I know I’ve been SO behind on posts! I apologize!

Last week, the three of us took a ‘stay-cation’, and tried to relax. Marco’s daycare was closed for ‘teacher in-service’ and I was forced to use my vacation days to stay home…so we figured we’d make the best of it! We took a day trip to Bodega Bay (THE BIRDS!!!) on Thursday. My wonderful friend Micaela came up to chill with us, and we had a lot of fun at the beach – getting sunburns (Marco escaped our fate – he was covered in baby sunscreen!), eating salt-water taffy, and playing with Marco.

That night, we feasted on tacos from our favorite taqueria La Taquiza, caught up on The Daily Show, and watched “The Princess Bride” outside (details to be posted later).

Friday, after a leisurely walk to Starbucks (slowly, because our legs were sunburned), the four of us decided to head to Healdsburg for the afternoon. It’s a quaint town, but coming from the Napa Valley made it less interesting, I think.  It was kind of a cross between Saint Helena and Calistoga. There was a great antique store, where I found a 1930′s typewriter in good condition, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on something I’d probably never actually use. It would’ve been cool, though, on my desk in the library! Micaela had to mosey home after the trip, but she left us with hugs and Snickerdoodle cookies…so we were ok for a bit.

Saturday, unfortunately, my wallet was lost/stolen while Tim, Marco, and I were at Whole Foods. Needless to say, the day grew sour quite quickly. Luckily, I had my cards cancelled before you could sing ‘The Mariner’s Revenge’ twice over.

We spent Sunday indoors with the air conditioning on, only venturing out for coffee and a swim in our kiddie pool.

Marco LOVES splashing around in the water…and he looks so cute in his swim diaper.

On the 4th, we ended up in Berkeley to see the fireworks with the Gomers. We made a wonderful meal of ribs (none for me, thanks), grilled veggie mix (mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, red onions), grilled corn, and salad.  After our delicious dinner, the six of us went to the Berkeley Marina for the show. Marco thought the fireworks were soo cool! He watched the entire show with his mouth open, cuddled in a blanket on our laps.  Even though it was late, he was quite the trooper. There was a 10 minute period of fussiness, but once the show started he was mesmerized.

Wow…after reliving the weekend, I’m exhausted again.

Highlight of my Saturday: a book purchase!

Specifically, a full set of 1966 encyclopedias for $5 at an estate sale. I love them. Check out these beauties (iPhone pics, taken using the Hipstamatic app):

The ‘Library’ article. I love it! Notice my lovely silhouette bookends?? I love them.

Insects

Their new home

Sorry for the late recap, readers!  Here’s my weekend update.

Read on for deets on the debauchery that took place in my household…

SATURDAY

I was awoken by my adorable girl Roux massaging my neck (seriously, I have pictures):

Then, I was surprised by Marco and Tim, who brought me a Skinny Caramel Machiatto (only 140 calories, which makes me feel less piggy) in bed.

After a leisurely morning, the three of us headed out for a few errands. We stopped at World Market and ended up purchasing two awesome leather chairs for our living room…and a HAMMOCK. YES. You will probably never seem or hear from me again, because I shall be reading and sleeping in MY HAMMOCK. Pictures to come once it is set up.

I then hit up the matinee of “Midnight in Paris” at the Cameo.

I really liked this film. I like a good portion of Woody Allen’s work (“Match Point”, “Hannah and Her Sisters”, “Annie Hall”), but I was not sure if I’d enjoy this particular piece, seeing as how Owen Wilson was the star; I don’t really like the actor. My advice: don’t avoid this movie for that reason. It’s adorable and fun; given to flights of fancy, and requiring a suspension of reality – but lovely!

Did I mention the walk with Tim and Marco to pick up frozen yogurt?! Will my devilish behavior ever cease?

Thanks, Yo Belle, for the delicious Plain and Blueberry Tart flavors

Although I didn’t get as much of it as I expected… SOMEONE basely stole my spoon.

At home, I cuddled, tickled, chased, and kissed Marco until his bedtime. Tim and I finished the evening trying to stay awake through “The Runaways”. Don’t really recommend. It doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know about the band, and in my opinion, gives you no reason to even care. I love Joan Jett, but I didn’t see much spark in the way she was portrayed, and Kristen Stewart will never have the amount of cool.

SUNDAY

We watched Sesame Street with Marco, and cleaned up the house a bit. After a trip to the gardening section of Home Depot (my new favorite place), we stopped off for a tasty lunch at Gott’s with my two men.

Marco DEVOURED his grilled cheese on wheat (happy camper!)

Tim ordered up the Wisconsin Sourdough

I had a green salad with sliced avocado and artichoke vinaigrette.

Before you think I was eating super-healthy, feast your eyes on the mounds of sweet potato fries and garlic fries present. Yummy in my tummy.

Some gardening, pedicuring, and a nasty bump on the coffee table (poor Marco!) later, it was the end of our weekend. SAD FACE.

I told you it was crazy around here.

What did you do last weekend? Spill the beans!

Wednesday night I attended the long-awaited concert at the Warfield in San Francisco. Unfortunately, Tim could not join Micaela and I in enjoying the beautiful music! He had to work really late on a phone issue, and couldn’t make it.

I started listening to Iron and Wine after I saw the movie ‘In Good Company’; the song “The Trapeze Swinger” plays during the end credits, when Topher Grace is running on the beach. After almost 10 years of enjoying Sam Beam’s music, I finally got to see him live! It was a very exciting event for me.

I couldn’t take my camera with me, but I do have a few iPhone pictures to share:

He changed up some of the songs, so that a slower tempo song became upbeat, more jazzy… Sam told us audience members that he didn’t want to just give us the songs we could listen to at home. I agreed and disagreed; I fell in love with the sounds on the album, but I did enjoy his new versions of some of my favorites! His voice was AMAZING! All appreciation I had for his recordings became heightened by the knowledge that he sounds just as good, if not better, live.

The last picture is of Mr. Beam singing “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” without accompaniment (other than a few spare notes on his guitar). I gotta tell you: I felt shivers in my spine. It was so freakin’ awesome. Thanks to Adrienne for keeping an eye on my boy while I attended the concert!

Marco’s birthday AND birthday party were a beautiful success. I cried, we all laughed, and I smooched Marco about 100000 times. I have a 1 year old child! Wow.

He looks so much like a big kid now!

Carrot cake cupcakes with low-sugar cream cheese frosting! I made these for Marco’s classmates and teachers. The recipe for the frosting called for cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and 1 whole box of powdered sugar! Ewww! I put in half the sugar, and the flavor was perfect for the carrot cake. I may share with you my super-secret-but-not-very-complicated carrot cake recipe. But I might not. We’ll see… LOL

Marco’s party was a lot of fun! We had about 28 people at our house, and they all wanted to talk to, cuddle with, and kiss the birthday boy, and Marco was a total champ! He even took a few steps for his family and friends. I’ll post more pictures of his party later.

Roux also celebrated her first birthday (May 26th), and she was happy with her very own tuna cake!

ALSO!! Our garden is doing very well, and we’re finally getting lawn in our backyard! It’s so exciting to see the green shoots. Proof of my gardening skills:

My very own strawberries! Small, but delicious. I feel like a real farmer! LOL, not exactly…but it is fun to grow my own food.

Speaking of food, I almost forgot to mention my big decision: I decided to become a full-fledged vegetarian! After 3 1/2 years of a mainly meat-free diet (chicken only – no fish, fowl, beef, or pork products), I finally took the plunge. I’ve been ENTIRELY meat-free for 2 weeks now. It’s a little difficult, but I managed! I didn’t give up dairy products, though! More power to the vegans out there, but I love cheese too much.

Phew! That’s what I get for slackin’ on the posts!

What have you been up to?? I hope you have wonderful weekends!

…cause that’s my name (in binary code). Don’t wear it out!

Remember all those funny sayings we used as children? Maybe we should bring them back.

Friend: “I love Captain Crunch cereal!”
You: “So why don’t you marry it?!” MY GOD. Comic genius!

Enemy: “You smell bad!”
You: “I’m rubber, you’re glue! Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks back to you!” Repeat as necessary.

Parent: “Go clean your room!”
You: “I’ll do it because I WANT to, NOT because you tell me to!” This one’s a kid classic. Immortalized forever in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty McDonald, which if you didn’t read, you have no soul.

Umm…so about this completely random post…whoops.

Meant to show you a few pics from Saturday:

Outfit from our anniversary dinner at Farmstead (yep, taken in the bathroom)
Dress: Mossimo for Target
Belt: Forever21 (purchased 2007)
Shoes: Steve Madden (purchased 2008 – also styled HERE)
Headband: Target
Bracelet: gift from Mom

The restaurant was housed in a converted barn, on a property that used to be a nursery. The gardens are still lovely, and the whole place looked awesome! The decorators really took its roots (pun intended!!) into account, and used everything available (farming tools turned into lighting fixtures, refinished original woods, etc).

The cuisine was great, utilizing the local flavors and modern menu items, while adding a sprinkling of home. The Executive Chef, Sheamus Feeley, did a great job keeping both a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore and his vegetarian wife satisfied and happy!

We started off with wood-roasted asparagus (topped with ricotta, Meyer lemon and EVOO). All three of us (Marco was partaking in the adventure, too) looooved this dish!

I had an arugula, strawberry, feta and apple-cider vinaigrette salad, with a an order of the Cheddar biscuits. The biscuits came with a dollop of honey butter…and I pretty much died and went to cheese heaven. SO FLIPPING GOOD! I was excited that there were a few left over to snack on the next day.

Tim ordered the cheeseburger on a potato bun – and said that it was both interesting and delicious.

Marco enjoyed the grilled cheese sandwich, which I would have happily eaten myself – and, luckily for me, Marco loves to share food, so he handed me several bites. SCORE!

Aspara-good! *facepalm*

Schramsberg Blanc de Noir for me, and a cocktail for Tim

Marco was suspicious of the crayons

This picture makes me laugh, because it almost looks like I digitally added Tim into it!

The awesomely good Lemon Meringue pie – the graham cracker crust was dreamy.

Blissed out after delicious meal and a slow-dance to our wedding song

Might be a little sporadic with posting the next few days – trying to get things together for Marco’s 1st birthday (and his party!); will update when I can!

Today was my first OFFICIAL mother’s day, since last year Marco had yet to make his appearance.

I still have to upload the pictures from my camera, so here are the iPhone photos.

Yesterday, Tim sent me to get a relaxing manicure and pedicure:

My new O.P.I nail polish color, Mermaid’s Tears, from the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 collection. My fingernails were painted You’re A Doll, which is a discontinued color. I find it is actually pretty similar to the Steady As She Rose, also from the POTC 4 collection.

This morning, I woke up to this:

Donughts and Chai, brought to me by Tim and Marco!

Marco, in the best pajamas ever.

Present from Marco

I shared a bit of doughnut…Marco thought it was quite good

Morning cuddles! Pardon my appearance.

Drum roll, please….

Lookie lookie!! My Mother’s Day/8 year anniversary present from Tim!! It’s a beautiful sterling silver rose-shaped ring, with diamonds in the center petals. OMG I LOVE IT!!! It was a complete surprise, which is even more amazing…I can usually sniff out a secret!

More pictures/updates to come!

HAVE YOU ENTERED MY GIVEAWAY YET?? GO HERE TO VIEW THE DETAILS!!

iPhone pictures of recent outfits I’ve worn to work:

Tuesday:

Black sweater: Target, purchased 2007
Grey striped blouse: Target, purchased 2008
Head wrap: Forever21, purchased 2010

Yes…I am totally in the employee bathroom taking a photo. CREEPY….

Last Friday:

Blouse printed with birds: H&M, gift from Micaela!
Cami (layered underneath): Target
Skirt: Forever21
Gladiator sandals: BCBGeneration, purchased 2009

PSSSSSTTTTTT…. Giveaway announced tomorrow!!

It’s another Monday. I’m in a dreary mood, so here are some happy pictures from the past week, all taken with my iPhone:

My favorite shirt!!

My first gel manicure. It generally lasts 2-3 weeks, and I’m hoping that it’s true for me. I chip my nail polish about 2 hours after they dry whenever I try to paint them myself, and even professional manicures last maybe 3 days.

We (as in Tim – I only laid down 15 tiles, and grouted 5) finally finished the floors (WHEE!!), and it looks SO much better. This is the front entryway.

Part of the dining/living area. This used to be carpeted, but we decided to tear it out and extend the floors.

Yes, that’s Roux’s little foot and tail in the corner.

Yesterday, I drove to San Jose to celebrate Micaela’s birthday eve (March 7th is her actual birthday) with her family. Marco was getting over a cold, so he stayed home with Tim.

It was great to spend time with my awesome BF! We may or may not have eaten much cake and tacos. Not sayin’ for sure.

Monica made this awesome chocolate, cream, and raspberry sauce frozen dessert thing – it was tasty to the extreme!

Micaela and Buster

Make a wish!

Unfortunately, this morning I woke up with a nasty headache and a slight (101.2) fever. I had to call in sick to work, and that does not make me very happy;  with the conversion to new software going on at work, we’re all sitting on two week’s worth of catchup paperwork/emails. Now I’ll be an extra day behind. BLAH. Tomorrow is going to be ugly.

Here’s to another week!

With the help of my handy iPhone pics, here is a recap of Valentine’s Day!

Our friends Jacqi and Donovan were kind enough to watch Marco while we had dinner and went to a concert. They have two little ones of their own – I don’t know how they handled 3 kids!! Marco had fun playing, and (luckily) he behaved like a gentleman.

After work, we picked Marco up from day care. While waiting for Jacqi,  Marco (RELAX, we were parked) became very curious about the manual shifter.

Tim and I drove home, changed into more festive outfits, and headed out.

Dinner at Gott’s Roadside in the Oxbow

Ahi burger, veggie burger, sweet potato fries

The Fox! Totally my favorite venue now. It was AMAZING inside.

The Decemberists were fantastic live. Not only was it awesome because I love the music, but Colin Meloy is a true performer (interesting, funny, and VERY nerdy).

It was fun to be included in the performance;  when they played ‘The Mariner’s Revenge’, they made sure the entire audience were yelling, moaning, and groaning as if we were being swallowed by a whale (trust me, look up the song).

Very blurry

Marco and I got tee-shirts! Marco’s first concert tee – I was so excited that they had it in a toddler size – it’s too big now but he’ll be able to wear it soon enough.

How was your Valentine’s??

P.S. We were a featured pic on Busy Bee Lauren’s blog yesterday! Check it out HERE

Look at our tree!!

I FINALLY finished wrapping presents, and the Christmas tree looks lovely with the gifts stuffed around it. Tim tucked in some secret boxes and bags…I can’t wait to open them! There’s even a gift from Marco, for “Mommy and Daddy”; his daycare handed out special packages to all the parents. I AM SO EXCITED TO OPEN IT! Marco’s first present to me; I’m very sentimental about that kind of thing.

I’m feeling very productive lately; all I have left to do for Christmas is purchase the stocking-stuffers for Chloe, Stabler, and Roux! I’ll be hitting up Petco tonight. At work I’ve managed to plow through and make a dent in the paperwork. It feels good to get so much done before a holiday. My company is closing up Friday (and New Year’s Eve!) so I have a nice long weekend two weeks in a row.

One fantastic thing about working for a larger company around the holidays: the snacks! Everyone’s been bringing in cookies, candies, and other delectable items. It looks like a dessert buffet in the break room. I confess, I’ve eaten MORE than my share of caramels and brownies… but it is so hard to resist. Ohhhh well. I’ll be good after the holiday gluttony.

I’ll probably refrain from posting until this Sunday, so I wish you all a wonderful holiday; if you don’t celebrate Christmas or Kwanzaa, I hope you have a fun weekend anyway! My friend Sam is Jewish, and he always refers to December 25th as the day he orders Chinese food and watches movies. Sounds like a good day to me!

Will be back soon to share details. <3 xoxo