INVENTED
JIMMY EAT WORLD‘S NEW ALBUM WAS RELEASED!! It’s called ‘Invented’, and if you haven’t already bought it, you should go do so NOW.
I LOVE this album. I think it is a really fantastic album, and am duly impressed with the direction they took with the music. It is both a throwback to their ‘Static Prevails’ and ‘Clarity’ days, and a push into new musical territory. My favorite tracks (so far – it’s only been a few days hee hee) are: ‘Heart is Hard to Find’, ‘Stop’, ‘Littlething’ and ‘Mixtape’.
Tonight is the concert at the Warfield in San Francisco! I am so freakin’ excited! It’s also kind of a date night with Tim, because Marco is going to stay with Justin’s mama while the Gomers and the Dicksons rock out! This is the 10th time I’ll have seen JEW live, and I love them more each time I do. I’ve never been to this venue, so I hope that I like my seats. Concert review tomorrow!
Marco was taking a nice, long nap the other day and it occurred to me to play a little dress-up during the quiet time! I wanted to show how I recycle items to create several different looks, simply by changing accessories and shoes.
So, these are 4 variations using 2 base items: 1 grey plaid skirt purchased at Nordstrom in September 2007 and 1 grey boyfriend tee-shirt purchased at Target several months ago. Ignore the camera remote in my hand; I was by myself!
Brown suede peep toe heels: Christian Louboutin ‘Very Prive’ (purchased 2008)
Tan trench coat: Forever21 (purchased 2007)
Necklace: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Cable knit sweaterwith faux fur hood: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Purple knee-socks: Target
Brown faux-leather boots, purchased in Venice, Italy (2008)
Might as well JUMP!
Grey emblem sweater: Forever21 (purchased 2008)
Brown faux suede loafer wedges: Payless (purchased 2009)
Purple knee-socks: Target
And finally, the lazy way I will most likely wear this skirt, in lieu of the more fashionable ways I listed:
Green military-style jacket: Forever21
Black slip-on Converse: Zappos.com
For several weeks Tim and I have been discussing adopting another cat. Yesterday, we finally went to Petco and we met the sweetest, most adorable red-tabby kitten:
She just turned 4 months old, which makes her the same age as Marco!! It’s a rarity for ginger kitties to be female, so she is super-special. As soon as I picked her up, she purred and kissed me. She even put her little face next to Marco and kissed his nose! I knew then that she was our girl. We gave our adoption application and fee to Whiskers, Tails and Ferals, the organization here in Napa. We couldn’t take her home yet, because she’s getting her shots this week, as well as spayed, so we pick her up and take her home on Saturday – I can’t wait!!
I went to work last night, and in between helping guests I was mentally compiling a list of possible name choices. but I finally decided on the name Roux, since her red-color genes are so unique. 
Tim approves (he wanted to name her Pixel).
FYI: It’s a quote from movie adaptation of ‘The Princess Bride’ – the clergyman in the wedding scene has this ridiculous accent. 
From Adrienne, who found it on Rebekah’s blog ‘Life with the Edwards’. Fun and a good time-filler!
1. When is your “engagement” anniversary?
official December 20th 2003
2. When is your “marriage” anniversary?
May 21st, 2005
3. How long have you known your spouse?
almost 8 years
4. How long did you date before you were engaged?
6 months – definitely a ‘whirlwind courtship’.
5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time?
his band’s show at Evergreen Community Church – I was helping out with another band’s merch table, and he was cute. So, I introduced myself.
6. What is your spouse’s full name?
Timothy Ryan Dickson
7. Do you have any children?
1 son, Marco; 1 cat (until Saturday!), named Stabler, 1 dog, named Chloe
8. How many? Boys/Girls
see above
9. Do you have any house pets?
see above
10. Do you own a house or rent?
We own our home
11. Do you live in the country/town/city?
I think it’s technically a city, but the Napa Valley isn’t exactly a crazy metropolis.
12. What is one of your favorite activites to do together?
Eating delicious meals, taking walks, snuggling with Marco, exploring new cities
13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot?
Italy was just amazing, and Venice was magical:
14. When did you first kiss?
May 24th 2003 – it took him two weeks to kiss me! I was his first kiss.
15. What church do you attend?
N/A
16. Is this the church you were married in?
We did not get married in a church; we were married in an outdoor ceremony
17. What town is current address at?
Napa
18. Do you work or stay home?
I work part-time (2-3 days per week)
19. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We actually went to Napa for 5 days! At the time we lived in San Jose and had never been…it was so amazing, we decided to move up here!
20. What was the funniest gift you gave while dating?
Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever given a gag gift!
21. How long have you been together?
8 years on May 9th 2011
22. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
4 months
23. Who asked who out?
He told me he liked me as ‘more than a friend’ and asked me on a date.
24. How old are each of you?
Tim is 28 and I am 26
25. Where do each of you go to school?
neither Tim nor I finished college, unfortunately. I attended 2 years at West Valley, and Tim completed his GE at West Valley and Mission. When Tim was transferred to the Napa position, it was hard to get back into school when we both had to work full-time.
26. Which situation is hardest on you as a couple?
The hardest period in our relationship was due to Tim’s workaholic ways, and of a lack of maturity on my side. Once we worked through that, our marriage has been smooth-sailing. We rarely argue.
27. Did you go to the same school?
Community college, but he went to private school for his grammar school days.
28. Are you from the same town?
yes
29. Who is smarter?
He says I am, but I think he is… go figure.
30. Who is more sensitive?
I don’t know – I am more vocal about it, so it’s hard to say.
31. Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Gillwood’s almost every weekend for brunch; the Calistoga Inn and Fume Bistro are two of our favorites. We live in a culinary dream world, so there are always new places to try.
32. Where is the farthest you two have traveled as a couple?
Italy!
33. Who has the craziest exes?
Tim doesn’t have any exes, so I guess I do, simply by default. Okay, I admit it: there are a couple of crazies in there.
34. Who has the worse temper?
I slam doors and can hold onto my anger for several hours. Tim is angry for a few minutes and then he’s over it.
35. Who does the cooking?
I do most of the cooking, but occasionally I’ll have Tim fire up the grill.
36. Who is more social?
I think I am – we are both very shy in large groups, but I’ll talk first and can keep conversations going with strangers more easily than Tim.
37. Who is the neat-freak?
Neither of us are ridiculously neat, but we’re not very messy either. There might be dishes in the sink or unsorted mail in a pile on the dining table.
38. Who is more stubborn?
definitely me. It borders on obstinate.
39. Who hogs the bed?
Tim sometimes does, but only because he is so darn tall that his legs stretch all over the place.
40. Who wakes up earlier?
Tim wakes up at 6:45, and I wake up whenever Marco does – anytime between 7:30 and 8:30.
41. Where was your first date?
Erik’s Deli Cafe and Golfland.
42. Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends?
I have; Tim didn’t have any relationship before we dated. So cute.
43. Do you get flowers often?
Not really; I buy myself flowers every week from Whole Foods, and arrange them myself.
44. How do you spend the holidays?
Christmas Eve is usually spent with his Dad, and Christmas Day is with my family. This year might be a little crazy, now that we have Marco!
45. Who is more jealous?
Tim does.
46. How long did it take to get serious?
We knew going into dating that if we were going to do this at all, it was going to be serious. he told me he loved me a month or so after our first date. I wouldn’t say it back for another week or so – poor Timmy! I was too nervous about using the words.
47. Who eats more?
Tim eats a litlte bit more, but he also eats a lot of junk.
48. Who does the laundry?
I don’t trust Tim with the laundry.
49. Who is better with the computer?
Well, Tim is an IT professional, whereas I am not! I am very proficient, and Tim says I am better with them than most people. He’s taught me a lot of tricks.
50. Leave a piece of advice for other couples:
The couple that eats good food together, stays together! Here we are inside the kitchen at The French Laundry, after our AMAZING anniversary meal in 2007:
Also, sometimes it is better to go to bed angry - the time spent apart can give you the quiet you need to think about your anger, and the clarity to resolve the issue.
1. In the story of my life the actor who would play me would be I want to say Zooey Deschanel, because I love her and think she is just the cutest! Another option would be Anne Hathaway – or Ginnifer Goodwin! Whomever can play a slightly geeky bookworm with a love of fashion; OR I could just play myself-I do a GREAT impression: “Personally, I think The Golden Bowl is Henry James’ best work. Ooh, aren’t these leopard print heels the cutest? Hey, Tim, where’s my lucky Star Wars shirt?”. Yeah.
I know I do not look like these ladies, but a girl can dream!
2. If I could change one thing about the world it would be the lack of respect for other’s religious beliefs; the world suffers from the widespread inability to practice a religion without preaching hatred of another’s (ex. – the Israelis and Palestinians).
3. Yesterday I took a lovely walk with Marco, bought him some spoons to start his first “solid” food (rice cereal), and read much (even though I had a migraine). I REALLY need to be diligent about wearing my glasses.
4. My favorite comfort food is anything with cheese. No, seriously. I LOVE CHEESE. cheese and crackers. Cheese and bread. Cheese and fruit. CHEESE BY ITSELF! All delicious. Favorite varieties: Laura Chenel Chevre (made in Sonoma!), Triple Cream Baby Brie, English Cheddar (Trader Joe’s has an amazing one with caramelized onions in it), Gorgonzola (blue cheeses in general, really: I also love Cambozola, Point Reyes blue, Stilton, Roquefort…). A lot of people are really put off by blue cheeses, because technically, it’s cow or goat’s milk that has MOLD in it. BUT IT’S FREAKING GOOD! Hey, it’s just pencillin - tasty and an antibiotic to boot!
5. My new favorite blog find is I just started following Kami at Kamika Krafts a few weeks ago, and am enjoying her blog posts! She’s starting up an Etsy shop too, so be sure to check her out!
6. If I could meet any blog friend (who I haven’t met yet) in real life, I’d choose to meet I don’t know! I’d love to meet all of my blog friends! I always enjoy reading Lauren’s posts, and my recent giveaway winner Hello Miss Chelsea (Chelsea) would be fun to sip cocktails with! Brown Eyed Belle (Julie) just seems like a sweetie pie, and of course who doesn’t want to meet Jessica of What I Wore?! I’d love it if she’d come curate my closet for me.
7. My favorite breakfast food is BELGIAN WAFFLES! I love them with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Ooh and french toast with a pat of orange butter. MMMM.
Some fashion finds I am lusting after:
WOW! Life of the party in this dress…but perhaps a little short for me
Such a pretty color, and I love the draping.
The studs on these boots are so fun! Not sure I could pull them off, but I like them anyway.
The cut is perfect, and the green is unexpected
Not normally my style, but I just can’t resist the beautiful eyelet lace. I want to wear it with dark wash straight leg jeans and a pair of brown leather boots.
OMG OMG love this yellow dress!!
The perfect LBD
Fabulous gold hammered silk skirt
I’ve always been in love with menswear, and this top is a perfect example of all that is awesome about mixing menswear with feminine details.
For the last 3 months I have been on the search for two things: the perfect brown leather lace-up boot, and a great men’s watch (women’s watches bother me; the bands are too skinny and the faces almost always have pearlescent or rhinestone details – great for bracelets, but not for watches). Both of these come pretty close to my ideal boot… but they are a taaad pricey. :-/
Yeah, I spend too much time ‘window’ shopping online. 
This will be a random post – lots of things on my mind.
First, my dog, Chloe, is still doing poorly. She’s happy, luckily. However, her head still tilts to the right, and a few days ago, I noticed that her right eye looked funny when she blinked. It looked like a second eyelid was covering her eye when she tried to look to her right. It’s gotten worse over the past few days, and now everytime she blinks, her second eyelid does it for her. I took her to the vet this morning to get it checked out, and they gave me some bad news. He said that it’s likely a symptom of something going on in her brain. First, we’re going to try a couple of things to see if it is just swelling (a round of prednisone). But if that doesn’t help, then we have to get her an MRI… All this will be ridiculously expensive and scary. I’m really hoping that the prednisone will help, because visits to the animal neurologist will be scary for Chloe, and for me. 
Then, Marco has been kind of cranky the past few days, and has been drooling like crazy – but I don’t think he’s teething, because he’s only 4 months! I don’t know what’s wrong, but he is refusing to nap during the day, so the days feel much longer and more tiring. Luckily for us, he still sleeps fine at night (10-11 hours).
SIGH. What gorgeous eyes.
There are some good spots to this week. I got some great deals on used books at the library and my favorite used book store, Main Street Books in St. Helena. I spent $30 and ended up with 11 books! Check out my updated LibraryThing profile here.
Also, a great blogger, Julie at Brown Eyed Belle, mentioned a few days ago that she found a great artist on Etsy, flapper doodle by Kate Gabrielle! I fell in love with her adorable drawings, and decided to purchase a few items myself. You can see more of her work here. I picked out the bookmarks (purchase the pdf file and print them yourself! I used cardstock), and some 4×6 prints to frame. She has a great deal where you can buy 4 prints for the price of 3! I can’t wait for them to arrive.
We finally have my lounge chair for the library – here’s a few pics:
Also… the carmelita bars at Model Bakery are to die for. Just sayin’.
Okay phew! I finally have some time to post the 2nd part of my birthday post.
Wednesday evening, the Gomers came up to Napa to have a Gomer-Dickson birthday dinner, as Justin and Belle would not be able to make the dinner on Saturday. We went to Firewood Cafe and had a very delicious meal, which included a free pizza – I love coupons!!
Thursday was a relaxing day with my baby boy and hubby, and Friday night I covered a shift at work for my co-worker. It was kind of a crazy day, between taking care of Marco, working, grocery shopping, baking cupcakes for Saturday, and trying to eat somewhere in there. After all the chores were done, Tim and I relaxed with 2 episodes of ‘Dexter’ (almost done with Season 3!!) and books. I’m still working on The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Saturday I slept in (thanks, Timmy!), went to La Vie Nail Spa and got a manicure, pedicure and my eyebrows done. My nails look awesome, I love the OPI color ‘My Private Jet’.
After that, I put together some goody bags for my birthday dinner guests. I didn’t really know what to put in them, so it ended up being some silly, random items. I put bags of one of my favorite Tazo teas, EO Sweet Orange shampoo, Fun size Snickers, Skittles, mini notepad, temporary tattoos, and Hershey’s kisses.
My birthday dinner was at Il Fornaio in Walnut Creek. I’ve been to this location several times, and to the one in downtown San Jose. Good Italian food and a fun atmosphere. Marco was an angel the entire time! He was wide awake, but had hardly any fussiness and was generally happy just hanging out with everyone!
All my friends just looked so lovely, and I was so excited with my outfit. I ended up picking the pink and grey strapless peplum dress from ModCloth. I love that my birthday has become a dress-up event.
My mom and Marco
Marco gets lots of smooches
We actually got everyone in the photo!!
Saving these for my 62nd birthday LOL
Feelin’ cute hee hee
Okay, I love presents. My mom and sister TOTALLY spoiled me! They gave me a Nordstrom gift card, a purse, a Betsey Johnson necklace and earrings!!
Isn’t this purse adorable? My sister knows me too well
All the girls: Adrian, Micaela, me, Adrienne , and Robyn
Love this outfit!
thinking, that’s all
Sunday I met up after work with my friends Erin and Jacqi for drinks at Barolo in Calistoga. We had some delicious cupcakes from Sift and good conversation.
It’s been an amazing birthday week! I love my friends and family, and thank you so much for making this week so perfect. XOXOXOXO
I decided to pinch a few pennies this year and make the cupcakes for my birthday dinner, instead of buying them from Icing on the Cake like I normally do (best cupcakes, but at 3.25 apiece, and around 10-15 people to feed, it adds up!). So, I went to the store and stocked up on white cake mix, strawberries, Hershey’s chocolate and Scharffen Berger unsweetened natural cocoa powder. I chopped up the strawberries and mixed them into the white cake mix along with 2 drops of pink food coloring. Then I poured the mix into cupcake cups (a little over 2/3 full) and added a slice of strawberry to the top.
Bake as directed on the white cake mix (350 degrees for 16 minutes) and let cool.
For the chocolate buttercream, I started with the buttercream recipe on the back of the C&H powdered confectioner’s sugar box.
1 lb box of Powdered sugar
1 stick of unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C milk
Mix all ingredients together in an electric mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. After that, I added 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate powder, and Hershey’s syrup to taste. You may need to add a little more milk to get the desired creaminess.
Mmm, the best part!!
I don’t have any icing bags, so I took an extra larger ziploc bag, filled with the frosting and cut a small tip off the corner. It doesn’t make the frosting pretty, but it gets the cupcakes frosted much more quickly.
I used candy Pearls and chocolate chips to make them look cute, and wrapped some Wilton’s cake wraps around them. I found the wraps at Target in the Halloween section. They were supposed to be some kind of cemetery design, but I thought they looked a little like crowns, hee hee.
My experiment worked! The cupcakes tasted delicious YAYYYY!!!
I looove birthdays!! I always choose to make my birthday celebrations last a whole week (I’m special like that, MMKAY!?), and this year has been no different. On Monday, Marco and I cuddled, played and planned the week ahead. At work, I received a generous gift of $$$ and a sweet card! Luckily, it wasn’t too crazy at the Inn and I was able to leave a little bit early. I like making sure I am home in time to read Marco a story before he goes to bed.
Tuesday was my OFFICIAL birthday (dude, I’m 26!), and it was a fantastic day. Marco and I slept in a little, and then got ready and packed for our stay at Solage Calistoga that night. It is the one Auberge property here that I had not yet stayed at, and I was so excited to finally get the opportunity! I’d taken full advantage of the beautiful Spa facilities, and dined several times at SolBar, but I’d never seen the rooms.
After packing, I headed to Sift to pick up a couple of birthday cupcakes. I picked out a Pink Champagne (my favorite!), Limonata, and a new espresso flavor for Tim. Marco and I decided to relax with some coffee (a soy bottle for him) at Starbucks, and I read while he took a catnap in his stroller. Tim was able to come home a little early, so we checked into Solage and relaxed in the room before our dinner reservation. When we got to our room, there was a birthday card and a mini cake waiting for me (chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting)!!
The amazing shower and bathtub!
View from the patio (Hi, Marco!)
Marco was a little cranky, so Tim put on his favorite movie (‘Up’), and he calmed down immediately. I don’t know if the colors in the movie are fascinating or what, but Marco stops squealing as soon as he sees that movie on the screen!
Our wonderful friends, the Dempseys, had offered to watch Marco while Tim and I FINALLY had a date-night. After dropping Marco off at their home, we grabbed the Solage bikes and hit the streets of Calistoga. I’d decided to have a casual dinner at Calistoga Inn (1000 pts for the reservation – thank you, OpenTable!), so we parked the bikes and relaxed outside. I ordered a Mojito (mm!) and the Summer Risotto (my favorite), while Tim had a red ale and the avocado-pasta (the inspiration for our Guaca-Pasta!)
After dinner, we biked to Scoops & Swirls, a Frozen Yogurt shop in town. I LOVE FRO-YO!! It was a perfect dessert!
We picked up Marco (he was an angel, phew!!) and went back to Solage for the night. Marco was a little too excited and refused to go to sleep at first, wanting to talk to himself, coo and smile at me the whole time. It was difficult not having a separate room for him, but we made do by placing his Pack N Play in the shower. He fell asleep around 10, and we were finally able to enjoy a movie and cupcakes.
Our breakfast was delivered to us at 7:45am the next morning, and luckily, Marco hadn’t made a peep all night, and didn’t wake up until 7am. I’d ordered an egg-white omelet (I just can’t get into eggs anymore, but this was ok) with spinach, goat cheese and peppers, a side of fresh fruit (figs, plums and blackberries), while Tim opted for the french toast with walnuts and peach compote, and a side of hashbrowns. Marco played with his newly-discovered feet while we enjoyed breakfast in bed.
After breakfast, packing up, and getting ready, Marco and I finally headed home, while Tim started his work day.
Whew! I know this was a wordy post, but there is still so much to share! My birthday dinner is tomorrow night, so Part 2 coming soon.
