Kevin and I decided to check out a local rock climbing gym to see what all the fuss was about and soon found ourselves in love with a new sport!
We’re now members of the Touchstone Climbing association and so far we’ve only climbed/used the gym facilities at the Great Western Power Company site in Oakland (it’s less than a mile from our house just on the other side of the lake…we even ran to/from the gym one day for a workout. Yeah, we’re hardcore).
About a month ago we took Jessie on a guest pass and had a good time climbing with her…
View from inside the gym, the large gray tower to the left is an old smokestack that measures 150 feet tall
We decided to start out with some bouldering (climbing a short wall without being attached to any ropes and with a drop mat at the bottom)
Kevin doing some interesting moves
Jess taking a break to smile for the camera
Wouldn’t you know, me and Jess bought the same rock climbing shoes! Hahah.
Getting strapped in! Until we’re “pros” we have to show the staff that we know how to rope up as both a climber and as the one who is belaying the climber
Jessie making her way up the wall (she got a little over half way!)
Me making my way up. I had a little harder time this day so only made it up about half way (maybe a little less). I think there are good days and bad days when it comes to climbing, just like with every physical activity!
Kevin and I got on the road on Wednesday evening with the Lola in tow. The drive down was pretty uneventful (the best kind of trip down the 5 highway, I’d say!) and we got in at midnight.
Pretty cows out to graze!
Lola was quite intrigued by the cows
Our pretty little girl stretching out her legs
Thursday, May 26th
We were fortunate enough to stay at Kevin’s parent’s house for the trip and were treated to a yummy breakfast of eggs and toast. We just hung out most of the day, running some errands and soaking in the sun (oh, the sun!) As Dorothy was watering the garden, she quickly learned how much Lola LOVES the garden hose…
Watering her grandpup! Haha
That evening we met up for dinner at Lucille’s BBQ (our go-to place when we’re in town!) with none other but Brianne, Brian and Brianne’s sister Laura.
Oh how I’ve missed you!
Cutie pie
Kevin and Brian, stuffed silly
Kevin and Lola, posing for a photo at home
Friday, May 27th
For the few weeks leading up to our trip down south I was working with Kevin’s mom and sister Judith to plan a surprise graduation party for Kevin on Friday night. We had a guest list of around 40 people and were anxious to get the party started! But first, a lot of shopping and preparations to make sure that Kevin didn’t find out until the last possible minute (and since we were staying with his parents it proved to be a little difficult!)
The plan that afternoon was to have his brother Thomas take him out for a few hours while Dorothy, George, Judith and I prepared the food, cleaned the house, and got the backyard all ready to go. Unfortunately, Thomas had to go to work at 6pm (the same time the party started) so he had to drop Kevin off at 5:30, so the surprise was a little premature. Nevertheless, Kevin was extremely surprised and had not idea what we had up our sleeves!
The guests started arriving…
Dan, Judith and Kevin
Jessie and her niece Lola (with Valerie, Vanessa and Rose in the background!)
Dan, Chris, Kevin, Brian, Dominic and Jayme
Same as above plus Dorothy, Loren, Shani, Andrea and Ron
Jess and Brianne
Mmm…veggie skewers! Oh yeah, and burgers & hot dogs for the carnivores
Christian (my mom’s boyfriend Steve’s grandson)
Lola and her new best “friend” Christian (he quickly wore her out [which is not an easy thing to do!] and so she got a little annoyed towards the end of the party since he was still full of energy and wanted to play!)
Me and Brianne
Kev and Jessie
Jess and Matt
After chowing down we brought out the cakes and said a little something about the man of the hour–for those of you that don’t know, Kevin just completed a two year Aviation Mechanics program at the College of Alameda. It was a full-time program in which Kevin went to school from 4:30-10:30 every night for two years. He ended up at the top of his class (no surprise here!) and just last week, at the recommendation of his instructor, was offered a job at Rolls Royce working on the V-22 Osprey engine! It was SO great being able to celebrate Kevin and all of his accomplishments with the people that love him and it was even more wonderful that he was able to announce his new job just a week out of school. We’re all so proud of you, Kev!
Applauding the guest of honor
The ADORABLE airplane cake the Dorothy baked and Shani decorated
It also happened to be Dan’s birthday so we sang a little song for him and gave him a cupcake to celebrate
Christian said he wanted the candle (not the cupcake, surprisingly) and said he was going to save it to put it on *his* birthday cake
A Cookie Monster cupcake will do that to you
I think everyone who attended really enjoyed celebrating Kevin and his accomplishments, thank you to everyone who was able to make it!
Saturday, May 28th
The main reason we made the trip to Long Beach this weekend was to celebrate with my good friends Kim and Frank on the day they got hitched!!
That morning we met up with my mom, Jessie, the Julians and Matt’s girlfriend Alexis at what other place but The Potholder?!
The whole gang
The wedding was scheduled to start at 4:30pm at the Art Theater in Long Beach–such a cool wedding venue!
The marquee said “A Love Story: Kimberly and Frank”…so cute!!
Jess, Steve, me, Kevin and my Auntie Tina in front of the theater
Me and Jess all dolled up
Me and Kev on the red carpet
Inside the theater they were showing silent films
Steve chowing on some popcorn (they had bags of it in the lobby for people to eat!)
Me and my mama
The ceremony was short and sweet, officiated by Kim’s dad Guy (who actually married Kevin and I as well!)
Kim and her mama Terry walking down the aisle. What a beautiful bride!
The reception was behind the theater under a big tent…
Beautiful flower arrangement centerpieces
Lots and lots of wine for the masses!
Me and my party dress
Guy greeting my Auntie Tina and Jessie
Kim coming by to say hi
Hugs all around!
Matt and Alexis with the bride
Portrait of the bride…
…and the flower girl Bella
Me, mom, Tina, Jess and Kim (LOVE this photo!)
Me and Shan
Kim and Frank cracking up at Stacey (maid-of-honor’s) hilarious toast
The shoes…so perfect!
First dance
And Bella decided it was her time to show off her firefighter pole slide!
Susuico family dance (Stacey, Jay, Bella and Tasi)
Mom and Frank dancing
Kim and Steve dancing
Dancin’ shoes (mom and Jess)
Mom and Steve
Diane and Dave
Jess and Terry
Pretty sister!
Me and Kev (our obligatory shot)
They had an awesome candy bar for people to fill up little popcorn bags with treats…
The kiddos could be found swarming the table most of the evening
I swear she posed that way on her own! Haha
Their cake was AMAZING–made by one of her girlfriends Diana! And it tasted better than it looks, no joke.
The adorable orange bride and groom to go with the citrus theme.
The ol’ hula gang! Sayuri, Cat, Kim, mom and me
Finally warm enough weather to wear something that shows off my tattoo!
The evening was perfect and we felt so incredibly fortunate to be able to celebrate with our good friends Kim and Frank as they start a new life together!!
Sunday, May 29th
After a late night we met up with Brianne and Brian at The Coffee Cup Cafe for some good eats.
Me and Bri
We hung out with them for a few hours trying to distract Brian as Brianne went out to prepare for his very own surprise party, this time to celebrate his birthday! That afternoon we had to pretend we were saying bye for good and that we wouldn’t be seeing him again until our next trip down, but little did he know that we’d be turning right back around to their apartment a few short hours later to celebrate with him and friends/family.
A video of the surprise!
Birthday banner made by Brianne
Cake!
We got the chance to see our friend Lara and meet her brand-new baby Audrey! Audrey was a total sweetheart and it was great being able to meet her after only seeing photos all this time.
Lara, Brianne and Audrey
Ted and Lara
Me and the flying baby!
Monday, May 30th
We were treated to a home-cooked breakfast of waffles covered in strawberries and a breakfast veggie stir fry (or bacon if your name is Kevin). It was nice being able to spend a couple of hours at home with Dorothy and George before making our way back home to SF.
Unfortunately the ride home was nowhere near as smooth as the ride down. 9 1/2 hours later we finally parked in front of our house. Let that be a warning to anyone who thinks they can avoid the awful traffic on the 5 on a holiday! 🙂
We had SUCH an awesome trip, thanks to everyone who made an effort to see us and we can’t wait to go back!
Our family friend Brandon lives in San Bruno and invited us to his apartment for some dinner, pool time and a movie night.
Brandon’s caprese salad
Jessie showing off our caesar salad and spinach/strawberry/poppyseed salad. We also had some amazing mac ‘n cheese made by Jess and sweet potato fries made by Matt.
Brando and Matt sharing a seat
It was Mother’s Day so we Skyped with Brando’s mom (and my second mom) Diane along with his dad Dave and brother Matt.
Dave showing off the roses from his garden
After stuffing ourselves silly we headed downstairs to the pool!
We could only handle the pool for a little bit so rushed over to the hot tub to warm up (and take some group shots)…
Matt, Brandon and Jess
After soaking in the water for a time we decided to dry off and chow down on some fudge brownies that Kevin and I made.
Kevin under water
After pruning up a bit we decided to head back to the apartment to watch a movie. Our choice? “White Noise 2” (which was good for a laugh!)
Jessie and her friend Scottie celebrated their birthdays with a party at The Mint Karaoke Lounge in the Castro. They, along with 40 of their closest friends, took over all of the tables in the front of the bar and sang til we couldn’t sing any longer (or until the KJ [Karaoke DJ] kicked us off the stage).
My sister Jess celebrated her birthday in style in Napa and I was lucky enough to be the one she invited to tag along! 🙂 This was my first trip to Napa (Kevin and I visited Sonoma last year) so I was excited to see what the fuss was all about!
We made our first stop to Chappelet Winery which her friend Daniel works at. We spent a few wonderful hours there, sipping on some super yummy wines, taking in the amazing scenery, and enjoying each other’s company! My favorite wine we tasted was the Chenin Blanc and Jessie was in love with the Signature Cabernet.
The entrance to Chappelet
Jess sipping on the first of many wines we tasted
I love being in the dark, cool wineries surrounded by barrels and barrels of wine!
Our private tasting area!
Me and the barrels
We eventually joined in with a group that was tasting and touring the facility (Jessie’s friend Daniel is the one in the middle pouring)
Wine from the 1970’s
Jess on the tour
What a view!
Sister, sister!
After a few hours at Chappelet we were starving so made our way to Rutherford Grill. The food was super tasty but the company was even greater! 🙂
After stuffing ourselves silly we made our way to the hotel (which Jessie had won through a contest at work)–the Silverado Country Club. It was so fancy, we had to follow a guy in a golf cart to get to our room, ha!
That night we got out and explored downtown Napa at the Oxbow Public Market. It reminded us a lot of the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco with a lot of similar stores. Jess enjoyed a cup of joe from Ritual Coffee and we shared a super yummy tiramisu.
The next morning I woke up bright and early and am happy to report that I went for a 3 mile run while on vacation! You sure can’t beat the terrain–it was so gorgeous at 8 in the morning and it was such a treat being able to enjoy the views on foot instead of zooming down the road by car.
On the way back home we had some breakfast at Gillwoods Cafe which just hit the spot (yummy granola pancakes!)
Thank you Jessie for inviting me along to enjoy your birthday weekend with you! We’ve never taken a sisters trip before and we know we have to make this a regular thing!
My mom and her boyfriend Steve came up for another visit (see their past visits here and here) from April 1st-3rd and we had a nice time.
Friday night I joined them in Los Gatos at Jessie’s work, Enoteca La Storia (a super cute wine bar) for some champagne and cheese (a lovely combination 😉 ).
Jess hard at work and me hard at drinking 😉
Jess nommin’ on some goodies
The spread (or what was left of it)
Mom & Steve (in shadows, wah!)
The only scraps we left on the cutting board
Mom, me and Steve through the window
After Jessie’s shift ended we ventured to another wine bar in downtown Los Gatos, Cin-Cin, for dinner. The restaurant offered small plates and they were fantastic! We then took a stroll down the main strip and landed at the Dolce Spazio Dessert Cafe for some gelato. Mmm, mmm, mmm!
Beautiful blue sky on the drive to SJ
Afterwards we drove back to San Jose to check out an art walk that happens on the first Friday of every month in downtown San Jose called South First Fridays. Only a couple of galleries peaked our interest: the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and another gallery that I didn’t catch the name of that featured pieces about size (from microscopic to ginormous).
Me and Jess in front of some beautiful quilts
One of my favorite pieces. If you look closely…
…you’ll notice that the artist carved the alphabet out of the tips of these pencils. Incredible!
I felt like I walked straight into a Dr. Seuss book with these funky tree sculptures.
Trippy
On Saturday, mom and Steve came out to SF for some exploring. Our first stop was lunch at Chilango Mexican restaurant. Now I’ve always been a fan of Mexican food (I mean hello, I’m half Mexican) but I have never fallen so deeply in love with a Mexican restaurant as I did with Chilango. Their food is in traditional Mexico, D.F. (the capital) style and it is SO AMAZING! A little pricey but holy hell it’s worth it.
Okay, I’m done drooling now.
My mom and I giving Chilango two thumbs up!
We then took a nice drive through the Castro, starting out at the Seward slides (see a video of me and Kevin going down the slides here, with Kevin’s crazy drop straight on his rear at the bottom of the slide), then winding our way up through the beautiful neighborhood and finally ending at Corona Heights park. Mom, Kevin and I went for a brief hike up to the top of the rock formations and really enjoyed the views of the city.
Beautiful colored rocks against a bright blue sky.
A random little “village” we came across. These little houses were maybe 6 inches tall, so cute!
Me and Kev at the top of Corona Heights
For dinner we shared our love of Ethiopian food with mom and Steve and they quickly became fans! We went to Cafe Ethiopia in the Mission which we had tried before and definitely loved (except for one of the waiters telling us, at the end of our meal, that “there are people waiting to eat”, we got the hint!)
Dig in!!
We had a really nice visit (and lots of yummy food to boot!) with mom and Steve. Looking forward to their next visit!
So far we’re 2-for-2 with our goal to hike as many Saturdays as possible! We went down to San Jose on Sat. 3/5 to meet up with Jessie to explore Almaden Quicksilver Park which isn’t too far from her place. The total hike was 3 miles and although we could have kept going we had to leave it at 3 miles because Jess had to work that afternoon. We all really enjoyed exploring the small corner of the park we saw and are definitely excited about returning to check out more.
And we’re off! Me, Jess and Lola hitting the trail
Jess and Lola checking out the creek
Kevin got this great shot of the creek
Me and Lola hanging out
The Buena Vista Trail
Jess, Kevin and Lola on the Buena Vista Trail
This led us to the end of our hike: The Buena Vista mining site. We had a good time exploring the remains of this mining site.
Some of the remains of the site, old concrete structures with massive bolts left behind
Creepy look at the long way down the brick wall
Kevin went exploring a little farther as me and Jess took a break and he got this shot of us from the hill across the valley
Then I got this shot of Kevin as he was jumping off the 8 foot brick wall. Pretty cool!
Don’t know what I mean? Well then take a gander at this Dolores Park Bingo card:
On Saturday 2/5 we were lucky enough to spot some of those wonders: speedos, dog crap, ice cream cart, tiny dog, giant dog, tightrope walkers, and the “cold beer, cold water” guy. Not enough to make a Bingo, but pretty darn close.
Documentation follows:
Giant happy dog (AKA Lola)
Happy yogis doing crazy stunts in the park
Disco Stu walking the tightrope
And an extremely intoxicated anonymous dude making a fool of himself
And there’s this young lad named Kevin being entertained by all of the sights of Dolores Park
On Monday 1/17 I had the day off in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day so I took the opportunity to make a trip down to San Jose for a visit with my favorite sister Jessie! 🙂
After some mandatory cuddling with Marzipan (her kitty and my furry nephew)…
We ran off for a day hike at the Sanborn County Park in Saratoga. The park was almost completely empty so except for a couple of park rangers we had the park almost exclusively to ourselves. It was pretty chilly and the park itself is really shady so not much sun came in but it was a gorgeously lush park with green everywhere you looked.
Jessie took this lying on the ground looking up at the canopy of trees
Can you spot Jessie in this photo??
We then did some window shopping in the super cute town of Saratoga and enjoyed some Middle Eastern eats at Rose International Market which is a huge market with deli counter.
It’s always so nice to get to spend some seester time with my Jessie!
We were back in town for Christmas Eve–Kevin had to work but I was lucky to be able to spend part of the afternoon with the Julian family who were in town for the holidays visiting their son Brandon (he lives in San Bruno). The Julians are really close friends of my family’s who we spent Thanksgiving with in 2009 (see post at this link). Me and Lola met up with the gang in Golden Gate Park at Stow Lake, one of my favorite parts of the park. We walked all around the lake and up Strawberry Hill for a good hour or so–it was such a nice, crisp day, perfect for a walk in the park!
Diane, Dave and Lola
Just as I was taking a photo of this squirrel, Lola decides to…
Jump in mud. Gross.
Playing fetch with Brandon
Me and my second mom Diane
After saying farewell (we were going to spend Christmas Day with them) we ran back home to pick up Kevin and made our way to Carleigh & Scott’s place for Christmas Eve dinner.
The fixins
Failed photo attempt #1–Totally cut out Scott, oops!
Not-so-failed photo attempt, but not a great photo overall. Oh well! We were hungry and didn’t have any more patience to try it a third time. 😉
Bailey got Lola a squeaky duck for Christmas! Surprisingly, she’s still got the duck but it looks nothing like it did on day one (photos soon).
Pecan pie, straight from Carleigh’s kitchen…mmm!
Carleigh & Scott bought us a new game for Christmas as well called Bezzerwizzer (a trivia game) and we had a good time playing although trying to remember the name of the damn game was difficult because you were supposed to call it out occasionally and none of us could ever remember what the name of the game was, haha.
Pretty much sums up the whole evening!
Christmas day we were able to sleep in and enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast, just the two of us. Jessie joined us mid-morning and we video-chatted with the Edmonds family to do our annual sibling gift exchange (thanks Rob for the AWESOME vase and New Orleans messenger bag!!) Jessie and I went in on a gray pea coat for Kevin which he absolutely loves and I got myself a little surprise (that I’m sure most of you already know about) that I’ll write a whole post about soon. Chatting with the family was fun–having just been in Long Beach with family it wasn’t as difficult spending Christmas day away from everyone.
That afternoon we met up with the Julians again at an apartment in the Castro where Brandon was house sitting for dinner, drinks and games (Catch Phrase). Lots of food and lots of wine was consumed (no photographic proof but you’ll just have to take my word for it).
Diane, Brandon and Jessie (the three blondies)
Jessie…being Jessie 😉
Photo bomb!
“Act natural”–Dave, I guess, was the only one who follows directions 😉
We ended the evening being treated to a movie by Dave and Diane–True Grit! Most of us LOVED it (Jess wasn’t too much of a fan) and it was a great way to end the Christmas season! 🙂
