2012 - What a Year!

2012 was quite the year. A few BIG things happened...

1. We got MARRIED! Mr. and Mrs. in 2012. Our wedding was amazing & so much fun.

2. Honeymoon in Mexico. An awesome time, just the two of us.




3. Evie had her knee surgery :-( This really made us work as a team to care for her!



4. Erik ran a marathon and I ran another half marathon. More importantly, we raised $4,000 for cancer!



5. I changed jobs...for the better and Erik got promoted!



6. Loved working with Girls on the Run this year!




7. Erik swam from Alcatraz


8. Met my Gymnastics Idol


9. BOTH of us surfed this year :-)


10. Spent time exploring our beautiful city.


This was a really wonderful year for us. We are so grateful for our great jobs, living in an awesome city, our health, and all of our family and friends. We didn't endure any weather tragedies or personal loss this year for which we are truly blessed and grateful.

Much of this country has endured tragedy and heartbreak. One of the biggest things that bugs me the most is that 1 out of 10 people in the US are hungry. It really makes you stop and realize how much you have when we realize how much we go out to eat and don't worry about our next meal. One of my favorite charities of 2012 is Blessings in a Backpack. For only $80, you can feed a child for a YEAR. Check it out....


If we learned anything this year, after all the tragedy we have all seen, it is that life is short. Say what you want & need and tell people how much you care about them - always. We never know how much time we each have and you never want to regret not saying what you feel. Live life with a long view lens. Is it going to matter in 5 or 10 years? If not, let it go. Something that is probably hard for all of us to do but would probably keep us all less stressed.

Here's to a good 2013. We hope to MOVE out of our apartment, get Erik a new car, and hopefully go on a fun vacation somewhere. No matter what, 2013 will be great as long as we're together!

Pasta Making Sunday

Yesterday started out like this....

Erik got up at 6:30am and went to Bolinas with some friends to go surfing. Bolinas is north of SF, up over the Golden Gate Bridge. He was gone for part of the day & came back very tired!

 While he was gone, I made a veggie white bean soup and biscuits for lunch. After lunch, these two snoozed...

We got sucked into a Sex in the City Marathon on TV, too. For dinner, we tried out our new pasta maker attachment. It was so easy to use & spaghetti came out great!!

We made a sauce with San Marzano tomatoes, spicy chicken sausage, onion, garlic, and basil. It was soooo good! We also watched this documentary: Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It is a documentary about an 85 year old Japanese man who runs a sushi restaurant and makes amazing sushi. We looked it up and dinners cost $300 per person!! It was cool to see all that goes into choosing fish for sushi, preparing it, etc.

Wine Hiatus

Erik was off from work on Friday and I worked from home. We felt so BLAH all day. I think it was a combo of the time difference messing us up, coming off all of that rich food we had been eating, and of course, the drinking! 

I think Erik went surfing for awhile and then we just lounged all night. Blahhhhh. 

The feeling didn't go away on Saturday morning either. I had such a headache and didn't feel that well. We took a family walk to a local bike shop and that made me feel better. We stopped at the new, local coffee shop for some coffee and toast. 

Evie sat nicely with me outside, next to another dog!, while Erik went in to get our snack. 

It's Evie's FAVORITE time of the year... "Pee on Christmas Trees" season! This will last until end of January when people continue to put their trees on the street and Evie will take full advantage of new pee spots. 

After the walk, we headed downtown to do some errands. We hit up the mall to check out the post-holiday sales, make a return, and pick up a fun, new gadget. 

We used a gift card and got the pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid. I used this at the cooking class I took a few weeks ago. It was sooo easy to use and we can't wait to try it out 

After our errands, we stopped by a new place in SF called Jamber Wine Pub. We ordered a drink and some apps only but they had a great looking menu of salads, soups, and pot pies!

 It was happy hour and Erik had a sampler of beer for only $10!

I had a glass of wine and could barely drink it. It gave me such a stomachache. I think I drank too much when we were home and my body is basically like, stoppppppp with the wine. We also had fried pickles and crab cakes when all I really think I needed was a giant salad. 

Time to come back down from the holiday highs and give our bodies a break!

Heading back to CA

On Thursday, we headed back to CA. We take afternoon flights now so that we can get a chance to wake up at a normal hour, say our goodbyes, and still make it back to CA in the early evening. I got a chance to stop by my Grandparents house to say bye and we went by the Luna's to say goodbye, too. 

Kimmy drove us down to JFK for our flight which was super nice of her.

The cat, named Woodrow Poodgerow the II, made his first flight. haha. I'm thinking of making a Tumblr for his adventures because I can see him going far in life. Bahahaha

We left a little late from NYC due to tons of plane traffic at the airport but made it home only 20 min late. We were able to pick up Evie boo! Soooo great to be reunited. 

Evie loved her new twinsie ornament!

We had some dinner and called it a night - glad to be home!

Last day in CT

The day after Christmas, we headed over to see Erik's Uncle Freddy for a little while. Later in the evening, we went to dinner with my parents, Kimmy & Scott at Duffy's.

After dinner, we went over to Jaime & Laura's house for one last hurrah before our flight the next day. Our friends Souk and Eva met us over there so it was great to see them!

Erik had this funny named beer

Laura and I were drinking this delish wine. Have to get my hands on some of this!

We went home late again but it was so great to get to see everyone again before leaving!

Christmas 2012

On Christmas morning, we first had breakfast and opened gifts with Erik's parents and brother. Their cat, Lyla, had fun playing with the paper and boxes!

We moved onto my parents house for more delicious food. We had a great dinner of crab stuffed shrimp which I loooooveeeee! I got a hilarious ring from Kimmy which I love! Also, got the awesome iPhone 5. For those who saw my iPhone 4, you are probably grateful I finally got a new phone. The iPhone 4 was cracked beyond belief and I was holding it together with masking TAPE!

We sort of had a white cat growing up (aka we "watched" the neighbors cat for like 2 years and kept him in our house) in which we adored and made up a multi-verse song about his antics. Whenever we see a white cat, we reminisce about that cat. This cat ring had us DYING with laughter. 

Evie also got this super cute ornament from her Auntie. 

We opened gifts and then Erik's brother, and our friends Marla and Mike came over. We pulled out Loaded Questions and played that again. We also played Catch Phrase until everyone got tired and went home. It was a fun Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2012

Christmas Eve was also my Mom's birthday! My Mom, Sister, and I went to get our nails done together and  went to lunch. We went to lunch at Jeffrey's.The food was pretty good but it was pretty quiet in the restaurant. I had the Grilled chicken pannini with Tuscan vegetables, Portobello mushrooms, prosciutto, spinach and mozzarella with tomato chutney spread and balsamic drizzle. 

This photo of Jeffrey's is courtesy of TripAdvisor

After lunch, we all went our separate ways for Christmas Eve dinner. First, I went to church with my Grandparents for Christmas Eve mass. I haven't been to church with them in years, but grew up going with them when we were younger. It was nice to go with them again. The Priest has changed over the years and this year, they had a guest Priest from Africa. It was pretty interesting to hear him speak and he told a story about what Christmas and church was like in Africa. 

After church, I headed to dinner with Erik's family. Ironically, we went to...Jeffrey's! Yes, the same place I went for lunch. haha. I have never been to this restaurant before and then I went twice in one day. 

This photo of Jeffrey's is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The food at dinner was wonderful! I had delicious dinner of Herb dusted and pan seared scallops with grilled mango, braised cherry tomatoes and passion fruit buerre blanc. So delicious & a great portion!

After dinner, we went back to the Luna's for more wine and games. Jaime taught us how to play Texas Hold'Em poker which was fun until I was so tired I went to sleep on the couch. While I passed out, Erik, his brother, and his Dad played Dominos. 

Next up, Christmas Day!

NYC Sunday

Sunday was another awesome day because Kimmy and I had our Super Sister Sunday in NYC!! We hopped the train down to the city for lunch and a show. We have done this a few times of  going down the city for a show as our Christmas gift rather than spend the money on gifts. We do this really fun day and then give each other some smaller gifts. 

We started by having lunch at Puttanesca. 

We split the Caprese salad to start and then shared our lunches with one another. 

 We had the veggie pannini that was delish. It had eggplant, peppers, zuccini, pesto, etc.

 We also had the spaghetti and meatballs which were delish!

After lunch, we headed to Imperial Theatre to see Nice Work If You Can Get It. 

 Matthew Broderick (yep, Ferris Beuller) and Kelli O'Hara star in the show and it was great! It was strange to see Matthew Broderick on stage and in person. haha. The show was funny and full of great talent, songs, and dance! Gwyneth Paltrow's Mother, Blythe Danner, was also in the show!

Here's a little bit about the show -

It's the Roaring Twenties, and a cast of outrageous characters gather in New York to celebrate the wedding of a wealthy playboy. But things don't go as planned when the playboy meets a bubbly and feisty bootlegger who melts his heart.

The champagne flows and the gin fizzes in the hilarious, Tony®-winning new musical comedy NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, starring two-time Tony Award® winner Matthew Broderick and three-time Tony Award® nominee Kelli O'Hara. Featuring Tony® winners Judy Kaye (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and Michael McGrath (Best Featured Actor in a Musical).

It’s an evening bursting with girls, glamour and the glorious songs of Gershwin. 

After the show, we headed home on the train. We were so tired but we had the energy to pick up our favorite buffalo chicken wrap sandwiches from Archie Moore's. Our Aunt Cindy & Uncle Nick were at our house visiting our parents when we got home too! It was so great to see them.

After dinner, we made our descent to the family room where I pulled out all of my old scrapbooks and we were dying laughing over old pictures. This has to be one of my favorites of me from college - It was summer of Freshman year and I cut all my hair off. Ugh! It was such a pain to grow out and I really didn't like it but I guess we all go through our hair phases.

Found this photo of Erik and I from Christmas 2003. Our first Christmas together!! 

Another great day at home!

Super Saturday

On Saturday, we went to breakfast with my dear friends Steve and Gwyn. Steve, Gwyn, and I used to work together literally 15 years ago. I worked for Gwyn as an Intern in high school and later worked with Steve at the same company. They are a really wonderful couple and we have stayed close for years. They are so kind and have a wonderful spirit - they are what we all strive to be. As Erik said, "they are good people."

We had a great breakfast, went through wedding pics, and chatted for almost two hours! It was great to catch up.

After breakfast, we hung around Erik's parents house for awhile because his cousins from PA arrived! It was so great to see everyone. We saw his cousins and their kids at our wedding back in May. So cute!

There was a big holiday dinner party at Erik's house on Saturday night. Everyone from my parents to his cousins to family friends were at the dinner. It was like a big open house with lots of food and drinks. It was great!

After dinner, we went over to Jaime's house and had more wine (sensing a theme here!?) and then went really wild and went out to the BAR at midnight. Who does that!? Not us, ever. haha. We stayed out until 2am. Wowwww. We were so tired the next day. But, it's worth it to push the limits when we're home because we just have so much fun that it's hard to say it's time for bed!

Check out this set of lights we saw while walking to the bar....Did these strangers put the lights out for us? haha


It was such a fun day!