We obviously can't spend every holiday with Amanda's family in Indiana, but we always try to Skype in when we can't. I'm always entertained being passed around from person to person via computer like a newborn. Here's a clip from our Skype conversation with Amanda's Grandma Lowden (seen first) and Grandma Artherhults. I think the concept of video chat is still so new and cool. Add grandparents to the picture and it's like spiking the punch.
#snOMG - The 10.5-Hour Commute and Selected Tweets
My commute is longer than most people's - up to 3 hours a day, round-trip. Monday was an exception for anyone caught in the icy mess on I-5 southbound. It took us 10.5 hours to get home from Seattle, and ours wasn't the longest trip.
As you can imagine, this was bad in a lot of ways, but I had my wife there to bear the hellish commute with me (being a newlywed is fun!), and we had our phones to keep in touch with the outside world. We also had a lot of time, and I spent a lot of that on Twitter (I mean, who can talk to their spouse for that amount of time!).
I tweeted a lot of random thoughts relevant to the situation and tried to keep it fun to entertain myself and Amanda. We weren't the only ones relying on Twitter, and in short time I had actually built quite an audience and my alias, @paolojr, became a trending topic in Seattle (this is a big deal in the Twitter world). I tweeted nearly 150 times while we were on the road and got a lot of attention for it, including from KING 5 News and later from The Seattle Times.
I thought I'd share some highlights that I wrote on Twitter here to memorialize that commute and give a better idea of how the night went. Enjoy. (Click 'Read More' to see the tweets.)
First Snow of 2010
Looking forward to a snow-heavy La Niña winter season! This is the start of it!
Return to the 20-Something Wine Event
Amanda and I had an amazing time at "The New Vintage" 20-something wine event in Fremont last year (photos here), so we bought tickets and got dressed up for some wine boozing again last night. I had a chance to rock one of the new sport coats that I got from my Men's Wearhouse shopping spree, and Amanda picked up a new top from The Limited for the date. We opted not to bring the camera to the event this year so that we could maximize wine consumption, but we had Sergio take a few shots to show off our suit and style.
The event was great again, and we ran into friends old and new, including Van-Pham-Thank-You-Ma'am, Sarah Frido, Theanne and Shelby. BUT I have to say that the wine pours were noticeably less frequent. Pick your game up Washington Wine Commission!
Paolo does Hollywood
My job comes with a lot of perks. The latest was going to Los Angeles for the premiere of the new movie 127 Hours, starring James Franco and directed by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle.
First off, the movie is amazing. The shots and soundtrack are just awesome and James Franco holds it down. For those who don't know the plot, it's based on the true story of Aron Ralston who becomes trapped in a cave in The Middle of Nowhere, UT, and has to cut off his own arm to escape and survive. Yes, the movie has some graphic, uncomfortable scenes, but it's well-worth sitting through to see Aron's redemption.
So I did the Hollywood glitz and glam, red carpet, etc., and then hopped on a plane to Denver to meet the real Aron Ralston and hang out with him at an in-store appearance. The whole experience is amazing and make the long hours and challenging parts of the job well worth it.
Did I mention I had a layover in Aspen? No? Well, I also had a layover between LA and Denver in Aspen for some additional business, and let me tell you that Colorado is amazing. It's a good thing I get to go back during a snowy December!
Aron with the team at our Denver store...
