Busy Week

This week has been pretty busy at work! But, then I remind myself that we are ENGAGED and feel happy! It has been such a fun & happy week! This is such a fun and exciting time for us and we are really enjoying it.

In other news, last night was Girls Movie Night. I picked out the theatre & time for us all to go to. We went to the theatre for a 7:25 movie of Morning Glory but it wasn't playing at that time! Woops!! I don't know how I made up that movie time. We checked another theatre I had been looking at and it wasn't playing there either. I don't know where I made that up. Oh well! We ended up at the Irish Bank for a beer, instead.

I'm so glad it's Friday. It is supposed to rain allll weekend. We are staying home tonight with ravioli, red wine & TV. I can't wait. We don't really have big plans all weekend, either.

I'm getting super excited because it's almost Thanksgiving! Erik's family is coming out next Tuesday. It's going to be fun!

Look at these funny pics from the last time his fam came out in July 2009

On Cloud 9

Well, I still can't believe we are engaged. I look at my engagement ring & think, "Is this really mine? Do I get to wear it every day!" It has been so much fun telling people we are engaged. Of course, everyone is asking me two things 1)When is the wedding? and 2)Is Evie excited? haha


"I'm Excited!"

What is even better is that this is such a fun time of year. We are going to see Erik's family next week. Then, we go home for Christmas in December. Party time!

Beer Fest

Today, we went to a Beer Festival in SF. We paid one price & then were able to sample beers, all you can drink. The festival was only from 1-4.

We each got one of these little plastic mugs. There were a bunch of different breweries to choose from. I stuck to the wheat beers & Hefewizens.

Erik tried more adventurous beers!

Drinking my beer like it's a cup o' tea

Gretsy

It was a fun afternoon. We had amazing weather today - sunny & in the 70's. That is pretty awesome for November!

A special trip to Napa

On Saturday, Erik & I went up to Napa. We were going to go to a winery event but we got up there a little late so we didn't go. We ended up going to a winery that we've been to before, Rutherford Grove. I love this winery - it is a small winery, small distribution, grapes grown on the property(rare for most wines), and family owned.



When we went into the winery, and it was empty. We had the same server that we had almost a year ago to the day when Erik & Tara visited!

Here is a shot from our 2009 visit to this winery.

Gorgeous grounds! In wine country, the vine leaves turn colors!

After doing the tasting, we went out to the grounds next to the winery. They have a huge yard & it's just beautiful out there.

We had the whole yard to ourselves so why not whip out a few cartwheels?



After flipping around, we were going to go get something to eat. And then....ERIK PROPOSED!!! Yes, we are engaged. I couldn't believe it. Well, I could but I was still shocked. haha. We are so excited & happy!


Ironically, here is a photo of us in 2009 at this same winery. This place definitely has a special place in our hearts now!

So, we are super excited & still in a little bit of shock! :-)

Movie Review: Harry Potter

After finishing the HP book, I decided to watch the movie. I have to say, I didn't love it. I enjoyed the book but the movie was annoying. That Hermione is a pain, just like Ron says! Plus, she could use a flat iron on that messy mane of hers. ha. It seems very low budget to me, too. Maybe the rest of them get more fast paced & interesting but this one was kind of boring & slow.

I also think I have an attention problem, so that could also be why I thought it was slow. ha.

Anyway, might give the rest of them a try. I am half way through Book 3 already.

Book Review: Harry Potter 2

I finished another Harry Potter book last night. That is two books in about a week. These are such quick reads. They are very cute & I just want to see what is going to happen to Harry and his friends. It's so funny to me how I wasn't interested in these books for so long but then I pick one up & can't stop reading!

My coworker and I are reading them. She has read some & seen some of the movies so we are reading all of the books now. I finish one & pass it off to her. I went out and bought the 3rd book yesterday and she has the 4th one that I'll get afterwards. haha.

I have the first movie on my Netflix list and was mad when it was a Long Wait. Then, I found out you can rent movies thru Amazon. I had no idea! If you look up a movie, you have the option to buy it or rent it(like an On Demand movie) for about $3. How cool!

Well, onto the 3rd book - Prisoner of Azkaban!

Walking The May

Well, I've been doing something different this week. I've been going home at lunch to walk Evie. It seems a little crazy but it's working out.

Ever since our schedule change, I have been feeling so bad that Evie is home alone for so long. I tried to contact a dog walker that was recommended to me but this girl is not very responsive. If she can't be responsible with calling me, how will she be with my dog?

So, I have been going home at lunch. I'm not sure I can do it every day but when I can, I will. It's a quick trip but I take the bus home(20 min), walk Evie(20min), then hop on the bus back to work(2omin). Essentially, I am actually taking a lunch break. That seems like something that people look down upon but I don't care. I'm happy to come in early or leave late if it means Evie doesn't have to hold it alllllll day.

Plus, it's nice to get out mid-day, see the dog, & stop home!

Garden Update

Well, Erik put some of the tomato plant to rest last night. This rat, or whatever, was gnawing on stalks off the plant so he had to pull them off. It was a sad night. All of that hard work & effort and not a lot of produce out of the plant. We did get a few small, green tomatoes, and fried them up. They were pretty good!

They also got to the cucumber plant which is also sad. What's gross about the whole thing is that some animal is coming thisclose to our window to eat. What if he got IN the house. I would DIE. Die!!!

Oh well, looks like we are a flower garden only household for next spring :-(

Erik's Garden

Well Erik is finally getting some food from his garden. He had a couple of snap peas & peppers so far. He made guacamole with one of the peppers which was yummy!

The tomatoes are not faring well, unfortunately. He thinks an animal is eating the tomatoes! He has gone out a few times and seen little, green tomatoes on the ground or branches broken. We've also seen nibbles on the tomatoes. So sad! All of that hard work & energy only to serve some mouse or worse, a rat!

My cucumbers and scallions are also growing. I threw out one plant of flowers and moved the mint to a different pot. I really have only used the mint a few times. We really like having the garden on the porch though. It brings some greenery to the apartment.

The No good, very bad day

Remember this book? Yesterday started & ended in a weird way. I woke up nice & early, walked Evie, got dressed & planned on taking the bus. I went to talk to Erik before leaving & he noticed a spot on my sweater. Then, when I looked in the mirror, I saw another one. It definitely needed to be dry cleaned and I could not get away with wearing it. So, at the last minute, I had to change.

I planned on taking the bus to work because now that it is dark out here, I don't want to bike home at night. I don't have the blinky lights on me or my bike and I just think it's dangerous. Plus, it's the start of the rainy season and it's going to get colder here. Anyway, planned on taking the bus to get to work by a certain time to get to the client for a meeting. As I left the house and ran across the street to the bus stop, I saw the bus pulling away.

Next bus in 8 minutes.

Couldn't wait 8 minutes or else I'd be late so my other option was to bike. I ran back to the house, hopped on my bike(in high heeled boots), and raced to work.

My co-workers & I were leaving our office and the elevator got STUCK. We were going down & suddenly it slowed down and did a little jump. A voice came on saying something about technical difficulties. We got to the next floor & thankfully the doors opened. Whew. We were shaking & scared! Got to the meeting a little late but we made it.

Yesterday at work, it just seemed like everything was going wrong. People weren't delivering things when they said they would, we had to move meetings, and the day was jam packed.

When I went to leave the office, it was raining! Of course, I didn't bring any rain gear. Walked to the bus stop with my bike, put the bike on the bus, and rode home.

Ahhhh I was thankful to get home & put the day behind me. No matter how strange a day is, it is always great to come home to Erik & Evie. Plus, in the scheme of things, I never look at a day like that as horrible. SO what, I got frustrated, stuck in an elevator, & rained on. At least I had seen that episode of Bear Grylls where he taught me how to handle a plummeting elevator! haha

The Bread Maker

This weekend was pretty low key. After our Friday night out, we chilled all weekend. On Saturday, we walked Evie & got take out lunch. We watched hockey & relaxed. On Sunday, I worked at the gymnastics gym all afternoon. It was pouring rain all morning until about Noon.

While I was at the gym, Erik made us dinner AND bread. He got a book about baking bread so he whipped up a few loaves. It was wonderful to come home to have dinner made for us to enjoy. He also made us a potato/mushroom/kale stew which was good!

After dinner, we watched this strange-ish movie called Surrogates. I don't ever remember hearing about this movie in the theatre & it came out in 2009. It's a science fiction film that made me think of Avatar & Minority Report. From IMDB: Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

It was OK & a mix of those other two movies I mentioned. If you're looking for something on Netflix Instant Watch, go for it.

3 Years in SF

It was this week, back in 2007, that Erik and I drove across the country to live in SF. Hard to believe it has been three years. When I originally signed up to come live/work out here, my contract was for 18 months. Time flies. We've done a lot in the past year & had a lot of fun out here. Here is our recap after One Year and Two Years...


Last November around this time, Tara & Erik came out to visit. We had so much fun!

Last November, my Dad came out for Thanksgiving! We hiked Land's End, went to a car show, had Thanksgiving dinner, & went to a 49ers game.

Union Sq Tree

Hiking Lands End

We went home to CT for Christmas

Got to spend time with friends

Kimmy & I went to NYC. Got to meet the HAIR cast & dance on stage!!

Marla came to visit end of Dec/January.

Evie had her little photo shoot

We took a weekend trip to Lake Tahoe

Evie got ready for her ski lesson

The Squaw Valley Experience


Went to Boston for Kimmy's birthday

Palm Springs!

Had such a fun time at the BNP Paribas Open

Stopped in Venice Beach

Erik started his beer making

Turned 30!

The annual Walk for MS

Annual Bay to Breakers messy Sunday morning


An unforgettable experience in New Orleans


Attended a Giants Game


Habitat for Humanity fun

Lots of fun in Napa, like always


Evie, enjoying her strolls in GGP

More tennis....US OPEN

Visited Burlington, VT

Went to Sarah's wedding in VT

Spent Labor Day with family & friends


Another fun year living in California....