weekend news

You'd think that we never doing anything during the week - and you'd be right. Sort of.

Anyway, Friday night we met up with Jen Em try out the local raw foods/vegan restaurant. I had lentil soup and an avocado and sprout sandwich. As Jen had promised, I was, indeed, quite full when I left the restaurant - all those whole grains and beans give one a very satisfying (and healthy) full feeling!

Saturday afternoon we walked around the lake. Here are a few pictures from our stroll:Saturday night we had syl and kris and the couple ZZ over for Halloween cupcake decorating. I'd baked the (snickerdoodle) cupcakes earlier in the day, so we just got right down to business - decorating and eating. Here are some of our creations:Assembling the icing color palette.Michigan State. Need you ask?A pumpkin patch.Scary cupcake.The upper cupcake depicts the polluted Earth.Sunday we again went for a walk. This time we hit the local off-leash park. I managed to get a few shots of a four-month old black lab puppy (so adorable!). I honestly think this may be the best photo I've ever taken, but I may be a bit biased by my adoration for the subject!

Michigan

So we were in Michigan last weekend for Lloydfest (the celebration of Lloyd, Mike’s grandfather, and his 90^th birthday).

I meant to have this post up a little earlier, but I’ve been distracted by the fires. For those keeping score at home, my grandparents’ house is fine. My parents’ house is fine, too, although they were evacuated Monday night. Luckily, the winds shifted and started blowing west to east, pushing the fire back. People were allowed to go back to our neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon - apparently, there's quite the clean-up to be done there since the winds blow a lot of ash around. I realize that the change in winds brought good news to us at the cost of bringing extreme misfortune to others. Here are some photo galleries from the local paper, and here are some sites where you can help.

Okay, back to our (semi-)regularly scheduled program . . . .

We got to Michigan on Thursday night, just in time to see the movie “Run, Granny, Run” about a 90-year-old woman who decided to run for public office in New Hampshire to make a statement about politics. The film is great and really inspiring. Also, my sister-in-law is the associate producer of the movie! If you have HBO on demand, you can check the movie out at your leisure.

My favorite line from the movie comes when Granny D is preparing for her debate and one of her advisors asks her what she’ll say if she’s asked about gay marriage. She pauses, and then she says, “I’m for love.” And there you have it.

On Friday, went to visit scenic East Lansing, the home of Mike’s alma mater. While Mike did his thing, I took a walk around the campus and took a few pictures.

Friday night we had a little birthday party for Mike, complete with delicious carrot cake made by Brenda. We even had a special appearance by an out-of-town guest!

Saturday night was the big event – a good time was had by all! The party featured pictures of Lloyd from all his different adventures (military, figure skater, father, grandfather, etc.). There were also speeches by the family, a magician, and super-yummy food.

Oddly, it had been MUCH warmer in Michigan than it was in Seattle when we arrived back on Sunday.

Cupcakes

Are my favorite vegetable.

ah-MAZE-ing fun

Today we went for our second annual corn maze/pumpkin patch trip (well, I guess it was really my second annual trip, as Mike was still in Japan at this time last year; I liked this year better!).

It's a bit of a drive to the farm, but so worth it! Zachary and his parents (and a special Zachary visitor from out of town!) came with us. We were also joined by a friend of ours from Japan.First, we wandered through the corn maze. Last year's maze theme was about Boeing, this year it was something about cars. Whatever - once you're in the maze, it all looks the same.That's even true if you go up on the viewing platform.After wandering through the maze for a while, we found our way out and headed over to the pumpkin patch. Although it's great to pick your pumpkin off the vine (as I did this year), I have to say that those squash stalks are awfully spiny!You can't beat the prices, though.We also bought a few gourds to make a table centerpiece.Yesterday was a bit more mellow, as we stayed at home all day. We did, however, take a walk around the lake. Fall is everywhere, as the leaves are totally starting to turn! Here are a few pictures from our walk.

SFO

I spent last weekend in San Francisco, enjoying the lovely hospitality of my aunt and uncle and spending time with my good friend Marianne.

Since we were both just in town Friday-Sunday, we had to make the most of every day (meaning: we walked so much every day that our feet ached at night). On Friday afternoon, we set out to explore the Embarcadero, the ferry building, and Lombard Street.

We started our walk at the ferry building, which is like a temple to delicious foods. Here is a picture of some mushrooms (yes, there was a store that sold only mushrooms).There was also a great-looking cheese store, but I didn't actually get a chance to sample any of their products.

From the ferry building, we walked along the water for a bit.After that, we turned away from the water and walked up several steep hills to get to Lombard Street (a serious tourist attraction). I think Lombard Street is famous for being the crookedest (most winding) street in the United States. The street itself is pretty long, but the notable portion is actually quite short. Here is a picture (granted, not the greatest picture, but, come on, it's a street).Saturday, Marianne and I woke up early and were off to go to Beserkeley to visit my brother. Actually, it wasn't so beserk at all. Joined by his girlfriend, the four of us had a very lovely breakfast and then Eric, Marianne, and I set off to explore the Berekely farmers' market. This was like the a farmers' market to end all farmers' markets - there were your usual farmers' market staples like basil, flowers, and apples; but there was also fresh pasta, avocados, cheese, himalayan food, chili peppers, more heirloom tomatoes than you could count, starfruit, and edible flowers for your salads. The variety was amazing - and it was all so delicious.After our farmers' market adventure, we rode the train back to the city, rested for a bit, and then went off to the yarn store. Although I like my seattle yarn store quite a lot, I was rather impressed with my aunt and cousin's local yarn store. (We also visited another yarn store duing our San Francisco travels, but I found that one less friendly, less well-organized, and much more overwhelming).

Saturday night we cooked a delicious dinner from our farmers' market haul. We also made apple pie.And Eric joined us.Sunday, we had to cram in a few last minute San Francisco must-sees. We began the morning with a trip to get my new favorite coffee cake at one of my aunt's favorite coffeeshops. Then, we headed out to see a view of the city.Then, we headed down to Chrissy Field to take their dog for a walk near the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather this weekend was absolutely beautiful, so we had a nice, warm, sunny walk. Here are some pictures from the walk.
The bridge:Alcatraz:Marianne and me:My relatives' dog, Jake:A puppy we encountered (I couldn't resist!):After the walk, we went for super-yummy burritos. I love burritos!

And then I flew back to Seattle - where I've been exhausted all week. I wonder why . . . .

A wedding!

Since the trend in blog posts lately seems to be news about others, I thought I'd oblige with some wedding pictures from my friend Karen's wedding. Karen was married in late September in Florence, Italy. Alas, sadly, we couldn't be there - but the the bride looks beautiful, the groom handsome, and the couple ever so happy! A big congratulations to them!

Next, Everest!

You know how when you watch the Olympics and the figure skaters are all, like, thirteen? On one hand, I find this kind of appalling, since it implies that anything older than sixteen is way over the hill. On the other hand, I find it kind of liberating - since I'm not an adolescent, there's no possible way I can be expected to do that, so no need to even feel guilty about not trying.

Well, I'd now like to share with you the story of some friends of ours. They had a baby in April 2007. Then, eight weeks later (eight weeks later!!) they set out on a three-week long bike tour of Europe. Not, you know, the Flanders lowlands, but the Swiss and Italian Alps. That's right: they biked through the Alps while towing an eight-week old baby in a car seat in a bike trailer behind them. They also camped most nights.

I find this to be a herculean endeavor - on par with having the baby, but, you know, lasting for three weeks and involving bikes. And mountain passes in Switzerland. (And something, I suppose, that someone my age could *theoretically* do).

I'm amazed - go on, go read the whole thing!
(And their baby is pretty cute, too!)

Exploded eggplant happens

Or, why you should poke holes in your eggplant before roasting it.