blog. (by vanessa)

Today. Just found out today that my boss has resigned. How this affects me: I now report directly into the Vice President of Innovation who is based in New York City and I am now the one and only person working on this web project, which makes things infinitely more difficult regarding my international transition. I am still not quite sure what to do or how to go about dealing with it and I have one week to figure it out.

In Discussion. Dave and I are trying to figure out our plans for Fall Break before we leave for Prague. Just so we have at least that one trip booked. The cities we are thinking about are: Amsterdam, Madrid and Milan. Milan was just thrown in because you have to fly through there to get back to Prague from Spain. We can fly to all 3 of these places for $380 USD!! Not bad right? Any suggestions as to other cities we should try to visit? Also, does anyone know about power converters and plugs in Prague?

Upcoming. My last day of work here in El Segundo is next Wednesday, August 20th and then it is off to Canada!

Last Weekend. Family trip to Mexico was a success. There was lots of taco eating, Olympic watching and beach going. (Remember you can click on the pictures to view a bigger size and for the grandparents: click here to leave a comment!)

Rosarito Beach, Baja California, MEXICO

Puerto Nuevo

Churros

Licores, Don Pisto

The New PORTABLE Hot Tub

The manufacturer said that it fits 4 ADULTS... boy did we prove them wrong!

Family Christmas Card perhaps?

Patty & Dave eating peaches on the drive down

Lobster Dinner

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

Second option for family xmas card

Hello. Welcome to my new blog. I am going to use this as a tool to keep family and friends back home up to date with my travels as I have gotten many “Send me pictures from Europe!” requests. It will be interesting to introduce the world of blogging to my grandparents. Expect plenty of life updates and loads of pictures. Please leave comments!! [For those who are unfamiliar with blogging, click on "Comments" under the entry title, there you can type in your name at the bottom of the entry and leave me a comment or note or message, anything you want... it's a fun way to communicate]

On being an intern. Long days of sitting in front of a computer with not much to do and the occasional busy work– being an intern is all but a glamorous task. This summer I was hired by Mattel (yes, the toy company) to do Web Design for their Creative Development Team. Basically, I have been building and enhancing an entire 30+ page site all by myself. Web Master Vanessa to the rescue! The site, the Product Innovation Portal, is dedicated to helping designers within Mattel find inspiration. Some days I really enjoy my job because it is my first time with a lot of freedom since I am the only one working on the site, other days my eyes go dizzy with too much HTML and my right index finger starts to twitch from too much mouse-clicking.

Some exciting news I got today. I am going to continue working for Mattel while I am in Prague next semester. I was a bit apprehensive about accepting the position because my semester abroad was supposed to be about taking a break and exploring. What it all comes down to is: I will only be dedicating about 6 hrs per week for site management and this can happen whenever and wherever I want since I will be working from a laptop. Then I get to bill Mattel based on a reasonable hourly rate of my suggestion. A little extra cash while in Europe won’t do any harm.

Upcoming. Friday I am headed down to the Mexico house with the family and I am taking Dave along with me. It will be his first time outside of Canada or the states, so he is in for a real culture shock (get excited dave!) I used to go down to Mexico at least once a year, but this will be my first time down there in 5 years!

Pictures.

Candace & Me (Guppies, August 3, 2008)

Family Fun @ Ikea (Burbank, August 2, 2008)

Korean BBQ w/ Dave & Roommates (K-Town, July 2008)