slow food setup day 1_laurie's bday

well, today was the first official day of slow food setup, as well as laurie (and natalie's) bday. it was a lot of work but a lot of fun. it reminded me of being in 5th year of school, setting up for my thesis show over memorial day weekend in san luis obispo.

here is a small preview of slow food nation, as well as a few pictures from laurie's bday dinner...

invitation bonanza

this weekend was dedicated to my sister's baby shower invites. it was actually really nice to have nothing else going on--finally a relaxing weekend at home. i love weekend trips, but i also love having down time around san francisco. while brandon got to take a photo excursion, i took a trip to paper source to get my supplies and begin the fun. i already had the design pretty much finished--it just took some tweaking before i could start printing. this morning we took a quick jaunt to union square to return some things and enjoy the beautiful day, and then i went back to working on the invitations. hopefully they'll be done tomorrow, and then off in the mail they'll go! here's a little preview:

dining table [finally]

we have pretty much been looking for a dining room table since we got married. we went back and forth and looked at tons and tons and tons of tables and just couldn't decide on one. i at last fell in love with this table (or the modern table on his website) but came to decide that, if i got that table now, the size would be dictated by our small space, so we might as well get a smaller breakfast nook type table now, and then we can get my dream table later. with that mindset, brandon found a table and showed it to me. we decided to go for it...it is simple, neutral, and functional. after a mix-up with the table top color, we now have the correct table and therefore our dining room is at last coming together. we also decided that, as long as chris was generously giving us a ride, we might as well get the desk i have been eying while we're there. i just wanted something simple so our dining room could be transformed from hallway to office/dining. it of course needs tweaking, but we're much closer than we were earlier. THANK YOU CHRIS! we owe you big time for the schlepping.

my helpers

clowning around...how can anyone take them seriously?

the result-in-progress

pdx

well, i'm back from portland and uploaded the photos! it was a pretty uneventful/relaxing weekend overall. we did a lot of sleeping, olympics watching, painting, and relaxing. i really enjoyed my time up there and hope i can spend more time there in the future. anyway, the weekend in photos....

waiting for our plane at sfo

brandon, day 1 of painting, starting with the high stuff

my painting project, primer coat (unfortunately i do not have the final result to show)

brandon's fake disdain at me playing with our new toy

my genuine excitement over our new toy

self portrait, lunch with jenn

at pdx a little early, waiting for my flight

still waiting...

and waiting...

on the way to the airport i noticed a little lightening and some rain drops. i got dropped off, went inside, found a spot to sit with a nice view of outdoors and then...more lightening. and thunder. and BIG raindrops. and planes still taking off. it made me a little nervous, but hey, if the pilot is willing to fly...then the power goes out. it only half came back on and then they started making announcements about delays which, oddly enough, had nothing to do with the weather in portland but instead was due to a problem with air traffic control in san francisco. my flight was supposed to leave at 9:25am, but they made an announcement that we'd know something at 9:30. then it was 10:00. then we were going to leave at 10:59. then it was pushed back to 10:40 so we rapidly boarded. we got all settled, everyone strapped in, seats and tray tables in the upright position, and "hello passengers, this is your captain speaking." apparently sfo was not ready for us and therefore pushed back our take-off another 50 minutes. we ended up leaving around 11:50 for a 1:15pm arrival. needless to say i was a little later for work than i had originally intended. oops.

anyway, i'm back home safe and sound. this evening i decided to play a little more with the camera and (surprise surprise) i used the cats as my subject. well, only stu because ben wasn't cooperating.

and stu, yes, i notice you sitting there behind my wine with your paw casually on it...

a weekend away

well, i don't have any pictures to post at the moment, but just wanted to say hello from the pacific northwest. brandon and i are in portland this weekend, helping paint his parents house. well, i should say brandon is helping paint the house. i've been put in charge of the front door/entryway which has actually been more of an ordeal that we thought, but it's getting done. it's been so nice just to get away and not have to think...

tomorrow morning i'm having breakfast with a friend from high school, which should be fun, and then back to door painting! pictures to come soon...

pagoda stu

before i get to pagoda stu, i'd first like to say two things...

1. congratulations, natalie, on the birth of beautiful baby pia!
2. congratulations, natalie, on your amazing performances!

and now for the pagoda stu thing. so, finally purchased a dining table--we decided a simple breakfast nook table was most practical for now, so we're going to add a desk in the dining room as well. we picked up the table but got the wrong table top, and then decided on some fun/quirky stools for the table. the cats immediately took to them, especially stuart, who we have deemed pagoda stu because of this.

wow

i am so, so proud.

way to go nat!

home again

well, i'm back home after another lovely weekend at tahoe...the weather was gorgeous aside from the occasional wind gusts. i'm bummed we didn't make it to sunnyside, but maybe next time.

i definitely don't want to be back in reality...in the meantime, the weekend in pictures...

celebrations

this weekend was extremely busy but very fun! saturday was kicked off with a trek out to benicia for my friend katrina's wedding. i've been hearing about drew for YEARS so it was fun to finally see them commit to each other. their relationship has really been an inspiration to me--i don't know drew well, but i get plenty of stories from katrina. they find so many quirky ways to keep the relationship interesting and on track, so it has been fun to follow their story time, and i hope to learn from them and grow with them as well.

we arrived at the church at 12:30 to help set up for the 2:00pm wedding--i was a "hostess" of the church reception, helping keep the cake and punch stocked up. after the ceremony and church reception/clean-up, we got about a half hour of down time before heading out to walnut creek for the second reception (the first was open to the entire church). it was at a restaurant in downtown walnut creek in an absolutely beautiful garden patio setting. it was intimate and just very well coordinated. there was so much love and happiness in the air--the families get along very well and it was fun to see them so involved in everything. dinner, dancing, live band...it was all perfect.

cake waiting to be eaten

flowers

the getaway vehicle

reception lantern

the reception

bride and groom first dance

father and daughter walking off the dance floor

we headed back to san francisco around 9:30pm since we had to get up early--my brother-in-law and his friend nik ran the san francisco marathon today, and we were there at mile 21 to cheer them on. brandon also joined up with them and ran with them for the final 5 miles to provide some fresh legs for encouragement and help keep them moving in that final stretch. i'm so proud of josh and nik--quite an accomplishment! for the record, josh does not recommend hill-filled san francisco for your first marathon. it was so inspiring to see all the people running it--i was so extremely impressed! congrats to everyone who ran today!

waiting for bart to get to mile 21

14th & guerrero

josh, smiling at mile 21