A Day in the Bay

Scott has Tuesdays off and I decided to take the day off also.  We planned to go to SF one more time, just the two of us, before leaving for Salt Lake.  The city is so beautiful during the holidays...most big cities I have been to during the holidays really do it well but, SF is my favorite. :) We set out for our adventure just after 10 this morning making a stop in my favorite bay area city, Lafayette, and boarded the BART (bay area rapid transit) there.

(I think I snapped this one mid conversation so that is why scott has this look in his eyes that says "really Michelle? A picture right now??")

We made a plan to hit up the area surrounding the Embarcadero. I love Pier 39 even though it's such a tourist trap. The walk from the bart station, down by the high end mall at the Embarcadero Center, and along the pier is nice.  As we usually do we casually strolled and stopped wherever we felt like. That's our style. We made it to Pier 39 and did lots of window shopping. I LOVE the shop "Lefty's" because it has fun stuff for left handed people....like me.  I was wishing their cups weren't so steeply priced.  $12.50 for a "left handed" cup.  When you see the picture you'll understand why it's for leftys but I still don't understand the price.  Jeez.

You can't see the back but it basically says Warning, if you're not left handed and you try to use this then you'll spill on yourself (see the little hole?!) I love it!

Then we wandered into a magnet store and I was looking for one of those retro looking ladies saying something cheeky like "Killing someone with kindness sounds like a lot of work".  Didn't find the perfect one for me but I found a few that I liked a whole lot.  I don't drink booze but I think the lady in this one looks like one of my mom's best friends, Jane.  This is also something she would probably say.

I really like the one below it too.  The bottom line was cut off but it says "Sometimes I wrestle with my demons. Sometimes we just snuggle." I thought that was pretty cute.

I also saw these little gems and thought "who in the crap actually purchases these and displays them on their refrigerator?" I don't know anyone who does. Do you?

They're cool I guess.  Growing up I was always more obsessed with the fake spills like glasses of milk and eggs and stuff. I thought it would be pretty cool to have that on the counter. Don't ask why. It's a kid thing I guess.

We splurged a little and decided to get a characture drawn.  I always have a knee jerk reaction to price. Scott has helped me see that when you're working with a trained artist you're talking about a lot more than just the product, it's the years and the time it takes to develop the skill and talent.  It was so fun to have this done:

Pretty good right? 

As this guy was drawing our picture we were sitting right by a carousel and these two older ladies were riding it together and having a blast.  I had to catch a picture.  Scott thought it was weird that I was taking pictures of strangers but I couldn't help myself.  They were so cute!

Ok...so you can't see them really well.  I was trying to be discreet. But imagine how cute they must have been :)

Here we are with a little photo op by the water:

Scott didn't like that I was in his shadow on this one. I still like it.

The sun was in my eyes. Scott kept counting and told me to open my eyes on 3.  We just couldn't get the timing right. I blame the iPhone. And besides, blue eyed people are more sensitive to light...or so I've been told...

I think we got it and BONUS: I'm a unicorn!!!

Best part of the day: Eating lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and sipping drinks from BENDY STRAWS!!! Score.

Are Scott and I the only ones who get excited about bendy straws?

We're pretty quirky. 

     I had a fabulous thanksgiving in sunny San Diego. I drove down, with my parents, on Tuesday so that we could spend the holiday with my brother whom we hadn't spent quality time with in a while. On our drive down we played a little game where we go around and say three nice things about everyone in the car. (Awwwww!) That started off the Thanksgiving holiday right! We were lucky enough to be invited to dine with my brother's girlfriend's parents and it was an absolute delight. They have a lovely home up in the hills. This was the setting for our evening:

I'm in love with their home. You can't see the view but it was awesome. We spent the evening enjoying delicious food and getting to know the Arteagas. I especially loved the stuffed zucchini (an Arteaga family favorite) and these pumpkin cupcakes, another family recipe. Ana's parents are from Argentina and we had a blast comparing US culture with that of Argentina. We talked about linguistics, told family stories, and politics.  It was lovely in every way.

I really enjoyed spending a few days with my brother. I've called him Pal for years now.  I'm not sure how that started but, he's my pal. I would do just about anything if he told me it was cool.  At least I always did as a child. We spent one day shopping and ended the day in La Jolla.  Such a beautiful place!

 Brent and Dad

 The scenery (I was enjoying the warm weather and sights of the ocean knowing I won't see a lot of that in Utah)

Me and Mama

Scott couldn't be there because he was working through the holiday. That's the restaurant business for ya. He insisted that we go without him. I'm grateful for his sacrifice so that I could spend time with Brent before we move to Utah. This Thanksgiving season I'm thankful for:
Family (I know, cliche...get over it): they've been so supportive of me and Scott as we step away from the college/ newly wed phase and move toward being real grown ups...I feel as though I'm not quite there yet but I'm close
Jobs: I've held 3 since April and I'm about to start the 4th. I'm planning to be at this next one for a while

Time to bust out the Amy Grant Christmas album. I'm sooooooo ready.

Announcement

Scott and I WILL find a way to make this happen.  Even if the law forbids it, we will figure out a way to live in a small house. It will be comfortable and it will be luxurious. It will have a mortgage we can pay off in WAAAAAY less than 30 years. I'm just announcing it now so that when small houses are the cool new thing we can say we did it before the masses. How hipster am I? Seriously though, this is just a fabulous idea and I had to share it.

Happy Holidays...already!

I guess the holiday season has arrived.  The major network stations are doing their "countdown to Christmas" style programming. Yay low-budget-made-for-tv-feel-good movies! Tis the season (already).  I know lots of friends that seem to get their panties in a bunch when stores begin putting Christmas decor out before Halloween. I've decided that I don't really care.  Snow men out in the aisles of Costco alongside the costumes? No biggie. Christmas ornaments sharing the same space in the store as the Halloween candy? Sure. Why not? I draw the line at the hanging of lights on houses and trimming trees.  Can this just wait until after Thanksgiving?  It seems like the Christmas decor comes out sooner and sooner each year.  I can imagine my future children scampering down the street with a Nightmare Before Christmas kind of scene.  Pumpkins, wreaths, and spider webs adoring each door step.

Speaking of Christmas lights...I made some out of paint samples. I was looking on Pinterest for paint sample crafts because I swiped a bunch from Lowes the other night.  I didn't see these lights so, I kinda did my own thing.  I used the brightest colors I could find, a clip art image to trace the shape, tin foil for the base of the bulb, and hot glue.  I have yet to adhere them to a chord/string but, here they are!

I will not be hanging them up until after Thanksgiving :)

Ok...ok....so, I guess my holiday rules are dumb because I sort of got a little too excited about getting Dinah a Christmas sweater at Safeway the other night.  I'm going to try to refrain from putting her in it until after Thanksgiving but it will probably be difficult.  She's just so darn cute!

Happy Wednesday to all and to all a good night.

I'm going to make this a regular thing

    This weekend I feel like I finally found my perfect cookie dough recipe. Bless! They are fluffy, moist, and chewy! Success! I'm what my grandfather would call a "domestic goddess". Seriously, he called my grandma a Greek goddess for years. Come to think of it, the cookies are not my only domestic accomplishment in the last week.  I'm going to brag:

1: hemmed Scott's pants
2: made Dinah a pillow for her kennel (complete with zipper so we can wash it)
3: home made pizza pockets/ hot pockets

This is the aforementioned pillow.

This is a link to the recipe for what seem to be the perfect chocolate chip cookies.  I used 2 sticks of real butter instead of 1 stick butter and one stick crisco.  I also used coconut flavored instant pudding instead of vanilla. Here ya go!

http://penniesonaplatter.com/2010/09/29/perfectly-puffy-chocolate-chip-cookies/


Domestic accomplishments. I'm awesome.