Bon Voyage!

Well, Alex made it through Quarter #5 of school; 7 more to go! This afternoon we are off on our Disney trip and are so excited! We'll be in Disney World 4 days and the cruise for 4/5 days. It's both of our first cruise ever and also the first time to stay in the 2 hotels we'll be at. The Devers are going with us and we all are just thrilled.....I am sure I'll have oodles of pics to share:)

Juicy Juicy!

This afternoon, I received a wonderful surprise gift. Susan bought me this gorgeous Juicy handbag, socks and so cute keychain. It was quite special to me for a few reasons...1) I had bought a Juicy wallet back in June that has been needing a "companion," and she remembered this, along with knowing I love Westies, 2) It was a challenging day for me and this totally lifted my spirits, and 3) I adore their little boy, Daniel, and have been fortunate to be able to spend so much time with him, and to get to know and befriend his lovely parents. Thank you, Susan!

(Very) random inventions

Last week I found this at Williams-Sonoma and just had to get it. I love making cupcakes and have had a hard time figuring out how to send one in Alex's lunches. Not anymore! Isn't it so cute? It really holds the cupcake in just the right spot without smearing any of the icing!

Another cool invention I encountered, but haven't yet convinced myself to buy, is this natural peanut butter stirrer. As I've mentioned, we love natural peanut butter. But stirring the oil and ground peanuts when first opening the jar is a huge mess. SO this would be fantastic to buy one day....(found at www.witmerproducts.com).

Speaking of inventions, I was thinking about whoever invented Pull-Ups and how rich they must be now. Parents go through them like crazy. When we were kids, those things weren't around, how did our parents do it. They must've had so many wet underpants. I even remember the first Pull-Up commercials and how everyone thought they were so cool (or at least, I did). So, I am very grateful to whoever it was that took the risk of thinking them up, marketing them and creating a great glorified diaper.

Day of Rest

After a fun whirlwind weekend of nannying, Alex and I relished our Sunday of rest. I took a little nap after church and Alex made a delicious dinner of salmon with bacon, caramelized onions, green beans & potatoes and cornbread. We forgot to take a photo, however:( Then, I spent time reading my newspaper and trying to get organized for our big trip (5 days to go!). Later that evening, us, the McDonough's & Rogers' played Phase 10 over at the Black's and ended up getting a little crazy with the camera.....Michelle had us play her "game" shake face where you let your skin on your face loose and shake your head.

Becca made this delicious German pancake; you can add lemon juice & powdered sugar or syrup. Or both if you are Alex (yep he buzzed his head, that's him on the left).

Here's Brian jumping on his couch acting giddy. We had a silly night, lots of fun:)

Splurge vs. Steal

I saw this on my cousin-in-law Sandy's blog and thought it would be fun to start here....

List 10 things you are willing to splurge on and 10 things you definitely will not!

Things I'm willing to splurge on:

1. Peanut Butter-No more Jif/Skippy, only for baking! The natural ones (favorite is Adams) taste soooo much better. We used to only get chunky with the others, the naturals taste so fresh, we'll take creamy any day, too!
2. Costco-If it's there, I'll get it. I get so excited in there, so many cool things at great prices. Alex has realized this, and I think he secretly waits for things he wants to appear here because then I can't say no (tv, xbox, stereo, etc...)
3. School-We're at the most expensive dental school in one of the most expensive cities. But it's so worth finishing a year early, yay for UOP!!
4. Flowers-Ever since our wedding, I love them so. My faves are gerbera daisies and tulips, but whatever's in season will do. And we now always have our little bansai Akiko:)
5. Paper goods-Cards, scrapbook paper, note cards, etc. Paper Source and Papyrus are wonderful, and just up a few streets (a good and bad thing...).
6. Ice Cream-My all time favorite is Breyers natural vanilla. Just can't have the airy kinds in the rectangle boxes. The store brands in the Dreyers type cartons are fine, however. Oh, and gelato is so delicious!
7. Alex-Since we don't have kids, he takes the place for now I guess. He has enough toys, but sometimes I just can't help buying him things. It's so fun to see how happy he gets!
8. Eating Out-SF has too many yummy places, we can't pass it up. We try for once every week or two. I need to get my list together of everywhere I want to go before we move. And we have a rule, can't eat at the same place twice (already been broken).
9. Nordy's Anniversary Sale-Previous post on this.
10. Bread-Oroweat is the best for grocery breads. But Costco here has Semifreddo loaves and La Brea Bakery. Bay Bread, Acme, Arzimendi, Boudin's...SF is the bread capital of America.

Now, 10 things I won't splurge on:

1. Books-I love them, but am drawn to the libraries, and the bookmobile. If I have to have it, amazon is great for deals
2. Cable-We had it for free, but they took it away and I can't justify getting it quite yet.
3. Transportation-we have no cars and I walk everywhere so I don't have to get a bus pass....
4. Pizza-Safeway's Verdi brand is much better than delivery, and Costco sells CPK's!
5. CDs-It's all about itunes now.
6. Video Games-Dad works at Microsoft now, enough said.
7. Clothes-I like Target. The anniversary sale is my exception:)
8. Makeup-I still have tons of free stuff from Nordy's; other than mascara, I should be good for a few more years...
9. Cereal-Alex eats so much of it, I have to use coupons or whatever's on sale. $5 for a box is ridiculous.
10. A Planner-I have a flimsy Reader's Digest calendar my mom found in the house. Maybe this next year Ill get something fancier.

How about you???

Labor Day weekend

Alex and I ventured out on Saturday and just ended up walking around the city. It was a gorgeous weekend here and we were grateful to be able to have time to enjoy it together!

This is one of the historic streetcars that runs through Market Street to the Embarcadero. Each one is unique and has its own old school feel. I think they even beat the cable cars in my mind, mainly because they are included in the $1.50 fare like the bus (you can even use a transfer), whereas the cables are $5 each way!

Ruehl is my new favorite store, which happens to be in my new favorite mall, the new part of Westfield SF Centre. This store is owned by Abercrombie, but classier and is themed after New York, or at least I am guessing since I've never been there....it just feels so cooooool.

Alex is sneaky, he got this photo and we didn't even get chased down for a dollar.

SF has a lot of these hearts around the city (this was in Union Square). I think it's for some sort of centennial celebration. So we started to have me get a pic by each one, but I don't know where they all are; that could be a good goal for the year.

Yesterday morning, we had breakfast in Cole Valley, at Zazie, with the Black's, Rogers', Davis' and Whiting's. It was so delicious. I would definitely return, next to try the massive pancakes.

Zazie opened at 9 for the holiday and that was when we got there. So we were lucky enough to sit in the back on the patio, all together, and we didn't even have to wait! It's always a treat to eat with good friends:)

The Best T-shirt Ever

This is the coolest shirt. I first saw it in the Haight Ashbury at a video store and asked how much it was, but couldn't get myself to pay for it then. Well, after thinking about it and wanting more and more to get it for Alex, I went in a month or two later, and of course all they had left was XL, which just doesn't work for a 5'6" husband. Now since I couldn't get it, I wanted it even more. And nowhere else in the city seemed to have it. So I resorted to online and actually found it for a few dollars cheaper! We are now offically ready for Season 4, which starts Sept. 27, which is our cruise debarkation day. I really hope our Disney hotel will have NBC in the room! If you don't know which show it is, just tune in on the 27th at 9pm, you won't be sorry.