P060911PS-0189, originally uploaded by The White House.

I get the White House Feed for photos through Flickr and had to post this!

IMG_8212, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

We had a great New Year’s Eve. Jon stopped by and I cooked up a storm! Then, I got a migraine and went to bed early! Oh – the holidays!

IMG_5148, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

Last Night Tim and I went on a long walk in Toluca Lake to see the Christmas lights. We started to walk by a large group of people when a man in a Santa Hat said – hey our first victims, can we sing to you! So Tim and I stood in the street as 40-50 carolers (mostly kids) sang “Joy to the World” to the two of us. It was a wonderful Christmas moment!

IMG_7966, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

I think I finally have concrete evidence of the fact that I am aging – aside from the lines on my face! Every month I say to someone or to myself that I can’t believe how fast the month has gone!

With that being said – the month has flown by! It started with a wonderful birthday! Tim rolled out the red carpet and spoiled me! He planned a little dinner with Judy and Michael and then we spent most of the evening at Disneyland on my actual birthday. When we got home, “Miracle on 34th Street” was on and we sat eating cheese and drinking wine! It was perfect!

Last week, I was in Atlanta for a visit to a company our HR department supports. It’s kind of complicated, but we are owned by a Japanese parent company. The HR department that I work for supports all 6 of the American sister companies in the US. This company in Atlanta is a research group that is cloning cells. It was very interesting!

I just read a book about a cell line so I was fascinated by cells and research. I will go back again in the Spring or Summer and will try to take Tim with me! Atlanta is an interesting city!

, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

I spent last week in New York working at our office. I was so lucky because Tim was able to join me for a few days. It was so mellow! The best part was seeing Jim Lochner and his dogs. Jim is a good friend of Tim’s and they work on the magazine together. We had wonderful dinner with him and his friend Justin. After dinner, we went back to his apartment and had some wine and cupcakes! His dogs, Sir Franklin and Watson are just adorable! On our way back, we cut through Time’s Square.

Now – on to Thanksgiving!

IMG_7836, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

Tomorrow is Halloween and I am very excited! We are going to go on a walk through Toluca Lake with Judy, ML and two of their friends. When we come back, Judy made soup and Tim made pumpkin, bourbon ice cream. It will be a lot of fun.

Since Toluca Lake is insane on Halloween, we went for a walk last night and I took a few pictures.

Exploding Stars and Stripes: A supernova remnant in the Milky Way about 13,000 light years from Earth., originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

Check this out from the Smithsonian.

, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

Tim and I were going to take a road trip this last weekend to San Fran. Our friends David and Steven have a haunted house every year and we’ve never been. Tim hasn’t been up for a visit since 2008! His project deadline shifted so he could not go, but Rich gave me some of his miles so I could fly up.

I was so lucky -he put me in first class! I’ve never been in first class and it was a amazing!

Rich and I had such an amazing weekend. We took his friend Denise and her family to the Haunted House on Friday. Her son had never been to any sort of Haunted House and was super excited.

We ate a ton, shopped, watched movies. It was such a nice break! As usual, the end of the year is so crazy for me- I’m glad to get a break now!

This picture is on College Avenue close to Rich’s place. We had gorgeous weather- 80′s most of the weekend!

I was sad to come home!

photo.JPG, originally uploaded by shanaj67.

For the last couple of years, we’ve gone to the Disney resort for our anniversary. The hotel is very relaxing and we enjoy Disneyland. We also don’t have to drive far or fly! It works perfectly!

This year Disney renovated the rooms at the original Disneyland hotel and they were gorgeous! Our room overlooked the pool area. We sat by the pool for over 3 hours one day talking and sipping a nice glass of white wine. Last night, the park was pretty quiet since it was Labor Day. We went over around 8 and rode until 10:30.

This trip felt like such a reward to a hard working summer! I love spending time with Tim and when we can get away from everything, I feel so lucky!