enjoy our last moments of vacation. We started the day with massages (and the staff even gave us an extra 20 minutes since I was the birthday girl!), then Shane surprised me with a cake from the best bakery in Cabo, and then we were on to the airport for our upgraded flight home (thanks Mom & Dad!)...

 

For anyone looking for a vacation destination on the cheap, we DEFINITELY recommend Cabo, or anywhere in Mexico for that matter (we went to Cozumel last year)! We found our all-inclusive-hotel package on a Groupon-like site which saved us a bundle and allowed us to treat ourselves a few times (nice dinners out, shopping, daily massages) so we really felt like we were traveling luxuriously!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Everyone was talking about the Giants this week after Matt Cain threw a perfect game against the Houston Astros. You may, however, have missed this bit of excitement at that same game:

San Francisco is so cool :-)

On a related note, Shane and I took our friend Buck (a friend from Sarasota who has recently relocated to the Bay Area!) to a Giants game last Sunday. The game was a total snoozer (Giants didn't get a single run, and the game was over in less than 3 hours...), but we got more than enough enjoyment from the great weather and the AMAZING views of the bay (not to mention the ballpark hotdog). Here's a few photos from our outing...

 

 

There were over 42,000 fans at the stadium that day!

Can I have a cupcake?

We've been back from Cabo for almost a week now -- it's taken that long to unpack our bags, do the laundry, and really feel like we're settled back into our routine, but I guess that's just what vacations do to you.  I'd give anything to be back on that beach with a margarita in my hand.... But I digress.

I haven't gotten around to uploading pictures yet, but I promise they're coming soon!  In the meantime, I wanted to share with you an interesting interaction we had yesterday with one of the many Crazies on the BART:

(Shane and Taylor enter BART train and unknowingly sit facing a BART Crazy. Shane is holding a bag.)

BART Crazy: What you got in that bag?

Shane: Cupcakes.

BART Crazy: Can I have one?

Shane: No.

BART Crazy: Oh... You only have one in there?

Shane: No, I have two.  One for her and one for me.

BART Crazy: Oh... How much do cupcakes cost these days?

Shane: I dunno, 3 bucks?

BART Crazy: Oh...

(BART Crazy frantically exits at next stop.)

Who asks a random person on the train to have one of their cupcakes??? That is not normal.

Cabo, here we come!

Fiiiiiiiiiinally, Shane and I are getting the vacation we need and deserve!  For the next 5 days we will be sunning ourselves and drinking margaritas on the beach and by the pool in Cabo!  Try not to be jealous...