buzzville

Catalina sights

The timing may not have been perfect, but the weekend certainly was... my in-laws invited us to share a weekend with them on the island of Catalina (off the coast of Long Beach) this past weekend. It was the first visit for most of us, and it was truly remarkable. After the hour and 15 minute ferry ride Friday morning, we checked into our hotel and had lunch. We took a short walk down the Green Pleasure Pier

and then got tickets to go on an "undersea tour" on a boat with seating and large windows below sea level. This was definitely worth doing - we saw a ton of fish (including the beautiful, bright orange Garibaldi), and Brynne says this was definitely the highlight of the weekend for her.

The small town of Avalon has what you might expect - souvenir shops, ice cream parlors, jewelry boutiques and small art galleries, seafood restaurants, etc. What we didn't expect is that the town is overrun with golf carts! Apparently, the wait to get a standard-size vehicle to the island is many years, so all of the local residents get around via golf cart. We spied every possible make and model, even those outfitted with the latest in child safety (!)

Brynne spent Saturday with grandma and grandpa, so Jerry and I took advantage and did some hiking. We started with a loop on Chimes Tower Road and Stage Coach Road. The views were spectacular, as were the wildflowers on the hillside.

After lunch we took the tour of the famous casino, which includes a mini pipe organ concert in the spectacular theater and a walk upstairs to view the incredible ballroom. It's a fantastic building, filled with stylized murals and elegant furnishings - a great piece of architecture that would most likely never get built today.

After lunch, we walked from town up to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden. The garden has a spectacular display of succulents, cacti, and a number of endemic plants. At the top of the hill is the Wrigley Memorial (William Wrigley Jr. - of chewing gum fame and preservationist of Catalina island) - a great spot to frame a view of the valley.

It was fun to look at the different architectural styles in town - from bungalows to Victorians to more modern (and sprawling) estates. Evidence of the pottery tradition established by the Catalina pottery company is virtually everywhere, and original pieces are fetching astronomical prices in the antique and gift shops in town. We were particularly impressed with some modern tile work on the stairs of the Avalon Hotel

and the creative underwater scene recreated using succulents and tiles in the otherwise "dead" space along the street under the main floor balconies:

I think this would be so much fun to do in our back yard somewhere... the wheels are spinning!

All in all, we had a wonderful and restful weekend, and there are even more pictures!

Coming back to work on Monday was exciting because I was looking forward to a visit from Laura of Loloko fame and her lovely family - Jan and Austin (hi!). Laura and I corresponded before superbuzzy opened, and she was full of tips and suggestions and overall support. She is just as sweet and generous in person, and I'm so glad we were able to meet during her trip to the area. Of course, Loloko is a wonderfully dangerous shop, full of more Decole goodness than I can handle! 

Happy Easter!

We just finished a lovely Easter lunch - very simple this year: honey ham, arugula salad, roasted asparagus with sea salt & parmesan, and peach blueberry panna cotta (thank you Trader Joe's!) for dessert. Out here it truly feels as if spring is here - blue skies, warm breeze, and flowers blooming everywhere. The Easter bunny left a trail of jelly beans throughout the house leading to an Easter basket brimming with books, crafts supplies, games, and the requisite chocolate bunny. Outside, there was an Easter egg hunt for plastic eggs filled with assorted goodies... Hello Kitty socks, hairbands, and selections from the Re-Ment Fairy Tale Sweets collection (specifically requested of the Easter bunny!). I've been a big fan of Re-ment miniatures for a few years - the detail is so great, and the themes so fun - but now that superbuzzy is carrying the full line, it makes it a little too easy to get my hands on! I asked the Easter bunny for the Merry Strawberry set, so we'll see if he comes through.

I was completely unprepared for Easter this year, which is perhaps why we kept it so simple. We took a mini vacation last week, which left me little time to get my act together. The timing of the trip was driven by a gift from my mom - a gift certificate to stay at the Vision Quest Ranch Bed & Breakfast located between Salinas and Monterey. Jerry and I both decided that the adventure could either be extremely cheesy or very cool. Luckily, the cheese factor was extremely limited (save a few of the furniture items in the cabin), and the experience was quite nice. The Ranch is set up as a rescue for exotic animals and many of them end up working as television and movie actors. The place houses a bunch of cats (lions, tigers, lynxes, etc.) as well as wallabies, kangaroos, baboons, elephants, ostriches, and more. Included in the B&B is a 1 hour tour of the facility, an evening visit by 2 animals on a walk (we met a baboon and a wallaby), and breakfast delivered by an elephant. The elephants have been rescued from circuses, and they have a wonderful, large enclosure with 2 ostriches and a zebra - they seem to be enjoying their retirement! We stayed the night in a tent cabin, not unlike the yurts we've stayed in:

It was a cold night, but the space heater and the electric mattress pad kept us cozy while we slept. We woke up the next morning and watched the elephants get washed before breakfast. Then, we saw the Butch make his round of the 4 tent cabins as he delivered breakfast to the guests:

We got to feed him a bit of breakfast - apples, oranges and bananas - before he left and we munched on ours:

The B&B doesn't allow children, so we left that morning to pick up Brynne after a night at grandma's house, and we headed north, across the Golden Gate, on one of those perfect San Francisco days.

Our first stop had been on my list for a long time: a visit to the Heath Factory Store in Sausalito. I had some money from my birthday and Christmas that I'd been saving to splurge on some new, everyday dishes from Heath. Seeing the shop and studio was fantastic, with evidence of Edith Heath's extraordinary vision throughout:

I finally settled on a mix-and-match set in the Coupe style in Mist and French Grey - lovely, lovely stuff...

Our journey north continued as we headed to Fort Bragg, our ultimate destination. We had a reservation to stay at the Grey Whale Inn, a historic building that was once the town hospital. It being the off season, the town was quiet, and we had the Inn almost to ourselves. We spent the next days beachcombing at Glass Beach, tidepooling at MacKerricher State Park, poking around Mendocino (where I discovered the Mendocino Yarn Shop - lovely!), wandering through magestic redwoods, and eating more delicious food than we should have (big thumbs-up on the breakfasts at the Inn and the spectacular pumpkin cream waffles at Egghead's!). Jerry was surprised to be getting really good coffee on the trip!

The weather was cold and windy, but clear and beautiful - just what I had hoped for. I could have stayed longer, but I think we all had a great time.

Returning to superbuzzy was fun... 16 double-sized boxes arrived on Thursday full of even more fabric and goodies. So, I've got a lot of work ahead of me, but I can't really complain since opening each box is like my own personal egg hunt - full of surprises and good things! Happy Easter to all celebrating today!

local weekend

We spent this past weekend in San Pedro. I know... what's in San Pedro, right? I've always thought of it as just a port town, so I figured we'd wave hello to superbuzzy shipments at the port and that would be it! But, I was pleasantly surprised with the charming Old Town and the kitschy 1950s era streets. There was a surprising lack of Starbucks and chain fast food joints in this area - just lots of cute mom 'n pop places.

We met family at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which was also new to us. Wow! What an amazing place! Aquarium of the Pacific generally gets all the attention for SoCal aquariums, and it is indeed a wonderful aquarium. But, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium certainly deserves praise of its own. It is funded wholly by the City of Los Angeles (thank you tax dollars!), so admission is a donation. The exhibits are focused on Southern California sea life, and these are *usually* my least favorite exhibits at other aquariums - there are only so many Garibaldi and starfish one can look at, right? The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium goes far beyond the typical exhibits, featuring incredible nudibranchs, urchins like you've never seen, every bizarre type of crab, and of course, lots of fish. They also have a hands-on lab, nursery, and tide pool touch tank - all were very popular with Brynne. And, as if this wasn't enough, the aquarium is located on a huge stretch of beach, rich in tidepools at low tide. We were there during high tide, but next trip we'll make a point of arriving at low tide, bringing a picnic lunch, and doing some tide pooling. If you like aquariums and live in SoCal, this is a must see!

We did some other touristy things - rode the historic Red Line trolley car, toured the Point Fermin Lighthouse, saw the Korean Friendship Bell, and visited the Marine Mammal Care Center. We finished the day with a feast (and I mean feast!) at Papadakis Taverna Greek restaurant in Old Town, complete with belly dancing and lots of broken glassware!

I've recently realized how important these quick, local getaways are for us... we're together as a family so seldom, and when we stay at home, it tends to be a lot of tedium (laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.). When we leave the house and spend the day elsewhere, we have such a fantastic time, and we're learning about all the hidden gems within 2 hours of our house. I know it's not practical to getaway every weekend (at least, not unless I can hire some house-help!), but I'm going to make an effort to plan something like this at least once a month.

into fall

It seems as if it was just yesterday that we were getting ready to leave on our *second* trip to Hawai'i's Big Island, but in fact it has already been almost a month. I tell you, I must have had some extremely good karma coming my way that made 2 (free) trips to Hawai'i in one summer possible. I'm gearing up for the not-so-good karma that must be on it's way. Since we returned, superbuzzy madness began (have you seen that crazy sale?!?), school started up, and the beginning of the rotten karma set in. Well, can't say that I'm surprised!

But, the Big Island is a fantastic place, and I must go back. We've certainly never had such easy and outstanding snorkeling. Since it's been a while since we returned, I won't give the full report like I did last time, but I do want to record some of the highlights - lest I forget them!

We took Brynne to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm (just north of Kona - on the way to the airport), and it was incredible. They gave us a 1-hour tour of their facility - from feeding tiny seahorses hatched that very morning, to the mature brood pairs, to tanks displaying each species raised at the farm. Each of us also got to make a "coral reef" with our hands, thereby allowing a little seahorse to hold onto our fingers with its tail. The conservation work they are doing there is incredible, and perhaps they will help save some of these incredibly endangered species from extinction. This is well worth doing!

Probably the most awesome experience we had was our night snorkel with the manta rays. We took a boat with Big Island Divers to a spot where they've been going for some time. We each had flashlights to shine in the water, which then attracted plankton - a manta ray's dinner. We were incredibly lucky to have 13 manta rays with us that night. We stayed in the water for about 45 minutes while these giant creatures (wingspans of about 16 feet!) did giant barrel rolls in the water, inches from us. I could have stayed out there for hours watching this awe-inspiring water ballet.

The house we stayed in was perfectly located on the water at Kealakekua Bay. We couldn't have dreamt up a better location for our interests, and we woke up each morning eager to get our morning snorkel before breakfast. One morning, we decided to kayak out to Captain Cook's monument on the other side of the bay, where the coral was said to be fantastic. On the way out, we ran into a pod of about 20-24 spinner dolphins cavorting in the bay. Not ones to miss an opportunity like this, we took turns snorkeling with the dolphins in the middle of the bay, coming within one foot of them. It was so cool to be in the water with them, occasionally hearing them "talk" to each other, and watching them leap out of the water and performing their characteristic spin. The snorkeling out by the monument was also stellar, with a beautiful reef at just the right depth for snorkeling - not so shallow that the fear of getting sliced by coral sets in, but still close enough for visibility of the smaller critters hiding in and around the reef. The diversity of fish was fantastic! The only downside to snorkeling here is that tour boats loaded with novice snorkelers come to the area daily, dumping dozens of people into the water. We were lucky to have some quiet time toward the beginning, but then the boat came in and the water became far too crowded and chaotic. I recommend going early in the morning to beat the tours. (The snorkeling at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau is, in my opinion, a close second to Captain Cook's monument, and the entry is very simple - no kayaking required.)

We also did more volcano hiking, made it down into Waipi'o Valley for some hiking, and took our weak 4WD vehicle on the extremely questionable "road" to the green sand beach (now there's an adventure!). Lots of good family time was had, and I think we've fallen in love with the Big Island. It will be tough to convince ourselves to explore the other islands, for fear they won't live up to what we found there.

land of diversity

Here's the latest in my Big Island travelogue... I write all the details in the hopes that it might be useful to someone in the future.

After dinner on Tuesday, we walked to the Malama Petroglyph Trail in Puako, which just happens to be next to our hotel. The trail begins with a decorative display of some nice examples of petroglyphs like these:

and then winds through an incredibly bizarre landscape of kiawe forest:

A short 15-20 minute walk ends at an expansive pahoehoe lava (smooth and ripply - looks like cake batter) field, that is completely covered with hundreds of petroglyphs. It's a really fascinating spot, and super easy to get to.

Wednesday morning we got up at dawn for some snorkeling before Jerry had to get to work. We found lots of great fish (pufferfish, triggers, pipefish, butterfly fish, etc.), and two fantastic honu let us stare at them as they had their breakfast. In my ideal world, I would be able to wake up each morning and get in some snorkeling - the perfect start to the day. The visibility at the hotel beach wasn't fantastic, but we managed to see plenty anyway.

We were lucky that Jerry had Wednesday afternoon off, so we set off to explore Waimea and the northeastern part of the island. We arrived in Waimea in time for a nice lunch at Merriman's, where I had a barbecue pork sandwich and Jerry had a braised lamb sandwich with arugula and goat cheese - yum! From Waimea we headed to Honoka'a and the Waipi'o Valley. My plan was to hike down to the Valley, see the sites, and hike back up. I had read that the hike down was at a 25% grade, but I tend to think I can handle just about anything. By the time we got about 2/3 (I think?) of the way down, our legs were trembling and the calves were doing a little dance. Both of us feared our ability to get to the bottom, so we decided to cut our losses and hike back up. (In retrospect, we should have walked down doing switchbacks to save our legs... I think we could have made it that way.) Now we understand why most folks do the tours in a 4WD vehicle that takes them down into the Valley. Despite the fact that we didn't make it to the bottom, we did get to see the view from the top:

An odd set of circumstances is allowing me to be on the Big Island again in August, so I'm placing the Waipi'o Valley on my list of things that we'll do then. But, let this be a fair warning to anyone who attempts the hike - it's a nasty downhill grade. I tend to handle strenuous hikes without much trouble, but this one had me fearing that my legs were going to spontaneously combust!

From Waipi'o we headed east to Akaka Falls. It's a pretty crazy scene: we're walking along a paved path (complete with hand rails!) in a gorgeous, tropical forest, admiring the incredible plant life (who knew these "houseplants" grew 150 feet tall?!?), and then we start to hear a crashing, thundering sound. Around the bend we turn to see this:

There's no way I can describe this incredible waterfall, other than to say that this photo in no way does it justice. You have to see it for yourself, hear the thundering water, feel the spray on your skin, and see how this water has carved a chasm in the side of this cliff. It's so incredibly easy to get to (and free!) - definitely a must see.

From Akaka Falls we continued south to the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, we arrived there at 4:15pm to learn that they let the last people into the garden at 4pm since they close at 5. The man must have sensed how genuinely disappointed we were, so he let us in but reminded us that we had to leave by 5. So began our jog through the garden in an attempt to see as much as we could in the short time. It's amazing - bizarre, alien plants, orchids galore, a view of the ocean and rocky cliffs, and lots more. We certainly didn't see it all (allow at least 1.5 hours to see the garden), but we loved it nonetheless. This too is going on my list for August - to see the garden at a more leisurely pace. We saw incredible plants and flowers, but we both agreed that this was the most bizarre:

white bat plant - if this isn't alien, I don't know what is!

It was getting close to dinner time, so we decided to grab some dinner in Hilo, which was just a few more miles south on the highway. We had been eating at plenty of fancy places, so we decided to go local, and go local we did! We ate at Cafe 100 - where the Loco Moco may have been invented over 50 years ago. Jerry got the Super Moco (bed of rice topped with a hamburger patty, slice of spam, Portuguese sausage, 2 fried eggs, and gravy with a side of potato-mac salad):

I go the combination (katsu, meatloaf with gravy, miso soup, pork and bamboo shoots, and a side of potato-mac salad):

Needless to say, this is probably not the healthiest eatery on the island!

With our bellies full, we drove to Banyan Drive on the waterfront and had a nice stroll through Lili'uokalani Gardens. In addition to the astounding banyan trees, the garden is unusual because of the manicured Japanese Garden elements interspersed with lava beds. Here is one of the banyan trees:

click on the photo to see the tiny person with white legs (that's me!) for scale. Remind me not to plant one of these in my back yard!

By this time, our feet were aching, so we headed back to our hotel in Kohala for some much needed rest. It was interesting to get a view of the other side of the island where rain and plant life are plentiful. It's incredible to see how quickly the landscape can change on this island!

Today is a quiet day of work for Jerry, followed by a lua'u tonight. Tomorrow we head to the northwest part of the island, up the Kohala Mountain Road to Hawi and back down the Akoni Pule Highway. So much to see and do! Here is today's picture postcard:

 

Aloha from Kohala!

This place can sure make a big impression quickly... I realized that I haven't even been on Hawai'i for 24 hours, and already I'm in love. We are staying on the southern part of the Kohala coast of the big island (northwest side). The natural scenery here is primarily a desolate landscape of lava, with a hardy grass that somehow finds a way to root itself through the rocky landscape and grow. The manmade landscape, on the other hand, is probably what you expect when you think Hawai'i - lush, green oases with palms, hibiscus, plumeria (do you know how incredible those flowers smell?!?), and other exotic plants I haven't yet learned to identify.

This morning I drove down to Kailua Kona to get some basic groceries for our mini fridge - we really don't need these $30 hotel breakfasts every day! I was on a pretty tight schedule, but I managed to fit in a couple of quick sites in Kona. I found parking (somewhat of an ordeal - maybe because I just didn't really know where to look!), and walked along the main (tourist) drag: Ali'i Drive. I'm quick to ignore strips like this, but I know some folks live for the Hard Rock Cafes and the Bubba Gumps in the world (at least these are some of the best located versions!). But, I did want to hit some of the major cultural locales that happen to be neighbors to the many vendors of schlock.

I first went to the Ahu'ena Heiau, which was King Kamehameha's personal heiau. The area has been restored, and one of the structures was currently being worked on (not the heiau, but an adjacent structure) with scaffolding about. Walking on the structures is kapu (forbidden), but you can get reasonably close to get a feel for them. Unlike most of the heiaus I've been reading about, this one was not a sacrificial site. I've been reading a bit about the history of the island (so incredibly interesting!), and it's worth noting that one of the ki'i akua (statue of a god) at this heiau has a plover atop it's head. It is thought to make reference to the theory that the first Polynesians to find the Hawaiian islands may have been guided by the golden plover on it's annual migration. Here is a pic:

Right next to this heiau is a small, calm beach that is quite nice for little ones, and there's a snack shack and equipment rental there. The hotel adjacent to the heiau is King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, which I think was just acquired by the Marriott company. I was on the same flight as three Marriott folks, and then I saw them today at the hotel discussing new paint colors and such.

I walked up a block to see the Hulihe'e Palace (built in 1838), which was suffered severe structural damage in the earthquakes in 2006. As a result, the viewing is limited to the first floor (and the admission lowered to $4), but it was still worth going through to see examples of the beautiful furnishings and architecture. They also had a pretty interesting movie playing about the Palace and the people associated with it. Just outside the Palace is a Pohaku Likanaka, which is a black lava rock with a hole toward the top. Sacrificial victims were forced to sit in front of it while a rope was fed through the hole, around their neck, and then back through the hole. They would then be strangled... probably not a nice way to go!

Of course, amidst the remnants of a rather violent and bloody history, there are incredible reminders of mother nature. Somehow, despite a rather violent natural history, life here is abundant and remarkable:

Birds here are beautiful and not very timid! I don't know what these are, but I love the orange!

Umm, yeah... I really need to start snapping more flower photos. Aren't these gorgeous? For scale, each one of those is about the size of my hand!

It's going to be really hard for Jerry to talk me out of bringing one of these cuties home in my pocket! Although the colors in the photo may be astounding, it doesn't even come close to the irridescence and vibrance that you see in person.

Honu (green sea turtles)... I'm completely entranced by them. I can stand there staring at them while they rest, not moving a bit, and I'm still fascinated. We're incredibly lucky in that these guys have a resting area on the beach at our hotel. We're getting up early tomorrow morning to see if they'll let us snorkel with them for a bit - I'll let you know if we get lucky!

and, of course, I couldn't leave you without your picture postcard, could I? This is the hotel pool. We haven't tried it out yet, and I'm not sure that we will. It's lovely, but I'm pretty partial to the "pool" just beyond teeming with fish, sea turtles, nudibranchs, and other delightful flora and fauna!

Hawaii bound

Now that I've finally gotten a bunch of work behind me, I'm finally able to start thinking and preparing for our trip to Hawaii next week! Jerry and I are going to the big island where he will be attending a work conference. Lucky for me, the conference is taking place at an incredible resort on the Kohala Coast, the Fairmont Orchid! He'll be doing conference stuff during most of the days, and I'm taking a new tablet PC along so that I can keep up with superbuzzy business. Of course, we're still hoping to find plenty of time to do some sightseeing and adventuring.

Every time I look at the travel guides, I'm totally overwhelmed by the descriptions of things to do. Everything sounds fantastic. Not having been there before, I'm having trouble prioritizing what we should do during our limited free time. Can anyone offer suggestions for "must-see" and "must-do" on the big island? We're not so much the lounging on the beach types... more hiking, snorkeling, and climbing volcano types. I know there's lots of this to do, but I'd love to hear what people think are the best spots to see. We'd also appreciate any suggestions for cultural sites, restaurants, any great shops, etc. I know the big island is relatively quiet, but I think that might be exactly what we need!

This will be our first time alone together since Brynne was born - she's going to grandma's house! We'll have to see if we still remember how to talk to each other without constant interruption and Brynne-related crises. I'll try to take lots of pictures to share while I'm there, and I'm also *really* looking forward to some time to get caught up on my Bloglines! Hope everyone out there is having a fantastic summer!

points north

Wow - I guess I inadvertently took a blog break, didn't I?!? Things here have been even crazier than normal, and I also got a bit of bad news which has been quite the blow, so I guess I've been completely preoccupied with everything else...

We went up north to visit with my family this past weekend (holidays, part 2!), and it was good to get away for a bit. We spent Saturday with family, and then went up to the Bay Area on Sunday (grandma was babysitting!) Jerry was interested in checking out a synth/electronics swap meet of sorts in Berkeley, and I was taken down memory lane when I realized it was held at Gilman Street - a dingy, old club I used to frequent. Then we went to find my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in town, The Blue Nile, only to find it gone. But, we did find *another* Ethiopian restaurant, just down the street from where The Blue Nile had been, and we had an amazing lunch! Someone really needs to open and Ethiopian restaurant here in Ventura! I always enjoy being back in Berkeley. As someone said when I first moved there in 1990, in Berkeley, you'll see one of everything you know, plus a bunch of things you never knew existed. So true!

The clock was ticking as we had to get back to my mom's house for dinner, but we had just enough time to check out the Daiso that recently opened in Daly City. (It's located in the Serramonte Mall - take the Serramonte exit from 280 - it's right next to the freeway.) Now, I'm probably biased since I had the opportunity to visit a few 100 yen shops in Japan, but I wasn't as impressed with Daiso as I had hoped. It was certainly huge, and it was definitely crowded, but I didn't find all the "cute" I was hoping for. They had a few cute things that I snatched up (stationery, a couple of Christmas ornaments, kid's toys), but most of the shop was pretty utilitarian. Some sections had promise, like the dishware section, but there wasn't anything particularly amazing when I went. However, I get the impression that the product turnover is pretty quick, so I would definitely check it out again to see if it gets better. I was especially disappointed that they didn't have any Japanese candy! I guess that's probably for the best...

2007

Happy New Year! I can hardly believe another year has whizzed by... still trying to get a grip on that! We're back from a true winter wonderland... we spent a week in Colorado for the holiday, and it was probably the white-est Christmas we'll ever have. Despite all of the disasters other folks encountered traveling to Denver, we somehow were able to get in and out as scheduled. It was almost like magic - we were one of the very first flights to arrive in Denver following the first storm, and our departure was timed perfectly so that the snow from the second storm had already been plowed from the runways. Luck was certainly on our side!

We stayed with my in-laws up in the mountains outside Larkspur. The roads were pretty nutty most the time we were there, but we managed to make it into Denver twice to visit some of our favorite spots and tour the new wing of the Denver Art Museum by architect Daniel Libeskind. (The older wing was designed by Gio Ponti!) But, most of the fun was had playing in the snow. It was Brynne's first time with any real quantity of snow, and she was thrilled to have virtually endless snowball fights. Here are some photos to share in the fun:

 

suited up in snow gear for the first time!

making a snowman with grandpa

snowball fight action shot!

hanging out under the pool table with her cousin (don't they look like brother & sister?!?)

snow on red rocks - totally gorgeous!

eating pristine snow from a custom snow chair!

crazy angles at the Denver Art Museum

the scenery as we *slowly* make our way to Denver in the middle of the second snow storm

My in-laws got about 3 feet of snow in the first storm (just before we arrived), and another 2.5-3 feet in the second storm (all in the space on one week!). It was so wonderful to be back in Colorado again - it was such a great place to live. And, I actually got to see some WEATHER! The week went entirely too quickly, and now it's back to work and the regular routine. I'm full of optimism for the new year - I hope I don't get too behind too quickly!

What are your hopes and goals for the new year?

Thanksgiving accomplished!

And that's saying a lot! Initially, the plans were for my small extended family (8 of us all together) to join us in Ventura for the Thanksgiving celebration, but everyone's health seemed to indicate otherwise. My grandmother had a cold, and my uncle had just done heroic battle with kidney stones and was not yet fully recovered. They were obviously not thrilled about the prospect of a long car ride! I had already done all the shopping, so we quickly formulated plan B. We decided to have the actual MEAL up north on Friday so that we wouldn't have to do our driving on the worst possible day. I cooked as much as I could on Wednesday, and we hit the rode about mid-day on Thursday - right about when we figured others were getting ready to sit down and stuff their faces.

My aunt and uncle graciously agreed to let me, Jerry, and the terror stay with them at their home in San Jose. I was the cooking project manager on Friday, and I received incredible help in the kitchen from Jerry (the best cooking co-pilot ever!), my aunt, and my mom. I planned a basically traditional meal with a slight southwest twist:

• Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Crema and Pepitas (super yummy! how did we get away with no leftovers of this?!?)
• Roast Turkey with Apples, Onions, Fried Sage Leaves, and Apple Cider Gravy (this is my all-time favorite turkey recipe - the turkey gets roasted with pearl onions and lady apples, and the presentation on the platter is incredible!)
• Apricot Pecan Cornbread Stuffing (I get picky about this and make my own cornbread, and I use chorizo for the sausage. My favorite!)
• Cranberry Orange Relish (I just buy the perfect pre-made version from Trader Joes)
• Sweet Potato and Yam Galette (we used just sweet potatoes and baked it in the cast iron skillet. It didn't invert perfectly like I had hoped, but it was super delicious nonetheless. I should have doubled the recipe - we had no leftovers!)
• Green Bean Salad with Tamari Almonds (Thanks to Martha - a lovely side dish. I bought my tamari almonds at Trader Joes rather than making my own!)
• Sparkling Pomegranate Juice (another must have from Trader Joes!)
• Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake (yes! the Martha cake - review to come in separate post!)
• Apple Pie Cake (yes! the *other* Martha recipe for November - look for review tomorrow!)

I know that I'm no photographer, and certainly not a food stylist, but here are some photos of the spread nonetheless:

basting the turkey!

soup, turkey, sweet potatoes... yummy!

We planned on driving home on Saturday, but I was itching to get to San Francisco to see the new De Young and catch the Gees Bend exhibit before it leaves at the end of December. We made the drive up and caught the museum just as it was opening. The museum re-opened just about a year ago following the incredible Herzog & de Meuron design - wow! The building is incredible - clad in irregularly perforated copper sheets - and will change its appearance as the copper ages. The highlight for us was the observation tower, which appears to balance precariously over the narrow base. The tower features an incredible 360 degree view of the city and the bay - I could have stayed up there for hours! Some great pictures of the building here.

With Brynne along, I was not able to dawdle through the Gees Bend exhibit as much as I would have liked, but I can echo what I have read by others: the quilts are incredible and inspiring, and the stories behind them even more so. I haven't done any research on the after-effects of the recent attention paid to the Gees Bend quilters, but I can only hope that money is finally pouring in to this long neglected, but culturally invaluable community.

After the museum, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens hunting for lions (!) and ate lunch at the museum cafe. Then we drove out to the Golden Gate so that Brynne could get a closer look. We tried to take a self-portrait of the 3 of us in front of the bridge, but it wasn't quite pointed in the right direction, and then my batteries ran out! So, imagine the gorgeous bridge added to the top right side of the photo and you'll have a better idea. It was the perfect SF day - clear skies, brisk, and slightly windy.