It's my firmiversary, firmiversary.

Two years ago today, I was a fresh-faced first year associate starting my very first day at the Firm. I am celebrating by working late, eating Indian food in my office, and humming "It's my Firmiversary" to the tune of Tony! Toni! Tone!'s "Anniversary."

I think that about says it all...

Reemergence.

After falling off the face of the earth for two weeks, I am finally reemerging into the so-called blogosphere. Those of you with blogs may probably received a ton of comments from me tonight. My Google Reader was not a pretty sight. But, finally, I am caught up.

So much to say since the last post. First. Work. I was placed on a new case, headed for trial mid-June. Fabulous for me professionally, but not-so-hot for my plans to go to China. I am still (perhaps naively) hoping it will all work out. Since I am a wee junior associate (and there is another junior associate on the case) and since the trial will finish three days before we are supposed to leave, I am choosing to remain blindly optimistic. We shall see.

That case plus the rest of my caseload has kept me pretty busy. I've worked through the weekends and am sleepy and boring when I am not working. I have managed to do a few fun things since my last post.

We celebrated Jackie's birthday last weekend! We had dinner at Baja Cantina, which was so delish! My Cadillac margarita was perfect, and the steak nachos were completely out of this world!

Jackie's sis and the ahh-maa-zeeen nachos!

After dinner, there were a few more margaritas at Cabo Cantina, lots of chatting, and overall good times. Jackie seemed to have a really good time.

PJ and Jackie

Hmm....what else? Oh! Monday, I had dinner with some fabulous friends of mine, and went home with a big smile on my face.

On Tuesday, Josh and I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I went in with low expectations and actually really liked it! I would even recommend it.

Hmm. That's about it! I promise not to disappear again (at least for awhile)!

Wardrobe Malfunctions (alternatively titled, "Why Not to Buy a Cheap Suit at the Outlets")

My firm has a business casual policy unless you're in court, meeting with clients, etc. As a result, I am low on suits. So, I decided to buy a new suit for today's arbitration (and a couple of hearing and depositions that are happening in the next few weeks).

I wore my brand new suit to our big arbitration today. I was a little nervous/excited about conducting the direct examinations of two witnesses, but hey, new suit equals confidence, right?

About three hours in, my pants feel looser all of a sudden...hmmm...that's weird. I get up for a bathroom break, and those darn things feel like they are about to fall off.

Then, it hits me. My zipper is wide open! To make matters worse, in the ladies' room I discover the zipper is broken. Broken!!! On my new suit!!! Open fly + adversarial situation + public speaking!!! Ahhhhhh!

I managed to concoct a way to fasten them and buttoned my suit jacket so you couldn't see my, er, lower stomach. Luckily, the entire arbitration occurred sitting down.

Other than the wardrobe malfunction, the arbitration went really well! As nerdy as this may be, I thought it was a blast! We had to continue it another day, so there is time to get my money back and buy a sturdier suit!

In more good news, Josh brought home Girl Scout Cookies!!! God Bless him. Time for a few Thin Mints, milk, and then bed!

Wah. Wah. Wah.

This has been a doozy of a week. In fact, it has felt a month-long. I have been sitting, staring at this blank post for about 5 minutes, trying to remember exactly what happened this week and when it even began. Never a good sign, my friends.

Despite summoning what is remaining of my mental strength, I cannot remember what I did Monday for the life of me. I know I was at work. That is all I've got.

Tuesday, I spent the day in the office and then drove out to Ontario to conduct witness interviews, starting at 9 p.m. (the plaintiff, her supervisor, and co-workers all work the night shift). I took the Bar in Ontario and (somehow) forgot how much is smells like cow manure. Oh, but I remembered on Tuesday night! It seems appropriate that the smell of animal feces reminds me of that hellish exam. But, I digress.

The HR manager and I interviewed six employees. over the course of five-and-a-half hours. I finally pulled my little car out of there at 2:30 a.m. and reached home by 3:45 a.m. I would complain about a late night, but I love witness interviews so much. So, I will still a happy (but tired) clam.

Wednesday was my Grandpa's 79th Birthday! Although I was swamped at work (and tired from the night before and waking up at 5:30 a.m.), I skipped out around 7 p.m. to meet my grandparents, sis, uncle, aunt, two adorable cousins, dad, and Josh at North Woods for dinner (my grandpa's fave). My grandpa's eyes were twinkly, and I could tell he was happy to have us all there. I have to admit, though, I kept cautiously eyeing both grandparents. They are still in good health but have been slowing down a bit lately. I do not like that. Not one bit.

After the birthday celebration, it was back to work on a tortuous deposition outline. I finally crawled into bed by 3:30 a.m. and was back up again at 5:30 a.m.

I should stop here and say: I am not one of those people who can sleep 3 hours a night and be cheerful and productive. I am the opposite of that. I need 8 hours (preferably 9!) or I am a grumpy, sluggish monster.

So, needless to say, I was less than charming on Valentine's Day. I was able, however, to sneak out a little early and go home and be with Josh, who made us a lovely, gnocchi dinner. I was probably the world's most boring dinner companion, constantly staring off and yawning. Bedtime was 8:30 p.m., so I am feeling much better today!

We didn't do any gifts on V Day because we are planning on buying some new furniture for the house! Woo hoo!! :) Josh did send me some gorgeous flowers, though, from my favorite florist, Jacob Maarse!

All in all, though, I am happy for the week to be over. I still have a pretty big hunk of work to do over the weekend, but I should be able to sleep in a bit. Oh, and my friend, Schwee, is coming to visit for a bit, so that should be fun!

Call me "Perry Mason."

I am sick and logged in and working from home today. The week started with me feeling really nauseous (no, I am not pregnant, although this seems to be everyone's first question when I say I feel like I am going to puke). Halfway through the week, I managed to get some ear and throat congestion to top it all off. I am a variety pack of disease.

Other than being a sickie, the week was actually pretty good. I was a real lawyer this week! Tuesday, I went to court (all by myself!) for two hearings, and we won both! Wednesday and Thursday was the deposition of the Plaintiff in one of my cases. I had prepared the outline and exhibits, and halfway through the deposition on Wednesday, the senior attorney took a break and let me take over the rest of the day! On Thursday, I took the entire day! It's pretty rare a lowly junior associate like yours truly gets so much experience in such a big firm so early on, so this was very exciting for me!

I have to admit, even though our Plaintiff was quite sympathetic, I thought the deposition was a blast. I called my dad on my drive home Wednesday and said, "Dad, do you realize I have found a job where I actually get paid to grill people?! This is amazing!" He chuckled at this. I'm sure he was thinking of all the times I argued with him as a teenager and was slightly relieved that I have managed to turn my argumentative nature into a career.

That's pretty much it for the week (how sad that it can be summarized in three paragraphs, two about work). I am hoping I feel better for the weekend. It's actually stopped raining, so it would be sad to have to stay home all weekend. My lovely-but-crazy Uncle Paul is visiting this weekend, so hopefully I will get to meet up with him!

More Adventures in San Jose (alternatively titled "Another Boring Day")

Another titillating day in San Jose . . .

My co-worker, John, and I are sharing a rental car and managed to get lost going to Initech again this morning. Oh, and we got lost on the way home, too. Now, I have a pretty terrible sense of direction, as, apparently, does John. Yes, we are quite a pair, driving through San Ho, circling the same streets like lunatics.

The interviews themselves were pretty uneventful. However, I did see something pretty funny in the new building I was in today. So, keeping with the "Office Space" vibe, I noticed that someone had removed the walls from their cubicle so they could see outside.

I passed this, cracked up, and then did a little backward jig so I could look again. It reminded me of that scene when Peter removes an entire cubicle wall, and then sits back in his chair, hands behind his head, to enjoy the view of the parking lot. I couldn't not sneak a pic!

After the interviews, a bunch of us got together and went out for dinner at a steakhouse nearby. Then, it was back to the hotel bar. This old lady decided to drag her tired butt home about 15 minutes ago, but I think the rest are in for a long night (and, likely, a crummy morning).

In other news, I finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Eat, Pray, Love is a memoir in which Gilbert recounts her adventures through Italy, India, and Indonesia. Basically, one day, Gilbert looks at her life, her successful career, house, husband, and, despite plans to get pregnant in the near future, decides she wants something else out of life. After a painful divorce, Gilbert embarks on a year-long trip, four months in Italy to eat and soak in "pleasure," four months in India for spiritual rekindling, and four months in Indonesia to find balance. Throughout the book, Gilbert is self-deprecating, candid, and pretty funny considering all she'd been through.

I really enjoyed this book...maybe because quitting my job and traveling for a year with Josh sounds like a fantasy that I want to experience, even if vicariously! (Well, Josh and I did buy lottery tickets, so here's hoping...)

Do you know the way ...

Ah, San Jose. It was not that long ago I was here for work, and, whaddya know....I'm baaack. Oh, I know what you're thinking. How come I get to go to so many exciting, exotic places on business? Hey now, don't be jealous.

I arrived here yesterday evening and have spent the day interviewing employees. These are not the normal witness interviews I do, where I get to sit down and chit chat with an employee or manager about certain events around the litigation. No, these interviews are for a big class action, so I have prepared questions, and I ask the employee about his/her job duties, hours worked, etc.

The company I am at is eerily like Initech. Given the nature of my questions and the fact that I am set up in a conference room, I can't help but feel like one of "the Bobs." ("What exactly would you say you do here at Initech?") In fact, there is even "executive" parking up front, no doubt reserved for Lumbergh.

So, I am here until Wednesday evening. My co-workers are off at a bar, and I am stuck in my room writing an opposition. Ah, well. Maybe I can come out and play tomorrow.

Oh hey, I haven't even told you what I did this weekend... Alright, here goes, the quick and the dirty:

Friday, Josh and I went to see Juno. Liked it a lot. Liked the sarcastic teen. Loved Allison Janney.

Saturday, Josh had his first ever rugby game in the afternoon, and I sat out in the sun, watching the game and enjoying the gorgeous weather. I know L.A. supposedly doesn't have seasons (a statement I disagree with -- they are subtle, ok?), but I swear it felt like the first day of spring. One of our trees even had a flower on it! Anyway, Josh's team lost, but I think he still had fun. In the evening, Josh and I met up with Jackie and PJ at Chimney Sweep. Interesting place. Feels like it should be a dive bar, but there were lots of "trendy" people there. Only in L.A. could there be a trendy dive bar.

Sunday, we went to church and then met Dad and Cathy for breakfast at Side Street. I tried to clean, I swear, but after scrubbing the kitchen, I ended up passed out on the couch watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." (Those of you who feared reading would interfere with my trashy-TV-watching, have faith.)

Okay, time to crank out this opposition...

Recap: I have been a slacker blogger.

Gosh, it is shameful how long it has been since I have blogged. However, I am stuck in my office doing the most painful online training known to man, so I have been catching up on my blog reading and now posting.

So, my thoughts might be a bit choppy. After all, I am rusty after all these weeks!

Here are the highlights of what's been going on.

• My mom arrived to town from Alaska on November 28th and is here until January 4th. She brought her two little dogs and is staying in our guest room during her trip. Although we have been known to disagree, my mom and I are really close, so it's nice to have her around. Plus, she is a great cook and has treated us to a few fresh salmon and halibut dinners. Who knew my kitchen worked? :)
  


• I turned the big 2-7 on December 9th! Saturday the 8th, Josh, my sis, her guy, Jackie, PJ, my dad, my mom, and I went to Table 8 for dinner. I ate a lovely filet and had a couple dirty martinis. Yum! After, we had cake from the Bread Basket and then headed to the Sagebrush Cantina, a Mexican restaurant/bar by our house. There was live music and ridiculously cheap margaritas ($50 bought two rounds of 8). The next day, everyone had a bit of a headache (damn you, cheap tequila), but Josh and I managed to roll out of bed and have breakfast at the Side Street Cafe with my dad and his girlfriend. This is our favorite breakfast place, so it was a great way to start the bday! I took a nap during the day and then we went and saw American Gangster, which I thought was a great flick!
  




[PJ and Josh at the Sagebrush Cantina.]


• The firm had its holiday party on December 14th at The Edison, which is one of my favorite spaces in L.A. I hung out with some of my favorite co-workers and savored some pretty spectacular wine!
  


• A few of my animal-loving co-workers and I have a holiday tradition: Instead of buying gifts for each other, we get together with our dogs at a dog park and exchange doggie goodies and gift bags. This year, we went to the Laurel Canyon Dog Park (my favorite dog park!) with our pups. Someone even brought a dog cake from Three Dog Bakery! Nerdy, but fun.
  
  
• Sunday, I attended the 2nd Annual SFAMily Holiday Hoorah. I didn't bring a camera, but I did swipe the picture below from the Monkey, who did an amazing recap (with pictures!) already. She's good like that. As always, I had such a wonderful time and left feeling lucky to have these wonderful ladies in my life.
  
  


• Sunday afternoon, Josh's folks arrived after driving down the coast from Olympia, Washington. They came with tools in tow and have been working away with Josh (who is off for 3 weeks!!!) on our backyard and guest bathroom! [Yes, my mother is still staying with us as is my step-dad. Yes, that means we have two sets of parents in our abode. Yes, I am still alive.]
  
  
• Work has been pleasantly boring and slow. I am done with my hours for the year, and all of my clients and supervising attorneys are out of town next week. Sooo...that means this little associate will be logging in from home next week. Yes, that's right. No office for me for a week! Woohoo!

Phew. Well, that's all for now. I will probably have much more time to blog next week, so I promise not to disappear for three weeks again!

Ug.

I don't know how I am still standing. Okay, well, I am sitting, but you get what I'm saying. I am so swamped at work, I can barely keep up. I worked all day Sunday in my office, and all Saturday was spent at the new house trying to get things taken care of. We've moved back our move-in date to tomorrow. Yeah. About a third of our apartment is packed. Looks like an all-nighter of packing ahead. Boo, hiss.

Okay, enough complaining. I am counting down the days to Thanksgiving so I can relax for a few days. It's going to be a sprint until then, I think.

I did get to do one fun thing Friday night! I have been wanting to see a movie (any movie!) for over a month, and we finally had some time to get away and see a late show. We saw The Darjeeling Limited with PJ. I thought it was great! The costumes and sets were so interesting, and the chemistry between Jason Schwartzmann, Owen Wilson, and Adrian Brody was fantastic! If you're a Wes Anderson fan, I think you'll dig it.

Another weekend.

Another weekend gone. Sigh. Yes, I know it's only Sunday afternoon, but, unfortunately, I am working today. At least I am working at home in my pjs, I suppose.

Things have been so busy over here. Let's see ... the house is coming right along. The paint job is done, and now we have to get new carpet put in ("after" pics after the new floor, I promise). I really wanted to do hardwood, but yikes, that is pricey! So, cheap carpet for now ... hardwood someday.

We move next weekend, so Josh is working away boxing things up while I plunk away on my laptop on the couch. I'm not sure how we're going to get this whole place packed up by the weekend. Should be interesting.

Work has been stressful lately. My workload is fine, and actually, I am starting to feel like I actually know what I'm doing, but the end of the year is near, and so looms the billable hour budget. I'm sure I will be fine and make hours, but there has been a lot of buzz lately around my office about hours, and I feel like the pressure is on. Plus, this is my first billable year, so I'm a little nervous since I've never billed a whole year. Ah well, I'm sure it will be fine. Luckily, I have a lot of work, so I'm going to try and get some hours banked before the holidays so I can take some time off. Unfortunately, that means the next few weeks will have more late nights and weekends. Such is life, I guess.

Alright, back to work for now. I want to get some more work done so Josh and I can go see a movie tonight. I really want to see The Darjeeling Limited. I <3 Wes Anderson.

Meh.

So, it's been awhile, no? Hmm. Well, there hasn't been much to report. And, frankly, life has been pretty stressful.

The house thing is still plugging along, but financing has been stressful. The rates are changing daily, so it's kind of a roller coaster. We have a loan, but I had hoped for a lower rate. There's still time to back out, but I think we'll probably keep moving forward.

Work ... is, well, work. Monday started with the mediation of the case-I-hate-most. It was supposed to settle. Yes, I said "supposed to." No luck. Boo. Plus, all week, I kept feeling like I was screwing up everything I touched. Not a good feeling at all. Ah well, at least the week is over.

Tomorrow my cousin, Marco, arrives from Italy to stay with us for a week! I can't wait to see him and show him around town. He is always so hospitable every time I stay with him in Italy, so I'm looking forward to attempting to return the favor.

For now, I am off to watch "I Heart Huckabees" with Bug, Ajax, and Josh. Hopefully, there will be some fun to report on after the weekend.

Oops.

So, I get up early this morning to prepare for today's session, and as I am getting ready, I realize I forgot my entire make-up bag in L.A. Of course I did. I mean, what better time to let the world see my scary, bare face than when I have to go before a group and talk? Yeah, classic move.

After some digging, I found a black eyeliner and some lip gloss at the bottom of my bag. Off to hijack some mascara. This is going to be a good day, I can already tell...

What happens in Nita City stays in Nita City...

I am in Colorado until Saturday evening for a Deposition Skills workshop sponsored by the firm and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy ("NITA"). For those of you lucky souls who are not lawyers, NITA is an organization that creates fake case materials and then law schools and other training programs use them. For example, most law school's use NITA materials for their Trial Advocacy programs. All facts occur in Nita City, in the State of Nita. All fake characters graduated from Nita Central High and went to school at Nita State University. You get the point. :)

So, I arrived this morning, checked into my hotel, and then headed out to NITA headquarters. (I guess I can now say I have "been to NITA.") We had a few presentations and a "case brainstorming" session today before we begin "taking depositions" tomorrow. Okay, I know this is really nerdy, but I was actually really having fun. I really like litigation and litigation strategy. Even if the case isn't real, I'll take what I can get.

After our sessions, we all went out to dinner and ordered way too much wine and sangria (which prompted someone to exclaim the phrase that became the title of this blog -- nerdy, I know). My face hurts from laughing so much. As demanding as my job can be, I really love the other associates I work with. I guess I really lucked out.

Off to bed for now. Am contemplating telling our "judge" that our fake case settled last night, so I don't have to get up and prep. That will go over well, I'm sure. Riiight. :)

Good day.

For a Monday, it's been a pretty action-packed day. First, the big class action that I have been working on since my first week at the firm took a surprising turn. We have been working for over a month on our opposition to class cert, to be filed Thursday. In the eleventh hour, the parties decided to mediate on very favorable terms, so the rest of my week just completely cleared! Yessss! AND...I am out the rest of the week doing witness interviews, which I love. I am so jazzed! If/when this case settles, I am going drinking, for sure.


And the other bit of exciting news...we put an offer on a house today!! I don't want to post a bunch about it and jinx it, but please keep your fingers crossed! There is a chance they won't accept our offer because we kind of low-balled, but here's hoping...

So, now that I have my evening free, Josh and I are off to see Superbad! Woo! :)

Procrastination.

So, it has been a busy, busy week. We are filing an opposition to a motion for class certification next week. For those of you lucky enough to not know what a task that is, suffice to say it has basically consumed my week. I have sat on the phone and in interviews with witnesses, and spent the evenings writing declarations and other accompanying papers. Good stuff.

I need to spend the evening and tomorrow morning finishing these declarations (I need to send them to the partner tomorrow by 5 p.m.) so I can have at least half of the weekend celebrate our anniversary with Josh (yeah, I am giving up on aliases...come and find me). What am I doing instead? Well, for one, blogging. Ha. :) Oh, and reading and checking friends' blogs while watching "Flight of the Conchords." Ah, procrastination. I thought I would stop procrastinating after law school. But no, the skill is alive and well....



Other than being busy, the week has been pretty good. One of the highlights was definitely lunch with a friend at Tiara Cafe on Tuesday. She is also a lawyer, but at a different firm and has been practicing a few years longer than I have, and I always really love our chats. They make me feel like I am less crazy. Sometimes it's hard to explain how I feel about my job (or, how my job makes me feel) and it's nice to know someone else gets it, too. Overall, I love my profession, but there are always trying days, to say the least.

Wednesday was a crazy day. Started work at 7 a.m. Finished after 2 a.m. Was back up at 5:30 a.m. for a call at 7 a.m. Thursday and today have been pretty boring, too. Just more work. Hopefully, there will be something good to report after the weekend.

Okay. Back to work.