Lisa | Adventures with Lisa & Kevin

Fun times with the Lola-meister

Posted by Lisa On August 2nd, 2009

I have to say, having a dog of our own is 100% more fulfilling than we could have imagined! We have been enjoying our time together so much and here are some highlights:

Hanging out with her Aunt Jessie

She’s just a big ol’ baby when she’s around Kevin!

She LOVES her Loofah Dog…too bad one week later the dog’s head was ripped off! haha

Hanging out with mom at Franklin Square Park

One of the funniest pictures yet!

In our neighborhood about a 5 minute drive away is McLaren Park. This truly is a gem in the middle of nowhere! It has a lake, a dog play area, and great trails that make you feel like you’re in the middle of the forest. Kevin and I are thinking about becoming “Friends of McLaren Park” where people get together once a month to work on restoring the park and making it more family/kid/community friendly.

One of the best things we’ve found around our neighborhood is St. Mary’s Park, a wonderful dog park about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. We’ve taken Lola both days this weekend and she has a BLAST as you can see in this video:

Lola really has been a great dog this past week. She’s got “sit” and “stay” down pat. “Lay down” she knows most of the time, but a lot of time she flips her whole body to get a belly rub so we’re still working on that. There are a few things that we’ve got to work on with her: walking straight on a leash (she’s gotten better, but she doesn’t understand that concept and will sometimes walk right in front of us) and her motion/car sickness! Even on short car rides, she has a tendency to get sick and throw up on the ride. 🙁 So Kevin’s taking her to the vet this week to see if we can get her some doggy Dramamine for our 5-hour car ride we’ve got coming up this Wednesday for our camping trip! We’re keeping our fingers crossed that she’ll be okay! The last thing that happened was last night…she got sprayed by a skunk! So Kevin had to wake me up and we spent an hour trying to clean off the skunk oil before it dried on her. Her face still smells a bit, so we bought some de-skunking wash and are going to give her another bath today. So needless to say, Lola sure has kept us on our toes!

Bringing Lola home

Posted by Lisa On July 23rd, 2009

I went to work early yesterday and ate through my lunch just so I could meet Kevin at the SF Animal Control Center to pick up our Lola! The whole process only took 10 minutes and when they brought her out her tail was a-waggin’ and she was all smiles for us. We walked her out to our car but it seems she’s never been in a car before because she didn’t know exactly what to do with herself!

Yes, the Animal Control Center is on Treat Street!

Lola getting ready to go for a joy ride

Can you tell Kevin’s excited about his new little girl?

So happy to finally have her!

Lola checking out her backyard

Turns out she loves water!

Loving her new Loofah Dog toy

Learning how to walk on a leash (she’s getting better at it!)

Ahhh, nap time after an exciting day!

We’re new parents!

Posted by Lisa On July 20th, 2009

…okay I know this might have scared a few people with the title of this blog posting (don’t worry, we didn’t have a baby and not tell you about it!) but we’re now the proud parents of a gorgeous dog! She’s a 1 year and 3 month old German Shephard/Rottweiler mix bundle of joy!

On Sunday Kevin, Jessie and I went to check out the pups at the SPCA and the SF Animal Control Center. Though we found two dogs at the SPCA that we liked, they were a little too high energy for us (being that we’re in a brand new city, creating our new routines, and this will be our first dog together) so we decided to go next door to look at the dogs at the city’s Animal Control Center. There weren’t many we were too excited about until we got to “Geronimo’s” cage. She was a beautiful, medium-sized spunky girl that we decided to meet one-on-one in their “Get Acquainted” room. After ten minutes of sitting with her, rubbing her belly and playing fetch with her we were smitten! Here’s a video of us playing with her in the room:

So we went to the front desk to start the process. We needed our landlord to verify that he allows us to have pets but he was out of town so wasn’t calling them back right away. And they wouldn’t put a hold on her like the SPCA would have done, so we started to worry a bit. This morning he still hadn’t called so we were getting more and more nervous as the hours passed. Luckily I was able to get through to him and he called them and gave us permission! So Kevin rushed over to the center to pay her adoption fee and to claim her as ours and barely made it before they closed for the night. The craziest thing was that as he walked in, “Geronimo” was being walked out with another couple who were interested in her!! So he went right up to her and gave her a pet and told them that she was ours. 🙂 Too bad for them! (Just glad that didn’t happen to us!!) So Kevin really did make it just in time. So he paid the fee and she’s going to be spayed in the next 2-3 days then she’s officially ours! I can’t WAIT to bring her home! We signed her up for training classes and tomorrow we’re going to go out and buy her the necessities so that we’re ready to bring her home later this week!

And don’t worry, we’re not going to keep the name “Geronimo” (who the heck decided to name a female dog Geronimo, anyways?) My sister Jessie helped us pick a name…Lola!

This came from the SF Animal Control Center’s website the day after we adopted her! 🙂

North Beach & Chinatown

Posted by Lisa On July 20th, 2009

On Fridays I get to leave the office early (awesome!!) so Kevin took the bus and met me at work so we could do some exploring out that way. We took a few minute bus ride out to North Beach (it’s reminiscent of Little Italy in NY) and Chinatown.

The sights of North Beach…this is part of my favorite mural that I see everyday on the bus going into work

We ate at the Original US Italian restaurant (weird name but good food!) but were too full to enjoy some Italian pastries unfortunately! We then visited City Light Books, an amazing independent book store

Having spent a good amount of time in Chinatown in LA there wasn’t too much to look at
at SF’s Chinatown, but it’s nice to say we’ve been there!

Afterwards we met up with my sister Jessie at one of her favorite spots called Cafe Gratitude. It’s a raw food restaurant and if you were to think of a stereotypical San Francisco restaurant this would be it! To give you an idea of what I mean, all of the menu items start with “I am…”, so a salad you get could be “I am lovely” and your drink could be “I am sunshine”…then when the server hands it to you she’ll say “You are lovely” or “You are sunshine”. It’s definitely an experience! The food is so delicious (as you can see from the pictures) and you really do leave feeling good (which is a great sign for a restaurant!) We’ll definitely be going again!

L: Jessie waiting outside the cafe for us, R: Slurping down her “I am Eternally Youthful” drink (almond milk)

L: Jessie’s “I am Whole” with kale, quinoa, etc., R: My “I am Lovely” a seasonal fruit cobbler

T: “What are you grateful for?” is painted on each plate, B: I really like their sign (though I can’t take credit for this great photo, this comes from their website!)

Our first "guest" at Hotel Lisa & Kevin

Posted by Lisa On July 13th, 2009

One of my brother’s best friends who has become a great friend of ours as well came to visit this past weekend. Emily drove up on Friday to see a friend’s play up in Oakland on Sunday, so all day Saturday we hung out together exploring the city. Saturday morning we went to the Alemany Farmer’s Market just a short distance from our apartment. We had heard that this was one of the best farmer’s markets in the city, so we were excited to visit. We got some delicious peaches, strawberries, bok choy, green beans and dates (don’t be jealous!)

Mid-day we decided to do some touristy things and made a visit to Lombard Street and then over to the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (mostly because it was the cheapest admission we could find! Only $5 admission versus $20-50!) The garden was absolutely gorgeous and I just wish there had been more to see to make spending more time there worth it.

Then we met up with my sister and her friend Meredith who was in town from Long Beach as well and Jessie’s boyfriend Kindrid and his friend Justin to see a movie in the park at Union Square! We saw Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” and it was such a neat experience, putting down blankets and enjoying some drinks and snacks right in the middle of Union Square.

It started raining before the movie started (can you see the raindrops on my shoulder?)
Luckily it stopped 20 mins. before the movie started!

Me, Emily and Kevin all bundled up

Justin, Kindrid, Jessie and Meredith

Beautiful sunset in SF!

Lying down, all bundled up (and yes, I did end up falling asleep! I guess I’m not a
big Woody Allen fan after all 😉 )

My first SF Giants game

Posted by Lisa On July 12th, 2009

Two of my former co-workers from the Girl Scouts, Wendy and Rose Mary, had told me when I shared the news that Kevin and I were moving up to SF that they were planning on coming up to see a SF Giants game and it happened to be during my third week here. The most amazing part of it all was that Wendy’s husband Bill was initially supposed to go but had purchased tickets for the Angels vs. Yankees game in Anaheim for the same night, so they had an extra ticket and let me come along!

Wendy, Rose Mary and me

I’ve never been a huge baseball fan, but seeing a game at AT&T Park with its amazing views of the bay really made a fan out of me!

And not only was it a great game because the Giants beat the San Diego Padres 8 to 0, it turned out to be an historic Giants game that night! It was the Giant’s first no-hitter game since 1976 and we were there to witness it.

One of the funniest things about the night was all of the attention that we got because of Rose Mary’s Angels gear she had on. We got boo’d at a few times and one guy actually asked if she would take a picture with him! Sorry for the poor quality, I was laughing too hard as I took the photo!

After the game we met Kevin and our friend Emily at Lefty O’Doul’s pub in Union Square and joined the other Giants fans. It was so much fun reuniting with Wendy & Rose Mary and I can’t thank them enough for the free Giants game and the great company!

The big weekend

Posted by Lisa On July 12th, 2009

Hi everyone! I know it seems like forever since I last posted and I know a few people have asked us when our next post will be…since the move I’ve felt more tired than I think I’ve ever felt before. It’s now finally starting to feel “normal”, the past three weeks have been so intense and I’m just happy that we’re finally getting to a normal day-to-day routine.

Packing it all up

On Friday July 3rd I flew back down to Southern California, arriving at the Long Beach airport at 8:30am. Kevin picked me up and we had a wonderful, long-awaited reunion after not seeing each other for two weeks. We immediately went to Budget truck rental to pick up our 16 foot moving truck and then drove over to our apartment. Kevin’s parents, George and Dorothy, were there with us to help pack. Starting at 10am and not stopping (not even for lunch!) until 6pm, we packed up our moving truck. One of our good friends Brian helped us for part of the day as well, but Kevin’s parents were with us from start to finish, they’re real champs! We can’t thank them enough for helping us…we honestly could not have done it without them!!

Kevin, Brian and George trying to figure out how to fit it all in the truck

Kevin and George packing up the office

Me and Kevin taking a break

Party time!

My mom was hosting a going-away party for us that started at 6pm, but we barely finished locking up the truck at that time. So Kevin’s parents rushed home and we attempted to clean ourselves up at our empty apartment and then rushed off to my mom’s house for the festivities! There were so many friends and family there to send us off and it was so great spending time with everyone that night!

My mama, Kevin and me

Claudia and her daughter Isabella (Claudia and I used to work at the Girl Scouts together)

Me and Kevin with two of our closest friends Brian and Brianne

The Redlands gang: Romina, Allison, Monique and Byron

Me and Emily

The Edmonds gang: Sarah and her boyfriend Rob, Thomas and Dorothy

Me and my Uncle Joey (my mom’s brother)

The Millikan gang: Jenny, Neil and Lindsay (and her bundle of joy Addison in the baby carrier)

Our first weekend in SF

We left bright and early on Saturday, July 4th at 5am and drove up the I-5 to our new home. Dorothy and George came along for the trip and the drive was really smooth and it went by pretty quick. We arrived at our new apartment around 1 pm and immediately began unpacking the van. Luckily, it went so much faster taking things out of the truck versus putting them in! After a few hours of unpacking, we decided to go out and get some food to nourish our tired bodies! We went to a yummy Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant on Mission called El Patio and it felt so good to get some food in our systems.

The night view from our street

The next morning we met my sister Jessie and went to one of her favorite breakfast locations called Zasie. It was DELICIOUS! It was a wonderful way to end our long, crazy weekend.

Dorothy, George and Kevin waiting outside Zazie

My unbelievable french toast!

Walking back to the car

Stern Grove Music Festival

Posted by Lisa On June 28th, 2009

After lounging around all morning, Jessie and I made our way to the Stern Grove Music Festival that takes place every Sunday afternoon during the summer. We got there after it had already started, so it took a while for us to find a spot to sit. The music was pretty good, it was just so incredibly hot and crowded that after drinking some wine and eating some yummy snacks we decided to head out. But we’ll definitely be back this summer when Kevin’s here and we get there earlier!

The hoards of people enjoying the sunny day in SF!

Me and Jess loving the sunshine!

My first visitor!

Posted by Lisa On June 28th, 2009

Lots of people have told me and Kevin that they’ll be making their way up to San Francisco sometime to visit us, which couldn’t make us happier! Yesterday I had my first visitor, my past co-worker Claudia who I used to work at the Girl Scouts with. With her new job she had a conference up in San Jose this weekend so we decided to meet up during one of her breaks! I couldn’t believe the timing of it all when she told me she was planning on being up north this past weekend. It was so great to see her and spend some time with her (even if it was only for an hour during her dinner break from the conference!)

Claudia and me in front of Togo’s (I know, not the prettiest backdrop!)

So let us know when you’re planning a trip up here…we’d love to see you and show off our new city! 🙂

"She works hard for the money…"

Posted by Lisa On June 24th, 2009

I thought an update on work might be nice so I took my camera in today and took some photos to share:

The building where my office is, Alliant Int’l University has half of the 1st floor and all of the 2nd floor, there’s an art university and another company that shares the building.

Good ol’ Pier 39, directly across the street from my office (it’s still exciting to me…I’m afraid all the tourists might get old pretty quick though!

Here’s my office! Not much to look at yet, I didn’t bring much of my decorating stuff with me, so it’ll be a few weeks before I get it looking more like “home” 😉

I’ve pretty much just jumped right into work, they’ve put me to work pretty quick so I’ve been really busy my first three days there! What we’re working on heavily right now is going through all 4 years worth of credential student’s files and streamlining them into one clear format. So it’s basically paper shuffling right now 🙁 but this process is going to make my life a lot easier in the future!