Evie's 5th Birthday!!

Today, we celebrated Evie's 5th Birthday!!

She hung out the window checking out the neighborhood.

She got to go IN her favorite neighborhood pet store to pick out a treat...do you even want to know what this thing is? haha

She had fun eating that treat!



She opened her gift of a.....

New Toy!

It was a Tuffy Toy Spider!!

She loved it!

Evie & Mommy

Then, the inevitable happened.....

Within about 5 minutes of playing with the toy, she ripped it open and pulled out the squeaker!

Oh well. What are you going to do??

Evie, in a cloud of stuffing.....

Here she is giving me the stink eye because I think I told her to stop. haha

Chill Saturday

Saturday was made up the usual stuff....cleaning the apartment, working out, walking Evie, and having lunch together(Little Chihuahua!) We also went to look at an apartment...we are looking to move into something different, bigger, quieter neighborhood...This apartment had amazing views but was too small.


We wanted to try a new place called Leopold's. The restaurant describes itself as: Casual, urban-rustic neighborhood gathering spot and bierhaus. Featuring Alpine (Austria-Alto Adige-Friuli-Veneto) cuisine, inspired by our Austrian-Italian heritage, and a large selection of beer and wine from the region.

It was really more of a restaurant than a bar. We just wanted to go to try a few beers but the place was PACKED. The Host, a native German man, told us he was at capacity. So, we skipped this place and stopped for a beer at Bullitt.

We headed home after a beer and picked up take out sushi from our favorite sushi place, Domo.


A chill Saturday...it even rained a little, something we haven't seen in a few weeks!

Movie Review: Kings Speech

Last night was monthly movie night! First, we had dinner at Pacific Catch, which was delish. I had the Salmon Salad. Erik also joined us for movie night, which was a first! So glad he could make it!!


Then, we went to see the King's Speech. Colin Firth played the Duke of York who became King George VI back in 1936 in England. King George came from a powerful family but had one characteristic about him that held him back....he had a stammer. It was really difficult for him to speak in public and even in regular conversation, he could not get the words out sometimes.

After trying to work with many different speech therapists, he begins to work with Lionel. Lionel is played by Geoffrey Rush and really did a wonderful job in this role. The King and Lionel form a unique friendship as they have to work together in different ways for the King to overcome his stutter; this includes getting to the root of WHY he stutters. This movie is much more than watching someone overcome a challenge, it is about friendship & personal growth.

Colin Firth was also great in this role & I'm sure he had to do a lot of research & studying on the subject of stuttering & also King George. Firth & Rush are both up for Oscars and hope they win!

This movie was filmed in a unique way, as well, to focus on each actor individually but also his background environment. I felt that there was a lot of symbolism & connections with the environments within the film and the situations the actors were in. For example, King George became King during the start of WWII. The stutter that overtook the King's life was similar to the war that was going outside of the castle. The stutter was the King's own personal war he was fighting.

Two other great actors were also in this film: Helena Bonham Carter & Timothy Spall. Both were also in Sweeney Todd, a movie we love. I'm surprised they couldn't find a role for Alan Rickman, who was also in Sweeney Todd among other films like Harry Potter(Snape) & Love Actually.

Overall, a wonderful movie, surprisingly funny with a strong cast for this movie to showcase the unique friendship between a King and his voice therapist.

Busy Friday

For a Friday, today was super busy. I had meetings all morning & then we were able to work from home. I was home for a little while & then had to take Evie to the Vet.

She knows right where the Vet office is, a few blocks away. Even when they are closed, she stops at their door and waits for us to go in, or for me to give her a treat!

Today, she needed her Rabies shot. The poor thing still shakes when she goes to the Vet, despite us switching offices. So, she had to get the muzzle on. After they gave her the shots in the back(I stayed in the lobby), she comes barreling into the waiting room to see me & wants to leave immediately. What a baby!

I know it's her birthday weekend and she shouldn't have to get a shot, but she was due. haha.

Tonight is monthly movie night & we are seeing...King's Speech! Can't wait!!

Morning Walk

Yesterday, Evie and I went for a run in the AM. We went all the way to Dolores Park and back which is about a 3.5 mile loop. She really wasn't into running but she trotted behind me a good 5-10'. Today, I thought we'd try the same thing with a different route.

Yeah, that was not happening.

Evie planted her feet in the ground & refused to walk in the direction I wanted her to go. So, instead of fighting her, I asked her, "which way?" She brought us up to Haight St and we crossed back to cut through Buena Vista. Today, she hopped into a tree, which was pretty funny. I think she wanted to get a squirrel but he was already gone!

Burnt Skunk Coffee

Erik has his new endeavor, roasting coffee beans. He tried to create another batch the other day but something went wrong....they burned.

Holy Wow, the entire apartment was filled with smoke and it stunk! I'm surprised someone didn't call the fire department. Evie & I were hanging out the window trying to breathe!

The next morning, the house still smelled like burned coffee. As a true Adventurer, he ground the beans the next day & tried to have a cup of the coffee. I obliged by smelling the coffee only & we both agreed....it smelled like a skunk!

I think 'Burnt Skunk Flavor' would be a hard one to market! haha

More importantly...what would Martha think!?

Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie

Tonight, I made a goooood dinner. I had this idea to take a twist on a the chicken pot pie by making it southwest style.

Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1/2 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 White Onion
2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 a cup of frozen corn
Cumin
Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 a cup of brown rice
A can of SW Chicken Soup
3/4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
Pie Crust

How To:
First, I cut up the peppers & onions and cooked them in a pan on the stove. I also added the frozen corn and cooked everything together. While I did this, I also cooked the chicken in the oven.

I rolled out one pie crust and placed it in the pie dish while the veggies & chicken cooked.


I also got the cheese & the soup ready:


Once the chicken was done, I cut up the chicken and placed the veggies & chicken in the pie plate.

I added the Cumin & Red pepper flakes to the mix, as well as the rice & cheese. Once the everything was in the pie plate, I poured the can of soup into the mixture and used a wooden spoon to mix everything together.


Then, I placed the other pie crust on top of the mix.

I dabbed milk on the top of the crust to make it nice & flaky. After cooking on 350 for about 45min, it was done!

This was deeeeelish. I cannot wait for leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!

Super Fun Sunday

Today was such a fun day! Erik left around 7am, then Evie & I went back to sleep until 9. After our morning walk, I worked out and got ready to meet Amy. We spent the afternoon together up in the Marina having lunch, getting our nails done, and getting dessert. First up, lunch at Blue Barn. We haven't been been there before so we tried out their salads.

Amy got us a table outside so we were able to sit outside and enjoy lunch on this beautiful day. I had sandals on and no coat, that is how great it was outside!

After salads, we went to our fave nail place for manicures. After manicures, we stopped at a new cupcake place called Susie Cakes. We each had a vanilla cupcake. I have to say that the cupcake was wayyyy too sweet and Kara's remains my favorite cupcake in SF!


After dropping Amy off, I went home and loaded Evie into the car. We drove up to Sports Basement so I could buy new sneakers. Then, we went over to Crissy Field so Evie could run around and go in the water. She absolutely loves going there. We were there around 5pm and it was just so pretty out. If you are looking into the bay and turn to your right, you can see the city & big buildings. If you turn to your left, there is the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was starting to set and it was just such a pretty view. It was definitely one of those moments where I stopped & was thought, "I can't believe I live here."

What a fun weekend!! I'm so tired and ready for bed!

Surfin' Safari

Erik is on a Surfing Safari today...in Santa Cruz. He has become good friends with a guy who surfs at the same spot. His friend lives in SF, too, so it's cool they get to hang out in the AM & surf.

His friend Andrew invited Erik to go down to Santa Cruz for the day to surf & stay overnight. I guess they are surfing 2x today and then again tomorrow AM. Erik doesn't have to work tomorrow so that works for him! I'm sure they are having fun.

It's just me & Evie hanging out today & tonight. How quickly I forgot what it feels like to be home alone. Remember when Erik was on that funky shift and Evie and I were always home alone!? Now, it hardly ever happens. So, we will miss Erik but it is also nice to have a day to myself, as well.

It's another beautiful day here! Oh & yes, that is Erik paddling in the photo.

Tennis & Indian Food

Yesterday was another gorgeous day in San Francisco. The weather was sunny and in the 60's. Erik and I finally got out to play some tennis. I would love to take lessons again when the spring season starts in March or April. My co-worker and I are also talking about maybe taking joint private lessons which would be fun!! We have been watching the AUS Open every night. It has been a fun tournament with a few upsets. One which really sucks is Andy Roddick, out in straight sets in the 4th Rd. Grrrr! It will be cool to see an all Swiss Quarter with Federer & Wawrinka though.

I was excited to receive a text from my friend Tiffany on Sat Am asking us if we wanted to meet up. Tiffany is a friend of a friend and lives outside of the city so it was cool that she & her boyfriend, Brett, were coming into SF. They suggested Indian Food in the Mission which are two foreign combo's for me. I have only had Indian food once and rarely go to the Mission. But, we said Sure!


I'm so glad we went because the food and the company were awesome. We went to Pakwan Indian Restaurant & had a delicious dinner. It was packed!! This place must be a good place to go when there is a line. This place is low-key - order at the counter & they bring your food to you. Plus, there is no bar but you can BYOB from getting beer across the street at a little store. Awesome!

We shared so much food --veggie rice, a pureed eggplant dish, lentil dish, chicken & spinach dish, and of course...Nann. Garlic Nann & Potato Naan. After dinner, we went for another drink at the 500 Club, a divey little bar nearby.


It was a fun night & hope to see those guys again soon!

Whirley Pop

Well, Erik Stewart has added something else to his list of hobbies - roasting his own coffee beans. This week, he received a Whirley Pop (which is a really fun name to sing to N'Sync's 'Dirty Pop') and coffee beans. Yesterday, he roasted them on the stove & then grinded them in a little grinder we have. It definitely smelled like coffee & tasted pretty good!

The Whirley Pop also doubles as a popcorn popper so we can try to make popcorn on the stove.

The Whirley Popper



Now, go ahead and sing Whirley Pop to N*Sync!

Friday Night Pizza

Friday was a busy day at work including going to the Client so I didn't leave work until 530. I went and did some errands downtown so I didn't get home until 7pm. Since I finished my book, I picked up a new one and am currently reading...


I was actually a little annoyed I had to go to the mall, to go to the bookstore. If I just had a Kindle, I could have downloaded the book in two seconds and paid half the price for the book!! That means....yes, I want a Kindle.


Erik wanted to go for pizza so we went to Little Star, up the street. We've been there a few times before. We got the deep dish vegetarian pizza & a mixed greens salad. I also had the Blue Star Wheat Beer, which is awesome.

After pizza, it was already 1030pm so we came home and put I Love You Man on. That movie still cracks me up every time we watch it!

Book Review: Water for Elephants

I had a love/hate relationship with this book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This story was so interesting to hear about the life of a circus on the road but I didn't like reading about any mistreatment to the animals. We all know I am a huge animal lover! But, I had to remind myself that this story was set in the post-Depression era when there was no Peta or advanced medical technology.

The story is told by Jacob Jankowski who is now in his 90's from is perspective from his nursing home and when he was on the circus tour. As Cornell Student studying to be a veterinarian, tragedy strikes his family and he leaves college. While roaming through town one day, a train comes through and Jacob jumps on, not knowing what the train holds.

Turns out that the train is carrying an entire circus to the next town. He quickly learns the ins & outs of being apart of such a peculiar lifestyle but not without some serious lessons in life. The relationships within the book made the story a very easy read, as well.

It was really fun reading this book and learning about the past. I'm so excited that this is coming out as a movie in April. Check out the movie website, here.


Water For Elephants Teaser

Sara Gruen also has some other books that look interesting. Anyone ever read any of these?

More Sun

The weather this week has been amazing. I went to work a few times - without a coat on. In January. The sky has been clear & it has been sunny out. We don't even get this weather in July sometimes, which is technically 'summer' everywhere but here. Check out weather for the weekend!



Amazing. We don't have any set plans for the weekend so we'll see where day takes us! I hope we can finally play tennis and go look for a couch....again.

This week has been pretty uneventful at work and at home, which I guess is a good thing. Evie's birthday is coming up and she is turning 5. I can't believe it! We will give her a little party & some gifts. hah. Im sure we will also take her somewhere special to run around & give her extra treats!

MLK Day

Today, we were off from work for MLK Day. Did you know that observing MLK Day only started 25 years ago? That seems so crazy to me.

This morning, I just chilled at home with Evie. I went to the store to do some more errands and got a manicure.

I made a yummy dinner for us tonight - Chicken & Biscuits. The recipe was good and the dinner was good - just not amazing. Plus, it took awhile to make and was sort of complicated. It was a hearty meal though & we definitely have leftovers for lunch this week!



I also had Bingo tonight & let me tell you, it was the most rowdy Bingo yet. One lady showed up JUST as we were starting and everyone else got mad. Then, one lady apparently didn't put her hearing aids in because she could not hear ANYTHING. She moved her seat right next to me and still couldn't hear what I was saying. So, everyone got mad at her and was yelling at her. I felt bad for her but I guess she should put those hearing aids in next time! I can imagine these ladies telling her she can't come unless they are in!

Anyway, in honor of those crazy Bingo ladies - I thought this MLK quote fit for today...
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve.... You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Super Sunday

After our fun Saturday, Sunday was a day of errands - which was fine by me. I went to the laundromat to wash some big blankets and then to Safeway to stock up on groceries. While I was doing that, Erik was bottling beer in the kitchen.

For dinner, we made more...homemade pizza. We cannot stop eating this stuff! We also had an awesome bottle of wine. I love a really buttery Chardonnay and this was soooo delish.


We also watched the Golden Globes which I thought were good except for the Host. Ricky Gervais was not very nice & pretty rude. I read today that the President of the Hollywood Foreign Press said his jokes were completely unacceptable. There were some beautiful dresses last night, too. There was also a trend of long sleeve dresses which I thought were weird looking - Anne Hathaway & Leighton Meester!

Here were my faves:

Kyra Sedgewick - Loved the Orange!


Natalie Portman- Super cute

Eva Longoria - Just looked so classic!

Julie Bowen

While watching the Awards, Evie insisted on laying ON me.


Too funny!