Goodbye 2007

For us, 2007 was a really crazy year. We bought a house, won a Vespa, got hit by a car (well, Arnold), got jobs, quit jobs, got another job etc. etc. But for some people it was even crazier... at this particular time last year I was in Colombia with my in-laws. We were dancing in the street while my brother-in-law Richard was freaking out about about his newly-pregnant girlfriend. This year I'm going to be in Davis, thinking about my nephew Sebastian who is enjoying his first holiday season. Hmmm... a lot changes in a year, huh? At this moment, ARnold is not nearly as introspective as I, at this moment he is debating whether his outfit is "formal" enough for New Years.

Like all y'all ,I've been hosting friends and family over the past few weeks, but don't worry, Maghanoy.com is going to take 2008 with a vengeance. Wo0-hoo! Thank you to all of you who read my blog, it warms my heart when you all call up and demand that I write more frequently.

Auld Lang Syne!

Colombians are Crazy-Seattle edition

Well, one of my favorite people in the world is my cousin Sage who lives in Seattle. She is the mother of the previously mentioned Dora and Bison, this feat alone has made her a superstar. Anyways Sage has a lot of great qualities, but one of the many reasons I love her is that she reads my blog. It makes me feel famous when I call her and she has read things I've written. Or if not famous, maybe not crazy, like a crazy cat lady who "blogs". Anyways Sage and her husband Randy, my "conprimo?" read the blog and shared with me a great edition to the "Locombia" files.

Some background first: Randy is very cool and owns an industrial coffee maker company. Seriously! It's very cool. Well anyways, these industrial coffee makers are quite expensive, we're talking in the 5 digits here. So it's not really a product one keeps in the house. Well one day, a customer walks in to the factory and buys a coffee maker, which is normal, I guess. But he pays in CASH! Which obviously is not normal. And of course.... this person was... wait for it..... yup you guessed it!

COLOMBIAN!

Always! It's always the Colombians. When I see that there is a drunk driver who drives down the Spanish steps in Rome. I know "Yup it's a Colombian" and when I see that there is a goat born with 10 legs. I know "Yup, sounds like Colombia" and when someone wanders into a factory to pay for a high-end coffee maker with a fat envelope of cash. It only follows that it would be a Colombian.

They're everywhere making the world a stranger, weirder, more magical place.

PS On one last Seattle note: to my friend "bitter in tacoma" we missed you too and we'll make sure for the next dinner party that we let you know in advance. :)

I love my new job!

Well I am back to working. Normally I would lament the fact that I am no longer on vacation. And while I do miss my taxing schedule of eating french pastries and playing with babies, I am so happy to be working that I am not sad at all. I didn't think I would be, but I am (shoot, I hate it when Justina is right!) My new job is very cool (well to me) and comes with a number of perks...

1) There is no FREAKING commute. I swear, magically there is no traffic on this particular route and it literally only takes me 10 mintues to get there. At my last job it took 10 minutes to get from my office to my car.

2) My cube is gigantic. I am only slightly exagerating when I say that my new cube is as big as my bedroom. I know this is not THAT important, but sometimes the little ones depress you. I mean it's bad enough to be sitting in a "cube" all day, but when you bump against the walls, it's even worse. I could tandem yoga in my new cube!

3) There seems to be (at this time of year) a lot of cookies. I mean seriously, many, many delicious cookies.

4) On my second day of work we all went out to Biba's. BIBA'S! So I am loving the whole foodie culture as well.

You know I enjoyed my little vacation of unemployment, but it's good to be back. Thank you to each of you for all your support during my "transition".

Back to reality... well I've been enjoying my short stint of unemployment, even taking a vacation with my good friend Justy to Seattle. We had sooooooo much fun, and by fun, I mean good food. It was awesome to see some old friends and a little bit of the city (Thanks Alanna!) but for me personally the highlight was meeting my new baby cousin Bison. Isn't he cute? I think he looks like a mini-Charlie brown!!!

Of course no visit to the Emerald City would be complete without a Dora update. I am happy to report that her vocabulary is greatly increasing... she even can say my name now! There is nothing sweeter than hearing her call out "Tia Emily", even if I am pretty sure she is still too young to know what "tia" means. Justina pointed out that she probably thinks that my full name is "Tiaemily" , but that's okay, I take what I can get.

Pic below-Maghanoy.com's Chinese entourage, Justy, Alanna, myself and Dora, all rocking the latest in toddler fashion, the alphabet blocks!

Hitting the road again...

Casa Maghanoy is decorated in a state of Christmas bliss.... but that's not going to stop me from taking a vacation from unemployment! Justina and I are (unwisely it seems, due to current weather patterns) flying to Seattle this week to hang out with friends and family. Woo-hoo!