HI & BI...Heather & Alex

4th of July

2011-07-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

We had a nice 4th this year here in the East Bay. The holiday is a great excuse to dress Lizzie up in her patriotic garb and take cute photos.

The morning of the 4th, we brought Lizzie over to our neighborhood park for a mini photo shoot. She had fun as always.Here she is standing by herself again! Still not walking alone yet.

In the early afternoon, we headed over to one of Alex's co-resident's home for a BBQ. It was wild and crazy with oysters and dogs.After a much-needed late 2nd nap, we ended the day at a park with church friends. No fireworks watching this year. We almost made it that late, but not quite. Maybe next year.

Lizzie's Big Day(s)

2011-06-20T15:39:00.001-07:00

A week ago, Lizzie had her first birthday! It was quite an exciting day, at least for Alex and me. We really cannot believe it's been a year since this little girl came into our lives.

This is the first birthday card she received. I cannot stop laughing at this photo. After taking so many pictures, Lizzie sees the camera and instantly starts squinting in preparation for the flash. Funny girl.
Alex has been on a pathology rotation this month over in SF. On Lizzie's bday, we dropped him off in the morning and just hung out until he was done. Then, we went to Serramonte Mall to let her play and gave her her first Happy Meal.

She used to love chicken nuggets, but now she's skeptical of most foods. So she didn't touch the nuggets or apples. All she ate/drank was milk, one of Alex's fries and a few bites of my tortilla. Currently, all she likes to eat is any bread product, peanut butter, mashed bananas and dairy.

The day before (Sunday) we had a little party at our place. The cake above I got at Sam's. It was supposed to be one with palm trees and flip flops, but they messed up. Oh well, it was cute. But, right after I took this photo, I ruined it :( Lizzie reached for it, so I held her back, grabbed the cake with one hand, and it slid off and tumbled over. I was bummed. At least it was still tasty.I saw this garland at a local bookshop and had to get it. Although, it came with only one Z! Thankfully, some talented friends were able to solve that dilemma.

We didn't do anything fancy (since my summery beach theme got foiled); just mini corn dogs, cookies and such, Lizze pops, pita chips, etc. It was fun to have a few of Lizzie's friends over. She had a couple overwhelming outbursts, but overall she had a blast.
She was so proud of herself here! Still not walking by herself, she just gets around pushing her toy and cruising, but can pull herself up from a squat just fine.

Babies in birthday hats are the cutest.

Monday night we gave her the smash cake Alex made. I'm glad we did it with just us 3 because she sat there and had no interest. Alex finally put her hand in the cake, she tried it, made a yuck face and tried to get that sticky stuff off her fingers. Oh well, we tried.

Stats: 20 lbs 12 oz. 29 inches

So what's life like with a 1 year old? Lively! Lizzie is super active- a speedy crawler who loves stair climbing. She'll sit by the door and beg like a dog to go out and down the hall in our apts, then up the stairs. Speaking of dogs, that's the only word ("da") she says so far that associates correctly. She loves going to the park, especially the swings!
She still takes 2 good naps each day. Goes to bed around 8:30 after bath, story, milk and teeth brushing. Wakes up around 7am. Only has 4 teeth so far. Loves her Leaptop computer, stacking buckets and animal puzzle. Likes to cuddle and get kisses :) Her giggles are adorable and she sucks her thumb like a champ.... Lately she's been inspecting my mouth and checking out my teeth, we'll see where that leads.
Like I mentioned, she's gotten quite picky with food (takes after me I suppose). Used to love meatballs and cheese. Now she eats a couple bites and loses interest. Just wants cookies, crackers, etc and loves her sippy with milk.
She makes us laugh constantly, is pretty darn cute and we couldn't be more grateful for our Lizzie-pop.

April 2011 Vacay

2011-05-15T23:36:00.001-07:00

Alex got April off this year and it was spent in Vegas. By far, the longest time we've spent there as "visitors" and we had a fantastic time. This one month off each year makes residency tolerable and is one of the few things I'll miss about it when it's over (2ish years to go!!).

We went to The Wicked Spoon buffet at the Cosmopolitan with the fam and it was AMAZING. Everything was laid out so fancily and a lot of the items came in mini pots, fry baskets, take-out boxes, skillets, etc. The dessert bar was crazy. A huge gelato bar, chocolate covered what- have-you's and cobbler, among others.

Lizzie even had a blast! She ate polenta with gorgonzola and truffle mashed potatoes. Although, on the way home, she threw it all up:( Poor girl, I felt so bad for her. And then there was her skin- she was as dry as an elephant.

Easter was wonderful. We had dinner and an Easter egg hunt at the Stratton's.

Back at the Isom's, we attempted a quick photo session....

Lizzie had the best time with her cousins. Tristan especially got some good belly laughs out of this girl!
And DOGS! A major hit. Obsessed.
Andrea drove down from SoCal for a weekend. This was one of her *many* adventures.
Kelly and I got to see each other a couple times. Oh how I miss her. And not just because she knows my hair perfectly ;).Alex and I even got to go out together! We headed to the Wynn and admired all of its elegance. One day I will stay there.

Andrea and I discovered this fun little frog show at the Wynn, so I had to show Alex. Garth performs there, so this was in honor of him. It is awesome. If you get a chance, it's by the parasols- check it out.
Lizzie did amazingly well on our drives. We were smarter on the way back and left early in the morning. MUCH better than leaving at 8pm and almost not making it awake 8.5 hrs later.
I'm ready to go back.

Disneyland Test-Run

2011-03-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we decided to be spontaneous. Alex got home Friday afternoon and asked what we should do. As usual, I said something to the effect of "I don't know, it doesn't matter to me". Since living in the Bay Area we had never driven to SoCal. So we did. I called Andrea to make a few arrangements, we gave Lizzie her necessary bath and pjs, loaded up and took off. She slept the whole 5.5 hrs, it was perfect.

Andrea was the most hospitable host. Saturday we did Disneyland for as long as Lizzie allowed. It was fun, and it taught us we're not ready for Orlando quite yet.

This face seemed to be what we got most of the day. Lizzie seemed interested in what was going on, but a bit confused. Maybe in a year or so, we'll get more smiles *fingers crossed* :) We made it on 2 rides- It's a Small World and Winnie the Pooh.

Since Andrea lives in Burbank, we just had to get a pic on front of this. And, it smelled so delicious here, I could've stood there all day.

At California Adventure, there used to be the "CALIFORNIA" blocks sign out front. It's gone, and apparently not returning :( This temporary structure is here instead. It's cute, but I want the letters back!
Lizzie did get her 2 naps of the day in one way or another...

And then we ran into some familiar faces, just in time to head on home. We came back Sunday late morning. Lizzie definitely prefers bedtime road trips over middle of the day.

Bye, bye Aunt Andrea- we miss you!

A Churrascaria

2011-02-12T10:26:00.001-08:00

Last night we went with Jeff and Shao to Pikanha's in Richmond. None of us were quite sure what to expect, being in Richmond especially, but it was delicious and fun! Lizzie was quite excited to discover what the next tasty item would be on the skewer (is that what they're called?).

Roasted pineapple with cinnamon. This was a favorite. Along with the chicken breast wrapped in bacon, juicy pork sausage, tri tip, parmesan sirloin. Oh, all right, it was all good.

Lizzie stuck with mashed beans. She seemed to approve!

Guarana was the drink of choice, naturally. Unless you're me, the most typical American with her Diet Coke :) Lizzie was a bit distracted by that Brazilian bottle.
Getting out some of her wiggles.
2nd try at the family shot. Much cuter! This was actually our first venture out to a full-on restaurant with the babe. Yeah, we don't get out much. Here's to dining out!

7.5 Months

2011-02-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

The past 6 weeks or so have brought about some big milestones for Lizzie. Who is this baby? It's crazy how fast she's growing; I feel like she's a whole new little human sometimes. Here's a little rundown of the latest happenings.

Bottle feeding: Not happening. I had one day this week where I got quite frustrated and tried to go cold turkey with a bottle and formula. Dumb idea. Today she did drink about 5 oz in a sippy cup which is major news. If I get my way in this, I'm hoping that once she's used to it in a sippy, we can then try the bottle again...?

Crawling: Lizzie can get around! Upon returning from a bathroom break, I found her in this spot. She's an army crawl pro and almost has the full-on crawl down. She also just figured out how to get herself sitting from being on her belly. And, she loves to stand with us holding her. She can lean against a mirror standing for about 3 minutes.

Favorite toys: the alarm clock on the floor in her room, Laugh n Learn pup and any cord/electronic that she shouldn't have (naturally).

This photo is just to show how she pulls her bumper down when she's ready to get picked up. It's quite funny to us that she figured this out. Poor thing.

Sleeping: She does pretty well. Putting her down at night is a breeze. We do bath, pjs (which that, along with getting the diaper on has become the hardest part of the day), sometimes a book, feed, then into bed. Lately she's been waking up around 2am to eat, but it seems to be more of a habit thing, then goes right back down. So, I'm trying to wean her off of this small feeding. She wakes for the day around 8am, happy and ready to play!

This photo was taken at Beth's. I just had to put her in a bumbo because Alex is not a fan so we'll probably never own one. She didn't last long there and squirmed out of it pretty fast.

Teeth: She now has 2 pearlies on the bottom. They came in a week or so ago, and with a vengeance. She screamed quite a bit. And, she had a nasty cold, so it got worse, along with a fever, vomiting, the whole deal. It was short-lived, thankfully.Although, I hear the tops are worse....

Eating: This has its ups and downs. She loves sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots, all pureed baby food. I want to start making my own, but we may just move on to table food soon anyway. We'll see. Chopped avocados aren't her favorite :( Pears and apple sauces she tolerates. Bananas mashed are yummy. She likes to play with the puffs and can get them in her mouth, but doesn't like the taste. Loves playing with her spoon and really loves water in her sippy. As far as chunky stuff, she hasn't gotten the hang of it and just kinda plays with it and moves it all over the place (see above pic).

So that's Lizzie these days. I really can't complain, she bring us a lot of joy and laughs. A happy little treat she is :)

Living Space

2011-01-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

Our living room has recently gone from this,(or a usually somewhat-cluttered version of this):

To this:

After 7 years, we decided it's time for a change. Thank you, Craigslist, for making our place barer a bit quicker than expected. See that rolled up rug? It's waiting for the couch to arrive in another 7-11 weeks so that we can unveil the new arrangement all at once. But, until then, 2 people can "relax", while one ellipticizes :)
I will definitely be posting the final product in 2ish months! Although, then, apparently, we have to move *somewhere*, thanks to our apartment's latest construction. So, who knows what will happen....

8 Christmases

2010-12-25T11:21:00.001-08:00

The past few days I've been thinking about Christmases past, perhaps more than usual due to the fact that this year is the most different than any other. Here's a little chronicle of how we've spent the day since we've been married.

2003- Living in Vegas. Had been married 4 months and lived in our condo. I was working at Nordstrom and Alex in school at UNLV. Spent Christmas at the Isom home. Cornish hen dinner on Christmas Eve. I remember indulging on Ethel M chocolates from 2 huge boxes Alex's mom brought out. We got our coffee table!

2004- Christmas Eve in Vegas, since I was still at Nordstrom. Tasha (Alex's sis) announced she was pregnant with Wesley. My family was in Minersville, UT with my grandpa, so we drove up there Christmas morning to spend the day with them. Drove back that night to be ready for work the next day.

2005- First Christmas without Alex's mom. Still living in Vegas. Flew up to WA to celebrate with my family.

2006- Living in San Francisco. Had driven to Vegas for Thanksgiving, so went up to WA for Christmas. Bobby back from his mission.

2007- Living in SF. Flew to Vegas for Christmas, then back to SF, then New Years in WA. I remember playing lots of Rock Band.

2008- Living in SF, last year of dental school. Christmas in WA.

2009- Alex's 1st year of residency, living in Emeryville. Took a last-minute flight to WA on Christmas morning. Stayed at the Courtyard Marriott since the Kaler house was quite full. Freezing cold. I was almost 3 months pregnant. Alex went back the following day, I stayed through New Years.

2010- Living in Emeryville. Alex on trauma rotation, so he's working all day Christmas until the 26th. He was off Christmas Eve, so Lizzie opened her Santa gift (Laugh & Learn pup) and some cute gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Kaler that morning. Hung out in San Ramon for the day, did some window shopping. Lizzie and I spending Christmas day home in our pjs.

Merry Christmas!!!

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread house decorating is a must-do in the Isom home. Usually, we do it up in WA, but it's time to move along with that. Guess what, now Costco sells the houses already glued together, tree and a resident included. Oh Costco, you keep outdoing yourself and I absolutely love it.

The Heddells joined us for some fun designing. I have to admit, theirs was much more creative than ours- Santa even stopped by, along with a hidden snowman!

Lizzie supervised for the first half or so of the night, until bath and bedtime took precedent. Here she is getting used to her high chair.

Us all admiring our finished products. We are definitely making this a yearly tradition.

6 Months

2010-12-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

I really can't believe our little Lizzie is 6 months old yesterday. What?! That's just crazy. Anyway, here are a few of her facts & figures (I waited to post til today since we had her Dr. appt and dreaded shots):

- 16 lbs 6 oz (60th percentile)
- 26.25 inches (70th percentile) Where that comes from, I have no clue.
- 16.5 inch head circumference (34th percentile)

She sits up all the time and loves her little Sofie giraffe chew toy and gloworm.
Loves playing with her feet, especially when getting a diaper change.
Also loves to roll over (only to the right, however) when getting dressed or diapered (oh so convenient, haha)
No teeth yet!
Can get on all fours, but hasn't figured out how to move on from there
Tried some peas as her first food last night and tolerated them.

So the doctor says on with the solids! To say I'm a little anxious is an understatement. I don't really have a reason to be, either, since we have no food allergy histories and she's quite interested in the eating process in general. Oh, well, wish us luck!

A Consumer Christmas

2010-12-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

Is this not the ugliest Holiday tree you've ever seen? And I did intentionally use "holiday" because I'm quite sure that's what whoever designed it would deem it.I found this beauty in my own backyard and just had to snap a photo to show how interesting it really is. And, to let Alex see since he hasn't had the pleasure of making it over to Bay Street recently.
I have to admit that the first few times I strolled by, I thought it was just the frame of a tree being created. Finally, after about a week of wondering when in the heck it'd be done, I looked a bit closer. Ah, that's the final product. The photo may be a bit hard to tell, but they're a bunch of shopping carts. So, yeah, it's an artistic idea, and if it's gotta be anywhere, Emeryville is a perfect location, with all the lofts and tech businesses and such. But, really? Who would want to take a nice Christmastime family snapshot in front of that thing?

Candy

2010-10-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I have a *major* sweet tooth. It's borderline impossible for me, for example, to enter a shopping mall without stopping for a goodie bag at Sweet Factory. And, on that note, I get quite diappointed if I go to a mall and there are only those little candy machines in the middle over an actual candy store. Of course, Sweet Factory is ridiculously overpriced, but the fact alone that I can mix and match to my heart's content makes me happy.
So far this year, I've only bought one bag of Halloween candy, and it's almost gone. I knew better, but gave in to Walmart's evil ways. The bag I got had Milk Duds, Heath, Reese's Pieces, Rolo and Kit Kat. According to Alex, I could've done better.
Now with Lizzie around, Trick or Treating keeps popping up in my head. First off, do we take her already? Of course, she can't partake, but babies in costume are too darn cute, especially giraffes :) If we take her to the mall, do we bring a little candy bag, or would that look super greedy??
Anyway, back to candy. I remember as a kid going through my stash with my sibs and organizing the best, average and worst picks that we received. Here's what I remember....

Bests:
-Reese's pb cups
-Snickers
-Twix!
-Starburst
-Krackel or Crunch
-Butterfinger
-M&M's
-ANY full-size candy bar (very rare on our blocks)

Averages:
-Fatter tootsie rolls
-Skittles
-Laffy Taffy
-Now or Later
-Hershey's plain chocolate
-Twizzlers
-Tootsie pops
-Kit Kat
-Baby Ruth
-Payday
-Milky Way
-3 Musketeers
-Almond Joy/Mounds

Worsts:
-Jolly Rancher
-Blow Pops
-Smarties
-Dum Dums
-Little Tootsie Rolls
-Raisins!
-Pretzels (really, come on now...)
-Bottle Caps
-Sweet Tarts
-any hard candies (peppermints, butterscotch disks, strawberries, etc.)
-Necco Wafers
-Stickers, or any other inedible whatever

Anything I'm missing??

Lizzie Site

2010-10-24T00:04:00.000-07:00

Since Alex is such a photog geek, we decided to make a blog dedicated to Lizzie pics. This way, this blog doesn't get Lizzie overload. Of course, since my life seems to revolve around her, she'll still show up on here, but this site is her pretty picture place :) So, just head on over to alexisom.wordpress.com and check it out.

Here's a little peek of what to expect!

FW Reunion, but not in F-Dub

2010-10-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is an addendum to my previous post...photos were missing...thanks Danielle ;)

Danielle, Christina and I got together while we were up in WA. It had been ages since us Freshman BYU roomies were able to meet up! I can't believe it's been over 10 years since we lived together. So many memories in that Heritage Halls dorm (I believe it was Richards Hall...?)
Anyway, we hung out for a bit at Danielle's up in Seattle, and I wish I had more time to spend with them! Apparently, after I left, Trophy Cupcakes was visited. Yep, I missed out!

Hopefully, our kiddies can become buddies, although Lizzie's currently the oddball of the group :)
Miss you both!!

First trip to WA

2010-10-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Lizzie and I spent the past 10 days up in good ol' FW. It was a blast! Alex came up for the weekend and we got to enjoy the surprising dry and sunny weather.

Brian and Laura with a bear cub. Oh, sorry, that's Lizzie :) The amount of brown she wears, you'd expect her to pass as a little cubbie.

She's rolling now, at least from her back to tummy, and this is how she ends up in bed occasionally. Her lifeless arms crack me up.

Aunt Andrea reading her a book. I can't say enough how loving my family is with Lizzie. It's such a treat to watch them all interact with her. Andrea sure knows how to pick out cute clothes, too! Yay for bedtime stories!

We took a trip to see Rira and her spankin' new condo. I wish we had more time to hang out!

Laura and Brian with the babe. They got some sweet baby time. One day, she'll have a cousin or two, right??

Most of the Kaler clan, minus Bobby, Uncle Ron, Kelli & Ronny. It was awesome to see everyone and we miss you all!!

Tagged

2010-10-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

Luanne tagged me. I love these things. Her questions made me think!

1. What is your favorite part about you? Not needing that much sleep to function. I guess it's been on my mind a bit more than usual these days ;)

2. If you could vacation any where, where would you go? This is a given, and I know oh so redundant, but it is and will always be Disney World. I love it and can never get enough.

3. What does the best meal ever involve? Waffles and peanut butter. But it has to be some brand of natural pb. You know, the kinds that need to be stirred until you feel like your wrist will fall off.

4. Name your favorite sweet. There is no way I can name only one. Yogurtland froyo, pumpkin pie, apple pie, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, peanut butter cookies, yogurt pretzels, chocolate covered gummy bears, shortbread, old fashioned glazed donuts, any See's chocolates. Ok, that's enough.

5. Up to now what is your greatest accomplishment? Definitely our little Lizzie

6. What would be your best day ever? Christmas with both of our families together at a cabin somewhere. Wouldn't that be just awesome....

7. Favorite season and why? Probably Fall. The anticipation is there leading up to the Holidays, the leaves are all so pretty, and the food gets really, really delicious. Hello, pumpkin!

8. What is the best book you've ever read? I don't think I have an all time best, but I immensely enjoyed The Tipping Point and Outliers.

3 Months Already

2010-09-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I really can't believe it's been 3 months since I've blogged. How many times can I say something like that. Oops.
Life with Lizzie has been amazing and wonderful. She's growing up so fast and I can't believe how much she's changed already!

This is part of Lizzie's bedroom. Yes, it's cute. But Lizzie doesn't seem to care. She isn't fond of her crib. Actually, I think she may hate it. So, it just sits there looking nice. Alex put the bumper back up yesterday to make it look complete since I've kind of given up on getting her to sleep in it for a little while.

This isn't the most flattering photo of little Lizzie -Pop (get it? like the Izze sodas? heehee), but we had to document her thumb sucking. This is just one of the things that I said I'd never let my kid do, but it's happened and I'll let it slide for awhile as well. BUT, it helps so much in getting her to self-soothe and stay asleep. Maybe this post should be titled "things I never thought I'd allow..."

Our families came into town for Lizzie's blessing about a month ago. Here I am with my side at the San Francisco Creamery in Walnut Creek. It was on that wonderful show Man v. Food, so we HAD to try the Kitchen Sink! Nope, we couldn't finish it either. It was delicious and pretty fun to try. If we can't go to Beaches & Cream, this'll do just fine :)

Us in front of the Oakland Temple. No, she was not blessed IN the temple. Our ward meets at the stake center right next to it, so we were able to get our photos outside. It was a gorgeous day! The few photos we got of the 3 of us had Lizzie like that in each one. That dress was way too slippery and she was worn out and not in the mood for a photo shoot. Such is life...

Since Alex usually is the one taking photos, I wanted to snap a quick one of him with her. Just a nice Saturday at home. Alex has been pretty busy the past couple months so any chance he has to spend with us isn't taken for granted! I'm a bit too into the whole pink and brown combo. All these baby sales will be the death of me, or at least our checkbook, ha!

This was taken just this morning. I had to capture her actually enjoying tummy time, because before the past couple days, it was torture to her. If I get her down right after she eats, she does ok now for a few minutes. I'm so proud of my strong little girlie!

Little Lizzie

2010-06-26T22:26:00.001-07:00

Our little girl came into the world this past Sunday, June 20 at 11:48pm. She made it just in the nick of time for Father's Day! Her stats: 6.0 pounds, 20 inches. We love her to pieces and she is the most precious thing.
Sunday morning, I woke up and felt as though my water could be breaking. I wasn't sure since it was more of a strong trickle over a gush, but was also getting some contractions that seemed regular. After much internal debate (I feared being sent home and told it was a false alarm), I called Kaiser and they told me to come in. The whole time I was deciding, Alex got everything ready to go- he seemed to know this was it. This was the last thing I expected since I wasn't due until July 13!
After checking in, the nurses checked and sure enough, I was leaking amniotic fluid- admitted I became. At that point we called the parents since it was official the baby was on the way- surprise!
Once I was settled into my glorious L & D suite, the waiting began. My contractions got more spaced apart and less intense, so I had to go the pitocin route. It wasn't that bad. Probably since I also got the epidural around 4 cm :) I was scared for that, but that was the least of my worries.
After Mary Poppins and Toy Story and a bit more waiting, I was to 10cm and the 3 HOURS of pushing began. It was intense and the hardest thing I've ever done. I really didn't think she was ever going to come out. The clock kept ticking along and with each contraction I gave it my all and it seemed like nothing would budge. Finally, the last 3 or 4 push sessions, she decided to make her entrance. WOW, the most rewarding workout of my life!
Since I spiked a fever toward the end of pushing, protocol requires the baby to go to the NICU. So, the first 2 days of Lizzie's life were spent there. She graduated out of there for our final night at the hospital with us, then we went home on Wednesday.

Kaiser provides a celebration dinner, complete with sparkling cider and keepsake glasses. We had salmon and steak, with quite good strawberry cream cake. This photo was taken before all my swelling and post partum recovery had really set in, so now I feel a bit blah, but trying to remember it's temporary...
Alex is head over heels in love with this girl and it makes me so, so happy. He is the best daddy and it just warms my heart when they cuddle :)

Here she is in the NICU, I think about 2 days old. Her hair is so light and she's got a good amount of it, it really cracks me up- not what I expected! She's hilarious with her facial expressions.

Alex is starting to experiment with the photos, it's been fun, but this is just the beginning of the crazy photo shoots. Not that I'm complaining- you can never have too many baby photos, right?
Anyway, we're grateful to have a healthy baby girl and she is the biggest blessing in our lives. Thank you for all the well wishes, phone calls, advice, willingness to help, etc. We are truly blessed and still can't believe such an angel has joined our little famliy.

May

2010-05-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun month. The weather has been awesome and we're continuing to enjoy our last month and a half or so before Lizzie arrives.
Rira came to visit! She got to be the first one to sleep in our updated guest room that is being transformed for baby. It was a great weekend. We took her to Fenton's and got the Black & Tan for dessert- a definite favorite!

We also did some shopping at CB2 and West Elm and saw Iron Man 2. And I couldn't let Rira leave without a trip to Yogurtland!
The one in San Ramon is my favorite and it never disappoints :)

Alex has been taking tons of photos and trying out portrait shots. He practiced some action pics at the church softball game.
We're getting the baby/guest room ready. Got the crib, bedding and her name on the wall. Still deciding on a decal of some sort (I'm thinking a tree, perhaps...?). Here's a sneak peek:
And, yes, that is definitely her name! After the time it took to make these letters, it is not changing. Promise.

I'm still doing the cooking/baking blog (that sucks my time away from this blog!) and it's been fun. Thank goodness for Alex's photog hobby or my pics would be a mess. Our friend Luanne taught me how to make homemade bread and it was deeeelicious! It'll make it on the blog eventually :)

Oh, yes! I'll be 33 weeks on Tuesday. Things are going fine, we're still growing and Lizzie's been letting me know she's alive with her little pokes and jabs. My ankles occasionally get swollen at night and sleeping is always an adventure in itself, but so far I've been functioning as usual. If she decides to show up a week or two early, I really won't mind- we're excited to meet her! Here is what I look like as of today:

That's my summary for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things since that seems to be a much too frequent habit of mine as of late....

It's Been Too Long....

2010-04-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

Of all the times I should be blogging about our goings-on in our lives, now would be the time. But, maybe because of all the things we've been doing, I've been distracted from this little bloggy blog.
Anyway, here is a brief run-down of the past few months:

Alex had his vacation in February, so we took full advantage of our final kid-free vacay. First, we went on our big Disney trip and cruise. As expected, it was wonderful and relaxing.

Also that month, Alex went out to LV for a bit and we went up to WA and remodeled my sister's old bedroom into a guest room. It was super laborious (I had the swollen ankles and sore back as proof, but worth it. OH, and we found out we're having a GIRL!

In March, we took a fun weekend trip to San Diego to visit these fine friends

The weather was perfect, we had some super good eats (Wahoo's & Corvette Diner included) and got to relive fond memories with the Devers'. Oh, and meet a few residents of Seaport Village:

Also in March, we bought a new car! After way too much research, our hearts became set on the Rav4 and we absolutely love it. Seriously, get one, they're awesome.

My most recent trip brought me to Glendale/Burbank, CA with my mom and sister. We checked out the Jay Leno Show, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the wonderful Glendale Galleria. Although there was no time for a day at Disneyland, we did make it to the HQ :)

There's my baby belly, too- getting bigger each day. 99 more to go!

2010 Resolutions

2010-01-14T16:06:00.001-08:00

My goal lately has been to write out my New Year's Resolutions before the end of the month. I guess I'm about half-way early in that little task! Hopefully, these will all get fulfilled, because I can't say I've really stuck to many in the past. However, with my new-found feeling of productivity, there is hope...

1. Start a food blog and be consistent- the photo above is a black bean burger I made that is currently the header for my new blog- sweetandsavorytooth.com. It's been fun so far, and Alex has been great in taking photos and teaching me how to use the camera. This is my biggest endeavor and I'm going to stick with it!

2. Soda once a week at most- I used to drink diet whatever almost everyday (favorites being A&W root beer and Sprite). Last year while eating a salad, my front tooth chipped just a teeny bit, but it made me realize I don't want my teeth eroding away. It's been a lot easier to not drink soda than I thought, and I hardly even crave it- yay for no chemicals!

3. Make more friends- I've been really bad with getting to know the ladies at church, mainly since I tend to skip town occasionally. We love our Oakland ward and I'm excited to go to as many activities as possible. First up, book swap next week, oh and speaking in church on Sunday...

4. Conquer my fears of pie crust and yeast- I love bread and pie, especially homemade ones, but I get easily frustrated when the yeast doesn't rise and the pie crust breaks on me. Going to make it work one way or another.

5. Watch all the Harry Potter movies- I think I've seen most of the first one, but that's about it. And, since Part 1 of #7 comes out in June, I guess that means I have to watch the 6 before then! And, I've only read the first 4 books. So, if I'm feeling extra ambitious, maybe I'll read the last 3 books, too; we'll see.

I feel like I should have a few more resolutions. I'm thinking maybe some monthly goals to go along with them...?

Wish me luck!

13 Weeks

2010-01-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while (surprise, surprise...). The past couple months have been great. Alex is still busy with residency, but we're looking forward to February since it's his month off, and we're headed on another Disney Cruise (21 days and counting)!!
The holidays were nice, we took a Christmas morning flight up to WA. Alex came back Sunday, but I hung around for another week and enjoyed an insane head cold that would not subside. As we announced a couple weeks ago on good ol' facebook, I'm pregnant and due July 13. SO, that currently makes me 13 weeks. We find out the gender right after our trip- can't wait! So far, things seem to be moving along fine. I haven't had much nausea, just a little every now and then. It is a weird feeling being pregnant, though, since it still seems a bit fake and as something that can't possibly be happening to ME. I even went as far as buying one of those fetal dopplers off amazon (as is my worrying nature), and it actually works!

Anyway, that's the latest. Since I always like looking at others' belly pics, here's my first at 13 weeks 2 days. Not all that much, but my tummy is definitely protruding, although I really think that's just more from cookies, pie and other holiday indulgences...enjoy :)

Pumpkin Obsession

2009-10-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks, I have been making anything I can think of with pumpkin. Maybe it's the shortage that got me craving it, or it being October. So far, I've made these unbeatable pumpkin cookies, this healthier chocolate pumpkin bread and these yummy pumpkin muffins. Unfortunately, I was lazy and didn't take any photos of those- believe me, Alex and all his coworkers, any of those recipes are excellent!
Last night, I made the above pie. I've been a little intimidated on making a pumpkin pie, and now I have no idea why. It's really not that hard! Oh, and the fact that we've already gone through a few Costco pumpkin pies kind of threw me off course :) This pie is from the cookbook Pie by Ken Haedrich, and is the first recipe I've made out of it. I will definitely be making more of the pies listed, there are so so many it's a bit overwhelming! It's a great book, the perfect guide for ALL aspects of making any kind of pie. If you like cornbread, this pie has a great texture and the flavor is just right!

Spiced Pumpkin Indian Pudding Pie (my version, adapted from Pie)

1 store-bought graham cracker crust
2 cups fat-free milk
1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2- inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Combine milk and cornmeal in a medium size saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking frequently. Don't let the liquid reach a rapid boil. As the mixture starts to thicken, continue to whisk nonstop until it reaches the consistency of thin hot cereal, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium-size bowl and whisk in the salt, butter and sugars. Let cool 10 minutes.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk in the pumpkin, vanilla and spices to the above mixture. Add the eggs, whisking to blend. Slowly pour the filling into the pie shell.
Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and roates the pie 180 degrees, so the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward. Continue to bake until the filling is set in the center, about 30 minutes. To check the pie, give it a quick little nudge. It should wobble but not seem soupy in the center.
Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool. Serve barely warm, or let cool to room temp, cover with foil and refrigerate before serving. Goes great with whipped cream or ice cream!

Chabot Space Place

2009-09-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

We had a nice weekend...went to the temple, ran the usual errands (do I even need to say where?), church, watched Be Kind Rewind and went to the Chabot Space & Science Center. It's in Oakland and on Saturday, all the Smithsonian-related museums were free, so we went. Alex had been wanting to go since he's quite the astronomy lover. And, yay, we saved $30!

Of course, being a free day, it was extra crowded so we didn't get to see any shows (sold out). Thus, the coolest part of the museum were the big telescopes. We got to see a big star cluster through this one. The worker told us how many light years away it was, but I have no clue now.

We also took one of those email-yourself portraits. This is us in a spaceship!!!

Friends and Bolinas

2009-09-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

Beth was in town last week! It was great to see her and spend time shopping and eating with her and Richard. One of our favorite places to eat is the Coast Cafe out in Bolinas. This is about 1.25 hrs from Emville, so it was quite a trek. We all were a little woozy by the time we arrived (the motion sickness pills can only do so much) but it's always worth it!

Amazingly enough, we're still smiling after 2.5 months of residency....
*Almost* everything there is phenomonal. The fresh, warm bread is the best we've ever had, along with their famous fish 'n chips. I had my personal favorite, the homemade veggie burger. This is the only time I can devour something with mushrooms.

Of course, their desserts are outstanding as well...apple pie and peach cardamom galette this time around! I almost took a photo, but was in too much of a hurry to chow down...sorry :)

The one thing I cannot recommend are their cookies. They are the hardest, most unappetizing things I've ever tasted. I got one on the way out, we tried it, spit it out and tossed it- ever had cardboard before?
Yay for visitors, we miss you guys!!

Whole Foods Tour!

2009-09-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

The other night, I took a brief breakfast-related tour of Whole Foods, and look at all the goodies I received!
This is around $10 worth of free stuff! All you have to do to find out about these tours is either check out the calendar that is usually located near the front of the store, or if your particular store has a twitter page, become a follower. The Oakland location seems to have different tours once every 2 weeks or so and I can't wait to go to more. This time was kind of funny because I was the only one who showed up...oh well, I got an extra box of waffles out of it.
I'm quite the Whole Foods fan, but it can be pricy if you don't know how to shop there. Stick to their 365 brand (my favs are the peanut butter, frozen veggies, pizza and milk), use the coupons in the Real Deal booklet, shop their sales and buy from their bulk foods section. It ends up costing the same, or maybe even less than, Safeway. Just be careful at the ready-to-eat food area...it's all super tasty, but you pay for it!

Green Monster Love

2009-09-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

The past few months, I have seen these smoothies on numerous blogs, and finally got around to trying it out myself. This is one of the best, and healthiest, concoctions ever! For my version, in a blender I add 2 cups fresh spinach, 1 frozen banana, 1 to 2 scoops chocolate or vanilla protein powder and 1 cup very cold water. Puree the heck out of it, pour in a glass, pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and drink with a straw. There are so many variations you can make to this (nut butters, berries, etc), but trust me, it's delish, you can't go wrong!!
For more inspiration, check out Green Monster Movement.

Exploring Emeryville

2009-08-17T18:24:00.001-07:00

It’s about time that I show a little about where we’re living now. So, last week I went on a walking tour of Emville and took some photos…..let’s go! P.S.: I tried this post through Windows Live Writer and the photos seem to be off centered...I hope I can get it to work better...

Most people who happen to know anything about Emeryville, either have heard of this…

or this…

Those are our two claims to fame (along with Jamba Juice, Charles Chocolates, Leapfrog and next year, Clif Bar- right across the street!)

I had to include the train, because the trains go by RIGHT outside our window and boy oh boy do we hear it. It also doesn’t help much that we’re close to an intersection so the horns keep it interesting!

All 0ver the city are these random designs depicting the crosswalk figure. Apparently, they were all designed by Emeryville students with no real theme other than everyday life. This is part of the waterfront walkway by the Emeryville Marina. It’s usually quite windy, but great to have a view of SF!

Our main shopping venue. Love the Teacake Bakeshop, movie theater, Elephant Bar, H&M and See’s, of course!

There you go, a brief look at the pretty sides of the city. But, remember, we’re just between Oakland & Berkeley so the adventures are just beginning….don’t forget to say hi if you’re ever nearby!!

Baking Bug

2009-07-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Since I am currently jobless and have a husband that is regularly MIA (get all the juicy details in his blog- warning! some of it is a bit gory), I've picked up a baking bug. So far, I've made blackberry cobbler, zucchini bread from Joy of Cooking, oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies from Field Guide to Cookies, and tonight, these babies....make them, they're amazing! I'm sure there will be more goodies to come. Alex's schedule isn't looking much lighter anytime soon...

Honey-Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from recipegirl.com)

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats, semi-blended in a food processor
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup honey
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, oats, soda and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to beat peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, honey, egg and vanilla until well blended.

3. Stir half of dry mixture into peanut butter mixture. Add second half and stir until all is well-blended. Stir in chocolate.

4. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm and no longer sticky, about 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. With hands, roll 1 heaping Tablespoonful of dough for each cookie into 1 ¾-inch-diameter ball. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2½-inches apart. Bake cookies until puffed, beginning to brown on top and still very soft to touch, about 10-12 minutes. Watch closely because they will burn if baked too long. Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.

Makes about 30 cookies

Impromptu Disney Trip

2009-07-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are once again back at Disney World! This was definitely the biggest last-minute trip I've ever experienced, but it was a blast!! It all started with my mom and me doing tons of research of fun trips we could do while Andrea was home from Asia. I ended up coming back to CA without us deciding anything. After many phone calls and various scenario discussions, Thursday morning my parents decide to go for it. They had enough United mileage to get the 5 of us tickets, but the only availability was out of SF on Friday morning, so we could take the cruise leaving Sunday! So, the 4 of them DROVE out here Thurs. night, met me Fri. morning and we took off for the airport, layover in D.C. & arriving in Orlando that night around 11pm. Went to Disney Saturday (see above pic), then off to the cruise Sunday - Thursday....

As I've said before, the Disney Cruise Line is the BEST! This is us in Triton's our first night on the Wonder. For some summer cruises, they're having Disney Channel "stars" on the ship. We had a few people I'd never heard of from Sonny With a Chance and Camp Rock and Corbin Bleu (from High School Musical). It was so funny to watch all the girls be in awe over him, and to have these random people roaming around with their families. I'm sure if I was about 15 yrs younger, I would've been one of those teens, too :)

Pirate Night! An exciting party with Mickey flying through the air and fireworks!! Oh, how could I forget, the late night buffet with a million desserts and turkey legs!

We stopped in Nassau for a day, then Castaway Cay another day (Andrea and my parents have all those photos), then the final full day was at sea. There were a lot of events going on, one of which was a galley tour. This man is one of the head chefs; they had fresh warm cookies waiting for us, too. Of course, the food was phenomenal and I think I ate enough bread puddings, cakes, Diet Cokes and soft-serve to last me until 2018....
Back on dry land, we spent 2 more days at the parks. In Hollywood Studios, there is a whole new area dedicated to Pixar, I was in love :) It looks just like our backyard, ha! We couldn't get enough of Toy Story on this trip. The cruise has a new musical that was excellent (Sid stole the show), and now the Toy Story Mania ride back at Disney World. The waits were insane, 140 minutes. We finally got fastpasses and checked it out...GO NOW! It is so so fun, and cute, to boot!
The pic above is at one of our family favorites, Beaches and Cream, over at the Beach Club Resort. We were starving for dinner, so the kitchen sink shown here is from our neighbors. It is ridiculously huge with every topping in the shop. If you eat it alone in 1 hour, it's free.

I had to include a photo of these folks, they were everywhere...the Brazilian tour groups...gotta love 'em!
On SF Street in Hollywood Studios. I want to go back, I miss it there terribly. We missed seeing the Fosters, and bring along Alex, Laura, Brian and Bobby :( Gotta start saving for the Vacation Club, right? Or maybe just figure out how to move there in 4 years...heehee.

The Best Entrance Ever

2009-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

I love this...it gave me goosebumps watching it! Please, someone who invites me to their wedding (outside of the temple of course:), consider beginning this way...please??

Dex

2009-07-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

On New Year's Eve, little Dexter entered the world. 10 weeks later, he joined my parents and Nick. This is what he looked like...

Now, he looks like this:

Golden Retrievers grow way too fast- they're amazing dogs. I can't believe how smart and aware he is already! A major change from growing up with a Westie...Shorty would never put up with the things Dex does, or even pay attention for more than a minute. But, why do they have to get so dang big and be so sneaky?

Dental School....check!

2009-06-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Whew! I'm not sure where to start since it's been forever, but here I go! First of all, Alex just graduated dental school-woohoo!!! We finished the big move across the Bay to Emeryville and now are in a much more spacious apartment- yeehaw!! Alex starts his residency in a week- yippee! Other than the fact that the majority of our friends are gone (so sad), things are going great right now. Here are some photos from the weekend....oh and I almost forgot, I'm no longer in my twenties anymore:)

The Alumni Banquet at the Ritz. It felt so much like prom. We even had my parents drop us off and we sat with the Yamashiros, who could've been our "chaperones".

We couldn't resist the prom pose photo op.

On the dance floor. I couldn't believe how much fun I had. It felt great to just let go and boogie!

Saturday Thanks a Bunch Brunch at the Fairmont. My first photo as a 30 year old.

Our good friends The Devers...we loved seeing your families and will miss you!!

Saturday night- OKU at The Olympic Club. Dr. Indressano presented Alex and will be who Alex basically relies on for the next 4 years. It was fun getting to know him, talking baseball and eating more steak.

Alex with Dr. Dugoni and his wife. Such an amazing, and funny, man!

Graduation!!! Us with our neighbor/adopted "daughter" Val. Miss you already!

Alex and Shashi, his best IDS friend and on-the-spot Hindi tutor :)

With Andrea, my sister who flew all the way out from Taiwan!

With Richard, Beth and Jan. We miss you guys like crazy already! Many memories to In N Out, sushi and E-ville we'll never forget :)

This was one of the craziest and most fun weekends we've had. It's hard to believe we're SF residents no more....Congrats to Alex and the UOP Class of 2009!!

Extreme Makeover: Family Room Edition

2009-01-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

We had quite the Christmas break in Federal Way this year. It went by way too fast, as always, and we did more work than I think I've ever done on any break! Alex took boards at the beginning, then right after Christmas, we had 2 major projects. Along with my aunts, uncles and cousins, we relocated my grandma from Lakewood to Federal Way. That was crazy. We all decided it was a much needed reminder on how to learn how to not keep everything.

The other project was my parents' family room. The only photo I have showing the "before" look is this one of Laura staring at Alex while Brian and I scraped the popcorn off the ceiling:
That photo isn't the best representation of who did the work! Alex definitely was the main hand in this whole thing. He and my dad installed recessed lighting, crown molding and the fireplace mantle while we helped paint and decorate. We left the carpet to Empire (the jingle comes in handy after all:)
Here is the finished project, minus a mirror above the fireplace:

What will be next?

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T01:08:00.000-08:00

We're enjoying the snow here in WA and it looks like enough is still here to say we'll have a White Christmas. Have a very Happy Holiday!

About Me- Christmas

2008-12-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Survey
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. Real smells amazing, but I like the whole pre-lit convenience.
3. When do you put up the tree? Strive for the weekend of Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? Around New Year's
5. Do you like egg nog? Yes, esp. with Sprite!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? American Girl Samantha doll
7. Do you have a nativity scene? A teeny-tiny one
8. Hardest person to buy for? Mom & Dad
9. Easiest person to buy for? myself :)
10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? probably the orange in the stocking
11. Mail or email Christmas card? neither this year....but please still send us one- I love the photos & updates- I'll be better next year!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone for sure (right, Kim?)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? whenever....no timeline there, I'm not organized with it all quite yet.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? PB Ritz dipped in chocolate, pie! cookies! sweets!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I used to be all about colored. But we actually have one tree with each (both in storage this year)
17. Favorite Christmas song? All the Home Alone & N Sync songs
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel to WA to be w/the fam.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Yes but too lazy to type.
20. Do you have an Angel on top or a star? angel, but I would like a brightly lit star...
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning, except for our pj's Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crazy shoppers! And hearing the Mariah Carey song a zillion times.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Unfortunately not. Another goal to have one fancy tree and one fun tree.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Costco ham and homemade rolls
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? freshly fallen snow- so pretty! And a book or two would suffice :)

To my defense

2008-12-06T16:17:00.001-08:00

In my defense though to my last post, I believe that Kim is improperly scarf-clad. It looks great though Kim. It wouldn't fly in Europe. Why won't you join Facebook?

People are mean...

2008-12-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

I recently returned from a quick trip to Chicago and Boston for some post-grad interviews. Let me start by saying that I now know what it feels like to be a frozen turkey. I had no idea that it would be so painful to walk around outside in subfreezing temperatures wearing little more than two shirts, a sweater, a fleece jacket and leather jacket all at once (i.e., everything in my suitcase). Being from a city that prides itself on great A/C, I was unprepared for my journey to the North Pole. I quickly found myself in need of some nice gloves and a scarf. I know how to wear gloves but apparently there is a learning curve to properly attire oneself with a nice looking scarf. I had never bought a scarf before. I had never worn a scarf before. The closest thing that I know about scarves (pl.) is from my experience of growing up with this timeless classic below.

Okay, so I bought a nice gray cashmere (ooooh) scarf because I thought that it would match my extensive collection of winterwear. So here it is. The problem was that I now had to attach it to me. I tried to look inconspicuous as other people walked by me with their scarves and hats and long black wool-trench coats. They seemed to stare at me when they walked by and thought, "Look at this guy, who does he think he is walking around here without a scarf and gloves...the nerve?" or better yet, "The scarf goes around your neck, moron." I tried to think of an excuse as to how to ask someone from Chicago to show me how to wear my scarf. "I recently woke up from a long coma and I can't seem to remember how to tie a scarf. The last time I wore one, my mom did it for me, could you help me out?"

So, I finally asked the lady who sold me the scarf how to wear it. She must've been the worst person to ask because she said that it didn't matter, just as long as it kept your neck warm. Hello? I'm in a department store... style matters, too! I hope you are reading this lady. So, I did what any sensible guy would do. I wrapped it around my neck the way I saw Randy do it from A Christmas Story. It was warm and when I walked outside I felt that I had been inducted into the common populous of The Windy City. I looked natural. I fit in. I was hip. Then the wind came.

I suddenly realized how silly it must've looked to everyone else how I tried to maintain the scarf on my neck without using my hands. I tried walking backwards to keep the free ends flapping forward and would occasionally walk sideways in an effort to "wrap" it around my neck again. I was smooth. It probably looked like I was dancing. So, I did this for a few hours and went and ate at my favorite pizza joint.

So I had great pizza and went to my interview the next morning and then flew to Boston. I stayed the night at Heather's friend's apt., Kim. She is an english teacher and no doubt would only use a red pen on my blogs. The next morning William (the Husband from Central America, no worries he is legit) cooked me breakfast (which was awesome) and Kim even walked me to the T. Before we left though, I had to put on my "cashmere" scarf and did so with much pride. Kim burst my bubble as she could not help but point out that I was not wearing it correctly. Why are people in Chicago so mean? She showed me that if I simply fold it in half and stick the free ends through a man-made hole that the scarf now creates a self-sustaining and greatly fashionable noose. Why didn't I think of that. I walked to the T that cold morning with Kim and quielty dried my tears of humiliation on my cashmere scarf. It is now at the bottom of my sock drawer.

Here You Go, Laura

2008-12-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Courtney tagged me quite a while ago, and I've just been super lazy on the blog posts. We actually have some good photos and such to share, so hopefully, I'll be motivated soon to add them:) In the meantime, read on...

Eight TV Shows I Love to Watch (in no particular order)

1. How I Met Your Mother
2. The Office
3. Big Bang Theory- Sheldon is hysterical
4. Gossip Girl!
5. Grey’s Anatomy
6. The Hills, although I'm getting bored
7. The Amazing Race
8. Food Network, except Iron Chef

Eight Things That Happened Yesterday

1. Work
2. Acupuncture
3. Dinner at Whole Foods
4. Picked Alex up at airport
5. Cleaned
6. Bought Britney cd & book Outliers
7. Crossword
8. Listened to a lady out the window playing guitar & singing at 11:30pm while we tried to sleep. Then Alex yelled at her and I don't know what happened next- I was out.

Eight Favorite Places to Eat

1. Whole Foods
2. Red Robin
3. Claim Jumper
4. Fog City Diner
5. Zuppa with the fam
6. Rose's Cafe for brunch
7. Jungle Jim's back in Orlando
8. Elephant Bar

Eight Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. Going to WA in 2 weeks for Christmas!!
2. Alex being done with interviews
3. Match Day for Alex- January 26
4. Printing out all our photos and one day scrapbooking them
5. Moving somewhere....in June (and Alex graduating, too:)
6. A Christmas Carol on Sat.
7. Gingerbread houses in Seattle
8. Getting my hair done

Eight Things on My Wish List

1. Sharp Kitchen Knives (me too, Courtney!)
2. New couches
3. Another Disney Cruise, preferrably the 7 day one
4. Kids
5. The camera I wish Alex could have
6. Cute boots
7. A BMW X3
8. To be out of this recession

I tag Rira, Danielle, Christina...

A Pathetic but Fun Endeavor

2008-11-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

I have had a few days off work for the past week or so. It's been nice to have some time to relax and get caught up on some sleep! Yesterday, I read that Paris Hilton was going to be at Macy's downtown. So I thought what the heck, why not. She was supposed to show up at noon, so I got there at 11:30. And I happened to waltz on up to the front. Of course, she was late and didn't come out until 12:50. It was crazy, I could never be a paparazzo. People pushing, begging security to let them meet her, etc. There was a huge line of people waiting to meet her who actually paid the $135 for her fragrance. I thought about buying it, then returning it...nah, too much work. I still can't believe I did this. Oh well, it got me to blog something, right?

I do have to say, she looked like a princess and seemed to be very nice to everyone. Thankfully, I go back to work Thursday so I can't get myself in any more of these ridiculous situations.

Why Boston?

2008-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Rira and I met up in Boston for a very special reason.

It wasn't to catch an impromptu game of chess at Harvard....

It wasn't to run into Rira's presidential hopeful...(this picture just makes me laugh)

It wasn't to see the Red Sox vs. Angels playoff game....

It wasn't to go to Little Italy and brave the insane crowds of this quaint Boston neighborhood....

Or to indulge in the famous Boston institution of cannolis, all possible baked goods and utter chaos...

But we took this whirlwind trip to see our wonderful friend Kim marry her most perfect love, William!! Kim and I go way back to 1st grade, and I was so touched to be able to celebrate with them- great times. This will be a memory to never forget. They are absolutely perfect for each other!

Us 4 Gators, together again....

I couldn't find the charger for my little old point & shoot camera, so I sucked it up and lugged around Alex's contraption. And I do have to admit it, it was fun taking photos...I even wish I took more.

Rira, Kim & me at breakfast the last day. I really enjoyed getting to know Kim's friends more, they are all quite entertaining. Oh it went by way too fast. Boston is gorgeous, I love the East Coast- why do fun trips have to end so quickly?? Congrats K & W!! For a few more photos/random details, check out Rira's post on the trip.

Bittersweet Market Street

2008-09-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

I have a definite love/hate relationship with Market Street. Since I began temping back in January for various companies, most of which are in or near the Financial District, I've spent many lunches and random walks down this crazy street. The company I've been at for the past 5 weeks is at the beginning of Market, by the Ferry Building, with an amazing view BTW (the job is great, too:). Hopefully I can stay at this one another month or two....

Anyway, since I've been at this job, and from what I can remember, Market Street has "given" me: 3 Jamba Juice smoothies, 2 organic rice pkgs, cat food, Special K bars, and today (which prompted me to write this post) a $5 Starbucks card. It seems that companies like to try out their new promotions out here- totally works for me! Also, towards the end of the week, occasional bands will provide live music to enjoy on my way out and about. And, the streetcars are so cute and bring an authentic vibe to the spot.

The "bitter" part of Market involves the aromas I smell and the people I get to observe. Twice now, I have seen nudies- one being a big group of cyclists earlier this year and the other week, a lady kneeling over kissing the sidewalk. Also, quite frequently, I feel like gagging when the overwhelming scent of urine takes over, from either the many homeless or the dirty bike messengers (this is heightened when we have a rare warm day). Surprisingly, I've never gotten crapped on by any of the million scumbirds of the earth (aka pigeons) that infest the sidewalks. Oh and I can't forget the silent Asian man with his glactic/gibberish sign & sunglasses and the other stalwarts professing their crazy messages every day.

I just can't avoid this street! Somehow I gotta get to Old Navy, the glorious Westfield Mall, Virgin & my favorite chocolates:) I guess this is one of the places that give SF its character; and it leaves me with some interesting stories to tell....

Alamere Falls Hike

2008-09-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we decided we were about due for another hike over in Marin. Previously, the Matt Davis hike was by far my favorite, but now I'm not sure...this one was pretty amazing.

The hike is about 7.5 miles round-trip, and in order to get to the falls (which are at the very end), we passed a few lakes and got to walk on a cliff above the ocean. The trail that goes off to the falls is very narrow and tight with some steep grades, but oh so worth it!

This is actually the top part of the first photo. It was quite peaceful, almost like a little private cove.

From the top of the falls, we had to climb down a steep cliff to get to the ocean and the base of the falls. It was a bit slippery, but once we wiggled on down, it was mesmerizing. Amazingly, the wind was almost non-existent and the weather was just right. One of Alex's patients recommended that we stop and eat at the Coast Cafe in Bolinas, which is right next to where the hike begins. Bolinas is definitely a one-of-a-kind town. A quaint and tiny main street with the Cafe, a little grocery store, a bar (pictured below), museum and little collectibles shop. The people here are free-spirited and proud of it. The old man at the restaurant who sat us had the coolest black Pooh bear overalls on.We started off eating some BBQ ribs outside, since the cafe is closed from 3-5pm and we got there at 4:30. They have outside tables open during that time for ribs & oysters. When 5pm came around, we wanted dessert so on into the cafe we went. Oh and was it so so so good!

The best blackberry pie I have ever tasted! So fresh with a buttery, but not overwhelming crust.

The best bread pudding I have ever tasted! Just the right amount of cinnamon and nutmeg with the freshest strawberries and whipped cream. Divine. We were in heaven.

I Want This

2008-09-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's a mini-bread machine! I've always been facinated/intimidated by bread machines, along with just making bread in general. Alex and I have tried quite a few times to make bread and I can remember just one time it being really successful. All the other times we seem to have problems with the yeast and getting the dough to rise or cook and not be super dense.

Anyway, I thought this little bread machine is super cute- can't go wrong with mini machines! If you're interested you can find it here. It's a bit pricy, but I'll keep my eye out for it on sale...

Oh, and any tips on increasing my patience with bread making is welcome. It's worth the effort for homemade bread deliciousness!

Out of the Lunch Box

2008-09-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

Today the Boston Globe and the SF Chronicle both have done stories on lunch boxes, this being the back to school time of year and all. Reading about it got me thinking about how different lunch boxes are now-a-days compared to when I went to school. I can't remember the exact characters I had on my lunch box (I'm thinking Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony or Barbie), but it definitely resembled this:

The thermos with the attached cup (all plastic, of course) was a staple. I remember these boxes having a distinct smell which altered the taste of whatever juice was in the thermos. Ah, the memories....then I moved on to the brown bag that got me through junior/high school- yep, my mom made my lunch up until I graduated with my name on the front and all-oh, I miss those days!

Now, onto a few of the latest lunchboxes I found from the Globe:

So trendy and non-branded! And they just have that crisp, fresh & clean feel to them. I love how each aspect of the lunch has its own spot where it belongs in the box. I should buy Alex one of these, my Old Navy hand-me-down he's been using has gotten its money's worth and it beat up enough to justify a new fancy tote!

As I was browsing, I found this little box:

The concept is probably quite helpful, but I still feel bad for the poor kid who has to have his allergy advertised to the world....

Do any of you have a favorite lunch box of old, or one that's tried & true??

Street Sunday

2008-09-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we found out about the first Street Sunday here in the city. The Embarcadero was closed off to cars and there were all sorts of people cycling, skating, walking etc. The funnest part of the day was going over to AT&T Park and getting to go out on the ball field and run the bases!

After that, we strolled up the Embarcadero. There were various activities, including hula hoop (I need to practice that), physical training seminars, dance & yoga classes and other health-related booths.

Alex took this photo near the ferry building; I really like it.

At Justin Herman Plaza, a group of roller bladers were on the stage doing the Thriller dance, and then later were teaching it. It was funny to watch and they tried hard. It was great being out and I'm excited and happy to see our summer is finally here!

I'm a Yelper

2008-08-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

After years of reading and trying a few of the suggestions, I finally became an official yelper today. So, if any of you are interested in reading my reviews, go for it! I seem to love giving my opinion on things lately, especially restaurants & shops....it took me a while to do it, I was a bit intimidated by some of the reviews I've read in the past, but so far, so good. One girl has already given me a compliment-haha. And I can make lists, yay, I love lists!

Under My Umberella...

2008-08-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Considering it's like a perfect 75 or so out today, it's kind of backwards for me to post about this...but it looks like it rained in WA at least! On DailyCandy Seattle, they featured Umbrella Society, a new line of chic umbrellas. They are so so cute, I want one, or two! Back in Jan., my umbrella broke when I was walking home, as the wind turned it inside out and it finally snapped. So far, I've been lucky and it hasn't rained enough since for me to buy a new one. The day will come, I'm sure. Umbrella Society has big and small umbrellas, but they are a bit out of my price range ($32-40; I'm more of a $20 girl), but if you buy 2, shipping is free....and raincoats/rainboots are coming soon....check it out!!

Sale Alert

2008-08-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

Nordstrom's Shoe Sale begins today! I just got an email about it...click here to look at all the ones on sale....there are a lot of them...and most are 40% off! I know where I'm headed on my lunch break today:)

Traffic & Books (unrelated)

2008-08-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

I found this article today in the SF Chronicle and found it quite interesting. Alex and I officially went 2 years out here without a car and, although at times it was a challenge, we're glad we did it and it helped me enjoy a slower pace of commuting and forced me to get very acquainted with the city. I've noticed I'm one of those people who, when I play pedestrian, cars are so annoying, and when I play driver, I'm complaining about the pedestrians.

Anyway, even though we now have a car (which I love the freedom, by the way), it amazes me how much time and energy is wasted in these vehicles. I would love to read the book upon which the article is based. Not one I will be buying, but maybe I can find it at the library....

Speaking of books, here's a list of some of my current/future reads:

* In Defense of Food - loved it

* Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'-quick, easy, interesting

* Service Included - just started

* The Fortune Cookie Chronicles - up next

* Breaking Dawn - it's just sitting there waiting for me to crack open

* Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - before I see the movie

* The Host - anyone have any feedback with this one??

* HP 7 - one day I'll get around to this one (sad, I know)

Anything I'm missing?

My Omnivore's List

2008-08-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

This was fun. I saw it on Becks and Posh and I seem to have enough free time today to comment on each item. Doing this, however, made me realize how Western my diet really is! Wikipedia/Google were super useful in this little project. If you have time, do it!

How the Omnivore's 100 Works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional: Post a comment at Very Good Taste.

My Omnivore’s Hundred (26/100):

1. Venison- those poor deer
2. Nettle tea- it sounds useful...
3. Huevos rancheros- these sound good
4. Steak tartare- I don't do the raw meat thing
5. Crocodile- hmmmm
6. Black pudding- I like sausage, but knowing it's cooked in blood, no.
7. Cheese fondue- at Melting Pot and oh so good
8. Carp- if cooked, why not
9. Borscht- we did a Russian Xmas Eve dinner one year
10. Baba ghanoush- tried at farmer's market-didn't like
11. Calamari- I like it in small doses
12. Pho- Liked it, but nothing too exciting for me
13. PB&J sandwich- loooove, but try not to eat too much
14. Aloo gobi- this sounds ok
15. Hot dog from a street cart- not that I can remember
16. Epoisses- don't like cheese
17. Black truffle- too fancy for me
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes- no need
19. Steamed pork buns- 1st one in Chinatown with Rira (yum!)
20. Pistachio ice cream- Never had a pistachio, they smell funny to me
21. Heirloom tomatoes- I want to try these!
22. Fresh wild berries- we used to go to Auburn and pick berries
23. Foie gras- duck fat still seems weird to me
24. Rice and beans- any Mexican rest.
25. Brawn or head cheese- again cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper- don't like spicy food!
27. Dulce de leche- WS has a good kind in a jar.
28. Oysters- look too slimy
29. Baklava- yummy!!
30. Bagna cauda-sounds different, maybe someday
31. Wasabi peas- dried ones, but didn't like- too spicy!
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl- hello, Boudin's & Disney!
33. Salted lassi- gross
34. Sauerkraut- maybe for another Xmas eve cultural dinner thing...not sure....
35. Root beer float- of course!
36. Cognac with a fat cigar- yeah, right...
37. Clotted Cream Tea- I don't think I could do this
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O- nope
39. Gumbo- once at House of Blues in Orlando
40. Oxtail- Paula Deen says it's delish, though
41. Curried goat- sounds odd
42. Whole insects- ha!
43. Phaal- again, not into the spicy stuff
44. Goat's milk- no, thanks
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more- nope
46. Fugu- pufferfish? sounds too risky.
47. Chicken tikka masala- it sounds ok
48. Eel- gross
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut- don't like & make me sick
50. Sea urchin- only seen at an aquarium
51. Prickly pear- hmmm, interesting
52. Umeboshi- pickled foods don't interest me, but pickles are ok!
53. Abalone-eeeww, snails!
54. Paneer- cheese again
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal- am I American?
56. Spaetzle- this sounds good!
57. Dirty gin martini- No!
58. Beer above 8% ABV- No!
59. Poutine- Alex would love this, me perhaps without the curds.
60. Carob chips- once in a Whole Foods bulk trail mix- an acquired taste...
61. S’mores- Love them!
62. Sweetbreads- don't think I could stomach this
63. kaolin- how do you eat rocks?
64. Currywurst- sounds interesting, I would try this
65. Durian- maybe if I pinched my nose...?
66. Frogs’ legs- if disguised, I could.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake- Love funnel cake, esp. the one in EPCOT. Really want to try a beignet!
68. Haggis- gross
69. Fried plantain- once at a Puerto Rican rest. in Vegas
70. Chitterlings or andouillette- no more intestines please!
71. Gazpacho- cold soup doesn't interest me.
72. Caviar and blini- bought some frozen once, not bad.
73. Louche absinthe- No!
74. Gjetost or brunost- more cheese, no
75. Roadkill- poor little guys, no
76. Baijiu- No!
77. Hostess Fruit Pie- Admittedly, yes I used to love these, esp. the crust. They are the definition of trans fat.
78. Snail- Don't want to try it.
79. Lapsang Souchong- too smoky for me I'm sure
80. Bellini- No!
81. Tom Yum- sounds fine, would try it
82. Eggs Benedict- always wanted to try, sounds/looks so good.
83. Pocky- these little sticks are addicting! Any Asian store sells them.
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu- In my dreams.
85. Kobe beef- maybe I'll try a burger someday.
86. Hare- Not planning on it.
87. Goulash-have prob. had some form of this somewhere in Europe
88. Flowers- I don't think I'd like if they taste like they smell. Floral scents are nice, but they don't make me want to eat them.
89. Horse- Never been to Asia, and not sure where else I'd find this....
90. Criollo chocolate- doubt it, I don't spend too much on special chocolate.
91. Spam- Nope, and hopefully never will!
92. Soft shell crab- Not that I know of, but I do like crab!
93. Rose harissa- the plain harissa sounds ok
94. Catfish- Had fried at EPCOT at the Garden Grill-yummy!
95. Mole poblano- would like to try it
96. Bagel and lox- have had separately, I like salmon!
97. Lobster Thermidor- sounds interesting
98. Polenta- I really like this,
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee- no, thanks
100. Snake- A bit too weird for me.

Busy Busy Buzz Buzz

2008-08-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

I feel like I haven't posted much of what we've been doing lately. We've been out and about- shopping in Marin and the East Bay, Olympic watching, constructing, eating, celebrating and working! Having a car is fun. Valerie's birthday was last Thursday, so a bunch of us went out to BJ's Saturday night....

We were there waaaaay too long....a bit more than 3 hours....but the pizookie was so delicious, it was worth it just for that. We got the party one that has all 4 flavors in it....oh that peanut butter cookie was way too perfect.

Here we are finally on our way out...Valerie's parents also sent her a Snickers cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory that we delved into last night....Val celebrated in style this year. Happy 24th, neighbor!

After 2 years, we finally have a "finished" living room to enjoy for these last 10 months. No, I don't know why we didn't think of it sooner. It all started with getting a wall mount for the tv at Costco. Alex came up with this brilliant idea to put shelves all around the tv instead of getting a tv stand to sit underneath. Since we're both getting more into the modern look, I was all for it. So, off to Home Depot to get all the materials and Alex went to town. Then, we dug up our curtains from storage to finish it all off. So although half the room is modern, mixed with more traditional, we love the new set-up!! One more photo....

Yes, Alex did time this picture to have on BYUTV with the SLC temple. Kind of cheesy, but that's just Alex....

Farmer's Market

2008-08-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last week, Alex and I took advantage of the rare summer weather and ventured down to the Ferry Building Farmers Market. Every chance I get to go to the market, I take. It is so fun to be out in all the excitement, see the gorgeous Bay and relish all the pretty flowers and in-season foods! Below are just some photos of flowers & food.

The Slammer (Alcatraz)

2008-07-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

We finally did it, we went to Alcratraz! Thanks to Valerie, who organized the whole thing, we were able to have a fabulous time with some of Alex's classmates on the island. Since we've lived here, we kept saying we will go there, but of course, it hadn't happened.

I 'm pretty sure this was taken on the boat ride over. Not sure why Alex picked this picture to post (I had him pick the pics and I would do the write-up), but whatever. The ride was gorgeous to see the whole city on the way out, and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Basically what every cell looked like in the prison. The audio tour was quite informative.

This main area where the prisoners were kept was called Broadway. At the end of the tour, the employees did a cell door demo to show how all the doors were opened and slammed at the same time; it was a creepy experience to imagine being locked in there.

The water tower on Alcatraz. Just a pretty photo that Alex took.

Krutav and Adarsh in front of the Indians Welcome sign. At the beginning, Alcatraz was used mostly for American Indians when the government would imprison them for ridiculously minor charges. Maybe these hooligans should've been there, too....

We had a great time; it was fun hanging out with the 3rd years, spouses & friends. It amazes me how close Alex's class is-we had a blast!

Happy Pioneer Day!

2008-07-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

My mom, being the southern Utahn/DUP that she is, will be happy to see me remember that today is Pioneer Day. Occasionally when we were younger, we would be in Minersville visiting my grandparents and there was always a parade and other celebrations on this day. It never ceased to amaze me that the 24th of July seemed like a bigger deal than the 4th of July! And since us Washingtonians don't seem to have a "state" holiday, I thought it was neat they got one for their own. Although Nevada's state day is on Halloween, which is quite unique.
Anyway, Alex and I bought a scrumptious apple pie at Costco to celebrate...it looks exactly like this one and is one of the best apple pies I've ever had.

I need to eat pie more often...I forgot how delicious it is! Although this apple pie is divine, I think my favorite kind would have to be banana cream, or maybe blackberry or maybe pumpkin oh I can't decide...how about you??

The First Hike of Many (we hope)

2008-07-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Valerie, Alex and I went on a fantastic hike over in Marin around Tamalpais State Park. The hike was the Matt Davis/Steep Ravine Loop and it was one of the prettiest and enjoyable hikes I have ever taken! Thankfully, Alex was present, so good photos abound...
The hike was a bit over 7 miles, with some decent inclines and a lot of small bridges like this one. Every bridge we crossed included me saying something about how much I like walking over bridges. I think it's because that means there could be water streaming underneath, which I find quite exquisite.

Valerie and me on another bridge- I guess my cheesy smile helps express my bridge liking.

There were so many huge trees that had fallen over at one point, but this was the only one completely blocking the trail. It reminded me of the Redwoods & driving through a tree.

Us walking around Mt. Tam. This specific route didn't take us to the top. It was very pretty with the fog rolling in and out, although if the fog weren't there, we would've had an amazing view of Stinson Beach at this point. Perfect weather for hiking, though!

On the latter part of the hike, the Steep Ravine, was this 10 foot ladder that is apparently loved by locals.

Another photo of the natural beauty. We couldn't believe how lush this area was. Of course, the pictures don't do it justice, but believe me, it was gorgeous. Afterwards, we met up with Brian and had a delicious dinner at E&O Trading Co. in Larkspur. Oooh, that salmon and chicken was delectable! What a nice day, being the wife of a 3rd year isn't half bad so far-sure beats the first 2 years!

Not Impressed This Year

2008-07-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Anniversary Sale and I didn't have as much success as I had last year. Maybe Alex will consider this year a bigger success, but not me! The Nordy's at Union Square opened at 7am, so I headed out and made it there by 7:05 ( I got lucky and don't have a temp job today). The crowd wasn't bad at all, but it was picking up when I left around 8 or so. I recognized a Nordstrom brother as I was going up the escalator, so that was kind of cool. The only thing I ended up buying was this cardigan, and I'm not sure yet if I'm going to keep it. Below are a few things that I saw and liked, but couldn't convince myself to buy....

I really like this brand of diaper bags, Petunia Pickle Bottom. If I were pregnant, I would own it.

Love the buckle shoe and it's Juicy, which I love but can't afford:(

Another cute buckle shoe- tried it on and it hurt my heel just when standing...not a good sign.

Zella has super cute yoga clothes. I have enough workout pants right now, and these were too long anyway.

If you have kids, I did see a lot of cute clothes on sale. Maybe I just didn't really see anything I need right now. Oh well, there's always next year....

Bad Computer

2008-07-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Alex and I are back in SF now; we got back Saturday night. It was quite a fun drive and I have photos to share from the Oregon Coast and such, but my computer has been losing it. I brought it in to the Geek Squad for a diagnosis and apparently one of my sticks of RAM was bad, so it messed up the operating system. Thankfully, I spoke to one of Alex's classmates before the geeks went any further and charged me way too much to fix. So, once we get the new stick of RAM in the mail, it should be good to go. Too bad I lost everything on my hard drive-boo! I guess all my itunes will just stay put in ipod land that will never be updated....sad. Oh and I guess I will miss the photos I kept meaning to back up....oops.

Fun Fondue

2008-07-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

For my Mom's birthday, she picked The Melting Pot in Bellevue for dinner, and it was sooo delicious and fun! Since Nick was at Scout Camp and Andrea & Laura are gone, it was just the 5 of us. First, we had to choose which cheese fondues to get. Everyone decided on the Carribbean fondue and the Fiesta fondue. The waitress came and added all the ingredients at the table, turned on the burners and let the magic happen. For dipping, we got veggies, apple chunks, breads and chips.

This is the Carribbean one. I wasn't that interested in this part of the meal at first since cheese isn't my thing, but thankfully, Alex talked me into tasting them. The Mexican one wasn't for me, but I actually really liked the Carribbean one.

Just for proof, I had Alex take a photo of me eating the cheese. Next was the main course. We had a pot with broth and another pot with oil for frying. Bobby and Alex had a bit too much fun with the batters and frying all the food! I wish I had a picture. The fried salmon was interesting. Also cooked were chicken, sirloin, shrimp, cajun flavored beef and veggies.

Here are my parents with all the desserts. We got 2 chocolate fondues that were delectable, one with milk chocolate & peanut butter, the other dark chocolate with Oreo's and marshmallow cream. For dipping, we had rice krispie treats, cheesecake, pound cake, brownies, strawberries, bananas & marshmallows. It was way too good, I need to go back and try more....

Overall, we loved it. Although it is quite pricey, it's more than just a dinner since it takes over 2 hours and it is so much fun! Next time I want to try the caramel banana fondue....

Is it worth it?

2008-07-08T13:01:00.001-07:00

I don't even know where to begin with this next guy. Okay, how about the beginning. Well, that's probably too far back, I'll start when we met this guy. First of all, I don't think I can show many pictures of this guy because they are too... well let's just say Heather can't check her own blog for a while. Anyway, he comes in to the ER pretty much unrecognizable because... He was caught cheating and I don't mean at Mah Jong. The story goes that the dude was actually still in bed asleep when the husband comes in and takes a baseball bat to the guy's head. I've only seen accidents like this occur when someone goes through a windshield. So virtually every bone in the skull is broken in some manner. Both jaws, eyes, cheeks, nose and skull. The surgery lasted over 14 hours. (I am glad I gave the camera to another guy to take pictures for me as I was not about to stand up for 14 hours simply observing, smart move.)

I thought this may be the best way to show a picture. This is actually the guy's skull. That hole at the top of it is where his frontal sinus is, and yes, that is his brain that you can barely see in there. I mean you can see how complex just this part was. The guy got over 104 screws put into his head. When this many fractures are involved it's called a "panfacial" case. I don't think it means this is what you get when someone hits your face with a pan, but that the fractures "pan" the entire skull. So, descriptively, in order to access some of the bones and to make it so this guy can go out into public again, you can't just go cutting in the forehead or in the cheeks, so you expose the fractures another way so that the scar is hidden in your hair. It's called a coronal flap and it's really awesome to watch. I'll spare you the details but basically you cut the scalp and pull it down over the eyes ewwwwww! Ok, sorry, but I had to put it out there in case anyone is considering cheating with someone married to a MLB player. If anyone thinks they need to see more, just lemme know.

Back for more

2008-07-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so let's talk about people and their stupidity. Sure, I'm all for having a good time and going out for fun with some friends. I've definitely seen some of the benefits of not getting wasted around people I know and even those I don't know (you decide which is worse)

Exhibit A: Last June 2007, a 21 year old female on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle. The boyfriend is driving drunk when at 65mph he collides with a tree sending the girlfriend over the top and into said tree. Guess which one of these was wearing a helmet. If you guessed neither, you get a gold star. The girlfriend messes up her face so badly they end up taking out most of her teeth in the upper jaw and almost the whole lower jaw (including the bone). She goes to the OR for surgery when as they begin they have to cancel it due to the inordinate amount of lice crawling from her scalp into the sterile field. Yucky! So, it is now 1 year later and she ended up shaving her head for surgery and all is well. She is at the clinic for a follow-up when I get to examine her healing site. What do I see crawl up from under her blouse to her neck and back down? A baby cockroach. I have seen it all folks. What's worse is she asks me if I am single. I reach for the other pair of gloves....

Exhibit B: It is 1:00 a.m. and this dude stumbles in (drunk) to the ER. He claims there is some discomfort next to his nose and he wants it looked at. He doesn't remember what happened to him (ah, the wonderful effects of alcohol) but he's pretty sure it's not good. They take him in to be x-rayed (sic)...

So for those who watch ER or Gray's anatomy regularly I don't have to belabor this explanation. But for the few of you who have never had to interpret CT scans allow me. Imagine taking a slice parallel to the floor right through your head. The top of this picture is the nose. The bottom is your brain. Get the picture? Yes, that is in fact a knife sticking into the guy's face, going through the sinus into the skull. It was broken off at the handle and annoying this guy when he looked in the mirror. So he walks in and we take him to the OR. We pull the knife out and miraculously the knife never touched a major artery or nerve. So... he is going to leave the hospital with nothing but a band-aid over his nose. The guy who shoved this into his face is going to be really upset when he sees him again.

So the moral of the story is... it doesn't matter who you drink with, enemy or lover, you're going to end up on my blog.

Dallas and Me (not Krommenhoek)

2008-07-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

Heather told me that I should post something new to the blog since I am all done with my externship. I can only tell you that most of the pictures are too graphic for many young viewers and so I can't show you the more interesting parts of the experience. So then I thought I would just talk about the externship, but that wouldn't work either since many of the details are too graphic for young listeners. So, in desperation to keep my wife happy and update the blog I'll have to ask you to cover your young one's eyes and ears and brace yourselves...

Okay, but seriously... I'll talk about a few of the things I saw. Let me start by telling you... America's got problems. There are so many disguisting people out there and I probably met 90% of them in a week's work, then they all referred their relatives to meet me as well. I think I washed my hands 6.3 million times and got so good at it I still go through the motions as I sleep. Double-gloving should never be considered a special precaution but a standard of practice. I think that one should question the status of America and it's "goal" to be a leader of nations when as I was navigating the halls of the hospital I turned a corner to see...

That's right folks, the Golden Arches are everywhere. I can't think of a more inspiring sight than shuffling around the hospital attached to an i.v. drip with your backside exposed to the world and sauntering up to the register to order a nice juicy 100% beef Big Mac. We can go no lower. I only write this because I saw it happen, but I couldn't get the camera out in time. I did laugh though with my other extern-mates. For all the ladies out there (and guys) who are thinking of getting plastic surgery later in life or for just a "touch-up" you may want to consider the process.

No... he's not dead and they didn't paint his face to look like a clown either. They do mark your face up before they put you under and then once you're good and paralyzed... It's slicing time! They let everyone in on the action. I even got to do some cutting... that is refreshing to know that some dental student who really loves oral surgery and has taken out many teeth but has no business cutting on your face is out there. Luckily, it was only his eyebrows and not something more prominent like his chin. Is anyone still reading this?

Okay, this is the last piece that I will talk about unless I get a comment asking for more because believe me... I GOT more! This is a picture of an ear,... but not just any ear. This ear has a story behind it. As many of you may know, I went to Parkland Memorial Hospital for my last externship in Oral Surgery. This is a very well known hospital in the Health Career department and maybe some have heard that this was the hospital where JFK was taken when he was shot...

They like to pride themselves on being the hospital that received him, but let's face it... they lost him here. Okay, enough history. Back to me. So, this is the county hospital and a fairly reputable one as I was saying. Apparently all the inmates from Dallas County Jail come here when they get a booboo, too. So this guy says he was minding his own business "in jail" when he dropped something on the floor and bent over to pick it up. He stood up and hit his head on an unspecified object, slicing his right ear. Whatever dude, I've heard it all. I ended up attending this guy and may I add it is quite intimidating working on a prisoner. I walked up to this guy who is in wrist and ankle chains. He's in a "holding cell" with other riff raff surrounded by armed security guards next to the ER. I walk in there acting like I know what I'm doing and look at the guys ear. "Yup, it's cut and it'll need stitches," I muster up. I leave the room to change my underwear and proceed to gather the necessary materials to sew this guy up. Well, we ended up getting our own private room where the inmate shuffles onto the hospital bed. He answers every question I ask with " Yes, sir" or "No, sir" which completely freaks me out. All I can think about is how this guy is going to react when I give him a shot and start sticking a needle in his ear. Unfortunately, there was no anesthetic with epinephrine in it (lay terms, it wears off really quickly) so, let's sum up what is going on here. I'm in a room with a guy in black and white stripes who has handcuffs and leg cuffs and bleeding from his ear. The security guard is in the corner who I am hoping he is actually watching every move this guy makes. I've never sewn up an ear before but, hey it's probably a lot like doing needlepoint, which I have also never done. So, after injecting this guy a few times, he's shaking from all the pain that I am causing him. Believe me that my life was flashing before my eyes. I was sure he was going to use a part of my body he ripped off to undo his cuffs and rampage through the hospital. It was all my fault. That never happened of course and I would like to point out that I think I did a pretty good job. He was grateful and I was grateful to be alive. The end. Let me know if you want to hear more.

A Nice Seattle Day

2008-06-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was great. In the morning, I went to kickboxing, which is always fun, but I really like the teachers up here, and the classes aren't nearly as jam-packed as in SF. Then, I headed up to Seattle to first see Danielle and meet her little boy Nathan. Since Alex isn't here, I don't have any photos of us (I tend to forget or lose motivation and wish I would've later). The weather has been perfect, so we went on a walk, played and were kept busy with the babe. On to Rira's on the other side of the city. We had delicious crepes on Capitol Hill, then went to Trophy Cupcakes, the best cupcake place ever. At that time, I was movitated to get a photo of us there, but the rude girl at the counter made me lose interest. So I found this one online so all can see how cute it is.

I had the Hummingbird, which was ok, but like a sweet banana muffin with frosting. Rira's triple chocolate was delicious. My sister introduced me to this for my bday by getting me a shirt and a choc-vanilla one that hooked me in. Next time I want to try this one, the graham cracker one that was on Martha, or the pb&j or the snickerdoodle. I'm starting to think my blog and/or life is centered a bit too much on cupcakes...

Anyway, lots of fun, and if the weather keeps up this way, it's going to be hard to leave.

What To Do

2008-06-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, my mom and sisters are in Taiwan now. Mom will be back next week, Laura in August and Andrea's doing an MBA thing for 2 years. So, it's just the boys and me at the house. Bobby and my dad work during the day, and I get to hang out with Nick. What do I do with a 13 year old who just likes to sleep in way too much and play video games? The weather is so nice, but it's not like he wants to just go out for a walk or anything. So, any ideas would be appreciated! I'm thinking maybe a movie, a day at Wild Waves and that's about all I have so far. Thankfully, he's got some friends to do things with, but I'm not letting them sit in front of the tv all day! And, there are certain friends my mom says he can't play with anyway. I feel like I'm back in my nanny days....I miss my mom, then she can be in charge and make dinner.

Family Update

2008-06-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy and fun past week up here in WA. I'm here with the fam while Alex is doing his externship in Dallas for another week and a half. He's enjoying it, although it sounds quite exhausting! He's learning more than I think he planned; he sutured some prisoner's ear today. I've just been hanging out in Fed Way-playing Wii, running random errands with my mom and sis and enjoying the lack of rain while it lasts! Yesterday, we all went down to Steilacoom to see Grandma...

Here is Grandma with a few of my cousins and Uncle Ron.

Me with my cousin Kelli's baby Jia.

The biggest Kaler family picture we've had in who knows how long...just 2 husbands and a cousin missing. I wish we could see everyone more-maybe in a year or so...?

Kim's Shower

2008-06-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful way to kick off my time up here in good ol' Federal Way! Kim's bridal shower was on Saturday, at a cute Tacoma tea house, and it was just perfect. We all got to reminisce, catch up and recall classic Kim memories. Kim and I have been friends since 1st grade; she is probably the friend I've had the longest!

Since my camera likes to decide when to take great photos and then blurry ones, I had to steal this one from Danielle. Here are the 4 of us; I can't express how grateful I am that we've been able to stay in touch all these years (although I haven't always been the greatest). Rira and Danielle-I promise to visit more this time around; Kim, I miss you lots!
Here are all of us at the table. Betsy and Jenny did such a great job with the shower! It makes me want to visit tea houses more often....esp. to eat those delicious scones and shortbread....

So Pretty

2008-06-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Alex heard me talking about how pretty Courtney's necklace is that Tyson got her and I guess it sparked the idea for my birthday gift... I love it so much. It is the first piece of jewlery from Tiffany I have ever owned-who would've thought I could get so much joy out of a necklace. Although I do feel a little undeserving since we should've been celebrating the beginning of being a 3rd year, too...congrats, Alex!

Blogiversary

2008-06-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well, today is my 1 year Blogiversary. I like that word, it is funny to me. Although I spend waaay too much time in the blogosphere, I think they are a great invention because it is the closest thing I have to a journal for the past year. Not too much has changed in my life this year. Since I really enjoy making lists, here is a list of 9 things that are the same and different:

Same:

1. I look and weigh the same

2. Live in the same place

3. Still no kids

4. Have the same furniture

5. I eat & like the same foods

6. Doing the same thing I did last "summer"

7. Still on my same page of scrapbooking

8. Still no car (that will change soon though)

9. Still haven't been to Alcatraz (that will happen in July:)

Different:

1. Not a nanny anymore

2. Different calling in church

3. Have 5 nephews instead of 4 (Congrats, Tasha!)

4. Making more new foods/recipes

5. The ulcer is gone

6. I have my "sea legs" now

7. I understand more why people love to live in Northern CA

8. Alex is almost a 3rd year instead of almost a 2nd year

9. I have a different cell phone number

Love for TJ's & Number 100

2008-05-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's is awesome. It is my 2nd favorite grocery store (if you factor in price, it would be #1, but I am just thinking about how pretty and tasty Whole Foods is right now so that will be first in my mind for today). Everytime I go to Safeway, I always wish I were at TJ's instead. Thankfully, it's a 10 min. walk so I can be there instead! Although there are some things that TJ's just doesn't have (ice cream cones, baking powder). Here is a list of some things I like there. This may get continued the more things I try, we'll see...

1. Vanilla Wafer Cookies- These must be relatively new; they come in a clear tub and are so delicious. They have Madagascar vanilla specks in them which makes the vanilla seem that much more present. Whole Foods' 365 wafers are also very good, but no specks there.

2. Salmon Patties- Come frozen in a package of 5 or so. They are super easy to make, only 80 cal each and are loaded with protein and omega-3s. Sorry, I don't know if it is farm-raised or wild (I'm guessing farm-raised since it's cheaper, although let's hope for wild:)

3. Pizza dough- At around $1, you get a bag of ready-to-roll dough, either wheat, herb or original. Very tasty and relatively fresh!

4. Joe Joe's- TJ's verison of an Oreo sans hydrogenated oils. Haven't tried the ginger ones, but we love the peppermint ones and the chocolate and vanilla are good, too.

5. Gyoza- In the frozen section, either pork, chicken or veggie. It goes great with the gyoza dipping sauce they sell (a checker there upsold us that and we loved it).

6. Hansen's soda- Other places sell this, but it is by far the cheapest here at $2 for a 6-pack (if you live in CA, add on the $.05/can for CRV....blah). Personally, it's not as sweet as I would hope, but I guess that's what you get for not having HFCS, so it's worth it.

7. Big Bars of Chocolate- At over a pound for $3.49, you can't beat it. They have milk, bittersweet and with almonds for sure. Apparently, TJ's is the only place you can get this specific brand of imported chocolate- perfect for baking. My friend's MIL had her go buy about 15 bars once and mail them out to Utah for her, they are that good.

One area I would pass over is the fruit section. Maybe buy bananas ($.19 each), but the other fruits don't look that fresh to me. Do you have any favorites?

Also, this is my 100th post, yippee! I was going to wait until Sat. to post again, since that will be my one year bloggerversary, but I am more bored at work more than usual....

Dry feet....Help!

2008-05-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

I've decided to bring this up because I'm open to any solutions. My feet are so dry (this is not a new thing), especially on my heels and the outside of my big toes. I put lotion on them twice a day and occasionally sand them down with a file. It drives Alex crazy, and it bugs me quite a bit as well. My mom has dry feet, along with my brother, so I think it's genetic (I do have dry skin in general). I want to be able to wear flip-flops without having to wonder if the skin is cracking or peeling. Gross, I know, but what can I do? Pedicures only last so long... any ideas?

Update

2008-05-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking somewhat on the blog lately, so here is a little update of our current lives....

A week and a half ago, we went with the Rogers' to our first Giants game. That stadium is so nice. They played the Astros, and lost of course, but it was so fun. Next, we want to check out the Athletics' stadium, hopefully when they play the Mariners....?

Last year, we picked up this cookbook on the cruise and have admired all the pretty pictures of the recipes. So, we finally have started to make them. So far, we've tried the Ohana Bread Pudding and Pecan Crusted Trout. Tonight, we're planning on the Molten Lava Cakes. My plan is to make all of them.

For the past month, I've been working at yet another investment company. It has been nice, my coworker is great and we have a lot in common. It is a very low stress job. The most exciting thing to happen there is I got to meet this man. He was very nice.

Alex is doing fine. 2 weeks of school to go before finals. He was inducted into TKO last week and had a fun and delicious dinner to go with it.
That's all I can think of right now. I need to post more often.

Kind of Sad News

2008-05-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

This Disney Store is closing.

The other day on my lunch break, I decided to head over to Borders and the Disney Store. As I approached Disney, I noticed all these bright yellow and red signs saying the whole store is on sale, let's get rid of everything, blah blah. Hmm, not a good sign. It's closing! I was quite surprised, it's in a great location and seems to get pretty good business. I went on wikipedia and apparently, The Children's Place just sold the Disney Store back to the Disney Co (they bought it from them a few yrs. ago, which explains why I hardly find anything I like there anymore). Well, because of this change, they're closing 100 stores this year. Maybe this one is just too expensive to keep open, since I'm sure that spot in Union Square is highly desired real estate. Oh well, I'll miss the fun music as I walk by and browsing for a cute bag, holiday decor or stuffed animal. I won't miss the over-abundance of princess garb and the main focus on kiddie clothes. Hopefully, the re-ownership will bring the Disney Store back to what it used to be, and if that means having to close some of the stores, it's worth it.

Point Reyes

2008-05-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we took a little jaunt to the Point Reyes Lighthouse and surroundings. If we knew how much there was to see, we would've allowed more time! The drive was very nice and the views , of course, amazing.

This was taken as we walked from the car to the lighthouse. It looks nice, and it was, but it was super windy, and cold cold!

If the winds are steady at over 45mph, they close the stairs down to the lighthouse. Thankfully, they were still open (although I don't know how that was possible), so we got to go check it out.

308 steps later, we were inside the lighthouse. The lady there told us how all the prisms work and other stuff I already forgot.

On the way back, we stopped by Chimney Rock to see the elephant seals. They are huge and move like massive caterpillars.

This happened occasionally. I was surprised we saw so many cows, and I was also astounded at how big some of their udders were. It was nice to see them being treated well and they are without a doubt being raised "free range" style. Maybe the ads are true, they looked happy.

Here is a clearer photo of the lighthouse. It really felt like we were on the edge of the world.

It was a fun day. Thanks Sarah for your Jetta:)

Texting

2008-04-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking about the whole text message thing today because I think it is definitely one of those things that separates my generation from my 2 youngest siblings, or even people 5 years or so younger than me. My littlest brother Nick can be on his phone forever just texting away. I don't get it, just call the person-it's a lot quicker and easier than trying to figure out all those keys and letters. Plus, it adds up fast! Alex gets too many texts from 2 or 3 certain classmates who text a basic comment/question that we then have to pay for to answer it or to even read it. Weird. Yes, I know we could get the unlimited feature on our plan, but it's not worth it to us. It seems like there are just a few people who constantly use it (probably the ones who have unlimited on their phones), but I guess they don't realize that we all don't want to pay to read their little remarks. Too bad these folks don't read my blog:)
Anyway, I just had to vent about it because it is one of those things I will never understand or want to use. Just like my mom doesn't really get her voicemail on her cell phone, this is the thing of the new generation that I don't care to get. Funny how that is....

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have always liked the idea of Earth Day. However, since we've been living in SF, I kind of feel like every day is Earth Day. Recycling is good.

I wanna Rock & Roll all night... and party every day!

2008-04-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

I am glad that I got to post this before Heather got a chance to edit it. She wanted that I explain to you that she has had to endure horrible music, endless muddled guitar riffs, flat pitch notes and a constant rumbling bass that shakes the entire 7th floor apartments. Isn't that awesome! My friend let me borrow the game Rock Band because he said people would show up all the time at his house asking to play it and I guess he couldn't handle the fame. I love it... since we've had it I've grown to love and respect Bon Jovi for what he's done for America. I think I sing way better than him, too. That's my friend Paul on the drums, Brian on Bass and his wife Becca on the mic. Heather is a bit embarrassed to admit that she likes rockin' the bass and has moved fearlessly up from easy to medium in a matter of days. I tell you, if everyone had one of these systems... we wouldn't need law enforcement anymore, because we'd all be too busy loving each other all the time. The earth would be overpopulated with babies born from rock n' roll hoochie koo's!!

I thought that some people would enjoy this picture. It's a time lapse I took of the city at night along with this one below. And yes, Kim, it was a seagull.

Sorry, but

2008-04-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

I had to put the word verification on my comments section. Twice this week, I've gotten a random comment telling me to "click here," and I've heard this leads to either porn or viruses. Hopefully, this doesn't stop anyone from leaving comments because Alex and I always look forward to reading your replies!!

Just Got This

2008-04-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Best Buy to get this little gem that came out today. It is on sale there this week for $15.99, but they'll price match Circuit City for $13.99 - a lot less than we paid to see it at the Kabuki (previous post). Can't wait to watch it again-it's so funny and the music is great!

A Pancake for Horton?

2008-04-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this creation, I guess you could call it, on Slashfood and thought it was blogworthy. IHOP is serving this right now to celebrate the Horton Hears a Who movie, along with a few other treats. I think it would be fun to order just because it's so colorful and crazy. Too bad it's at IHOP and I don't have any desire to enter that place. Although, I have heard the movie is really good and I want to see it!

P.S. Alex was having fun blogging this week. Maybe we will be co-writers here, we'll see.

Big Brother is watching...

2008-04-10T22:56:00.001-07:00

You know what is really funny about my last post...? It was about a bird. I got more posts on it than Heather ever dreamed about, which was somewhere around eight. Here's a great picture of a semi-psychotic man I took a picture of. I love zoom lenses and here's why... you don't have to be right next to the subject you're taking a picture of. At your command you can ZOOM closely into anyone's living room window or quietly pan across the street and get the shot of that homeless man that you can't believe is actually going to the bathroom, on the lawn, in the crabwalk position and is using the grass as toilet paper (true story, I saw it from my window but the camera was too far away, I need a zoom arm.) So, truthfully this picture isn't as great as the "woodpecker" (as someone so thoughtfully pointed out to me) but I give it great merit because it takes guts to grow a mustache and a beard and still be really, really ridiculously good looking. I'm watching you all now... always watching...

Bonus: Okay all you smarty pants, what kind of bird?

The answer revealed next time...

I can blog, too

2008-04-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

See,
I can do it as well as Heather and pick random things to talk about. Take this bird for instance. I took a picture of this bird in Washington. Many of you faithful blog checkers may be wondering if anyone has updated their blogs recently. Upon finding others that have more up-to-date blogs than yourself, you may think, "I'd better update my blog, what have I done or seen or read in the last 24 hours that is interesting to a small select group of people?" Well, here you go. I know the vast majority of you have never been to Dumas Bay in the Federal Way, Washington area. Many of you probably have never seen this bird. I never knew he existed until just recently. Its a very peculiar bird. He's got a red pattern of feathers on his head with black and white markings covering his face. The majority of his body is dark and most likely covered in feathers. I'm sure he flys as good as any respectable bird can, but he spent most of the time during the photo shoot banging his beak against the bark. Perhaps a barkbanger... Anyway I can't wait to see the overwhelming response and comments about how others have had similar experiences or just to comment on how lame I can be.

A Little Miss Guided

2008-04-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

I watched this show, Miss Guided, last night for the first time. It was ok, not as good as I hoped. It's too bad, because I think Judy Greer is great in the Wedding Planner and 30 Going on 30. She is hilarious and so cute. It is a really cute concept-she's a high school counselor who works are her old school, where she was a nerd. But it just seemed so boring and predictable that I didn't really care to stay tuned. However, I do love her outfits!

Anyway, can't wait for The Office to be back next week.

PB & J Day!

2008-04-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was browsing at the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building and saw a little stand seeling peanut butter and jelly sanwiches with a chocolate chip cookie and milk for $5. The sales girl was saying it was to commemerate National Peanut Butter and Jelly day, which is today. I had never heard of this so I looked it up last night, and sure enough, it exists.

Alex eats pb&j's often because I end up making them for his lunch whenever we run out of deli meat, which is too common since I like to eat ham & turkey straight from the bag. He ideal way is Adams creamy with grape Welch's on Oroweat potato bread. Not me-I prefer Adams with strawberry or raspberry preserves or honey on buttermilk or whole wheat bread. The best pb&j we've ever had was at the Coronado Springs hotel at Disney World for breakfast-it came to go and they just loaded on the pb so thick it was divine. And it was the cheapest thing I could find that came with fruit and milk as well. Oh, but in a very close second place is Specialty's. Their peanut butter & stuff is worth a try! Also, it sounds kind of strange, but a peanut butter and jelly milkshake (I've only tried it with grape) is superb.

Maybe one day I'll try this, the Elvis sandwich, bananas, pb, with butter & grilled:

Has anyone tried, this, the fluffernutter? It just has marshmallow creme instead of jelly.

So, in honor of all this, make yourself some kind of pb&j sandwich, bars, whatever. The combination is one of the best!

Tag

2008-04-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

I actually really like doing these, maybe because I don't have to get too creative with a post!

You can only use one word. The first word that comes to your mind. Don't think this through. This might be harder than you thought. (of course I didn't follow the one word rule):

1- Where is your cell phone? kitchen table
2- Your hair? Blonde
3- Work? temping off and on (right now, off)
4- Your father? encouraging
5- your favorite thing? my somewhat new hollister hoodie
6- your dream last night? that a friend was preg. w/twins and got cancer-very weird.
7- your favorite drink? Costco Vitawater
8- your dream car? BMW
9- The room you are in? living room
10- your fears? getting robbed
11- What do you want to be in 10 years? mom
12- Who did you hang out with last night? Alex until he went to study
13- What you are not good at? singing
14- Muffin? banana
15- One of you wish list items? a big kitchen
16- Where did you grow up? Federal Way, WA
17- Last thing you did? ate
18- What are you wearing? my Hollister hoodie
19- What aren't you wearing? shoes
20- Your pets? none
21- your computer? HP laptop
22- Your life? interesting
23- Your mood? hopeful
24- Missing? family
25- what are you thinking about right now? If I really want to watch american idol tonight
26- Your car? none
27- Your summer? Federal Way, Dallas & SF
28- your relationship status? married
29- your favorite color? yellow
30- When was the last time you laughed with meaning? yesterday watching Reba
31- last time you cried? a week or so ago
32- school? nope
33- least favorite weather? flash floods
34- soup? Any chicken
35- movie? Ratatouille

My Favorite Chocolates

2008-03-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love See's Candies, it is a mini-addiction. When I'm working downtown, I tend to go there about once a week and pick up a few of my favorites, and maybe try a new piece here and there. I know a lot of people consider See's as a cheaper type of chocolate, but it's good enough for me! When I was young, my mom would treat us to one of their lollipops when we would be on a mall shopping trip. They had more flavors back then (I always wanted the now defunct peanut butter one), and I have moved on to the glorious chocolate case and will stick to that. My two favorite pieces that I have to get every time are:

Dark Nougat

This piece I just recently discovered. It has a honey flavored nougat with almonds, covered with dark chocolate. Health-wise, this would be a better selection since almonds are one of the better-for-you nuts and it's dark:)

Peanut Crunch

This is one of the first pieces I discovered. I told the lady at the counter I loved peanut butter crunchy so she gave me this and I've never looked back. It is just right, so much better than a Reese's could ever be. If you prefer creamy, they also have the Peanut Butter Cup, that is also a solid choice.

Some other pieces I like are the butterscotch square (very very sweet), apple pie truffle, dark almonds, light chocolate truffle and the Scotchmallow.

A few that I actually don't like are the pineapple truffle, walnut square, vanilla nut cream and divinity puff. I guess it's more that I don't like walnuts. But the pineapple one really is gross.

There's my See's wrap-up. Oh, and one more thing, you always get a smile, a "Come back soon" along with your receipt and the extra free sample!!

Winter Spring

2008-03-27T18:50:00.001-07:00

Alex and I have been in Washington this week and has it been cold. So cold, in fact, that it snowed! Seriously, I mean, it is the end of March, very strange. This is the first snow we've seen this year. I think we did the Spring Break thing backwards since the SF weather was perfect when we left....oh well, Alex's externship has been surprisingly uneventful and although I'm freezing, it's been nice. Here is a photo of the backyard today during the "storm".

A Weekend of Fun

2008-03-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, Alex and I had a full Saturday filled with fun and adventure. Brian D. called us at 8am while we were still in bed, and we got up and had some delicious breakfast at Rose's Cafe on Union & Steiner. I had scrambled eggs with spinach covered with proscuitto; Alex had french toast with cream & apples that was perfect and Brian had chicken sausage with polenta and marinara that was divine, too. We all had to try each other's-go there, it's great! After that, we browsed Chestnut Street and Alex and Brian ventured into their favorite, a camera store. I rediscovered that street and realized I need to explore those shops a bit more.

Then, we begged not to be brought home, the day was just going so well and it couldn't be over already. So, we headed back to Corte Madera to Brian's and watched The Illusionist. After a bit, we headed back out to all our favorite, Costco and Target; made a good purchase, then on to Berkeley for the first time.....here is us on the Cal campus

We found this funny Brazilian eatery; there were actually 2 of them. Of course, we had to get coxinhas and pao de quijo-yum yum! After finally noticing the cuter parts of Berkeley (it took a while), we headed back through Richmond to check out the Disney Store. It was cute, but man, that city is scary!
On our way home, we realized the sunset was way too pretty to pass up. So on to the Marin Hills, or whatever they're called, for a Brian and Alex photoshoot. These photos don't do it justice, they got some great pics and it was gorgeous!

Whenever we're over in Marin, the In-n-Out right off the highway always draws us in. So we got some milkshakes, while Alex ate his 4 x 4 burger. That thing was massive.

Then back to the Devers' for some conversation and comfort. It was a great day and we loved it.

Look What We Found!

2008-03-09T21:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while Andrea was here, we had the blessing of B & B's car and home over in Marin (thanks again!). It was wonderful, we felt like we were on our own mini vacation, with the gorgeous weather, comfy beds & time to explore. We headed over to Mt. Tam to try to get farther than we did the last time we went, but this time we found this!

Little did we know, this is Stinson Beach, which isn't necessarily a well-kept secret or anything, but we loved the view from the mountain of the ocean, bay and city skylines. It was amazing-Alex was in heaven shooting photos.

A Weak One

2008-03-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

I am almost embarrassed to even write about this because I think I write about it too much, but guess what, I am sick once again. This time it's the flu, that I know for sure. My sis Andrea was in town for 5 days and left Tuesday. Immediately after I dropped her off at Bart, I got a bad headache and felt so sore. So I got a Jamba Juice and sat on the grass and tried to enjoy the nice weather before heading home. That night the fever came and I have been out of it since. Today is the first day I was able to go out to get some air, it felt good. The worst is over, now I just have to get over the sinus pressure/cough. Please, please let this be the last time-I don't know how else to prevent it, I take Vitamin C every day, carry hand sanitizer with me and I try to get anti-oxidants in my diet....and the funny thing is, neither Alex or Andrea caught it. Where did my immunity go??

All Better!

2008-02-29T21:17:00.001-08:00

I keep meaning to write a quick update about my previously mentioned illness. The Monday after my ER experience, my doctor called to tell me I tested positive for H. Pylori. Yay, I am very happy that they found the culprit! Today was the last day of my myriad of antibiotics and I am happy to be pylori-free and back to my normal self. Good riddance!

Recipe of the Week

2008-02-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

My goal was to highlight a recipe each week, but I forgot. So, I will try again and probably again after the next time I forget:)

These cookies are so so good. The secret is the pudding. Alex loved them-we prefer chewy cookies over cripsy and I left out the walnuts. So, if you like chewy with great flavor, give these a try!

Subway Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 package (3 1/2 oz. or so) vanilla instant pudding mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Mixture will be thick.

Blend in the flour mixture. Then, stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

SF Twins

2008-02-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I decided to do a little reaseach on these 2 ladies. Twice now, I have seen them at the same corner right around Bush and Powell (Nob Hill). I was reading a review of the Tadich Grill on Yelp and it mentioned the San Francisco Twins and how they eat there often. I thought, hmm, I wonder if they are the same twins I saw. After googling, sure enough, they are! Personally, I think it's a bit creepy, but kind of entertaining. Their names are Vivian and Marian and they dress and eat the same things, never been married, have only been apart for 3 weeks ever and are quite well-known, according to Wikipedia. Both times I've seen them, they've been holding hands, wearing bright red hats with leopard skin coats-those wigs and eyebrows are what get me.
So, if you are ever hanging out around Nob Hill, Union Square or the FiDi, keep your eye out for this duo!

Our Neighbohood Addition

2008-02-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, my friend Jessica posted on her blog about how she's scared of libraries. I am the complete opposite, I love the library! When we first moved here, the Western Addition library, which is right across the street, was open, but after a month or so, it closed for renovations. So, for the past year and half, I've had to either walk to the Presidio library or make sure I caught the Bookmobile when it was scheduled nearby. The Bookmobile was actually great because it had all the newest books and movies, it just was only around twice a week. I got to know the man and lady who worked in it quite well.
Anyway, 2 weeks ago, the library reopened! Apparently, the city spent $4 million on it, which amazes me because it's nice, but nothing that fabulous, and it's not very big. I do like the self checkout, the homeless-proof grounds (aka a fence) and all the new books! If you're into Japanimation, it has a lot of that, too. Yay for reading and no more loud and crazy construction!

The Long but Rewarding Walk

2008-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Alex and I decided to walk over to and across the GG Bridge. We were then able to hang out with the Devers at their cute home! It was a lot of fun, the weather was perfect and we had a great time. Here are a few of Alex's photos.

What a Day

2008-02-17T12:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess Friday ended up not being the end of the sickness, but hopefully, yesterday was! Late Friday night, I started feeling sick again, and it lasted all night. I was to the point where I wanted to just stop breathing because it hurt so much. After not sleeping and at the end of my threshold, at 5:30am, I woke Alex up frantic and needing some kind of help. We called the on-call advise nurse, who supported us in going to the ER. Zach C. loaned us his car this weekend, so Alex and I headed out to the CPMC by the dental school. We were the only ones being admitted, which was great. I got hooked up on Morphine and an anti-nausea med and was super tired, but out of my misery. Now I see why people get addicted to that, it worked in like 5 minutes and although I refused to look at the IV in my arm, I was relieved. After telling the doctors/nurses everything, they decided to do a CT Scan. By then, we had some company, a lady who needed a blood transfusion and, thanks to Alex's new medical knowledge, we knew she was close to dying. After all of this, I have so much gratitute for my health and I realize things could be much worse.

But, of course, the CT Scan couldn't be done right away. I had to drink a Liter of "contrast," which I still don't know what it is, but it's gross and looks like pee. The nurse mixed it with apple juice, but it was still horrid. And then, I still had to wait an hour after I drank it. Almost 2 hours later, they got me up to Radiology. Then I had to drink more contrast so it was fresh in my stomach so they could see all the organs. But the really cool guy up there mixed his with Tang, so much better, and he put in a little umbrella! Alex and I loved him. The scan went fine, a little weird, but no pain. Was brought back to my spot and now had 2 new neighbors, a 4 yr old cougher and an odd SF guy who was annoying. About 30 minutes later, the doctor came in and told me all my tests were fine. Seriously? I started crying and was sad. The doctor probably was not used to that, coming in to tell me I was relatively healthy and my reaction being that. The scan doesn't pick up ulcers, however, and they didn't test for h.pylori (still waiting for the other dr. results on that), but I have no obstructions, damage, tumors, etc. So he gave me some super strong Vicodin and another pain med and sent us on our way.

All in all, I am glad I went, no matter how scared I was of the ER and all the trauma. Alex never left my side, come to think of it he never even went to the bathroom, how is that possible? The entire staff was super accomodating and kind. I would definitely recommend that hospital! And so far, I have been feeling better since (it's been 24 hours:). Thanks for all the prayers, caring words and thoughts. I do think now that I am being taught gratitude for the health I have and for all those out there who are able and willing to help others.

Torture

2008-02-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

FYI: This post isn't the most uplifting and it's kind of boring....
I have been really bad at the blogging lately, because I have been super sick and can hardly do anything. Which also stinks because we have some cool photos I want to share! Thankfully, I just woke up and this is the time (for 2-3 hours) I actually feel normal. Went to the doctor yesterday and they're pretty sure I have an ulcer, what I expected, and gave me a prescription so I hope it starts working soon. It feels like something is just eating away my insides right above my belly button. Sometimes I'm able to throw up and that helps get rid of the pain, but since I can't eat much, that doesn't happen often enough. So, if this doesn't get better soon, I'll have to go to a gastroenterologist. Alex has been great, although I do feel bad for him since there's not much he can do, and he has to put up with all my moaning and groaning....
Anyway, that's what's been going on this week. Every morning when I feel good, I hope it's the day for it to end; maybe that will be today.

Eli Stone

2008-02-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

This is a really great new show. We had seen a million or so commercials for it before it aired last week, and Alex had to watch Lost right before it, so since that seems to be a great way to get people to watch a new show, we stuck around and checked it out. I am glad we did- it has all the elements of a hit-catchy and funny lines, the touching/sentimental stuff, attractive and relatable characters and a great location (SF, of course!). It even made me like the song "Faith," which ever since Limp Bizkit redid that song, it bugged me (if you saw the pilot you know what I mean). The only bad thing is it's on at 10, which makes my Fridays at work at little more tiring!

Cell Phone, Anyone??

2008-02-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

I am having some annoying cell phone drama. The other week, my phone decided not to work anymore and is unfixable. We only have 5 months left on our plan and then want to switch carriers, so I don't want to have to renew our contract just to get a new phone. But, if not, even the cheapest basic phone is like $80! If any of you happen to have an old phone lying around with a spot on the back for a SIM card (ideally T-Mobile), I would be so grateful to have it. I'll cover the shipping if you're not nearby and I can also return in in July if needed. I am getting desperate, my loaner is only good until Friday. Man, cell phone companies are a pain....Thank you!

Puppy Bowl

2008-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

Alex and I aren't really big football fans, but we love puppies! Whoever invented the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet is a genius. It is on during the Super Bowl and the dogs are so so cute! They have so much energy and basically just run around and play. For halftime, they have the kitty show. Occasionally, we would turn to the game to see what was going on, and hopefully catch a few commercials, but overall, the Puppy Bowl was our main attraction. My two favs are the Beagle and West Highland White Terrier.

One day we will get a dog....but not anytime soon.

Oh and congrats to the Giants.

Recipe of the Week

2008-02-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

I decided it would be fun to post a recipe or two every week or so. Since I love reading, and eventually trying new recipes, maybe this will motivate me to make them more! This morning, Alex said he wanted waffles, which is rare, since he usually prefers pancakes (I think he was just trying to be nice since he knows I like waffles better). There were some frozen bananas I needed to use so I went to www.allrecipes.com and found only one recipe for banana waffles. After reading the comments and such, here is my version...oh and above is a picture I found online; I used a Cinderella waffler so mine looked a lot different:) Also, if you don't have wheat flour, you can use only all purpose flour (that was one of my variations).

Banana Waffles

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 to 2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 bananas, mashed

Preheat any kind of waffle iron. Combine flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, nutmeg & cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir together. Add milk, egg & banana and stir until all combined. Spray non-stick cooking spray onto the waffle iron. Pour batter into waffle iron and cook to desired doneness. Makes 3 to 4 good-sized waffles. Serve with syrup, butter, peanut butter, chocolate chips, whipped cream, or whatever topping you love best!