Wine weekend :)

Last weekend, Molly was kind enough to invite us to her family’s house in St. Helena. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for weeks and it was a wonderful treat.

Friday afternoon, we loaded up the car, and asked ourselves, what critical item will we forget this time? (Baby wipes. Last time it was Diego’s travel bassinet, it’s always something…) Two hours later, we were in PARADISE:

There was so much to love about the weekend, but the best part was being with close friends, reveling and kvetching about this awesome, sometimes chaotic, life chapter. As someone noted, each conversation was about 30% incomplete, stories were told, and re-told, as one of us was always distracted by the next naptime, feeding, or drink refresher. It was definitely good to be in such good company.

Diego has ridiculous fomo and didn’t want to sleep. So, he joined us for dinner on the porch :)

We spent most of Saturday playing in the pool…



And it was gorgeous!

Saturday afternoon, we ventured to Trinchero  enjoyed some white wine on the patio.

The parent paparazzi:

These babies!!!!!

Sunday came wayyyy too soon and it was time to go back to reality. We stopped at Gott’s for burgers and shakes and made our way back home.

Thankful for this wonderful weekend with great friends! Thank you, Molly and Jon!!


Summer in Winter weekend

This weekend, I escaped the rainy weather and flew to Southern California for a quick weekend with family and friends.

After some delays, I arrived at LAX and made my way to Rachel and Adam’s. They had just returned (literally hours earlier) from a holiday trip to Paris and graciously  hosted me for the night. It was so nice to catch up over burrito bowls and hear all about their trip :)

The next morning, I met up with Taryn’s friends for brunch and we all celebrated the beautiful bride to be! Caity rented an AMAZING house with spectacular views of LA.

I’m so bummed to miss Taryn’s spring wedding, but it was very special to toast to one of my oldest, best friends and revel in her joy and excitement. Taryn is a friend who is always so generous and excited for her friends and she gives so much to her friendships. It was very special to celebrate her, and her marriage, and surround her with love!

I truly love living in Northern California, but when it’s the beginning of January and there’s sunshine and a gorgeous pool, life in LA seems ultra tempting…

My mom and I spent Sunday relaxing in the Westside (I relaxed, Mom was wonderful and navigated all the LA driving :)).

We drove past the Beverly Hilton and saw the impressive preparations for the Golden Globes. (Speaking of, thank you, 2017, for Meryl Streep’s speech).

After lunch, I got a very nice prenatal massage. With the warm weather, the therapist opened the doors to the spa patio. At first I thought-eek! Privacy!–but no one was there and it was such a pleasant, relaxing, almost-summer breeze.

We ended the day with a sunset walk on the Manhattan Beach esplanade. Much to the dismay of locals (we overheard one power-walker lament: “ugh! Remember when it used to be quiet here?”) it was packed with tourists and sunset-gazers. How could it not be? So gorgeous in the middle of January!

This morning, after some rain delays, I flew back to Oakland. Not sure when I’ll fly again-so strange!

And now-almost back home in Stockton. Sending good thoughts for the week ahead :)

Quick weekend thoughts

Good morning, Monday! On BART and wanted to jot down down some quick memories from the weekend…

On Friday night, my train got in just in time for The Nutcracker. It was a great performance and really nice to see it in person for the first time in a long time.

It rained almost all day Saturday and I only hope we keep getting more rain! Everything feels so fresh and lively. I walked over to the Mile and did a bit of Christmas shopping and bought my first pair of maternity jeans. Trying not to buy a ton of maternity clothes-only three more months!-but I was getting pretty desperate. 

Speaking of baby + clothes, our friends and family have kindly given us some adorable outfits for the baby. I washed and sorted them and had a great time laying them out and imagining a tiny person wearing them.

That night we drove to The Waterloo for David’s work holiday dinner. This place is a trip. Only about 6 miles from Stockton, but it felt like we were in the country. It’s cozy, kitschy, and the ribs were incredible.  It was nice to spend the evening relaxing catching up with David’s colleagues.

In an effort to spend less time reading on-line, I recently subscribed to the Sunday NYT. I’ve been meaning to do it for years and finally felt a sense of urgency to support investigative journalism. It was nice to wake up Sunday and read the news without sifting through alarmist Twitter headlines.

Our Farmer’s Market is closed for the winter, so we checked out In Season Nursery for some veggies.

They have a very sweet store and a fantastic backyard veggie garden.

And! They helped me make Christmas decorations! There was a table set up with pine, rosemary, ribbons and more and I made my first-ever decoration for the mantle.

Last night David made a big pot of Amatriciana sauce and we had our neighbors over for dinner. It might be the weather or the holidays or the pregnancy, but I’m feeling more and more of a desire to be home and quiet and cozy, so it was nice to have a comfy Sunday dinner.

And now-Monday morning is here! Sending good thoughts for the week.

Weekend

Just wanted to jot down some quick memories from the weekend. Like Friday, we spent most of Saturday outside, and it helped a bit to clear the mind.

Saturday morning, we met up with the Dillons at Marina Park for a brunch picnic. I hope we go back again! It was on the water, with ample picnic tables and space. We haven’t done a picnic in a while and it was such a pleasant to start the day.

From there, we took BART to SF and met up with Rebecca and Alex in the Embarcadero.  We walked up to Coit Tower and admired the magnificent views. As glum as I’ve been, it was impossible not to feel a bit better with their comforting company and gorgeous city views.

Eventually, I needed an ice cream break (this has become a nearly daily pregnancy necessity) so we walked over to Swenson’s. A scoop of their chocolate peanut butter + the sunseting on the city made for a delightful perfect afternoon treat.

After ice cream, it was time for dinner! :) We met up with Mr. Bress for an early dinner at Leopolds. Rich, comforting Bavarian food. Around this time last year, David and I were planning our trip to Italy. We ultimately decided on Italy over Germany but we were thiiiiiiiiis close to doing a Bavarian Thanksgiving. Happy we decided on Rome, but sitting in the cozy booth, looking at the overflowing boots of beer and salty pretzels with mustard made me nostalgic for a trip we never took. Does that sound totally bizarre? Anyway, the food was delicious but man! Non-alcoholic beer is SO awful. Those pretzels were calling out for a crisp beer, and whatever I was drinking did not cut it. As always, it was a delight to see Dave and catch up on life.

After goofing off all day Friday and Saturday, we hunkered down at home on Sunday. Angelica had the family over for a delicious birthday brunch for Mia and we spent the rest of the day resting and prepping for the week. And now-only two more days until next weekend!

Weekend at home

Happy Monday! Writing from the cozy sofa as I have the day off for the Federal holiday. Not complaining-very grateful for the extra day off! Last year, we went to Portland for the three day weekend and had a blast.  With a busy few weeks coming up in October and November, we took it verrrrrryyyyy easy this weekend and stuck close to home.

Stephanie was in Stockton for the night on Friday (hooray!!!) and we met up after work for pedicures.  By far, the biggest challenge with moving to Stockton is none of my close friends live here.  This means there’s never a “hey let’s just get pedicures and order Thai” on a whim with friends-everything is super planned and requires considerable driving. So, it was particularly fun to have an impromptu night catching up and laughing with Steph.

It was a HOT weekend here (GET IT TOGETHER, FALL) so I woke up early Saturday for a walk around the neighborhood and UoP.  This is one of my favorite parts of living here.  We’re down the street from the University and I love going for walks through the neighborhood, using the gym on campus, and walking through the pretty university grounds. It’s a beautiful corner of the city.

The rest of the weekend was incredibly quiet.  Almost too quiet to document, but I realize I only tend to remember weekends when we travel, and it’s just as restorative and fun to remember what happens when there’s not a lot happening.  Two years ago, when we first moved back to California, we rushed to get basic furniture for our apartment.  The whole thing-the move, the wedding-was kind of a mad dash, and in our haste, we impulsively bought a sofa (below) on our second day in Oakland.

It’s a fine sofa, and worked for the past few years, but we could never curl up on it together, comfortably. I’m tall! And it just never felt like a sink-in and curl up for a cozy evening sofa.

Soo-after months of stalking the Crate and Barrel outlet, we finally found that sink-in and curl up sofa. It’s so comfy. Now I get why people binge watch TV. Which is exactly what we did after bringing it home Saturday afternoon. Naps + reading + Cubs game -all much cozier from this little perch.

Sunday morning, after a decadent French toast brunch at Market Tavern we continued home sprucing with some new plants. Although we spent 6 months completely renovating our home inside, the front and back yard desperately need attention. Yesterday, David planted some new plants in the front and I think it looks a lot better! Before:

After:

I so enjoyed Jenny Rosenstratch’s Dinner: A Love Story, that I recently checked out her follow up, Dinner: The Playbook. She’s pretty convincing in her writing about meal planning and preparation, and I found myself much more deliberate during our weekly farmer’s market and TJ’s run.  I’m very on-again, off-again with dinner organization, and I treasure the weeks (like this one) that are a bit quieter and allow for more preparation.

Sunday evening was a total treat.  We had planned to spend Sunday at Apple Hill, but the 90 degree weather was anything but fall-like, so we nixed the trip.  In our original plan, we wanted to stop by the Molly and Eric’s on our way back to meet their new baby, Rose! We stuck with the Rocklin plan and picked up yummy takeout pasta and salads for dinner. It was thrilling seeing Eric and Molly as new parents.  Molly and I met over 13 years ago during our first week of college.  You know how you go through college, wondering what your life will be like, who you’ll grow up to be, who your friends will grow up to be? And you just have no idea, but hope for the best. I would love to go back to Covel Commons, fall of 2003, to those nervous, anxious, freshmen, gorging on salty breadsticks and ranch dressing (well, I was at least), wondering if they’ll make friends, if they’ll figure out this massive, overwhelming school, what the next four years will be like.  If they only knew that over a decade later, they would be gathered around a dining room table, at home, devouring pizza knots and ranch dressing (me again), admiring their best friend’s sweet baby and beautiful family.  It’s pretty awesome to share that history and these moments.

Anyway, that’s my moment of nostalgia for the day. Time to get off this computer and do something productive with this day.  Have a great week!