I SAID NO CHEESE, OK?!

i just got home from spending the past two days in anaheim. the company renato works for came down for an annual conference/event called "all hands". on the first day they took us all to california adventure, and then a cocktail hour and dinner at stage 17 (which is in ca adventure). it was pretty nice. he got an award for best new developer of the year. all of his friends/coworkers seemed really nice. a little on the dorky side, but i can hang. there was endless wine, so i had a pretty good buzz going. after ca adventure, we went back to my house to grab some stuff (and get my car). i had to be up early the next day to go to the aquarium of the pacific with all the other guests of the novacoasters. i felt like i was on a field trip again. it was pretty awesome. we rode in a separate car from the 15 seater van, since there was a couple more of us. after the aquarium, we went down the way to belmont shore to 2nd street and walked around for an hour or so. there was a really neat candy store on that street, and i checked out fingerprints as well. fingerprints was kind of meh. i don't know what i was expecting but it was just ok. i didn't leave super impressed. after we got back to the hotel, i got ready for dinner and took a nap just before. there was another cocktail hour (endless wine, again) so i went into the ballroom with a pretty good buzz already. after everyone spoke who was gonna speak, they started up casino night. they gave you fake money before you went in (1000) and you could trade them out at tables for chips to play. i played poker, roulette, and blackjack. i must have done something right because i came up with about twice as much as what i started with. occasionally, the dj would do trivia, and a bunch of us hustled over when he said we were going to do star wars trivia. i only got to answer two questions right but they were pretty tough. questions like what toy company was the first to manufacture star wars action figures? and who were the first four characters that were produced? things i didn't know. the only questions i got were "carrie fisher - dead or alive?" and "who was obi-wan's master?" also, i think i was a permanent fixture at the karaoke machine all night. basically, i had a really fun night. these were good nights to close up my winter break with. i felt a little bit like natalie keener from up in the air last night, except without the heartbreak.

i sang the chiffons' one fine day on my own. i love that song. now i gotta hurry up and get my day started. clean my car, my room, do some laundry, go to the bank, and call my uncle.