More visitors please!!!

Mike and I hosted his brother and girlfriend, Louisa, last weekend and they had a great time! This was David's first trip to SF and Mike was excited to show him our new home. Unfortunately, I caught a virus from Mike that he had earlier in the week and was sick the entire time...fever and all. But, Mike crammed abnout 5 days worth of sightseeing into 3 days and kept everyone busy. Here are some pictures from their visit.


First view of the Golden Gate Bridge.



Double Trouble!!! Brothers Hall enjoying wine in Napa Valley.


Strike a pose among the beautiful, ENORMOUS trees in Muir Woods.



Cheers!


Who could ever get enough of a beautiful sunset off the Cali coast? This looks like it should be their next Christmas card photo...picture perfect!

Dog Beach

The weather in SF has been amazing, so after being inside all day Saturday (we volunteered and then I had to work an evening event) we treated ourselves to a super fun Sunday....lunch with Mike's new co-worker and then an afternoon at Fort Funston Beach...one of SF's dog friendly beaches. Here are some pictures of our afternoon adventure with Toby and Bella. And yes, it's still hard for me to believe that we live 15 minutes away from the beach....this beachbum is in heaven! Also, read below for why we love the coast so much.


The view from the top of the beach.

"Stairs" to our long trek down to the beach.

Bella says, "hurry up guys!....follow me!"

T and B are sooooo happy....their feet have touched sand and water (freezing water!).

Smile for the camera kids!

Doesn't Toby look so happy? I'm definitely going to print and frame this one.

Paw prints in the sand...

There were lots of folks riding horses. It was entertaining to watch dogs run in and around the horses. One naughty pup kept being yelled at by his owner to stop eating the horse poop. I saw this happen more than once...gross!

Mike took a break to catch up on some reading.

Toby's thinking, "yes, I could get used to this view."

Bella is always on the lookout.

Beautiful sunset to end a wonderful day!

"Why We Love the Coast"
Published by Coastal Living (my all-time fav mag!) in the July/August 2010 edition.

1. At the beach, no one raises an eyebrow when the adults act like kids.

2. Lounging under an umbrella for nine straight hours is considered normal.

3. Our best memories are made there - on vacation, on a sunset walk, on a dare on a surfboard...

4. At get-togethers, the dress cose is always "come as you are".

5. It's where we seem to get our best night's sleep.

6. Food tastes better at the shore. In fact, you're practically required to indulge.

7. Sea lions honk. Dolphins smile. Pelicans dive. Crabs crawl sideways - how great is that?

8. When you're on "beach time", everything is go with the flow. No schedules. No rushing. No stress.

9. Cocktail hour is really a race between you and the melting ice.

10. Everybody smiles bigger when they have a sun-kissed glow on their cheeks.

In love with Tahoe!

Mike and I had a blast in South Lake Tahoe this past weekend! Thanks to some Hilton points Mike earned last year while traveling for work, we were treated to three nights in beautiful Tahoe. Going to a place where it's cold and snowing is not my ideal vacation...I love the beach too much...but after this weekend I'm ready to re-pack my bags and head north to the slopes again! It definitely helps that Tahoe is only a four hour drive from SF.

In addition to skiing during the day, we visited Harrah's Casino at night. It's funny because the Cali/Nevada stateline went between our hotel and Harrah's....they sit next to each other....casinos to the east...hotels to the west. At the casino Mike enjoys playing poker, while I sit and people watch or lose money at the slots. I'm considered a "bad luck" charm when it comes to gambling...if I watch you play, you're going to lose. And I never play more than $20 at the slots....it's guaranteed to dissappear after about 10 minutes.

Even though I don't gamble, I still have fun at casinos....there's always some interesting people to watch. On Friday night, I had the pleasure of listening and watching Harrah's singer/keyboardist/DJ called "Arty the Party". Arty started his act with old-school R&B hits...mind you there were about five of us in the audience...and Arty didn't know all of the lyrics and would randomly stop singing and then pick up again. After a 30 minute warm up, more people sat around and Arty started singing dance hits. A group of cougars (this was how Arty referred to them and I don't think they liked it) starting dancing and then the masses followed. A request to play the 90s hit "I like Big Butts" came over the speakers and all of a sudden Arty pulls out a stuffed animal beaver and starts wacking its butt.....weird!!!! What an entertaining evening. :)


Mike pictured on the slopes at the beautiful Heavenly Ski Resort. Mike and I spent Day 1 taking ski lessons. I was a level 2 and Mike was a level 4. I finally mastered wedging, turning (kinda) and not being terrified on the slopes. I'll be enrolling in another lesson if we're fortunate to visit Tahoe again this season. My fingers are crossed we'll go back and bring Davy with us....this will give me another chance to master skiing. I'm determined to become a skier while living in Cali!

Gig' 'em Ags! I'm actually skiing and liking it....yay!

What a view of the lake....it truly was heavenly!

Haha...we look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy!

Our hotel and the casinos are pictured at the bottom right hand corner of this image.

Long, but extremely beautiful lift ride. Perfect way to end a great day of skiing.

My uncle, aunt and their boys visited Tahoe the week before us. They suggested we take a snowmobile tour with Lake Tahoe Adventures and we took their advice. It was the afternoon before we left for SF and we went for a fun 2-hour ride along the back roads of Tahoe.

This sign is 12-feet tall. Amazing to think we were riding on almost 12-feet of snow!

Snowball fight!

Where did Mike's feet go? And check out the creek behind Mike. Apparently a snowmobiler attempted to jump the creek and barely made it....you can see the tracks behind Mike.

We are in love with Tahoe. We hope to return soon and would be so lucky to have you join us. We promise you won't be disappointed!

Earthquakes and Aggies

On Friday, January 7th at 4:10 p.m. a 4.1 magntitude earthquake hit the Bay Area. I'm slightly obsessed with natural disasters and have been patiently waiting to feel my first quake. I had just arrived home from work early that day to watch the Cotton Bowl. Mike was changing in the other room and I was seated on our couch with Toby and Bella on either side of me waiting on him to finish. All of a sudden, Toby and Bella sat up quickly with their ears perked and then sure enough I felt the earth move. I looked outside and our patio chairs were rocking. I yelled, "Mike, did you fell that?!" and, of course, he didn't. :) Anyhow, I was pretty sure it was an earthquake and while on the bus headed to the bar my co-worker called me and said, "I hope you just felt that." She knows I've been wanting to feel an earthquake. Anyhow, it was a small quake, but certainly large enough to feel. Some of the people we spoke with at the bar felt the tremor and of course, it was all over the news. I can only hope something larger won't hit SF for a very, long time!

Our Aggies are on an upward trend for the first time in a decade...WHOOP! Mike, Davy and I headed to a bar in the Marina to meet up with the Bay Area Aggie Club to watch the Aggies play in the Cotton Bowl. This bowl game is special to me because I performed pre-show and half-time twice when I was a member of the Kilgore Rangerettes. It was so exciting to see bits and pieces of the Rettes' performance on TV. And what's even crazier is that one of the bartenders where we watched the game was a Rangerette in the late 90s!! Even though the Ags lost, they put up a good fight. And we enjoyed meeting lots of Aggies....the Club has a great turnout and overtook the bar for the night. Like any Aggie, we remain hopeful for a winning season in the Fall. Gig' 'em Aggies!

Welcome to 2011

Happy New Year on 1-1-11! 2010 is full of great memories for us. A couple of the stand-outs being our move out west and my completion of grad school. Neither one of us would have imagined that we'd be living in San Francisco last January....or that my brother would have made the move to SF too! We are blessed with wonderful families, great friends, good health, jobs, and two perfect fur babies...we can only hope for the same in 2011.

I've been obsessed with the beach from a young age and have always loved sea turtles. Our yearly family trips to Florida included visiting New Symrna Beach where we'd see the protected fencing around sea turtle nests. A couple of times while walking the beach at night, we'd stumble upon a female sea turtle laying her eggs. It's important to stand in silence without flashlights on, so that she can lay her eggs in peace and then follow the moonlight back to sea. What a neat thing to watch!

The beach in Key West that Mike and I were married on had protected sea turtle nests around the brush. There was even a "track" to help lead newly hatched turtles to sea and you can see it in all of our wedding pictures.

Mike and I love to visit tropical places (thanks to Mike's travel points!) and have seen/swam with sea turtles in the ocean. On our trip to Hawaii last June, we saw lots of sea turtles....some were riding the surf at North Beach in Oahu and others swam with us (or rather we swam with them) on the Big Island. I found the neatest postcard in a random souvenior shop at Volcano National Park. I loved the card so much that I had it framed and hung it above our mini sea turtle collection. I find the saying on the card fitting to share it with you this New Year's day. It's something I to strive to live my life by (notice I said "try").

Advice from a Sea Turtle

Swin with the current

Be a good navigator

Stay calm under pressure

Be well traveled

Think long term

Age gracefully

Spend time at the beach!

- Ilan Shamin

This is the sea turtle postcard I framed above our mini collection of sea turtles.


Sea turtle riding the waves on North Beach in Oahu.


August 2007 - Me pictured with my beautiful bridesmaids on Samthers Beach in Key West. Note the "track" for baby sea turtles behind us.

10 Things We've Learned During Our First Five Months in SF

In the last blog post I promised to share with you the top things Mike and I have learned so far while living in SF. I can only imagine what else we'll experience after another five months of living here.

10. Apartments don't have air conditioning.

9. More often than not a trip to the beach entails sweatpants and sweaters.

8. Always carry anti-bacterial with you while riding public transit.

7. Scarfs, boots and coats are worn year-round.

6. An in-unit washer and dryer and a parking spot is considered a huge luxury.

5. Dogs are welcome everywhere...boutiques, stores, restaurants, bars, etc.

4. The city celebrates any- and everything.

3. Coming to every intersection while driving requires concentration. Are you on a steep incline or headed downhill. Is it a stop sign or a light? Look out for pedestrians, CRAZY people on bikes, fellow drivers, and tourists (yes, tourists get their own category...not everyone understands a crosswalk).

2. There's unlimited activities in Nor Cal...we could live here for 5 years and still wouldn't see it all!

1. Going to a "Leather Festival" does not mean you'll find cowboy hats, belts and boots.