Weekend: Mom came to Visit!

Weekend

Getting Sentimental

Jacinda and I were talking the other day about preserving good memories in untraditional ways, sparked by her friend Heather's latest project here.
You may have noticed in our living room tour, the key framed on our entertainment center. It's the key to our first apartment together. I could have thrown it in a drawer, but as the sentimentalist I am, framing it as a token of our memories in that place was the better option. Yes, Pete did have a good chuckle at me, as you might too, but it makes me happy every time I see it.
Also, I kept the cork from the champagne we drank on our first anniversary and wrote the event and date on it. Right now it's also in the entertainment center sitting in the glass pear. I've heard of people doing this for all their special occasions and then keeping them as a collection. Not sure if we drink enough drinks with corks to do this, but we'll see. Either way, I like having this one. : )

What sort of ways do you preserve memories in
untraditional or even traditional ways?

Dodger Game

Our First Anniversary

Besides our relaxing getaway this weekend, Pete and I planned
to have a nice dinner date at home to celebrate our anniversary and exchange cards.

I was trying to be a little secretive and plan a nice inside dinner, but it was just one of those things that wasn't coming together.

Plan B: A fancy outdoor picnic on our patio!
(Don't you love it when plan B ends up being more fun?)
I laid down several blankets, dragged our coffee table outside, came up with some impromptu (and wrinkled, oops) table clothes, added candles, our china and fancy silverware, some wine, and wa la!
It's fancy picnic time.

Of course it was pretty hot here that day, so instead of having dinner at 6 when Pete got home, we ate a snack, went to get massages (!), and had a late dinner at 8:30 when it had cooled off a bit. Conveniently, our mini blinds acted as the perfect curtain to hide my surprise until dinner time.

The Menu:
Panini's, Ceaser Salad, Grapes, and Cheesecake for dessert

Our view by candlelight:

The other table, with the beautiful flowers Peter brought home for me, and a bottle of the same champagne we served at our wedding to drink in our wedding flutes.It turned out to be such a fun night to celebrate our
first year of marriage together.

I love you Peter!

Birthday Date with Melania

Good Company and Sushi Peer Pressure

Tony and Kirsten took us to a cool little restaurant that specializes in Sushi. Brothers
This was Pete's first time having sushi and my second. (The first time I tried it was my freshman year of college, at a restaurant in Fresno that I've been told isn't very good.) I actually ordered fried rice and chicken, but promised to be a good sport and try again.
Here goes!
Uh, maybe not. The texture and size of the bite sort of freaks me out.
Third times a charm right?
But good news, Pete likes it.
We're so worldly now, ha ha!

Why I have the sweetest husband...

These were waiting for me when we came home after my week 1/2 stay in Fresno. Isn't he the greatest!

Crazy, Crazy March

Pete and I have turned into two traveling fools this month, spending three of the four weekends of March up in the Central Valley. Fortunately, there was much to celebrate with our families, and although exhausted, we thought it was very worth it to be apart of those memories and events.
The first part of the month was spent in preparation and celebration of Mike and Stephanie's wedding. Pete was the Best Man, and threw Mike's Bachelor party the first weekend, while Kirsten and I got to help Stephanie move into their new home. Then the next weekend was the big day. Pete and I were both a little nervous since I was reading in the wedding, and he was giving a toast, but we got through our parts just fine, and it was great to see Mike and Stephanie so happy, and to spend time with our family. We are so happy for the two of them and had a blast helping set up and celebrate.Then after Pete went home on Sunday after the wedding, I stayed to help my sister by watching the girls during the week while she went to the hospital to have her baby! It was a super eventful week and I missed Pete like crazy, but the girls and I had a great time, and my sister had little Vienna Scarlet on St. Patrick's day. She is so beautiful and we are so happy she's finally here.
Peter came back to get me and to meet Vienna last Friday. I was so happy to see him! Before heading home we hopped up to Ceres to see our good friend Daniel and his awesome new pad, and even got a bonus tour of the Gallo Winery campus. Then we stopped into Reedley on our way south, and visited with our friends Mat and Kai. It was great to see their new home after they've had time to decorate and do some updates, and Kai fixed us a great dinner, complete with lettuce she'd grown herself. I'm seriously looking into growing lettuce on our little balcony now!

So that sums up our March. Needless to say, we're doing nothing more than enjoying our couch, some home cooking, and some movies during this last week. Can't wait to see what April has in store.

A Casual Night of World Domination

To celebrate Peter's victory over the LEED test, I conceded to playing a game of Risk.

This is probably his very favorite game, but I got a little burnt out last year when he and Mike lived together and kept an ongoing Leader Score Board inside their pantry to tally up their wins.

After a year off, I have to admit that it was pretty fun, although, that may be partly because I won!! (Pete may or may not have let me win so that I'd play again. He's says no, but I'm suspicious. : )

Either way, check out the world domination by the blue team!

What's your favorite boardgame?

Great News!

Peter passed his LEED test!
(In the picture he's holding up his passing results.)

Thank you so much to everyone praying for his success.
We appreciate it so much.

Now let's celebrate!

Valentines Day

Valentines Day is special to me for several reasons.

• First, I love holidays and any excuse to celebrate and eat good food.

• Second, Peter picked Valentine's day to propose to me.

• And finally, Valentine's day is only five days after our six month wedding anniversary.

That's right, we've hit the six month mark!

So to celebrate, we ate a great breakfast, went to the Getty Museum, and then cooked dinner together and had a picnic in our living room. Here's a couple shots from the Getty:

We ate a great lunch on this terrace overlooking the gardens and city.We walked around the gardens and admired the architecture.I obsessed over all the cool succulents...

and appreciated about the only flowers in bloom.
We laughed about our favorite risque statue.
(You have to go and see the front to understand.)The horses face cracks me up.
And then were generally lovey dovey all day. ha ha

A couple Birthday snapshots

On Saturday, Kristina, Austen, Tony and Kirsten came over to celebrate my birthday. We started with some champagne (leftover from New Years in my bargain Ikea glasses), then headed to Mamma's Pizza (my favorite) for a pizza by the slice dinner, and then to the Ice House Comedy Club for an amateur show.

Thanks everyone for the birthday cards and messages!

What's your favorite way to celebrate a birthday?

Rose Parade

We headed out to see the Rose Parade live on New Years Day with Tony and Kirsten. After we woke up around eight, we watched the parade start on tv while we got ready, and then walked over to the route to catch it in action. The most amazing part is that all the floats are created with organic elements. Check out the roses on this flag:It was super crowded and hard to find a spot since we hadn't camped out the night before, but a really nice lady shared her ladder.

Peter's Favorite Float

Peter's other Favorite Float
(notice Jack in the background dancing to Disco)

(He is also ran out in front of the blue line for this picture, and so were lots of other people, but the cops were getting pissed.)

After the Parade, standing in the middle of Colorado Blvd.
And Kirsten and I, next to the enforcing Officers
(All but one received "important calls" right before we snapped the picture : )

Have you ever been to a live Parade? or how about the Rose Parade?

Happy 5th Birthday Kiara!

On Sunday, I got to take my lovely niece, Kiara, on our annual birthday shopping trip to start out her birthday week.

We headed out to our family favorite, Target, with our list of ideas. These included the new Camp Rock cd (with the Jonas Bros), dresses and tights, or a Barbie.

Look how fashionable and grown up she is with her cute silver purse!

In lieu of our list, we found an Easy Bake oven instead! We called Dad to ask if it was alright and he said yes. On the way home, Kiara exclaimed laughing, "I'm sure glad we asked my Dad because Mom was at work! I think Mom would say no. I wonder if we'll get busted!"
Oh, my, what have I done! (but, Jacinda laughed out loud when I told her, so we're good. : )

A quick stop for some Rainbow Sherbet Ice cream.

The finished product: a tiny yellow cake with chocolate icecream cooked by (can you believe it?) a lightbulb. She even shared some with her little sister, and saved half of it to show Mom when she got home. What a sweetie!