swings!

i only wish i had seen or thought of this, but some fun-loving, brilliant minds decided to put swings on bart. i LOVE this type of thing!

here's the article: pranksters install swings on bart
and a flickr photostream: bart swings

baby dominic!

this weekend was not only natalie's wedding, but our first occasion to meet baby dominic, the 3 month old baby of our friends jenn and jon. what a darling sweetheart! the pictures speak for themselves...



he was very well behaved while he got passed around from girl to girl...to girl...and back again. what a pumpkin!

friends [this pictures says it all]

i don't have much more to say than ladies, you mean the world to me and i love you all to pieces.

wedding weekend

natalie's wedding was this weekend, which was a fantastic end to my 6 weeks of madness--and what a gorgeous, amazing wedding it was! such a fun party. the site, the food, the drink, everything was just perfect.

"in my dreams, i see myself hitting a baseball"

so tuesday night was my first baseball game of the season, and what a perfect night for it!
and yes, this was how the sky actually looked--no photoshop enhancement here!

we played the padres, and it turned out to be a great game. warm weather (read: i was wearing capris and a tanktop. i put on my baseball hat by the end of the game to keep warm), a grand slam (by the giants), some excitement over what we thought might be a bad call (it ended up being the right call), good friends, and a win! what more can you ask for.

heat wave continued

the cats really don't know what to do in the heat. i mean, these are san francisco boys. they know fog and cold. when it gets hot, they definitely have a significant drop in energy. this was stuart's latest attempt at keeping cool



who wants to rub that tummy???

heatwave '09

the first heatwave of '09 has officially hit san francisco. we had temperatures in the 90's today, which is insane for this city by the bay. it's been a very sticky but sunny and beautiful day! too bad i had to spend it indoors behind my desk. the kitties do not enjoy this weather...they loll about on the floor, lethargic and hot. here are some snapshots of them surviving the heat:

first, we have stu hogging the fan

then stu, coming out of the sink after he went in for a drink

and finally, the boys lounging on the floor


tomorrow is supposed to be hot again, but by the end of the week we're supposed to have rain. ooooh san francisco weather, how crazy you are!

more racetime

here are some pictures my mom took...obviously i will not be looking my best in these, but hey. i just ran 13 miles. in ridiculous heat.

the race crew

race time!

race day arrived! man oh man. we trained for the mileage, but not really the mental aspect of racing OR the heat. well, to our credit, unless it's a day like today (over 85+ degrees in san francisco???) it makes it pretty hard to train for heat in sf. of course it had to be the hottest weekend in MONTHS for our first half. i am happy to say, however, we made it! it was tougher than i anticipated, but i'm glad we did it. i'm very proud of brandon, jessi and i, and thanks a bunch to josh and garrett. josh paced me and encouraged me to keep my legs moving, while garrett ran with jessi to keep her motivated.

now, to back up, our "race weekend" began with a delicious home cooked meal. we got our farm fresh to you box on wednesday, so we decided to use a bunch of the ingredients. i made:
* a green salad with carrots and tomatoes
* roasted potatoes and carrots
* sauteed chard and yellow onions over chicken

yummy!

on saturday josh picked brandon and i up to take us to the santa cruz area, where we spent the night...

so today was the big day, and it ended up being WAY hotter than we thought it would be. thankfully, i purchased shorts the other day. i was worried about running in them because i had never worn them for a long run, but they turned out to work great! i would have DIED in pants. my parents were kind enough to come down, cheer us on, watch us cross the finish line, and hold me up afterward (thanks dad...i thought i might collapse into the sand). we gathered ourselves, got our t-shirts, and then hobbled out to the car to go get some brunch/lunch. overall, a successful (if not slightly painful) race day. i have a whole new level of admiration for marathoners...

nyc 09, day 3

day 3, easter sunday! claire slept in a little bit, so my sister and i sent my mom and grandma on their way to mass (so they could get a seat). jen, claire and i joined shortly after and stood at the back of saint patrick's cathedral (you know, easy exit in case of baby meltdown).

after easter mass (and after we worked out our communication mix-up of where everyone was), we headed up to the east side for easter brunch. we were going to eat somewhere else, but that didn't work out so i introduced the family to le pain quotidien, home of that amazing brownie i had on the day i got there. i had the vegan six vegetable quiche--it was AMAZING.

we then wandered into central park to take in some spring and sunshine.

we then walked through times square (well, after a quick stop in starbucks for some hot cocoa--it was COLD! i also had a reality check--the employee went in the bathroom to restock the t.p. and pointed out that someone had been snorting in the bathroom. he was even kind enough to show me the signs that indicated this activity. there's a small gap in photos for this period of time because i was holding a sleeping baby...i'm not complaining.

after times square we wandered over to bryant park to soak in the sun, rest our feet, and give claire some time to kick her legs around.

mom, on the phone with uncle peter

claire also got her first carousel ride. it was perfect--the carousel was playing french music! claire enjoyed herself, as did grandma and jen.

after our exciting day, claire got a bath at the hotel. boy, does that girl like to kick!

i love this baby, can you tell?

pippy & timmy break

so, i have become flickr friends with someone in rome--our common bond is our pair of ridiculous kitties. a few of these latest antics are just too good to pass up--i had to post. countering ben and stu, let me introduce a pair of beautiful orange sisters, pippy and timmy!

first, we have timmy-in-a-box

pair in a pair...who knew kitties liked skinny jeans!

for this next one, you have to click on the photo and see the second picture...ooooh silly kitties!

last but not least, pippy the musical kitty! first, her singing debut

and then a little air piano!

thanks to pippy & timmy's mom for giving me permission to post her adorable girls! it definitely brightens my day to see new pictures of them...what cuties! brandon even asked me the other day if i secretly wished that i had pippy and timmy because i'm always showing him their pictures...teehee...i told him there's no way i would give up ben and stu, but they are awfully cute!

nyc 09, day 2

day two--our visit to see aunt josie! we got up early to take a train out of grand central station to about an hour north of new york city.

when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to see that aunt josie looked (and acted) the same--it had been over 10 years since we had seen her. at 94, she can still go up and down stairs like nobody's business. she even insisted on making us her lasagna and meatballs! what an incredible woman. i'd like to think i take after her in the crafty department--at 94, she is still crafting her time away.
claire was absolutely infatuated with aunt josie, and lit up in a big smile every time she was around.

we had a wonderful visit, meeting her family and reminiscing about old times...the end of the day came far too soon!

on the way back from our day trip, we decided to stop for some photos in grand central...

nyc 09, day 1

new york, day 1. i started out in sfo on thursday night. my flight was supposed to leave at 10:50pm, but due to our plane being late, we did not take off until after midnight. yay delayed red-eye!
after my arrival, i dropped my bags off at the hotel and headed to my go-to meal place, le pain quotidien. i adore this place and have gone every time i go to new york. apparently they have them in la and other places too, but they have not graced san francisco with their presence. i will wait patiently...i had a seat in the little back sunroom area, and this was my view looking up

after my healthy meal of vegetable soup, i decided to indulge in the most amazing brownie i've ever had in my life. turns out the secret is that there is barely any flour in these, so they are pure decadent goodness.

i only ate half there, but after frustration at my room not being ready an hour after they said it would be, jetlag/frustration/pure exhaustion got the best of me and i consumed the other half. YUM.

anyway, after le pain i decided to wander back to the hotel. i had my laptop with me and was just too tired to try and walk around more. on my way back i took a moment to appreciate what has to be one of my favorite things about new york in spring--the bulb flowers EVERYWHERE.


anyway, eventually everyone arrived safely to the hotel. after a "comedy" of errors (not so funny when you're overtired) we eventually settled down. i couldn't wait to give claire her easter present, so she got an early visit from the easter bunny--a knitted bunny rattle. she seemed to enjoy it (she's in a phase where she likes to wave things around, especially if they flap or make noise)