kimbalina.com

Happy Birthday Toby!

Toby turns 12 today!

Happy Birthday Toby! We love you!

Fair Food

Is so bad and yet so good.

This year's tummy ache has been brought to you by....

the funnel cake...

jumbo corn dogs...

waffle cones w/ frozen yogurt

a basket of garlic fries...

corn on the cob...

giant cups of lemonade...

and some beef jerky thrown in for good measure.

Ugh. Until next year!

push-ups!

Remember Push-Ups?

These bring back so many childhood memories for me. They are the best treat ever on those hot summer days.

The other day I got back from a walk outside in beautiful warm downtown Palo Alto and was craving a good popsicle. And then I remembered the sherbet Push-Ups and had a major craving for some.

So I asked for some, and my work got them for me yesterday.

I guess The Flintstones are old school and SpongeBob is the new thing now. Am I that old?

staycation

I got an email from United Airlines this morning stating that their policies are changing now that there is an extra fee for any checked baggage. $15 for your first bag and $25 for your second. What's next? A charge for the seat cushion? Coin operated toilets? Next thing you know, I'll be lugging all the stuff I crammed into a carry-on along with my seat cushion, food, and coins for the bathroom after I've already paid a ton just to get on the plane.

I proposed that Bertrand and I start taking some "staycations" this summer. A staycation is when you relax and have fun in your very own home town or area. In the Bay Area we have so many wonderful things to do and places to explore, why not just stick around town, enjoy why we live here, and help our local economy.

Okay, this really wasn't "my idea"...I heard it on the radio. But it's a good one!

Some ideas:

Day trip to Yosemite
Day in the beautiful city of San Francisco
Day trip to Monterey/Carmel
Hike in the Sunol Hills
Explore all the beautiful little downtowns in the neighboring cities
Learn to fly a kite in the park
Actually wake up early on a Saturday and go to garage sales
Go to the County Fair

My first staycation will be to treat myself to a "relaxing" day of shopping at the local mall. Ahhhh....staycation.

all the little things of me

While we were in San Diego, Bertrand snapped this picture of me eating one of my favorite snacks...nachos! Why he always seems to have the urge to take a picture of me when I'm eating, I haven't quite figured out yet.

Anyways...this picture so greatly captures so many aspects of "me".

1. My sunglasses. I love sunglasses and pretty much wear them or have them clipped to my shirt or propped on to of my head at all times sun is anywhere in sight.
2. Nachos. Chips + Cheese = Yum!
3. My blackberry. Or should I say crackberry?
4. Purell. bye bye germies!
5. My camera. I love taking pictures of anything and everything (and anywhere)

All that's missing is a shot of me in flip flops and you've pretty much got "kimmy" down!

little stinker

So my plans for today were to do nothing. And doing absolutely nothing...was exactly how my day started. I slept in a little, then mostly just chilled around the house. I let the dogs out to play in the yard to enjoy the nice day. About an hour later, I went to let them back into the house. Toby ran in, happy and refreshed. Max followed along. I noticed that a section of his fur had gotten all clumped and hard. So I pulled out the towels and brush and was about to brush it out when the overwhelming stench of pee & poop reached my nose. Wow. Did he somehow decide for the first time ever, that today was the perfect day to roll around in that grossness? So I dragged the little bugger out to the hose in the backyard and hosed him down and gave him a bath. I wasn't about to bring that stinkiness into the house to give him a bath in the sink as usual and the little guy was afraid of the hose nozzle so we had quite the struggle.

So now I am all wet and scratched and have another load of laundry to do.

So much for chillin' today, huh?

But how could you stand this little face...

Goodbye Google

Today is my last day working at Google.

It has been an incredible ride for the almost 5 years I have been at Google. I have been able to see the company grow and flourish over the years and I in turn have grown and learned so much. It has been an invaluable experience to me being able to work on some of the most innovative products and to work with so many brilliant minds.

I still remember the days when the whole Blogger team sat together in one little area and Eric, Steve, Tine, Graham, and I were all squished together in a tiny office throwing Koosh balls at each other. Things were crazy back then, but that is also the time I treasure the most, when things were smaller and more intimate.

While at Google, I got to build up my own team from scratch, establish new processes and work on some pretty awesome projects with some pretty awesome people (Blogger, BlogSearch, and AdWords).

I have accepted an offer at a startup company in Palo Alto called Palantir that does data analysis. The company is small and growing as Google was also a "small" growing "start-up" at the beginning of my time here. I miss and thrive in that environment and this opportunity allows me to do that once again.

I truly treasure the time I have spent at Google. I have made many friendships that will last a lifetime.

Here's to what's next in the future!

I <3 San Diego

We took a couple of days off to make our long Memorial Day weekend extra long and took a road trip down to San Diego. Of course...while we there, it was unseasonably cool and rained two of the five days we were there. Regardless, it was gorgeous there.

We got to relax at the beach and watch the sun set in La Jolla...