mareese's pieces

A New Year - 2012

2012-01-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

We had a very mellow New Year's Eve with one of the highlights being the purchase of a new front loader washer and dryer. Whoo hoo!

Next stop CU Sushi in Berkeley. It was cheap and good and filled the craving. So we remember: Philadelphia Roll(Cream cheese, asparagus, avocado fresh salmon on top) and the Green Monster (Shrimp tempura, masago inside avocado on top). They've got a lot of baked rolls for people who are so into the raw fish rolls.

Afterwards we joined the crew at Todd & Becky's house for an East Coast New Year's at 9pm. We left a little bit after that to spend Midnight at our own house. It was a really clear night so we could see the fireworks in San Francisco.

Another Christmas Dinner

2011-12-25T14:49:00.000-08:00

We had too much fun on Christmas that the morning after yielded a few bad hangovers. Kevin made a ham, I made a couple veggie dishes, Andrea brought a broccoli cheese and rice casserole, and Becky came with her "ugly" balls. Then there was Sean who didn't stop pouring lemondrop shots made with rosemary infused simple syrup...

Tailgate

2011-11-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

Also another tradition is the Michigan - Wisconsin game. Unfortunately because of changes to the Big 10 the two teams don't play each other. At least it was victory for both teams and Michigan finally beat Ohio State!

Tofurkey Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Tony hosted his 7th(?) Thanksgiving in the Sunset. Good food, good people and Tofurkey made for a great Thanksgiving.

Honeymoon

2011-11-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

We spent an amazing 2+ weeks in around the island of Phuket, Thailand. We spent the first 4 days in Khao Lak at the JW Marriot. This resort had 3km of pool! We also visited Patong (whoa!), Phi Phi Islands, and Krabi penninsula. Our lazy days were filled with gigantic breakfasts, naps, more food, more naps, beaches, kayaking, swimming and hiking. More details and pictures someday!

The Wedding

2011-10-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

We did it! It was such a wonderful and absolutely stunning weekend in Tahoe. So much to write about I'll have to do an update at a later time. Thank you so much to all our friends and family that made our the weekend so fun and memorable.

Silverton & Ouray

2011-09-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

For the last full day we drove the Durango-Silverton-Ouray route through the mountains. It was so green compared to the orange and rust colors of Canyonlands.

The road was crazy curvy and really narrow at times!We stopped at the cute towns of Silverton & Ouray and checked out some of the stores and sights. There was also a motorcycle rally that weekend.

A steam train runs from Durango to Silverton.

It was such a fun trip and was so glad to be able to spend such an extra long weekend with Lisa & Erik!

More pictures...

Canyonlands & Mesa Verde

2011-09-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

We hiked the 6 miles round trip trail to Chesler Viewpoint had some outstanding views.

After the hike we drove about 2 ½ hours to Mesa Verde and caught a tour of the Cliff Palace.

The Four Corners & Canyonlands

2011-09-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

The ranger at the Aztec ruins inspired us to go to Canyonlands with a detour at the Four Corners.

The drive leading up to our camp site took us on top of mesa and through so many different landscapes. Our red Nissan Sentry got hit by a rock when we passed a trunk on a gravel road. Two cracks traveled almost halfway through the windshield. That was the only hiccup to the road trip.

We set up camp and blew up our pool floaties as our camping pad which worked fairly well for $2 a pop.

We took a couple short walks near by to admire the bright sunset.

Kokopelli’s Cave B&B

2011-09-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Manager, Gayle and Terrell, guided us to the amazing 300+ acre property on top of a cliff. The cave was originally meant to be an office for a geologist but later turned into a B&B.

We explored the property and were awed by the beauty and privacy of the place. Each step brought us to more and more amazing views. A sunset, some lightning and even a sunrise!

The managers encouraged us to feed the ring-tailed cats and chipmunks who came to visit us. They had containers of cat food for them.

Durango Road Trip

2011-09-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Lisa and Erik both got to Durango earlier in the day and picked me up from the airport a little before midnight. Erik had endured a 36-hour Amtrak/Grayhound journey to get there. During the day they bought our trip food which included many of my guilty pleasures: Little Debbie oatmeal pies, Spaghetti-O’s and Velveeta Mac & Cheese!

We woke up early the next day and headed to Farmington, New Mexico. We checked out some Aztec (not of Mexico) ruins.

More pictures on Flickr.com

Kim & Brian Tie the Knot at the Hide Out

2011-08-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

We spent an amazing weekend celebrating Kim and Brian's wedding at the Hide Out located in the Sierras near Kirkwood. Congrats you two!!

The entire weekend was so much fun and the location was stunning. We camped on the property with several other friends.

The 30+ person hot tub built into the granite rocks.

» More photos...

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-06-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

To take care of wedding stuff we made another trip up to Tahoe around my birthday. Once again it was a super fun weekend. Sharon, our wedding coordinator, filled our bellies and got us boozed up for our tasting, giving us a healthy start to our weekend. We took the tunnel tour at the Cal Neva which was pretty interesting but we didn't see any ghosts.

There was also a mini cooper rally going on during our stay.

Led Zepagain happened to be playing at the casino next door and we were glad we checked it out. They were a fun band and great to watch. We even left the casino with a little extra money in our pockets after a successful run on the craps table.

For my birthday, Kevin took me to Soule Domain, a nice restaurant inside a log cabin. Everything was delicious and we split a two giant scoops of vanilla ice cream at the end of the meal.

During the weekend we also had a chance to take the happy hour cruise on Lake Tahoe.

For my actual birthday I came home to an ice cream cake.

A week later I got another surprise from Kevin, an iPad!!

Kevin's Parent's 45th Anniversary

2011-06-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

We flew to Minnesota to celebrate Roger and Bev's 45th anniversary. Kevin's brother Jim hosted a bbq. The next day we went out on their boat and Kevin caught a bass.

Happy Graduation, Kevin!

2011-05-28T13:37:00.000-07:00

Kevin finally finished his MBA program from Golden Gate University. We had a fun bbq to celebrate. It was also our one year anniversary of living in the house.

Kevin rewarded himself with a new lawn.

Yosemite Winter Wonderland

2011-03-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Over President's weekend Kevin and I finally made it Yosemite again. The first night we stayed a couple miles outside the El Portal entrance at Yosemite View Lodge. We got upgraded to the a river-view room with a balcony. It was a little too chilly to fully enjoy but this is the view from the balcony!

The next day we drove into the park and did the obligatory stop at Tunnel View.

We drove up the snowy Glacier Point road to the Dewey Point trailhead. We strapped on our snowshoes and started the 3 1/2 mile trek to the point. Luckily a path was already blazed into the deep snow.

The trail wasn't too crowded so we were surprised to see about 80+ people at the end of the trail. Not too surprising when we reached the view though! From Dewey Point you can see all the way to Half Dome and the valley and you're directly across from El Capitan.

On the way back our legs started to hurt and at one point we took a break to stretch our legs on trail.

And then mid-stretch Kevin dropped to a knee and asked me to marry him. And I said yes :-)
» See more pictures on Flickr.

Palm Springs

2011-03-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

The whole family met up in Palm Springs for my cousin Dorothy's wedding. It was a pretty quick trip but the weather was amazing and I even got to jump into the pool for a little bit.

There was a photo booth at the wedding which proved to be pretty amusing.

January Fun

2011-01-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

A little belated but we had our annual crab fest at Andrea and Sean's house. Followed by a few rounds of flip cup and jello shots :)

A couple weeks later Kevin and I organized an East Bay bar crawl. We started at Albany bowl and got a couple games of bowling in.

After a quick dinner at Al's Burger we hit up the Hotsy Totsy, Ivy Room and the Mallard. Fun night!

New Year's 2011

2011-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I rang in the New Year at a house party in LA. The next day Kevin and a group of his friends watched Wisconsin lose to TCU in the Rose Bowl. I nixed going to the Pasadena and watched the game at a bar with some of his friends and did some shopping.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T20:47:00.001-08:00

A group of friends came over for Christmas dinner. It was a nice way to break in the house for our first Christmas in El Cerrito.

After dinner snuggle.

Have a great New Year's!

Sunset Views of San Francisco

2010-12-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

First Winter Tahoe Trip

2010-12-24T23:18:00.000-08:00

Tahoe has been hit by some big early storms the past view weeks. Good snow and blue skies made for a great couple days at Heavenly. Too bad we didn't have as good of luck on the blackjack table.

Early Christmas in Gualala

2010-12-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Kevin, Yari and I spent the weekend before Christmas with my parents in Gualala. It rained most of the weekend but the condo we rented was pretty cozy and had a view of the ocean. Definitely looking forward to visiting Gualala when the weather is better. Also I need to get another bag of coffee from Cafe Lala.

We headed up the coast to the Point Arena lighthouse. We decided to take the tour to top.

Point Arena is the closest point on the West coast to Hawaii. The lighthouse is also the tallest lighthouse you can visit in California.

Andrea and Sean's Wedding

2010-12-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

A whirlwind weekend of celebration for Andrea and Sean's wedding. Lisa P. and Mandy flew in Thursday night and we crashed at Andrea's along with Darcy, Jackie and Britta. The next day Erik and Dan married Andrea and Sean at City Hall. A cable car took us back to their house for champagne toasts and Johnny shots. A too-much-fun trolley ride ended my night pretty early at Mercedes where the reception was held.

The festivities continued at Andrea and Sean's the next day.

Tahoe for Bendy!

2010-10-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

We spent a weekend in Zephyr Cover at an awesome cabin overlooking Lake Tahoe.

Shasta & McCloud Falls

2010-07-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I met up with Kim & Brian at McCloud Falls. They attempted to summit Mt. Shasta but turned around a couple thousand feet short of the top.
While they were up on the mountain we did a great hike at Castle Crags and another hike along McCloud River.

Night-time View

2010-07-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lisa & Jocelyn in the house!

2010-06-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome birthday with Lisa and Jocelyn visiting on separate trips. Lisa came first and we hit the most awesome El Cerrito garage sales. She helped us with fixing up the backyard.

Jocelyn came and the two were able to overlap with a dinner at KR's amazing place overlooking Mt. Tam.

Jocelyn, Andrea and I watched the opening to Eclipse followed by an lunch at Luna Park, then Dolores and finally Zeitgeist. Joc and I continued the birthday festivities by watching Eclipse, again, with Kevin at the El Cerrito speakeasy.

Definitely a great birthday celebration!

Moving Day!

2010-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Erik, Ari, Jiri and Sherri for helping us move down the three flights of stairs of our old apartment and into our new house! That damn, comfy but unwieldy couch gave us trouble again. It took us awhile to move out but fortunately we were able to unload pretty easily so it left more time to grill.

We returned to the old apartment where 2 hours of cleaning turned into 5. :(

Painting, painting and more painting

2010-05-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

99th Bay to Breakers

2010-05-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sticking to the Beer Pong/Flip Cup theme, we descended upon Golden Gate Park for Bay to Breakers 2010. Ari had the best costume, making the most of her Dirty White Elephant present. It was probably the last year for the ping-pong table theme. Rumors of an alcohol-free Bay to Breakers are swirling around for next year. We'll see what happens.

Hopefully our new house!

2010-04-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

Just had the property inspection yesterday and things are looking good. Hopefully the rest of the process goes well and we'll be moved in by Memorial weekend! It's in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley, and less than a half hour BART ride from San Francisco. More pictures...

Mandy's last days in California, sniff sniff

2010-04-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mandy organized a farewell meetup at Becketts in Berkeley.

Passing around the green hat for everyone to wear.

Final sunset from Mandy and Cameron's apartment.

Tears!!!

Tahoe

2010-03-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ta-HOE! While I didn't go as much as I wanted to, I had some really great days snowboarding at Heavenly with blue skies and good snow. It an unbelievable feeling going down the trails with views of Lake Tahoe in front of you.

Kidnapping Andrea and Ferg

2010-02-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

"We're just trying to avoid Bridge traffic," we told Andrea & Sean. They were starting to get a little anxious when we kept heading way south.

Meanwhile Mandy went all out decorating a hotel room with Cameron, Erik & Ari in Santa Cruz.

As part of their surprise we took them to the Mystery Spot. The general consensus... nausea.

Playing pin the engagement earring on Andrea.

And cake!

It was a very random night involving the Santa Cruz boardwalk and arcade plus a bowling alley/karaoke dinner.

Palm Spring Getaway

2010-02-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Charity, Bechtel and a few of their friends rented a house in Palm Springs over President's weekend. A 50's tiki theme dominated the house.

We pretty much just lounged around the pool and enjoyed the sun, warm weather and Mai Tais. We also hit a casino or two during the weekend.

Half the group went to Joshua Tree for the day.

Weekend in San Diego

2010-02-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

Dana was attending a conference in San Diego so I flew down for the weekend.

Renee took me to a fun bar in her neighborhood and we met up with Dana in the gaslamp district.

Dana felt the call of the mechanical bull.

I spent the afternoon at the San Diego Zoo before heading back to San Francisco. Koala bears!!!

Bear Valley

2010-01-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

I joined Kim, Brian and Sucio at Bear Valley to celebrate Kim's birthday. The weather wasn't ski friendly so we went snowshoeing and built a fun sled run instead.

Christmas Crabfest and More

2009-12-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

A few days before Christmas we feasted on dungeness crabs at Andrea and Ferg's house (who got engaged over the holidays!!!).

Cheers!

Kevin, Yari, Tater Tot and I opened presents Christmas morning. Kevin got me a fiddle, gypsy music to come this summer!

Erik, Ari, Tony and Joanie came over later. Kevin cooked up a ham for Christmas dinner. And Erik brought the real shocker of the evening...

Over the weekend we took a hike in the Berkeley hills at Sibley Volcano Park. Yari met his first cow.

Another Dirty White Elephant

2009-12-14T21:41:00.000-08:00

Kim and Brian hosted another dirty white elephant party in Woodland. We wore our "new" Christmas sweaters. I unknowingly beat out Andrea and Mandy's co-worker, Shannon, on Ebay for Kevin's santa bear sweater!

The chin-dong was definitely the dirtiest present. Tony's sexy fruit sculpture was the most creative. Penis Pokey, Cast-a-Willie, and the Poop log were amoung the other presents.

And Yari of course was the horny humping dog, poor Sucio and Joanie!

Thanksgiving weekend

2009-11-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

Jiri hosted the 2nd annual deep-fry fest a couple days after Thanksgiving. Surprisingly no deep-fry food pics! The winner of the evening was the deep-fried pickles. Mmmmmmm. Kevin and I also went to Healdsburg to pick up my wine shipment and saw a bunch of rainbows on the way up. We also saw a cool "bait ball" of birds over the vineyards.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

The Yari Pilgrim Turkey

Once again we celebrated Thanksgiving at Tony's house. The turkey was too big to fit in the pot so Tony cooked the drumsticks first.

Here's Tony about to deep-fry the turkey.

Heather and her veggie pot pie:

Sparky's Reunion

2009-11-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

Many of us, plus a couple of new additions, made it to the restaurant after a several year hiatus. It was great to see everyone together and hard to believe we used to meet up every Tuesday for over a year!

UM - UW Tailgate

2009-11-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, in the only game that matters, Michigan lost to Wisconsin to add to it's dismal season.

Here's the passing of the clock to Kevin for Wisconsin's win. Hopefully Erik can claim it next year.

Phish 8 - Halloween in Indio

2009-10-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I drove down to Indio, outside of Palm Springs for the Halloween Phish Festival. We set up camp with a couple other friends in the parking lot.

Hans' super-sized tent.

Even in the desert I can't get away from football!

Fall Visit to Minnesota

2009-10-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I spent a long weekend in Minnesota to visit his family and attend his friend Andy's wedding. I finally got to see some nice fall color.

It was sunny the following day so we checked out the arboretum.

We picked up some pumpkins to carve too. Here's Yari's jack-o-latern.

At the wedding.

Bowling in San Rafael

2009-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

It was a plaid-themed bowling birthday party for Collins. Jiri won the prize though for best plaid!

Dana & Joe's Visit

2009-10-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

Dana and Joe came over to check out the apartment and meet Yari. Hopely Yari sold them on getting a dog soon. For her birthday we went to the tiki-themed Tonga Room.

A few days later we met up with my parents and went wine tasting in the Dry Creek area.

Blue Angels

2009-10-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great view of the air show from Brian's apartment in the Marina. Unfortunately after a couple fly-overs the show was cancelled due to the incoming fog.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

2009-10-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

I met up with Andrea and Sean to watch the free music at Golden Gate Park. We sat up on the hill to listen to Aimee Mann which ended up being a little too mellow. At the another stage we spotted scary Gumby.

Tim and Jamie's Wedding

2009-10-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tim and Jamie got married on a gorgeous day in Sausalito. After the reception we went to a bar in downtown Sausalito to keep the party going.

The Nightman Cometh

2009-09-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

We saw the live rendition of the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia musical with Danny Devito. The crowd at the Masonic Center was super psyched for the show and gave them a standing ovation before the show even started. If you're not easily offended, watch the series!

SFgate.com review.

Prime Rib, Music and Donuts

2009-09-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

For our pre-concert meal we went to the House of Prime Rib. I don't think the decor of this place has changed since it first opened. They slice off a piece of steak at your table and even offer you a second slice if you want it. I got their one non-meat dish :-)

With full bellies we walked down to the Regency ballroom to watch the Happy Mondays and Psychedelic Furs. After the show we stopped by Bob's Donuts on our way home. Maple french cruellers fresh out of the oven. Mmmmmmm!

Football Saturday

2009-09-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Erik and Ari came over to watch the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game. Michigan won thanks to Yari sporting his Michigan jersey.

Bowling Birthday

2009-09-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

We went to the Presidio Bowl to celebrate Kevin's 36th birthday. I got 5 strikes and 3 spares in one game! I think i ended up with a 154, highest score ever! Although the birthday boy had to steal my thunder with a 174.

We hit a few bars over on Polk Street afterwards and ended the night with car bombs and a few more beers.

Pearl Jam at Outsidelands

2009-08-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I made it down to Outsidelands for one of the three days. It was actually blazing hot at Golden Gate Park on Friday. I thought about buying a skirt to change into but I could see see clouds coming up from the ocean.

Built to Spill, Silversun Pickups, and Pearl Jam were on the main stage.

Summertime = swimming holes!

2009-08-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Since San Francisco during the "summer" months is usually cold and foggy I live for the weekends I can jump into the warm, clear waters of the Yuba River, or any body of water, really. We rented a cabin near the middle and south forks of the Yuba river at Willow Creek joined by Kim, Brian, Mandy, Cameron and Sucio & Yari.

We set out along Canyon Creek trail and checked out two swimming holes along the trail. The first was pretty nice but the second was definitely more beautiful.

Unlike Yari, Sucio was fearless in the water. She sure loves to "save you" from drowning though :)

Sucio and Yari battled all weekend and spooned on the couch to sleep it off.

The next day we hiked along Hoyt's trail by the old highway 49 bridge. Hoyt's crossing was a pretty wide and flat hole (no big rocks to jump off from) and the nudist area so we hiked back to a couple other enticing spots.

Scene of the crime. I no longer heart State Parks and their rangers.

Perseids at Baker Beach

2009-08-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

It was a clear Thursday night so we dragged ourselves to Baker Beach to scope out the meteor shower. Even with the city lights we caught about 10 of them. Some of of the shooting stars seemed to lazily streak across the entire sky. Hopefully we'll make it to Yosemite next year where the meteor shower count is about 100-200/hour!!

Lake Chabot Camping

2009-08-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

About 40 minutes away from San Francisco is Lake Chabot, tucked away in the hills near Castro Valley. It had been an exhausting but fun week with the concert and Lisa Cohr's visit (Zeitgeist!) so it was nice to just kick back and walk along the lake side trail and play some night-time bocce.

Phish at Shoreline

2009-08-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

I was in college the last time I saw this band. Wow, 10 years ago or so! The show opened up with an airplane flying just overhead. The planes landing and taking off was a nice addition.

Pretty in Pink at Dolores Park

2009-08-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

I finally got to check out movie night at Dolores Park with a few gals. It was really fun to watch Pretty Pink outside with a huge crowd. Thanks for all the great movies John Hughes!

Food Fest at the A's vs Twins Game

2009-07-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had great seats for the Twins game in Oakland. Unfortunately the Twins blew a huge lead and lost to the A's.

We definitely didn't leave hungry though. Our section included an all-you-can-eat menu.

It started innocently enough with some peanuts.

Then we moved on to nachos.

The lobster rolls were really good. Got that twice.

The waitress gave us all three kinds of sour candy.

Kevin added a slider to the roster.

Healthy bite of salad.

And finally ice cream sandwiches!

Swimming Holes!

2009-07-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yari and I ventured with Kim, Brian and Sucio to check out a few new spots. We camped at Milsap Bar about 2 1/2 hours Northeast of Sacramento. The water was pretty chilly at Milsap Bar's waterfall but it was a nice big pool with a rope swing. There were several more waterfalls and pools upstream but we only went to the one above this waterfall. Sucio learned how to fetch beer out of the water!

Just below our camp site is the Feather (maybe American?) river with more swimming holes!

The next day we drove about 20 miles to Little North Fork, my new favorite spot. It has two big pools and small waterfalls. One pool is so deep you can't touch bottom. Brian jumped off the big cliff (on the left).

Yari braved the water and crossed the little stream but the current was too much for him and he fell over the 3ft or so waterfall. Later in the afternoon he made a break for it and ran up the steep trail for the road. Luckily Brian found him!

Yari's Portrait

2009-07-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

I took a 5-week painting workshop this summer and finished a portrait of Yari and started Tater Tot's. Here's the final painting (12" x 12").

Corn Fest 2009!

2009-07-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

We were able to get more Heidi-time in Brentwood. We didn't quite make it to the festival but definitely enjoyed the pool, bbq and the missouri mint julep paint cans at her parents' house. We also played a few rounds of Euchre and Kim and I got inspired to buy a light-up bocce set (petanque). And finally Heidi sang the Michigan fight song as retribution for her team getting their Rose Bowl title taken away from them.

Erik's B-day on the 4th

2009-07-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Erik threw a party at his place on Fillmore. Andrea, Lisa and I picked up this classy cats in boots t-shirt for him on an earlier trip. The back of the tee is even better!

Later that night we went back to our neighborhood to watch the fireworks.

Wood Sculptures at Cayuga Park

2009-07-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

On of my coworkers recommended Cayuga Park located in the Excelsior district, underneath the BART track. Look for it next time you take BART to the airport. I think it's after Balboa station.

Birthday Happy Hour

2009-07-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

I had a painting class on my birthday so Mandy and Andrea took me out after work. We kicked off the celebration at Shanghai 1930. Later we found a great happy hour at Chaya, cheap drinks and appetizers with views of the bay bridge.

Gay Pride 2009

2009-06-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

A bunch of us met at the usual grassy spot next to the Asian Art museum for Gay Pride. Here's Tony digging into the rum soaked watermelon.

MJ RIP & Oktoberfest

2009-06-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

RIP Michaeal Jackson, June 2009.

To celebrate Heidi's visit to San Francisco from Vancouver Jiri and Sherri hosted another Oktoberfest/Michael Jackson tribute party.

Heidi brought caffeine-free Mountain Dew for Kevin and an assortment of ketchup chips and Canadia snacks to share.

Birthday Dinner

2009-06-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

To celebrate number 33 Kevin took me to the Italian restaurant at the top of our block.

Softball Finals

2009-06-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Kevin's softball team made it to the finals but had to settle for 2nd place.

Boston Terrier Meet Up

2009-06-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

June's meet up was at Sterngrove where we met Yari's half brother, Flynn (in front with the red collar). I immediately knew Flynn was a Day boston terrier by his body-type and coloring. Elvis, their dad, is quite the stud.

Jeremy, my coworker, also brought Mugsy to play.

Another cutie who was found running down the highway.

Basalt - Kim & Matt's Wedding

2009-06-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

The wedding was held below Mt. Sopris where Kim & Matt live. It was crazy green everywhere because of the rains. Here's Kevin and Tony (in a suit with dress shoes on!)tailgating before the wedding.

We parked at the bottom of the driveway and caught a ride back to the Hummer (Todd and Becky's rental car).

The reception was really fun. Table 1! Table 1! Kim looked gorgeous in her dress.

I drank a lot of wine and more wine during the reception. Luckily our hotel room was across the parking lot!

Aspen

2009-06-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Kevin's friend, Hans, picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the Maroon Bells. We walked around a little bit but it started to hail so we turned around.

Since the weather was partly rainy we saw a double rainbow on the way to Hans' apartment.

That night we feasted on sushi at Matsuhisa. Mmmmmmm...

The next day we did a short but fun white-water rafting trip at Slaughter House. The guides were really cool and the bus driver took a bunch of photos.

The rest of the crew came over to use Han's pool and hot tub later that afternoon. Maisy is definitely a water baby!

Urban Hike and Views

2009-06-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

View from the roof

Before heading out to watch Drag Me to Hell we took Andrea and Sean on a quick walk around the new neighborhood.

Required Yari picture

Moving, again

2009-05-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I found a great apartment in Russian Hill, just a few minutes away from downtown. Unfortunately neither apartment had elevators so our legs got a workout from moving from one 3rd floor apartment to another. Moving the 4 feet deep couches was definitely the biggest ordeal but after several tries Cameron and Kevin got it out of the old apartment and into the new one.

Bay to Breakers, again!

2009-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

It was the usual fun drunkeness and unusual hot, sunny weather. Our snuggie costumes were heat-stroke candidates.

At the beginning

Drunken walk home

Denver

2009-05-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I met up with Lisa in Denver for a quick weekend. It was awesome to finally be together again!

Patchwork blanket

2009-05-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

I originally wanted to make a quilt but after sewing a few strips I realized how tedious it was going to be so I made a duvet. Here's Yari enjoying the new threads.

Fun but foggy day at Lands End

2009-05-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yari's 1st Birthday Party

2009-04-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great crew help celebrate Yari's 1st birthday party. We're moving next month so it was the last party in our Sunset apartment.

We fired up our seldom used grill to serve up Kevin's version of a Juicy Lucy. In addition to the melted cheese inside the burger, he added chopped up pieces bacon to the hamburger mixutre to make it extra juicy.

Justin brought his 5 1/2 month old corgie to play. Yari chased him around most of the afternoon. He also showed off his hula hoop jumping skills.

Jiri's pictures...

Concert Weekend

2009-04-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

We made two trips to Oakland's Fox Theatre last weekend. We saw Band of Horses on Friday and returned the next day to see the Black Keys. The theatre is gorgeous inside. Both shows were sold out but it didn't feel too crowded in the 2500 capacity venue.

Celebrating at the Saddle Rack

2009-04-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

For Mandy's birthday we headed down to Fremont for some country line dancing (or in our case watching) at the Saddle Rack.

Pre-partying at the Holiday Inn...

My first pro basketball game

2009-04-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I watched the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors at the Colisieum.

Happy Birthday Yari!!!!

2009-04-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yari turned 1 today! We got him a big dog bed for his birthday. We're planning a birthday party for him soon. I can't believe his no longer a puppy :-(

Final 4

2009-04-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Mandy jumps up for a Spartan victory. MSU upset #1 seed Louisville to play in the finals where they were beat by North Carolina. Tater Tot's bracket placed 3rd to last place (119/121) while my sister Dana got 3rd place to bring home some money in Kevin's pool. I think I'll have Yari help me do my picks next year.

Sunny Weekend

2009-03-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

Yari and I met up with Andrea, Ferg, Mandy and Cameron in the park, under our "cherry" tree.

Juice and Renee came over briefly and brought Howie with them, their 12 week old corgie. Yari had a field day!

I haven't seen Yari this crashed out since he was a tiny puppy!

Another beer in the park, Crissy Fields this time. Happy Birthday Sherri!

Sherri's Surprise Party

2009-03-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Surprise! About a dozen of us surprised Sherri for her birthday. She said she was annoyed at Jiri for taking so long to meet her and posted a "tired" status on facebook. Fortunately she had a smile on her face once a glass of wine was in her hands. Jiri again cooked up a feast of ham, smoked salmon and mashed potatoes. Chris also brought his tasty brazilian balls of course.

Yari shows off

2009-03-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

March flying by

2009-03-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a fast but fun visit from Lisa Cohrs. Erik threw a party that weekend to show off his apartment now that he's "master tenant." The following day we met up for bloody mary's and beer at zeitgeist.

March is also March Madness and "Christmas" for Kevin. I even got into the spirit by entering a few brackets, one with tater tot's help. That's not going so well, I think I'm in second to last place right now. I think I'll get Yari to help me next year.

Eight feet of snow later

2009-03-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

My body is still recovering from three pretty full days of snowboarding at Kirkwood for the Burton Women's Weekend.

Jiri, Sherri and I drove up Thursday night. Our rustic mini cabin at Caples Lake Resort was practically snowed in, you couldn't even see outside the windows! Kirkwood had gotten over 8 feet of snow during the past week!

We woke up early every day and were on the mountain by 9:30am and passed out exhausted by 9:30pm.

Saturday night we finally checked out the Kirkwood Inn & Saloon. The food was especially delicious to our famished group and the old cabin setting was really cozy.

We were oblivious to the time change on Sunday and were so confused when it was dark when the alarm rang. Our cell phones had automatically changed even though we were out of cell phone range. The car clock clued us in that there was something amiss.

Good snow, good weather, good company and lots of snowboarding! Oh, Sherri and I did skip out the last hour or so of the weekend so we get back to San Francisco a bit earlier. We passed through the electric green hills and drove by the interesting 26" rims sticker car.

Snuggie Fest

2009-03-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

The rainy days kept our weekend pretty cozy. We thought it was the perfect time to get an early start on our Bay to Breakers costumes...SNUGGIES!

The next day Mandy came over to make fabric coasters. We of course put her in a snuggie too.

Then she made one for Yari :-)

Chef Jiri

2009-02-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

Jiri made a smoker out of clay pots earlier this month (see bacon explosion and invited us over to nosh on some smoked salmon, ham and pulled pork. We had a few too many bottle of beer and wine and Jiri's promise of fresh homemade bagels the next morning fell by the wayside. We did return the next day for some store-bought bagels and homemade cured salmon. Yummy as always.

Bear Valley

2009-02-16T21:18:00.000-08:00

After a mile-long snowshoe trek we arrived at the snowed-in cabin. We were excited to get cozy but the labs, Tessa and Sucio ran away so after a couple beers we went back out to look for them. It was already dark when Kevin, Kim and I returned to the cabin empty-handed. Luckily Brian found them; both ready to bed down for the night on someone else's deck!

Yari took to the snow pretty well. He was a trooper on the hike up. He wasn't so happy with the cold though, unlike Tessa and Sucio who couldn't get enough of the snow.

That night even more snow fell! The storm total was several feet!

The next day we took the short cut back to the parking lot. It was so fun to snowshoe down the steep hillside. At some points you cut just sit back and slide down.

Too much powder! The first run was exhausting and I couldn't stop falling. It would take forever to dig myself out of the powder. Thankfully the next runs were a lot more manageable. It was such an amazing feeling to have no fear snowboarding down some of these runs.

Fondue Fred's Night Out

2009-02-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

About a dozen ladies, 9 moms and us (Andrea, Kim and me) met up at Fondue Fred's to celebrate Angie's baby #2. We filled our bellies with a bunch of cheese fondue and finished the meal with a chocolate course. Yum!

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

We went to Tim's Superbowl party in the Presidio. The trio is moving out sometime this year so it's the last one in that apt. We placed our bets and Collins was the big winner. Between Kevin and I we had about 25% of the squares but we only came home with bellies full Superbowl nosh.

The Brain Scrambler

2009-01-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

You never know what happens when you mix drinking beer on Erik's front stoop at Haight & Fillmore. Erik became the master tenant of his apartment recently. It'd been over a month since we've seen him so we dropped in for a visit.

Naoko's SF Visit

2009-01-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

A friend I met in Japan came to San Francisco at the end of her 3-week visit to the States. Everything about San Francisco intrigued her. As we were driving past Japantown she said she wanted to stop in and take a look. Not a lot going on there, some shops and restaurants and this photo op.

I took the afternoon off and got to go to the Academy of Science when it wasn't crowded. I was pleased to finally see the Rainforest exhibit. It's a big clear sphere with a large spiral walk way that takes you through the different levels of the rainforest. This picture is taken from below the rainforest (in the aquarium) looking up. A huge, blue moth landed me too! Hint: Wear something bright and you'll have a good chance of having a butterfly/moth land on you.

Mama's gotta brand new bag

2009-01-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Mandy and I are trying to do a crafty sewing project once a month. My sewing experience is pretty much limited to hemming jeans but Mandy has some really cool quilts and awesome costumes under her belt. She guided me through making this cute purse.