I feel like I have been rather absent the past few weeks on both the writing and the reading front on tumblr.  Between all of the stuff that has been going on, including the last month of school push, I haven’t had the time or the energy to keep up!  Well I finally had the chance to catch up  on the reading side, and here are the last few weeks in pictures (and some words)…

After spending Spring Break in Long Beach with Ellen, 

 we traveled back home to attend Alice’s Bridal Shower!

The bride and me!

The lovely ladies that make up the bridal party!

I saw Water for Elephants, and I loved it!  

 (image via)

My family and I celebrated Mother’s Day weekend at the beach,

with Rummy Cube and Dominos.

with the most amazing brunch at the Harbor Cafe in Santa Cruz,

and family photos above the beach!  It was a cozy weekend filled with grandmas, laughing, cocktails, food, and sharing a room with my parents!! You know you are traveling with elderly people when you put a walker in your trunk, a cane in the front seat, and the car conversation consists of coupons, doctor’s appointments, vitamins, and sweats with pockets!  If I had a dollar for every time I was asked, “Do you need a kleenex?” I would be rich right now!  I love my nans more than I can say, and to be able to spend a whole weekend with them and my family was a tremendous blessing!

Matt and I went to our first ever Brewfest in Sacramento:

Aren’t they a dainty bunch of men with their coasters and pinkies!

The crew!

And finally we went and saw Bridesmaids

 (image via)

and it was absolutely hilarious!  It almost reminded me of a female Hangover!

On Saturday we celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday with a trip to Sausalito.  For anyone who is thinking, “Where in the world is Sausalito??” it is a beautiful, small, charming town directly across the bay from San Francisco.  One of the reasons that I love going here is because you get the view of SF from the outside, the feel of being right on the water, but without all of the crowds. 

The first place we went was the Cavallo Point Lodge, located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.  The white buildings in the picture above are historic buildings that are broken up into rooms that you can stay in!  They are beautiful with sun porches and rocking chairs overlooking the San Francisco Bay.  

We had drinks and delicious small plates in the Farley Bar and enjoyed the fabulous view!  This is definitely a place I would like to spend a romantic weekend with my hubs!

Next we hit up a wine bar in the downtown area of Sausalito (which is right on the water).  We enjoyed a beautiful (and fittingly illustrated) bottle of wine and took in the locals!

We took a walk along the main street, along the bay, and had dinner at Scoma’s, which is that blue building behind us on the wharf in the picture.  All of their fish entrees are to-die-for…I had halibut over vegetable risotto and it was amazing!  The crab cakes are pretty delish as well!!

It was a relaxing day and a nice chance to take some time and spend it with Matt’s mom and stepdad!  With all of the crazy busy-ness that everyone lives with in their day-to-day, it’s a treat to be able to spend an afternoon and evening drinking wine and hanging out by the water with family!

It felt like Spring last night…

the air was warm and the sun was still out,

the back slider was wide open letting in the fresh air,

the yard was amazingly green,

the BBQ was fired up,

Giants baseball was on the TV,

and Matt was with me in the kitchen getting ready for dinner.

Life is good.

Sacramento Kings game + Karaoke (sang a duet of “I Love Rock & Roll,” small group performance of Toby Keith’s “I Love this Bar” and rocked the mike for a solo for “Gives You Hell” by All-American Rejects) = fantastic Friday night

Saturday = New diswasher installation

+ watching The Fighter (which was awesome!) + Stockton Thunder hockey game 

Matt working all day Sunday = movies with my sister to see…

which was really entertaining and enjoyable, with a few unexpected twists. Besides that, the men were extremely good looking which is always a boost for a movie!  

The weather here in California has been unseasonably cold and rainy, so the overall weekend was spent partaking in indoor activities!  For Spring beginning on Sunday, we have not seen very much of it yet!

Friday Night…

• delicious sushi and Sapporo for dinner with Matt, Alice, and her man (Lent = Sushi Fridays)!

• snuggled on the couch watching CNN and MSNBC (this in not usual programming, but we are trying to stay informed about all of the craziness that Mother Nature has set in motion today).

• spending quality time and lovin’ on my puppy!

This previous weekend was a little different from our usual weekend.  This weekend we spent time with families.  Not our own families, but some friends and their families.  

Friday night was for dinner with a very close friend (that Matt went to high school with), her husband, and their two kids.  It’s not very often that we hit up a restaurant with kids in tow, especially not two under the age of five!  But it was great!  Besides the normal catching up, since busy lives have kept us from getting together since November, it was great to see “real life” with kids…screams, bathroom trips, silverware on the floor, piles of napkins, spills, smiles, laughs, and fun. It was a perfect reminder that just because we will be having kids our social lives (and what makes us who we are) will still be there. Albeit different (with car seats, diaper bags, bottles, bibs and earlier bedtimes), but definitely still there.

On Saturday we joined a couple different families and went to a hockey game with friends from work, along with their spouses and children.  Again, it was different, but still a complete blast!  It was refreshing and educational to spend time with a different group of people, particularly people that have such different priorities than our usual group of friends.  I love seeing Matt spend time with fathers of young kids (especially when Matt and the dads took all the kids to the snack bar!) and seeing him become a welcomed part of my work circle of friends.  

I realize that life will dramatically change in a matter of years (and in some cases months), but the changes will all be worth it.  Life changes, people grow, priorities shift.  The people that want to be a part of those changes will be there no matter what. The people that are not worth it will be absent, and new people that understand those changes and new stages of life will be welcomed in.  

I know that I have already proclaimed that I am a B-I-G TV fan.  Last night, I had a few issues with two of my fav shows:

1. Glee:  I understood that the message was that you are not supposed to drink (especially when you are in high school, and more importantly not when going to school), but I really didn’t feel like that came through.  A little vomit was hardly enough to distract kids from drinking, and then to have the Glee kids get away with being drunk at school didn’t really hit home that “no underage drinking message.”  I also really didn’t like that Mr. Schuester signed a pledge with the kids.  I don’t think that there is anything wrong with enjoying an adult beverage (or two or…) on occasion.  If you are legally able to drink and do so responsibly, what is the problem with that?
2. Parenthood:  I adore this show -  I love the family, the drama, the issues, and the underlying love in it all.  I should probably say that I hate cheating in any kind of show/movie, so I really didn’t enjoy the engaged brother getting it on with the other brother’s autistic son’s behavioral aide.   But then to make it all worse, the brother that is the employer of the said-behavioral-aide was mad only at his brother when the aide quit.  It takes two to tango, right?  She is a mature, consenting adult and should take responsibility for what she did as well!

Now I know that ragging on TV shows makes me seem like a complete dork, but TV is an escape for me and something that my hubs and I like to do to unwind in the evenings.  And isn’t better to judge fictitious characters rather than real people??  

One of the reasons (besides having all our family here) that Matt and I still live in central California, despite all of its horrible press/ratings/downfalls/housing market/economy, is that the location is superb!  I can leave my front door and travel to the snow or the beach in under two hours, not to mention the weather, actually having 4 seasons, and the fresh produce!

So Sunday Matt and I decided to take a day trip to the beach.  We were planning on hitting up the Santa Cruz area (where we spend time every summer), but decided to broaden our horizons and go somewhere new!

We pulled out my California road map, headed toward San Francisco, drove through the city, and then went south down Highway 1 toward Half Moon Bay.

With me navigating and Matt manning the wheel, we drove around the area and checked out some of the small towns and historical sites, like the Moss Creek Distillery, which was a speakeasy and an ideal place for rum running during Prohibition, and is said to be haunted!

After a driving tour we stopped for lunch at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.  The above picture is the view of the harbor from their beautiful deck!  We had quite a wait for a table so we sipped some of their brews by a fire pit and enjoyed the sunshine! The food was amazing…I chose a blackened snapper sandwich and Matt had one of his usual staples, a tuna melt.  We shared an appetizer and everything we ordered was consumed with gusto and pleasure!  We highly recommend this place if you are ever in the area!

After our tummies were full and happy, we sought out a beach for a walk.  We found Venice Beach and it was gorgeous!

The weather was a little windy and kind of chilly, but the sun and the clouds made for a spectacular sight!

But it was definitely not too chilly to take our shoes off and feel the sand between our toes!

We walked together and enjoyed the area.  The beach was clean, the water was clear, and it was a perfect place to hang out for the day (when the weather is a little warmer that is)!

I love walking with my husband, around town with the dog or in any place that we end up visiting or exploring.  The beach makes me feel a little more peaceful than usual.  I feel a little calmer and more aware of what is around me.  I want to retire to a beach somewhere, I’m not too picky where, and as long as the ocean is within viewing range I am a happy girl!

I was fortunate enough to have a four day President’s Day weekend!  It was a much needed break from school!  Friday was used for sleeping in, having lunch with my grandma and sister, running a couple errands, and catching up on my DVR.  Matt had to work late, really late, so I used the evening to watch a movie that Matt had no interest in watching…The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

This was my first time watching a movie in another language and having read the book made it easier, but it was really not that bad!  I loved the movie (almost as much as the book)!

Saturday was a family kind of day…Matt and I had breakfast with my parents, went to Costco (where we always end up buying more than we went in there for), watches The Crazies 

(which was pretty good, not the scariest horror movie I have seen, but altogether not too bad), and then had dinner and dominos with Matt’s parents.  We tried a new (for us) restaurant in Lodi called Revolucion 1910. They have a really fresh and original take on Mexican favorites, lots of vegetarian options, great salsa, and yummy sangria! 

On Sunday Matt and I decided to take a drive to the beach.  We had thought about going down to Santa Cruz which is where we spend a week each summer, but then decided to try something different…and we ended up going to Half Moon Bay (details to come)!

Once home we relaxed, and with nothing on TV, we found Surrogates on Instant Netflicks.

While not an award winning movie, it was entertaining.  It was kinda a cross between Gamer and AI.  

Monday was a “work” day.  I worked at home grading and entering an amazingly large stack of papers to try to get ready to do report cards, while Matt went into work in order to get ahead of himself on a project that is due later this week. 

I feel like this has been a regular two day weekend, and not a luxurious long one.  I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow morning and wish that there was just a little more time!

I have been meaning to post pictures from the weekend before Valentine’s Day when we enjoyed wine tasting at Lodi’s Wine and Chocolate Weekend. Unfortunately we have been unable to locate my camera’s charger and the battery is dead!  But the dilemma was solved tonight when I remembered that we got a USB memory card reader when we bought our new camera!  So now I can actually bust my pictures out of dead camera jail and post a few!

Matt and I starting the day at Michael David Winery.

Some of the group having a little fun at Ripkin Vineyards & Winery. 

There was a photo booth (which was really more of a photo gazebo) at this winery with a bunch of props to play with.  OUr group took a picture together that I am still waiting to receive via email!  But here is a picture of Matt…

or should I say Slash and his wine-glass-guitar!  We were so lucky to have such a big star with us! 

We hit about nine different wineries and had a blast at them all, but one of my favorites was Jessie’s Grove.  Besides the wine being pretty delicious, they had stickers to decorate your wine glass.  Well, we thought that these tear-drop stickers had a better place than on our glasses…

So here we are with tear-drop tats, gang signs, and our hardcore faces.

It was a beautiful, sunny day (which a fantastic break from all the fog and the rain that we had been and still are having) and I had a wonderful time with old friends, as well as a new one!