Christmas fun

Sangria, lasagna and presents, oh my! Andrea, Mandy & Cameron, and Erik & Ari came over for Christmas eve. A Christmas Story was on and on and on so we caught a little bit of that to end the night.

Christmas day had Andrea and I lounging on the couch all day watching tv and sipping on mimosas. For dinner we broiled a very tasty (and expensive!) piece of salmon.

Vacation starts! Gnocchi-making

I pretty much ran out of the office to start vacation. We get the time between now and New Year's off :-)

That evening I met up with Heather for gnocchi-making. We both had mushy results the first time we made gnocchi so we were eager to try again. Once the gnocchi started popping up to the top of the water we knew we had success. Yummy yummy!

Naughty White Elephant

Kim and Brian hosted a dirty white elephant party in her new house in Woodland. We made special gingerbread cookies before the other guests arrived.

I thought the best gifts of the night were the jingle jugs and the pop-up sex book!

Me, Yari and Kevin posing in our Christmas sweaters

Yari in the hoodie

Dana's xmas present to Yari

Alameda Antique Fair

I met Mandy at the old airstrip in Alameda on a cold and early Sunday morning. There had to be well over 300 booths to explore. The rows numbered all the way from A to BB. My find of the day were blue cowgirl boots!

Laser Eyes

Kevin joined the Laser Eye Club with Todd this week. Because Kevin had a bumpy cornea he couldn't get lasik surgery and had to get the PRK version which has a slightly longer healing process. The pain has lessened now and his vision is getting better and better everyday!

Deep-Fried Thanksgiving weekend

Our favorite Australian, Tony, hosted Thanksgiving again. This year Jiri and Sherry brought over a deep-fryer for the turkey. After a rogue flame was taken care of and 40 minutes of waiting, a well-done, fried-up turkey was brought to the table. Heather and I enjoyed our veggie sides and stuffed portabellas (that Heather made) while the rest of the group oohed and ahhed over the juicy turkey.

Not to limit the fryer to a one-time use, Jiri and Sherri hosted a fry fest. It was deliciously gross and we were only limited to our imagination. Here goes: jalapeno poppers, mushrooms, pickles, burritos, blooming onion, corn dogs(sausages), twinkies, chocolate chip oreo cheesecake, cookie dough, reeses peanut butter cups...

Poor Yari

Snip. Snip. :-(

The home stretch

After a quick cup of Stumptown coffee and a bagel we were off to start our 10-hour drive back to San Francisco. Taco Bell was our last road trip food stop, Mmmmm.


I love Mt. Shasta!! This is the first time I've seen this view since it was dark the last time I drove this way. It was also a good excuse to bring out the big lens :-)

On to Portland

It was raining hard on our way to Portland. Luckily that was really the only bad weather day we had. After a quick stop at Multnomah Falls we arrived at Lisa's house. She made a darn good veggie chili to warm up our tummies.

We started the next day with breakfast at the Cup and Saucer. They veggie biscuits and gravy were excellent, just wished they poured a little more gravy or gave you less biscuits. We drove around checking out some different neighborhoods and few more parks. Yari managed to get into a spat with a pitbull mix. Luckily the fight never escalated to a full-on battle but it was a little disheartening to see our little guy get rowdy.

A bit of fall folliage at Laurelhurst

We met Lisa at the Lucky Lab dog-friendly brewery. At least a dozen big dogs roamed the outer area. THE Lucky Lab sat at a picnic table and longingly peered through the window, patiently waiting his owner's return.

We ate dinner near Lisa's house and popped into the Backstage Bar. It looked awesome and was appropriately! A huge mural decorated the end of the building and the ceiling was several stories high with exposed beams and brick. Next we ventured to downtown Portland to the Someday Lounge to see Starfucker. Fun show and the opening acts were equally entertaining from the cellist to the wide-eyed, intense singer.

Yari in Seattle

It was all about Yari in Seattle. We took him to a couple dog parks, wandered around downtown, paid a visit to a doggy bakery and walked him around Green Lake, near Monty and Melissa's house. Their son took a liking to Yari and liked Yari's play pen even more.

Al was also visiting for Thanksgiving so we got to enjoy the Pacific NW's selection of brews until bar close. It was ladies' night at one bar so we knocked back a round of tequila shots and pull tabs. We even made it to the forbidden Bleachers...

Wine-tasting in Yakima, Rattlesnake area

My dad graciously drove us around to about 5 different wineries near Yakima. We got to sample A LOT of wine. The tasting rooms were very laid back and in general we met very friendly pourers.

The vineyards were beautiful, and I got a few pictures of them showing off their fall colors.





Below are grapes hoping to become Ice Wine. The winery eagerly waits for a cold snap to freeze these grapes. The stress causes the grapes to produce more sugar which will yield a very sweet wine. After a couple days they are picked at night and made into an ice wine. True ice wines are pretty rare and the last vintage for the Bonair Winery was 2005.



Yari had a great time running around my parents house. Both parents enjoyed his visit.



During our stay we pushed our luck and managed to win some cash at the local casino, Legends. My dad ran the table playing craps. With his winnings he got my mom a Wii. We helped her set it up and hopefully she'll remember how to play!

The view from their house.

Bavarian town in the mountains

My parents drove us into the mountains to check out Leavenworth, a Bavarian town nestled in an Alps-like setting. Unfortunately a thick fog prevented us from seeing the mountains.



The quirkiest thing about the place was seeing regular stores like Starbucks, McDonald's and various gas stations conforming to the "Bavarian Village" theme.

On the road

It took us a few tries to get out of the city. The worst was remembering that we had left Yari's crate at home, just as we were about to get on the bay bridge. Lesson learned: Make a list.

We drove to Union Creek, Oregon, near Crater Lake. I rented a small, dog-friendly cabin, reminiscent of a bad horror movie. We slept well enough and had lunch at Beckie's Cafe, a place we visited on a previous road trip. Kevin swears by the French Dip. Since it was off season, the only other patrons were a few hunters.

The destination for the day was my parent's house in Yakima, WA. We made a brief stop at Cast Tree Lava Park, a pretty stretch of lava flows with views of the Cascade mountain range.

Four year anniversary!

Kevin and I had dinner at the Poleng Lounge to celebrate our anniversary before the Brett Dennen show at the Independent. It turned out to be a perfect evening. We were surprised to see 50(?) small tables set up in front of the stage, so we ended up just a couple rows away from him. The evening was pretty mellow and we laughed that we recognized that we're getting old because we were excited we could sit down!

A couple days later Andrea and Sean joined us for Anniversay Part II at Red Lobster. Damn those cheesy biscuits!

Yari plays dressup

Halloween

A friendly stewardess, winnie the pooh, Princess Buttercup, Wesley, Waldo were all chased by the papparazzi Friday night. We started the night out in Hayes Valley, had some fries at Fritz, and on to the Inner Richmond.

49ers lose again

The most interesting part of the game was walking through the parking lot and seeing the intense tailgate parties. The game itself, meh.

Happy Birthday Collins!

A big group of us celebrated Collins birthday at Serra Bowl. Here he is enjoying electric orange nachos.

Andrea and Collins showing off their matching jackets

Kevin showing off his bowling skillz

Mac & Cheese Pancakes

Becky sent a link about this guy serving mac & cheese pancakes. So to procrastinate from studying I made up a batch. They were definitely tasty, even with syrup. They're actually pretty easy to make but I'd only make them again if I had an odd craving.

Boston Terrier Meet Up

Yari met a dozen+ other Boston Terriers at the park. There's a monthly group that meets at Haas park in Diamond Heights. The playground overlooks the city.

6 1/2 month old Yari meets a 4-month old puppy.

Blue Angels

Kevin and I joined the crowd at the Inspiration Point lookout in the Presidio to watch the Blue Angels. A couple times they flew directly above us.

The Boot