Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Happy Solstice

We just came home from a lovely solstice get together at our friends M&L's home.  They hosted a wonderful party with dinner, candles, goodies, and tradition to celebrate the shortest day of light in the year, or rather the gradual return of day light after today.  
Dinner was yummy Quiche, salad, and butternut squash soup.  Treats included sweet bread, cake, and chocolate - including chocolate covered figs... devine.
Part of the tradition is writing down things you want to leave behind in the year - or things you wish for in the coming year and then set them aflame in the fire so that the smoke sends them up to the power(s) that be.  Our hosts set out origami paper squares, pens, and pinecones for us to prep our thoughts prepare to burn.  It was really interesting how much my thoughts and wishes had changed in the past year - and how different peoples pinecones looked when prepped.  Mine is the one on the left, my friend D's is on the right.  
The one above is Chris's.  Once everyone was ready we set them all in the fire and watched them burst into flames.
It was so neat to take a few minutes to sit and really reflect and put thought into what I wanted to let go and leave behind, and what I hoped would come in the next year.  Happy holidays everyone.  Enjoy the extra light!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Since the last post

Top 5 things since the last post;

1. Chris being totally pleased with his breakfast egg, bacon, pepper, onion, and goat cheese creation (me too).
2. Several rounds of two player Blokus (we're addicted).
3. Re-discovering sauteed spinach with shallots and mushrooms.
4. Dinner on the table with our Christmas shopping and packing supplies awaiting us.
5.  Wrapping up our gifts.  
We picked Hallmark brand wrapping paper this year, a birthday version actually, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was 'adhesive'.  Meaning the underside is slightly tacky and will stick to your packages nicely, making a smooth finish to your gift (score at 2 rolls for 4.99).  I love the pattern as it is almost an acid green, a graphic, yet ties into Christmas well, and everyone will know who the gifts are from!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Grateful

I woke up this morning grumpy after staying up too late with our friends last night (Birthday party at Benihana then over at a friend's house playing apples to apples and eating home baked cookies - poor me).  After settling onto the couch with a cup of coffee I was still grumpy.  My husband got up and through the fog I started smelling bacon, and the world snapped back into place.  I am so grateful and happy in my life right now.  Here are some things I am very grateful for at this moment:

1. Time with friends who enrich our lives.
2. Gourmet bacon shipped in dry ice from my Dad and Step-mom.

Swedish Christmas dolls Chris's mom brought back for me from her trip a
couple years ago; Chris is happily cracking eggs in the background.
3. The click of our new/borrowed/on-loan/permanent Canon EOS Rebel XTi 400D camera... thanks to Chris's Dad.
4. Christmas is 1 week away and we will be in SLO with our family and the dogs in 6 days.

My adorable husband in the kitchen.
5. Chris cooking breakfast inspired by our Benihana chef's amazing performance last night.  I wonder if he'll make a stack of onions into a steaming 'volcano' too?

Train

Last month after deciding to extend my stay in San Diego to catch up with family I decided to skip the expensive fee to change my flight and got a 45$ train ticket from San Diego to San Luis Obispo (SLO) to meet up with Chris.  If you have never taken the train between San Diego and SLO, put it on your bucket list.  It is an amazing route that runs along the ocean, through vineyards, and areas of CA not seen by car.  I was absolutely glued to my window through most of the trip.  Here are some pictures from my seat.
Fields of green in S. CA.
Marsh land at sunset.
Beach south of Santa Barbara at Sunset.
I'm just kicking myself for not taking my camera out earlier - the train goes by a lot of beaches north of San Diego and it was so cool to be passing all the people out on the friday after thanksgiving who were on the beach playing and waving at the train.  This is a must do again.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Coffee

Wood's Coffee House, San Carlos
Our friends just opened a new coffee shop literally a block from our house.  Chris and I have added a daily AM visit and head down there together at about 6:45 on the weekdays.  I get my coffee to go and then kiss Chris goodbye and leave him there to ponder the morning with his Latte and the Internet.  Amazingly, this detour is actually helping me show up to work on time or even a few minutes early.  Love it.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Bocce Ball Party

We had a wonderful party on Sunday for our friends M&L who are getting married soon.  We reserved the Bocce Ball green at a new restaurant called 'The Office' about 3 blocks from our home and invited everyone to join us for a casual and relaxed Sunday afternoon celebration for M&L.  The gathering went perfectly, people came, played games, enjoyed food, and congratulated M&L on their upcoming wedding.

Chris helps by carrying the balloons.
Chris and friends
play a game of blockus.
A guest throws out the pallino (a small white ball which is the target) for a game of Bocce.
Friends take their turn throwing out their Bocce balls.
I had made a small photo book for M&L with pictures I had pirated off of Facebook of them as a couple.  People signed well wishes in the book and L liked it so much she asked if she could also put the book out at their wedding.  Once the party started winding down we changed location by walking to our apartment and having desserts and coffee.  The change in scenery worked perfectly and the party kept on going for another couple of hours.  It was a wonderful night and a true testament that hosting a party doesn't have to be hard.  It was just some simple planning and arranging on our part and the bride and groom to be were both very touched and pleased.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Granny's House

My Grandma as a young girl, around the time she met my Grandpa.  
I've been down in San Diego for the past few days helping out my 'Granny', who is so not your typical Granny, after a long hospital stay resulting from a surgery.  She has been doing better and better everyday and it has been wonderful to be here helping out along with my Dad.  We ran a crazy amount of errands over the weekend, played lots of rounds of Skip-bo, did our chores, and spent time catching up.

Today I took dad to the airport, then went into the craziness of Trader Joe's right before Thanksgiving and gathered up a ton of groceries to stock the fridge and pantry for quite a while.  Trader Joe's had all the fixings for Thanksgiving, so even though I won't be here, I went ahead and got all the ingredients for a Turkey Day meal.  My cousin is coming in tonight, and I fly out tomorrow.  Her dad will be coming in tomorrow night.  It feels like an intricate old-english dance, this family coordinating so seamlessly.

My cousins and I the last time we saw one another.  I'm sitting down at  the end of the dock.
Cousin M is in the boat, Cousin K is the taller kid on the right.
After re-meeting my cousin after about 20 years I've decided to cancel my flight back to SF for Tuesday and stay through Friday so that we can get to know one-another again.  This way I will also get to re-meet my Uncle and another cousin after again, about 20 years.  Looking forward to getting connected again.  I'll take the train up to SLO on Friday and connect with my husband and spend time with his family then.  

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Esty Find

Found these wonderful prints on Etsy, only how do you pick?




Check out Geninne on Esty.com  

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Random Laundry Day

History of Laundry, at least it is easier now.
One of the benefits of being a federal employee is the federal holidays. Veteran's day is one of those weird floating holidays that often land in the middle of the week.  So it is a Thursday and I am at home, not sick, enjoying my day off.  I have lots of quarters and piles of laundry, so after sleeping late, eating a yummy breakfast with my hubby, and lounging on the couch I am starting the attack on the Laundry.  I've got vetoed movies from my hubby to watch... which will probably be awful, but I have no worries about anyone criticizing them (except me of course).  My feet are up, my timer is on for the laundry, and I have all the fixin's for a yummy Thai Beef Salad in the fridge.  Life is good.  

Monday, November 1, 2010

World Series Winners!

Giants celebrate winning the 2010 World Series
I've been all caught up in this amazing Giants post season!  We just watched the Giants win the 2010 World Series, horns are still honking out on the main street of town, fireworks randomly go off here or there, and the spirits are high in the Bay Area.  A great big Thank You to all of our friends who have hosted us in their homes, shared meals, and welcomed us to watch all of the World Series games on their TVs.  With no live TV at home, you all rescued us from battling with the hoards in the local sports bars.  It has been a wonderful 5 games and a well deserved win for the Giants.  Go Team!  Check out the quick game recap at the Giants Website.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

To SLO Again

Though this week started off badly, waking up and having to deal with the smashed Volvo, it's been filled with mostly highs.  Some Highlights:
1. Though the deer did some damage, the car is not totaled and will be fixed. Yay!
2. Chris arranged a rental car that the insurance pays for, so I have wheels while the car is in the shop.
3. An on-sale Jacket from the Gap showed up on my doorstep.  It fits perfectly and is perfect for the mild fall weather we get in the bay area.  I wore it every day this week.


4. On Friday Chris arranged a rental car trade in for an awesome Dodge Ram TRUCK.  It is almost exactly like the one he drove when we started dating.  He actually squealed with glee when he saw it.
5. We then road tripped it back down to SLO for a final weekend getting the house clean and ready for rental.
6. We busted our butts cleaning windows, floors, touching up paint, wiping down cabinets, installing a new garbage disposal, changing fire alarms, replacing bulbs & cleaning light fixtures, and even pressure washing the whole exterior of the house and the driveway!  Phewwww!
7. We got to watch the Giants win the NLB championship finals against Philly with the family, and that means the Giants are heading to the World Series!  How cool is that?

On a bad note:  I screwed up my back on the great house cleaning, probably with all the obsessive power washing I did... I'm praying that I feel better tomorrow.  But at least the house looks better than ever; everything is in tip-top shape - down to the lightbulbs.  I am hoping we get renters soon.  Fingers crossed!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Oh Deer!

First, Chris and I are okay.  Second, we hit a deer with our car on the way home from SLO tonight.
My dear husband was driving, thank goodness as I would have completely freaked out, and as he came around a curve on Hwy 101, he found a deer standing on the white line looking away from the car.  He swerved to avoid it but clipped it with the front driver headlight of the car.  Our front headlight was shattered and the front of the car is bent a little on that side.  Judging from the little bit of blood and hair found on our car, the deer is not doing well.  Luckily the car seems to drive fine and the headlight somehow still works.
We were able to make it home okay after a quick stop to buy Duct Tape to secure the headlight beam towards the front.  I just have to say, thank God that it wasn't worse, we are alright, and the car will likely be okay.  It could have been such a disaster.  I hope everyone remembers that anything can happen, please drive safely.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

SLO Time

Back in San Luis Obispo for a family visit this weekend.  Plans are lots of time with the D.O.G., getting our SLO house ready to rent out again, shoe shopping @ Charles, watching the Giants & Phillies championship game 1 (go Giants!) on the big HD screen, and free laundry (feels like college for some reason...).
And
Later...  the D.O.G. has been played with, the laundry is in process sans coins, some shoes have been purchased, and the Giants have won game 1 of the championship!  House is not ready, but 4 out of 5 isn't too bad for a Saturday to-do list.
Great experience buying my new shoes from Charles - Above are Naturalizer 'Maude' in Nickel Alloy.  Pretty flats and they can be worn with nearly anything.  Available at Shoes.com.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Fishing Trip

 A couple of weeks ago I got to join my mother-in-law and some of her friends in Morro Bay, CA for a fishing trip.  I wasn't to sure about the fishing idea, but I love being on the water and I thought it might be fun.  It was a beautiful day and such a joy to be doing something new.
 We went out on the ocean and had a great time learning how to bait my hooks, cast out, and tell when there was a fish on the line (I caught 6).  We hauled in about 14 rock fish in the course of about 4 hours, with the waves high and a cold wind.
It was a little sad to watch the crew fillet out our fish, but it was good to remind myself about where food comes from and experience it from sea to plate.  We cooked up the fish with simple olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and sat out on the deck looking over the hills and recapping our day with the boys.

Fingers Crossed

Giants are playing the Braves tonight in the 4th game of the playoffs.  Giants have won two games, Braves have won 1.  If the Giants win, it's to the division playoffs with the Phillies, then hopefully the World Series. We'll be watching with bated breath, fingers crossed tonight.  [10/12/10 Amendment: YES!!! Giants beat the Braves 3-2!  Here's to more Giants baseball; hopefully all the way to the World Series!]

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Bubble Chambers


These amazing images are photographs of the patterns of proton collisions captured through a Bubble Chamber.  Per Teachers.web:

"Bubble chamber photographs provide an insightful introduction to the exotic short-lived particles that emerge from all high energy accelerator experiments...  Since they show actual trails of bubbles that are formed as charged particles force their way through an unstable liquid, bubble chamber pictures are perceived by non-particle physicists as real, and therefore a good way to introduce particle physics. The pictures themselves are quite often easy to understand in an intuitive, qualitative way."


Science is pretty cool after all, huh?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Graphics

Chris and I discovered this image a few months ago, and we both fell in love with it.  I think it would look great printed on a large canvas as a piece of art.  Can you guess what this is?

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Soup Night

Curried butternut squash soup is on the stove bubbling away, chicken is roasting in the oven, there's a movie on, and my feet are up.  Ahhhh..... peace.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Happy First Day of Fall


Hello Fall!  I am so looking forward to you this year, here's why:

  • I have just discovered how fun and easy it is to bake bread.  I'm hoping to fill the house with hot fresh bread smell at least 1x per week.
  • After work hikes without melting in the heat.
  • Watching a pair of good friends get ready for a baby!  And get married (that was planned prior to the baby news)!
  • Butternut squash soup; but just using about 1/2 the curry powder called for.
  • Starting a family-style dinner club.
  • Learning to knit again, or maybe crochet for the first time.
  • Turning the above home grown apples from a friend into a dessert of some kind, suggestions anyone?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Boat Ride

Went for a boat ride on the Bay last night for a training for work.... interesting that they chose a training site that we couldn't leave...
I managed to escape to the deck a few times to see the sights, the bay bridge construction, golden gate bridge, and the San Francisco city skyline.
It was pretty astounding and well worth the drive over to the Berkeley Marina. However, the traffic to get back over the bay bridge at rush hour to get back home was horrific!  At least I had this guy to keep me company...  he had just about every wild animal possible attached to his motorcycle.

Monday, September 20, 2010

2nd Annual Last Weekend of Summer Celebration

We have started a tradition of getting away the last weekend of Summer to relax and unwind with our friends at the cabin at Bass Lake.  It is a great time to bond and spend time with some of the people we love best in our lives, and a wonderful way to say goodbye to the season.  Some highlights:
  • Campfires and S'mores
  • Home cooked family style meals, and I quote my friend D,"I haven't eaten like this since my Grandma"
D at the Lake
  • Lots of time at the dock, both in the water, and out.
D at the Lake
  • Learning to play Skip-Bo
  • Naps
L napping with her dog on the dock
  • Stories, jokes, and giggles
  • Growing closer as friends
Well, I think it is safe to say a good time was had by all and it was time well spent.  I'm already plotting the 3rd annual 'Last Weekend of Summer at the Lake' for 2011.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Off for the Weekend

Off for the 2nd annual last weekend of summer celebration.  Photos and updates later.