Seven years ago today, you married me.

May 21, 2005

We had idea what lay in store for us

March 2006

August 2007

October 2008

September 2009

January 2010 ( had to sneak in a babymoon pic)

May 2010

July 2011

February 2012

I love you so much, Timmy! Happy anniversary to us!

To spare my readers embarassment, I will not post the UB40 and the Pretenders version  of ‘I’ve Got You, Babe’. But we’re thinking them.

I’m a week behind, but here’s some unbelievably adorable pictures of my boy during our Easter festivities!

I even got a basket from the Easter bunny – complete with Cadbury Mini Eggs and a Kermit the Frog pez dispenser – thanks Mr Bunny. After our jelly bean appetizers, I made whole-wheat Bunny pancakes for breakfast. Actually, pretty darn good! I’m not generally a pancake person, but the whole-wheat flour created a tasty flavor.

After our breakfast, we watched Sesame Street, read books, and got ready for our day with Tim’s parents and grandparents. My son is hilarious about his clothes: he has to pick his own outfits. He picked out every item, down to his socks. MY KID IS SO FLIPPING STYLISH. Also, he’s a ham – he started posing for the camera! Tim stood behind me and did funny poses that Marco imitated – it was awesome. Next time CrewCuts needs a model, they should call Marco, am I right?

Once we got to Judy and Len’s, Marco hunted for eggs (I didn’t think he’d be into it, but he thought it was the most fun thing ever), and we noshed on good food all day (my kind of day, lol!).

Happy Groundhog Day! Here’s to hoping Punxsutawney Phil does NOT see his shadow – I can’t bear gloomy weather for too long…

A few weekends ago, with the help of my husband, I updated our IKEA dining table chairs…

I bought this fabric by Waverly – it’s called Luminary – online at Jo-Ann’s Fabric – Tim and I liked the color and pattern (it’s also available in grey and blue shades). It reminds me a little of 1960s kitsch, but applied to the modern shape of our chairs it works.

We removed the seats from the chair base, and Tim cut the pieces of fabric into squares, leaving a few inches extra for folding around the seat (it came with thick removable slip covers, but we left them on for extra cushioning )

Then he stapled the fabric tightly to the seat board (staple guns are useful things to have around). After those were done, I applied two coats of  Scotchgard to help keep them clean.

Lo and behold, a fun chair!

The color is very vibrant, and matches the green in our kitchen – it brought more color out into the brown tiled/toffee colored walls.

We had enough fabric to do all six chairs, plus extra if we need to replace any (we purchased 4 yards, widely overestimating our need, but hey it worked out).

Tim and I had stayed up after we returned from Christmas Eve dinner to finish setting up Marco’s presents. I wanted everything to be perfect for the kiddo to run out and see his gifts!

Christmas morning dawned, and still the Dicksons snored. Marco woke up at 8am, not exactly happy with life. He insisted that Daddy hold him on his chest. The three of us stayed in bed and passed out for an additional 45 minutes. Then, we decided to have breakfast before Marco discovered his treasures.

Marco loves his eggs

Look at his excited face – and his adorable holiday jammies!

After breakfast, we let Marco run out to the living room to discover what was there. He was SO excited to see his tunnel tent!

There was even a special note from Old St Nick

Tim had piled Marco’s gifts into the tent so we could all hang out with Marco in his new digs.

I gave Tim two sets of cuff links (one that is reminiscent of a circuit!), and a cool book by Brian Cox, and the accompanying BluRay documentary. I also gave him a few silly things for his stocking, like binoculars, candies filled with Sambuca, and such.

After a pleasant morning and early afternoon lazing around, we got ready for our Christmas dinner with the Dicksons.

 Marco looked so handsome! Vest, tie, slim fit jeans and Converse.

I made my special baked Brie for an appetizer (by special request), and it went fast! I was only able to get a few bites before it disappeared. We had a delicious dinner, and I spent a lot of time talking with Dad and Tim about photography.

My body wasn’t thrilled with me that day, and I was losing the battle to stay awake and comfortable., so we left around 9 so I could get home to bed.  Overall, a very good and quiet Christmas.

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!

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.

…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!

The remainder of my wonderful Mother’s Day…

First – my outfit!

Dress: Derek Heart
Belt: vintage
Sandals: Preview, purchased 2009
Scarf, worn as headwrap: vintage

After a stop at Whole Foods for supplies, the three of us headed to Downtown Sonoma for a picnic. There is a pretty park right smack in the middle of the main square, and lots of sweet little boutiques to peruse. A few restaurants that I want to try, too!

Marco loves avocado and mango

After the picnic, we wandered around the shops, and checked out some local sights.

We headed back home so Marco could take a cozy nap. After a rest and an episode of ‘Poirot’, we went to Firewood Cafe for dinner, and YoBelle for frozen yogurt!

I filled my cup with Plain and Fresh Strawberry yogurts, and added kiwi, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Tim ordered Yellow Cake Batter, Cinnamon Bun, and Plain, mixing in peanut butter cups, cheesecake bites, and brownie bites.

Tim made funny faces, and I let Marco press the shutter button on my camera. He is a good photographer

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Today is also a milestone; May 9th 2011 marks the 8th year since Tim and I had our first date.

(not from our first date, but this was taken the day he first kissed me)

I am ridiculous. Somehow, Tim puts up with me. I love him in ways I never imagined, and can’t think of anything about him that I would change. Okay….maybe he could pick up his dirty socks, and rinse out his cereal bowls after use. But aside from those minor details, he’s just what I need in my partner. He’s been an amazing father to Marco, and I hope that Marco inherits all of Tim’s beautiful qualities, his intelligence, his kindness, and his wonderful natural scent (seriously, I could smell Tim’s neck all day).

I love you, Tim!! <3

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P.S. Did you enter my giveaway? Ends Friday, May 13th!!

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!!

This one goes out to Tim and Marco…

I know, I know…but I can’t help but be a little mushy.