with a little help from my friends

After high school and college, it gets harder and harder to have all of your closest friends in one place at one time. Therefore, I've tried to make it a priority to set aside one weekend a year to make this happen. So last March was the first annual "Davis Girls Weekend" where the five of us (me, Ashley, Kate, Amy, and Susan) all congregated down in Orange County to stuff ourselves with cupcakes, do some shopping, and catch up on each other's lives.

The 2009 girls weekend destination was switched to the Bay Area, since 80% of us live up in NorCal now (woot woot), and I became the self-designated planner for our activities. The weekend was fabulous fun and here are some pics to prove it!


We began the weekend by lunching at the Ferry Building, where I experienced the gloriousness that is the CowGirl Creamery shop (it's like cheese heaven!). We also saw Meredith from "The Office" and we tried to get her in this picture (she was buying coffee at Peet's) but we just missed her.


When then went to check in at our amazing hotel in Fisherman's Wharf, where I got an unbelievably good deal on Travelzoo: $99 for a night versus the normal $250 a night. The nautical theme was a little over the top, but it was a very posh hotel that included a free wine reception hour, which we all gladly took advantage of before heading off to dinner in North Beach.





We then took a pleasant stroll over to Little Italy and ate at what I think is the most delicious Italian restaurant in the city, Mona Lisa. I have a long history with this place (we went there the night David proposed! ) and it just hits the spot for any kind of pasta creation you could imagine. After dinner, we were walking down Columbus Avenue to our next destination when I run into two friends from college, Kristen and Brad! It was a hilarious moment where in disbelief I shouted out "Excuse me?! What are you doing here?" not realizing that I probably sounded really rude to the other people in front of me...haha. But really, what are the odds of running into two friends at the exact same time on the exact same street in a large city? I love life's little coincidences.



Kristen gave us the name of the bakery she works at in the city, and I promised that we would try to come see her the next morning for breakfast. We then began what turned out to be a mini-trek to our next stop, the Red Devil Lounge in Russian Hill. Unfortunately, Kate thought that it would be a good idea to wear new heels, and on our walk to dinner she already had several nasty blisters in the works. Using her wonderful iPhone, I tried to find the closest MUNI stop and realized that even with taking MUNI, we would still need to walk 6-8 blocks uphill. The rest of us were in comfortable walking shoes, but poor Kate was limping along. It truly was a group effort in trying to ease Kate's pain.....Ash gave her piggy back rides and I let her have my socks, while Amy and Susan offered up words of moral support. All I have to say is argyle socks and zebra heels make an interesting combo.





After we got a little lost (even with the iPhone), Kate and Ashley gave up on walking and hailed a cab. But me, and Amy, and Susan forged on...mainly because we wanted to walk off what was a very filling dinner. So finally, by car or on foot, we all arrived and our night of dancing began.

Since a night out with the girls is rare now that I'm an old married lady, I had done some research of a fun place to go dancing. Fortunately, through the wonders of Google, I found that Wonderbread 5 was playing in SF on the night that we were there. They are a cover band that play hits from the 80's and 90's, which is definitely more my scene than some ultra trendy club playing electronica and trance.

We got our dance on and moonwalked to Michael Jackson , shimmied to the B-52's, rocked out to Journey, and even tried to rap to Vanilla Ice (I have to admit, I have forgotten the words). It was a most excellent time.








We made an early morning stop at the Fisherman's Wharf In-N-Out before heading to bed and two creepster guys in line asked Amy and Ash "Are you two here for pleasure?" Seriously? Is that supposed to be a smooth pick up line? If only Amy or Ash had thought to respond "No, actually we're here at In-N-Out for a 2 am business meeting."

The next day, we made good on our promise to pay Kristen a visit at La Boulange, the super cute French eatery where she works. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed another sunny walk in the city. I got what I think was the best omelette of my life: goat cheese, avocado, and bacon. It was a perfect Sunday brunch meal and was made even more perfect when Kristen snuck us some free pastries, which included a banana caramel muffin, a raisin custard croissant, and a sugar bun....scrumptious!

As if we hadn't had our fill of sweets, we made a stop at Kara's Cupcakes in Ghiradelli Square before checking out of the hotel. I agree that it is a little ridiculous to pay $3.25 for ONE cupcake, but you only live once right? After laboring over all the choices, I went with one Kara's Karrot and one Meyer Lemony lemon cupcake...and resisted the temptation to buy more. We then made a brief stop at the ocean for a photo op and headed down to Union Square.



The rest of the day involved a really fun makeup consultation at Sephora, a delectable Thai dinner in Walnut Creek, and a nostalgic viewing of an awesome movie from the late 80's, "Troop Beverly Hills". The next morning, we all woke up a little dazed from staying up late talking but Kate made sure to feed us a healthy breakfast of whole-grain toast, fruit and oatmeal before we left for Davis. I am so blessed to have so many great memories with my friends and I look forward to next year's girls weekend!

food soothes the soul

I found two great recipes in Cooking Light that I used last night and wanted to share them with any readers I have who like delicious food (hopefully that's everyone).

The first recipe is a SUPER easy and quick black bean soup. It took me about 20 minutes from start to finish, including prep! Take that Rachael Ray! This soup is also very high in fiber, which is a nice health benefit. And it goes really well with tortilla chips or even better, fresh tortillas.

Ingredients

• 2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added black beans, undrained
• 1/2 cup bottled salsa
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 (16-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 5 tablespoons low-fat sour cream
• 5 tablespoons minced green onions
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Place beans and liquid in a medium saucepan; partially mash beans with a potato masher. Place over high heat; stir in salsa, chili powder, and broth. Bring to a boil. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese, sour cream, onions, and cilantro.

The second recipe is for pecan pumpkin bread. I love anything pumpkin, and wanted to make a snack to bring to our bible study tonight, so this recipe presented the perfect opportunity! I haven't actually tried it yet (although I was so tempted to after it came out of the oven) but after our study meets, we'll see if it passes the taste test.

Ingredients

• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (about 15 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through allspice) in a bowl.

Place sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add 2/3 cup water and pumpkin, beating at low speed until blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Spoon batter into 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pecans evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

that's entertainment

This blog is in need of a light-hearted post, so here it is! This is a random smattering of what kept me most entertained in 2008:

Reading:














Watching in a Theatre:
















Watching in My Home:



























Listening:

what no thief can steal

Death is always unexpected, even if you know it's coming. I know that sounds like a paradox but it's true. I woke up this morning knowing that my grandma could die at any moment. She had been in the hospital since Christmas Eve with a case of pneumonia that turned fatal and for the last week her lungs have been slowly filling with fluid, making it hard for her to breathe. She has been on 'comfort care' the last few days, meaning that she was taken of all the machines and medicines that were prolonging her life---and she was put on a morphine drip which would help her to die more peacefully. I have been praying the last few days that she would die sooner than later, so that she could escape her pain.

Before David and I went to go be with the rest of my family at the hospital this afternoon, I still had one grandparent left. Four hours later, I left the hospital grandparent-less. This now means my parents, aunts, and uncles are the new oldest generation of my family. which is strange to think about.

The most surreal moment was seeing my grandma take her last breath. I'm still unsure of how I feel about watching death occur, but this experience brought several thoughts to my mind. I thought about how she was born in 1920 and how different the world was then and how much she has seen it change over the span of her lifetime. I thought about how blessed she was to die in a warm hospital room with her family surrounding her, unlike so many others in the world who die cold and alone due to their circumstances of poverty. I thought about how it is SO true when people say you can't take anything with you when you die and that in the end, material possessions and wealth are so meaningless. I thought about the finite time we all are given here on Earth and how that makes time the most valuable gift.

After my grandma peacefully passed, a chaplain from the hospital came into the room and asked if she could read us a poem titled "Psalm from the Dying". There was one line that struck me in particular:


And all I take with me as I leave is your love
And the millions of memories of all that we have shared
So I truly enter my new life as a millionaire.



Rest in peace, Granny.