To Tip or Not to Tip

I did it. After two different reschedulings, I broke down and FINALLY went to the salon yesterday. I was given a great referral to see Mary at Tangles (she actually moved to Mona Lisa). I am trying to be conservative with the budget, so I figured I would just take care of the roots with a touch up of blonde for my partial weave. Mary was super nice and did a fabulous job, I decided by the time I left. However, she had an assistant/shampooer? that rubbed me the wrong way. Not literally. She was just annoying with the way she talked AT you, her fake attempt of caring about any conversation, mannerisms, and so forth. I decided I didn't want to get my hair trimmed at that time, the extra $60 was a little hard to swallow. Any way, after the color, the Assistant shampooed my hair w/o head massage, added toner, and then dried my hair with the blow dryer and brush. At this point, she started actually speaking to me. My hair is pretty long as I am trying to grow it out, so it took her a while. Plus, my hair was a bit snarly. The girl totally pulled and yanked at the knot with that darn big ROUND brush without even apologizing. I don't have a tender head nor a hard head about medium, so it did sort of hurt. But how would she know? And she didn't even apologize! Finally she finished. I told her I didn't need it straightened, because it was late in the afternoon, she proceeded to grab the hot iron and said she'll just smooth it out a bit.

I'm pleased with the color even if Mary didn't follow the pattern from my previous color. (It must be difficult or something???) So I look extra blonde. Ivan LOVES it! I gave her my VISA card, but Mary couldn't take it, because she wasn't programed in the card swiper machine yet. The Assistant was like, cash or check only. (Luckily, I brought my checkbook, because I never carry cash especially $115.) And then the Assistant said do you need cash? "The bank is across the street." No, I am fine thanks.

Needless to say I wrote out the check and gave it to Mary. She gave me her card and I shook her hand (cheezy i know), but she said it was nice to meet you and I said it was nice to meet you too, it seemed appropriate at the time.

After that I walked out and did the just-got-a-hair-do; no-more-roots catwalk down the sidewalk in Downtown Los Gatos. Pretty hot! In the car, I felt incredibly guilty about the no-tipping the Assistant. I didn't even know her name, so I couldn't have written her out a check or maybe I should have.

Side note - I don't think she is only Mary's Assistant, because while I was writing out the check, she was telling Mary that she was working for so-and-so that week and asking Mary if she could get paid, "she needed money". I thought this was a bit unprofessional in front of the customer. (When I was a busser at a restaurant I didn't ask the waiters to pay me in front of their customers.)

So, should I go back and tip the Assistant or does the stylist tip her out of her tip? If so, then I probably short tipped Mary. BTW, what is the right percentage for Mary, the stylist? I could send a little card and put some money in there for Mary/the Assistant. But I wasn't very please with her. I liked Mary's service and I'll probably go back there, but not for another 4-5 months, since I am coming to UT in July. What would you do?

First Things First

What we do the first thing after we wake up tells us something about ourselves. For example, when I get up, I turn off my alarm on my Blackberry phone, and then read my email. I like staying connected and it also helps me to wake up. When she wakes up, Becca sits there for few minutes trying to decide if she wants to go work out. Most of the time she then gets out and goes for a run outside (since we live in California, she is free to do that any day she wants.. no more "snow" excuse). She likes to debate with herself about everything.

When Maks wakes up, he loves looking out of the window to see what's going on outside. He's all about learning and discovery (at least for now), and since we live next to a school, there is always a lot of things happening outside.



What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

I Forced Him to Play

Jen S. tagged me, but I was already tagged recently, so I made Ivan play!


1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Attending Moscow State University (MSU) studying engineering. Seventeen years old. Swimming and working as a computer operator

2. Five things on your to do list today:
- sleep
- swim
- work
- photo shop
- watch Champions League final (Man United vs. Chelsea)


3. Snacks I enjoy:
- Sweet Retreat frozen yogurt
- See's chocolates
- pistachios


4. What would I do if suddenly I were a billionaire?
- Buy a sports franchise like San Jose Sharks
- Pay off Becca's student loans and other debt
- Take my wife on a shopping spree
- Travel
- Invest the rest

5. 3 bad habits (that my wife can't stand):
- clipping finger/toe nails into bathroom sink
- putting empty ice cube trays back into freezer
- pretending to listen to my wife

6. 5 places I've lived:
- Moscow, Russia
- Tver, Russia
- Manchester, England (mission)
- Provo, Utah
- San Jose, CA

7. 5 jobs I've had (not in any chronological order):
- Accounting lab TA
- Walking toy (think Little Cesar or Mickey Mouse type character)
- MTC teacher
- 5 a.m. Custodial in Harmon Building on BYU campus (2 weeks)
- International Tax Accountant, CPA

8. 5 things people don't know about me:
- license at age 23 years old; first car soon after was a 1980 Datsun
- met Manchester United futbol team's head coach Alex Ferguson
- guest on BBC (UK National radio)
- collected metal cans when 9 years old (ask me about it later)
- Prefers cats over dogs

Mean Sprinklers

or is it mean parents?

You Have to Read This!

This just might be the most important information you read ALL day! You might not need this help right now, but there will come a day when you will rely upon this crucial how-to tip.

So last week, me and 3 hot chicas grabbed a bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and then we went to the movie. As we got up to leave after the movie, I noticed I had sat in some GUM!!!! UGHH! I screamed in horror while cursing the stupid idiot that left their gum in the movie seat. And then I realized it was MY gum that I placed in a piece of napkin right next to me on the seat at the restaurant. I didn't put the gum on the table, because I thought that would gross out my girlie friends. Crap! Wrigley's EXTRA Winterfresh was on my left cheek of my WHITE capris.

I was a bit embarrassed, but more irritated with myself. When I got home, I tried to ice it, but it didn't really work. So I wadded them up and shoved it in my dirty clothes basket and tried to forget about it. I was afraid my white pants would be ruined. A few days later, I did some research and this is what I found!

Here is the tip of the day for removing gum from clothing:

- Hot vinegar and a toothbrush

Yep, that's it. Just heat up the vinegar in the microwave and use an old toothbrush and scrub the gum off. I was a bit skeptic, but it took me literally 30 seconds to remove the blue gum from my white capris.

Don't worry; you'll thank me the next time you sit in your own gum!

Dancing Queen

So, I can't get it out of my head. Over two weeks ago, Tish, Carmen, and I left the kiddies at home and went to the Broadway musical, Mama Mia!!!

Okay, before I went to this show I hadn't even heard of ABBA.

- Everyone is like, "you haven't heard of ABBA?!"
- And I say, "uh-uh".
- And then they say, "you know Dancing Queen, Seventeen?"
- "Oh, I know that song, I just didn't realize that was the singer of 'em..."

But NOW, I can't get them out of my head. Tish made a copy of the songs and I listen to it everyday while I work. Some of my favorite songs include Take a Chance on Me; Knowing Me, Knowing You; Mamma Mia; and Does Your Mother Know and of course, Dancing Queen. I absolutely LOVE IT! If you haven't seen the musical yet then you're not quite out of luck, because the feature film adaptation is coming out July 18th starring Meryl Streep and Peirce Brosnan. I am so excited to see this version on the big screen!

Motherhood

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Happy Mothers Day to all women!

Excited Little Guy

Maks loves going outside. I took this picture as we were walking out of our hotel room in Yosemite (we had to wait for Becca, you see, so he decided he wanted to sit down) . He had a big grin on his face every time we were going out. That's a good sign, I think. Who knows what will happen when he discovers the sad and lonely world of Playstation.

It's a Sad day in the Bay

No tears were shed, but the room fell silent as Ivan turned the t.v. off. The San Jose Sharks 2007-08 Season is no more. Last night the Sharks lost the playoff battle against the Dallas Stars in quadruple overtime. After a 5 hour game, the Sharks fell when the Stars hit their Achilles' heel -- the opponent making an attack during their Power Play. I guess it was inevitable, but very disappointing after such a long battle and a major comeback from a 3 game deficit in the series. (We were down by 3 games in the series and the Stars only needed to win 1 more game to end it.)

Ivan became a DIE HARD fan being VERY occupied with the team and games and honestly, I was getting pretty sick of the Sharks. At times, I was wishing the season would end sooner. (Ivan went to the last three home games and every home game except for game 2 in the first playoff series). Although, Ivan was soo distracted by the team, I knew this would only be temporary, so I tried to be supportive. However, after last night, I was a little sad too. (My eyes became a little moist). It has been fun to watch the Sharks games together at the tank and even when Ivan went alone to the game while Maks and I sat at home watching on t.v. Thanks Sharks for fighting a good fight! We don't have season tickets for next year, but we'll definitely make it to the tank!

Attending Temple and Annie's Exhibit

Last weekend we decided to get out of San Jose for a change and go up north. First, we visited the Oakland Temple. Having Maks around means we can't just go to the temple whenever we want. Getting babysitters is also a tricky task, and we decided we'll take turns going to the temple. Becca went on Saturday. Next time we're in Oakland, Ivan will go. By the way, those of you with young kids, how do you handle the situation?

Second, we visited San Francisco's Museum of Fine Arts (Legion of Honor) where they are hosting the exhibit of Annie Leibowitz. She is perhaps the most famous and controversial portrait photographer of our time (think photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono few hours before Lennon was shot, or pregnant Demi Moore on the cover of Vanity Fair, or recent photo of Queen on the left), so I was naturally curious to see her work in person. We enjoyed the exhibit, and talked about it the rest of the day. Sure, there were famous pictures we are already familiar with, yet she had a lot of other work on display that most people aren't familiar with. Throughout her life she's done a fine job to document her family and personal life (and I was interested to see how she managed to maintain her style while doing that), and her photographs invited you into her life. To me the most memorable were her images from war zone (very shocking) and her landscapes. Becca enjoyed the atypical celebrity images presented there, as well as touching images of her aging parents. If you have a chance, you should plan to see the exhibit before they take it down in latter part of May.

Meanwhile, I am now in Virginia (an hour away from Washington, D.C.) for technical training at work, but will be back tomorrow. Though it's nice to see how green everything is here, I miss warm and sunny climate of our Northern California, as well as my wife and son.

Photo (c) Annie Leibowitz