Events

It's been a week full of exciting events for me both at work and with family. On Tuesday I headed to the beautiful Meritage Resort and Spa (client) in Napa (client) for a tour of their 131,000 square foot expansion project ... I even got to see where the six bowling lanes and ultra-lounge will be (read more: Napa Valley Register). After a few glasses of wine, dinner at Norman Rose, a spectacular waffle at Siena for breakfast and a meeting with the client on Wednesday morning I headed back to Roseville and to the office.

On Saturday I headed to the Folsom Aquatics Center to support Safely Out during the Swim For Life. While many participated, one person swam a 10k (440+ laps) all to raise money to purchase Safely Out kits and put them into the hands of the vulnerable throughout the Sacramento region. Watch the clip I placed on Fox40.

After the event I headed to SmashBurger in Folsom for lunch and then went to Costco to pick up a tri-tip for dinner at my parent's house. The only problem ... my parent's were flying from Georgia to Florida. That didn't matter though, my brother and his family were there, along with another couple and three of my favorite (non-related) kids.

Today we took a walk around the neighborhood before heading off to the 20 year reunion for a youth pastor that both my brother and I knew while attending First Covenant Church during high school. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces, new spouses and for many who are my brother's age ... kids (most of the people my age have dogs, although there were some awesome kids as well).

Generations

This Father's Day was another opportunity to be with my dad, my brother and my nephew, but never far off from any of our minds is a grandpa that I never knew.

We took an American Gothic style photo of all of us after doing some yard work at my grandma's house in Lodi. My brother and nephew then went with my mom and grandma to remember my grandpa, while my dad and I continued to work.

This Father's Day remember your dad, grandpa and all those other people that have made your life special.

Roseville's SmashBurger

It's no secret, I love SmashBurger and now that they're in Roseville I will have to make the difficult decision ... do I go to a California institution, In-N-Out, or SmashBurger. SmashBurger has a larger menu than In-N-Out and all of the food that comes out of its kitchen is simply amazing. Tonight's VIP Grand Opening allowed me to invite a few of my friends to try it out for the first time and take a few meals back to my office, which is located across the street from the chain's newest location.

On our menu tonight:
NorCal Burger - Spice Baja Burger -  Avocado Club (chicken) - Chicago Dog - Sweet Potato SmashFries (the best in Sacramento) - SmashFries (seasoned with rosemary, olive oil and garlic) - NutterButter, Oreo and Strawberry Milkshakes - and the most surprising item ... fried pickles.

As I left the manager was nice enough to let me take five Classic SmashBurgers with Sweet Potato SmashFries, SmashFries and regular fries back to my office. As I passed out the fries and burgers to everyone they were appreciative, loved the flavor and many said they would head across the street in the coming weeks to try out our newest lunch spot.

Thank you SmashBurger for coming to Roseville and for choosing a spot so close to my office (two minute drive, if I hit the red light or less than 5 minute walk)!

All food & beverages were provided for free by SmashBurger Roseville, all opinions expressed are my own.

Weekend

This weekend was full of activities, but also very relaxing. Friday I cleaned my house and watched the season premiere of Covert Affairs. Saturday I made a waffle for breakfast then went to the gym and Home Depot. After that I was off to my office to work on two RFPs for a few hours. Next it was off to Bayside Church and Second Saturday. I really do enjoy Second Saturday. I saw a lot of great art and a lot of Sacramento Police officers standing around. It's great that they had a presence at the event, but if you're going to be complaining about budget cuts, it doesn't look good when all you do is talk to each other, get out and talk with the community, walk around, mingle, play "nice cop." After a fun evening, I headed to a friend's house to watch a movie and then spent the night at my parent's house.

When I woke up I cleaned their house (they were at the Bradley Lodge) and started to use their power washer until I burned a hole in the hose, evidently it can't get that close to the engine ... oops. Once back at my house, I went on an 18.5 mile bike ride, saw some beautiful scenery and even got a tour of my cousin's new house while hearing about her new job. My roommates and I went out to dinner at Wing Stop, they were spicy, but delicious.

This week I'm heading to a VIP party for the grand opening of SmashBurger on Tuesday and the Placer Business Tweetup on Wednesday at Roseville's Il Fornaio.

Sometimes

Sometimes after a good week or a bad week (this week was good), you just need to relax. Starting Friday night I relaxed, my roommate and I watched a movie, then Saturday I watched the rain fall outside and in the afternoon a friend came over and we went to church at Bayside. After church we headed to BJ's for dinner ... it included an appetizer, fantastic pizza and of course a pizooki (red velvet and triple chocolate). Next up we watched some YouTube videos of David Garibaldi painting some amazing works of art and saw a movie. I slept in on Sunday morning and then ran 6 miles around my neighborhood, got a Slurpee and watched two movies from Redbox.  Sometimes it's important to just relax, hang out with a great friend and not have a schedule full of events.