Halloween 2012

Another Halloween has come and gone.  Here are some photo memories of the day.

 

My entry for the office pumpkin decorating contest

Treat Bags I made for co-workers.  Made from stamps and die cuts from Jaded Blossom.
The bags are from there  too.  I just love their products!

 

Cinco de Mayo!

How can it be May 2012 already?  My little baby....well....big boy...will be 2 soon. 2!

My creative mojo went on hiatus for a while.  I made this card a few days ago.  I hope the MOJO is back!

This birthday card was inspired by a card I saw at Valita's Designs & Fresh Folds.  

Her work is just amazing!

I used the Build a Blossom Punch from Stampin Up (Mary is my local consultant) and

the flourish is from a die I purchased from Cheery Lynn Designs.  

Sudden Burst of Creativity

I finally found some time to make more cards:

The flower in the card above made with Stampin' Up Build a Blossom Stamp set and punch.  I ordered the Stampin' Up from here.

The flower above is made from a technique called quilling.

I love it!  Some samples below:



Happy Spring!

I made another no-sew fleece blanket this past week.  Looks spring-y.

Being crafty



No-sew fleece blanket

I am not sure how the picture above keeps looking sideways. Back in November 2010, I learned how to make those cozy looking no-sew fleece blankets. I love them!





Valentine Treats

I have used my Cricut Expression to make some Valentine treats.  I am practicing for when I have to make a large amount of them for when Gummy (that is my current nickname for baby boy since he loves to show his gummy smile!) is in school.

The heart shape is a file I downloaded from Christina's Creative Moments.  The round treat cups in the middle are from Stampin' Up! and I used those red hot candies.  I also used the Cuttlebug A2 Embossing Folder:  Heart Blocks.

An Update...

The movements have been stronger, almost to the point where I cannot concentrate at work!  I have started cleaning out the spare room, which has been the computer/storage room.  We have decided on a theme - which did not take much time to decide.  It will be a Seattle Seahawks themed room. 

I am becoming more and more excited as each weeks passes.  My guard is not totally down yet but feeling the movement sure is a great feeling!

Treats, not Tricks

I made these slider packets for my co-workers for Halloween.  I got the idea from My Pink Stamper .  I may do them in a Christmas design in Decemer, with hot chocolate packets!

Fore!

Last Saturday, we drove about 1hour northwest of here to the city of Rohnert Park, to go to a golf/wedding reception for friends of ours.  Also joining us was our friend, Dana, from Oceanside, who stayed with us last night as she flew in for this quick trip, and Mike, a Seahawks friend of ours from the San Jose area.

The bride and groom actually got married on 09-09-09 in a private ceremony in a cemetery (my kind of place! lol).  They are both avid golfers and wanted to combine golf and a party to celebrate their wedding.  They are also huge Seahawks fans. :)

The day started around 2pm.  We arrived and waited for our tee time at 3pm.  They have about 10 groups of 4 signed up for 9 holes of golf.  Since I do not know how to golf, I was the golf cart driver.  I was Dana's driver...lol.  Hubby and Mike were in the other cart.  So, our foursome was really a threesome, with one player getting to shoot twice.  It was a Scramble/Best Ball format.

We brought a change of clothes for the wedding reception and enjoyed the rest of our night.

Dana and my hubby - waiting for our tee time

Dana and I waiting - I was the designated driver

My hubby, Mike, and Dana

An appropriate wedding favor!

Jet Lagged

...and I am not sure how I can be since I stayed in the same time zone all weekend!  This past weekend was my last planned trip up to Seattle for football for the regular season. 

Here are some photos of our season of football fun so far:

Me on the left with 2 of my closest friends!

Mr. Seahawk, PaintedHawk, Kiltman

View of the field from our seats - Sea Gals about to perform pre-game

A Walk on the Wild Side

I have had a lot to blog about but not in the mood to type it all down...lol.

Last weekend, we went with our friends and their two boys to the San Francisco Zoo.

Here are some photos of my favorites:

A friend from Down Under

Waiting for Oceanic 815 to arrive:

Beautiful Peacock:

Giraffe - just hanging out..



I.... will.....not....smile.....

Happy Feet!

Real or plastic?

I cannot wait to go to the San Diego Zoo in August!

Another Year

Today is my 38th birthday. There....I typed it.

Hubby and I, along with 12 members of his family drove up to Sonoma today to try a Portuguese restaurant I had heard of but not tried yet. I had joined their email list last year and had read about a promotion they had during the winter called Sopa Sundays. The best way to describe them is from their website - 'Sopas is a classic Portuguese dish served at Festas throughout California. It consists of roasted beef and braised cabbage accompanied with crusty bread moistened with a beef-mint broth.' Hubby's mom (and hubby) make sopas a couple of times a year (minus the cabbage). We call it Soggy Bread.....but very yummy!

I had received an email saying that today was the last day that they were serving sopas for the season and I forwarded it to my mother-in-law. Hubby's parents take us out to dinner on our birthdays and she suggested we give this restaurant a try. She then thought it would be a fun idea to invite other members of the family in the area who like sopas. We sent out an email to everyone and got the large response. I let people know that this was not a party for me - we just wanted to try out the restaurant and their sopas.

Here is the chef's interpretation of Sopas:

I strayed from the group and ordered a favorite from my past -

BACALHAU à GOMES de Sá

-a Traditional baked casserole of North Atlantic salt cod, potatoes, onions and olives

And this is our group outside the restaurant:

The verdict on the sopas was 'thumbs up' from everyone who ate them. I had a bite of hubby's and enjoyed it. We had appetizers before the meal of linguica and blood sausage. The verdict is still out for me on the blood sausage though. We also ordered desserts to share after the meal. They offer dessert 'trios'. The "trio" we ordered to share had miniature malasadas, rice pudding, and a pumpkin spice cake.

Hubby and I will definitely return. The drive was beautiful, even though it rained all the way up there. We will have to plan to go in August or September during the grape harvest, so we can see the vineyards along the way in full grape mode.

Fat Tuesday

It's Fat Tuesday and I decided to make malasadas tonight. The last time I made these was in 2000 before hubby and I married. A lot of Portuguese bakeries here in NorCal only make these on special days and today is one of them. I come home for lunch everyday so I decided to make the dough today when I home. I used a recipe that my mother had written on a piece of paper. Next time I make these, I may make some with filling like they do at Leonard's on Oahu.

The dough after rising:

The balls of dough in the fryer (above)

Finished product - dipped in cinnamon sugar

These are addicting. Thank goodness I don't make these often!

A Rainy Valentine's Weekend

It has been rainy here all weekend. We really need the rain here in NorCal so it is a welcome sight.

Hubby and I have had a quiet weekend. Yesterday he gave me candy in the morning and then he was off to soccer practice. Then for dinner he cooked pasta (gluten free so I could eat it). We went out to dinner on Friday night because we knew that the restaurants would be packed yesterday.

I have the day off tomorrow for President's Day so I am feeling fairly relaxed today. I am trying to catch up on family history reports and miscellaneous projects around the house.

My oldest sister went on a Church retreat this weekend. Each participant received a bucket of flowers. Our house smells like a florist!

A Photo from Arizona

You would think since hubby is a photographer, I would get first dibs at the photos he takes when we travel. I had to snag the one below from someone else....lol.:

This was taken at our new friend's house (Max). I am in the 2nd row, far right. This is actually a photo that I don't think I look completely awful in. Hubby is in the 2nd row - far left...lol...and no, not sure why we did not stand together. Wow....hubby and I are short. OC down in front does not count.

To Where You Are....

My mother died of a form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma 7 years ago today here at home....right in this room, which is now my office. She was only 7o when she passed. She found out only a few months before that she had cancer.

The title of my subject is actually the title of a song that I first heard near the end of 2001. I was watching the television show 'Ally McBeal' and saw then newcomer Josh Groban singing this song:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2e20l_ally-mc-beal-josh-groban-to-where-y_music

I thought of my mom when I heard it and now my father too.

My parents on their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1999

Random Thoughts...

Ok...I should be in bed. I woke up at 7:13 am on Thursday morning and I leave for work at 7:15am!

We are still trying to nail down a guest speaker for our Seahawks booster club event next weekend. I am not sure why this is such an issue this year. After the fiasco last year (that will be another post some day) we would have hoped that our problems were solved this year with our group staying at the team hotel and having the party there. Nope!

Ok....off to bed....I think.....lol.

Madeira Heritage Day

Back in June, I blogged about having a booth at the Dia de Portugal Festival. Thru that festival, I found a group called the San Pedro Association. They are a group near Sacramento, Calfornia who is dedicated to the preservation of the Madeiran Portuguese culture and history. Since both of my parents were born in Madeira, I knew I had to join. A lot of the Portuguese groups and festas here in the Bay Area are centered around those with ties to the Azores Islands (where hubby's family is from), so it was nice to find a group with heritage from Madeira. I was with my peeps! lol

Today they had Madeiran Heritage Day, which they hold every other year at a small park they Association owns called San Pedro Park - a small park located on a residential street.

Here are some photos of the chapel in the park:

Today we took a slight detour from the shakes and ate some Carne de Espeto (cubes of top-grade beef spiced with coarse salt, bay leaves and garlic and grilled over a pit. Here is a photo of two of the cooks tending to the meat:

A view of the pit afterwards:

There were also folcloric dancers performing dances representing various parts of Portugal.

The striped skirt costumes represent Madeira. Ever since I was a child I recognized those costumes from photos and my trip there when I was 12 years old. My parents took me there for 3 weeks that summer. I still want those boots....lol.

This is a group posing by the Santana house. Does it look familiar? It's my 'house' from the Dia de Portugal Festival. Hubby's dad made it from my father's 90th birthday in 2005. The director's of the Association requested that I bring it. Glad we did!

This is a photo of the leaves off of a huge bay leaf tree/bush in the park. A lot of Portuguese recipes used bay leaves. I remember my mother had a lot of this in the cupboard!

There was also silent and live auctions of gift baskets and other items. I donated a Madeira ornament that I sell on http://www.celestial-creations.com for the live auction. The woman who won the bid is also going to buy more as Christmas gifts!

I really had fun today and I hope to be able to participate in more of their events. I only wish my parents were both still here to have found this club!

Family Reunion 2008

Hubby and I belong to an online Seahawks fan forum where we call each other Family. Each year a Family Reunion weekend is planned on the weekend of a home game - usually the home opener. This year's Reunion was last weekend in Seattle - with the game vs. the SF Forty Niners.

On the Friday night, we met at King Street Bar and Oven for a Kick-Off Party, where our friend's band, Soulfish, played. This was our final weekend of "regular" food before the Cleanse started on Tuesday so I decided to have my blue drinks. But there are 2 types of blue drinks - the evil blue drink and the not-so-evil blue drink. I prefer the second one which is the Blue Hawaiian. The first one is called the Hawk Island Iced Tea - think Long Island but with 'stuff' to make it blue. I think I tried one last year and could not make it thru one! There was also the yearly rendition of "Sweet Caroline" played for yours truly.

On Saturday we went to the races! We went to Emerald Downs in Auburn, WA. Our group had part of a banquet-type room reserved, where we were able to have a buffet lunch and enjoy a view of the races. Hubby placed a couple of $2 bets and I think we won 50 cents! Someone in our group won $80 on a $5 bet.

View of the track from our area

Horse walking by

View of Mt. Rainier

We stayed there until about 6:00 pm and then headed back to our hotel in Seattle.

Sunday was Game Day! We headed to the King Street bar and Oven at 8:30 am (yes - AM) and hung out there with our friends for a while. Qwest Field does not have much for tailgating at the Stadium - pretty much a no-no. A couple of us headed over to the Team Store and looked for goodies. After that, we went around the corner to The Hawks Nest - a new bar and grille that just opened up by a friend of ours. It was packed! I am so happy for her - her dream of a Seahawks-only bar/grille had become a reality.

The game was a good one - was decided in OT by a field goal.....and we were not the winners...sigh. The worst part is that the loss was to the Niners and we had to come back home to Niner-land and hear all about it....lol.