Weekend Recap

I am just getting to my weekend recap, a little late but you know what they say...

Saturday I had ballet (of course) and it was fun except we had a pretty tough combination in the end with a turn in it and I just wasn't getting it. I hate those moments where you are expected to move in unison with a group and you don't get the combo right until the last minute. Once I got it, it was time to try it on the other side. Geeze. I wasn't the only one though, I had company which made me feel better. I felt like I was a little disconnected brainwise on Saturday morning too which could have been part of it. Anyway, class was great. I knew I was going to be sore and boy I was right. I have an ingrown toe nail on the right side too - ouchie!

After class, went home, showered, stripped the bed, got laundry together and packed a bag and headed down to San Jose with Tim for a night with our friends Kenny and Robin. Our plan was to check out the new Whole Foods Market in San Jose and make dinner together. So we did just that. We made homemade pizzas and drank some great wine. The boys stayed up playing wii into the wii hours of the morning. Sunday morning, I was super excited to check out the Home Goods store. I always see their ads, but have never been and there is one down in San Jose so we went to check it out. I got a couple cake plates for a great price and some holiday wrapping paper.

Sunday night Tim and I got home, made the bed (I love fresh sheets!), took showers and went to sleep, ready for yet another week of work.

Hope you all had a great weekend and are having fun prepping for Thanksgiving!

Photoworks by Attila Nagy. National Theater of Pecs, Hungary

Golden Girls

I super love the television show Golden Girls and when a coworker of mine mentioned that there were going to be some drag queens reenacting 2 episodes I was on board! If you live in the Bay Area, you must check this out, it is hoot! Tickets can be found here. June is Pride month here in San Francisco and they are running this show all month long. They are also going to do some shows at Christmas time as well. You know I will be there with bells on. The costumes were cracking us up, I mean, the outfits Dorothy wore were spot on! During the breaks between scenes the lights would go down and commercials from the 80's and early 90's would play like: Mc D.L.T., Sprite "I like the Sprite in you", Crystal Light "I believe in Crystal Light cuz I believe in me", Juicy Fruit "..is gonna move ya", The Clapper "Clap on...Clap off..." and everyone would clap in the right moment. It was awesome to say the least. Everyone sang along to the opening song and to all of the commercials as well. Afterwards we waited around to get a photo with the cast...
When the photo shoot was over, we walked over to Don Ramon's for some Mexican food and a drink. Tim was at the gym and the stars were aligned and when I was done, he was done, so he came and picked me up, which is always nice. It was a great Friday night - a wonderful way to kick off the weekend.

Weekend Photo Highlights

Here are some photo highlights from our weekend away in the Santa Ynez Valley...

Sunny Sunday in Petaluma

Today, Robin, Wendy and I went to the Petaluma Antique Faire that was advertised in the March Country Living Magazine. It was HUGE, crowded and HOT. The weather has not been great lately but it was awesome up in Petaluma, the sun was out and so were the people. We walked around a shopped and then stopped for lunch to refuel and walked and shopped some more. I got a few little things, a couple folding measuring sticks for a project I have in mind and a cute yellow ceramic bowl. The best part, I did not pay any of the asking prices, I am pretty comfortable asking for a better deal at these things. Before driving back to the city, we stopped and had frozen yogurt to cool off a bit and then we all hit the road.

Thanks for a fun day ladies! Robin, thanks for driving all the way from San Jose and Wendy, thanks for coming over and through the valley from Napa.

I wrapped up the day with dinner at a Thai restaurant by my house with Tim.

What a great weekend!

Yes, I know the doll heads are creepy, but I HAD to photograph them!

Weekend Recap

Monday is here again....way too soon if you ask me.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I spent most of Saturday in the Birds Nest working on a couple book orders. I finished one and am gearing up to finish the other two next weekend. I had planned on going there yesterday too, but my allergies got the best of me and I now have a sinus infection or just a really bad cold so I was down for the count yesterday with Vick's and tissues shoved up my nose (which I would like to do right now, but not at my desk!). I may be going home early today, honestly I feel like crap.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time reading the manual for my new camera and a DSLR Photography magazine which is filled with great tips. This is my first step up from a point and shoot camera and I am super excited, but have been taking most of my practice shots on automatic until I feel confident enough to move on from that. I had been looking at a new camera for a couple years and decided to take the leap since I have some travel coming up in June and would like to take it with me (more on that in another post). So, my test photos have mainly been of Tim and BayLee (poor guys!). Here are a few I took yesterday while laying on the floor waiting for BayLee to yawn (he had just woke up). Still need to work on the focus and what setting works best for the distance I am at, etc. I shot these on auto no flash but wish they were more clear. I think I need to change the shutter speed when shooting BayLee since he moves around so much. I don't know the technical terms, but watch out, I love taking photos so I will be an ace at this camera in a matter of months. Can I just say, it is strange to put a camera up to my face again after using the Canon Powershot Digital Elph for so long (which I will still use, its in my bag right now - as a matter of fact, I still use my 35mm camera I got in 8th grade!).
Almost time for another Photo A Day project as well...

Weekend Recap

This weekend went by way too fast, as always.

Friday night Tim and I hit the ice from 9-11 PM and each got pretty good workouts in. I have to say only in San Francisco would there be a group of people (men and women) who show up at the rink at about 9:45 PM dressed in costumes like figure skaters would wear, but they obviously were not figure skaters. Once they hit the ice, Tim and I realized that "Blades of Glory" was on that night so maybe that inspired their crazy costumes and attempt at pairs ice skating. Some of them could skate, one was in goalie skates (funny looking skates), silver spandex pants with a speedo over top and a beaded top with one sleeve removed. It was crazy and you should have seen their skate moves - one guy in front would lift his leg up and the guy behind would grab his skate blade and lift his leg up too. There were a lot of wipe outs, Hilarious! It was hard to concentrate on my own skating because of the circus that surrounded us but I still got some good cardio in. For the first time since we have been skating the last couple months, they stopped everyone at 10PM and asked that we go the other way around. It was so weird because I can't do crossovers the other way around, but figured it out pretty fast. It was a fun night out with Tim, getting exercise and laughing so hard.

Saturday, we just hung out at home for the most part. I took a nap from 3:30-6:00 PM which is totally unlike me, I don't nap well, I sleep at night and that is about it, but I must have needed it. If you must know, I went into my bedroom to watch my new BBC series (you may know from past posts, that I am moving through a lot of them and have loved each one I have made my way through). The one I am watching now is "Monarch of the Glen" and I super love the main charactor, Archie McDonald, he is so cute. The series takes place in the Scottish Highlands (a place where Tim would like to vacation) and the terrain is really breathtaking. I fell asleep while watching it, when I woke up I had a hankering for Mexican food so we went out for dinner and a walk around Target before going home. A pretty uneventful day, but so nice.

Sunday, I had planned on going to my studio to work on some books, but woke up super late and realized the USA - Canada Hockey game was on at Noon and not 2 PM like I had thought. So, I was strapped to the couch from 12-3 watching the game. It was incredible USA didn't win, but it was really close, and my stomach was in knots. When the game was over (ended in sudden death overtime), I wanted to skate. So, we went skating during the 4-5:30 session. There were so many kids on the ice after their skating lessons, it was a bit like dodging bullets. Still fun, but we had to be super careful, I think since kids don't drive, they don't think about what may be going on beside them or behind them so you have to be ready for sudden moves. Tim got knocked down by a lady who couldn't stop, which totally made me mad. We were both standing along the side of the ice and I was showing him something on my skate when all of the sudden this lady is coming towards us (probably hoping to stop herself on the boards) I look at her arms flopping around and she is saying "sorry, sorry, sorry...." and before I know it she has grabbed onto Tim's jacket and taken him down in her attempt to stop. No, she did not fall, but I shot some serious poison arrows at her with my eyes - she knew I was mad. We steered clear of her the rest of the session. Afterwards we went to Whole Foods Market to make salads at the salad bar and took them home to eat. I went to bed early because today was the first day of Yoga @ Work. Yes, you heard that right, my boss is having a Yoga instructor come to the office every Monday from 7:30 - 8:45 to teach Yoga to whoever wants to take class. I have not taken a Yoga class in forever so was a bit nervous, but did well. My shoulders will be sore tomorrow though for sure.

Hopefully, I am back to posting more often, not sure what came over me there, but think I am over it.

I hope I still have readers and hope you all had a nice weekend and have a lovely week ahead.

Great Weekend

What a great weekend I just had, even though it was cold and rainy, it sure was fun!

Friday:
We to my studio after work until about 8 PM and finished my first book (my journal for the New Year). I know selfish, but I didn't have a journal yet so I had to make myself one and sort of break in my new digs!

Saturday:
Met Debbie at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum. We were excited to see the Embroidery that is on exhibit currently, but it was all sort of tech based, lit up, etc. Still kind of cool but the museum is literally one room so it took no time at all to check it out. By the time we left it started raining so we walked over to the Metreon to look at Chronicle books and then dashed through the drops to Samovar at Yerba Buena for tea and lunch. I had only been to the Samovar in the Castro, the one at Yerba Buena is awesome, they have a wonderful menu so lunch was fabulous! They make a mean cup of Chai that is for sure, yummmm. We sat and talked for a long time, Debbie showed me some old photos of her from when she was younger which all had a story attached - I loved it. I love hearing about my friends lives before I knew them and looking at pictures. It was a blast. After lunch we went over to St. Patrick's Church, Debbie had never been inside, so we took a lap around and checked it out. I love the smell in there, incense, wood and rain...a great combination in an old church if you ask me. Debbie departed on the 2:35 bus back to Oakland and I had some time before Tim was to meet me at 4:00 PM so I decided to check out the Jewish Contemporary Art Museum. They had an awesome exhibit on the Torah where I learned a TON. They have someone there who is a Scriber and she is currently writing a Torah (it was Shabbat so she was not there), they had a video of her talking about how she came to write the Torah and the entire process. It was super interesting. When I was done at the JCM (also pretty small) I walked around just a bit and then met Tim at the rink for some ice skating. The rink was crowded! It was like dodging landmines the way people were falling all over the place. We had fun though albeit very slow skating at some points when we would get caught in a pack of beginners. When we were done skating we were super hungry so we went to Mel's Diner and had dinner before going home and relaxing for the evening.

Sunday:
Slept in, called Mom and Dad, chatted online with Emily and then at about 1:00 PM went to run errands at Target and then out to lunch with Tim. We played wii in the afternoon, I read a bit and just puttered around the house (which I love). My day concluded with 3 hours of The House of Elliot, I sent my discs back today and CAN'T WAIT for the next 2 to arrive, the episode ended with a cliff hanger.

Monday, so far so good. Skating tonight should be good, maybe not so many kids as on the weekends (fingers crossed). We have been on a Monday before and it was awesome!
Hope your Monday was grand!

Getting Caught Up

What a weekend we had! Friday off work, but decided after dropping Tim off at his office, I would check out what all the hub bub is about "Black Friday". I had a list for Target for normal (non-holiday) items so I decided to go there first. Geeze, the parking lot at 7:30 AM was insane. I parked as far away as I could in order to get my heart pumping a bit while I walked up to the store entrance. There were shopping carts available which was surprising because on any given Saturday, they usually run out. I went in and grabbed a couple things (toothpaste, TP) and then walked the store to look at holiday items. I made my way over to the magazines to see what Christmas issues were out (cooking magazines) and there was a HUGE line in the magazine aisle, which puzzled me. I made my way in the aisle minus my cart because there was no room. I grabbed a few magazines and a lady asked me if I was "in line?".
"In line for what, do I have to wait in line to get a magazine?"
Then some dude shopping in his plaid flannel pajamas (one of my pet peeves) chimes in, "No lady, the line is if you want to buy anything electronic, like the TV that is on sale."
"Don't you think it is interesting that all of you waiting to purchase a box you sit in front of and watch are blocking the entire aisle of books and magazines for people who actually read?"
No comment from any of them, just stares. So, I pushed my way through the line of carts (excusing myself of course) to grab the Andre Agassi autobiography for Tim and went on my way.

After leaving Target, I went over to Macy's - again, parking lot was a zoo and it was probably 8:00 AM. I had a couple basic items to grab for Tim (birthday gifts), grabbed them and then waited in a line of about 20 people. By the time it was my turn the young man behind the register thanked me for my patience and then when he discovered that what I was purchasing was not on sale, he gave me a discount! Nice experience all around. I went with an open mind, didn't have any expectations and knew there was not one thing I HAD to have like other folks there. There was a sweater table that looked like a tornado had ripped though there and just about everyone in line had a sweater in hand. Maybe I missed out, but I went for what I needed and if they didn't have it, I would have just walked out. No big deal. People were stressed though, the vibe in line was horrible. People rushing around, one person in line, while another person would bring them things and say "how about this for Uncle so and so..." It was at that moment, I was glad I was not in that same space. Too much pressure if you ask me.

I went to a couple other shops that were not as crowded, PetCo and the grocery store and then went home to bake Tim's Birthday Cake (German Chocolate).

Saturday we woke up and went straight to Robin and Kenny's house to celebrate Tim's 40th Birthday! Kenny smoked some chicken and barbecued a big hunk of beef. Robin and I made biscuits and a salad and Kenny and Robin teamed up and made homemade baked mac and cheese and we also had some greens Kenny made for Thanksgiving that were left over. Everything was so delicious! Andy and Laura, next door neighbors of Kenny and Robin came over and the six of us had a really nice early dinner together. We took a break, cleaned up a bit and hung out and then it was cake time. Tim let us sing to him and he made a wish and blew out his candles. The cake was sweet and yummy! Something about cake I just love. It seems so festive and is always a special occasion when we have it. I would like to incorporate more cakes in my life in 2010, how is that for a resolution?
We wrapped the evening up watching "Adventureland" and "UP" and then went to bed. It was so nice not to have to worry about driving home, thanks Robin and Kenny for being such great hosts. In the morning we had hot coffee and birthday cake for breakfast (I love it!) and watched "Let the Right One In". I had seen it on a plane this spring, but on a big screen with surround sound is SO much better. After the movie we had more coffee and chit chatted before heading back to the city.

It was a wonderful weekend. Nice to get out of the city and hang out with great friends.

PS - Robin and Kenny, the leftovers were FABULOUS! I heated them Monday night and they were just as good as the first time around, thanks!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was pretty mellow, we stayed home mostly and ate really well.

I went out Friday night to Frijtz on Valencia with a couple of girls that I used to work with. It was a fabulous time. I love hanging out with people that I have not seen in a while and I love mussels, frijtz and salad! We had wonderful conversation and great food. The Babe was very sweet to drop me off before his workout and pick me up when he was done, very nice. I would have taken the bus, but took him up on his offer.

Saturday we took some things to storage, cleaned up a little and went to Whole Foods Market for some dinner making supplies. I had decided to make a large Italian dinner on Saturday night and needed some spicy Italian chicken sausage to add to my sauce and some bread for garlic bread. After we shopped we ate lunch at the store and then headed back home.

When we got home I decided that I needed to tackle cleaning out the heat register and down into the duct as much as I could with the vacuum. Besides me being allergic to cats, I am even more allergic to dust and dust mites, they literally make me feel like I am going to die (sneezing so hard, itchy eyes). It has been getting cold in our place and we had yet to turn the heat on because of the dust in the duct that accumulates over the summer. So, this task was a little risky, but I had my mind made up and just wanted to get it done. I slowly unscrewed the cover to the duct and removed it and when I looked in there, holy cow...where does this stuff come from? I swept it all out with the vacuum and by the time I was done, I was too hot to turn the heat on. As of this posting, we still have yet to turn the heat on. I didn't have too bad of a reaction to cleaning it all out, thanks to all the new drugs and asthma meds I am on.

I started my kitchen duties by making chocolate pudding (vegan, Tim didn't know) for dessert, I wanted to get that done and in the fridge so it would be cool by the time dessert came around. For dinner I made fettuccine with spicy chicken sausage sauce and garlic bread - may not sounds like a large Italian dinner, but the Babe's portion was served on a mini platter (which he chose from the cupboard). We had a nice bottle of Merlot and hung out the rest of the evening at home. The pudding was wonderful, I had not made pudding in a long time, yummy!

Sunday afternoon while the Babe was playing tennis I decided I wanted to bake something. I had planned on making bread on Sunday, but nixed it for some reason or another. I remembered that Robin sent me home with some large fresh picked apples the weekend before and a pre-made pie crust disk so I made a little apple tart. I sliced the apples thinly by hand and placed them on the disk with a little crust popping out around the edge. I covered the sliced apples in a mix of sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg and ginger, folded the little edges over and baked it. The entire house (all 750 sq ft of it) smelled fabulous! When the Babe came home from tennis his face lit right up because he knew something was baking (tis the season). When it came out the oven we both ewwed and ahhhed. For dinner, I thought I would bake the left over pasta so I pressed it all into a casserole dish, mixed some eggs and Parmesan cheese together, poured in on top and baked it for dinner. What a great left over dish and an even better dessert.

A fine weekend at home for sure.

PS-Robin, not sure what kind of apples those were, they are GREAT for baking, hold up nice and are the perfect blend of sweet and tart.

Weekend Recap

Didn't have time to post yesterday, Monday's are generally filled with meetings and organizing my to do lists at work and yesterday was no exception.
What a great weekend it was! Saturday night we (me, the Babe and our friend Jadin) went to a cool Italian restaurant in Hayes Valley called Il Borgo - pretty old school, not too fancy of a menu and yummy food. We started with an antipasto platter and a bottle of wine, a great start to any meal if you ask me. I had the artichoke ravioli with a fresh tomato sauce and it was incredible. The Babe ordered linguine bolognese and the sauce tasted like it had been cooked by some one's Italian Grandmother all day. Jadin had spaghetti carbonara, which I had never had before and it was delicious, very rich and creamy! The service was great and the place filled right up during our meal - there were people waiting at the door. We decided we had to taste the chocolate gelato and the tiramisu, which were both a wonderful sweet ending to our dinner. We each had a couple bites of both and were absolutely stuffed. We took a walk around Hayes Valley afterwards and looked in all the shop windows, which is always fun!
Sunday we woke up, took the Jeep to get her oil changed and headed south to San Jose to hang out with Robin and Kenny. Robin made an incredibly wonderful breakfast - cornmeal biscuits, eggs and bacon and hot coffee. The rest of the day we just hung out, did our laundry and Robin and I watched "Twilight" while Kenny and the Babe did manly things like drain the pool, talk to the neighbor while washing his car, etc. It was such a nice and mellow day, so nice to get out of the city and hang out in a nice homey, comfortable house with great friends. We drove home in the evening and had a nice night at home before starting our work week yesterday.
Hope you all had great weekends as were surrounded by wonderful friends, we are truly blessed.

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was amazing - Emily and Angela both flew in for our weekend away on the beach and the weather was simply amazing.

Here is my lovely group of gals...

Wendy, Emily, Angela, Robin

We rented a house in Bodega for the weekend. We were not right on the beach, but close enough that we had a great view. Here are some highlights from the weekend:

• Appetizer night
• Fresh locally caught fish dinner that was better than any restaurant
• French Toast casserole with blueberries
• Greekfest dinner
• Many rum drinks
• Moving the living room chairs outside to bask in the sun
• Crabby old men playing golf
• Expanding vampire knowledge
• Dipping everything in chocolate
• America's Best Dance Crew
• Crystal Ball readings by Katie
• Pedicures by Robin

It was a great weekend, yesterday was a rude awakening having to work and it was one of those days that feels like it would never end plus I was tired. Emily flew out at half past midnight so we had a late night taking her to the airport. It was so worth it though. I was sad to see my sister leave, she is moving to Chicago soon and I am super excited for her but sad as well because I don't know how much we will see each other after she moves. You know how things change when you are out on your own, working, paying rent, etc. Anyway, she is the best on the planet and I wish she lived closer to me so I could see her more often.

We had a great time. Thanks Angela for flying out from Colorado, again, wish you lived closer so we could see each other more often. Time with my friends is priceless and I can't imagine not having these wonderful women in my life.

My next post will be a receipe that I made for breakfast while we were away, everyone asked for it.

Boring Weekend = Exciting Week

Boring weekend for me this past - nothing to report.
Laundry, movies, Uno, hanging out with the Babe.

I like weekends like that though. I suppose I am charging my batteries for the GO GO GO week I am going to have. Working today and tomorrow with a half day on Wednesday and then..... my sister Emily arrives!!!!

Wait...there's more, Angela arrives on Thursday night!!!!

Friday is our annual girls weekend away, so we will meet up with Wendy and Robin up on the coast. I am super excited!

Our schedule is a little insane, but should be fun - I feel like I may be the walking wounded next Tuesday at work, but that is OK, it will all be SO worth it.

Weekend at Home

Mellow weekend here, stayed home, walked around our neighborhood and got rid of a LOT of stuff laying around. I don't know about you, but I have trouble staying on top of the sheer amount of papers that come in the mail. I have a shredder and try to get rid of it on a daily basis but geeze, it gets out of control fast! I no longer get too many catalogs at home because they just get recycled, but it's the other stuff that comes in envelopes that has to be opened, credit card offers, magazine offers, car warranty offers, just a lot of crap if you ask me. Now that I am up to date and cleaned out, I am going to call each company that I get something from and kindly ask them to stop.

Saturday, I vacuumed everything that could be vacuumed around the house - crown molding, walls, mattress, carpet, wood floor, new rug, you name it, it was vacuumed. Poor BayLee hid most of the day. My allergies were kept at bay by wearing a mask the entire time, I swear I am going to invest in a good one, the one I have cuts into my face. Most of you know, I am allergic to a lot of things and all of those get stirred up when I move things around at home no matter how long it has been since the last time I vacuumed. We laid the new rug down Saturday night and love it! BayLee finally came out of hiding right before it was time for bed, so we gave him some playtime and put toys on him. He kept that mouse on his head for over 5 minutes, he just sat there looking stoic.

Sunday, slept in until about 8 and then did a couple loads of wash in my hand cranked washer - workout for my arm, loaded it into the spinner and hung it outside to dry. As much as I love my eco-wash system here, I would love a washer and dryer one day but will have to move to get it since we don't have hook ups here although, I have found a portable one that connects to the kitchen sink (like the old dishwashers) that I am thinking about. I just hate the laundry mat, there is no parking, it is always crowded and kind of grosses me out however, it's the only place I can do my bedding and bath stuff. The Babe and I went for a walk on the main shopping street in our neighborhood, got some bagels, cat litter and some other stuff we needed. It was super sunny and warm today, so nice for a change here in the city. We came home, made lunch and I took a 2 hour nap on the couch.

What a nice weekend it was. We didn't use the car (I even forgot where I parked it Friday afternoon after work, ha ha!) and walked to get our errands done, I love it.

Life is good.

I Heart Weekends Away

What a nice weekend away!
I couldn't update yesterday because I will still on the beach in my mind.

Santa Cruz was awesome, the weather was terrific, a little overcast Saturday morning, but it cleared up pretty fast and ended up being hot and sunny the rest of the weekend.

When we got to the hotel, the room was full of surprises and some of my favorite things. I wondered why my sales contact was asking me what I liked a while back when I was booking for my boss - nice touch, non chocolate candy, corn nuts, champagne, fashion magazines and a pink photo album to keep my photos from the weekend in - oh, and a big Mylar Happy Birthday balloon!Our room had a balcony that was right on the beach! We sat there at night and in the morning while enjoying our time of the day appropriate beverage (coffee or wine). We listened to the Loverboy concert from there on Friday night instead of dealing with crowds of people, it was so fun, singing, dancing and air guitaring up there.
Saturday we slept in a bit and then went walking on the Pier to get some lunch and walk around and saw these guys hanging out so we stopped for a while.

We decided to go to the Boardwalk and check out the rides and maybe get some dessert. We were intrigued by the "fried Twinkie" concept but when we decided to share one, we were bummed and disappointed, it was not so good and sort of cold in the middle like it had been frozen. Good thing we didn't each get one.We walked around for a couple hours checking things out, people watching and playing games in the arcade and then went back to the hotel to rest before dinner. We ended up taking a almost 3 hour nap, got up at 7:30 and went to dinner at the newly reopened super nice restaurant at the hotel called Aquarius. We had great cocktails to start and each got appetizers (their menu is layed out as "hook", "line" and "sinker" - for appetizers, soup/salad, entree). Tim had a roasted Romaine salad which was fabulous and I had the "chowda" - not like a typical clam chowder, it was little clams in their shells steamed in a broth that was spicy and not creamy like you would imagine. My entree was superb, one of the best I have had in a very long time. I had halibut that was on top of the this shmoo made from cooking cauliflower with butter until it fell apart (2 hours the manager told us) and then blended and piped into a stripe on the plate and a little ball of spring peas that had been chopped up with mint. It was deeeeelish! For dessert we had coffee and split their plate of ice cream sandwiches, which were phenomenal along with the Caramel sauce.Sunday morning we woke up and took our time packing up and checking out. Then we went to the lighthouse and Santa Cruz surfing museum before heading home. BayLee was a very good boy over the weekend and gave us an ear full when we get home as usual.

Weekend Recap

Sunday night and just taking a moment to reflect on my awesome weekend!

Saturday morning I slept in until about 8 and then went to the market with Tim and came home and had breakfast and then got ready to go out with Debbie. I went to Oakland to hang out a with Debbie, check out her garden and visit with Taffy (her kitty) and then we headed out for lunch at Citron in Rockridge. We had such a nice mellow lunch, great conversation and then decided to take a little walk down College and poke around in some of the shops. The weather was incredible, sun was out, not too hot and not a cloud in the sky. After schlepping around Rockridge we decided to go to the biggest Longs Drugs on the planet (now CVS, but signs still read Longs Drugs). Debbie had heard about it and I wanted to check it out...well, 2 hours later we emerged and it was already 6:00 PM! This Longs is on Broadway in Oakland and literally has everything you would ever need; produce, fabric, yarn, gardening supplies, hardware and everything else a normal drug store would carry (health and beauty aids, medicine, etc.). Funny thing, they had a mini international candy section and they had the Milk N Honees I mentioned in my last post! After the drug store, I dropped Debbie off at home and headed back to the city. Tim and I had a mellow night at home after setting up my pulley system clothes line outside my back door (I got all the components at the drug store).

Sunday, woke up at about 8 and packed our bags for the beach. Our goal was to be out of the house by 9 and we left 10 minutes early! We wanted to get to the beach before the crowds even if it meant sitting there wrapped in a blanket for an hour before it heated up. We stopped on our way in Mill Valley at Whole Foods Market and got some sandwiches for lunch (and some water and chips). I know a short cut to Stinson Beach that avoids Highway 1 so we took that and were at the beach about 15 minutes later. Our timing was perfect, we got free parking on the street and walked to the beach. It was clear and sunny at 10:40 AM no having to endure the fog burn off before baking under the sun. We set up our chairs and blanket, read our books, people watched and ate lunch. It was incredible. Super warm and sunny outside. I had been checking the weather for days and it paid off! At about 1:40 PM for the first time in our beach going history Tim said, "I think we should go, I am getting burned." Ironic thing is Tim was just saying a couple hours earlier when I offered him sunscreen that he never burns, he just gets darker (he is already pretty dark naturally). Poor guy, the combination of the wind and sun got him more on one side than another. We headed back to the city, beat the traffic and stopped on the way home for some ice cream that we will have in a few minutes. It was a great day, I love the beach, I love hanging out with Tim and I loved that I may have somewhat restored my fading Greek tan!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

PS - my clothesline ROCKS - hung some clothes that I washed when we got home.

When Life Gives You Lemons

Yesterday, Tim and I went down to San Jose to hang out at Robin and Kenny's house. When we were there a couple weeks ago, I picked some lemons but left them behind. Yesterday it was our mission (mine and Robin's) to pick as many as we could and juice them and freeze the juice so it wouldn't go to waste. We picked 4 bags full...

and made 46 Cups of Lemon Juice! We did about 6 batches like the one below.

After our work was done, we measured and bagged the lemon juice and put it in the freezer to use throughout the year. I took home 12 cups to make lemonade, lemon cake, lemon muffins, lemon sorbet and whatever else lemon you can think of.

While us girls were working on juicing the guys went to the store and came back and started barbecuing for dinner. They made ribs, brisket and tri-tip all slow roasted throughout the afternoon. Kenny made homemade BBQ sauce which was killer. I baked a lemon yogurt cake for dessert. Friends (Kim and Gary) and neighbors (Andy and Laura) came over and we had a feast for dinner (by the way, there were veggies too!).
Check out the spread:

It was an awesome day! Thanks Robin and Kenny for your hospitality and to everyone else for your contributions to the wonderful dinner - Laura, great salad and Kim, the onion rings were fabulous!

Saturday's

It is not even 10 AM and so far it has been a perfect Saturday.

Here is what I generally like to do on Saturday mornings to wind down from the week and start relaxing for the weekend.

Wake up, have coffee in my favorite coffee cup - come on, you know you have one too. Everything tastes good it in it: coffee, tea, water, when desperate for a clean vessel after a crazy day...even wine works in this mug. Mine sort of looks like a men's shaving mug, footed with a K on it. Oh my, was this mug meant for Kevin, Kyle or Keith to contain a frothy head of shave cream to remove stubble and not for holding Katie's coffee to give a boost in the morning?

So, sip a cup of coffee while sitting on couch curled up like a cinnamon roll (yum, I wish I had a cinnamon roll), kiss Tim goodbye before he goes to play tennis.

Ahhh, alone time, get back into bed with a couple magazines and BayLee. After having my heart broken upon getting word of March being the last printing of both Domino and Country Home magazines I had to find a new love. Like dating, I checked out a couple other home decor magazines at the book store over the past couple weeks. I carefully scrutinized, I asked the questions: is this right for me, do we have a future together, do I want to invest my time to learn more and start a relationship? I know that I wear my heart on my sleeve and wanted to be careful when making a decision about who would replace the last two decor magazines that I loved so much. Then I saw it, could this be the one? We had a rocky love affair in the past when the magazine also had a television show that went along with it but our romance was one of ups and downs and got off balance with the downs becoming more frequent than the ups. Should I go back, did it get better? It has been a couple years, maybe a brief flirtation will turn into something more solid. I took a leap, I bought the February and March issue and read them this morning and I had to say that me and House Beautiful are back together for now. Elle Decor was the runner up so we will see what transpires over the next couple months, maybe I will be ready to take on two lovers again by then. I got burned last time when they both went down, so I will be more cautious this time.

Get up, need more coffee, tuck BayLee into bed and leave him alone for his nap time. Seriously, he likes to get in the bed like a human with covers over him (see above photo), head on the pillow, the whole deal. I just went in to check on him and he is all curled up with his head under the blankets. I wish I was a cat sometimes.

After this post, I will watch a movie (Sybil, I taped the updated version from Lifetime) and then maybe take myself for a walk or bake something... we'll see. I really have no plans, which I love. That may change when Tim gets home though.

Hope you have a great Saturday!

Coraline

Amazing movie and believe it or not, my first 3-D movie ever! Love the glasses they hand out!
Go and see it while it is in the theater because watching it at home will not be as fun or 3-D.

Weekend Update

What a great weekend "away" Tim and I just had. Not too far away, just stayed at a friends house in San Jose, but we had a blast. It was BayLee's first time at home alone for one night and he did really well (I am sure he slept the entire time).
My friend Robin's parents always have a fabulous party sometime between Christmas and Valentines Day and that was this past Saturday night. There were so many people there and TONS of great food and drink. You know you are in trouble when you are doing shots in your friend's parents laundry room! I felt like a youngster again, it was hilarious!
We were totally wiped out yesterday and just hung out at Robin and Kenny's house. We ate a great, post-night-of-drinking breakfast that Robin made and lounged around watching TV and a movie while I did my laundry. Yes, I still travel with my laundry since we don't have a washer/dryer at home.
I love the generosity of friends, thanks Robin and Kenny for the bed and breakfast and use of your laundry room!
Thanks for letting me pick your lemon tree even though I was so tired when we left, that I forgot the lemons at your house on your counter. Boooooo. Once we got home I realized I had left them!

Catching Up

Trying to play a little catch up over here. I have not posted in a while due to the craziness I have been experiencing at work. January is my busiest month of the entire year. Each year, I plan this large awards event/dinner that is happening on the 29th this year so I have been a bit swamped.

For those of you in the Bay Area, can you believe this weather? It is delicious, and a reminder of why I live here. Check it out!

SF Gate: Weather San Francisco, California (94101) Conditions & Forecast

This past weekend I was in Napa and it was nice outside, but I wasn't ware of the warmth coming our way. Sunday Tim and I went to brunch and had to wait for a table and we waited outside in the sun and had to take our jackets off!

Crafting as of late has consisted of making myself (yes, myself) and hankie with Ganesha on it (remover of obstacles, I thought it was funny since you blow your nose to remove obstacles). I made a book for my boss for his Birthday as well. I gave it to him yesterday and he really liked it. Check it out below (it had a Whole Foods Market theme of course and was made with old letterhead, grocery bag and a cut up calendar). I am hoping that I get some interest here at work and will be able to sell some books - already a few people have asked about me making one for them, so we will see.

That is about it for me. Weekend was nice, Tim and I got a rug for our living room, very simple and $40 at Ikea (even better). The one I really wanted was $299 and that was too much right now. The one we got is white, rag and very plain but will tide us over until we can get the other one. It really warms our place up and lessens the echo we have been experiencing since we gutted the living room. BayLee (of course) thinks it is for him, he comes into the living room now and keels over and rolls around on it (very cute).
Have a great Tuesday!