thanks Codita!

Last night Melita and Cody treated Bryce and I to an engagement celebratory dinner at their fave restaurant Cin-Cin, which just might be my new fave now also! We ate tapas style nibbles and sipped delicious prosecco and wine. Every bite was amazing (except I'm still not a fan of pate, which Melita couldn't get enough of...)

I love eating little bits of all sorts of flavours, reminds me of our trip to Spain a few years back. wish I had the time to prepare things like this every night!

the appetizers all looked too good to just pick one so we got some of them all on a platter. we had chorizo wrapped stuffed olives, sherry chicken liver crostinis, prosciutto, manchego cheese with date bread, deviled eggs, prosciutto wrapped medjool dates and spanish tuna melt crostinis

next we had the sliders (mini hamburgers) that were the best I've ever had

then we finished off with some fruit and cheese

and meats, pate and mustards.

Yum!

happy friday!

thank goodness it is friday! this week has been exhausting, I am so looking forward to the weekend and sleeping in tomorrow...

I took this great shot of this guy at Pfeiffer Beach down the coast while we were at Big Sur last weekend, along with hundreds of other great pics which I'll post as soon as I get some time...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

blog crush

I found these photos on Flickr which led me to Lori Andrews' blog, so appropriately named, the 10 cent designer has lost her head, which I think is just brilliant and now I am smitten.

Thank you, mom

I haven't been posting very much over the last few weeks mainly due to the fact that I've been feeling so completely overwhelmed by the efforts to purchase my first home and have had no energy to post more than a couple of quick entries. Now, it's 24 hours before I'm officially a home owner and it's still so unbelievable. My mom is the whole reason this has been possible for me to do and I wanted to let her know how much I appreciate her amazing heart and generosity. I am filled with gratitude and awe that I am lucky enough to have a mother who loves me as much as she does. Ever since I was little I wanted to be close to my mom. I would have done anything to be able to spend time with her, go places with her, and to please her. Since my mom was a very young, single mom it wasn't always easy to get to spend time with her since she worked and went to school. Also, according to several family members, I was quite a handful as a child and it wasn't always fun for a young mom to be stuck watching her kid when there were more fun things to do and I consequently spent a lot of time with various babysitters. Over the years, I went through rebellious stages, wild partier stages, and growing up stages. During the last few years, and especially in dealing with my aunt's illness, I have wanted to be closer to my mom. It's been a long road trying to let go of the child inside who still demands, "Love ME!" and move on to become an adult who is able to love back unconditionally. A warm, sensitive, sunny person - my mom is downright lovable and I hope she knows how much she is loved by me. My mom has given me a gift by allowing me to buy this house and she has also given me a gift by being my mom. I love you.

awww

We were very excited that our little buddy Jackson was voted Cover Dog of the Year for Ginger Snacks - totally based on his cuteness of course... hey, use what ya got is what I say Jackson! his parents Steve and Ami are so proud :)

awww

look what I saw the other night when I looked over at Bryce while we were watching a movie...He pretends not to like her, because he doesn't want to upset Cooper, but he loves her - you can tell...

this is what I feel like for dinner...

an aussie hamburger with the lot!

McKenzie helps with the renovations...

I know some of the wallpaper we have in the house is totally retro, but we weren't going to strip it until we were ready to paint it, or apply new wallpaper in some rooms, but I guess McKenzie had other ideas... isn't having a puppy wonderful??? :)

fleet week in the city

I'm a bit behind in my blog posts here, just been so busy doing stuff to sit down and write about it all... anyway a few weeks ago Bryce's mum, Cathy and Gene came to visit us for the week which just happened to be Fleet week, so we headed up to the city to Fisherman's Wharf to watch the planes fly over the bay

we grabbed a quick bite to eat

and headed to the waterfront

to see the planes

and waited for the Blue Angels

(Bryce, me, Mike, Gene, Cathy & Andres)

I found some very young sailors to snap a pic with

I think they were cadets

found some cute kids

saw this boat capsize

not sure what these ones were called but I loved the red white and blue smoke they shot out

the Blue Angels made a very brief show and then cancelled due to fog...

which was disappointing, but some didn't seem to mind either way...

so we headed to the pub instead!

Cathy and I had a quick shot with the fireries

and then did the touristy thing

(Gene, Cathy, Bryce)

and after watching a guy propose to his girlfriend in front of a whole bunch of people at Pier 39 we headed out to dinner

at the Stinking Rose

a garlic restaurant

I had the fish, which of course came with copious amounts of garlic

saw an angel

and then headed home...

he asked

and I said yes :)

happy friday!

the weather is supposed to be amazing here this weekend, and Bryce and I are off to Big Sur for a romantic get-away. we've rented a cosy little cabin on the river, nestled into the redwoods and are looking forward to lovely lazy days walking on the beach soaking up the rays of sunshine...

hope you have a wonderful weekend!

this gorgeous sunny photo from miceeatcheese here