H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

I don't know how toothpicks replaced hockey sticks, but it is hot here in San Diego. The good news is that hockey is back!

******Note: this is from guest blogger, aaron. he saw "h-e-double toothpicks" written and said, 'who says that? it's hockey sticks.' yes, i guess in canada, that's what they would say.

san francisco

we took a weekend trip to san francisco for our anniversary and had a great time. as it should be in a city like this, we were on the go the entire time and exhausted each night. a sample of our activities includes: riding bikes across the golden gate bridge, checking out the marina district and all the forts therein, lunching in sausilito and riding the ferry back, exploring the wharf, sampling ghiradelli square, a night tour of alcatraz, mastering the muni system, falling in love with the local pizza and mediterranean place by our hotel, biking through golden gate park, lots of shopping, a tour of the boudin bakery, and hunting down the transamerica building. we had a blast and put it on our list of places to live one day.

i almost lost it multiple times while riding across the bridge. i'm not good around water! i was pretty sure i was going to die and kept singing primary songs to calm me down.

this is near strawberry field in golden gate park. i am not the focus in this picture, rather the two ladies in the background doing a very active form of yoga that aaron just had to capture.

where's waldo? i posed on the bridge thinking it would be a great picture and kept yelling for aaron to take it, not knowing only 2% of my body was visible. i laugh so hard each time i see this picture.

they billed this place as the Musée Mécanique on the wharft. curisosity led us there and we had a great time. it is an arcade of really old games which were oddly obsessed with execution or fornication. yea for the turn of the century?
bonding with the locals.

puts my baking skills to shame. the bakery tour was the highlight of my trip.

a friend saw this and thought i was holding up a breadstick. oh no, kids, this is a crust from a pizza slice i devoured. cheap, a few blocks from our hotel, and open late. it always hit the spot.

we took so many pictures of alcatraz that i did a separate post.

the rock

we decided to try a night tour of alcatraz and it was wonderful. delightfully spooky at night.

aaron demands his accessories even in solitary confinement. he can go nowhere without his purse.

i'm semi-obsessed with old buildings and loved exploring the burnt out shells on the island.

oh, and we got a real treat. they were providing unadvertised tours of the hospital for 30 minutes while we were on the island. again, the love of old buildings made me jump at the chance. for those of you familiar with the buildings, the hospital is directly above the cafeteria. i'm pretty sure this is where stephen king got his inspiration. many of the rooms were roped off and crumbling.

i can't even imagine what getting an x-ray on this machine would do to your baby maker.

wouldn't you love an operation in this room?

at least you have a window when you're recuperating.

the tour guide said the hospital was staffed 24/7 and used the latest technology to take great care of the patients. still gave me the creeps!

afternoon delight

a few weeks ago a trio of us at work hatched a friday afternoon potluck plan centered around my basil plant. we made caprese sandwhiches with fanciful sodas, strawberries and nutella, and brownies for dessert. luckily we had an italian in our midst and he provided the delicious buffalo mozzarella. i wouldn't have known to buy it.delightful conversation + amazing food = very hard to go back to work. we're planning our next feast! thanks, j & p!

give blood!

I'm a regular donor at the San Diego Blood Bank and each year they have an event at a Padres game to honor their high level donors. Luckily, it's always at the end of the season, so we usually end up seeing a pretty good game. The game was this past Saturday afternoon where the Padres played the Reds in what was an apparently important game. Aaron explained the standings and wild card business to me. The score was back and forth for most of the game, but we pulled it off in the bottom of the 9th and won! (nevermind that i made aaron leave in the top of the 9th so i could hurry home to the RS broadcast. he eventually forgave me) We're ahead of the Giants. Go Padres!ps- aaron is not wearing a yamaka, rather a Padres hat on the very back of his head. in case you were wondering. also, i think i've almost resigned myself to the fact that just like i don't want to wear make up each day, aaron doesn't want to shave. live and let live?

not the best seats ever, but it was nice to be up high and catch the breeze because it was so hot out. we're finally getting our summer. no thanks, i'm ready for fall.

love my pumpkin

i've always loved the flavor of pumpkin, but never found ways to eat it more often than in the fall. of course fall baking begs the use of pumpkin, however after learning about how it is a nutritional powerhouse (and loving the pumpkin-cinnamon combo) i was determined to use it year round. surprisingly, i found a yummy and easy recipe for pumpkin pancakes in aaron's october issue of men's health. i made them sunday morning and they were delicious! thought i would share.

pumpkin pancakes:

dry
2 c. pancake mix
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
wet
1 c. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 c. milk
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, beaten
*combine the dry in one bowl, the wet in another, then add the dry to the wet and mix. pour 1/4 cup on piping hot griddle and proceed as usual.

note: i don't own pumpkin pie spice, so i did 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of cloves and the rest with cinnamon. i used EVOO and fat free milk. i think i would like a recipe that doesn't use pancake mix, instead rather cooks from scratch, but this was very easy. i think i'll add some ground flax next time, too. i'll be working these in my pancake rotation as a nice change from plain and blueberry.

enjoy!

gardening

i've been wanting to plant a garden for a very long time, but i have also killed every plant i've owned for a very long time, so i was unsure if i should proceed. however, since i envision myself being a mother who has a garden and cans the fruits of her labor i figured i should start somehow. lowe's has a money back guarantee on their plants which gave me hope. we have the most pathetic patch of dirt outside our door but with a little perseverance i've had success. small success.

initial confusion on staking my plants.
a little elbow grease.

the first fruit! best strawberry ever. i absolutely love having a basil plant as nothing beats fresh basil. i finally have a squash coming in and am so excited about that. nothing from my tomato plant yet, but i have hopes. again, very small success, but a victory none the less.

HELP!

i'm in search of a little black dress for sandy's wedding. it's only two months away! eek, where did the time go? my requirements are few: modest and something i can wear again. i'm willing to buy something nicer because you can always use a great black dress. i tend to shy toward things that are tailored rather than stretchy fabric, but i'm in a pinch and want to look at everything. anyone have any ideas?! what is your favorite place to buy dresses? help a girl out!

it's finally here!

i've been waiting for months for the biggest loser to come back and tonight is the premier! i used to not be a fan, but last season got me hooked (koli, you were robbed!). i'm not in love with the drama aspect of the show, but rather the amazing changes in people and the second lease on life they get. you bet i watched losing it with jillian this summer!

don't they look ready to kick your butt into shape? oh, a last chance workout with you two would be a dream! i'll be running around like crazy after work to get all my stuff done by 8pm!

ps- i have a bunch of photos to post of our trip to San Francisco this weekend, but might not get to it until we're done house sitting. i'll get my act together soon! our blog has become a bore!

i heart stevie

if the title didn't clue you in, i love stevie wonder. i can't listen to any of his music without instantly becoming happy. who wouldn't love that? everyone has a favorite stevie song. if you don't, you just haven't heard them all. mine is 'isn't she lovely'.
i've had my eye on 'at the close of a century' for a long time, which is a 4 disc set of basically everything stevie has done. the price kept me away, but recently i found it for half price on ebay and treated myself. today it arrived in the mail and i'm lovin' it at work. thanks, stevie, for making my week.

i'm tired of using technology

aaron and i got new cell phones recently. his is some samsung droid business and he is in love. we got a great deal on it and since i hadn't upgraded my phone for so long i got a new phone for free. i had my old phone for almost 5 years and it was falling apart, but i loved it! people have been trying to talk me into a new one for years, but i held strong! i miss my old one already. i might switch back.
i was lamenting my change to a friend and she said, "i need a phone with buttons" and i completely agree. my new phone doesn't have buttons and i experienced numerous mishaps my first week because i couldn't figure out how to use it. E suggested we get jitterbugs instead of hi-tech cell phones. they completely fit my old person lifestyle.

here's a sample from their website:

The phone, with a larger keypad and a patented ear cushion, is very comfortable and easy to use. You won’t find a camera, the Internet or a complicated menu with confusing little pictures or "icons". You will find one feature, however, that you won’t find anywhere else – 24-hour access to live, friendly Operators, always there to assist you. Just dial "0" and they can add phone numbers to your Phone Book or connect you to anyone you want to talk to.

You can also choose to take advantage of some exciting new services and options for your Jitterbug. Try our new Jitterbug LiveNurseTM service that offers 24-hour access to live, registered nurses anytime you need to ask a health-related question, for only $4 per month. Or try our great text messaging service – only 10 cents per message – where you can choose to either type a message like kids do, or send one we’ve created for you from our library of pre-written messages. You can call a friendly Operator anytime. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have about these services.

sounds great to me!

h e double toothpicks

aaron's parents bought a house in arizona so we went to visit them last weekend while they were in town. talk about hot! arizona is not my favorite place (bad history with our family), but we had a good time and it's easier to travel to az than to canada. it was fun to spend time together.
some of us went to the mesa temple on saturday morning. it is a beautiful temple! so unique.
while we were there i caught up with kelli and greg. i finally got to meet their son who is 18 months old! that's how long it's been. it was great to see them. i miss them so much. nevermind the wedding party in the background...
ok, completely random, but we saw this vehicle in gila bend on the way home. odd.

it was a fun weekend, but we were so happy to come home. the heat was too much to bear. we are so lucky to live in san diego!

birthday dinner

i didn't get any pictures of my birthday, so i made sure to snap one of sandy taking me out for dinner. it was a month after my birthday, but who's counting? thanks, S!

Relaxing

we rode bikes to balboa park on our saturday off of the temple and had a picnic in the shade. people watching is the best. so are relaxing saturdays.

for papa

i know this is going to be a lame post to every one else, but this post is in honor of my dad. ask any family member about doing laundry growing up and you'll hear how dad always asked "did you check the trap?", meaning the lint trap. even when we assured him that we did, you would still hear the sliding noise of the trap being pulled out a few minutes later so the inspector could verify. we learned not checking the lint trap can slow dryer efficency and cause a fire hazard. he was right to ask, but to us it seemed like a life long pledge for dryer safety.

but, his plan worked because i am dilligent in checking the trap. fast forward to last night, we were washing a new white blanket that had been giving us polka dot outfits when we sat on the bed. before aaron went to pull it out of the dryer, i said, oh, i bet the lint trap will be full. here is the fruit of it's labor.
when aaron showed it to me i could not stop laughing. dad, you would have been proud that we remembered to check the trap.