First Father's Day

This was Cody's first Father's Day
I think it's safe to say he had a GREAT day!

First, he and Savannah snuggled on the couch and
enjoyed some pre-breakfast Reese's Pieces

Then we headed to the Country Inn Cafe
in San Jose for a big, greasy breakfast

The wait was a bit long and someone looked depressed..

but a quick cheek tickle did the trick!

Much better!

Dad couldn't resist kissing that little face

Then we headed back to the house where
Cody played with his new helicopter

He really, really likes it but I may regret buying
it if he keeps flying it in the house

Savannah got a Father's Day present too

Then we had a family picture taken before we left
our little Birdy with Grandma Tweet and headed
up to San Francisco to see a show at Teatro Zinzanni

Pre-dinner cocktails. I had a Mojito in honor of the Latin themed party

Lovely paper flowers
Whee!

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the performance, but this lady
and her gazangas were nice enough to pose for a photo afterward.

I must admit it feels strange being here

Hello Flufflefritz! It's been a long, long time since I've visited you.

It's a very strange feeling to be writing again when I've had such a long absence. I'll be heading out in a few minutes for a girls' night out and am planning to take my friends Holly and Danielle on the world famous 'round the world tour originally invented with Kate. I got nostalgic and was looking through our old posts when the mood struck to write a bit. Kate and I each had our babies just a few months apart and I'm looking forward to lots of play dates and family camping trips. Savannah is growing fast and I miss her intensely during the day. She's a very happy baby and rarely fusses. She even giggles in her sleep - a sound that breaks my heart every time I hear it. I was warned that babies grow up too fast, but I never believed it. Now I find myself trying to cling to every second I spend with her because I already miss her littleness.

Smiling in her sleep

every cloud has a silver lining - I'm sure...

imagine this - you've been planning your great european vacation for months now, researched online and read up on all sorts of places you want to go, booked your flights, bought train tickets, shopped for the perfect walking shoes, the perfect sun dress, the perfect bag to take, organised dog sitters, ride to the airport - everything is pretty much set, except for packing the perfect wardrobe in the perfect bag and getting to the airport...

then the day before you're about to jump on that plane your tummy feels a little crampy - you know like us woman get the joy of feeling every month or so... which sucks... but what if it feels a bit more painful that usual? and you feel a bit strange... so just to be on the safe side, you call your doctor, who decides it's probably best if you duck into the office for a check-up - that won't take long.

fast forward about 10 hours and you're laying in a hospital bed in the er about to have your appendix removed.

yes, this is a true story that happened to my dear friend Melita yesterday :(

ok, this really sucks, I mean the day before your awesome vacation you're told you can't go, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it. yes, of course she considered going anyway, (it's Melita we're talking about) but her doctor put the fear of god into her when she told her that they could burst whilst in mid air, and then they'd have to do an emergency landing and if she didn't make it to the hospital on time she would die!

so instead of this being a post about poor Melita I am here to turn it around and come up with a list of reasons why this is a good thing!

1. british airways was striking anyway, so you could have been sitting in an airport highly frustrated, instead of doped out in a hospital with people waiting hand and foot on you

2. it's currently overcast, grey and cold 13 C (55 F) in London with a high of 17C (62 F) brrr

3. liquid diet = skinny

4. the tube workers are going on strike in London (do you see a pattern here?)

5. girls with scars are cool

6. think of all the blogging you can catch up on

7. Kate Nash, Bon Jovi (I know how you love them), John Mayer, Cypress Hill & Michael Bolton are just a few of the wonderful bands playing in Amsterdam in june

8. Paris is much more romantic in June, (not that I have been) but there is the naked bike ride, what could be more romantic than naked people on bikes???

9. the fete de la musique in Paris in june

10. the weather in Paris is alright now, but way nicer in June

11. the sortilege betovering is on in Brussels in June, think scavenger hunt meets renaissance fair = fun

12. and if these are not enough to make you feel better - here are some baby sea otters that are sure to put a smile on your face!

any more that I am forgetting?

photo here

metrically speaking

last week bryce got an early birthday surprise, that I am very proud to say I didn't give away... I usually suck at holding it in and end up giving gifts early since I just can't wait, but this one was a surprise till the end.

I told him that he needed to leave work early and that I would pick him up from work, he didn't realise that there would be a crowd of us and that we were going to see one of our favourite bands :)

the night started at the home of chicken and waffles which I must say I was very intrigued about - were they waffles with chicken inside? but no, fried chicken and waffles side by side on a plate... weird combo, but it was pretty good.
the mac and cheese was particularly good!
hannah had fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens and cornmeal bread

then we were off to the fox theater (an awesome venue) to see Metric who were fantastic! bryce and I saw them in Toronto (where they are from) in 2005, when we lived there and have loved them ever since.

me & christina

hannah & i (and some random smiling lady in the background)

cody & melita (giving me the don't take any more photos of me look...) :P

bryce & me

if you're not familiar with metric's music here are a few of my faves. emily's voice is amazing!

an oldie but a goodie

my all time favourite, which they ended the concert with.

buy metric music here

goldstar.com

I thought I should share this site with you. If you're like me and you love to go see different theater and music events, you'll LOVE Goldstar. Last Saturday we took the whole family out to see "Santastic!" which was a really cute holiday sing-along elfy Christmas live music thing for half off the regular price. The only issue w/Goldstar is that you don;t know where your seats will be until you go pick them up at the box office of whatever venue you're at. We use them all the time and have never had bad seats though, and for the money you save it's totally worth it. Next on our Goldstar outings is OVO by Cirque du Soleil in December. Check them out for some great events at very cheap prices.

Santa Cruz on a Wednesday

Last night I was going to go up to San Francisco to visit Kate and go to a fabulous sounding 80's bands concert, but ended up being too tired for a wild night out so I went to Santa Cruz instead for a relaxing night downtown. I stopped in at Hoffman's for a quick bite before my appointment at Well Within. I got a table and ordered the scallop appetizer. While I waited for my food I had my first glass of wine and listened to their live jazz trio. Normally I don't like jazz and especially don't like it when there is live music in a restaurant because it's always too loud, but this band was really good and didn't overwhelm the atmosphere. The server delivered a small plate of cheesy garlic bread that was chewy, crispy, salty and delicious and then came my scallops. They were seared and crisp on the outside and sweet and tender on the inside and came with a truffled hollandaise sauce and fresh asparagus - YUM!!! I ate every scrap and rinsed it all down with more wine then made my way to Well Within for a soak in the tub. I've had a horrible week and this was exactly what I needed to feel a million times better. Once I get my house situation all sorted out, the first thing I'm doing is building a deck and putting a hot tub in so I can get in and never leave.

family portrait

Santa Cruz stuff to do

Cody and I love to go to Well Within in Santa Cruz whenever we can. It's a Japanese style hot tub place that is super clean and classy (practically no swingers) and it's relatively inexpensive. We go about once a month or so and I just love it - when we leave I'm in a totally blissed out state and the only bad part is the long drive back to San Jose. A couple of other honorable mentions on Cedar Street where Well Within is located are Jack's Burger and the Red Room which is a fun little hole in the wall bar that I just love to go to especially in the early afternoon when I feel like getting funky.

This Charming Store

High upon a hill in Beasore near Bass Lake is the charminest little general store there ever was. Run for generations by my boyfriend's family the Jones General Store is a former pack station that still does business during the summer months. Grandma bakes homemade fruit pies and cooks for people while grandpa works on maintaining the dozen cabins for people who come up to stay at the campsite for the season. There's even an old-fashioned glass topped fuel pump out in front that you actually have to pump by hand in order to get your gas. Instead of mule teams coming through, these days the customers are bikers and long time residents of the mountains who all stop by for the delicious Jones burgers. I can't wait to get up there Memorial Day weekend!