Dr. Oz @ Google

I heard that Dr. Oz was coming to Google about a month ago and made sure I put a reminder on my calendar. Last week, we got an official announcement letting us know when he was coming and to my disappointment, I had a team meeting scheduled for the same time as Dr. Oz's speech. Over the weekend, the meeting was cancelled and I thought "Yes...I get to go." Unfortunately, less then 24 hours later I had been added to another meeting which conflicted with the Doc. Luckily, it only conflicted with the first half of his presentation, so I was able to make it to the last 30 mins.

For those of you that don't know Dr. Oz, he's a cardiologist, who co-authored You:The Owners Manual, and a number of other "You" themed books. He became a celebrity thanks to his regular appearances on Oprah, and now has his own show 5 days a week.

His presentation at Google was to share the 5 things you need to do to "be a better you." Like I said, I only got to see the last half, so didn't hear much of his presentation, but instead saw the question and answer session that followed.

Here are a couple of pics I took, including one of him with Eric (Google's CEO) and Laszlo (SVP of People Operations). Note: Guy in green shirt - unknown.

Before and After (painting)

I spent most of October dreading the idea of painting my office. Thanks to a lot of help from Alex, and a good edging brush, I'm happy to say the painting is done (before and after pics below). I'm only done with the painting...there is still a lot more to do in the decorating world so stay tuned for more pictures as that progresses.

Before

All the walls in my house were this beige color when I moved in. I started to buy furniture, lamps, and drapes that were dark, modern, and/or bold as I knew some day I'd get around to painting.

After

I selected teal and dark grey for the walls. To be honest, for how small the grey walls are, and the amount of extra work they caused, I think I could have just done the whole thing teal, but we live and learn. I love the way the white pops now with the bold colors on the wall. The wall above my desk (center pic) is the most in need of some help as it's just empty right now. Can't wait to get some things on the walls!

Where did September go?

Wow...a whole month has passed and I haven't posted once. I don't know whether it's because I've been so busy I haven't had time, or I haven't had anything that exciting going on in my own personal life. A little bit of both I guess. Here's a run down of life for the last month:

Social Life:

Babies and Brides - I'm at that age, 32, where everyone is either getting married or having babies. This year I've had 3 friends have babies, with another 3 announcing they're pregnant, and I have 2 weddings coming up. This last month alone I attended a baby shower, a bridal shower, a Bachelorette party, and visited a new mom in the hospital. I'm so excited for all my friends, and it's kept me pretty busy :)

Games - I love me a good game night. My co-worker decided to have a game night just days before having her baby which was a ton of fun, and last Friday I was invited to a Poker Party at my friend Rochelle's house. I've played poker before, but usually with a bunch of chattering girls who aren't really paying attention. This time there would be men, serious men, so I decided to do some pre-reading before heading to her house and providing my "donation" to the winner. I'm happy to say the pre-reading helped. Although the first hand I played was a mess, I quickly got into the swing of things and ended up winning the first game. Woo-hoo!

Movies - I think I've been averaging a movie every weekend. Since Eat, Pray, Love, I've seen The Town (which I loved), Easy A (which was cute), and Social Network (which was interesting although I wish I knew what was true and what wasn't). I love going to the movies and it seems like there are some good ones coming out during the rest of the year.

Other - I went to Santana Row for a girl's night with some of my old co-workers, and went to Palo Alto for a farewell dinner to one of my current co-workers who moved to New York. Both nights were a blast, although I was sad about my co-worker moving (Miss you Leena!)

Baking:

First time - My old team sits in a building that went "healthy" for a month, so there were no sugary snacks in the microkitchens for the whole month of Sept. That's where I came in with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Yum!

Second time - One of my favorite snacks used to be a Hostess Cupcakes. The cake is so dense, the cream filling, and that thick chocolate topping on the top. Strange thing is, lately I haven't craved the Hostess version, but instead the version made at work for lunch a few months ago. It was so delicious so I thought...I can make this. I have to say this was my first VERY BIG FAILURE. I don't know what went wrong, but whole thing tasted horrible. Bleh! One good thing that did come out of this was I got to buy a cake decorating set which included a tool for filing cupcakes.

Third time - This doesn't really count as baking, but I really wanted a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing, so I went to store and bought boxed cake mix and canned frosting. I can officially say that I finally realize the importance of making things from scratch as this cake didn't live up to my expectations :(

I won't be baking for at least a month as today is the first day of The Detox. The Detox was introduced to me by my co-worker Cole, who in general keeps a pretty clean diet, but every 6 months she likes to detox her body of toxins, chemicals, etc. She found this program in The Complete Guide to Nutritional Healthy by Pierre Jean Cousin and Kirsten Hartvig. Basically, you eliminate all dairy (yes....cheese included) and wheat based products, reduce your salt intake, avoid meat and animal fat, tea, coffee, white sugar, candies, alcohol, and tobacco. You load up on grains, veggies, fruits, herbal teas, etc. So I'm basically on a vegan, gluten-free diet...or as I like to call it HELL. I was only able to survive 3 out of the 4 weeks the last time I tried this (a year ago) but I must admit I never felt lighter or more energetic. I also slept like a BABY, so I'm going to try to stick it out for the full 4 weeks. My last day of the detox will be Halloween! Last time I didn't have a plan for after the detox, but this time I do, so I'm hoping the effects last a little longer than last time :)

I guess I have been busy, but don't worry, I'll be back in the swing of things soon. My next big project is painting the office in my house. I'm pretty sure I've selected the colors, now all I have to do is paint it (not something I enjoy doing but never seems worth the money to hire someone). I'll be sure to post before/after pics as soon as it's complete.

That's all from here!