Sunday we went shopping at Lululemon (she spoiled us rotten!!!) and went on a short hike up to hunter’s point for the view. We were then joined by Ginny’s colleague Deb for dinner at a Steakhouse in San Jose. It was an extremely tasty meal, however, this most likely may have been Jesse’s last steak… EVER. (More on that to follow in a later post. :)

Monday, I got to accompany Ginny and Deb to their visit with alumni at Google in Mountainview. I accompanied them as the “photographer” and got to see first hand what the Google cafeteria is like and feel the vibe in there. It was great. After that we toured around Palo Alto and the beautiful Stanford campus. Monday night, Ginny came with me to my absolute most favourite Gentle Yoga class at Santana Row. We basked in relaxation.

Tuesday, Ginny and Deb had more meetings with alumni in Dublin, CA.  In the afternoon, they accompanied Parker and I to the local dog park. This was definitely the highlight of the visit for Parker. Tuesday night, we got Ginny to ourselves for a quiet dinner at home. It was great to just hang out. We let her listen to some embarrassing tracks we laid down using the “I am T-Pain” iphone application. :)

It was a great time!!!

View the whole trip on Flickr Ginny’s visit to Cupertino or a few select ones below:

• In January, we read  the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  It’s the reason we’ve been able to survive on one salary.
• I have a library book obsession. It’s hard to believe the library is free. The most I’ve had out is 16 at one time… and I’ve only taken two back late!
• Jesse stopped making flights to Asia so he can focus all his energy on designing stuff that spins.
• I gave up social media for 40 days over lent… which has turned into a much longer “blog-satical” than I had expected.
• We both tried Bikram yoga, however, I hurt my neck doing the “rabbit pose” in my 5th class. My “bikram budget” has since been going to weekly chiropractor appointments.
• We came home to Canada to attend Kaitlyn and Phil’s wedding on May 16th. Jesse and Erica took photos at the wedding and we’re still processing through them. (I promise they are coming soon Katie!)
• I finally finished my BA from Queens! (whoot!)
• Parker gained 6 pounds! (whoops!)
• I attended my second WordCamp conference in San Francisco.
• Jesse tried to go surfing in Santa Cruz, but it was super cold that day.
• I am still looking for my dream job… I’ll keep you posted.

Jesse’s mom was named one of Canada’s top 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. We are so proud of her! This week there was a reception to celebrate her success.  It was amazing to watch her in her element and see the impact she’s having at that school.

A few links from recent press:

• 570News – Laurier’s dean of business one of most powerful women in Canada
• globecampus.ca: Ginny Dybenko: No shelter from the storm in the ivory tower
• Laurier business dean named one of Canada’s most powerful women – TheRecord.com – News
• One of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women – TheRecord.com – Business
• WONDER WOMAN – Dean of Business and Economics Dybenko spent 30 years in the business sector.
• Group lauds Laurier Dean Dybenko
• Creating high-tech entrepreneurs with finance and marketing savvy
• Ginny Dybenko – Wilfrid Laurier University – School of Business & Economics
• New dean of the Laurier school of business and economics brings international focus to her role

Here are a few more reasons why she’s so special to us

We had an absolutely wonderful time with Katie at our place last week. She came to us as an engagement gift from her fiance Phil and his parents… but we feel like the gift was for us.  We were so happy to have got to spend time with family. It was invaluable!!

We kept the week low-key, maintaining our strict budget, but it was still nice to show her what everyday-life is like here in the city. She came with me to my daily coffee hang-outs to study, she came to the dog parks, to the gym and got to experience how re-donkulous the hills are here too.

On top of that, Katie and I got in 2 amazing days of wedding dress shopping where she tried on everything from bargain basement dresses to $6,000 dresses. It was so fun and I’m so happy I got to to that with her! I’m so proud of my little sis.

On Halloween, we took the bus down to the Castro for that evening to see the “extravagant” costumes.  (In this context, extravagant could refer to “barely there”.)  We would post photos but we might have to elevate this blog’s rating from G to PG-13. :)

Her last day here it was pouring rain, but we ventured out onto the Golden Gate bridge along with many other wet tourists for a photo opp.

This afternoon my sister Kaitlyn got engaged to her boyfriend Phil.  We are so happy for them. Phil is a wonderful guy and they are great for each other.  We look forward to their wedding and many years to come!!!

They came all the way from Waterloo, Ontario. It was so nice to have some familiar faces around and show them what little we know about our new home.

Erica planned an action-packed itinerary and we saw all the sites in the city.  She knew more about San Francisco than we did!!! Here are the bullet points:

• Trolley rides (which included getting yelled at by “DJ Trolley”…. REMIX!!!)
• Dan and Erica went to SFMOMA while Jesse and I slept in on Saturday morning (museum of modern art)
• Pier 39 and the Seals
• The Aquarium of the Bay to see fishies and sharks.
• The Rodney Lough Jr. Gallery (my fave wilderness photographer and Dan and Erica bought us a print of Dogwood)
• Coffee to the People in the Haight
• Muir Woods National Park (giant redwoods)
• Sonoma Valley wine tasting at the Benziger Family Winery
• The “Painted Ladies” from the set of Full House
• The Ferry Building
• Alcatraz Tour

We also got the unexpected opportunity to educate Dan on “how to take a bath“. He was under the impression that you rinse your hair and face while on your knees in the tub.  Haha… we still don’t have a shower curtain for our ancient claw foot tub… and I guess we forgot that minor detail for our shower loving guests. :)

We had lots of fun with them, but we most liked the times we got to sit on our couch with them and just hang out. We miss them already. Come again soon!

Trolley Rides

Dan and Erica being Seals

Dan and Jesse being Tourists

Erica clicking her heels by the Bay

Aquarium of the Bay

Muir Woods

Sonoma Valley

Painted Ladies

Alcatraz

To see all the photos from the trip (too many for here), go to the Dan and Erica in SF set on Flickr.

Comments are more than welcome!!!!!