Chris gets the double-double and I get the grilled cheese animal style since I am a vegetarian. If you're not getting it animal style you're doing it all wrong!
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| From Valentine's Day 2012 |
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Valentine's Day 2012 -- our In-N-Out tradition
Our Valentine's Day tradition is to go to In-N-Out for dinner. Many years ago we were frustrated at how difficult it was to get a reservation at a nice restaurant on Valentine's Day. One restaurant owner even encouraged me to come the day before V Day because he said they bring in more tables and chairs because it's such a busy night. Rubbing elbows with a stranger didn't sound very romantic to me, so I suggested we go to In-N-Out to celebrate the day. It was a great idea--the restaurant was empty and the food was delicious. Over the years we've continued the tradition and while some of our friends thought it was weird at first, I know a few of them have done the same thing as well! When the economy took a downturn a few years ago we noticed that there were a lot more people who had our idea and so we no longer get the restaurant to ourselves, but we're going on our 10th year of spending the evening feeding french fries to each other.
Chris gets the double-double and I get the grilled cheese animal style since I am a vegetarian. If you're not getting it animal style you're doing it all wrong!
Chris gets the double-double and I get the grilled cheese animal style since I am a vegetarian. If you're not getting it animal style you're doing it all wrong!
Friday, August 10, 2012
My 32nd birthday
I had a very special treat for my birthday--my friend LeeAnn made a last minute business trip to LA from Madrid so we got to spend some time together! It was great seeing my friend from across the world that I had just seen a month before!
The next weekend we went to the Bacara in Santa Barbara.
Ducks on the beach!
One of our favorite things on vacation: room service!
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
The next weekend we went to the Bacara in Santa Barbara.
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
Ducks on the beach!
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
One of our favorite things on vacation: room service!
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| From Bacara for Liz's 32nd birthday |
Monday, August 06, 2012
Christmas 2011
Some photos of our beautiful Christmas tree from 2011 (I know, I'm so behind)
Riley looking out the window for Santa
Riley and his gifts
My favorite photo from Christmas this year. I love sitting by the Christmas tree sipping my mom's spiced tea and listening to Perry Como Christmas songs. Reminds me of my childhood. So we made a pallet and did just that.
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| From Christmas morning 2011 |
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| From Christmas morning 2011 |
Riley looking out the window for Santa
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| From Christmas morning 2011 |
Riley and his gifts
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| From Christmas morning 2011 |
My favorite photo from Christmas this year. I love sitting by the Christmas tree sipping my mom's spiced tea and listening to Perry Como Christmas songs. Reminds me of my childhood. So we made a pallet and did just that.
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| From Christmas morning 2011 |
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Oregon: Portland, Bend and the coast
We made a trip to Oregon for a wedding over Labor Day 2011.
Crater Lake from the air
As soon as we landed in Portland we rented a car and drove northeast to the southwest corner of the state of Washington to visit Cape Disappointment State Park. I love to visit lighthouses so we were able to see two of them in this state park.
North Head Lighthouse (built in 1896):
Very interesting tile inside the lighthouse
Just a few miles south, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, is Cape Disappointment Lighthouse (built in 1856). This is an area notorious for shipwrecks because of high winds and the Columbia River Bar which is a 3 mile wide/9 mile long sandbar in the ocean that ships must cross to enter the river. There are 234 identified ships that stranded, sunk, or burned between 1725 and 1961 here.
Just across the river back in Oregon we ate lunch in Astoria.
Just west of Astoria in Fort Stevens State Park lies the ruins of the shipwreck Peter Iredale.
The Peter Iredale ran aground in 1906 when trying to enter the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean. I am totally fascinated with shipwrecks so this was very exciting sight!
The next day we visited the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinville, Oregon. The main attraction of the museum is the Spruce Goose, built by Howard Hughes in the 1940's. The Spruce Goose is the largest airplane ever to be built and flew only one time, for one mile at an altitude of 70 feet.
The plane is so large there was no way to get a great photo showing its size.
Inside the Spruce Goose
Portland seems to have a concentration of antique hardware stores which are useful if you are remodeling an old house but want to stay true to the time period (like us). Rejuvenation was one of our great finds of this trip and we have bought several things for our house from this store. Some other great antique and reproduction hardware stores are House of Antique Hardware and School House Electric.
The highlight of our trip was visiting the largest independent new and used bookstore in America, Powell's Books. I have never seen such a collection of new and used books. The store in downtown Portland (there are 5 locations in the city) covers an entire city block! We spent several hours in the store. What I loved most was that the used books were mixed in with the new books so when I went to the travel section I found books that I never would have known to look for otherwise. We even found an obscure book (written in Italian) about an abbey that we visited and loved in Italy! We haven't bought a book from another bookstore in the year since we've discovered Powell's!
After spending a few days in Portland we drove to the center of the state to visit the town of Bend, taking the long way through the Columbia River Gorge
The next day we drove to Newberry National Volcanic Monument located just south of Bend so that I could get another stamp on my National Parks Passport!
Here is a close up photo of a piece of obsidian (volcanic glass) from an eruption 1300 years ago
The obsidian flows from afar
There are two lakes inside the crater, Paulina Lake and East Lake
Finally, here we are with the bride and groom!
Crater Lake from the air
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
As soon as we landed in Portland we rented a car and drove northeast to the southwest corner of the state of Washington to visit Cape Disappointment State Park. I love to visit lighthouses so we were able to see two of them in this state park.
North Head Lighthouse (built in 1896):
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Very interesting tile inside the lighthouse
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Just a few miles south, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, is Cape Disappointment Lighthouse (built in 1856). This is an area notorious for shipwrecks because of high winds and the Columbia River Bar which is a 3 mile wide/9 mile long sandbar in the ocean that ships must cross to enter the river. There are 234 identified ships that stranded, sunk, or burned between 1725 and 1961 here.
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Just across the river back in Oregon we ate lunch in Astoria.
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
The Peter Iredale ran aground in 1906 when trying to enter the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean. I am totally fascinated with shipwrecks so this was very exciting sight!
The next day we visited the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinville, Oregon. The main attraction of the museum is the Spruce Goose, built by Howard Hughes in the 1940's. The Spruce Goose is the largest airplane ever to be built and flew only one time, for one mile at an altitude of 70 feet.
The plane is so large there was no way to get a great photo showing its size.
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Inside the Spruce Goose
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Portland seems to have a concentration of antique hardware stores which are useful if you are remodeling an old house but want to stay true to the time period (like us). Rejuvenation was one of our great finds of this trip and we have bought several things for our house from this store. Some other great antique and reproduction hardware stores are House of Antique Hardware and School House Electric.
The highlight of our trip was visiting the largest independent new and used bookstore in America, Powell's Books. I have never seen such a collection of new and used books. The store in downtown Portland (there are 5 locations in the city) covers an entire city block! We spent several hours in the store. What I loved most was that the used books were mixed in with the new books so when I went to the travel section I found books that I never would have known to look for otherwise. We even found an obscure book (written in Italian) about an abbey that we visited and loved in Italy! We haven't bought a book from another bookstore in the year since we've discovered Powell's!
After spending a few days in Portland we drove to the center of the state to visit the town of Bend, taking the long way through the Columbia River Gorge
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
The next day we drove to Newberry National Volcanic Monument located just south of Bend so that I could get another stamp on my National Parks Passport!
 |
| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Here is a close up photo of a piece of obsidian (volcanic glass) from an eruption 1300 years ago
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
The obsidian flows from afar
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
There are two lakes inside the crater, Paulina Lake and East Lake
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Finally, here we are with the bride and groom!
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| From Kenny and Katie's wedding in Oregon |
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thanksgiving 2011 in LA
I realize this is severely overdue but it was a great time so I want to remember it! Chris and I hosted his mom, sister and her boyfriend at our house over Thanksgiving 2011.
Jessica and Noah are huge Boise State fans and they happened to be playing San Diego State that weekend
Jessica and Noah in Kenneth Hahn Park near our house
Downtown LA from Kenneth Hahn Park (the largest urban park in America)
Jumping for joy at Roscoes!
This was the first opportunity I've had to use our china!
Southern Thanksgiving--my favorite meal! Cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole and pintos!
When I was a child I used to beg my parents to put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, but they couldn't always be convinced. Now I'm an adult and can do whatever I want! Ha! Our annual photo by "the chosen tree" at the Delancey Street Foundation Christmas tree lot--a tradition!
Day after Thanksgiving dinner at STREET by Susan Feniger
Jessica and Noah are huge Boise State fans and they happened to be playing San Diego State that weekend
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Jessica and Noah in Kenneth Hahn Park near our house
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Downtown LA from Kenneth Hahn Park (the largest urban park in America)
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Jumping for joy at Roscoes!
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
This was the first opportunity I've had to use our china!
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Southern Thanksgiving--my favorite meal! Cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole and pintos!
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Really proud of my cornbread (took 3 tries to make it right. Who knew white corn meal was so difficult to find in LA?)
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
When I was a child I used to beg my parents to put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, but they couldn't always be convinced. Now I'm an adult and can do whatever I want! Ha! Our annual photo by "the chosen tree" at the Delancey Street Foundation Christmas tree lot--a tradition!
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
Day after Thanksgiving dinner at STREET by Susan Feniger
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| From Thanksgiving 2011 in LA |
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