Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 90

Cory headed home this morning. Bummed to see him go so soon, but super grateful for all the progress he and Raf were able to make in the master bath over the past week. Have I mentioned lately how wonderful it is to have a skilled family?!

The real reason for this photo--check out the pack. HA! Ghetto classic right there, friends! In his defense, though, he did ride down here in 12 hours of rain and hail, so you can't blame a guy for being prepared!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 89

My arch nemesis. These are the horrible bugs that have killed all our birch trees. I was trying to trim a branch that was hanging in the walkway, but instead of cutting through it, I simply snapped it off with the hand I was holding it with. And this was on the one tree I've been trying to convince myself for 9 months was save-able. Not so much. Guess I'm going to need to suck it up and get these puppies cut down sooner than later.

Any great ideas to replace their wonderfulness in the picture window? (Keeping in mind that it'll be very close to the house.)

Monday, March 29, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 88

The latest development in the Master Bath remodel--concrete floor of the shower, complete with all our initials. The boys are so cute. :)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 87

You may have noticed an underlying theme with the daily photos lately (food)--as well as with my general tone (tired). Well, it's time we put two and two together for everyone...WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

Today marks our 100th day of pregnancy (just over 14 weeks), which seemed like a fun milestone to share the news. We are, of course, thrilled and terrified all at once. You're sure to be hearing about it very regularly for the rest of...well, forever, I suppose! But I'm excited (and relieved) to start sharing this next step of our crazy journey with all of you (it's hard to keep a secret from the blogosphere!)

Crazy, amazing times ahead, my friends! xo

Saturday, March 27, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 86

Family dinners at the kitchen table make me happy.

Friday, March 26, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 85

Took the whole familia to see Wicked on Friday night! Super fun! Was so excited to see it before it leaves town. The highlight for me? Surprisingly: Glinda. She was a hoot!

The only irritating part--the whole orchestra behind us was empty. Seriously people? How about some deeper discounts on ticket prices already!!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 84

The fam has arrived....YAY!!!!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 83

Yet another huge surprise in the backyard this week (I'm literally experiencing daily surprises in the yard--so fun!) Camellias! Who knew this little bush flowered?? Not I.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 82

Was SUPER excited to look out the window this week and see a flower spike coming up on this bushy beast that grows just outside our picture window. I didn't cut it back and have been concerned because the plant portion has seriously exploded in the past month. I was worried that it was putting too much energy into the leaves and I wouldn't have any flowers this year. Which would be tragic because the flowers on this baby are fabulous. But look! Upon further inspection, there are all kinds of flower shoots peeking out--you should be able to find 4 in this photo with a keen eye!

Monday, March 22, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 81

I finally have a new set of wheels. Not exactly my fun little red Versa, but I suppose I'll survive in the most practical car in the world. At least I have my FREEDOM back!!! :)

The 365 Project: Day 80

The Bowling Team. Edy is a board member for DPIE, Dublin Partners in Education, so she sponsored a team at their bowling fundraiser this weekend. She wanted the most competitive team, so Jamie invited us. (Or something like that.)

Amusingly, considering both of our bowling-heavy pasts, Raf and I have never bowled together! Kinda crazy. He thought he had the upper hand with his 7 straight "strikes" (9 pins counted as a strike in this tournament), but I had 3 straight in the final frame of the last game--so I think that trumps his 7 in a row. Not that we're competitive or anything.

The 365 Project: Day 79

Wow, am I behind or what? From Taco Night on Saturday. Thank goodness for the return of the warm weather. Taco Night and winter just don't mix.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 76

Birthday, Birthday!! Justin, Alicia, and I celebrated with Annemarie at Barclay's in Rockridge last night. Home of fried pickles and Tangerine Wheat on tap. Love that place!

Happy Birthday AM!!!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 75

Today I discovered a bee graveyard...inside my house. This is upsetting for multiple reasons. First, because there's already a terrible disappearing bee issue in the world, I don't need to be responsible for more deaths. And second, because they're dying because they're in my house. I appreciate a bee as much as the next girl...but I'd really appreciate them more if they stayed outside! I don't know where they're getting in and it's freaking me out! There are like 8 of them in this corner...ugh.

The 365 Project: Day 74

Photo courtesy of Raf. He took pictures of the "scene of the crime", where he ran the stop sign on his bicycle, so he could try to prove his innocence in court. He lost. Of course. But the good news is that it won't go against his driving record and the fine was only $100 instead of $250. Not a total loss.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 73

Today was a pretty frustrating day. It was, by far, the most beautiful day we've had all year. And how did we spend it? Car shopping. It probably would be less irritating if we had ended up with a car at the end of the day, but we didn't. Turns out that EVERY reasonably priced used Versa in the Bay Area was once a rental car. This doesn't sit so well with Raf, which is fine. But it would be nice if we'd known about each one up front...rather than an hour into conversations on all of them. Half of them the dealer didn't even realize they had been. So irritating. So, I'm still carless. And Raf's still Driving Miss Daisy (and not too stoked about it).

The one plus to the day--I took this photo on our drive back at 7pm. That's when the sun was setting here. Love that!

Day 72

Raf spent most of Day 72 on the phone with just about every Nissan dealer in the Bay trying to nail down the best deal on a Versa. Alas, no photo yet again. So my snippet: we watched a couple movies--Up in the Air and The Visitor. Both were of the slightly depressing sort. But I've been wanting to see The Visitor for years, so I'm glad I finally did.

Day 71

No super sweet home photos to share (found this one on Flickr). One of these days I'm going to buy a nice little point and shoot camera so that I fail on The Project less often. I actually tried to this weekend, but Costco was closed when I got there.

So, in the absence of a 365 photo, I'll just share a fun snippet from the day. I finally got my way. I've been wanting to go to Hukilau (my FAVORITE restaurant in the Bay) for dinner since Raf's birthday and we finally made it out there for some Hawaiian burritos and potato salad on Friday. The best part? Leftovers on Saturday!

The 365 Project: Day 70

Egg Salad Sandwiches for dinner. The recipe wasn't amazing enough to re-lookup and share, but it did fulfill my craving just fine!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 69

Cooking night yet again! We made some Coconut Curry Chicken Soup. Yummy--but it's a very brothy soup. The only hint of curry here is from the use of curry powder. I really need to find a good curry recipe. Red, yet again, por favor!
Also made some Oats & Wheat Blueberry Muffins. Eh. Little too healthy-fied for me. They kinda remind me of banana or zucchini bread...not that good until you slather on the butter! No matter how healthy I'd like to be, sugar-free baked goods just never do it for me. Oh well...on to the super-sized Costco chocolate chip muffins! :)

Day 68

This may be a shock, but I didn't take this photo. I didn't take any photos on Day 68. Too busy car shopping. Mine broke down last week, so the car shopping timeline got ever-so-inconveniently bumped up. This is the car I want--a Nissan Versa Hatchback...a RED one, to be precise. I'm pretty sure I could get a Versa--but finding a red one might be a bit more challenging. Sigh.

Monday, March 8, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 67

I was going to share a photo of our super satisfying grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup dinner, but Raf doesn't think I should post our slacker meals. So instead I'll just share a photo of him being adorable. As usual.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 66

And the master bath destruction begins. (While simultaneously satisfying Raf's need to burn some frustrated energy.)

The 365 Project: Day 65

Pillaging the orange tree at Raf's parents' house.

And a bonus shot since I missed Day 64: Brotherly Love.

The 365 Project: Day 63

A rare sighting in our home: Raf purging the closet. (Woo hoo!)

The 365 Project: Day 62

Day 62 was Miss Kaylie K's 30th Birthday (and so the year of 30 begins)! I joined the celebration in Sacramento, and I'm so glad I did! I finally got to meet the majority of the K fam--YAY!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, K!!! xo!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The 365 Project: Day 61

Dad was able to make really good progress on the moulding in the common rooms over the last few days. It's hard to show in photos, but it looks really nice in person. Still white on white, so not super impactful (sorry people), but it's nice to have a finishing touch in at least some places. (We still have much work to do before it can go in in others...ugh!)

Now we just need to caulk in all the cracks and purchase the extra little pieces needed so that we can work on the tops off all of our doorways. (Dad put up the sides, but the tops will be a 3-piece combo...of which we currently only own 1 piece!)

Pops has been a rock star sitting here day in and day out plugging away on this super tedious job for the past 2 weeks. I figure that's a good amount of work for one trip, so I'm releasing him from duty and he's headed home tomorrow. Now I just need to get him to come visit me one of these days when there aren't 50 projects on the to-do list (that he'll work on whether I ask him to or not!)

The 365 Project: Day 60

My favorite go-to pasta for busy nights.

Mini Penne with Spicy Chicken Alfredo
Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals

8oz dried mini penne pasta (or whatever you want--I like it with penne or bowtie)
1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano (mine were plain, so i just added a few dashes of the other stuff myself)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (never had/used this, but I'm sure it would help!)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 packages (6 oz each) refrigerated cooked chicken breast strips (I NEVER use these. I either 1 fresh/frozen chicken breast or, more often than not, I just skip it and make this a meat -free meal)
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained

Cook your pasta. Combine everything else and cook it til heated through. Mix and grub!

The 365 Project: Day 59

Remember that adorable little layer of greenery (weeds) I told you about recently? Yeah, not so adorable anymore. There's been a new kid on the playground and he's big and mean and ugly. He's grown to a good 2-3 feet after coming out of nowhere. Of course. And he's pushing out all my cute clover filled flowery weeds. Bully.

So, I finally started doing some pulling on Sunday. Unfortunately, the stalks are super weird. Kinda like seaweed or something. So they just break off above ground, rather than being able to pull up the roots. Uber Bully!! This was the pile I accumulated after an hour or so. Which was maybe half of what was growing in the middle circle...not touching the forest you see towering behind the pile.