And so that next "Chapter" is coming...

Sorry for the non-blogging. It's been pretty busy for us. I finished school (yay!), we bought a new house in which we will move into in February, but the biggest news of all is that we are expectant parents!

I don't know the sex of the baby but hope to find out next week. This is still sinking in, but as my belly grows (which happened in a spurt this week) it seems to become more real.

I am 16 weeks and 5 days today. We are due May 25, 2010.


Ultrasound at 12 weeks and 3 days

Welcome Hank :)

Our friends Angie and Brett brought a new little boy into the world yesterday and he's a cutie! I am really excited for them and have already offered babysitting services. Can you blame me? Just look at him!

Congrats to you guys and cheers to your new family :)

Henry Carter Paulson. Born 12/3/09 at 11:30am. 8lbs 1/2oz, 20 3/4 in. long.




Pictures from Daddy Brett

Late post - Anniversary Weekend

Ahhh...wish I was back in HMB at the Ritz. Not many instances in which I can say that...lol.

Last weekend (10/9) marked the five year anniversary for Leon and I. Leon was such a sweet hubby and spoiled me all weekend at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. We arrived on Friday and the weather was PERFECT. So sunny and nice. While we were waiting to check in, we walked around the grounds (which are beautiful if you have never been). Tank was lucky enough to tag along and he was lovin' life.

After checking in, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered to the room (from Leon of course!). That evening we went to dinner at Pasta Moon in downtown. We came back and snuggled up next to the fire pit on our patio and made some s'mores. Yum!

The next morning we took a trip to the beach and Tank was having a really great time. Highlight was seeing a whole lot of dolphins playing in the water. Later, we had massages and manicures (even Leon), then dinner at Navio. They were very sweet and brought us an anniversary gift (truffles) at dinner.

Sunday came and we indulged in the Ritz's famous Sunday brunch. Quite the spread! If you are a seafood lover, this is the place for you. We stuffed ourselves and it was time to head back from our paradise.

Here's to five years with my hubby - love him! :)

Leon and Tank enjoying a walk

Tank has his eye on the beach

Beautiful view

View of main hotel from our room

Our anniversary truffles that came with our dessert of sorbets

Tank checking things out from our back patio

A's b-day & retirement celebration

Not for me, but I am jealous. Yesterday marked the last day of our friend Angie's working life...FOREVER. It was also a belated b-day celebration for Angie from last week. We had dinner at Calafia which was yummy. The staff thought we were joking about Angie's retirement, but the smile radiating from Angie told us that for sure, she is looking forward to the non-working life. Congrats Angie and happy belated!

Me, Angie, Ann -photo courtesy of iPete :)

Concert Weekend

Very late posting, but a couple weeks back I had a fun-filled concert weekend thanks to Leon's company. It started off on Saturday 9.12.09 with the Killers. Ann P. made a very good concert partner and we had alot of fun. The Killers put on a great show too

Me, Ann, before Jack Daniels

Ann found that VIP bar (and Jack Daniels)!

Killers

more Killers

B. Flowers

Finale

The weekend wasn't over yet. Weezer was on tour with Blink 182. I am not too much of a Blink 182 fan, so Leon and I stayed and watched Weezer, who I am definately a fan. It was pouring rain, but we were lucky to have our seats under the canopy. We also almost got in a fight in the t-shirt line - but all is well. Let's just say this was a VERY different crowd at this concert. Even so, we had a great time. Weezer is so geek-shiek and full of energy. Luv them!

Ahhh Leon and I dry and out of the rain

Weezer

That crazy Rivers

more Weezer

Finale

Don't know if I can do back-to-back concert nights again anytime soon, but it was a blast.

People of Walmart

Funny and sometimes disturbing stuff :)

http://peopleofwalmart.com/

A little catching up

Well, I haven't forgotten about updates resulting in posting random things, just needed to upload pics.

On 8.22.09 we we headed out to Stockton to visit the Estacios for little Aleah's baptismal. She is a cutie! Always nice to see the whole fams and visit the lil' D's (Deston, Devin, & Dillon). Marifi has been a friend for years and was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. Can't believe she was pregnant with her first at our wedding and now she has four! (If you want to do the math, Leon and I will be celebrating a five year anniversary this coming October).


Then came Peter's B-day weekend extravaganza! Friday, 8.28.09 started with a reunion dinner of sorts with the Chammas' up from LA, Paulsons, Kavals, and Chens meeting for dinner and drinks at Milagros. We sang to Peter and he received a lovely bread pudding thing (not really a cake???) with a candle in it. This is the only pic I had...and Brett was not injured with the beer bottle - just optical illusion there!


Saturday morning the Paulsons played along while we surprised the pants off Peter (literally) with some Stan's donuts. Wish I had pics from that, but totally forgot my camera.

Saturday night came party time. Ann set up a great dinner with drinks to follow at Medjool in San Francisco for Peter's big 3-0 celebration. We had quite a good time (as the drink bill seemed to prove). By night's end, we were on a quest for a slice of pizza, but came up short.


Since we were trying to live it up that night, we got a hotel room in the city. Tank made himself at home on the Heavenly bed and ordered room service. :)

And another

People seem to like to dedicate songs to food...but I dig this one. Plus I like G. Love :)

Because it's addicting

Visit from AZ

This past Wednesday, I got to see a few old friends from my junior high/high school days. Quentin and his wife Didi were up here from Arizona visit family and friends while trying great food up in the wine country. I was lucky enough to be a pit stop on their way, and they got a slight taste of Palo Alto. Didi is expecting and is about 4 months along, so super cute. She was rockin' her lil' bump.

Another friend, Terri came to join us from the East Bay. We all headed to NOLA's for drinks before a very yummy dinner of Japanese-style tapas at Gochi.

Terri and Quentin proved they hadn't changed much from high school - which Didi and I got to witness:)

It was nice to take a break in the middle of the week and spend it with friends.


Photos courtesy of Didi - thanks Didi!!!

Really bad wax figures

Pretty funny...

Julia Roberts looks like a man dressed in drag. That can not POSSIBLY be Cher (not in THAT dress anyhow). Poor Sandra Bullock looks more like Chris Angel, the Vegas magician. Tom Cruise could use a better wig....and Barack Obama...REALLY? Oh they are all so bad, but it makes them so good!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/31-really-bad-wax-figures/

Apartment Living

Still adjusting to being back at work after a vacation, but more so, apartment living again.

Since we had one crazy week before leaving on vacation, I had almost forgot that we sold our townhome and that we would be returning to the apartment we moved into shortly before we left.

It's been quite awhile for us having lived in an apartment. This is also the smallest apartment I have ever lived in since it's a one bedroom. We did put alot of furniture in storage and sacrifice closet space.

There are many upsides though:
1. It's cozy (no sarcasm...really, I like cozy)
2. When I need to get a glass of water, I don't have to feign dire thirst to guilt Leon into making the trek all the way downstairs to the kitchen. I can open my bedroom door, make a left, and viola!, the kitchen is at my disposal
3. Less to clean
4. No stairs (except to get to the garage for my car)
5. A shared gym? Haven't used this feature yet
6. Short commute
7. Close to alot of restaurants (including some of our fav Taquerias....hmmm, on second thought, that can be a downside too)
8. Closer to alot of friends for more impromptu dinners, lunches, drinks...whatever
9. We are paying 1/3 in rent of what we used to pay in mortgage! This is affordable Palo Alto living.

and last but not least....

10. We get a HOUSE after moving out of here :)

Yeah, those are all really good reasons for apartment living. It also is kind of nostalgic like the old days when Leon and I were first living together.

Sand Drawing

Long...but amazing to watch.

Granada & Estepona

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....that's how I felt today. As relaxed as ever. Spent the entire day at the beach, reading a book and occasionally napping. I will miss this!

I do miss Tank alot though, and by some coincidence, every book we brought on this trip contains a dog as a major character! Can't wait to see him.

So, we spent one day in Granada (that was Wednesday) and the one thing to do there is see the Alhambra. Before then, we were itching to try paella, and it was GOOD.


This was some beans and pork fried in olive oil, and that lovely paella. YUM! We were a bit spoiled by the food in Paris, so it was nice to have something like this on our plates.


These are from the Alhambra, which one day used to be a Muslim mosque before the Christians invaded the area. It was quite beautiful and we were glad to see it. Then we were off on a 3 hour drive to Estepona.


As you can see from the above photos, Estepona was all about relaxation and not really site seeing. It's been nice to do nothing here and to get in a little relaxation before we know we have to head off to the real world again.

So tomorrow we have a very early start in the morning and will be spending our 4th of July on a plane. Hope everyone else is BBQ-ing :)

Almost adios, Barcelona

My, time flies, doesn't it? It is hard to believe that we already have to leave Barcelona tomorrow. We really are ready to make it to Estepona though (last leg of our trip) and do absolutely NOTHING. However, one more stop tomorrow in Granada to see the Alhambra and Leon will test his driving skills in Spain.

Until then, we have crammed in as much as we could in Barcelona, starting yesterday with...

Park Gruell. Apparently, artist/architect Guadi seems to have designed much of everything here in Barcelona. what is impressive is that it is so modern, whimsical, etc. Park Gruell is one of those places.


After climbing to the very top of the highest point in the park on this rock-building-thingy, Leon and I put on our best "scared of heights" face...except Leon may have been half-acting.


Then on to another Guadi creation, La Sagrada Familia, which is a church that has been under construction for over 80 years...and STILL under construction. It was like nothing I had ever seen - gothic, modern, but yet, still old. See for yourself below...


After a short lunch break of tapas, we headed to the Picasso museum. We waited in a very long line (see pic below) and after getting in, the lady asked us what country we were from. Leon told her, and I jokingly asked "So...does that mean we get a discount?"...then she said "It is free". Wow! When did Americans get into foreign museums for free? In Espana I guess :) No pics inside the museum, so you only get us walking there and waiting in line.


Today we hung around the famous street called La Rambla, known for it's street performers and shopping. one guy inparticular looked like a gold spray-painted version of Seth Green...no really, check it out for yourself below.


The highlight of La Rambla, however, is the big market known as Mercat La Boqueria. Was pretty cool, and I bought some candy for our plane ride tomorrow because they had a lot of interesting gummy candies which included tennis balls, sunny-side-up eggs, cobra snakes, and many more things. We were also sorry that we ate a sandwich before coming to the market as they had bars inside serving up fresh seafood...DAMN, I know! We did manage to get a fresh fruit bowl and fresh smoothies though...yum.


Before I sign off, this next set of pictures is dedicated to Brett P. upon request :)


Tomorrow, adios Barcelona and hola Granada.

Buenos dias Barcelona, Espana!

Made it to Barcelona. So hard to believe that we were in Paris this morning at a patisserie, and this evening we had some great Catalonia food.

No exploring yet, but went to a local restaurant recommended by the trusted Lonely Planet. So basically, this blog entry will be a breakdown of our meal (which was way too big because we wanted to try everything!)


Leon starts with a beer he called "hoppy"...I called it yellow-looking foamy


I had some fancy water


This is a tuna dish with herbs in a spicy sauce you put on "toast"


the "toast" with tomato sauce baked on top


cod, zucchini, and parmesan cheese with some oil and spices


fatty beef dish with mushrooms

We also had a chorizo tapa dish that was marinated in red wine...but it did not look appetizing and those reading this blog would think it was something else. It tasted great though!

Now came dessert and we got a surprise...


We ordered lemon sorbet and it came...soaked in tequila (that's the liquid you see)! WTF? I know...it did taste good though. Would never have thought of that as a combination.


My coffee...which in Spain seems to translate to espresso

We have only two full days here in Barcelona so we plan on tackling alot tomorrow.

For now, buenos noches.

Au Revoir Paris!

A quick post before we head off to Barcelona. We ended up getting to the Eiffel tower last night just before closing to get to the top. It was quite a view and quite the crowd. Certainly can see why it is a top proposal spot, but with the crowds there, maybe not as romantic as you envision. Leon did well, even with his fear of heights - but no looking straight down for him.

Here's some pics from last night...


This is our feet while waiting in line


And that line was VERY long


Beautiful view from the top

This morning we had our last breakfast at our hotel. Did I ever mentioned that when we ordered coffee here, they bring a whole pitcher of perfectly frothed milk? I will miss that.

Since we didn't really get to try any patisserie's while here (well, one chocolate beignet yesterday), we decided to get some goods to go at a patisserie right down the street.

Mmmmm...so much to choose from


We took two of those giant macarons


These are called choquettes, a popular french pastry...I tried mastering these at home, but still working on perfecting them. It is hard to find the pearl sugar that goes on top (found some at Ikea of all places!). Very yummy and airy.

We will miss Paris...

Now on to Barcelona!