Luring Me In....

Well, Jon finally did it. He succeeded in the impossible. No, he didn't stop global warming (yet) or discover a way to halt aging....he got Dave and me to go FISHING!

We spent Jon's 30th birthday weekend in Tahoe with his family (a.k.a. HEAVEN ON EARTH). This is the same location that Jon and Lindsay got engaged almost exactly a year ago. Dave created this site for them at the time and is a fun walk down memory lane.

The entire weekend was fun and relaxing. In my 29 years, I am finding that I feel the most serene and relaxed when at Jon's grandparents' house on Tahoe. It is fun, easy and 100% enjoyable. They live directly ON the lake which is nothing short of phenomenal.

But I digress from Jon's major life accomplishment. Lindsay and I took out their row boat one afternoon (which was like 2 of the 3 Stooges trying to row and not knock each other with the fishing poles...I thought Jon should swamp our boat for Lindsay and me being complete idiots, but instead he was just thrilled that we were fishing at all!). We thought we had LOTS of bites, but come to find out that sometimes you just get caught on a rock and it's not REALLY a fish. We (I) actually believed that we "caught" about 20 fish before Jon let me down (gently) by saying that perhaps...just perhaps...some of those catches were rocks rather than fish that got away. I was a little offended at first until I realized he was absolutely right...and I could prove it because Tahoe's water is so amazingly clear that you can see the fish (or lack thereof at times!) in the water below you.

Jon patiently set each of us up with lures and rods (Dave knows how to fish, he just hasn't exactly been a huge enthusiast before...we try to limit our activities to just ONE "hick" thing and you know he already has NASCAR pegged as his favorite). I refused to put a worm on the hook myself (DISGUSTING) but did put Salmon Eggs on it (they are just like squooshy jelly beans more or less).

Lindsay's big catch? Ready for it? Not sure the screen can even handle this gigantic size:

Awwww.....she apparently went on to catch a fish larger than this two-inch beauty after we left (yeah, we've all heard THAT story before), but this is the ONLY fish the four of us caught in our day of fishing. After fishing in Lake Tahoe for a bit, Jon wanted to take us through some of the creeks he fished growing up (he spent lots of time at this house visiting his g-parents and knows the area quite well). In one creek, he lost a lure he had JUST purchased and really liked. So he decided to "go fishing" -- human style. Here is Jon plunging into the cold yet clear creek and victoriously finding his lure!

Our hero!

We had a really, really great time visiting with Jon's parents, who drove in from their new home in Texas, and Jon's grandparents who were just getting ready to go back to Sacramento for the winter. We took some photos on the pier together.



Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for sharing in this family tradition with us!

We've Got a "Grown Up" Couch!

At long last! The couch we ordered back in July has arrived! Ironically, the process took so long because it was being built in The Furniture Capital of the World, NORTH CAROLINA!!!!

This isn't exactly front page news, but it is definitely good news to us. We can finally get rid of our red "we'll-keep-it-one-week" CraigsList couch that we got for a few hundred dollars as a make-shift since our "Sofa Debaucle of '07" occurred in our first SF apartment back in February.

We purchased this chocolate couch through Room & Board and have started accenting it with a few pillows we purchased at this local artist fair a few months ago. The pillow covers were $15/each and then we purchased the pillow inserts from Pottery Barn - love them!


My Mom comes in town TOMORROW which, as we all know, means that it will be a mad frenzy in order to make it appear that we're always this clean and spotless. I need to reassure her that her Southern training of me was not a complete loss. Any ideas on how to accomplish this??? Anyone?

'Rents and Raves!

At long last! We had my Dad & Carolyn into SF for a visit last week and it was pure bliss! We had an action-packed itinerary from the start. Here are some of the highlights:

Thursday, 10:02am: Dad & Carolyn arrive in SF and find their way to the La Luna Inn for the first three nights, then THE RITZ (!!!) for the last two nights.
Thursday, 10:03am I'm pretty sure that Carolyn can smell the shopping from the tarmac and I send an alert to the Shopkeepers of America.
Thursday, 7:00pm We enjoy dinner at Capannina Restaurant (sorry, they don't have a "real" website) in our neighborhood which is PURE delight. We've been here just once before and the experience was equal or greater - we loved it!


Friday, 8:59am: We met for breakfast at The Grove Cafe on Chestnut (no website, but it's an awesome breakfast, lunch AND dinner place...you can easily sit there for hours on end, either using the free Wi-Fi that San Francisco provides, or reading a book in one of the couches or comfy chairs).
Friday, 11:30am: We took the MUNI bus over to Bike & Roll for our big day of a bike tour...but before I get into that one, we decided to sidetrack "just a few blocks" (read: 3/4 mile and up one of those REALLY large hills San Francisco is famous for) to see Coit Tower (that is Alcatraz in the background). Coit Tower is located on top of Telegraph Hill and is known for one of the best 360-degree views of SF. It was definitely cool, but you can honestly see great views from the space below the tower (without taking the elevator all the way to the top...though I guess once you're that far - why not??).

Friday, 1:04pm: We show up for our bike tour and get all suited up to go. The tour is 9 miles long and takes us from downtown SF, across the northern edge of the city (passing Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina Green where we live, etc.) and then takes us up, up, up and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Riding the Bridge is quite an experience - it's just SO high up! We learned fun facts from our tour guide (it was just the three of us on the tour...Dave had to work and nobody else signed up!). Our tour guide, Larry, was very patient with us (we weren't exactly speed racers) and knew a tremendous amount about the city and its sights. Around mile 1, Carolyn mentioned the riding was more difficult than she thought it would be...around mile 2, Carolyn mentioned she could feel it in her quads...by mile 3, I knew it was a mistake...ONLY 6 MORE MILES TO GO!!! We somehow managed through the remainder of the ride, though I'm pretty sure the three of us have not seen such a pretty sight as the sign to Sausalito.

Friday, 4:30pm: We finally made it to Sausalito and then took the ferry back to San Francisco. OY!
Friday, 7:30pm: We did something a little different on Friday night and grabbed a bite to eat in North Beach (the Little Italy of SF), then enjoyed an evening of live jazz at Jazz at Pearl's. It was a small venue with about 20 tables and was definitely enjoyable to see some live music. It was a nice, calm evening to such an eventful day!

Saturday, 8:57am - 5:02pm: This day was a little of a doozy. We started with breakfast at a local place on Chestnut, then the four of us (Dave once again joined us) went to the Farmer's Market and spent the next 3+ hours roaming around! It was a beautiful day out and we decided we would cook dinner that night based on findings from the Farmer's Market, using a handy cookbook that our friend Laura gave us and I, in turn, gave a copy to Carolyn for her birthday (TODAY!). We picked up gobs and gobs of "stuff" and had a great time. We then went to the DeYoung Museum and the Legion of Honor Museum (where one of the five original "The Thinker" statues by Rodin is located.

Dad doing his signature "I've got my eye on you" (even though it's his head!) pose

Sunday, 10:00am-4:00pm: We capped off the weekend by heading to Napa for the day. We had a GREAT time, even just hitting up two vineyards over the course of the day! We started at Mumm where there were two great photography exhibits going on - one with the work of Ansel Adams, on loan from his grandson! Dave and I ended up joining their "club" which basically gets us two bottles of sparkling wine every other month and also complimentary tastings for four people (so bring it on, visitors!) when we come to visit. We then went to Rombauer Vineyards where we had a wonderful tasting and then made our own lunch picnic in their back area where we had the entire space to ourselves!

My two favorite "scene" photos from the day:

I realize this post is EXTREMELY long, but we had such an amazing time and I wanted to share every moment. Thank you, Dad & Carolyn (the birthday girl!) for such a wonderful week together on the west coast. We love you!