5 years

holy moly. where has the time gone?

{I will never tire of getting to live near this beautiful bridge.}

I have been writing (or lack thereof) on this blog for 5 years. The blog all started as a way to keep my friends and family abreast of the goings-on with our move from Minneapolis to Northern California and then has turned into a way to document my favorite recipes, our love of wine and wine country and probably more posts than most of you would like about a little Westie named Barkley.  

Thank you for joining me on our journey in Northern California as we have become wimps to cold weather, refined our palates with wine and great food, started an Etsy shop and gone on adventures both in our backyard (not literally, we don't have one of those) and around the globe.  Thank you also for bearing with me during the 2 years of Mike's MBA program where we basically did nothing and had a boring blog to show as proof.  I apologize.  I promise I'll try not to be as boring now that I don't have my husband sequestered in his office for hours and hours writing papers.

{Freemark Abbey's Grapes}

{Sequoia Grove}

I can honestly say that I had no idea 5 years ago we'd still be here in Northern California.  I think it has come to a surprise to both Mike and I how much we really do love it here.  We moved to a nice little apartment figuring we'd stay here just a bit before moving again or eventually moving back to the midwest.  When we moved, we left our antique dining table back in MN and thought we'd stick with a card table for the time being since it didn't make sense to buy a tiny table for a place we wouldn't be living in for very long. Well, here we are 5 years later still using a card table as our dining room table/my office desk.  Who would have thought it would be our most used wedding gift item we have! (My mom's bridge club would be so proud!) Who knows what 5 more years will bring?  Dear Lord, please, oh please let us retire that card table back to its original purpose of a "table to play cards" before 2019. Oddly enough, we aren't card playing people, but that doesn't mean I'm going another 5 years without a real honest-to-goodness-made-from-logs table.

Here's to keeping the blog entertaining and enjoyable both for you as well as for me.  And if I do get boring, please tell me.  I appreciate a figurative kick in the pants when in need.

Now, who wants to go table shopping with me? 

I know. I know, this isn't a good practice and I promise you that the table gets washed after Barkley gets off the table.  AND, she won't be allowed on a real honest to goodness wooden table, I can tell you that!

Three years (and one day)

Three years. Three years I have been typing to the world hoping someone was reading. Three years ago, we were getting ready to move away from a city we had come to love to a new city where we felt more like tourists than locals. Three years is essentially how long it took me to love this new town we call home. Three years of liking wine to learning more about wine to LOVING wine, wine country and all things wine related. 

Thank you for taking the time to check in and see what I am up to.

 I appreciate it, more than you will ever know.

segway, what?

Typically on New Year's Eve, we get all fancy and go out for crab legs (it is crab season, after all).  This year however, was no ordinary year.  This year was pushed our limits to do what Steve Wozniak likes to do...Segway all about town. Woo-Hoo! As scared as I was, (and Mike was too, it wasn't just me who was a pansy) this tour turned out to be our absolute favorite tour that we've done in San Francisco (and believe me, we've pretty much done them all).

We did the 5:00pm tour, which meant that it was dark when we were on the streets.  With all the New Years Eve crazies milling about, Mike and I were a bit concerned that there might be some issues on the streets - on a segway, however the tour sticks to quieter streets near North Beach / Fisherman's wharf, and when we were on Embarcadero, we rode in the bike lane, so it turned out that all of our worries were unnecessary.

Fun facts were learned from our boy Mark (the tour guide):

1. Don't come to San Francisco craving clam chowder...It's not local (remember what I told you at the beginning, it's crabs, we are crab people, not clam people. Go to the other coast for the clams.)  So when you stop by the guy that sells clam chowder in Boudin bread bowls, apparently that guy gets his clam chowder from Campbell's soup. Yep, sad but true. Now go eat some crab legs. Those babies are delicious!

2. We have local parrots that live on the Telegraph hill.  Apparently these parrots were either released or escaped into the wild when they were on their way to a pet store years ago and have called Telegraph Hill home ever since. 

This fun fact is news to me.  It might be my most favorite fact I've learned on any tour. I cannot wait to go in search of these birds next time I'm in the city. From what I understand, it's not too hard, but I'm going to make a day of it, because there was some good shopping I saw in North Beach on the segway tour...but that's for another day o' blogging - you know, parrots and shopping go hand-in-hand.

3. I have no other fun facts. I stopped listening when I heard that there are wild parrots living in the city.

This tour is one that I would totally recommend doing.  The first time that I tried to step off my segway, I managed to send it flying and the employee caught it before the un-manned segway named U Smile went for a ride straight into the line of people waiting for the cable car.    So, if I can do it, I am sure that you can too. We had so much fun. 

[this is my husband's "Holy - $#*% - this - thing - scares - the - hell - out - of - me - face"]

[each of the Segways had a name...Mike's "Happy Hour" had a way cooler name than my "U Smile", I didn't take a picture of U Smile. It took me a while to smile, I was a bit FREAKED out, but then I mastered the learning curve and I "U Smiled" my way all around the wharf.] 

 [who doesn't love a reflective vest?!]

twenty.twelve

Happy 2012! I know, I know, 11 days into the new year and this blog has been silent.  My apologies. The weather has been so beautiful that as soon as I'm finished working on my computer, Barkers and I skee-daddle outside to enjoy the unseasonably dry and warm weather...I love this weather!

These pictures were taken on the Bay bridge on our way into the city on New Year's Eve for our super - fun Segway ride.  More to come on that tomorrow...