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Spring is here!

Posted by Lisa On April 11th, 2010

We have been thoroughly enjoying the delightful spring weather (well, up until yesterday that is!)

Last week we took care of some gardening. The weeds were overgrown and taking over! We showed them who’s boss…

And we even found a cute little critter (we think it was a salamander!)

On Friday 4/9 we made the most of my furlough day and took a trip to Fort Funston, which is basically dog heaven.

Lola enjoying the views off the cliff

Let’s just say we kept our eyes on the sky

The extremely steep climb down the cliff to the beach! It was kind of comical watching the dog walkers trying to walk 5+ dogs on leash down this hill (or back up the hill).



Lola is a huge fan of the water, even the cold SF ocean water!

Lola’s one happy pup!

And then we had to climb back UP the hill…

A very satisfied Lola (she rarely sleeps in the car, so we knew we did a job well done)

On Saturday 4/10 Jessie hosted her first-ever Game Night (right up our alley!)

It was a potluck and we feasted that night!

We brought just a few of our many games–Balderdash, Taboo and Apples to Apples.

Cathy trying to get Team Intuition to guess her word, and Josh ready to “zap” her if she said one of the off-limits words.

Kevin, Jessie P. and Lisa R.

Jessie working hard to get her team to guess her word! And can you tell I loved being the “zapper”? 😉

A reenactment of some fun Taboo moments


Jessie’s game night was a total success! Good games, good food and good company. 🙂

Mom’s visit

Posted by Lisa On April 11th, 2010

My mom and her boyfriend Steve came up to visit Thursday 4/1 – Monday 4/5 and we had a really great time. It was the first time my mom had come up to see our new place in SF and it was a great chance to get to know Steve better as well. They drove up on Thursday and that afternoon after hanging out with Kevin and me for a little bit, Kevin had to go to school so the three of us went out exploring the city.

We drove through Bernal Heights (a really cute neighborhood near our apartment) then drove through Diamond Heights and stopped to get a gorgeous view of downtown.

Kevin’s usually the tour guide for our visitors, so it was interesting being put in the driver’s seat and when I asked them “So what do you want to see?” they replied “Whatever you want to show us!” I know one of my favorite places in the city is Golden Gate Park, so that’s where we went!

We took a stroll around Stow Lake (one of my favorite spots in GG Park)…

The local sun-bathin’ turtles
Me and mom near the waterfall on Strawberry Hill
Mom and Steve in the Golden Gate Pavillion, a Chinese pagoda on Stow Lake


After our romp through the park, we decided to indulge in some delicious Peruvian food in the Mission at Mi Lindo Peru. My mom and I had actually been to this same restaurant years before when we came up to visit Jessie (long before Kevin and I had even considered moving to SF!)

This is a fantastic restaurant with extremely good food. My good friend Claudia (who visited me last summer) inspired in me a great love for Peruvian food. Our visit to this restaurant reminded me that I need to ask her for some of her recipes to make some at home! 🙂

My mom got Inca Kola (kind of like cream soda)
I got Aji de Gallina (chili chicken in a cream sauce)…I really need to learn to make this at home so I can have it whenever I please! 🙂

Friday through Sunday Steve was out visiting his niece’s family in San Ramon, so my mom stayed with me and Kevin those nights. On Friday I was able to get out of work early to spend some time with mom and Jess that evening. We hung out and talked for a couple of hours then vegged out and watched about 5 episodes of “Modern Family” (have you seen that show?? It’s HILARIOUS!) It was just like old times, the three of us cracking up so hard we could barely breathe kind of moments. That night when Kevin got home from class we went out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants, CaliPhoNia (Vietnamese)…sooooo good!!

On Saturday afternoon, the four of us ventured out of the city and drove down to Santa Cruz. Jessie’s the only one who had been there before, and it was such a cute little beach town (definitely reminded us of Long Beach and Seal Beach).

Jess and mom doing the tango in our backyard

We had a little photo shoot on one of the cliffs overlooking the beach…

America’s Next Top Model, Jessie





We then drove down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk…





My mom treated us to a ride on the Giant Dipper (the 6th oldest roller coaster in the US, by the way!)…


We had an AWESOME time on the roller coaster (can’t you tell by the photo? haha).

After braving the roller coaster we treated ourselves to some typical carnival food–Jessie got garlic fries, Kevin got cotton candy, mom got funnel cake and I got a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone…YUM!!

Those are some satisfied carnies! haha
My childhood favorite: chocolate-dipped ice cream cone

Kevin ate so much cotton candy his tongue turned into sugar!
The cone says it all…

On Easter Sunday we drove out to San Ramon to meet Steve and his niece Michelle’s family (her husband Steve and their kids Morgan and Melissa).

Spring is here!
Morgan (6 yrs. old) showing off his magic tricks (he was good too!)
Melissa came out in her princess gown and quickly got tangled up in some balloons and her tiara, in true princess fashion 😉
And then she proceeded to tattoo herself up with Easter stickers

To celebrate in true Easter-style we ended our evening at The Mint, a karaoke bar in SF, and the sushi bar next door, Sushi Delight. The Delmar girls all love karaoke, so Kevin and Steve just cheered us on. 😉


A few of the songs that were sung that evening…

Apparently, I really get into it. Me singing John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Hurt So Good” (my signature karaoke song, haha)
Mom singing “Can’t Take my Eyes off of You”

Jess singing “Angel Baby”

Jess and Mom dancing along to Dean Martin’s “Luna Mezzo Mare”

My mom will be back in town for my sister’s graduation from SF State so we’re looking forward to some more adventures next month!

Dorothy & Judy’s visit

Posted by Lisa On March 29th, 2010

Kevin’s mom (Dorothy) and a family friend (Judy) came up for a visit this past weekend and we had a blast! They drove down on Thursday 3/25 and stayed until Sunday 3/28 morning. Thursday night we took them to Goood Frikin Chicken (ummm, can you tell we love that place?) and Friday morning we got out of the city for the day…destination: Point Reyes Lighthouse!

Friday, 3/26

First stop: Muir Beach overlook



They were filming a music video (I think) which was kind of neat to see…except we didn’t get down to the very edge of the cliff! 🙁
Me, Dorothy and Kevin (Judy took this from the other side of the cliff)
Dorothy, Kevin and Judy…and the gorgeous ocean!



The Visitor Center was in an old farm house…gorgeous!
Dorothy keeping the walrus in check, haha
Yum, picnic lunch!

Final stop: Point Reyes Lighthouse

Dorothy and Judy taking a break from the hike to the lighthouse

They were in LOVE with that beach…but can you really blame them??

The fact that there was a Caution sign about the walk back up from the lighthouse should have made us nervous…they weren’t kidding about the strenuous part! But we lived to tell about it.
All 308 steep steps up from the lighthouse…but totally worth it!
Breath-taking view.


On the way home we drove through the town of Inverness (very cute, by the way…we’d love to check out some of the adorable bed and breakfasts there!) There was this cool old boat on the shore that I had to get out and take a photo of.

Overall, a superb day in Marin County!


Saturday, 3/27

On Saturday we stayed local and spent most of the day in Golden Gate Park.


Cherry blossoms outside of the Japanese Gardens (we didn’t feel like paying the fee to get in…)

The main attraction of the day: The California Academy of Sciences! Kevin and I had visited there when Jessie first moved up to SF (about 6 years ago!) and the museum had gone through a major renovation and reopened in 2008 so we hadn’t gotten a chance to check out the new place. It is a FANTASTIC museum and we really enjoyed ourselves.

The indoors rainforest: A 4-story rainforest complete with butterflies, macaws, frogs, and sweat (it was super humid in there!)

Kevin got this shot of this butterfly…beautiful!
Fish ‘n lily pads

Kevin also captured this awesome photo when this gecko was looking right at him and seconds before he jumped straight towards him!

We got tickets to the 3pm Planetarium show (included in admission price, score!) and it was fantastic. The video was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg (who doesn’t love Whoopi??) and it was extremely informational and awe-inspiring. Plus we learned that each of us has about a teaspoon’s worth of star particles in our bodies…oooooh!


The CAS boasts of its “Living Roof” which we really enjoyed checking out…



Another picnic lunch, this time in Golden Gate Park…

Kevin juggling oranges and me goofing around.


Our only group picture from the trip:


We had SO much fun with those two and can’t wait for another adventure in the near future!

Sunny days in SF!

Posted by Lisa On March 28th, 2010

We have been thoroughly enjoying the past two weeks of sunshine in the city. Some mornings when I get up and the sky is blue and clear of any clouds and the wind is nice and warm, I honestly feel as though I’m back in Long Beach! It’s been so great to be able to spend so many sunny days outdoors (and I’ve regained some of my tan back, woohoo! 🙂 ) Here are some of the fun things we’ve been doing with our beautiful days…

Nothing says “warm weather” quite like a BBQ!

Lola and I spent one afternoon with Jessie and the boys she nannies for (McKinley Square Park)

Brandt showing off his static-y hair
Jess and Colby

Lola is a huge fan of the warm weather and she’s been spending a lot of time outdoors. She’s had her way with her basketball and it’s not much of a ball anymore!



We’ve been frequenting Golden Gate Park lately and have been taking our time exploring Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill and the surrounding areas with all of the great trails.

Kevin, Lola and Stow Lake

A waterfall in the middle of Golden Gate Park

Wine barrel tasting in Sonoma

Posted by Lisa On March 20th, 2010

Our friends Mika and Matt invited us to join them and their friends during the annual Wine Road wine barrel tasting weekend in Sonoma. We only went up for the day on Saturday, March 14th but for $20 a person (pre-sale cost) you can enjoy the amazing wineries that participate in Wine Road all three days–Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Plus you get a cool wine glass. Well worth the money!

Neither of us had ever been to Sonoma and all I can say is that it is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! Rolling hills, green everywhere you look, beautiful weather…we were in love!

The above there photos were at Forchini Winery
Matt and Mika
Terri and Scott
Kevin impressing Mika and Matt with his wine-tasting skills 😉
So I didn’t realize that we’d actually be tasting the wine straight from the barrel! Very cool. Obviously I’m not a big wine-aficionado, haha.
Enjoying the river behind Truett-Hurst Winery (the above five photos were taken there)
Apparently, Kevin’s a Dan Fan. Who knew? 😉 At Teldeschi Winery.
Hop Kiln Winery was our favorite because of the amazing historic building and the awesome food they provided! 😉
Did I mention the food? 😉 They had mustards and curry sauces and chocolate to dip pretzels in while you tasted their wine. Delicious!




After the fun-filled day soaking in the sun and enjoying the tasty wines, we had dinner at Mary’s Pizza Shack in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa is home to the Charles M. Schulz museum so I had to take a photo with my buddy Snoopy. 😉

We had such a fantastic time in Sonoma and can’t wait to go back when the grapevines are in full bloom in the fall!

Adventures with Lola

Posted by Lisa On March 12th, 2010

I don’t have much to report but wanted to post something since it’s been a while! Here are some fun photos/videos of our Lola girl…enjoy!

Drunk with happiness!

What’s up, Dad?

She’s one jolly dog!

Here are a couple of videos of her playing with a huge cardboard roll that she’s in love with. She’s intrigued by how our voices are thrown when we talk into it:

Proud wife

Posted by Lisa On March 1st, 2010

I just wanted to take a moment to tell the world how proud I am of Kevin. As you all know he’s in the Aviation Mechanics program at City College of Alameda (he’s in the middle of his second semester of four total semesters) and he has once again ACED his test! Each week they have quizzes on Friday and I think it’s only been 1-2 times he’s gotten lower than 100% (and then it was only like 98%). Tonight he got the results back from his mid-term that he took last Thursday and he got 100%!!!!

I’m so proud of him and just wanted to tell the world. 🙂

Kevin, the future airplane mechanic!
(I don’t pretend to know Photoshop so this is my sad little photo edit 😉 )

Even dogs need a pillow!

Posted by Lisa On February 22nd, 2010

Kevin snapped this awesome shot of Lola today through our kitchen window. He peeked out and lo-and-behold Lola fell asleep on her basketball! What a crackup. That girl never ceases to make us laugh!

Who woulda thought a basketball could actually look like a comfortable pillow? 😉

Day trip to the Marin Headlands

Posted by Lisa On February 17th, 2010

I had President’s Day off so Kevin and I decided to get out of the city, take advantage of the sunshine and take a day trip to the Marin Headlands. After checking out some of the views over the cliffs, we got hungry and had a nice little picnic in the car.

Then we headed over to Battery Wallace (a battery is a place in which a group of guns/missile launchers are operated together in one place, there were quite a few out that way).

Kevin put the biggest smile on my face when he willingly took this photo that I begged him to pose for: him pretending to shoot a machine gun in the middle of the battery 🙂

The fog kept rolling in and out, and at this point it was pretty foggy so I thought it’d be cool to take a photo like this (if you click it you can enlarge the photo to see it more clearly).

I was trying to get all artistic and have Kevin take this photo of me in a small corner filled with graffiti.

Kevin peeking out of some lookout, pretending he was spying on the enemy I’m sure 😉

There were a ton of huge metal doors that had been sealed shut but I thought this one looked pretty cool.

After checking out the old abandoned military bases, we went to make a visit to the Marine Mammal Center which is free and open to the public every day of the year except for a few major holidays. We got lucky because President’s Day wasn’t seen as major enough for them to be closed!

The time we went to visit most of the sea lions were enjoying their naps in the sun.

“Big Daddy” wanted to say hello to our blog followers!

I couldn’t resist! What a cute little pup.

In the tunnel as we exited the Marin Headlands


It was really great getting away for the day, just the two of us. It was a great place to explore and we’ll definitely be back again (possibly to camp overnight…who’s coming with us? 🙂 )

Beatles Brunch and Alison/Seth’s visit!

Posted by Lisa On February 17th, 2010

Jessie had a fantastic get together at her apartment last Saturday (2/13) called the Beatles Brunch! She’s got quite a talent for cooking, especially breakfast foods, so she had a bunch of friends over for brunch that she made all on her own!

Two amazing scramble dishes (one with bell peppers, spinach and goat cheese…oh my!), bacon and home style potatoes.

Breakfast “dessert”…sour cream coffee cake (Kevin’s specialty that he brought along) and Jessie’s chocolate croissant banana bread pudding…yum!!

Somebody’s hungry!

She had the super cute idea of leaving out arts & crafts supplies and people making their own valentines…awwww!

The official Valentine’s nerd 😉

Must’ve been a special occasion because Kevin’s not wearing a plain ol’ t-shirt! 🙂 (I’m one to talk though because normally all I wear is jeans but that day I wore a skirt for the special occasion)

When the mimosas ran out, the boys opened up some scotch (which you can see they were very proud of)

Sisterly love!

That night we had a rare night out on the town because my friend Alison and her husband Seth were in town from Irvine! Alison is originally from Walnut Creek (in Contra Costa County) and she and I met at Redlands. Seth is in a PhD program at UC Irvine so they’re living in Orange County for now but are planning on coming back up to the Bay Area when he’s done (3-4 more years). She and some of her friends from home came out to the city for the evening. In the early part of the evening, Alison, Laura, Kevin and I went to dinner at Papalote’s Mexican Grill in the Mission (they have the most unbelievable creamy salsa you’ve ever had!) We then met up with Seth, Daniel and Eric in the Castro and spent a few hours at The Cafe, a really fun gay nightclub.

Laura, Daniel, Eric, Alison and Seth

Kevin had to fight off the boys at the club, haha!

Laura, me, Kev, Alison and Seth

We spent hours dancing away and we had a blast! I can’t wait for Alison and Seth to move back up to the Bay Area so we can get together more often! 🙂

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