SF Restaurant List

I'm amassing food places to go in San Francisco from friends who know their stuff. My hit list so far:
1. Nopa - because I try and try and can't get a reservation.
2. Frances - Even the menu looks tasty.

3. Zazie - I hear the Gingerbread pancakes with lemon curd and fruit is to-die-for.

4. Boulette's Larder
5. Tartine for breakfast. Doesn't this just make you crave a hot cup of coffee?

6. The Ferry Building - From what I hear a bunch of good food from different vendors. My type of eating.

7. The Berkeley Bowl

8. Mission Chinese Food but only because of this.

9. Chez Panisse  - Posted and then saw this a day later! Meant to be.

10. And for the splurge, Cafe Gibraltar near Half Moon Bay

Do you have any to add? Please share!

Deal of the Moment: WE Henry Slipcovered Sectional

In need of a couch? It's no secret this is my #1 place to shop for the home. Saw this incredible deal.

Get it before it's gone!

More from Miss. Irene

Sitting on the front steps of their home.

Quick Weekend Recap

Belated birthday dinner with Randy, including a few surprises from the 'ole man. 

A and B closing on their first home! Their joy is my joy.

Birthday dinner with Dave + Co. Yup, Josh finished this whole thing + some mac and cheese. Good food, good company. As a bonus, Kris and Bruce Jenner sat directly behind us. Josh's comment, "She's tall."

Wedding run around. Hair, check. Make-up, check. Flowers, check. 

A's "LOVE" shower - 26 ladies = a few tears and a lot of laughs, priceless. 

Seeing Kylie's new dorm, working, hearing Kevin at Westlight, and catching up with Leah - it is her birthday week after all. =)

Although it was good to touch base with soo many people, I also felt like I had cheated some too. I wish I could have spent more time talking with Dave, listening to Leah, hanging out with Kylie, and seeing Melissa. Truth is, I'm just about run ragged. I've had a chronic cough for the past two months and can't seem to get my immune system to stick up for me anymore. I tire easily and qet sick quickly. I've been married three months and haven't been healthy for two of those. I've been to two different doctors in the last two weeks who gave me antibiotics, steriod inhalers, and codeine but they don't seem to work. I couldn't recover from the go-go of this past weekend so I am sick, again. I'm so tired of being sick. I'm tired of being tired. If you're so inclined, please pray for me. I have another doctor's appointment on Friday that I'm hopeful will help us find some answers.

Sorry about the debbie downer ending. Hope you are all healthy!

Miss. Irene

Sorry I've been MIA. Josh and I were in LA for the weekend and things were nonstop. I have plenty to catch you up on because so much seemed to happen in a span of 5 days. But before I get to it this picture left an impression on me. 

Maybe it's because at the same time he was doing this, I was sweating in 82 degrees and complaining about hothothot. Girls can be so ruthless can't they?

To the Tips of my Toes

Sunday night mom and dad drove up to see our new place and spend a few days with us. It was their first time here. I was looking forward to their visit. I ain't gonna lie, I knew that it would be filled with fun things like gifts, free dinners, and maybe a pair or shoes or two. It was all those things - Josh and I have a new end table in our bedroom, mom bought him treats and sweets, and I was the recipient of a new top as well as pretty toes. Shameless I know, but I couldn't help it*.

But the free stuff wasn't the take away. Something's changed now that I'm married. My relationship with my parents is different. I was in the post college stage for almost a decade. Even though I was "independent" I think my parents still saw me as someone they have ultimate responsibility for. And maybe I was still acting like that girl who needed ultimate responsibility. I'm not sure. But there was a parental pull between giving independence and still trying to steer me in a certain direction. Now it's like "You're Josh's. What type of decisions are you two making together? Ok, what can we do to come alongside you guys?" A mutual understanding of life placement if you will. Our conversations were maturer and more thoughtful. There was a level of adultness that hasn't been there before. And because I felt that subtle shift I too responded to them differently. I felt more open in talking about what is really going on, more free to be myself, and more willing to hear what they had to say. I'm excited to begin a new level of relationship with them.

If you don't believe me that something has changed...
Monday night mom and dad said they "wanted to treat their son to a steak". I was aghast. If you didn't know my dad is NOT a big spender. Dinner out means no beverage, no appetizer, and no dessert. Their Tuesday date night splurge is El Pollo Loco. So you can imagine my surprise when dad ordered an appetizer at dinner! And not just any appetizer, he ordered a sashimi platter!! I was floored and I couldn't hide it. We took a picture and sent it to Aimee. Apparently this is what you get when you marry Josh. Here's the proof.

I'm looking forward to this new time of Aimee and I both being married and our family functioning together at a new level. I could see the potential for family vacations, weeknight dinners with everyone, establishing new traditions, and continuing old ones. I couldn't see it before but the semblance of our future took a bit of shape this weekend and it has brought a deep contentment to the tips of my toes. To the very tips of each of my 10 toes.


*I can imagine parents scoffing at this and people my age nodding in understanding. =) Although I would bet that parents nowadays still appreciate getting stuff from their parents too. Is this true all you parents out there?

A Fishing Weekend Recap

This year's annual fishing trip was one big par-tie. Both sides came along so it was big fun. I know I promised to shamelessly gloat about my huge catch...uh, maybe next year. =) haha. I think we had 18 people total. We stayed in this mansion to accommodate everyone. I felt like the "rich folks" who live on the big house on the lake. 

The view from the house

Grandma isn't really the fishing type. Here she is holding Grandpa's pole. =) Reminded me of me five years ago when I went on my first trip. Bless her for coming to be with everyone.

 Dad and our catch of the morning. Eh, their catch on the morning. I admittedly slept in the car a bit. :/

 Beautiful in the morning

  Fish #1 for this lucky guy. He maxed out by day's end.

 What type of fisher am I? This kind, the Kylie-type. The fake kind who don't touch worms, don't put on bait, don't get the hook out after a catch, and definitely don't clean the fish at the end of the day. Yup, all I really do is sometimes cast and reel in a bite. I'm embarrassed having to tell you that, but not so much so that I'd want to worm up a line the next time. Luke, Josh, and dad pretty much did everything for everyone. True fisherman.

This one has been fishing up at these lakes for many many seasons. More than I've been alive I'm sure. One day when Josh is this age he'll have the same amount of fishing seasons under him too. This type of love just runs in the blood. 

 

 I'm a family girl so family vacations are the best. It's worth the drive through Yosemite in the middle of the night, the 5am wake up time, the endless waiting for fish, mosquitos, the cold mornings and the hot afternoons. In return you get memorable times with family, laughs and laughs over big meals, hot curry and chili, fried catch of the day, and one super content husband. What more could a girl ask for?

Marriage Socialization

I've come to the conclusion that socializing with other people totally changes after you are married. I don't know if it's because they see you differently or if you're trying to figure out how to act together with other people around. I'm not sure. You would think it would be the same as when you were dating but oddly it's not. I wonder if other married people know what I mean or if we are just THAT socially inept? Since we've been in San Jose we've basically been a 2 person show. We have hanging out with each other nailed*. It's comfortable and easy. We get along and are genuinely ourselves. This last month we've been able to see old friends at camp and family while fishing. And while for the most part it was fine, there were a few awkward instances where I was wondering why Josh and I have to be so dang awkward when we're hanging with other people.

Two instances:
1. Friday night at camp Josh arrives after work to hang out with his boys and see everyone. We walked over to high school and had this 30 minute moment where I wasn't sure if I was supposed to stay with him, if he wanted to leave, if he didn't want to leave and wanted to stay with me, blah. You get it. So I kept saying, "You can go hang out with your boys if you want, I'm fine." and his reply, "No, that's okay." He was also trying to decide if I wanted him to stay with me, if I wanted us to do something together... And round and round we both went in our minds. Terrible and terribly awkward for other people around us I'm sure.

2. On Saturday night during the family fishing trip everyone had finished dinner and was in some pocket or another just talking and I decided to go sit on the couch. I wasn't feeling 100% and I think the long day had prematurely worn me out. Josh comes and sits with me. My overanalyzing self thinks that maybe he would like to go and hang out with his family. So in an effort to let him know I was okay I say to him , "Did you want to go hang out with the family? Go ahead." He looks at me and says, "No, I'm fine" Another 15 minutes of me wondering if us sitting over here isolated is weirding anyone out. Awkwardness ensues!

And a third that just came to mind:
3. The first time we hung out with the poker group (aka Josh's buddies) after the wedding. AWKWARD.

Why can't we just be that "cool couple" who just hangs out? Neither of us are good at small talk and big groups. I practically get hives and stress myself out internally (which according to my recent Dr.'s analysis is the partial reason why I am still sick) and Josh just becomes engrossed in his phone.

This is a terrible flaw for making new friends and being a "cool couple". It's like we're Bieber and Selena when you really aspire to be Jay-Z and B. Who would you rather hang out with? Exactly. I hope we improve over time. I don't need to be in the "cool married people" club but I would like people to enjoy hanging out with us. Do you have any flaws as a couple? Not to sound too selfish, but for the sake of my sanity I sure do hope so.

Fishing pics coming soon!

*thus far

House Love

A little house love to kick off your weekend.

What I would give for a second home like this. See it here.

Going Fishin.

Friends, Josh is taking friday off for the Annual Family Fishing Trip around June Lake. We're leaving tomorrow night around midnight, driving through Yosemite's Tioga Pass so that we arrive by sun up and fishing can begin straight away. These are hardcore fishing lovers. Although they would never think of doing anything on the lakes except fish, this picture reminded me of a spot on Gull Lake where kids climb up a precarious looking tree and jump into the lake. Isn't that grand? 

What are you doing this weekend? I hope something fun, even if it's just a great dinner with someone or an ice cream cone with friends. If I catch a huge brown I'll shamelessly show it off to you upon our return. Wish us luck and happy weekend!

Go-To Recipes

In my never ending quest to find awesome meals I've made a tab to document the ones who make it to round two and beyond. The other day at camp, our friend Michelle was telling me how her family has 10 main meals on regular rotation. And then she proceeded to name them all! It got me thinking about our list. I would like to get to that level of comfort too. Right now every meal is a new meal because I'm just trying to figure out what he/we like and what is cheap and easy to repeat.

Do you have any go-to recipes that you'd kindly share? Please do tell and help our little list grow.

The Milk Pail Market

Josh and I heard about this awesome little French style market in Mountain View. It was cramped and lovely and everything that everyone said it would be. I've yet to traverse the markets in France but I imagine this must be what it's like. 

 They had some amazing things like unique cheese, European butter, and frozen chocolate croissants. We ended up buying some donut nectarines and a handful of lychee's. For a second I was dreaming that we were living in Europe and shopping at our local market for the night's dinner. 

Such a dreamer. =)

Camp

Year after year I attend our conference family camp. Usually I am serving in some capacity but this year I decided to take a break since we were getting married. It was nice to be able to enjoy the full duration of a meal, be fed by speakers, talk with new people, visit different programs, and sleep earlier and wake up later.

A funny story..Wednesday night I was hanging out in the adult program listening to mission highlights and testimonies. Don Williams, a missionary in Thailand, shared how he had become a missionary. His story captivated my attention. He talked about how he gave up the talents he was given to become a missionary only to have God have him use those talents on the mission field. At the very end he said we should come up for prayer if you knew you wanted to serve the Lord in your work but needed discernment about where that would be.

Now, contrary to what people may believe about me I'm not the type to go up for prayer. In fact, I know I haven't done that in the last 15 years. And I can't remember if I had ever done it prior. I have probably sat through hundreds of opportunities to "go up for prayer". But something moved me about this one. I have been struggling with what to do with my life now that I'm married and up north. I have been wondering how I can use my gifts for the Lord. I decided to go up. A bit self conscious, I scanned my options and landed on Kathy Williams, Don's wife. I walked up to her and waited for her to finish praying for someone else. When she finished she hugged the other lady, looked up at me with pure joy, pulled me in and grabbed my face with both her hands and said, "AIMEEEEEEE!" 

I was so shocked I didn't have time to stop and tell her I wasn't Aimee before she had moved my head against hers so she was praying directly into my ear. She went on and on asking the Lord to bless my upcoming marriage and for Him to work through my faithfulness through the youth.. The point of no return had already passed. Literally, she prayed for Aimee, thinking it was me, for a good 10 minutes. 

I was laughing so hard I was crying. I guess she thought my tears were a good thing. Go figure. =)

Missoni + Target = GAH

What I say? Missioni and Target? Where have I been that I've missed this big friendship? Coming to stores with all the bells and whistles for a limited time beginning September 13th. I would be so excited to  get my hands on this purty piece from the collection. Isn't she beautiful?

E x c i t i n g.

P.S. Sorry I have been gone. More on that later.

What the Counselor Never Told Us

Josh and I went through marriage counseling before we got married. Our rationale, anything to increase the odds of "making it". Now that we've been married around 80 days, I've realized that there were a lot of things she didn't tell us about. Here's the biggies that I think were missing.

1. Communication - I'm not talking about the "tell me about your day, please be a bit more descriptive" type of talking. I mean communication in the real sense. Like being able to tell your other how you really felt when he didn't do "that". Or, when you normally wouldn't say something because it's really about you...yea well, when you're married you have to tell them. Having a clear understanding of why the other person thinks and acts like they do becomes so important in making it work. It doesn't leave room for misunderstandings, that could eventually build to behavior that results from those misunderstandings. Inevitably creating a mound of needed undo-ables simply because you couldn't communicate the truth. Get me? I hope so. 

2. Expectations - I had this unattainable dream of being everything Josh needed and more so I struggled with finding the balance in the everyday. Initially I was determined to do all the laundry, folding, kitchen prep and clean-up, shopping, dusting, vacuuming - you get what I'm saying. The whole nine yards. But as the weeks went by I realized that it was too much to do everything. There had to be somewhat more of a balance in the housework. Now every so often Josh will fold the laundry and pick up k.p. duty. This has gone a long way in helping to keep my attitude on the up and up and our relationship on the top-side.

3. Sex* - Now, a lot of people I know read this blog, including my mother-in-law (hi mom! =)) so, all I am going to say about this topic is this - it's not what you thought it would be pre-marriage (but not in a bad way). Pre-marriage all you're trying to do is keep from doing it! And then when your purpose changes, it really changes the nature of physical intimacy. Communication and effort becomes key. Moving on...

4. Forgiveness - My mom runs the married's women's group at church and you'd always hear her talk about 2 things, the first was forgiveness (The second I have no business talking about so I'll leave that for another time). I hate to say she was right, but she is. Marriage forgiveness goes a lot deeper than forgiveness (or maybe I just didn't have it right to begin with). I don't know about you, but sometimes you forgive someone - but not really - but being away for a while helps you to move on. You don't have the luxury of "being away for a while" when you're married. I've found that you actually have to forgive that person immediately. Earth shattering, I know.

5. Dealing with those pesky little insecurities - Believe it or not the things that bother you the most about yourself bleed into your marriage. Worried about your cooking not being up to par? Yup, he gets the brunt of that. Stressing that you don't look so good? Yup, he gets the fallout from that too. The more you can be honest about what bothers you, the better the relationship. There's not much Josh doesn't know about my deepest self-doubts. Knowing that and still being accepted take my love for him even deeper.

6.  100% - It's not a cliche. You really do have to give your all no matter you feel you're getting in return. More specifically for myself. It's not about me, it should be about him. 

7. Prayer - Praying for him, for us, for me. 

A lot has changed since our first few weeks. But I can say this, I love being married. More specifically, I love being married to Josh. There's no one else I'd want to figure it all out with than him. 

* Don't worry Auntie, I got the go ahead. =)

All time favorite treat with my all time favorite people.

Pee in Your Pants Kind of Days

My girls are in town. They stopped over enroute to our yearly family camp. I've laughed so hard the tears just keep on coming. Isn't it grand when you get to see people you love after a while apart? We've dealt with some wedding stuff for A, hit the Gap sale for G-Crazy (aka Melissa), ate some amazing food, cooked with Josh, and laughed so hard if we were in menopause we'd probably be peeing in our pants. 

 Some of you may be worrying about Josh in the midst of all this estrogen. Don't worry, he's loving it - and getting plenty of attention. Plus these girls always think what he says is funny and smart, so how can he not eat that up? :p

A Work in Progress

So here's what we've got so far. But it's a work in progress.

 

I have picture frames that would look great on the wall but we need nightstands first. 

Some ideas from UO.

I seem to have developed furniture commitphobia. What if I buy the wrong thing? Maybe it's better. Helps to refrain from any superfluous purchases. =) 

And The Winner Is...

BM Kensington 840

We initially liked the one on the left but after staring at it for a while we began leaning towards the one on the right. Thanks for all your votes. It totally helped!

 I was able to pick up the paint and a whole bunch of painting stuff. Did you know that there's a certain way to roll the paint on? I had no idea. After hearing tips from three different ACE employees, I was finally encourage to just google it. Hm. Okay. I did just that and learned there's tons of info about painting on the internet as well. Honestly, it's just one wall in one apartment. I watched one video and read one article but that was the extent of it. Josh edged the wall and I began to paint.

Here's our finished wall. I know we could have brushed it on better but oh well. Hopefully once it dries the lines will disappear a bit. Overall, I think I like it. =) I'm excited to have completed our first home project together. I'm looking forward to putting pictures up and finding great bedside tables. 

Painting Tips for Novices:
1. Make sure you get the green tape - or something like it. Almost forgot. Can't imagine what those edges would look like.
2. Read up on it, then buy things. I did the opposite, novice!
3. Find out if you need primer or should buy paint with primer already in it.
4. Make sure you buy the right roll on brush. There were 3 different options. We should have bought one a bit more able to get into the wall crevices.
5. Buy a package of cheap brushes (like $1.99) They are awesome.
6. Buy more paint than you think you need. We struggled to close it out because I didn't measure the wall beforehand. Ooops!
7. Paint with someone. Turns an average thing into a new memory.

Finds From Blogsphere

This gave me a good laugh. I can only see Rolo, Payday, Snickers, Three Musketeers, and Butterfinger (I think). Can you do better? Good luck!

I don't know about all the mumbo jumbo behind it, I just love the print.

If I had an iphone I'd want to do this.

I did a double take when I saw these.

And for all you font people out there. I hear this is the cream of the crop.

Happy Interneting!

Sobalicious

A Peek At Our Weekend

Sustenance for a drive through Tioga Pass. 

Fishing with Luke and Josh at Ellery Lake.

Sesame toasted with light cream cheese. The best!

Surprise! A most wonderful farmer's market!

 A delightful meal 

And some home improvement to top it off.

One of the best weekends I've had in a while. 

And just to say into the air, I'm falling in love with Palo Alto.