Erik's Birthday Sharks Game

Last night, we went to the SJ Sharks and Rangers hockey game down in San Jose. First, we met up with Erik's friends Casey & Kevin at The Poor House, a New Orleans style bar & restaurant.



Yum - Po Boys! The BBQ Chicken Po Boy was sooo spicy & delicious! We had a side of cajun fries.


They even had beignets on the menu which were delish


I've never been down to HP Pavillion but it is a cool stadium



Great seats to watch the game



I was really surprised how dedicated the Sharks fans are. Almost everyone there had a Sharks jersey on and they CHEER loudly. Very different from other sports & teams including going to see the Rangers at MSG.




When the Sharks score on a power play, everyone does this thing with their arms like they are a shark chomping. It was really funny to watch everyone do this. haha




Casey, Erik, & Kevin


The game went into overtime & then a shootout!


Rangers Win 3-2!! The Sharks fans were NOT happy but the few Rangers fans that were there were.

After the game, we went to a bar called The Brit.

You know it's going to get rowdy when the shots come out. Thankfully, as the DD with a 45 min drive home, I did NOT partake!

Kevin, Casey, Me & Erik


Gangsters

It was a really fun night & everyone had fun. The Birthday Boy had a LOT of fun. haha. This concludes Erik's birthday week as he welcomed in a new year!

Tonight, Erik's brother and his girlfriend arrive & they are on vacation out here all week.

Erik's Birthday!

Yesterday was Erik's birthday! To celebrate, we went to the Pacific Brewing Labratories aka the garage of the guys who make their own home brew. Remember we went there back in June and had a little toooooo much fun? haha Here's a pic from their blog to show you what the garage looks like:


After that, we headed home and had dinner from Little Chihuahua. Erik opened his presents and he got an Ice Cream Maker, Recipe book, and Sharks/Rangers tickets from me! Evie even helped him open his gifts.

Busy Week & Dog Walker

This week has been so busy & stressful so that is why I have not posted anything all week. There is a lot of stuff going on at work and with work and it's just super busy and stressful. We literally come home from work, make dinner, struggle to stay awake to watch a tv show or hockey game, and go to bed. Annnd, no, we are not 75 yrs old. I don't know HOW people have children that you have to pay attention to and feed and bathe plus take care of yourselves!


Anyway, we met with a dog walker this week. She owns Mighty Dog and focuses on Pit Bulls! We found her after we went to that Pit Bull party because her company was a sponsor. She is pretty cool and has a knack for dealing with 'problem dogs'. She met Evie, who of course hid from her at first. Evie is like a shy child on her first day of school. She sits near me and hides her face - it is ridiculous! haha After about 15 min, she brought Lauren her toy and was totally fine. Lauren even said, she doesn't seem like a problem dog to me and she is not the spawn of the devil. haha.

So, we might try having Evie walked 2x a week to start off. She will get a private walk and may move up to 'small group' walks which would be great for her to get out of the house!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIK!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIK!!

Erik is the big 32 today!! We are going to celebrate this weekend by going to the Rangers & Sharks hockey game!

Weekend

On Friday we went down to Nickie's, a local bar, for a beer and ended up having dinner there.


On Saturday, we went to look at an apartment. We loved it but noticed the guy had a STACK of applications for the place. We are going to put ours in & see what happens. The rent is great, the exact location we want to live, and is bigger than our current place. It would be awesome to live there!

On Saturday night, we went out for our friend Tiffany's birthday. We went to Tacolicious and had awesome queso, guac, tacos, and Tecate. Soooo yummy! I also brought cupcakes from Kara's (my fave!!) for everyone so that was a great finish to dinner.

After that, we stopped at The Tipsy Pig for a drink and once it got too crowded, we moved to Bin 38 wine bar. I haven't been to Bin 38 since my birthday last year when Erik and I went there for my birthday but it was great.

Wacky Week

After getting home at 10pm on Sunday night, the whole week seems off. This always happens when we are not home on Sunday to 'get organized' for the week. On Monday, I had to volunteer so Erik picked Evie up at camp after work.

Tuesday night, I was SO tired. I cam home and laid on the couch and watched the Bachelor on DVR. Even Evie climbed on the couch to snuggle at like 7pm. We had nachos for dinner, which is really not something we'd ever eat for dinner unless we were at a bar!haha

Tonight, we had a work dinner at Kokkari. It is a Meditteranean restaurant that is a top spot in the city. While it was a nice dinner, I didn't think it was amaaaazing. We shared some apps that included:
-Saghanaki - pan fried Kefalograviera cheese with lemon & oregano
-Melitzanosalata, Taramosalata, Tzatziki, Favosalata or Tirosalata
with housemade grilled pita (Basically pita's with different sauces)

For dinner, I had a wonderful ravioli. It was soooo good - Makaronia - ravioli of roasted butternut squash & feta with mushrooms, brown butter & toasted hazelnuts

I think I would go back and get that ravioli. It was a nice atmosphere and great food. We did feel a little rushed at the end of the dinner to leave our table though. Overall, a great dinner!

Tahoe: Sunday

On Sunday AM, the boys went back to Squaw to ski. The guy from the rental agency came over and......FIXED THE HOT TUB. Something about the pilot light had to be turned back on. We finally hopped in to the hot tub!!






After the hot tub, we showered and headed to Squaw to meet up with the boys. We went back to the same place we went last year. We got those yummy bloody mary's and lunch. It was nice to just chill at Squaw.





After the guys were done, we headed back to the house to load up the cars. We left Squaw around 6pm and can you believe....we did not hit any traffic!!?? That must have been our reward for all of the issues over the weekend.

Check out how high the snow was

Tahoe: Saturday

After the traumatic experience on Friday, we were all ready to chill on Saturday. Our goal was to eat, drink, and go into the hot tub! We hung out, went to the grocery store, and had lunch at the house. We tried to get the hot tub to warm up to go in after lunch.

Mimosas!!


It NEVER DID. Can you believe after all of that on Friday night, the damn hot tub would not work!?? Unreal. We called the Rental Agency again but they said no one could come out to look at it until Sunday.

After lunch, we all took a nap. It was wonderful. We all took a spot on the couch & watched The Sandlot. The boys came home from skiing around 5pm and we all woke up. After making dinner, we all played a couple of games which were really funny.



Separated at birth!

You know you are having fun when you make hats to pass around!

After playing some games, having some beers, and cracking up all night, we were tired. Of COURSE, I was the first one to go to bed. haha.

Tahoe: Friday

Getting to North Lake Tahoe was an all day affair on Friday. Here we go - I'll leave it up to you to see if these events are a made up story I created in my head or if it was real life last Friday.

We left the house by 9am to drop the dog off at camp & pick up the snowboard from Storage. We arrived to pick up Beth & Amy by 1030 and left the city. We made a stop in Oakland to pick up chains for our tires from my boss. Finally, we were on our way!


Then, Betsy text us to say that part of I-80 was closed. You take I-80 ALL THE WAY TO TAHOE. So, we marched on & called the highway hotline every half hour to check on the status. First, we stopped in Sacramento and ended up in "Old Town Sacramento" which looked like a land in DisneyWorld called "Old Gold Mining Town".

We thought we would find a place for lunch but did not. We tried another part of Sacramento and stopped in a place called "Bagel Time" which ironically hardly had any bagels available. Plus, they had rabbit on the menu. A bagel place that has rabbit? Ummm, no thanks! We got back in the car and stopped at Wendy's off the highway.

After we left Wendy's, the sky was darkening. We finally got to the spot on I-80 where it was closed & traffic was stopped. It wasn't raining or snowing but apparently as you headed into higher elevations, it was. So, we waited & we really were not stuck that long.


We headed up into the Sierra Mountains and it started to....hail. Yes, hail!




Eventually, we got to the spot on 80 where you have to put chains on the tires.

Erik & Amy handled it while I....supervised. haha




We began the long, slow trek at 30MPH to Truckee.

Finally, 7pm, we pull into Truckee. We stop at the grocery store and pick up food for dinner. We leave the grocery store and it is snowing, big time. We follow our map to the house. We cannot find the house.

We drive back to the grocery store to ask about how to get to the house. We drive back towards the house. No house. We call the rental agency & they give us some advice. We find this tiny street & bridge to the little area of our house. There is so much snow on the ground that when we pull into this little street, we get stuck.

Two feet of snow on the ground & the car is stuck in the snow. The Rental agency lady, Roxie, says we can't drive down the approx 1/4 mile to the house. We must walk. No, this is not a joke and no, we are not on Amazing Race TV show. So, we make one trip down to find the house & we can't. The piles of snow are SO high, we can't see house numbers.

Finally, we find the house. My fingers are so cold, I can hardly open the lock box to get the key. Finally, we get into the house. But, we must make multiple trips back to the car to get the stuff!

Back up hill. Down hill. To the car. To the house. Help Erik get the car unstuck. Fail. Go home & start dinner.

Me, drinking water straight from the faucet because I am so thirsty after that workout!

Sit down to eat dinner around 10pm. A cop arrives at the door to tell us that if we don't move our car, it will get towed. Erik trudges back to the car with the cop. He digs a new spot to park the car. The cop pulls him out of his stuck spot & drives away. Erik goes to move the car and it won't start, thanks to leaving the lights on to help dig out the new spot.


The amount of snow outside the house!!

Erik waits and waits and waves down a new cop for help. The new cop jumps the car and finally, Erik pulls it into the new spot. Trudges back down to the house. Midnight - Betsy, Greg, & Jun say they are almost to Tahoe. 2am. They arrive. 230. Greg has to go back up the hill to move his car. 3am. We finally go to bed.

Pretty much sums up our trip!! We hoped that the rest of the weekend was better!!