Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Closing the book

It's with a heavy heart that I said goodbye yesterday to my friends and co-workers in the Live Search Books group where I have been a contract employee for the past 10 months. My boss and some of the other members of my team took me out for a goodbye lunch at our team favorite Thai Ginger in Redmond Town Center. I feel as though I've come so far in the past year in terms of increasing my skill set and making all the necessary connections at Microsoft. I recognize the huge career risk that this was, leaving a good paying, full time job behind to strike out on my own. I feel that it has paid off enormously, as my next position, as a Product Marketing Manager in Rich Media, will be even more challenging. I will miss working with an incredible array of super talented, clever, charismatic, and personable colleagues, but I'm sure my new team will be equally exciting in its own way.


Working in 88 has also allowed me generous access to Raj, who works next door in 87. I'll miss our daily lunches in Cafe 86, the smoothie bar downstairs, and hot, cheap oatmeal. In May, our building was treated to a ping-pong tournament starring none other than Mr. Bill Gates himself. Here's a shot of Bill ping-ponging.


I'm excited for the next chapter to begin .............



Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Blast from the past

I was digging through some old CD's tonight and found this cruise video from 2005! I shot this footage using my Sony digital camera, which takes 15-second video snippets. I used to love making these little digital films... Back when I worked for Holland America I could pretty much cruise anytime, anywhere, for free! Ah, the good old days! Here's a bit of the Mexican Riviera on board the MS Oosterdaam.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Weekend on Whidbey

Spent 3 wonderful days on Whidbey Island with Rajesh, Alex, and Alex's friend Caitlin this weekend. It was so great to get out of the city and 4th of July hoopla and just relax on island time. We stayed at Alex's dad's house while he was in Port Townsend working on his sailboat. His house is amazing! All warm and cozy ... we loved every minute of our time there. Here are some pics:

On Saturday we took the ferry from Clinton (on Whidbey) to Port Townsend.
Random strangers on the ferry to Port Townsend
Cute little girls on the ferry.
Richard's house nestled among the trees.
The backyard is amazing. Here's the koi pond.
Rajesh loved the hammock. He fell (hard!) twice while trying to master the "quick mount." By the end of the weekend, he was a master hammock expert!
Backyard decoration
A living room you can actually live in.
Wonderfully organic!
Cat nap.
My sweetie :)