1 more month until i pack my things and move out...
2 more weeks until i pack my things and cruise to the bahamas...
3 more weeks until i head to new york for the pepsico awards banquet...
4 more weeks until my period...

(just kidding about the last part...it made me laugh though)

happy birthday, ading!!!
love, ate.

check out the chicago theatre tonight. on it's front boards it says "welcome qtg associates, imagine qtg 2010". i just got back from our national meeting where the president of each business unit (quaker, tropicana, gatorade) presented their vision of qtg in 2010. twas pretty neat to have the national meeting there. 3000 of the 15000 qtg associates attended. ive watched alicia keys and jason mraz there, now i can add a work meeting there too...i guess.

i did it! i ran 2 miles in 24 minutes. im a virgin to "speed training". with a lot of help from my cousin, i was able to do it. for 1 min, i ran at 4.4 then the following min i ran 5.4. i did this for 2 miles straight -- no stopping. ive never ever run at a 5.4 speed (11:06 min/mile pace). since last september, i always ran a 13-14 min/mile. my cousin put me on hal higdon's running program and challenged me to increase my pace on thursday's run. the book my sis-in-law let me borrow is helping out a lot too. im just really proud of myself and i hope you're proud of my progression too. thanks archie for motivating me to start running. thanks richie for pushing me to improve. shamrock shuffle...here i come.

i got promoted from lowly i/s associate to not-so-low i/s analyst. i couldn't think of anything better at that moment. that moment was 2 years ago. yesterday, i had my annual review with my manager and found that there is something better. i got promoted to an i/s senior analyst. . i love the sound of "senior". when he told me i had earned the promotion that ive been asking for, i got up from my chair, walked around the conference table and gave him a hug. haha. i made an unexpected trip to my parent's house and took them out to dinner.

my teammate, who is 3 levels above me, also got promoted from senior specialist to lead specialist. when i found that out, i gave her a hug too. i guess promotions and huge hikes in salary get me in the hugging mood.

next agenda on the list? get new business cards. you think they'll let me use "i/s señora analyst" instead? i keed. i keed.

next round of drinks are on me...

i've got a new passion. sigh. check it out. see right hand column.

ohno...
...ohYES

thanks for the 'law & order' valentines!!! :)

me and mike in miami...
...feb 2005

Katie's pictures from G(Y)NO @ Wicker Park -- Friday February 10, 2006.
(francesca forno, bin win cafe, some bar under the damen blue line, the note, tre via)

oh sangria...
...you are my weakness. not! rachel drank it all. haha.

today is my manager's last day on the team. he's moving onto the project team for the SAP implementation (a great career move for him). he's still with the company and i'll see him around once in a while, but it won't be the same -- obviously. he's my 1st manager after having graduated college. the relationship i have with him will probably never happen again in my career. besides talking about system/database issues, we would talk about anything/everything: my boy issues, my drinking escapades, weekend plans, vacation stories, reality shows, etc. honestly, my manager and my current team is pretty awesome. we work well together but we also joke around too. our team meetings remind me of the psa officer meetings i used to have my sophomore year in college where all we'd do is crack jokes and mess around. ive been with the company for almost 4 years and chris has been my manager the whole time -- from database crashes to midday coffee breaks and even to times where id be upset over a personal issue and we'd talk about it at his desk. it was a great ride though.

i'll definitely miss him.

what has this life experience shown me? some good-byes can actually be good good-byes.

good-bye.

pepsico asian network's Q4 evening reception...
...my manager and i @ the metropolitan club in the sears tower

mang. i think i threw out my back this morning. i was at home home and i was bending over to pull up my lovely argyle knee high socks :) and i pulled something in my back. i stood straight up; i got really light headed; i laid down in bed very slowly. crap hole, arse hole. my body is breaking down. or it could be from the running and ab work ive been doing recently. shiet.

to top it all off: out of all the weird places on my face, my nose decided to break out with 2 big zits. great timing, right? the day before g(Y)no. argh...

happy birthday, lola!

in the philippines for my lola's birthday 2 years ago...
...can you see who the cakes from?

lets play 'dress up'