I didn’t take a ton of photos on this trip – but here’s a few snaps for posterity. 
A quick meal at the airport Gordon Biersch before our flight to Portland – He was so cute and cozy in his jammies! We arrived in Portland around 11 after an annoying delay at SFO, and when we got to Christopher’s house it was after midnight. We headed to bed to get some rest. Marco never sleeps in our room; from our first day home at the hospital he’s been in his own crib. Anyway, we were all sharing a guest room. Marco was in a pack’n'play, but he would wake up and see us as soon as dawn broke (the blinds weren’t so good at blocking early morning light). Ugh!
The first morning was spent having a delicious breakfast at Original Hotcake’s, which had excellent pancakes and french toast. Christopher and I fed quarters into the jukebox and picked a good mix of our favorites to serenade all of us while we ate.
Next up, a musical journey to Music Millenium! It was a beautiful day – sunny and not too chilly.
…aka the best record store I’ve ever been to!
Such a ham, he kept saying “Cheese!” so we’d take his picture!
The cool ceiling inside the record store
I bought a bunch of vinyls here, and was so impressed by how friendly and knowledgeable the staff was. No snobbery, just…I guess I’d call ‘em ‘music appreciators’, or something. Anyway, it was awesome. 
Our next stop was Powell’s, or, as I like to call it, Mecca.
I grabbed a delicious cappuccino from the coffee shop inside the book store (I needed a MAP to get around this store! It was so flipping cool!), then walked around with a shopping basket, skipping, bouncing, and otherwise enjoying myself.
Marco was so excited…we spent 45 minutes in the children’s section, reading books (and replacing Marco’s discards, ha ha). Oh, and yes, he did wear his Curious George ‘Book Worm’ tee shirt! Most appropriate.
I was even a super Portland tourist and bought Colin Meloy’s book!
To close out our Portland day, we headed to Voodoo Donuts to enjoy a sugar rush.
OMG soo good!
Back at Christopher’s house, we enjoyed delicious homemade pesto and watched some old Steve Martin movies.
The next day, we got up early (thanks to Marco), and watched episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine. After a quick breakfast, we drove up to Multnomah Falls (in typical Oregon fashion, the weather was cold and rainy). Marco was impressed by the water.
I was impressed by the ginormous cookie purchased at the snack bar…
Well, Marco was interested in that too, lol
We drove all around the falls, and listened to The Decemberists (Christopher became a fan! I did right by you, Portland).
A quick stop to see the view at Vista House
To finish our day, we stopped at Blockbuster and picked up ‘Young Adult’ and ’50/50′ (review of those to come later). Christopher and Debbie made a hodgepodge of snacks for dinner, including homemade hummus and homemade vegetarian refried beans.
Our final morning, we tried to sleep in, but failed. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but it was also nice to come home – and get sleep!
Keep Portland weird, people!
Pink and black polka dot silk blouse with peter pan collar: Forever21
Rhinestone and pearl bow earrings: Betsey Johnson, birthday gift 2010
Black pleated skirt: Forever21 HERE
And finally…my awesome new shoes!
Shoes: BCBGeneration Stevie HERE
Lately, my makeup routine:
Eyelash curler: e.l.f Essentials (also mentioned HERE)
Mascara: Flirt! All That Lash in black (also mentioned HERE)
Lip stain: REVLON Just Bitten in Crave
Blush: Bobbi Brown blush in Pale Pink
and I get this effect (ghostly white, i know, but I don’t wear powder or use other face makeup unless it’s a special occasion)
I love this lip stain! If I am going for color on my lips, generally Benefit Benetint is what I reach for, but this one by REVLON is an easy to use pen – it basically feels like using a marker. One end is the stain, and the other is a lip balm that keeps your lips feeling soft. I see so many stylish ladies wearing lipstick, but I just can’t pull off the look. This is much easier for me to wear, and it still feels like I’m just wearing my Burt’s Bees peppermint lip balm.
Also purchased this lip stain in ‘Frenzy’ – anyone else try these yet?
Yesterday was my first day back at work, and though only a half day, I found myself exhausted!
So, now I’m feeling a little lazy, and figured a post of photos from my iPhone was the least tiring type of post 
New Year’s Eve countdown with Marco
Marco and his aunt Chloe are silly geese
My beautiful, sweet friends Adrian and Micaela visited me last week to cheer me up, keep me company, and fatten me up a little, LOL. In addition to the Gott’s lunch we had (complete with milkshakes!), Adrian brought Timmy and I dinner – a tasty lasagna! Her recipe is HERE
Flowers from my bosses and coworkers
The best way to wake up in the morning!
I love my flats! – REPORT ‘Foley’
Dinner at home – black bean ‘burger’ in pita bread, with spicy hummus, yellow bell pepper,tomato and fat-free feta
My pretty girl, Roux
Creepy kitty… ha ha poor Stabler
Happy New Year!!
I know I’m kind of behind on the holiday posting! It’s already 2012. Whoops. I felt so disconnected from the holidays this year, because of how much pain I was in, how tired I was, blah blah blah. Anyway, Marco had a wonderful holiday, which is the most important thing! It felt good to be able to bring such smiles to his face.
The Friday before Christmas, my amazing best friend Micaela came up to stay the night and keep me sane. We sipped a little bubbly (delicious Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose – YUM) and discussed life in general, exchanged gifts (I’ve held onto her gift for several months, I was DYING for her to finally open it! I found this beautiful vintage locket in the shape of a book; the cover had a cameo on it. It was part of an estate sale that ended up in a shop near my house; the clerk estimated 1950s). Micaela gave me a beautiful raspberry colored scarf/shawl, and an awesome crafting book full of neat ideas that I feel like I can actually do! It’s like Pinterest, in book form
After the fun present part, Micaela helped me chop pistachios and candy canes so I could make chocolate bark:
Dark chocolate with pure orange oil and pistachios
Milk chocolate with almonds (my grandma’s favorite, I made it especially for her)
Dark chocolate, white chocolate and smashed bits of candy canes (micaela took a meat tenderizer to the super-size candy cane)
I also baked some cookies, molasses and ginger snaps, and dark chocolate and mint cookies:
The next morning, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed coffee and conversation, and Marco engaged Micaela in a few rounds of tag and hide-n-seek.
Tim, Marco and I headed to the Gomers for our usual Christmas Eve lunch (2009 & 2010). Marco was really excited to visit and open his gifts:
Woo hoo! Marco loves racing cars around the house, and this one is his new favorite.
Marco and Belle decided to take their mid-day siestas, so the grown ups lounged around. We exchanged our gifts (I’m excited to start reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami ! Timmy got a Wii golf game – at least he doesn’t have to wear the weird plaid to play lol!), and I tried to feel less tired.
When Marco woke up, we made the trek to San Jose for my family’s dinner at my uncle’s house. It was good to see everyone, and I was happy to see my grandmother in good spirits. She’s been so frail for so long, it was a relief to see her smiling and laughing again. Marco was free with hugs, and my cousin Tony made an appearance (I haven’t seen him in several years). Overall, a good night. We couldn’t stay very late, because we had to drive back up to Napa. The drive home was difficult for me; I couldn’t get comfortable and the Motrin wasn’t doing anything for the pain.Poor Timmy was exhausted too, so we were relieved to finally make it home.
Christmas morning and day to come in the next post!
Been sick a lot this past week, plus have had many errands to take care of (Christmas and non-Christmas related), so my posting has become more sporadic. I’m tired all the time, my back is killing me, I am having trouble sleeping, I have too much to do and not enough time to do it in… any working mom knows the breaks. Tim helps me so much – I have more help with taking care of Marco than pretty much any mom I know; but I have a difficult time delegating much else. My patience has worn so thin that I feel like I don’t say anything at home without the word ‘no’, or with a threat of ‘time-out’ attached to it.
I received a promotion at work a few weeks ago, which is great news, but it’s definitely keeping my brain so full that I forget more things at home, and then when I finally do remember, it is 11:30 at night. I want to be super-mom, super-employee, super-wife, super-friend, super-model. I am not any of these things.
ok
Sorry for the downer beginning. Here’s some of recent pics to get everyone off the bummer train:
fairy lights
Christmas card display – twine and clothespins – simple but it works
Santa and I are in cahoots! Muahh haa haa haa….
And this guy is getting majorly spoiled by both myself and St Nick.
For Thanksgiving, we spent the day and evening with Micaela and her family. I racked my brain (and perused Pinterest) to find some good ideas for appetizers. I decided that cheese is always good. So, I made some goat cheese ‘truffles’, inspired by an appetizer i’d tried at 1313 Main, a wonderful wine bar in Downtown Napa. It’s very simple, and so tasty!
Note: all pics were snapped with my iPhone. I should’ve used my regular camera, but I hate to get food hands on it! LOL
Ingredients: Holiday grapes, Chevre cheese, pistachios (I bought pistachios, and used the tenderizer to smash ‘em good) I spread out a piece of wax paper to keep the cleanup to a minimum.
It’s time consuming, but you have to cover the grapes with the Chevre cheese. I used a spoon to apply the initial bit, then rolled them around to make them even.
Then, roll around the ‘truffles’ in the crushed pistachios.
epic, tasty win.
For my 2nd appetizer, I found a pretty treat on Pinterest.
Ingredients: Water crackers, brie, cranberries, sugar, maple syrup (I used Grade A amber), and honey (mint was used for garnish, I forgot it whoops) Follow the recipe as given HERE, but I used honey instead of chutney
stirring the fresh cranberries with the warmed maple syrup
After sitting overnight in the fridge, I sugared them, and let them dry for an hour.
so tasty on their own, BTW.
Assembled as follows: cracker, brie, drizzle of honey, 3-4 cranberries.
Finito, and I might have eaten like 5 of these. Whuuut.
What delectables made it to your Thanksgiving table? Any treats you want to make for the December holidays?
My hair is a little frustrating. Right now, it’s a little past my shoulders, and the sun turned it really red over the summer…but now, it’s getting darker and growing out, so I thought it looked a little funny:
Whaddya know, turns out my hair is the envy of celebs!
Anyway, to spice up my hair routine, I finally tried a tutorial from Pinterest – the famous SOCK BUN!
I tried to traditional way, and it is definitely faster than my usual method of a top bun; the sock bun took me five minutes from start to finish, whereas my normal routine takes almost 20 (between dry shampoo, comb, ponytail, backcomb, pinning, hairspray).
I didn’t get a picture of the top bun, but I did also try this method for a side bun, and I had my iPhone handy:
Not exactly perfect, but pretty good, eh?
Amazing concert on Monday night! It was probably one of my favorite Jimmy Eat World concerts. Last year was great (I’ve really never seen them perform a bad set), but for some reason, at this concert, I felt so happy, alive, energized, and super-excited for every song! they played ‘Bleed American’, and it was really exciting to hear a few songs that I’d NEVER heard live before (‘Cautioners’ and ‘If You Don’t, Don’t). After that, Jim joked “Now, we’re going to play ‘Clarity’ backwards!” and proceeded to play ‘Goodbye Sky Harbor’ – WHICH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITEST SONGS! It’s funny, when I first heard the song, I remember thinking that I’d never get to hear it live, because it was such a complicated (and long) tune. Now, I’ve heard it 3 times (Clarity x10 tour Feb 2009, Sept. 2010, and Sept 2011) and it’s so fantastic the way they worked it out! Jim uses this delay-type doo-hickey (yep) that records his live voice over itself, so they can do the neat harmonies and such. It’s hard to explain, but it’s SO COOL.
(performing ‘hear you me’)
Anyway, unfortunately, Tim had to leave for a business trip right after the concert, and he was gone all week. Marco and I were quite busy, and I’ve been exhausted trying to work, take care of Marco, cats, dog… I ended up eating late dinners and spending about 30 minutes sitting down. Ugh!
Tuesday night:
Pad Thai and reruns of Gilmore Girls
Wednesday night:
Pizza and Rolling Stone magazine (Oh hai, Jon!)
Thursday night I folded laundry and read blogs while catching up my The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Still busting a gut over the Radiohead special on Monday’s The Colbert Report. Hipster paramedics!!
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Dr Pepper Presents Stephen Colbert’s Rocktember with Radiohead | ||||
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As you can see, I know how to party. Ke$ha is soo jealous.
so tired. bed time now?
I have to share some recent, adorable pictures of Marco. It will make your day, I swear
Getting ready for a bike ride
Marco pointed at this Panda pillow-pet (he loves those darn things! he has a frog and a puppy already), and signed “Please”, so of course I bought it for him (bad mommy). Anything that makes him this happy is so worth it.
I am a very fortunate person – look at that smile!!! (Hells yeah he’s sporting his Giants pajamas! It brought them luck!!)
