Chef Walk

K this is probably one of my most favorite things I've done here...The Chef Walk at Earthbound Farms.

A local chef and an Earthbound Farmer walked us through their local fields and herb gardens and we got to load up on pretty much whatever we wanted (above w/onions...below w/lettuce).

w/Danna (who is due tomorrow might I add)

Baskets full!

Herbs, lemons, snapdragons, spinach, lettuce (4 kinds), yellow squash, onions, zucchini, patty pan squash, kale, beet greens...

Then we got a little cooking demo by Brandon Miller (local chef...just left Stokes (where we had our last anniversary dinner) who is now at Mundaka (Spanish restaurant that I want to try...next anniversary?))
He and the host (Mark from EB Farms) thought they were comedians.

The dish we got to try was so good (warm summer squash w/almonds).

I thought we were cool to take a picture with someone who has famous chef friends. He has worked under Michael Chiarello (and confirmed he's not the nicest person to work with...I just saw that not nice side of Mr. Chiarello on Top Chef Masters). And he's friends w/Mario Batali.

Anyway, we're excited to go again at next month's where we'll get tomatoes! You know I love tomatoes.

Sunday Best

This is my Mother's Day Dress.

Well...not really.

First I ordered this one:
But it was too small and they were out of the next size up.

Then I ordered this one:
But it didn't look good on me.

So then I ordered the one above and had it shipped to my mom's house while we were visiting.

Just so happened that the very day it arrived in her neighborhood mailbox it was vandalized and stolen!

So...

Since the Post Office was lame and gave me the runaround (you'd think they have insurance for vandalism), Shabby Apple was awesome and shipped me an entirely new dress for free.

And I love it.

So I just wanted to give them a little shout out. I know all of Mesa knows about them already but it's not common here.

PS: We have a sickie today.

PS #2: I fully expect my family and friends to make fun of that picture of me. Do you know how awkward it is taking pictures of yourself trying to look cute?

How I Gained 5 Pounds in 3 Hours and other Stories

Justin you should be the new cover model for S'mores Magazine.

And I should not.

So busy stuffing my face with these gourmet s'mores ingredients:
Graham crackers, chocolate covered graham crackers, home-made graham crackers, lemon cookies, butter waffle cookies, french butter cookies, snickerdoodles, and other cookies/crackers I can't remember, Whole Foods vanilla bean & also peppermint marshmallows, a huge assortment of Ghirardelli chocolate squares, a variety of fancy dark chocolate, milk chocolate w/hazelnuts, milk chocolate w/caramel, Andes mints, 3 Musketeers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, fresh strawberries/bananas/raspberries, coconut, slivered almonds, peanut butter, almond butter, nutella...

My favorite (that I'm modeling above): butter waffle cookies w/vanilla bean marshmallows and raspberries. Chocolate not necessary.

This is my favorite kind of date night...bonfire w/friends, s'mores, and Catch Phrase.

Help!

Remember my jeans I found at the farmer's market?
They're like 4 inches too long.
I took them to a tailor who wanted $35 to hem them w/the original cuff.
I paid $40 originally and didn't want to turn my awesome deal into a not so awesome one at $75.
So I thought I could do it myself using Stephanie's tutorial.
But apparently I can't follow directions.
I did the right leg first and it was still too long.
I thought I knew what I did wrong so I did it different on the left and now that one is too short!

So excuse me while I go buy a seam ripper.

And cry.

When I get this right I will be wearing these jeans every day.

And that tailor would've deserved her $35.

PS Stephanie...it's not your tutorial. It's me. All me.

K I could take this down now...they're all fixed and the perfect length!

Fresh Picked

No, not this.
I got this at the grocery store.

THIS:
First cherry tomato from my little birthday garden.

I LOVE tomatoes.

And I love the way tomato plants smell.

And Sally loves her corn from the grocery store.

See?

The Sound of Silence

This is Drew's "smile" this morning...his first day of preschool.

Owen told him he could make friends by making funny faces. He's off to a good start w/the faces.

Drew did just as I thought he would: walked right in, sat down, didn't even say bye.

He has been so excited.

When I registered him he was so sad he couldn't stay and said, "Mom can I just sit down and learn?"

And me...I get SIX hours of one child per week. I don't even know what to do with myself. Sally's nap is during that time, too so my house is the quietest it's been in a long time. It's so nice.

Take 2

Here we go for another year of kindergarten!

This first day was SO much better than last year.

On time.

No tears.

(k maybe just 1 by me but that was early this morning before anyone was awake)

And remember last year when I was talking about
no character shirts?

Turns out I don't really care anymore.

What's becoming of me?

Guarantee he'll wear that shirt at least once a week.

And his backpack...not so huge anymore!

Camping

We went camping!
(Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park...our tent was backed up to some Redwoods)

My first time since being married.

It was our little family getaway before school starts.

I realized most every trip we do involves other people...
which is fun and I like.

But it was nice to be with just us.

S'mores Anyone?

That is ONE marshmallow.

Owen has more fun roasting than eating them.

Now fast forward to the morning,
cause honestly the night was miserable.

Red Vines for breakfast (we had real food too, promise).

The sun came out!

And made us SO happy.

It meant the night was over and it brought warmth.

It was cold at night, but not too cold.

Our main problems were...
Sally (not sleeping),
fear (me),
uncomfortableness (me),
and a skunk spray (the skunk).

But back to the morning...it made up for it all.

A river at the campground
was so pretty and fun to play in.

I'm ready to go again...in an RV.

Live Aboards

I visit teach a woman who has lived with her family on a boat for the past 5 years.
By choice!
And they totally love it.

When we visited her last week there were literally thousands of purple striped jellyfish in the waters close to shore.

They come up for a few days every few months so we got lucky...or blessed for doing VT? :)

I could've watched them all day.

We went back the next day w/Sarah & family.
You can see a jellyfish in the water between Owen & Cal's heads. They were close enough to touch, all different sizes.

Can you tell how huge that decorator crab is? They eat the insides of the jellies.

Then we went to Marina State Beach where I got rich!
Well, if sand dollars were real dollars then I did.

Wait, no then I got like $8.

I also got cold.
This was my first time actually getting IN (not just my feet) the ocean since living here.

It was freezing but so fun!

Sal

8/4 - Entryway to Point Pinos Lighthouse

I like that Drew calls her Sal.

That's all :)

Showering

K I really have no business posting these shower pictures because

a) It wasn't my shower

b) I had no part in it other than showing up with these:

Don't they look gross?
But they taste good.

(Dill pickles wrapped in ham spread w/cream cheese)

Back to the cuteness that Sarah and Brenna masterminded:

They made these roses (and more that were all over)
from coffee filters!

Handmade chandeliers everywhere.

8/1
The honoree, Miss Rochel, showing off the cute drinking jars
(notice the lids).

So many awesome little details...
I felt like I should've paid to go to the party!

Something for Nothing

7/31

I know they don't look too thrilled but they were.

Other than Sally not happy being constrained
from running into the street
they really did like this!

We walked down to the nearest trolley stop
(right in front of the aquarium)
and rode the free trolley around Cannery Row and Downtown.

We got off at the stop by San Carlos Beach
where we would normally pay to park
and played there.

Then Justin picked us up on his lunch break
so we didn't have to walk home up that steep hill.

I love new little adventures...especially when they're free!

Water Balloon Fight

7/30

More Bach

This time we went with Sarah and Cal to a
mini concert at the Carmel Mission.

Just happened to be on Cal's birthday!

The Mission grounds are so pretty, I loved it there

Sarah got Cal calmed down by tickling his face.

Owen joined him laying on that comfy stone listening to music.

7/29

Then Shawna, Danna & I went yesterday to what we thought was going to be a youth chorus...it wasn't quite what we expected...got to see yet another pretty church, though! (All Saints in Carmel)