see.brave.geezer

My father loves to claim he has reached 'geezer' status. I usually disagree and patiently explain that people with children still in their 20's and who are consistently going on semi-risky hiking expeditions can not possible be considered geezers! So when he sent me this picture (titled) "Geezer on the Edge"
I was thankful for 2 things:

1. very little wind
2. his joints are still in adequate working order
whew! close one.

see.sleep

We found an apartment!
We signed the lease.
(pics of new place to come)
oh... and it has our own yard with space for a new garden!
And we move in Oct. 1st!!
He is working odd jobs all day long.
She is working and going to school.
Long LONG days for us both.
Early AM wake up calls + late nights studying= she's 'first official library nap' of the semester.
Yep.
Taken like a true champ.
I mean... who puts cozy leather chairs in the library anyway??

see.who?

We are so busy lately....

a potential move that fell through and now we are living out of boxes that we packed for the move

looking for a new place to live

she starting school

he starting side jobs with networking potential

she starting new job

he trying to keep up with everything she plans

and Miles Dog... always keeping it simple.

see.sugar

Hello sweet readers!
I wanted to share this sweet sugar idea with you!
We sweeten our delicious hot coffee with sugar on the raw and a sweet little bird told me about this sugar flavoring tip...

Take a whole vanilla bean and cut about 1 to 2 inches off the end

Fill your sugar cup, bowl or in our case vanilla tea box 1/3 of the way with sugar.

Drop the bean into the sugar and fill the rest of the sugar box.

Within a short time your sweet sugar will have a warm delicious hint of vanilla!
Yum!

see.sunny.sf

I am fortunate that most of my friends are extremely hard working talented women. Art, graphics, education, design... it is astounding and exciting!

Michelle Steen is just one of those ladies.
Please, PLEASE check out her work at the link above!
This painting was by far my favorite, but it wasn't easy picking just one!
I made a short visit to San Francisco in July to see Michelle's art work on display in a downtown San Francisco Art Gallery. It was breathtaking. The trip and her artwork.

After a few days in which I am happy to say the camera was not present... we brought it along on a typical San Francisco outing. Filled with frozen yogurt, rice pudding, basking in the sun at Dolores Park, eating far too much delicious Mission Mexican food and just laughing until we peed our pants... I mean, till we ache.

Rice pudding and frozen yogurt came first. I won't name names but someone I know just happens to stop by this little 'Lovin Cup' Shop quite often. In fact they had her dessert half prepared before she even ordered...

Pre-frozen yogurt faces... "don't worry, its coming!"

First bite face... or little shop of yogurt horrors! you pick.

Post frozen yogurt faces... yes, it is that delicious!

Dolores Park

Dinner with Melanie and Melanie.
Whew! It is amazing what a short weekend with AMAZING friends right after an exciting week with family does for ya! I am still grinning from ear to ear!

see.family.friends.florida

More pics of our recent trip to Florida. The trip was full of exciting events. My pal Kristen married her beau Will. They met at the University of Florida and now live in Oakland, California while Will is finishing school at Berkeley. Will and Kristen were the first familiar California faces I saw when I arrived in the Bay area 2+ years ago. They also gave me a place to crash before I found a place of my own!

Groom's cake = Florida gator!
Congratulations to Kristen and Will Beeson!!

And no trip home would be complete without 1,000 pics of my amazing little group of nieces and nephews! Although... this trip I actually didn't take many pics. I kept my eyes out of the camera to actually be a part of what was going on!
Here are a few that I did manage to take...

Boundin'

Pre-movie make-up session!

Sisters playing pretend!
(I think something "scary" was lurking near-by)

Owen.
Last time I saw him, was the first time he saw any of us!
Can't wait to see him again!

Jeremy, this was his defense against very little "booger picking self control"
!genius!

You are NEVER too old to play dress up!

see.date.night

Date Night.

I think it is necessary to have Date Night. Mike on the other hand... well the concept confuses him because we are already together but he goes along with the idea because I like it!
Last night was date night and we went here and it was 5 starts delicious!

Getting ready for date night usually goes something like this:
I'm ready 30 mins before we have to leave and Mike starts getting ready when we have to leave!
Grrr!! So I find things to do like take pictures of me waiting... patiently... :)

All the food was so good and went down great with the pineapple + fresh ginger sake cocktail! YUM!!!

So can you tell who enjoyed Date Night the most here?

see.top.5

Before we left for Florida, I put together a craft for a special trip I made while down home.

Mike is such a sweet fiance to put up with my endless desire to craft... he is extra sweet because he ALWAYS helps, cut, paste, glue and so on. AND he doesn't mind when I insist that it HAS to be perfect and I create a huge mess in the process!!!
While in Florida, I (along with my mom, sister, Mike's mom, Mike's Grammi, my sister-in-law and her mom + 4 nieces and nephews) went wedding dress shopping... yes for our wedding.
I wanted the day to be memorable, informative, and special so by inviting my entourage of ladies it was both memorable and special... as for the informative, well that is where the craft comes in...

I started with fun printed craft paper + really bright coordinating card stock paper, white card stock, glue, olfa knife, straight edge and my printer.I printed out 6 copies of large black numbers 1 to 5
Cut out (6) sets of five- 4x6 inch white + bright card stock paper and glued them together.

Cut out (6) sets of five- 2 inch wide strips of fun printed craft paper for the edges of the cards.

I coordinated the fun printed paper, colorful card stock, and number for each set of cards and glued everything together.

Front and back view of each card. So number 1 in each set was pink with a swirly purple and pink paper edge. The back is a blank white sheet of card stock for notes.

Inexpensive key chain hoops to link numbers 1 to 5 together!

Once I was complete I had visual voting cards numbered 1 to 5 so the ladies could vote on which wedding dress they like the best (no. 5) to the least (no. 1).
With each dress, I could walk out and instantly see what each person felt about the dress.
The blank paper on the back was used for notes about each dress so later I could remember which dress style looked the best, fabric choices and so on.

A big thank you to everyone who came along!!
Let the planning begin!

see.lauren.wed

Two weeks ago, Mike and I flew down to Florida to visit family. For me this was a much needed, long- LONG overdue trip!
One very important highlight of the trip included my dear cousin Lauren's wedding. Lauren and I are very close in age and share many fond memories of Summer days spent at the beach. We would make doodle castles, play in the surf, and always have a blast!!
Lauren is an avid surfer and so it was only natural to have a beautiful beach wedding on her favorite beach: Cocoa Beach.

Jeremy and Valerie on the play set at Lori Wilson Park. How fun is that? Beach and slides at a wedding!! Cousin Christa, Aunt Jo-Ann, Aunt Lisa and Gramma all waiting in anticipation for the bride!Cousin Lauren, all grown up and looking stunning!!

Lauren and Todd Holland!!!

Sweet married kiss on their way to party!
The wedding was fun and food was delicious!
Thanks for another fun time at the beach Lauren!!!

see.July.4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Boy does time fly!!!
Here we are on the 4th of July 2009!
Camping in California.
Hopefully in about an hour we will be on Lake Michigan eating veggie burgers, grilled jalapenos stuffed with cheese and yummy pasta salad with some friends.
Hopefully this big fat rain cloud will go away!
Hopefully you are enjoying this day as much as we are!
:0 )